Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
CARINA
Even during July and August, Banff’s busiest tourist seasons, I’ve never seen a gathering of this many people in one small location. Maybe at Lake Louise, where tourists arrive by the busload and at any given time, there might be hundreds crowding around the crystal-coloured lake.
People charge straight across clearings to greet one another as some circles break off into other ones.
Eventually the larger groups shrink into small duos and trios, a few of them slipping off into the woods.
Ryder said a lot of mates find one another at these things, and I wonder if I’m witnessing that.
Conan stays extremely close. Arm practically touching mine close, like a bodyguard. He casts a look my way when I step back. “You heard Alpha. Stay close.”
“Alpha already marked me, so what’s it matter?”
My snap gains the attention of a few nearby shifters’ attention. Forgetting about his mouth on my skin became my entire goal, starting from the second he walked away. In the time since, my body hasn’t stopped burning.
He held me like he never wants to let go. Like keeping me pinned close was the only way for us to breathe. His lips on my neck ripped through my skin and stole my breath. But his teeth? His little nips, his licks—all a promise of more.
And a realization of how long it’s been since I’ve gotten laid.
In the twenty minutes of Ryder’s absence, I’ve remained in my spot, clenching my hands within the hoodie’s sleeves. Admittingly, it’s warm and hides me better, and it smells like him, so I’m grateful, even if the way he forced me into it deserves a smack.
The more time I spend around him, the more I understand my compulsion for stalking him down by the lake. Something urged me his way, even back then. A feeling controlling me even now, wanting to be near him when he’s gone. If only I understood what that “something” is.
Seeing him for the first time was a random accident.
Late last summer, after returning from a trip to Red Deer, where they have the best little donut shop, I took a detour into pack territory, oddly and inappropriately compelled to check it out.
A glisten from a nearby body of water caught my eye, and though it seemed no different than every other lake or pond, this one tugged on my soul until stopping was my only option.
When I was nearly there, an animal came streaking through from the other direction.
Not wanting to be its lunch, I froze. When the animal—the wolf—stopped running, he shifted to human form.
All rippling muscles and an ass a loonie can be bounced off of, the beauty of his form stunned me still and had me barely remembering to cast a concealment spell.
For an hour, he sat by the edge of the pond and I remained.
After going home, he consumed my thoughts for the remainder of the day, and every day for the next week.
Knowingly breaking the treaty, I returned the same time the next week, figuring it was a shot in the dark and not sure if his visit was a one-off thing. When I arrived, so did he.
Thus began my obsession. A pull I felt to Ryder even before knowing him. Something magickal yanked me in that direction, I’m sure of it, but no such magick exists. There’s a fact I’m missing, hovering just on the edge of consciousness.
If only Freya could make a re-appearance; perhaps she’d know.
Conan shuffles closer, breaking the memories, which is unfortunate. Better to be lost in my head than acknowledge the many faces around me. Most are curious, some outright hostile. But none will attack, thanks to my bodyguard and their fear I’ll zap them down.
Which isn’t false.
“You okay?”
Conan’s words throw me for a second. “It’s awkward. Makes me wonder what the purpose was bringing me here.”
“Seems Alpha can’t leave you alone.”
From the corner of my eye, a figure starts towards me. My heart thuds, hoping it’s Ryder. It slows when it isn’t.
A guy about my age ambles forward. Literally swaggers, so apparently douches exist within all species. I’ve barely begun cataloguing his features when his path is intercepted by Conan.
“Jace, back away. You heard Ryder.”
The wolf—Jace—sneers at Conan. “Your Alpha should have considered what bringing a witch here would do. So now, he pays the price. Just a little sniff.”
Conan growls, officially gaining the attention of people close by.
Ah, fuck. Feeling the mounting pressure of everyone’s stares, I slide my foot backwards. But none are heavier than Jace’s, who isn’t looking at Conan, but over his shoulder.
I take another step, magick tingling my palms. No matter what Ryder asked, if Jace attacks, I’m defending. If he goes for Conan, I might protect him too, considering he has no reason to be injured because he’s doing a favour for Ryder.
“Little witch,” Jace coos. “One sniff.”
A gasp falls over the hushed crowd, and suddenly, Ryder’s there, shoving between Conan and Jace to send a hard punch into Jace’s face. It happens so quickly, no one moves. No one knows what’s happening. At least, I don’t.
“I told you to stay the fuck away from her!” Ryder roars in a guttural voice as he lunges. Two seconds is all Jace has before Ryder’s back on top of him.
