Chapter 6
Wes
She was the single most infuriating woman I’d ever met.
Not to mention, I’d had no idea that there were wolves in the dragon territory.
Seems like something Toby would’ve mentioned.
Wolves and dragons had never gotten along, but Calvin in particular got under my skin, and fast. He gave off a dark, dangerous energy that had my dragon rattled. And when he was rattled, I was pissed.
I hated being a dick to Livvie about it, but what was I supposed to say to her? Oh, he’s a wolf. You might not want him running your business. Wolves suck. I’d have to cut her some slack or be less obvious about my dislike for the guy.
Or come up with a legit, human reason she shouldn’t have him working for her.
The stench of arousal coming off Calvin had been almost more than I could take.
I wanted to rip his head right off his shoulders.
It had been my dragon who was so offended by the desire coming from the wolf, of course.
It hadn’t bothered me that much because I wasn’t even sure I planned to pursue a relationship with Livvie.
Even I didn’t believe myself. I sighed and followed Livvie into the store. “Hey,” I said, catching up with her inside the door. “I’m sorry.”
She already had a cart out of the corral and gave me a sidelong glance. “Are you?”
“Yes. That man gives me bad vibes. I…” I searched for any reason I’d get the vibes off of him. “Uh, I tend to be a bit empathic.”
Livvie scoffed. “Oh, come on. Being good at reading a room doesn’t make you an empath. They don’t exist.”
Great. She was totally against the idea of the supernatural. It’d be fun to explain what I really was to her eventually. Another reason this was a bad idea. “Well, whatever it was, I didn’t get a good feeling from him. I’m sorry I spoke to you like a dick, though.”
She started forward, turning to the left. “This way,” I said, pointing right. “I’ll show you what we need.”
“Thank you,” she muttered sincerely. “I appreciate you taking on this job to save me a bit of money.”
I walked beside her. “I’m not a bad guy, I promise.”
“You know bad guys probably say that, too?” But she looked over at me with a twinkle in her eye. “So, you could be giving me the quintessential bad guy line.”
We grabbed a few gallons of the liquid and a couple of sprayers. “This should do it,” I said.
After I loaded the bottles on the counter, the cashier smiled a little too brightly at Livvie. He flashed his pearly white teeth at her, and I wanted to strangle him. Asshole. Lust poured off the guy in waves as Livvie, totally oblivious to his flirtations, chatted with him about the weather.
I’d never been a jealous man but watching this fool flirt with my woman made my gums itch with the need to bare my teeth and claim her.
But she wasn’t mine. She wasn’t mine and there was a chance she never would be. I had to control these impulses.
My control didn’t extend to my face. The cashier’s glance strayed over to me and the moment he saw me, the scent of lust abruptly changed to fear. He sensed what Livvie didn’t, deep down inside, his instincts told him I was dangerous.
Not that I’d let myself or my dragon actually do anything. I could control him that far, at least. But I didn’t mind the kid feeling a little scared at the thought. Not at all.
Livvie, oblivious before, looked between me and the cashier and sighed. Of course, this she picked up on. Just freaking great. I was about to ruin this before it got started, whether I wanted it to or not.
The drive back to the bed and breakfast was silent and awkward. I needed to apologize to her for being erratic today. But I wasn’t ready to do it yet.
As soon as I parked, Livvie hopped out of the truck without another word. I sighed and watched her walk around the side of the building, heading for a path off to the right. One of the kitchen staff had told me yesterday that was where her cottage was.
That was something I hadn’t wanted to know. I could’ve figured it out but walking down that path was going to be a bad temptation.
Calvin walked out of the door nearest the path as Livvie headed up it.
She was too far away to hear me, but with his doggy hearing, I knew he could.
“You better keep your paws off of her, if you know what’s good for you,” I growled in a low voice as I stared him down.
“Unless you want to become a burned corpse.”
My suspicions were confirmed when he responded. Oh, yeah. He could hear me. His lips barely moved as he replied under his breath. “She’s not claimed. I’ve got no reason not to pursue her.”
A growl slipped past my lips, showing how volatile I felt when it came to Livvie. Calvin chuckled and went back into the kitchen.
And thus, my mood was set for the rest of the day. Foul, short-tempered, irate, and so on. Calvin clearly had a thing for Livvie that she was clueless about, and he had reason to be near her potentially more often than I even did.
Just feeling this territorial was irritating, making my mood even worse. What a jumble of damn drama I was today. I didn’t want to be around myself. I really considered leaving early and just knocking off.
Instead, I buried myself under the building, spraying for termites aggressively and alone. When the rest of the crew left, I did too, and called Anthony on the way. “Question for you, clan alpha,” I said in a voice that, though I tried to fake cheerfulness, didn’t quite make it.
“What’s going on?” he replied. “You’ve got good timing. You caught me driving home from the hospital, so I’ve got a moment.”
“Do you have any wolves in your territory?” I asked.
