Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
M ontgomery
Power and unspent energy burn through my wolf’s body as we race through the woods. He pants while our tongue hangs halfway out of our mouth. Despite our late-night tree punching session, a full day of working at the construction site, and this thirty-minute run, he’s still raring to go.
Flashes of Serafina continue to race through both of our minds’ eyes.
Mate!
“No!” I tell him.
He wants to run toward her. It’s a constant battle between him and I to keep our distance from her. He’s too hungry. Too wanting. And who knows what he’ll do if I give him the chance to get close to her.
So, I settle for cooking and preparing her meals, making sure she has what she needs at home and then leaving early and coming in late.
Wolf! Mate!
I shake my head inside of my wolf. He wants to take over. To mount Serafina in the way of the wolf. Despite my telling him over and over she’s not like us. She doesn’t have a wolf.
We’re about a quarter of a mile from the house. It’s early. The sun hasn’t even set yet but we both want to race home, just in case she’s there, back from her day with Ronan.
My wolf growls with jealousy.
He wanted to spend the day with Serafina. I slow down my wolf to get him to calm down.
When I reach the cabin, I force my wolf back and shift back into my human form. Under a tree about twenty feet from the back porch of our cabin is where I placed a change of clothes for after my run.
Seconds after changing into a T-shirt and pair of jeans, I stop in my tracks. My wolf starts going wild inside of me. He must be pissed that I ended our run earlier than he wanted.
I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head.
“Calm down,” I grit out.
Ours! he barks back in reply.
That’s when a familiar scent strikes me.
It takes me back to last night, instantly. Seeing Serafina—alone in the woods, watching me—just unwrapped a new fantasy I never knew I had. I growl and bare my teeth, wanting … no, needing to see her.
My wolf’s voice breaks through my fantasy, forcing my eyes open.
When I do, I come face to face with Serafina. She’s standing at the top of the porch stairs, arms folded, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
Mother Moon, she’s so beautiful.
My wolf whimpers before he growls. Electricity courses through me just from having her eyes on me.
I take a step forward and then another until I’m face to face with her. I don’t even know what I’m about to do, but I want to touch her.
“Your eyes are glowing,” she suddenly says with a twitch of her lips as if she’s holding back a smile.
Shit.
My wolf won’t back down. Just like last night.
I move in closer, despite knowing the potential danger of being this close to her. Without a word, I lean in and sniff her neck.
She doesn’t move away, and my instinct to take her nearly overwhelm me.
“You smell like him,” I growl in her ear, before pulling back to stare down into her eyes.
Serafina smells like herself—sweet, tantalizing, and too fucking tempting for my own good. But I also scent Ronan on her.
She stares right back, and I know my eyes are still glowing. Hell, my incisors are still slightly descended from my recent shift.
But does she back away?
Of course not.
Crazy woman.
“Are you jealous?”
My cock presses against my jeans.
My wolf growls again.
That sneaky smile stretches her lips.
A vision of those lips wrapped around my cock while I fuck her throat races through my mind.
“Do you want me to be?”
Her breath hitches, and I realize I pushed some of my alpha power into the question. The vein in her neck begins to race, making me move in closer.
“Do you want me to be jealous, Serafina?” I ask again.
Her lips part, and a beat of silence exists between us before she shakes her head and takes a step back.
“No,” she finally answers, before turning toward the door. Her eyes drop to my hands. “Are your knuckles okay?”
I’m thrown by the question. It takes me a second to remember last night. I look at my knuckles. There’s some bruising but the swelling’s gone down dramatically.
“You shouldn’t have seen that,” I mutter under my breath. My wolf was a little out of control last night. He wanted to go up to her room and mount her. Even as I forced him on a run, I couldn’t stop flashing back to the years and years when we were on our own.
So, I forced myself to take my aggression out in one of the ways I could without touching our mate.
“Why were you out there punching a tree?” she asks, turning toward me again as if she’s changed her mind about going back inside of the cabin.
I shake my head.
“Why were you doing that?” She takes my hand into hers, inspecting the bruises.
Fuck.
Her hands are so soft. It makes me want to touch every inch of her just to find out if the rest of her body is as soft. Or dare I even dream, softer?
“Why do the same hands that take such time and care preparing our food also want to punch trees in the middle of the night? Who or what is it that you don’t deserve?”
Her questions send me reeling. Instantly, I snatch my hand away from hers. I start for the woods, preparing to shift again.
“Please don’t …”
Her plea stops me in my tracks. I peer over my shoulder, eyes glowing, heart racing, and wolf just dying to get out.
