Carnal Secrets

CHAPTER SIX

Two hours later, Nick was still arguing with his mother about his decision to hold back certain details from Shaya. Yes, Kathy had a valid point in saying that it was wrong for there to be secrets or lies between mates. And, yes, a lie of omission still counted. And, yes, it would be far easier to make Shaya forgive him if he told her the truth. But Shaya was worth the hard work. Plus, he’d never know if she’d given him a chance because she felt sorry for him or because she wanted him—he needed it to be the latter. “You won’t make me change my mind,” he told his mother. “Let it go.”

Her eyes held his, staring at him to the point where he began to feel uncomfortable. Kathy Axton had a way of making people feel guilty even when they hadn’t done anything wrong. When his dad had been alive, she’d been an expert at getting him to apologize for something when the fault really lay with her. She was also extremely good at getting her own way—usually by talking people in circles—but then so was Nick.

Finally, Kathy threw up her arms in a gesture of exasperation and sank onto the sofa, arms folded. “There never was any point in arguing with you over anything. You’re stubborn as hell, just like your brother.”

“He tried to talk you out of coming here, didn’t he?” Nick sat at the dinette, where he was feeding Bruce scraps of meat. Eli was the type to stay out of other people’s business, no matter who those people were—which made him the exact opposite of their mother.

Kathy’s growl confirmed his suspicion. “I wanted to know how you were doing, and I wasn’t going to be talked out of checking on my own son.”

“Now who’s stubborn?” She was more than stubborn. She was a force of nature. But he supposed she’d have to be as the mother of three dominant shifters.

She merely sniffed at him. “It’s little wonder Shaya found meeting me awkward. Maybe if you let me—”

“No, you are not interfering here.”

“I wasn’t proposing that I tell her anything.” Her face was the picture of innocence, earning her a laugh from Derren, who was lounging in the black leather recliner. Derren knew Kathy well enough to know that she’d already have a plan cooked up in her head. “Merely that I spend some time with her and get to know her a little.”

“And then ‘accidentally’ let a few things slip?” scoffed Nick. “No way. You can get to know her after I’ve claimed her. Tonight you can sleep here. Tomorrow you go home.”

“I’m not going home until I’ve had the chance to meet her properly.” Which of course gave the woman an excuse to stick around. “There’s a shifter motel nearby. I’ve heard it’s a nice place with lots of land. Roni, Amber, and I will stay there. Then if you need us or get a little lonely, you have us nearby.”

She’d made it sound so reasonable, but Nick knew the real reason that his mother was determined to stay for a while. Being away from him for long periods of time reminded her of what it had been like when he’d gone to juvie. It had been six months since she’d last seen him…which was why she had held on to him for at least ten minutes when he first entered the motor home.

He sighed, feeling mentally drained. “If you want to stay at the motel, fine. But you keep your nose out of this, Mom. I mean it. No turning up at Shaya’s house. No trying to talk to her privately. No going to the salon where she works to get your hair done as an excuse to talk to her.” The sheepish look on Kathy’s face confirmed that he’d been right to suspect she’d do that. “No interfering, not for any reason. It’s the last thing I need.”

Finally her face softened. “Okay. I’ll stay out of it. But I can’t promise the same for Roni. You know how protective of you she is.” Her devious smile made Derren chuckle.

“Yes, Roni’s protective of me—which is exactly why she won’t spy for you.”

“Do you feel like you’re making progress with Shaya?” asked Amber, who was sitting opposite him.

He gave the healer a pointed look. “What goes on between her and me isn’t something I intend to discuss with anyone else.”

“So that’s a no, then,” she mumbled beneath her breath.

“Excuse me?”

She exhaled heavily. “Like your mom, I just want you to be happy.”

“I’ll be extremely happy when you guys are gone tomorrow, because more than one night in that SUV is going to kill me.”

Kathy looked surprised. “You’re not going to sleep here because of Amber? Well, Shaya certainly runs a tight ship. I approve.”

Nick cast his mother an annoyed look. “She hasn’t ordered me to sleep outside. I’m doing it because it’s the fair thing to do.”

“I think it’s shitty of her not to offer for you to sleep on her sofa or something,” said Amber. “But rejection’s not something a girl forgets.”

Wasn’t that the truth. But then, he could easily understand. Over and over Shaya had rejected him, and though he’d expected each and every one, they’d all hurt like a son of a bitch. As such, he wasn’t surprised she hadn’t offered him her sofa. Though, knowing Shaya, she’d probably feel a teensy bit guilty for not doing so. She had a heart of fucking gold, and he wanted a part of it.

