Stealing Sloane (Lone Wolf Generations #5)

Chapter 2

T he door slamming in his face jolted Jacob Martin from his trance. All his life, he’d never had anyone get under his skin like that Lone Wolf did and in such a short amount of time.

To be fair, she did have a fantastic pair of boobs. On the large side, but not too much, tipped with prettiest pink nipples he’d ever seen.

He almost regretted backing off at the last minute.

She did offer, he thought with a shrug.

But at the very last minute, sanity prevailed. There were many reasons he shouldn’t fuck Sloane. First, she was sister to the True Mate of not one, but two people in his family. Two, she was a lunatic, and he was old enough to know not to stick his dick in crazy. And three, he couldn’t stand her, and even until now, he didn’t know if he wanted fuck or strangle her.

Or both.

Some chicks dug that, after all.

Something told him Sloane was the kind of girl who enjoyed that kind of thing.

He rubbed his jaw with his thumb and forefinger. Though it had healed, the memory of that kick to the face hadn’t quite faded from his memory yet.

His wolf, on the other hand, let out a needy whine.

Ha, you would like her , he thought.

His wolf wasn’t exactly … normal. It was unruly and temperamental, perhaps due to the fact that he wasn’t an ordinary Lycan, but rather, a hybrid—part wolf, part warlock. While his mother didn’t have powers of her own, Selena Martin came from one of the most powerful witch bloodlines in the world, which meant she passed on her magical genes to him and his sister. While his older sister Lizzie could talk to computers, Jacob could create and manipulate flames, a talent his parents discovered one day when he was a child and he accidentally lit the kitchen on fire.

His fiery powers and his wolf nature were a volatile combination, and controlling both had been a challenge when he was an adolescent. His temper and emotions would get the best of him, and he would often get into fights, mostly goaded by his wolf.

He was much better now, as an adult, but something about Sloane got under his skin. The moment he laid eyes on her, it was as if his wolf had reverted back to that wild, hormone-and magic-fueled adolescent pup.

His finely-tuned ears picked up noise from behind the door—the sound of the water running, and the image of Sloane’s wet, naked breasts popped into his head. Which, in turn, got a reaction from his other head.

With a groan, he knocked his forehead on the door. It’s just lust. An itch he needed scratched. It had been a few weeks since he’d slept with anyone, the last time being a human he picked up at Blood Moon, a human who wanted to know what being with a Lycan would be like. For thousands of years, Lycans had kept their existence a secret from humans, until a few months ago when they were outed during a battle with their sworn enemies, the mages.

He had to admit, out of all the things that sucked about having their identities out in the open, the never-ending stream of groupies wanting to get Lycans in the sack was the best thing to come out of it. He’d enjoyed himself a lot over the last couple of months, but lately, he couldn’t muster up the interest. The hooking up felt so meaningless, and he was restless.

For the first time in his life, he wanted something more. He looked at the people around him—his brother, sister, cousins—all of them were moving on and finding their wives and husbands, and starting their families. Why couldn’t he have something like that too?

After that, it was like the idea of settling down had stuck in his brain, and despite the many nights he’d spent trawling Blood Moon and other bars, he couldn’t find any woman who sparked his interest.

And just his luck, the first person after all these months who even caught his attention was a crazy she-wolf.

Taking a deep breath, he managed somewhat to calm his erection into a less embarrassing state, then turned around to head back to the kitchen where, hopefully, Cliff and Stella had sorted out their differences.

The couple was seated on the chair, or at least, Cliff was and Stella was on his lap, legs dangling over the side, their mouths melded together.

So, they did sort things out.

“Ahem.”

They swiftly broke apart, and Stella scrambled to her feet.

“Oh, hey, Jacob,” she greeted, her face red as a tomato.

“So …” He flashed his cousin a wry smile. “I take it everything’s good between you two?”

Cliff’s grin was as wide as an ocean. “Yeah.”

“And you really are?—”

“Yes.” The way he looked at Stella as her blush deepened confirmed it—they were, indeed, True Mates.

“Congrats, happy for you both.” And he really was. Almost everyone in his family found their True Mates, and he knew how special that was. I just wish … “You both deserve a happy ever after.”

“It’s not over yet, though,” Cliff said, rising from the chair and placing an arm around Stella. “Ronan Forte still wants Stella and Sloane.”

His wolf let out an uneasy snarl. “Yeah. We’re lucky they didn’t get into the mix today.”

“He’s going to try again, I know it.”

Unfortunately, Jacob had the same gut feeling. “What are we going to do about it then?”

“Well, for today, we stay put but keep our guards up. I’ll call Uncle Killian and tell him everything as well.” Killian Jones was not only the president of Lone Wolf Security and Investigations, the family business where he and Cliff worked, but as the oldest of their close-knit family, he was also their unofficial leader.

“He’ll know what to do.” Hopefully that meant keeping that asshole Alpha away from Sloane and Stella. “Meanwhile, I’ll take first watch?”

Cliff nodded. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll see you in twelve hours.” Heading toward the front door, Jacob unbuttoned his jeans and shimmied out of them, tossing them on the couch before he shifted into his wolf. On its way out, it raised its head, sniffing the air, taking note of the familiar scents inside. It recognized Cliff’s and Stella’s and of course, Sloane’s sage, lavender, and peppery scent, and let out a whine.

C’mon , he groaned at his wolf. We have work to do.

Patrolling had never been Jacob’s favorite task, but it was a necessary part of the job, albeit a boring one. It usually involved long hours of being alone and nothing ever happened, which, as his father had said, meant that they had done their job right.