“Don’t go out for another run.” She opens and closes her mouth. “I-I won’t ask you any more questions.”
My wolf whines for the first time ever.
Serafina shifts from one foot to the other, looking uneasy.
“Dinner,” I say in a strained voice. “It’s almost time for dinner.”
She nods. “Do you want any help?”
I narrow my eyebrows. “I thought you didn’t cook.”
The half-smile she grants me feels like an arrow right to my chest.
“I don’t but I could make an exception.”
“I cook alone,” I tell her. There’s no way in hell I could be in the same room as her, cooking, and not bend her over the counter. And who knows what the hell my wolf would do.
“No,” I say again with a shake of my head for emphasis. I won’t risk it.
Serafina hesitates, biting her lower lip, watching me. “Whatever,” she says with a shrug. I get the impression she’s trying to sound unaffected, but I could swear there was a touch of rejection in her tone.
I shake my head as she strides inside.
In her absence, I’m able to breathe deeper, even though her scent lingers. A minute later, I allow myself to enter the cabin and run right into Ronan.
If I hadn’t been so focused on Serafina, I would’ve scented him.
He schools his features as he stares at me.
“Your wolf’s too close to the surface.”
I curl my top lip, unwittingly demonstrating my teeth. Thankfully, my incisors have finally retracted.
“We’re both fine.”
“What about last night?”
My gaze goes to the door, over his shoulder.
My wolf growls remembering last night.
“I left the door unlocked when I went out,” I confess, having realized it this morning. In my rush to get outside, I carelessly left the door unlocked and she could’ve gotten away from us.
Both my wolf and I wanted to be close to her, to sleep under the same roof, for once. But it all went to hell when he wouldn’t let up. I couldn’t stay in that damn bed all night tossing and turning, knowing she was within the same walls.
“I fucked up,” I tell him. I was pissed at them last night for not keeping her safe, but it was my fault.
Ronan steps closer, making me flinch when he places a hand on my shoulder. He instantly removes it. A flash of emotion moves through his eyes, but it passes so quickly, I can’t make out what it is.
The way his mouth drops I can’t tell if it’s sadness or disappointment.
Probably the latter.
“I have a work conference. I leave next week,” he finally says after a few beats of silence.
I cock my head to the side.
“Every year, at this time, I have to go out to Washington.” He sighs, his eyes going toward the staircase.
He doesn’t say anything, but his overall demeanor shifts to longing. Without many words exchanged between us, I know he’ll miss her.
“How long?” I ask.
“A week. Maybe two this time.” His lips tighten as he answers. He doesn’t want to go.
“You and Noah can take care of?—”
I shake my head. “No. You should be here.” Ronan’s the one with the plans. The one who knows what to do when shit goes wrong.
“It’ll be fi?—”
“Oh,” Serafina’s voice startles both of us. “Was just checking to see if dinner was ready.”
My wolf purrs. We can sense her hunger.
“She’s hungry,” I say, feeling it in my own body.
I move around Ronan, mumbling to Serafina that I’ll begin dinner after I shower, which seems to appease her.
But because neither my wolf nor me like the idea of her being hungry, I wash my hands before taking out a few of the baked crackers I made a few days ago and slicing some cheddar cheese on a plate.
“Eat this in the meantime.”
I turn away from her before she can reply, but I don’t miss the way her eyes light up in excitement. My wolf rides me the entire way up the stairs to the bathroom, telling me what a jackass I am for not claiming her already.
It’s a struggle the entire fifteen minutes it takes to shower and change into a new pair of jeans and T-shirt to head to the kitchen.
By the time I’m back downstairs, Noah’s home. The air is thick with tension as I enter the kitchen.
I tighten my hands into fists because the additional wolf energy and tenseness in the air excites my wolf. I have to fight to keep the hairs from springing up over my body and to keep my incisors from descending.
I don’t want them to see how much I struggle to control my wolf. Though, they likely already know.
“Is that why you took her to your office today?” Noah’s question comes out as an accusation.
His back to me.
“The purpose?” Ronan counters. “No. The outcome? Yes.”
Noah makes an annoyed sound in his throat.
I feel his annoyance ripple down my spine. For a beat, I wonder if it’s our brother bond, or if it’s just the tension in the air. At times I wish I could still communicate with them the way we used to.
Years apart and my wolf’s constant interference block the bond we once shared.
“What are you upset about? We’ve got less than two months before the next supermoon and we’ve yet to establish the mate bond. Have you forgotten that our ability to remain as alphas of this pack are being challenged on the basis of our unmated status?”
