Chapter Nine
Tabian was worn out from the day. He’d packed camp later in the day, and the drive home had felt like it had taken eternity.
He’d stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up some groceries for tonight.
God, he couldn’t wait to see Tru. No, he couldn’t wait to hold her.
His skin had been tingling for days just yearning to touch that woman’s skin.
He’d never felt like this before. He was losing his mind.
He had some steaks settling to room temperature so he could throw them on the grill for Tru and Bayen when they got here.
Tru had seemed stressed today. She’d worked and then Bayen had something going on after he’d gotten out of school. Twice, she’d told him that she just wanted to see him already, and he understood it. Same.
He pulled the dishes from the bin in the back of his truck.
He had a good set up. Big truck with a camper shell and all the top-of-the-line shelves and storage compartments for his camping gear.
His storage shed was getting full. His truck was parked right beside it as he unloaded the gear he’d already advertised.
He had a few more shipments being delivered from some new companies this week, so he would start planning his next trip.
Not tonight though. Tonight, he just wanted to see Tru.
One of the storage drawers in the bed of his truck had been sticking, and he sprayed WD40 on it, trying to stop it from catching. He needed to pick up more next time he was in town. Tabian shook the can and sprayed again, but barely anything came out.
He poked his phone screen and checked the time.
Thirty more minutes. He blew out a breath, trying to rid himself of the nerves.
What if the kid didn’t like him? Tru wouldn’t want him.
She was a protective momma bear. He could tell.
Oh, he could hear her frustration at raising a teenage boy with an attitude, for sure, but she also talked about Bayen like he was her world.
The way to that woman’s heart would be through the boy.
This was different than anything Tabian had ever been interested in. He’d dated on and off over the years, but always female werewolves. Always his age, and his phase of life, with no kids.
They had bored him.
Truth be told, none had touched him. Not like Tru.
Yeah, he was supposed to push her away. She was human and Pack life was dangerous for them, but he couldn’t help himself.
He couldn’t stay away from her even if he tried, and especially not after kissing her.
Oooh, he wanted more. He’d thought about the way she tasted a thousand times.
He got hard every time he thought about the way she had pressed her body to his.
The sound of a car engine brushed his sensitive ears, and he frowned at the woods, searching for headlights. It was early, but that wasn’t a car engine that belonged to anyone here.
He scanned the clearing. Most of the Pack was home tonight. He’d purposefully not told anyone Tru was coming here because they would bother them. He wanted her to himself tonight and wanted to meet Bayen without the chaos of the Pack.
At the back of the clearing, he could see Bridger on the porch of his sprawling modular home. He had his arms locked on the railing and was staring at Tabian.
“You good?” he called. Bridger’s house was thirty yards away, but he would hear just fine.
Bridger’s eyes narrowed and he pushed off the railing and went inside his house. Huh. Weird. Bridger had been quiet lately.
Tru’s car picked its way up the gravel road and turned right for Tabian’s house.
Her windows were tinted dark, so it was hard to see them, but he could see the silhouette of two people. She’d really brought Bay to meet him.
Tabian set the can of WD40 down and wiped his hands on an old rag, then waved as he stepped forward to greet them.
She stopped near his storage shed and opened the passenger’s side door. Bayen must be driving.
“Hey pretty lady,” he greeted her, but her blue eyes were full of worry. “What’s wrong?”
“Um, be patient, okay?”
Confused, he shook his head slightly.
The driver’s side door opened, and a tall kid unfolded and stood to his full height. He lifted glowing gold eyes to Tabian.
Oh. Fuck.
Tabian froze and scented the air. Yep. Bay was a fuckin’ werewolf. A big one. A dominant one.
“What the hell?” he growled at Tru.
“I wanted to tell you,” she whispered. “But it’s Bay’s story to tell.”
Chills rippled up Tabian’s entire body. He took a step forward, but a snarl unleashed from the boy.
“Do you have control of the wolf?” Tabian asked. His voice was full of a snarl now too.