It turned out he’d been right to think that being able to taste her and smell her would help him sleep, despite being without the comfort of his bed. Still, he’d woken up aching in several places and with a pounding headache. Needing to wash and change so that he could drive Shaya to work, he returned to the motor home and found everyone sitting at the dinette eating a huge breakfast that Amber had cooked. Declining his portion as he didn’t have time to eat, he retreated to his bathroom to wash, dress, and take some pills. Then he was striding through the motor home toward the front door, brushing off his mother’s attempts to speak to him and promising her he’d talk to her later. When he reached the front door, Amber appeared in front of him, blocking his path.

“Is everything okay?” she asked quietly, her expression one of concern.

“Fine.” When she reached out to touch him, he dodged her hand; he wasn’t touchy-feely, and Amber knew that. Besides, he knew better than to go to his mate with the scent of another female on his skin.

“You really don’t look good, Nick.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence. I’m a healer. I can sense your pain.”

Seeing that the others were deep in conversation, he admitted, “It’s just a headache. It’s a pain I can deal with, so therefore I’m fine.”

“With pills?” she scoffed. “Let me take the pain away.”

He backed up. “No.” Because that would involve her touching him, and then Shaya would freak. He’d take the pain over that. Plus, the pills would kick in any second now.

Amber rolled her eyes. “Come on, Nick, you’re in pain. I’ll bet it’s not just the headache either. The mating urges must be painful too, since she won’t let you claim her—which I think is plain cruel. I know she was upset because you didn’t claim her in the beginning, but you’ve given up everything and—”

“Amber, that’s between me and Shaya,” he stated firmly.

She gave him a slight smile. “I’m your friend, Nick. I don’t want you to be hurting. I want you to be happy.”

“Shaya makes me happy.”

“It doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing.”

When Shaya had come outside to find no Nick in sight, she hadn’t been surprised since she was fifteen minutes early. She’d love to say it was because she was working on her punctuality, but the truth was that she’d known Nick would have to go inside the motor home at some point this morning to change clothes and clean up, and she didn’t like the idea of Amber around him. Yes, that should be inconsequential considering that Shaya didn’t want to mate with him, but it was consequential whether she liked it or not.

How could the idea of her mate with another female be anything but agonizing?

Her anxiety and restlessness had given her the jumpstart she’d needed and quickened her movements. Her wolf was eager to see him, to get him away from the other female, and was urging Shaya to go to him. But when Shaya came up close to the motor home, she froze at the sound of two voices talking.

“Shaya makes me happy.”

“It doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing.” Amber. Bitch.

Rather than barging in there and making her presence known, Shaya didn’t move a single muscle, intending to listen closely and hear how the conversation played out. It was the best way to find out more about Amber and her “friendship” with Nick. Her wolf didn’t agree—she wanted to barge in there and bare her teeth at the female, dominant wolf or not.

She heard Nick then; his voice was soft and gentle—too soft and gentle for Shaya’s liking. “What’re you doing awake so early? You were always a late sleeper.”

A quiet, tinkle-like laugh that had a hint of flirtatiousness to it. “That’s true. There’s just so much going on, and with the court hearing looming…it’s enough to disturb anyone’s sleep. Roni’s missed you so much. So have I.”

“Oh, you’ve missed me, huh? Good. I missed you too.”

Red-hot anger surged through Shaya and her wolf. It wasn’t just Nick’s words that hurt, it was the depth of emotion there. He clearly cared a great deal for Amber.

“I wish you’d come back home, Nick,”—oh, fucking did she now?—“Jon’s great as Alpha, but it’s not the same there without you. Everyone misses you. You know how much Roni would love it if you came home.”

A short pause. Then he spoke in that same soft, gentle voice again. “So you still like being stroked there.”

A blast of rage exploded in Shaya’s mind and zoomed through her body. Oh, she’d slaughter them both! Amber for being a slut, and Nick for betraying every promise he’d made since he arrived. In seconds, she was up the steps and opening the front door. Stunned, she stopped dead and frowned. Nick looked up at her from his spot on the gray vinyl floor where he was crouched, petting Roni, who was still in her wolf form. And that was when it fell into place. He hadn’t been talking to Amber, he’d been talking to Roni while Amber looked on, chatting away. Relief washed over Shaya, making the rage subside. Her wolf wasn’t totally relaxed—her focus was on Amber, the interfering bitch.

Sensing Shaya’s anger, Nick frowned. “Everything okay, baby?”

Shaya forced a smile, still recovering from her brief attack of panic. “You weren’t outside waiting. I just came to see if something was wrong.” She could tell he didn’t believe her, and maybe Roni didn’t either, because she came to Shaya and rubbed against her leg in a move that felt supportive. She then sat in front of Shaya almost protectively, staring at Amber, as if making it clear exactly where her loyalty lay. Appreciating that, Shaya reached down and stroked the she-wolf’s neck. Sensing eyes on her, Shaya raised her gaze to Kathy and Derren, shooting them both an awkward smile. Had she not been feeling so off-kilter right then, she may have commented on how the motor home was a lot more luxurious than she would have ever expected.