“I haven’t forgotten shit,” Noah contends.
The bass in his voice would make the average person believe he’s the one with a feral wolf.
“Are you two arguing over that little romp in the office?”
All three of us pivot to Serafina. She grins as she hands me the plate. “Thank you for the crackers.”
She looks over my shoulder at Ronan and Noah, after I take the plate. “It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything.” She shrugs and then smirks as three alpha males begin growling.
“What? I mean, three men in proximity to an admittedly beautiful woman. The inevitable is going to happen.” She looks pointedly at Noah. “Don’t sweat it.”
Then she returns her gaze to me.
“Let me know when dinner’s ready.”
With that, she pivots and heads back up the stairs.
When I turn back to face Ronan, his eyes glitter with malice.
My lips twitch to hide the smile. So much for his emotionless persona. A few short words and it’s evident she gets under his skin. Yes, it’s funny as hell to watch.
“What are you laughing at?” Ronan glares at me.
I didn’t even realize I’d laughed out loud. “Nothing,” I tell him, still chuckling because I don’t even know what’s making me laugh. What I do know, is that my wolf eases up enough for me to start preparing dinner.
Ronan snorts and walks out of the kitchen in a huff.
I prepare the steaks I’ve had marinating all day and slice the vegetables to place them on the electric grill on the kitchen counter. The more I cook, the more my wolf calms.
Years ago, when I finally was able to live as a human for the first time in years, I discovered cooking calmed him, just enough to help me keep my sanity.
When I returned to Colorado, knowing we’re not only cooking for myself, but for Ronan and Noah, gave cooking an even greater purpose.
Now? Cooking for my mate brings me a joy that I never deemed imaginable, especially now that my wolf’s calmed down.
Maybe the bastard isn’t so feral after all?
My wolf snorts at that thought.
And one thought about Serafina has me growling as I pull the steaks off of the countertop grill, and I know he’s just biding his time.
“Smells good,” Noah says, startling me. “Need help?”
“I’ve got it.”
Wordlessly, I place all of the grilled vegetables onto a large serving plate before drizzling the balsamic reduction over them and then the steaks. Just before I set the plates in the middle of the kitchen island for everyone to serve themselves, Serafina’s scent becomes more prominent.
“Are you alright?”
Noah’s question makes me realize I’ve grunted out loud while almost spilling the plates of food.
“Yeah, fine. Dinner’s ready.”
“We’ve set the table,” he tells me, eyeing me.
“For four,” Serafina says from over his shoulder.
I suppose she’s holding me to not going out for a run, as is my typical MO while everyone eats dinner.
My wolf likes the idea of being so close to her a little too much.
Go to her!
Mount her!
Take her!
I place my hand to my chest, pressing firmly as if that’ll ease my wolf’s demands. It doesn’t.
When I blink my eyes open once again, I can’t stop my eyes from roaming all over Serafina’s body. She’s changed into a pair of jean cutoffs that stop mid-thigh and a sleeveless T-shirt.
“You’re growling again,” she reminds. “Dinner together won’t be so terrible.” She must mistake my growling for one of displeasure.
If only she knew.
I carry the plates over to the dining room table.
We all take our seats around the circular glass table and begin plating our food.
My wolf prowls, pacing in my chest just watching Serafina. He rises to his feet when she slowly closes her eyes and lets out the tiniest moan after taking her first bite of the steak.
“That’s so good.”
A growling sounds around the table, and I try to clamp down on it, until I realize it’s not coming from me. Noah and Ronan are watching her just as intently as I am. Serafina takes another bite of steak, like she doesn’t even notice how much she’s tempting all three of us.
“Did you make this balsamic reduction yourself?”
I blink and pull myself together before responding. “Yes.” I nod then proceed to stuff a forkful of parmesan mashed potatoes into my mouth.
“It deepens the level of the flavor palette of the steak.” She shrugs. “Or something like that. My aunt used to say things like that when the food was really good. All I know is that it tastes awesome.”
“Your aunt?” I ask, wanting to know more.
Serafina’s eyes widen. Did she not intend to mention her aunt?
“Does she still live in New Mexico?”
Her gaze lowers to her plate, her hand holding the fork slows in movement. “She died in an accident.” She shrugs. “It was a long time ago.”
My wolf whines at the sadness in her voice.
The room’s gone quiet. I look at my brothers on either side of the table. They’re both watching her also, and if I had to bet, they feel her sadness, too.
