Authors: BA Tortuga
MatingCall (4 page)
“
So, you
boys come to tell me something good?”
Jordan liked their pack alpha, Brett. He really did. The guy
was a cross between a lumberjack and a Colorado backcountry guide. He wore
denim and flannel and had the curly dark hair and beard that said “I live in
the woods”.
He had a great sense of humor too, which made the frown that
greeted them even more harsh.
Shaw was vibrating beside him, making this unnerved little
sound. Someone wanted to offer Brett his belly, and it wasn’t Jordan.
Jordan shrugged. “I need to talk to you. Something’s going
on.”
“Something I need to know about that bad, huh?” Brett waved
them into the big log home he’d built just outside town. The view was amazing
from up there. They were low enough in the hierarchy that they hadn’t been
inside much, but it was masculine, solid, strong and the scent was just right.
They sat together, the vibe in the place pure wolf, pure
home, and Jordan felt himself relax. Brett had their backs. Jordan knew the man
hadn’t been serious about the banishment threat or anything. He’d just been
serious about them settling down with a mate, getting the balance of his pack
under control. That was Brett’s job.
“We’ve been looking for our mate,” he murmured, taking the
ginger ale Brett handed over. “Hard. We even had a spell done.”
“And? Did she come?”
Shaw nodded, then shook his head, then nodded. Then Shaw
hung his head, red hair flopping over his forehead.
Brett chuckled. “Wow. That sounds damn confusing. So, what’s
the issue?”
Jordan sighed. “Well, it’s her. Steph, I mean. The girl
we’ve been seeing.”
“She giving you trouble? I mean, she seems like a decent
sort.” Brett sucked on a root beer. The man had the weirdest fizzy drinks in
his fridge and not a beer in sight. Maybe he got a little wild when he drank.
“No. Yes. She’s not seeing us anymore, but she’s the one.”
Shaw wasn’t making any sense.
Jordan rolled his eyes. “What he means is, we think she’s
our mate.”
Brett chuckled. “So? Go get her.”
Shaw blinked, mouth opening and closing. “But she’s not a
wolf!”
“Someone in her family was.” Brett said it as if they should
just know this shit.
“Wait. Is that even possible?” What the hell? Jordan had
never heard of latent wolf genetics.
Brett snorted. “You boys are really out of touch with your
roots. Of course it can.”
He sat there, staring, until Shaw burst out with, “How? How
come we didn’t know? Is this why the other lady wolf is hanging out with her?”
Sitting up straight, Brett frowned at them. “What other lady
wolf?”
“What? Are you out of touch with the local comings and
goings? She’s a fucking policeman, woman. Wolf. Whatever.”
“No. No, I’d know if there was someone I hadn’t met.”
Shaw shifted, the whole alpha growl obviously making him
nervous. Jordan was more…amused.
“Well, she’s there. Blonde. Hot. She’s not my problem.
Stephanie is.”
“So, go get her. Just bite her good and hard a few times—it
will be fine.” Brett glared at them. “And find out the cop’s name.”
“Her name is Wendy. We don’t know her last name.”
Shaw looked at him and Jordan knew what the man was
thinking. They couldn’t just bite Steph. She had this rule about it, in fact.
“What’s with you two?”
“She doesn’t want us to bite her. Didn’t before we knew it
might change her.”
“Don’t be jackasses, boys. Go get your mate. She wants you
to bite her or she wouldn’t be so freaky about it.” Brett made everything sound
so…black and white. Jordan guessed that was his job.
“Maybe you should make a manual. The ‘how to find a mate’
workshop or something…” Shaw was going to get his ass kicked.
Thankfully, Brett just hooted, his gray eyes sparkling. “If
I had one of those, I’d have my mate. I’m giving you my blessing, guys. Go get
her. And get me that cop’s full name. I want to check her out.”
He was also through with waiting and watching Shaw chew his
paws at night. He was going to get Steph. Now.
He put on a pair of dark jeans, a nice shirt. Then he went
to Shaw, slapped his boy on the butt. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“Huh?” Shaw looked him over, eyes darkening to a pretty
grass color. “Yum.”