Nick’s eyes danced from Shaya to Roni to Amber and back to Shaya. If Shaya felt slightly threatened by Amber as an unmated female, he wouldn’t be surprised; it was only natural for her possessive streak to trigger a jealous reaction. But he didn’t want Shaya to ever be under the impression that he wanted anyone but her. So, getting to his feet, he immediately went to her. “Come on, baby, I’ll give you a ride to work.” Shaya nodded once but didn’t move, as if to ensure that he didn’t intend to linger.

After nuzzling his hand slightly, Roni then trotted over to the TV, bumping Bruce out of the way. Without a backward glance at Amber, Nick ushered Shaya outside the motor home. It wasn’t until they were in the privacy of the car that he spoke. “You don’t ever have to feel insecure about us. I don’t want anyone but you.”

She almost snapped, “There is no us,” but instead she found herself confessing, “I heard you both talking. I thought you were saying those things to Amber, not Roni.”

Confirming his suspicion and pleased that she’d been honest with him, Nick reached out and kneaded her nape. “There never has been, and never will be, anything at all between me and Amber.”

“She wants you.” Her expression dared him to deny it. To her surprise, he looked genuinely confused.

“I know she’s a little…overaffectionate, but that’s all it is. She’s like that with everyone.”

Shaya snorted. “Trust me, she wants you.”

That made no sense to Nick since dominant females weren’t at all subtle when they wanted a male. “I don’t think so, baby. Amber’s never given me even the slightest indication that she’s interested; dominant females are pretty forward.”

Okay, Shaya could concede that. “If you can think of any other reason why she’s jealous, let me know.”

Nick still wasn’t convinced, but he had no interest in arguing with Shaya. “In any case, they’re leaving today. Unfortunately, they won’t be far. My mother wants to stay in the local shifter motel for a while, but don’t worry, she’ll leave you alone.”

Shaya was actually kind of surprised that he wasn’t encouraging his mother to give him some kind of character reference in the hope of softening Shaya’s response to him. When he suddenly stopped the car after only a minute of driving, she frowned in confusion. Then she realized they were outside Starbucks.

“Wait here while I go get us some coffee. You didn’t get your caramel macchiato from me this morning, and that’s unacceptable.”

She rolled her eyes, though she was touched. “I think I can cope without coffee for one morning.”

“But you don’t want to and you don’t need to, so why should you have to?”

With that, he got out of the car and went inside, leaving Shaya feeling a contradictory mix of happy, confused, and angry. Happy because he made her that way with these little things he did. Confused because although she told herself she didn’t want to be with him, she wasn’t so sure of that anymore. And angry because she didn’t want him to make her happy…or did she?

Hell, she really needed to get her shit together. Needed to remind herself just why she was refusing him. In fact, she spent most of her morning at work trying to do just that, but he blew that out of the water when another gift arrived from him. Not anything romantic or expensive or corny. No. It was a Dead Fred pen holder. If you stabbed the red chunk of silicone rubber that was shaped like a dead body, it would hold the pen right there just like that.

Clearly he’d remembered her little quirk of always losing pens, and she knew this would sit nicely near her hallway phone at home. Nick’s note had suggested that she could pretend the rubber body was him and get out all her anger by stabbing the pen holder over and over. She did. It was pretty therapeutic. Kent also had a go at it, pretending it was his boyfriend’s mother. Again, Nick had made her laugh. Idiot. She had then received a text message from him while on her break:

Missing me?

Though she had promised herself she would never, ever, ever reply to his texts and encourage what she should consider annoying behavior, she had found herself responding:

Sadly, yes, my aim seems to be off lately—either that or I need a new rifle.

Then she had waited in anticipation for a response—irritated about the whole “anticipation” part but unable to help it. She’d soon received one:

I’d ask how you’re doing and if you’ve been busy today, but these new binoculars work great—a “must-have” for all intense investigators.

And, once again, she was fighting a smile. Once again, she failed. What further irritated her was that when he turned up at the salon at lunchtime, she was pleased to see him.

Apparently, so was Paisley, because she was immediately at his side, trailing along as he made his way to Shaya. “Are you here to book an appointment, sir, or were you hoping to—”

Nick looked at Paisley. “I’m not here to get my hair done. I’m Shaya’s—”

“Boyfriend,” blurted Shaya before Nick could use the term “mate” and, in turn, reveal that she wasn’t totally human. After her grumbling last night about him not stating that she was his mate, he would undoubtedly have been clear this time.

Paisley’s surprised gaze shot to Shaya. “Boyfriend?”