This was a bad move. This was an unannounced unfamiliar werewolf in Pack territory.
“I have control of whatever I want control over,” the boy spat.
Tabian studied him. His eyes were the color of melted gold, which meant either his Maker or his parents had the gold eyes.
He was tall, six feet at least already at sixteen, and he was starting to put size on his shoulders.
He had the Chia Pet haircut of every other sixteen-year-old boy, but he wasn’t like the others.
“You’ve been raising a werewolf?” Tabian asked Tru.
“Y-yes,” she whispered. She was wringing her hands nervously.
The boy took a step toward him, but the growl in him was getting louder.
“Don’t,” Tabian demanded.
The boy stopped advancing, but his eyes were full of bloodlust.
“I’m not your enemy.”
Bayen shook his head. “I haven’t met a werewolf I like.”
“Maybe you haven’t met a lot of werewolves.”
“Rock Cliff Pack, West Knife Pack, Four Winds, Break Back, Carolina Rough Pack, Denton Falls, One Bullet, Silver Run, Broken Creek Pack.”
The boy smelled like damage.
And Tru had been raising him.
Tru. Had been. Raising a werewolf.
Chills, chills, chills.
No wonder she’d said he was giving her hell every day. It took a village to raise a young wolf, especially a male. He couldn’t name a human who had even been involved.
And Tru had been doing it alone?
He wanted to kill the boy’s father. He’d dumped an adolescent werewolf on Tru? Seriously?
This was all so messed up.
Bay took two aggressive steps toward him.
“Bay,” Tru warned. “Easy.”
“You’re filling her head,” Bay growled. “Pretending you’re worth a damn when you know you aren’t. What’s your angle?”
Tabian shook his head. “No angle, boy.”
Bayen narrowed his glowing gold eyes and paced a few steps to the side, a wolf tactic to maneuver prey.
Tabian hid an empty smile. “I wouldn’t,” he warned him.
“Or what?” Bayen’s voice didn’t sound human.
This is what had been living in Tru’s house. Driving her car, going to public school with other humans. No wonder she was stressed.
“It won’t go the way you think it will go,” Tabian murmured, trying to control the growl in his voice. He didn’t want to fight the kid and especially not in front of Tru. She wouldn’t understand dominance or rank in a Pack territory. Bay did on some instinctual level, but Tru was human.
“Not in front of your mom.”
“She’s not my mom!” Bayen barked.
Tabian put his hands in the air, palm up and backed up a step. “She doesn’t need to see it. Take care of your stepmom.”
“Like you promise to take care of her? What’s your problem?” he yelled, his voice echoing through the woods.
Tabian’s wolf was wide awake now. He had decent control, but this was getting to be too much. “Boy, you’re old enough to hear truth. I have no angle with Tru. I just care for her.”
“So you can take advantage of her. Drain her. We don’t have any money, asshole. We have nothing for you.”
Tabian gestured to his home. “I don’t need your money.” He gestured to his fully done truck. “I have my own.” This kid was pissing him off.
“I’m so sorry,” Tru said softly.
“Why are you apologizing to this guy?” Bayen barked.
“Don’t be sorry,” Tabian said, holding his hand out. “Don’t apologize.”
“Don’t tell her what to do—”
“Is this how you are?” Tabian snapped, stepping forward.
“That’s enough. Are you like this with her all the time?
” Oh, he could feel the pissed-off in him growing.
“She brought you out here to meet me and you come out of that car guns blazing? You were probably heavy on her the entire drive here, and why? What for? Look at her,” he said, pointing to Tru. “Can you feel her? She’s scared.”
Bay cast a gold-eyed glance at her, and then back to Tabian. “That’s just how humans are—”
“No! That’s how they are if you train them to be scared. You are causing that. You have control over that!”
“Fuck you!” And before the last word was even out of his mouth, Bayen charged.
And what happened next, Tabian would never forget for the rest of his life.