Chapter Eight
Around him, some of Ripper’s clan members shifted right there in the clearing. Their shaggy fur black as night, they mingled in with the shadows, only their red eyes giving away their location. They scattered, weaving around the trees, yapping and howling.
His own muscles quivered with the urge to shift and run. The moon’s energy spoke to his soul – an energy that was cold, electric and magnetic. Too magnetic for Ripper. Like it was tugging at his skin, threatening to remove it from his bones – an aftereffect of having spent years in a Rabid state.
As a child, he’d only felt compelled to belong. Every wolf did. It made their clan-bonds tight. But the period of time he’d spent Rabid had changed that for him.
He didn’t properly remember those years – the snippets in his head were like those of a faded dream. The result, though? He didn’t yearn to belong. He yearned to be free.
He hadn’t told anyone, not even his brother, but at times Ripper had felt ‘called’ back to Bloodhill.
He’d lost four and a half years of his adolescence – that was how it had felt when he’d come out of his Rabid state.
At fifteen, he’d had to slot back into a life that had gone on without him and left him behind.
He hadn’t known how to be ‘normal’, hadn’t felt normal. He’d had no mental foothold. More, he’d felt like he didn’t fit in his own skin.
The call to return to Bloodhill had been so strong he’d occasionally considered giving into it. It would have been easier to go back to that wild, primitive state where complex emotions didn’t exist. The call felt much dimmer nowadays – the pull of the moon beating it by far.
Crew approached and nudged him, his blue-gray eyes lit with energy. ‘You ready?’
Ripper only gave a curt nod.
Kerr wouldn’t be running with them tonight. He’d found himself a female companion for the evening; had taunted Ripper with how he could do the same if only he’d let himself go to Black Willow Manor.
So Ripper had socked him in the gut.
He’d always had a certain image of Emberlyn in his head – her reputation preceded her, and rumors were aplenty. But having earlier realized there were things he hadn’t known, having spent a little time in her company, he realized she wasn’t quite what she seemed.
Still, he couldn’t say what exactly she seemed; couldn’t get a proper read on her. She only revealed the sides she wanted you to see. She didn’t appear to mind being either misunderstood or underestimated. It was unusual for an Alpha personality.
She was unusual. And . . . and he needed to stop thinking about her. She wasn’t for him. Simple.
Peripheral movement snagged his attention. He looked to see his brother approaching, his expression sober, his eyes dull, his wide shoulders stiff.
‘We could be doing something else now, brother,’ Logan clipped. ‘Could be spending our evening with our mate. Instead, we’re gonna have to burn off the moon’s call by sprinting through the woods on all fluffy fours. That doesn’t bother you?’
Ripper inwardly sighed. ‘You really want to go over this again? What’s the point? You know I won’t change my mind.’
Logan’s brown eyes flared. ‘So you’re good with someone else claiming her? Because that’ll happen eventually. Right now, CeCe’s giving you time to come round to the idea of a triad. She won’t wait forever.’
Quite frankly done repeating himself, Ripper felt his jaw harden. ‘Logan, I’m not going to “come round”. This isn’t something I’m ever gonna want.’
Logan stalked closer, his brows snapping together.
‘You think I really want a triad? You think I want to share the woman I love with anyone? The truth is no, I don’t.
But I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure I don’t lose her.
You won’t, though, will you? Which shows you don’t love CeCe anywhere near as much as I do. ’
‘You’re probably right. But where’s the sense in you being pissed at me? I’m not the one refusing to give you what you want because, as you’ve just admitted, what you want isn’t even a triad – it’s just for her to be yours.’
Crew leaned closer, scratching at his dark stubble. ‘You might want to keep your voices down,’ he began quietly, ‘because she’s just stepped out of the trees with her friends. And she’s spotted you both.’
Ripper didn’t let his gaze track her down, but his brother couldn’t help but look.
Pain glinting in his eyes, Logan shoved a hand through his dirty blond hair. ‘She’s all I ever wanted, Rip. Sucks that she can’t say the same about only me.’ He stalked off, stripping as he went.
For Logan, it likely felt more ‘unfair’ because he’d wanted CeCe first. They’d grown close in the aftermath of the battle caused by Rosemary, which had resulted in the death of CeCe’s parents as well.
She’d been there for Logan while Ripper was Rabid, and she’d been one of the few people who hadn’t treated Ripper differently when he came back.