If she had said friend, it would have pissed Nick off. “Boyfriend” would placate him and prevent him from saying more. Forcing a casual smile, she nodded. “Nick, what are you doing here?”

Picking up that Shaya was hiding her shifter blood from her colleague, Nick dropped the issue. He came close and began toying with her hair. “Have lunch with me.”

It hadn’t been a request or an invitation—it had been a soft command. “I can’t, I have a client coming in now.”

“I’ll wait. I can be very patient when it comes to getting what I want.”

She knew he was talking about more than just lunch. Agitated that both she and her wolf found his persistence and determination attractive, Shaya almost growled. It was one thing for him to give her a ride to work, or to cook her a meal, or to buy her gifts. It was completely different to go somewhere with him—this might not be a date, but it was close enough to count. “Nick, I don’t think—”

Nick placed a finger against her mouth. He’d anticipated that she would resist, and he understood why. But he couldn’t win her trust if he didn’t get opportunities to prove that he was trustworthy. That meant them spending time together. “Shay, you need to eat. I need to eat. Eating together makes perfect sense.”

The tricky asshole made it sound so simple and innocent. This was the thing about Nick: he wasn’t overbearing, oppressive, and tyrannical like a lot of alphas. He mostly expressed and exercised his dominance in a subtle, smooth way. He led with words and influences, projecting a calm assurance that he would get his own way and didn’t need to raise his voice or browbeat anyone in order to get it. The power radiating from him also warned that he was indeed capable of taking care of anyone who refused to do as he’d asked.

She wished she could say that his power and his subtle dominance wasn’t a turn-on, but it damn well was. It promised safety, security, and sexual satisfaction she’d never before experienced. His tone might have been reassuring, but his mischievous expression was anything but. “Kent might not like it if I—”

Her friend and boss waved a hand dismissively. “I’m totally fine with it. No need to worry.” Traitor.

Satisfied, Nick nodded at Kent and then turned back to Shaya. “I’ll be waiting on the chair over by the reception desk. When you’re done, we can leave.”

He was gone before Shaya could say anything else. The entire time she worked, he watched her. Watched her with eyes that missed absolutely nothing—eyes that hid nothing of his need for her. For once, Paisley wasn’t hovering over her while she worked. That would have been a good thing if Paisley wasn’t instead spending her time flirting with Nick. But Shaya wasn’t surprised by the blonde’s behavior. Nick’s quiet confidence, total self-assuredness, raw magnetism, and calm assertiveness tangled together to create a package that would appeal to any female.

In the past, Shaya had been with dominant male wolves, but their dominance didn’t even come near to equaling Nick’s level. Also, they had been nothing like him. Whenever there had been a problem, it had never been their fault—oh no, it had always been someone else’s fault. Dominant wolves could be like that, too proud and egotistical to ever admit to any weakness. But apologizing wasn’t really weak, was it? It took strength to admit to having been wrong, to admit to having made a mistake. And Nick was strong enough, man enough, and adult enough to be responsible for his own actions, to accept blame and to apologize. And he had.

Similarly, her past partners had tried to bully her into giving them their own way. Shaya might be a submissive wolf, but she wasn’t weak-minded, and she had a backbone as steely as—or even steelier than—any dominant wolf. Rather than respecting that and treating her as their equal, those partners had felt that her being submissive meant that she shouldn’t have her own mind, and they had tried to domineer her.

Nick, on the other hand, was totally different. Sure he expected things to go his own way and he expected to be obeyed, but he didn’t become angry with her when she resisted. Instead, he coaxed her and subtly exercised his will—accepting her wishes while still working to get his own way, not being put off whatsoever by her resistance. He gave her the space to be her own person. She hadn’t expected that.

The second she was done with her client, Nick was on his feet. Then, of course, her sixty-two-year-old client noticed him. “Is this your man?” Vivien chuckled and gave Shaya a knowing smile. “I didn’t think they made them like that anymore. Someone that masculine will make any woman feel feminine. Look at those broad shoulders and that devilishly handsome face. You’re lucky. But then, so is he. I hope you intend to treat her right,” Vivien said to him as she went to the reception desk to pay. “She’s a special girl.” Nick’s smile had the woman blushing.

“I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I have to have her. I won’t stop hounding her until she’s all mine.”

Vivien turned to Shaya, smiling, and forced a tip into her hand. “Oh, I like him. If I was forty years younger…” She sighed dreamily as she walked out, making Nick grin.

“I mean it, you know,” Nick said to Shaya quietly when she came close. “I won’t stop all this until I have you.”

Her voice was low and strained. “You can’t make up for what you did. You can’t fix it.” She was surprised when his grin didn’t falter.

