Chapter 2
TWO
Gryff
What the fuck is that smell?
Here I am in my kitchen, making a coffee, when the sharpest, most acrid scent that’s ever scoured my nostrils reaches up and tries to yank my brain out my nose.
A low growl rises in my throat before I can stop it, and I drop my mug into the sink, spilling hot black liquid everywhere.
The cup smashes, and my claws start biting at my fingertips as my wolf tries to take over.
God damn it! I’ve been doing well lately. No unplanned shifting in three whole days. Now, just like that, I’m closing my eyes, counting to ten, and working through the breathing exercise the damn quack thinks will somehow fix me. Who is she kidding? There’s no fixing a wolf as broken as me.
My lips peel back in a snarl as the scent grows stronger still. Storming to my back door, I yank the handle hard enough that I’m lucky I don’t pull the whole fucking door off its hinges before stamping out into the yard. Somehow I keep hold of my human form—just.
As soon as I’m outdoors, the scent clarifies into something sweetly feminine, overlaid with that bitter note of terrible sadness.
My eyes rove across the terrain, on the lookout for danger, scanning for any threat.
The steps of my back porch lead down to the forest of grass in my backyard, the overgrown garden beds and a large tree which dominates the space and shades the house almost completely.
The source of the scent is over the well-kept fence, in my neighbor’s yard—which is impossible, since my neighbors, the Ashfords, left yesterday on vacation.
My gaze snags on a pretty girl with long blonde hair stuffed under a ball cap and a curvy feminine figure in denim shorts and a white tank top. She’s backed up against the door of the house while a delivery guy in a red and white polo top leans over her, bracing his arm on the wall behind her.
The growl in my throat threatens to become a full-blown snarl. Any idiot can see this girl’s not into it. If her body language wasn’t enough to convey that loud and clear, the bitter scent of her misery is crying out for me to smack this asshole into next week.
Striding to the gate I installed between the two properties, I throw it open and march through. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Delivery Guy spins, and I catch a glimpse of a red-bearded face before it elongates into the snout of a lizard as he shifts, and then his sharp teeth are bared in a hiss. “I saw her first, beta.”
Rage boils inside me, and my wolf acts like he was scalded.
Don’t you know an alpha when you see one?
A roar tears from me. There’s a searing pain all down my spine and a horrible tearing sound as my shirt splits up the back.
My body swells. Hair sprouts up my arms and across my chest. My tail presses against my pants, but thankfully I’m wearing jeans and they’re sturdy.
I lunge at the slimy lizard shifter, snapping my jaws. “Get the fuck off my lawn.” By this point my pheromone glands are out of control, and I can smell the stink of my own musk, warning this loser to back off.
The woman shrieks, and somewhere at the back of my brain my human side cringes at the sound. I hate scaring people. That’s one reason I keep to myself, even in Mosswood where most of the inhabitants are supes. After my medical discharge, I’m a danger to everyone.
The lizard shifter clearly has a death wish. He lunges at me, dropping his satchel on the grass. Bags of groceries scatter everywhere.
Then the human girl darts in between us, and I nearly swallow my own tongue trying to snap my jaws shut before I accidentally bite her.
“Stop, please! I didn’t mean to cause a fight. Let’s just all calm down.”
Hackles on the back of my neck prickle, but I force myself to step back and respect her wishes. A purr rises in my chest on instinct, my wolf’s way of calming the situation.
Asshole delivery dude has no such common sense. With a gleeful bark of laughter, he darts forward and wraps his arm around her waist.
As soon as his skin touches hers, I go blank.
I’m not talking a blink or blurred vision.
I’m talking full-on black out, no idea what the fuck happens until suddenly I wake up on top of the delivery guy with my teeth around his throat.
The pungent flavor of his musk is enough to wrinkle my nose, but I hold there snarling.
When I’m good and satisfied he’s not going anywhere, I pull back enough to speak. “Get the fuck out of here and don’t come back. Can’t you see she doesn’t want you to bother her?”
