Chapter 29
Saint
The woman had me all hot and bothered.
And not in the best way.
My skin was itching all over, red patches forming on my thighs and upper arms. That had been a clear sign the feisty girl had gotten to me. Not only because of her saucy attitude and frank, if not brutal words, but because she’d all but ignored me.
When all I’d wanted to do was to jump her bones.
Something had to give since the first semi-final game was the next day.
So I headed to the wolf gym to blow off some steam. Only the race through the woods chasing a rabbit hadn’t brought any satisfaction.
There was only one thing that could.
Hot. Wild. Wanton. Sex.
With my mate. A person who remained in denial and worse, refused to have anything to do with me.
I rubbed my wet hair as I walked from the shower room, rubbing my arm where the damn little creature had bitten me.
While the wound was fading, it certainly was not as quickly as in the days when I’d shifted more often.
I’d been a kid with way too much testosterone and energy, determined to be the big man on campus even then.
That’s why dear old Dad had forced me into the local minor hockey league. The rest was history. Once I’d had a stick in my hand, I’d forgotten all about the joy only shifting had provided.
Sighing, I headed for my locker, shocked to see my father freshly showered and almost fully dressed.
“Dad. What are you doing here? You have your own home gym.”
He laughed as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Not the same as getting fresh air. You know how your mother can be when she gets in one of her moods. The upcoming wedding had her all in a tizzy. She’s driving me crazy with the lists she’s already created.
I had to get out of the house, or I’d lose my mind. ”
“Dad. You do know there isn’t going to be a wedding. Right?”
“Try telling your mother that.”
I grabbed my jeans, jerking them on as he fastened his belt. “She hates me.”
“Your mother? No, she just wants the best for you and that’s settling down. Although I will admit, she’s become concerned about the excessive use of violence in your games.”
“It’s a hockey game. The guys are brutal. And I’m not talking about my mother. I’m talking about Lily.” After fastening my jeans, I yanked the wadded shirt from the top shelf. As I brought it to my nose, I both hated and loved the fact her scent was all over it.
And I wasn’t talking about her sweet, luscious floral perfume.
Her mating scent. It was much stronger. Because of the increased chemistry between us, my hunger was raging off the charts. The hunt had done little good.
“What happened? Did the two of you have a fight? If so, bring her flowers. Not just any flowers. Don’t be the typical guy and purchase the cheap red roses from the grocery store. Go all out and head to a florist.”
“No, we didn’t just have a fight. Well, maybe. She learned the truth.”
“From the idiot from the Sungazer?”
“I told her. I had to. She overheard a conversation I had with Steven. Incidentally, he thinks Rocco is attempting to derail me intentionally.”
He whistled, his gaze indicating I’d fucked up big time. “A distinct possibility. Just play the game your way. As far as what happened with Lily, that’s not good.”
“No, it isn’t. After I answered some very logical questions she had, she asked me to shift. As in right there in front of her. Can you imagine?”
Another club member walked into the locker room, passing through on his way to the showers. He’d wallowed in the mud. His hunt had been much more exciting than mine.
“Hey, Bob,” Dad said as he waved. “Comin’ to the barbeque on Sunday? I managed to snag over twenty pounds of Wagyu beef.”
“Oh, shit. That sounds delicious,” Bob told him. The two had been buddies for years. I’d gone to high school with the man’s son who was now some big MIT professor.
A sudden vision of the two men ripping off raw meat from huge bones was too much to take. What I hadn’t admitted to my father even once was that I no longer wanted to be a shifter. I wished there was a blood transfusion that would end what I considered a curse.
“Margie and I will be there. Just let us know if you need us to bring anything,” Bob told him. “Good to see you, son. Good luck with the playoffs. You’re on fire.”
On fire.
Yes, I was, but my sudden boost in energy wasn’t just about the love of the game, but also about the desire that was eating me from the inside out.
Bob headed out, whistling the theme of the Indiana Jones movies as he did.
“You are bringing Lily on Sunday. Right?”
I glanced at my father. He wasn’t listening to me, or he didn’t understand that not all women thought a wolf was sexy. “She won’t come. She’s all but told me she wants nothing to do with me and I’m nothing than her client. Her aggravating pain in the ass client she can’t wait to get rid of.”