In his wolf form, he was able to stay hidden among the shadows surrounding Stella’s property. Every hour or so he would walk the perimeter, though it was small enough that it wasn’t truly necessary. With his enhanced hearing, he could hear everything and everyone approaching the house. As they lay in the darkness in the far corner of the backyard, the wolf raised its head and sniffed, the dry, desert heat reminding him of another place—one they had called home.

Two years ago, he went on long term assignment in Zhobghadi, the mysterious desert kingdom in the Middle East. The ruler, a dragon shifter, had married a Lycan from their clan, and Jacob and another Lycan had been tasked to guard the new royal family. Truly, it had been one of the most memorable times in his life. The silence of the desert had been unnerving at first, but there was a peace he found nowhere else, except maybe his uncle’s farm in West Virginia.

But best of all, in Zhobghadi, he was just … Jacob. Not Selena and Quinn Martin’s youngest son or genius Lizzie and human rights lawyer Anthony’s younger brother. Not the hothead hybrid who almost burned down a TriBeCa loft or the temperamental and unpredictable youth who started fights because they were fun. Not the suave skirt-chaser with a revolving door of women to his bedroom.

It was almost like a new beginning for him, and he had a life that was all his own. In the oppressive heat of the desert, he could finally breathe .

While he was happy to come back to New York to fight against their enemies and protect those he loved most, over the last few months, he’d begun to wonder what to do next with his life. His wolf, too, had grown restless. Perhaps that’s why he had started looking around him, trying to find the next step. Wondering when he, too, would settle down. When he could shed his reputation of being the irresponsible, unpredictable manchild most people thought him to be.

A noise coming from the house jerked him out of his thoughts, and his wolf raised its head toward the direction of the sound. A shadowy figure crept along the side of the house, making its way to the front lawn.

Go!

The wolf sprang toward the unsuspecting intruder, knocking it down to the ground, snapping its jaws in fury.

“Ow! Get off me, you moron!”

Sloane?

The wolf rolled off the female, shifting quickly back to its human form. “What the hell? What are you doing out here?”

Sloane scrambled to her feet. “Me? What are you doing, knocking me down?” She brushed her hands down her chest and torso. “Are you sneaking—” Her jaw dropped open as her gaze raked down his naked body, stopping at his now semi-hard cock.

Jacob could barely suppress his laugh. “My eyes are up here, pervert.”

She blinked a few times, then snorted as those pretty blue eyes rolled. “Nothing interesting down there anyway.”

“Sure.” The way her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets said otherwise. “What the heck are you doing out—” He stopped short as he saw the backpack she wore and his stomach dropped. “You’re leaving.”

“ Ding, ding, ding, give the man another prize,” she said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

He swallowed. “Why?”

“Why do you care if I stay or not?”

“I don’t.” He took a step toward her. “But you’ll break Stella’s heart if you leave.”

Her lips twitched. “I’m doing this to protect her. You know this is the only way.”

“Cliff will protect her. We’ll protect her.”

“Exactly.” She put her hands up. “Otherwise, I’d be taking her with me. But I thought about it real hard. With Stella under Cliff and your clan’s protection, nothing will happen to her. I’ll feel better knowing she’s in good hands and that Ronan will never get to her.”

“And what about you?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “What about me?”

“Who’s going to protect you?”

“Ha! As if I need protection. I’ve been fine on my own for a whole year.”

“Sure, but what about the next year? What are you going to do? Keep running forever?”

Her mouth pursed tight, but the silence told him that she wasn’t planning on being on the run for very long.

“You’re gonna go after him, aren’t you?”

“What’s it to you if I do?”

She was right, of course. It shouldn’t matter to him if she wanted to go on some suicide mission. She was nothing to him.

His wolf, on the other hand, let out a snarl and raked his claws at him.

“You … you just can’t, okay? I mean, you can’t do this. Stella would never get over it.”

“I hardly know her,” she said.

“But she’s still your sister. You’ve already lost your parents, she can’t lose you too.” A strange hollowness crept into his chest.

“I have to do this.” A determined expression set on her face. “This is the only way.”

“No, it’s not. Even if you don’t go after Ronan, he’s never going to stop coming after you, not until he pays for his crimes.”

“And who’s going to make him pay for murdering my parents?”

“The Lycan High Council will. My Alpha can help you. You need to do this the right way, so you can get justice for your parents. If you kill Ronan, you’ll not only have his clan after you, but the rest of our kind too, not to mention, the human authorities. Murder is still murder, and that’s never justified.”

She paused, as if contemplating his words.

“Besides,” he added before he could say anything else. “Don’t you want to meet your brother?”

“Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t know I’m alive. It could be the only way to keep him safe.”

Jacob smirked to himself. She had no idea who her brother was . He wasn’t exactly someone who could just disappear without questions being asked. “Oh, you should definitely meet him. He may not be as easy of a target as you think.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “Wait, you know my brother?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Who is he?”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“Surprise?” she echoed, the pitch of her voice rising. “Why is it a surprise?” She grabbed at his arm and tugged. “Tell me who he is.”

“No way.” He chuckled as he pulled his arm away. “You’ll have to find out for yourself.”

“Is he someone I know? Someone important?” She cocked her head to the side. “Are you lying to me to make me stay?”

“Yes?” He shrugged. “I don’t know? Maybe?”

“You’re lying.” She stamped her foot like a child. “Tell me now, or … or …”

“Or what?” He leaned in close to her face, close enough to take in a whiff of her intoxicating scent. “What are you going to do about it?”

Her lips pressed together. “You can’t stop me from leaving.”

“I know.” He hoped, however, she would do the right thing. “But then you’ll never know if I was lying or not.”

Before she could say anything else, he turned around, shifted back into his wolf, and trotted away from her. While tempted to look back, he and his wolf kept walking away, and the sound of the back door slamming shut told him that he had won this round.