Oh. He preened a little, hardening at the look. His boy
always made him so fucking happy. “We need to go get our girl, baby.”
“Now?” At his nod, Shaw bounced up. “Let me get dressed. I’m
all for it.”
“Cool.” Not that he wanted Shaw to get dressed, now that
everything was up and moving and Jordan could see the bruises he’d left on Shaw’s
back and neck.
He growled happily. His boy had been spread beneath him,
begging, hole tight and hot around his prick. That was Jordan’s happy place,
inside his lover. He loved to be inside Steph too. Soon he would have all of
both of them that he wanted.
Jordan sighed. “Yeah. Clothes.”
“Uh-huh.” Shaw turned, smiled at him. “Our girl.”
He almost wavered, said they could wait. Shaw was stunning,
naked and beautiful. They needed to go get her, though. Something was pushing
him, telling him it was now or never. Maybe it was magick.
That was their girl, balls to bones, and he didn’t want to
miss another moon without her home with them. She would make such a pretty
wolf. She’d give them beautiful babies.
Jordan watched Shaw dress, his lover fine in his black shirt,
black jeans. Those jeans fit that ass like a glove, showing it off. Steph would
never be able to resist. She loved Shaw’s ass, loved to watch Jordan spank it.
He patted the tight little ass. He couldn’t resist it,
either.
They headed out and he put on some great music, trying to
set the mood. Steph would probably try to tell them no and they needed to be
ready to convince her, to make their case.
They headed over, shooting for the lights of Boulder, for
that sweet little house.
They coasted to a stop across the street from Steph’s place,
only to find a big pickup they didn’t know parked in front, the porch light on.
Shaw arched an eyebrow, a soft whine escaping him. “Jordan?”
“I don’t know, baby. I’ll go check it out, huh?” He was, uh,
more stealthy than Shaw at the best of times, which this wasn’t.
“Okay.”
He didn’t have to get out, though. Some huge…man led
Stephanie out, her hand on his arm. No, wait. Who the hell was that?
The guy looked like a bear and what the hell was their girl
doing leaving the house in a denim skirt that short? And her boobies were
almost hanging out. He growled deep in his chest. She was their mate!
A soft kiss on the lips and then she was in the new guy’s
vehicle.
Someone else’s truck!
Jordan almost lost it, tearing open the truck door. Shaw
caught him, holding him back.
“What?”
The truck was started before Shaw nudged him. “Jordan!”
“What?” Shaw was the one who had stopped him before he could
run over and tear the big guy’s throat out and now his boy was yelling at him?
“They’re going! Follow them.”
“Oh!” Fuck, he felt like an idiot. He put the truck in gear
and started out, slower than he wanted, but fast enough to keep up.
“Who was that? Why is she going somewhere? I mean, I know
she goes places, but her eyes were all made up and she had on hooker shoes.”
“Well, we’ll just have to figure out how to ruin her date.”
Frogs. Fleas. Something.
“A date?” Shaw growled. “I could bite his balls off.”
“You could. We have to do this without going to jail.” She
could date a lot if they were in jail. There was also that full moon thing,
which would be awkward behind bars.
Police frowned on the fuzzies.
“We could…” Shaw looked at him. “What do humans do, Jordan?”
“Loom. Make sure the big asshole knows she’s taken.”
“You can loom.”
He chuckled softly. “Baby, to a human, you can loom like a
pro. Just bare your teeth a little.” Shaw was a stud compared to most guys.
Jordan just happened to be more alpha.
“I can do that. I want her to come home with us.” Shaw
vibrated next to him. “Where are they going?”
“I don’t know.” Out the way they were headed, there wasn’t
much. Maybe Outlaws, which was a country-and-western place with steaks and a
dance floor.
Sure enough, that was where the truck pulled in, the gravel
flying up under the tires.
“Are we going to have to watch her dance with him?”
Another growl rose in his chest, then another, and Jordan
pressed his foot down on the gas. “No.”
“Good.” They swung into a parking space on the other side of
the lot and by the time they were heading toward the door, Stephanie and the
dude were going in. She had her hand on his arm.