He clapped me on the back. “Son. You need to learn a few things about women. That’s their love talk, like a spider luring an insect toward her web.”
“Need I remind you that insects die?”
His look was classic. He thought he was the cleverest man in the world.
“Have I taught you nothing? I’m certain she’s confused, but the closeness you share is real.
Your mother and I witnessed it with our own eyes.
Even before she walked in, we gathered her intense scent.
She’s part wolf. My guess is her parents thought they were protecting her by keeping Lily in the dark.
But hormones will be hormones. Give her some time to come around. ”
“She’s disappeared. I don’t even know if she’s going to come to the mandatory meeting with the coaches. How am I supposed to handle that? One-eight-hundred-find-my-fiancée?”
He tapped his nose. “Your skills are rusty. We need to set you up with a wolf trainer.”
A wolf trainer. An expert who knew how to handle every crisis a fledging shifter had from internal rage to the need to shift at the most inappropriate times and the command of our special traits.
“I don’t need a trainer. I just need Lily.” My God. I’d admitted it to my father. I’d never hear the end of this.
“Then use your nose and go find her.” He laughed and furrowed his eyebrows. “Your mother was hopeful I’d run into you. She wanted me to give you something. She figured you might not have time yourself.” He pulled a small box from his jacket, handing it to me.
“What is this, Dad?” I had a very bad feeling.
He rolled his eyes. “Just open it. Try and do something to make your mother happy. That will make my life easier.”
With my teeth gritted, I opened the box to peer down at a gorgeous ring. “She bought me an engagement ring to give to my own fiancée?” Fake fiancée.
He laughed again. “No. My goodness. What mother does that? This was your grandmother’s engagement ring. She wanted you to have it and now seems the right time. It’s an heirloom, handed down for generations. From what I understand, the ring is worth a few million dollars.”
A few million dollars? I had such a bad feeling about this. “What if I lose it?”
Now he offered his infamous evil eye. “Don’t or your mother will kick your ass.”
I shoved the box into my pocket knowing I’d hand it right back to my mother in a couple of days.
“It’s easy to see the two of you were meant for each other.” Dad seemed so confident.
“How do I make her understand that?”
“You do what you do best, son. Be a caveman.”
After grabbing his sunglasses and closing his locker door, he headed for the exit.
A caveman? Really, Dad?
Use my nose. Christ. This was Chicago.
I drove with the windows down through several neighborhoods. I’d gone to where the cool girls went to shop thinking she needed some retail therapy. The area hadn’t passed the sniff test. I’d gone by her apartment. Her scent had been stale so she hadn’t gone back.
I’d also driven by the arena twice, but the only scent I’d picked up had been bad body odor from the guys.
My last choice since time was running out had been to look up her parents’ address. I wasn’t certain if I’d try talking to her dad. He’d probably rip me a new one.
With all hope fading, I made the turn onto her parents’ street. The scent hit me like a ton of bricks. My cock immediately stood at full attention, which sucked since I was wearing my tightest pair of jeans. My nostrils flared and I slapped my hand on the steering wheel.
The scent was fresh, which meant I’d missed her by less than a half hour. Now all I had to do was stay on the trail and it would lead me right to her. Maybe I could do this wolf thing after all.
My entire body was on fire as the trail went from lukewarm to hot, hot, baby. By the time I pulled into one of the city’s parks, my skin was too hot to remain in. But I certainly couldn’t shift right now.
Talk about scaring the daylights out of people. Wow.
I noticed her poor little car and felt vindicated, even giving myself a mental high five as I parked a few car lengths away. As soon as I climbed out, I was overwhelmed by her incredible fragrance. If I wasn’t very careful, I’d lose my shit around her.
Then I’d shift.
I’d scare everyone away.
The police would be called.
The press would get wind of the story.
And if the cops were frisky enough, they’d try to toss a dangerous shifter into jail.
Sighing, I headed for the path, determined to find her.
Thank God, I didn’t need to jog the entire park since it was huge. Her scent had led me right to her.
She was sitting on a grassy knoll with her legs folded under her, staring at the lake. There were sounds everywhere, people enjoying the beautiful day. Children playing. Joggers. Music coming from somewhere.