“Prove it.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t fight me on trying to fix it. Show me it makes no difference.” He held out his hand, but whereas with anyone else it might have been an invitation, with Nick it was a challenge. Shaya had never been one to back down from a challenge. Besides, what harm could it do to have lunch with the guy she wanted with every fiber of her being and who could get her horny with just his very presence? She was so fucked.

You wish you were being fucked, teased that daring part of her.

Now’s not the time for your shit, she responded sharply.

Hesitantly she placed her hand in his, and she received a smile filled with approval and pride as he interlaced their fingers. She would bet he could get people to do anything just to receive that rewarding smile. After Kent handed her purse to her, Nick led her to his Mercedes and opened the passenger door. Just then she hesitated, wondering if allowing him to make them spend time together was really worth her pride at not turning down a challenge. She was effectively helping him with his cause to wriggle his way into her life.

The sensation of a thumb brushing over her chin snapped her out of her thoughts. Nick’s expression was gentle, but there was no room for compromise when he spoke.

“In the car, baby.”

A shiver wracked her body at the natural dominance in his tone. Making it worse, he skimmed his nose along the curve of her neck, inhaling deeply, and followed it up with a lick that almost had her knees buckling. But she had to make him believe his efforts were making no difference, she reminded herself. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t true—she had to make him think that so he would leave sooner rather than later, because he would leave. Knowing her legs weren’t going to hold her up much longer, she slid onto the passenger seat. He gave her another of those rewarding smiles.

They drove in a companionable silence, although occasionally he would look over at her and wait for her to meet his gaze as though he wanted to make sure her mind wasn’t elsewhere. It surprised her that although Nick had a strong, imposing personality and could be quite intense, she didn’t find his presence suffocating. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was trying so hard to keep him at a distance, Shaya might have felt relaxed around him.

Arriving at the diner, Nick possessively shackled her wrist with his hand and kept her to his side as they strolled toward the entrance. The physical contact served to further uplift his wolf’s typically dark mood. She gave him an odd look and tested the strength of his hold. When his grip didn’t slacken, she sighed in surrender—as if indulging him was the easier thing to do in this instance. It was.

Once they had placed their orders with the waitress, Shaya spoke. “What did you do with your morning?”

Nick sat back in his seat opposite her and folded his arms across his chest. “First Derren and I went for a run in our wolf forms through the woods on the edge of town. After that we took Bruce for a walk in the local park. Then we had some fun losing the two wolves that the Nazi has following us.”

Inwardly, Shaya shook her head in wonder at how even when he sat, he maintained a powerful stance—head up, chest out, gut sucked in, feet wide apart. Then what he’d said penetrated, and her eyes widened. “He has people following you?”

Nick shrugged one shoulder. “I’m a stranger on his territory. He wanted to know what I was doing here.” He saw no need to worry her with talk about the game preserve. As long as the humans believed she was one of them, she was safe.

“Maybe he’s worried you’ll help the rebels, organize them and make them into a proper pack. Will you?”

“No. I told you: you’re more important to me than being in a pack.”

“You expect me to believe that you don’t miss being Alpha? That you don’t miss your old territory and your family and friends? Your mom and sister have come to visit, but your brother’s still back there.”

Nick raised a hand. “Three things. One, I never wanted to be Alpha. Two, my family is important to me, but so are you. Three, I don’t have friends.”

She double-blinked in surprise. “What do you mean, you don’t have friends?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“Then what’s Derren?”

“A pain in my ass. I told you, I don’t like company—except for yours, obviously.” He truly did enjoy being around her. His wolf, too, enjoyed it, even to the extent that he relaxed slightly when she was around.

A shifter who didn’t like company…Yeah, that was definitely a new one. “You do know that’s weird, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “I was never what you’d call social. But when I came out of juvie…I just didn’t feel like I could relate to other people. Derren, sure. But the others…they spent their teenage years going on dates, attending proms, and sneaking out to parties. I spent those years trying to stay alive in prison.”

Her wolf growled at that idea, not liking it any more than Shaya did. He had spoken so matter-of-factly—there was no sense of him feeling sorry for himself, and that just made the whole thing even more heart-wrenching for her. “I’ve heard stories about what those places are like. Is it as bad as the stories say?”

“Shifter juvie centers are inverted communities where the mayors are sick-minded prison guards who have taken your rights away and have total control of your life. But it’s not just them you have to worry about. There’s what you might call a ‘prisoner code’—break that, and you can be killed by your own kind. Fighting becomes a survival tool. The center that I went to…it wasn’t interested in rehabilitating us, wasn’t aiming to help us become well-adjusted adults. All it did was breed anger and hate and a hunger for vengeance. On the other hand, it’s a place that will teach you how to be street-smart, how to survive in the worst circumstances.” He gave her a grim smile. “Like I said, I don’t have pretty stories to tell you.”

“Maybe I still want to hear them.”