They managed not to charge in, since the lot was pretty
full, but Jordan did push through the door good and ready to have a snarl.
Steph was sitting at a table by herself, and tall, broad and
human was nowhere to be seen.
Jordan clenched his fists and headed over. He was just going
to grab her and go. Screw this.
She saw him and there was a smile for a second, just for
him, then it faded. “Jordan? Is everything okay?”
“No. No, it’s not. What are you doing here? Who is that
guy?”
“Who? Mike? He’s a friend. I’m an adult, Jordan. I can go to
a bar with a boy.”
“You could go with us, Steph.” Shaw was right there next to
him. “We would take you.”
She shook her head, her lips firming into a straight line.
“You’re looking for a mate. You’re not free anymore. I won’t be anyone’s almost
good enough.”
Jordan stared at her. “Almost? Almost? We’ve brought you
presents!”
“You… You brought the dead animals? Really? Boys, you wanted
your mate, not a fuckbuddy.”
Shaw practically danced beside him, a low sound of pain
pouring out. “You’re our mate. We know that now.”
“What? I can’t be. You know that. I know that. We discussed
it at length, remember? Don’t get serious, no biting, this is just sex? You set
the rules. Now it’s over.”
“No, you set as many as—” His hands clenched into fists and
he squared his shoulders, fixing to just pick her up.
“Hey, here’s your drink. Are these guys bothering you?”
“Mike. No. No, they’re just old friends. They were worried
for me.” Steph’s eyes flashed at him, daring him to argue.
“Stephanie doesn’t go out on weeknights. We thought maybe
someone died.” He bared his teeth at the guy, who was damn big. It would make a
real scene to fuck with him and that would gain them days of Steph ignoring
them.
“No? I guess I’m special.” The guy didn’t look cowed. At
all. “Come dance with me, sexy.”
Stephanie took his hand. “I’d love to.”
Steph danced? No way. He just stood there with his teeth in
his mouth, staring as they walked away. And he’d told Shaw they wouldn’t have
to watch this.
Shaw stood beside him, whining softly. “Jordan?”
“We can’t, baby. Not here. We’ll make sure she doesn’t do
anything stupid, though. Like sleep with him.”
“She wouldn’t!” If it hadn’t been so fucking sad, the surprise
on Shaw’s face would be amusing.
“Well, if she does, we’ll have to hurt him.”
“Okay.” Shaw shook his head. “She can’t. She wouldn’t. She’s
ours.”
“Come on, baby. We’ll get a drink.” They’d sit, keep an eye
on Steph.
“Okay…” Shaw nodded, but didn’t move an inch. Little turkey.
“Baby.” He nipped at Shaw’s ribs with his fingers, just as
he would with his teeth in wolf form. “Now.”
“Yep.” Shaw nodded, jumped and went. Good pup.
They went to the bar, where they could see the dance floor.
He got them both a ginger ale.
There was no way, no way they were doing this drunk. That
was an accident looking for…
The music went slow and that sorry son of a bitch pulled
Steph in close, dancing her around the dance floor.
Jordan’s hackles went crazy. He wanted to kill the bastard
and he didn’t even know the man.
Steph’s eyes kept meeting his, as if she couldn’t look away.
That was good, at least. He read a lot into that and none of it was fear. A
little sadness. A lot of hunger. Some pure need chased by curiosity.
She wanted them. Still.
That was the only thing that kept him from getting really
growly. They could get her back.
Shaw sat beside him, foot tapping, leg moving restlessly.
Bounce.
Bounce, bounce, bounce.
Bounce, bounce.
“I am going to beat your ass.”
“Huh?” Shaw didn’t even look at him.
“Stop, baby.” He put his hand on Shaw’s knee. This wasn’t
helping at all, it was just ramping them up more.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I just…she’s right there and I want her
to come home with us.”
“I know.” It wasn’t going to happen. “She didn’t like the
rabbit, either.”
“She’s not a wolf.” Shaw turned, stopped, actually looked at
him. “Maybe…maybe we’re wrong, Jordan. Maybe we’re wrong.”