Who hadn’t watched him, wary of what those years spent in Bloodhill might have done to him.
He’d grown to care about her, drawn by her confidence, her daring, her determination and her fierceness.
But lately, he’d come to see the flip side of those qualities.
Her belief in herself wouldn’t let her consider that things wouldn’t go her way.
Her sense of daring made her push buttons she shouldn’t push.
Her obstinance meant she refused to back down.
And her fierceness caused her to pursue her triad goal without fear.
Watching his brother dart into the woods in his wolf form, Ripper sensed CeCe sidling up to him.
‘Is he okay?’ she asked, her voice soft.
Ripper met her powder-blue gaze. ‘You should ask him.’
Her pretty face fell at his hard tone. ‘Don’t give me the cold shoulder, Rip – I can’t stand it.’
‘I’m not being cold, I’m just not interested in talking more about all this. If you really care that he’s hurting, if you really want to be with him, put him out of his misery.’
‘But to do that would make you miserable.’ She anxiously skimmed a hand over her brown curls. ‘I don’t want to come between you and Logan.’
She was already coming between them. She could have just accepted Ripper’s initial refusal and dropped the whole thing. By dragging it out, she was not only keeping Logan’s hopes alive, she was also ramping up his anger – an emotion he was directing at Ripper rather than her.
‘I don’t want to lose your friendship, Rip.’
‘Then respect my choice and drop this triad bullshit.’
The corners of her eyes tightened. ‘It isn’t bullshit, it’s a solution.’
‘For you, yeah. Not for me. Not even for Logan – he’d go along with it to have you, but he’d never really be happy. The mating would eventually fall apart.’
She notched up her chin. ‘I don’t believe that, or I’d never have suggested it.’
‘You should believe it because it’s a fact. And even if you were right, it wouldn’t make any difference – I’d still say no to a triad.’
She sighed. ‘Look, I know you’re possessive of me and you feel it would be hard to share me—’
‘It isn’t about possessiveness. I’m just not interested in what you’re proposing.’
Her brows drew together. ‘What do you have against triads?’
‘Nothing at all. I just don’t want to be in one. Either give a relationship with Logan a shot, or let’s all go back to the way things were.’
She studied him carefully. ‘Do you regret that night the three of us spent together?’
‘Yeah, I do.’
She flinched. ‘Ouch.’
He hadn’t admitted it to hurt her; he’d done it in the hope that she’d finally get the message. ‘Make a choice, CeCe – either take Logan for a mate, or we both go back to being simply friends with you. There’s no other option on the table.’ Ripper walked off before she could say more.
Keeping pace with him, Crew said, ‘She’s a good person. She is. She just never does well with being denied what she wants.’
Ripper rolled his shoulders. ‘She needs to learn to deal with it, fast, because I’m not changing my mind.
’ Once he felt far enough away from her, he stripped and gave himself over to the shift – felt his bones reshape, his skin stretch, his jaw elongate, his claws slice out, his fur sprout, his vision change.
It was over in milliseconds, and then he was on all fours.
Crew at his side, he ran.
Stood on the private dock of his lake house the following day, Ripper heard the rumbling of an engine.
Tracking the sound, he saw a familiar truck approach and felt his mouth tighten.
He’d expected a visit from Carver at some point.
He’d thought the Alpha would turn up at one of the clan-run businesses, though, not boldly come to his home as if they were anything more than mere acquaintances.
Ripper had never liked the guy. Carver was all ease and charm and friendliness, but beneath it all he was a fucking snake. A person who did what it took to get his way. He’d push, nag, lie, conceal, steamroll, exaggerate his strength and skills – whatever.
It made him a good salesman at his car dealership. But it didn’t make him a decent Alpha.
Carver didn’t have a tight control over his clan. Worse, he didn’t care. For him, it appeared to be a point of pride that his wolves were the ‘bad boys’ of the town.
No one else actually considered them ‘bad boys’, though. That was only Carver’s assessment. In reality, they were just reckless and immature.
Reluctantly turning away from the view of the lake, Ripper stalked along the dock, the boards creaking beneath his boots. He weaved his way through the tall trees that framed his house, arriving at the small parking area just as Carver pulled up.
He wasn’t alone.
His two sons had come along – one was riding shotgun, the other was in the middle of the rear passenger row. Both watched Ripper carefully. Neither would meet his gaze for more than a few seconds at a time, though.