“So you can have more reasons to try to keep me away?” He shook his head. “You’re too important. I have to have you.”

“You’re sure this isn’t simply pride, stubbornness, and possessiveness talking? After all, it comes with being an alpha and the mating urges. I mean, you almost attacked Dom—” She stopped as he leaned forward and put a finger to her lips.

“Don’t say his name, Shay. You don’t know how hard it was not to kill the flirt.”

She might have snapped at him for that comment if she hadn’t noticed a hint of pain in his eyes. The idea of her with Dominic had hurt him, she realized. Not just pricked at his possessive instincts. It had hurt him. Maybe she shouldn’t have cared, but then she remembered that Nick hadn’t dated anyone since first seeing her. He hadn’t even sought comfort from another female when he thought she was with Dominic, despite that pain and what must have felt like betrayal. “He’s just a friend. That’s all he ever was.”

“I know. Your old packmate, Ryan, assured me of that.”

“Ryan?”

“I saw him with the flirt at a club one night. I think Ryan was worried that I was going to attack his packmate—which I was—so he told me the facts in an effort to instill some rationality into me. Ryan then said he’d hate to hurt Shaya’s mate, so if I could leave the flirt alone, that would be great. Still, hearing you say his name makes me want to bite you.” To mark her, remind her that she didn’t belong to Dominic, she belonged to him. “I think you’d like that.”

Blushing and stifling her smile, she snapped, “Fuck you.”

“What, you mean right now? In front of all these people? I guess I could.”

She slapped his arm, and he laughed. Eager to change the subject, she said, “You need to make some friends. Whether you like company or not, it’s important to have friends.”

“Why would I want friends when I have you?”

“You don’t have me.”

“I will. Do you want to know what makes me so sure of that? Because no other situation is acceptable to me.” His life had been a dull time without her. He didn’t want to go back to that. Even arguing with her made him feel alive. It was the strangest feeling to have his wolf in a bright mood, but that was what she did to him. “Nothing you say or do will make me give up. Like I said, you’re too important to me. The sooner you accept that, the happier we’ll both be.”

The resolve in his tone and expression practically petted her wolf. Their food came then, and it seemed that Nick’s interest in chatting was over. With any normal person, it might have been because he was ready to tuck into his meal. But Nick wasn’t normal, and apparently what he really wanted was to up the level of sexual tension between them. If he wasn’t feeding her and then watching her chew as if riveted by the movement of her mouth, he was holding her hand and fiddling with it or nipping at her palm. In between all that, he would reach over and play with stray strands of her hair or snatch some of her fries, knowing she didn’t like to share her food. Then he tried playing footsie under the table, but after she lost her patience and stomped hard on his foot, they just ended up playfully kicking each other instead.

Shaya had been shocked to find that she was actually enjoying herself. She spent more time laughing and smiling than blushing, which was no small thing, given the filthy thoughts traveling through her mind. Of course that smile faded somewhat when they walked to the car and found a human guy with cold eyes and a cocky countenance waiting there with two other males, his hateful gaze trained on Nick. She recognized them as some of the human extremists from the other night.

She wasn’t surprised when Nick easily held the leader’s frosty gaze, not in the least bit intimidated. Nor was she surprised when he stood in front of her slightly in a very protective move. Derren seemed to appear out of absolutely nowhere on Nick’s other side, as expected. What did surprise her was that rage was radiating from both Nick and Derren. Sure, the humans were cruel and prejudiced, but this…this rage had a different source.

The human smiled at Shaya, creeping her out. “It’s clear to me that you’re Nick’s girl. What’s not clear to me is whether or not you know he’s an animal.”

“Being a shifter doesn’t make someone an animal,” she replied. Her wolf bared her teeth at him.

“Oh, so you’re a shifter groupie.” The humans all laughed. “There sure are plenty of them roaming around.”

She was about to correct him and declare that she was a half-shifter and proud to be, but then Nick took her hand and squeezed lightly. She understood the signal: He didn’t want them to know in case they targeted her. Neither did she but, dammit, this jabbed at her pride.

“How can it not bother you that he’s inhuman? You’re a traitor to our race.”

“And you’re a pedophile, a rapist, and a sadist…aren’t you, Logan?” said Derren, ending the sentence with a snap of his teeth. “You have a fondness for young boys, as I recall.”

Shock crashed into Shaya as the implications of that comment settled in. Now she understood where Nick and Derren knew him from, just as she now understood the source of Nick’s and Derren’s rage. She also understood that if Logan had succeeded in abusing either Nick or Derren, they wouldn’t have allowed him to speak—he’d have been dead before he could blink. And she’d have looked on, clapping. Sick bastard.

Logan’s attention shot to Derren. He narrowed his eyes, his expression nostalgic. “I should have known that his guard is you. You always did follow him around.”