The lizard guy just gives me a dopey smile. “Whatever you say, boss.”
Confused, I crouch back onto my haunches, watching him. He’s gone all floppy and docile. Did my pheromones overpower him that much?
He gets up and brushes himself off, giving my new neighbor a stupid grin. Then he walks back to his truck—apparently forgetting all about the shopping bags strewn out on the lawn—starts the ignition, and drives away.
Okaaaaaay.
Turning, I spot the girl sitting on the step, cheeks flushed and knees pressed together. She's young, but not as young as I first thought. Not based on those curves—which I am definitely not ogling after she was just assaulted.
Fuck.
Her lip trembles, and a fat tear slides down her cheek, and it might as well be a rusty knife slicing through my heart. I stagger forward. “Did he hurt you?” My mouth fills with bile when I think about him grabbing her.
She shakes her head, but she won’t meet my gaze.
She’s shaken. Understandably. Then a horribly thought occurs to me.
I try to shift back enough that my face is mostly human, but I’m fairly certain I fail miserably.
She’s probably afraid. Who wouldn’t be? I know what I look like.
I soften my voice as much as I can. “Did I hurt you? Shit. Where did I bite? Is it a scratch? I knew I should have filed my claws.”
Then I take another breath and it hits me. Her scent has changed. It’s not just sad. That’s there, sure. But mixed with it there’s shame, and the rich, creamy, luscious scent of an omega’s orgasm.
“No, it’s not that.”
There’s so much about this situation that I don’t understand. She’s not a wolf. I can tell that plain as day. Not a shifter either.
So why does she smell like an omega?
First and foremost, though, I need to know why she’s crying, because right now I have a powerful need to cause incredible destruction to whatever caused it.
I look her over, trying to force my wolf down so my words don’t come out as a string of growls, but he won’t listen. Now that the lizard is gone his tail is wagging, and all he wants to do is trot around pissing on stuff.
Good fucking goddess she smells amazing, even through the layer of misery that still clings to her.
And she’s gorgeous. Even though her hair is a yellow-blonde color—natural if I’m not mistaken—her lashes are long and dark and frame beautiful blue eyes.
She looks familiar, but I can’t place where I know her from.
“Would you please explain to me what the fuck is going on here. Nice and slowly. Before I completely lose it. You’re saying that idiot didn’t hurt you, I didn’t hurt you, but you’re crying.”
She lifts a hand to brush away her tears. “Huh? Oh, I’m not hurt. I’m sorry for scaring you.”
Her lip trembles again.
All my protective instincts kick in with the force of a hundred suns, and hot anger bursts against my sternum.
What the hell am I doing getting protective over this girl—any girl.
I’m the last wolf on earth who can keep anyone safe.
The biggest threat to most people anywhere near me is me.
And in classic fashion, I charge in all hot tempered and make the situation worse.
“Would you cut that out? Stop apologizing!”
Her mouth drops open and her eyes go wide, and I could curse myself for shouting at her. But then those full lips lift into a smile. “Y-you’re yelling at me?”
I freeze. “That… makes you smile?” There’s definitely something odd here. Something I’m not getting about this whole situation. That or I’ve finally lost my last marble.
She giggles. “Well, that doesn’t normally happen to me.
At least men don’t normally shout at me unless…
Oh right. Sorry. You didn’t look—” She shakes her head.
“Silly of me. I shouldn’t have assumed. Well, anyway.
Thank you.” She stands and brushes herself off, and despite myself, I hang around, wanting her to say more.
Needing her to say more.
“What do you mean?” Then I realize she’s turned back toward the door to let herself into number eight.
Bill and Sonia’s house. Then this must be their daughter, Honey.
But Honey is young. A teenager still. In my head at least. I do a quick mental calculation.
She was fifteen years old when I bought the tiny rustic cabin with my military separation payment and met my new neighbors.
That was…well it must have been nearly ten years ago.
I wasn’t that bothered when they all moved out.