“Anyway, I, uh, want to do something,” Serafina says, changing the subject.
“Something?” Ronan questions.
“Work,” she replies. “You three work during the day and … well, if I’m going to be here until the next supermoon?—”
“Forever.”
“Beyond the supermoon.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
All three of us cut her off to remind her that she’s not only here until the next supermoon.
My wolf shivers at the idea of her not being with us anymore. Fuck, I shudder at the thought.
She clears her throat. “Yeah, well, I’m going a little stir-crazy sitting upstairs in that room all day.”
“You can come down to the living room,” Noah points out.
Serafina snorts. “As comfortable as your furniture is, I want more,” she replies before looking over at Ronan. “It’s not like I can go to work with you every day. You didn’t get much work done today.”
I press my lips together, stifling another grin when she winks at my brother. His jaw visibly tightens.
“And you’re going on that work trip, anyway.” She looks at Noah. “You don’t want me around your power drills and all the stuff you use to make furniture,” she tells Noah.
Then she looks across at me.
“And I know you’re dying to be as far from me as possible.”
My body stiffens. Is that what she believes? That I don’t want to be around her? I tamp down hard on my wolf’s ire. He’s pissed and I think it’s with me. The feral bastard.
“I want to work at the school,” she continues. “While I’m here, I might as well make myself useful. I can finally put my teaching degree to use. Even if it’s just handing out snacks during their break or cleaning up after reading time or whatever.”
“You still want to teach?” Noah asks.
Both Serafina and I look at my brother.
“Yes.”
He knew about her desire to be a teacher. It’s a reminder of how little I actually know about our mate. Ronan and Noah have a history with her. One that I wasn’t present for. Envy wells up in my stomach, making my wolf even more on edge.
“We need to make this look real, anyway, right?” she adds. “I mean, for your pack. If I’m working at the school, they’ll see it as their new Alpha Queen making an effort to become a part of the pack.”
Noah, Ronan, and I look between one another. Though they don’t say anything out loud, it’s obvious we all agree that she has a point.
“You’ll work at the pack school,” Ronan says. “But there will be conditions.”
Damn straight there will be.
“One of us will take you to and from school every day.”
“What? How does that?—”
Ronan holds up his hand, cutting her off.
“It’s non-negotiable. And if you even think about trying to get away from us, there will be trouble, Serafina.”
Her lips tighten.
“Fine,” she says begrudgingly. “I’m finished eating.”
She rises from her seat, and automatically, all three of us rise as well. Serafina ignores us, or at least pretends like she’s not paying attention to us, as she moves from the table.
But Ronan is there, blocking her exit.
“Excuse me,” she says.
“I mean it, Serafina.” Ronan’s voice noticeably drops in tone. “Do not try to get away again.” He cups her face. “You will not like what happens if you do,” he growls before pulling her in for a kiss.
Her little hitch of air right before he presses his lips to hers sends a light shockwave through my body. Heated sensations move through me at the sounds of the little moans coming from her.
Ronan’s kiss is rough, rushed, and the opposite of his outer composure. When he pulls away from her, Noah doesn’t give her time to blink before he cups her face as well.
“What he said,” Noah tells her before kissing her, too.
She doesn’t pull back from the kiss. Doesn’t knee him in the balls or fight against the kiss.
She wants this.
Try as she might, but she feels just as much pull to us as we do toward her. A wave of heat pushes through me. The air around us becomes electrified by it. I become hot enough that the desire to rip off my shirt nearly overtakes me.
Noah doesn’t rush his kiss with our mate. He takes his time, savoring it. When he finally does release her, Serafina’s panting. Her lips are visibly swollen from the kisses. I want my turn.
When her dazed eyes land on me, my wolf rears up, growling.
Mate!
Take her!
Mine!
He beats the same words over and over. Take her, make her ours, now! His chants begin to drown out my own thoughts. I want her more than my next damn breath. Everything from the tips of my fingers to the top of my head, I want her.
But my wolf …
I take a step back.
Go to her!
Mine!
Take her!
He goes crazy when I take another step back. My incisors descend with his anger. Serafina’s eyes widen.
Oh, Mother Moon! Is that fear in her eyes?
I knew this shit would happen. My wolf is too unstable to have her the way I want her. She’s too precious for me to sully with my feral wolf.
Shaking my head, I stare at her. I turn quickly and head out of the back door without a word. I rip my shirt over my head and leap off of the back porch. Less than a minute later, I’m racing through the woods again in my wolf.
I won’t let him hurt her. Not now, not ever.