“So did you.” Derren cocked his head. “But you weren’t like the other guards at first, were you? No, in the beginning, you wouldn’t play a part in the torture that went on in that place. But then eventually you gave in, and you found that you liked it. But you hated that you liked it, hated that you enjoyed sick shit like that. A little voice in your head reminded you it was wrong. So it had to be someone else’s fault, didn’t it? It had to be the shifters’ fault that you got a hard-on for them, that you couldn’t stop. And that’s why you truly hate us—what you did to the shifters in that place made you see who you really are and how sick your desires are. The truth is, though, that you have the same desire to hurt humans, don’t you? The people who should be isolated from society are sick motherfuckers like you.”

At this point, Logan had turned an odd shade of purple and looked close to hyperventilating. The other humans seemed uncomfortable and confused. “The laws will be put into place—make no mistake about that.”

“Maybe they will,” said Nick. The only thing that stopped him from throwing accusations about the game preserve at Logan was that he didn’t want to make the people behind it nervous. If Logan was involved, he would tell them. “But you’ll still always be an evil bastard who lost his right to live a long time ago.”

Both Shaya and her wolf shivered at the silky menace in Nick’s voice.

“Now back the fuck off,” growled Nick. Very wisely, the humans returned to their van. They didn’t drive off, clearly intent on remaining on his tail.

“No one who abuses another person, particularly a child, deserves to live,” stated Shaya firmly. “No one. But you can’t let him trick you into attacking him.”

Nick stroked a hand over her hair. “I know. Don’t worry, I can be patient. Come on, let’s go—your lunch hour’s over, and you need to get back to work.”

Once in the car and clicking on her seatbelt, Shaya tilted her head as she considered the situation. “So…you have two of the Nazi’s wolves watching you, human extremists are tracking you, and you also have the rebels hovering around you.”

Nick smiled, though his mood was grim. Only Shaya could have made him smile right then. “I thought you wanted me to make friends.”

“This isn’t in the least bit amusing. You have dangerous people on your ass.”

His expression fierce, he assured her, “I won’t let them harm you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s you I’m worried about, Beavis.”

Nick smiled again. “I knew you cared.”

It was no surprise to Shaya when he later appeared at closing time to give her a ride home from work. She resisted, of course…though, if she was honest, she resisted more because she thought she should than because she wanted to. He played her well, using her own words against her that giving her a ride was totally innocent. He also did the whole “show me I’m making no difference” thing, too. The bastard was good at this.

Minutes later, she was sliding into the passenger seat with a huff. Instantly, the delicious smell of Bolognese wrapped around her. He’d cooked for her. Again. Asshole. “You know, I’m perfectly capable of fending for myself,” she said when he joined her inside the car.

“It doesn’t mean I can’t cook for you and make your evening simpler, does it?”

“You already commandeered my lunch hour. Wasn’t that enough for you?”

“Nope.”

She shook her head. “You are so selfish.”

“Not selfish, baby.” His expression was all innocence. “I just like things my way. As long as they are, I’m very reasonable and accommodating.”

All she could do was growl. When they arrived at her house, it was to be greeted by the deafening noises coming from her neighbor’s place. Great. He was throwing another house party.

“What the fuck is that?” asked Nick.

“It’s Eric’s Friday-night ritual, though sometimes he has a party on a weeknight too.”

“That’s not a house party. I’ve heard quieter concerts than that.” Outside the car, he asked, “Haven’t you said anything to him?” Not liking the odd look on her face, he pressed, “Shay?”

Huffing, she replied, “Of course I’ve talked to him.” The first time it had happened, she’d nicely asked him if he could turn down the music. He’d said of course he could…but that he wouldn’t and she could fuck off—and all because she’d politely declined his offer of a date. So she’d argued with him a little, and usually Shaya was pretty good at negotiating with people. But this guy was determined to make her pay for being “stuck up” and rejecting him. He’d even spat at her.

Shaya hadn’t done too well with that, and her response had been to dig out her baseball bat and attack his car; the amount of noise coming from the house meant he hadn’t even heard her. Naturally he’d turned up at her home the next day, automatically suspecting it was her. Naturally she’d denied it, as time in prison wasn’t appealing. Since he hadn’t been able to prove it was her, the police hadn’t acted.

“And?” prodded Nick.

“And nothing. He’s an ass to me.”

“He’s an ass to you?”

It turned out that telling him that had been an extremely bad move on her part, because then Nick was marching toward her neighbor’s house. She hurried after him. “Nick, just leave it.”

“Leave it?” he scoffed without breaking stride. “Not a chance.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters.” That kind of disturbance would be bad enough for human hearing. For shifter hearing, it was painful.