“No, our wards prevent any other type of shifter from entering Bluewater.” As I opened my mouth to reply, he sighed. “Though, Sammy has been out of town a lot lately, dealing with something personal. Why do you ask?”
“Because I’ve just left Livvie’s, and she’s hired a wolf to be her new kitchen manager.”
“You sure? Maybe he’s some sort of witch or something, and you got the wrong sense off of him.”
I chuckled. “I wish. I’m absolutely sure, though.”
“Well, with Sammy out of town, it’s possible that one got in without her here to feel it. Now that worries me. If he’s here, something could be wrong with the ward. I better let the clan know not to shift until Sammy gets back.”
“Sorry to bear all the bad news,” I said. “I figured you’d want to know.”
“Absolutely, I do. I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m surprised Wayne didn’t catch it,” I said.
He was one of Anthony’s dragons and worked in the kitchen they were using for their restaurant take-out.
I hadn’t had reason to go in there much, but I’d met him the last time I’d come to town to visit Toby.
I figured I’d run into him eventually during the remodel.
“He’s out of town,” Anthony said. “Some convention for caterers. Should be back soon, though.”
As I said goodbye, Calvin walked out of the kitchen with Livvie right behind him.
He had his hand on her arm and walked her to her car.
I hadn’t even heard her drive up, nor had I realized that was her vehicle.
I’d only ever seen her walk since she lived so close.
Even from where I stood halfway across the parking lot, I could clearly see her face was too pale and she looked a little shaky.
My feet moved before I’d made a conscious decision to go over and check on her. “What’s wrong?” I asked, walking past Calvin, and ignoring him completely. “Are you okay?”
She laughed shakily. “Don’t fuss.”
“I’ve got it handled,” Calvin said in a low voice behind me.
A growl erupted in my chest. I didn’t look back at him, but Livvie glanced up at the sound. “Both of you, knock it off,” she snapped.
I turned and glared at Calvin, leaving him no choice. A wolf didn’t stand a chance against a dragon. “You can head back inside. I’m sure you have pressing things to do.”
My dragon roared under my skin. There was no way Calvin didn’t feel it. His nostrils flared, but he nodded once. “I’ll text and check on you later,” he said to Livvie over my shoulder before shooting me another glare and turning.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” I asked Livvie. “What happened?”
She sighed and put the key in the ignition. “I got overheated helping in the kitchen and got a little lightheaded. It really wasn’t a big deal.”
“Does this happen a lot?” I crouched down beside her and ran my finger along her cheek. She didn’t feel too warm, but then I ran so hot it was hard for me to tell if someone else had a fever.
“No.” She scooted away from my hand. “I’m just going to go home and rest. I’d planned to run a few errands, which is why I drove over, but now I’ll go chill. I might be coming down with a cold or something, who knows?”
“Do you have any other symptoms?” I wanted to put my hand on her head and see if I could delve into her and get a sense of her well-being. I’d heard that sometimes mates could do that but didn’t know if it was true.
She turned toward me in amazement. “Are you a doctor or something?”
I rocked back on my heels and sighed. “I’m just concerned.”
Her irritated expression faded. “Thank you. I’ll be fine, though.”
“Let me drive you,” I suggested. “Just in case.”
She rolled her eyes but nodded. “Just in case.”
Standing, I held my hand out. She took it, and electricity danced up my arm from touching her and I wondered if she felt it too.
Damn.
I led her around the car without letting go of her hand, intensely aware of how happy my dragon was to be touching our mate as well as of the fact that Calvin stood in the doorway glaring at us. No doubt he’d heard her give in to letting me drive her home.
I shut her door after she sat and sent Calvin a triumphant smile. “What is she to you?” he whispered from the doorway.
As I neared the driver’s door, I said one thing. “Mine.” Livvie couldn’t have heard me, but I knew damn sure Calvin could.
“Show me where to go,” I said after pushing the seat back to its farthest position.
She pointed to a gravel lane I hadn’t even noticed in the corner of the lot.
“There’s a dirt path over there.” I knew where it was.
“But we created a real driveway for the cottage years ago when my grandmother decided to move out of it and live offsite and we turned the cottage into a rental for guests.”
“What made you decide to live there and not with your grandmother?” I asked.
“I wanted to be close, especially once we decided to remodel. I did stay with Nana at first. Plus, we won’t have guests here needing the cottage for a while anyway. If this all proves successful, I’ll decide what to do then, whether I’ll stay on here or move farther away from the property.”
I parked her car in front of a cute little lodge with tan siding and dark brown shutters. She got out of the car before I could get around to open her door. Well, I could have made it in time, but then Livvie might’ve had a few questions about how quickly I moved.
“Feel better,” I said as I handed her the keys. “And please, text me if you need anything. I’d be happy to come by.”
She nodded. “Thank you, really.” After pointing behind me, she smiled. “That’s the way back. It’s a quick walk.”
Backing away, I watched her unlock her door and go inside before turning to walk back.
This woman was going to get to me if I wasn’t careful.