Xander and Conan both dart to break them up, but a jerk of Ryder’s head reveals the wolfish teeth that are too large for his human mouth, the silver eyes, and the animalistic roar he sends his friends before shoving them off.
“Ryder, stop!” I charge forward, though getting into the middle of a wolf fight might be stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
“You.” Silver eyes flash up to me. “I’ll deal with you later. Get her the fuck out of here.”
Holly appears, wrapping her arm around my waist. Her voice, low and quick, blows over my neck. “Let it happen. Ryder’s displaying dominance.”
His dominance is no excuse for losing his mind.
Jace was harmless and Conan had him under control.
Ryder leaping in “to save the day” for a witch days away from being shipped away is dumb and pointless.
It suggests something to the other three packs and could affect his respect with them in the future.
I think.
Between Ryder’s punches, his half-shifted form, Xander and Conan trying to pull the two apart, and Jace’s swift kicks, no one’s getting anywhere.
I yank from Holly’s arms—which is difficult—and call upon the swirl of energy within me, sending a wave towards the four men, jolting each of them in a different direction.
Jace leaps to his feet. Conan and Xander were merely tripped to move them out of my way. But Ryder lands a short distance further away.
And from the look of complete and utter betrayal, he’s pissed. Claws out, teeth prodding his bottom lip, eyes shining, his chest heaves. His low snarl is felt down to my toes—a warning.
Stillness falls over the area. Everyone’s watching the witch Ryder made clear about protecting turn on him.
My hands lower, showing him I’m done.
An older man approaches, appearing behind Xander’s shoulder. He scans the scene and then me, his brows furrowing as he takes it all in. “Don’t be stupid, Ryder.”
The statement snaps Ryder out of it. He’s on his feet and lunging forward, and only the trust I feel that he won’t harm me keeps me still, until he bands a hand around my upper arm and propels me away from the crowd and through the trees we entered by earlier.
“What the hell is wrong with you, you maniac?” I jerk against his hold, but his fingers dig into my skin as he stomps us a dozen feet away. At least his claws have retracted, which saves my skin. “Let me go.”
He does, positioning himself between me and the clearing. His breaths seethe, lips parted in a snarl, but his teeth are smaller than earlier. Even his eyes have begun returning to normal.
“Conan was taking care of it. You completely undermined him. Take it from someone who spends half her life undermined by her High Priestess.”
“Says the witch who doesn’t know a fuckin’ thing about pack politics.”
Okay, he’s right about that. “Regardless, Conan was managing.”
“I’m aware.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“And why intervene?”
“You think I was gonna sit back and let you get harassed by that asshole? Or force my own pack member to do my job protecting you?”
His job? Holy Hecate, possession all of a sudden. The feminism in me curls up and dies, though, because it’s also fucking hot.
“I made a point to every single one there” —he stabs his finger towards the party— “and he disobeyed me. If it was anyone, even someone from my own pack, I would have done the same. Yes, Conan was doing his damn job, but you’re mine to protect and no one else will ever be more capable of it.”
His confession hovers in the silent night air between us. So electrifying silent, the bird’s chirps in the forest can be heard alongside our deep breaths.
His, ragged.
Mine, shallow.
“What does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?” he bites harshly. “You’re pack property, which makes you mine.”
For only a few more days.
“Still…he was only curious.”
Ryder laughs harshly, twisting to stalk a few steps away.
Dead leaves crunch underfoot. “The fact you believe that. No, he was trying to get close to you—to fuck you. You became that asshole’s prey, and how do I know?
Because it’s how shifters work.” He whirls, pacing my way.
“We’re hunters, and you, kamahki, would be the sweetest conquest.” His hands snap out and grasp my hips, yanking me against his chest. If air was still running through my lungs, I may have gasped.
“The forbidden fruit. The enemy. You were doomed the moment I walked you into that place and basically offered you up on a fucking platter.”
He growls beneath his breath, the warm exhale blowing over my face. We’re ridiculously close. As close as we were earlier when he was marking me. Exempt this time, there doesn’t seem to be an endgame to his actions.
“Thank you,” I whisper after another moment. No matter what I feel, in his opinion, the fight was warranted.
With a deep sigh, he releases all of me except my arm. That he keeps a hold of, a hand wrapping my wrist as he tugs me closer. “Come, we can’t leave yet. Don’t even fuckin’ think of leaving my side.”