“He’s doing this to get a reaction because I pissed him off by rejecting him and vandalizing his car. Don’t give him that reaction.”

“You vandalized his car?” He’d bet that her beloved bat was involved.

“It’s just a party.”

“That’s not a party. That’s an attempt to aggravate you.”

He was right about that. “Did you forget that two of Logan’s men are watching you?” The last thing she wanted was Nick being violent right now.

In truth, for a few seconds, he actually had. “Not a problem. They’ll just assume we’re going to the party. And if they look to be suspicious, Derren will know to distract them.” Then Nick was marching up the driveway of her neighbor’s house.

“Nick, for God’s sake, listen to me!” But he didn’t. Instead, he began pounding his fist on the front door. A few seconds later, the door swung open and a tall blonde dressed in…pretty much nothing was eying Nick like he was a snack. Shaya didn’t like that. So she growled. As if to reassure her, Nick closed his hand over hers.

Keeping Shaya close, Nick pushed his way inside and closed the door behind him, not wanting the extremists to see anything. “Where’s Eric?” he asked the blonde.

Looking suddenly nervous—though it didn’t seem to stop her from ogling Nick, which pissed Shaya the hell off—the blonde pointed down the hallway. “He’s in the kitchen.”

With a tight hold on Shaya’s hand, Nick strode toward the kitchen. His expression must have been bad, because people parted to let him through as he advanced down the hallway. He’d gotten a glimpse of her neighbor a few times, so he knew exactly who he was looking for. No sooner had he spotted the guy than Nick was in front of him with his free hand curled around his throat.

Shock took over Eric’s face, and his eyes bulged. “What the—”

“Don’t speak. Just listen.”

The chattering in the room suddenly stopped, and Shaya was pretty sure that if Nick had been anybody else, people would have intervened. But it was like Derren had once said: When Nick was angry, people paid attention. At that moment, he was absolutely livid, and only a fruit loop would have wanted Nick’s wrath shifted to them. Her wolf was feeling pretty smug about the whole thing, liked that her mate was protecting her; it was important to her to know that he could.

“You can see Shaya beside me,” growled Nick. Eric’s eyes briefly flickered to her. “So I don’t think I need to explain why I’m here or why I’d like to snap your neck, do I?”

Eric did what was typical of any bully—he stood down the second someone stronger than him confronted him. Rather than fighting Nick’s grip, he stayed very still. “No.”

“I don’t think I need to explain what will happen if you don’t stop making yourself a problem for her, do I?” When Eric’s eyes again moved to Shaya, Nick tightened his hold on the bastard’s throat. “Don’t look at her. Look at me. Now answer my question. I don’t need to explain what will happen, do I?”

Eric shook his head as much as Nick’s grip would allow.

“Tell me,” rumbled Nick. “Tell me what I’ll do to you if you ever even try to upset her again.”

His voice came out strained and hoarse. “You’ll beat me up.”

Nick tsked. “Wrong. I’ll slash you open, rip out your intestines, and string you up by them. Because Shaya’s very, very important to me. And you know that voice in your head that tells you not to do wrong? I have one of those, but it doesn’t give a shit about right and wrong when someone upsets her.”

Seeing that not only was Eric likely to piss himself but that Nick was having difficulty staying in control, Shaya squeezed Nick’s free hand lightly and supportively, whispering low enough for only him to hear, “It’s okay. Let him go.” His hold on Eric loosened, but he didn’t release him. “Let him go, Nick. Come on.” She squeezed his hand again, pressing herself against his side. Inhaling deeply, Nick released Eric and locked his arm around Shaya. She should have moved away, but instead she melted against him, knowing he needed it. “Let’s go.” Turning, she realized that—no surprise—Derren was in the doorway of the kitchen.

He raised a questioning brow at her and Nick, asking, “Everything okay?”

Nick began leading her out of the house with Derren at their side. “Just making friends. Shay thinks I should get some.”

She snorted. “Shaya also thinks you should be keeping a low profile right now, not confronting idiotic humans.” He simply shrugged, like that was irrelevant when the subject matter was her. He truly was a law unto himself. And that was when something occurred to her. She’d originally thought he’d give up on winning her over after a series of rejections, but now she wasn’t so sure. Outside, she turned to him. “You could never be ‘handled’ by anyone, could you?”

Derren barked a laugh. “People have tried.”

Having thrown Derren a scowl, Nick met her gaze. “You’re beginning to realize that getting me to leave won’t be as simple as you thought,” he surmised. “Good. By all means keep trying to push me away if you feel you must, baby. But it won’t make a damn bit of difference.” It was a warning as much as it was a vow. He trailed the tip of his finger from her temple, down her cheek, over her jaw, and along her neck until he reached the collar of her T-shirt. “I won’t give you up. Not for anything. Not even for you.”