“No.” No, he was so sure of that much. Her magick had never
steered her, or them, wrong, and wishing couldn’t make him have these vivid,
almost scary dreams. “No. She’s meant to be one of us.”
“Promise?”
He growled at the hurt and worry in his baby’s eyes. “I’ve
never lied to you, Shaw, and I won’t start now. I love you.” Okay, there had
been the thing about not watching Steph dance with this guy, but that hadn’t
been a lie, just a mistaken assumption.
“Yeah.” Shaw’s boot nudged his leg. “Yeah. Hey, she’s coming
off the dance floor.”
Sure enough, Mike was leading her off and she was chuckling,
cheeks flushed.
His body tried hard to surge up and go knock her date down.
He managed not to do that or wolf out. She sat at the table again, looking at
them, then away when the human’s hand covered hers.
Oh. He gripped Shaw’s leg, just wanting to howl. This had to
end soon or he’d switch to real drinks.
* * * * *
It was all Steph could do not to burst into tears. Mike was
being so dear, so kind, but they were looking at her and she could just scream
with it. “Yes. Yes.”
“Are they…I mean…” Mike stopped, chuckled. “I’m guessing
they’re a…a…they. Yeah?”
Steph nodded, her cheeks heating. “Yeah.”
Goddess above and below, this was deeply fucked up.
“And you and them?” He raised a brow, but it wasn’t as if he
was judging or offended or anything. Just curious.
She shrugged. “We’ve been friends a long time, but…they need
something I don’t have.”
Like a tail.
“Ah. Well, I’m sorry. If this is too awkward, we could go
get a bite to eat or go have a quiet drink at a restaurant or something. I’ll
stop short at inviting myself back to your place.” He grinned, his dimple
showing.
“I…”
Jordan stood, flexed and he made her mouth dry. Still. And
then there was Shaw, staring at her as though he was so lost. He looked so damn
sad. As if he had a right to. It made her crazy.
“It’s okay. If you want me to just take you home and try
again on Saturday, I can do that. Wendy says you like sushi. I know this great
place.”
“I love sushi.” She focused on Mike, honestly smiled. He was
a good man. Solid. Sure. Decent. Blond and buff and the pure American boy.
He deserved her attention.
He covered her hand with his completely, squeezing. “I get
it, huh? We’ll hit the road now and I’ll pick you up for lunch Saturday,
without those two in tow.”
“Thank you, Mike. You’ve been nicer than I deserve.”
“Nonsense.” He rose, helping her up. “You seem like a great
lady, Stephanie. If nothing else, we can hang out, be friends. If something
else happens, that’s awesome too.”
She went up on tiptoe, kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Mike.”
How dear. How…
Jordan was right there in front of them, vibrating so hard
she listened to see if there was an earthquake or something. “Can we talk to
you, just for a minute?”
“No.” She turned on them, wanting to smack him in the nose.
“Mike is taking me home and you are going away.”
Shaw made a soft, hurt sound. “Please? Let us apologize,
Steph.”
“Just stop, boys, okay?” She took Shaw’s hand. “Go find who
you need, hmm? Let it happen. You can’t fight fate.”
Or magick.
“We’re not.” Jordan was trying, she could tell. He wasn’t
glaring at Mike or growling. “That’s what we need to talk to you about.”
“Call me. I’ll talk to you on the phone, okay?”
“No—” Now Jordan was starting to growl.
Mike puffed up, stepping in front of her, but Shaw pulled
Jordan away. “We’ll call tonight. I—we need to talk.”
“Okay. Call.” She took Mike’s arm, offered him another fake
smile. “Let’s get out of here, man. Grab a quick burger.”
“Sure.” Mike gave the boys warning looks. “Her best friend
happens to be a cop that I have on speed dial. Be good.”
Jordan made this crazy-assed sound, but she turned away when
Mike steered her toward the door. Her heart hurt.
Her head hurt.
Everything hurt.
This just sucked.
She sent a quick prayer to Artemis for strength, to Demeter
for peace.
Even with the warm presence of Mike at her side and her not
having to look at the two men she’d thought of as hers anymore, she thought she
might need both. A lot of both. Really soon.
* * * * *