I was doing my best to drink myself into oblivion and ignore the world, but since I’ve been sober and Bill and Sonia moved back in, I’ve never seen their daughter. I just heard she’d moved to the city.
So not only has she just been assaulted, she’s my neighbor’s daughter. God there are so many reasons why I shouldn’t be standing here drooling over the scent of her cunt that smells so sweet it teases at my nostrils through the denim shorts.
And yet.
“Well,” she flushes. “Straight men tend to get a little too… giddy… around me for shouting.”
She thinks I’m gay? I should let her think that. I should absolutely not correct her, or lean in, pin her to the wall, and show her just how absolutely not gay I am—fuck, where did that come from?
It’s been too long since I had a willing woman under me, that’s all. I haven’t let myself touch anyone since I came back from the war broken. This is just a classic case of blue balls.
I choose to blame that for the fact that my voice drops about an octave and I have to restrain myself so I don’t step right up into her space. “I’m not gay.”
Honey blinks. And when I say blinks, what I mean is her long lashes kiss the delicate flushed skin of her cheeks, and somehow I’m fucking jealous of eyelashes.
“Oh!” Then her face lights up into a blindingly beautiful smile. “Well that’s even better! You’re immune. I’ve never met anyone immune before. Oh my goodness!” She looks like she’s about to cry again, and my purr rises without me even thinking about it.
Her pupils blow out, and she smiles.
“Immune?” Like she's some kind of disease?
She shifts uncomfortably. “From me. I'm a succubus. Well half-succubus actually. It makes guys go a little… loopy sometimes if I don't keep it under control.” For some reason this makes the color rise up her chest and neck, and I'm mighty curious about what it takes to control a succubus’ powers.
I have some thoughts, which I repress immediately because fuck, she's my best friend's daughter. My only friend's daughter.
Finally my overwrought brain kicks into gear and the pieces drop into place.
If this is what happens when her powers aren’t under control, I'm guessing her part-succubus nature was the reason her parents whisked her away to a secluded cabin once she hit puberty, while I was stuck with my head up my ass trying to force myself to pull the trigger and end it all.
I can’t tell her the truth, that I’m ready to push her down in the grass and rut her until she steals my soul for the chance to taste her.
Because I won’t. I can’t. The poor girl has just been leered at, almost assaulted, brought to tears.
And I bet that's not the only time this has ever happened to her.
Nope. Doesn’t matter how much my wolf howls inside my chest and my cock lunges against my pants, desperate to be released, I won’t touch this girl.
I grunt. “Yeah. Immune.” Best if that’s what she thinks.
“Oh my god, you have no idea what a relief that is!” She looks like she’s about to hug me, so I step back hastily.
“Right, well, I’m glad you’re OK. You’re um… you’re staying here for a while?” God, let her say no.
“Yeah. I’m ah… gonna do the place up now that my parents have decided to move.”
I narrow my eyes at the waver in her voice. Something tells me that’s not the only reason this pretty girl has come all the way back to this flyspeck town full of monsters.
Once again my mouth gets in the way of my head.
“Well you just let me know if you need anything. Day or night.” Stupid offer.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. In my defense, I owe Bill and Sonia.
They are the only folks in town who are prepared to bother with me.
For the best really, but they’ve been good to me.
They put up with my bullshit. I mean it when I say if their daughter needs anything, I will bend over backward to provide it.
“Thank you so much. That’s so kind. I’m not sure anyone can help with the thing I actually—” she cuts herself off. “Wait… would you…?” She chews her lip, looking away, and against my better judgment I’m jumping out of my furry skin to find out what she wants me to do.
“Honey, you probably don’t remember me. In fact, I’m not sure if we met or not, but your parents are better neighbors to me than I deserve, so whatever it is, you’ve got it.
” Famous last words. I assume she’s about to ask me to patch up a leaky pipe or kill a nasty spider for her.
What I absolutely do not expect and have no way to prepare for is what she actually says next.
“I don’t suppose you’d pretend to be my boyfriend while I’m in town?”