Chapter 1
“AND JUST WHERE do you think you’re going?”
Glory froze at the top of the stairs and slowly turned to face her brother. She shifted her weight a little, trying to block his view of the backpack she’d slung over her shoulder. “Hey, Travis. You’re up early. Where’s Phoenix?”
“Oh, no.” Travis strode toward her. “You are not abandoning me on yet another full moon.” He reached out and though she tried to dodge his hand, he still managed to grab hold of her bag’s strap and yank it free.
“Damnit, Travis. Just give it to me and let me go, all right? You have Phoenix now to help you run the bar while I’m gone. I’ll be back on Monday. You’ll hardly notice my absence.”
“Hardly notice, my hairy rump. Those wolves are a rambunctious pain in the ass on regular nights. When it’s a full moon, it’s all hands on deck. You know that.”
Glory huffed and rolled her eyes. “We’re the owners. We can change the rules if we want. And I need a vacation.”
“You don’t get to take a vacation every single time there’s a full moon, Glory! You just need to suck it up and deal with your mate.”
Glory scowled. “Don’t call him that.”
“Why not? Because you’re in denial? Everyone knows you’re mates. You might as well face it too.”
“We’re not mates,” Glory growled. It was a ridiculous assertion because the minute she’d seen Max’s wolf form, she’d known the truth. That didn’t mean she had to admit it out loud though.
“Why are you so against Max anyway? He’s a good wolf, a good man.”
“I know that. But he’s not a bear, Travis.”
“So? My mate’s about as far from a bear as you can get and we’re perfect for each other.”
Glory softened and smiled. “I know, Travis, and I’m really happy for you and Phoenix, but Max and me–”
“Just stop running, Glory. Stand still for once in your life and let good things happen.”
Glory rolled her eyes. It just wasn’t natural to be so optimistic, especially for a bear. “How do you know me mating with Max would be a good thing?”
“Because every time you’re with him, you both relax a little. All that anger you carry, all his stress from being beta to the wolf pack, all of that melts away when the two of you are together.”
“That’s ridiculous. All we do is fight when we’re together.”
“Well.” Travis grinned. “That’s the shifter way.”
“Whatever.”
“You’re going to stick around, right?”
Glory huffed. “Yes. Fine. I won’t leave. But I swear, if those wolves get on my nerves the way they did last time, I will not be held responsible for my actions.”
Travis barked out a laugh. “No problem. I’ll just sit back and enjoy the show.”
* * *
“So when do you plan to claim your mate?” Adam asked.
Max stiffened and glared at his alpha, but Adam didn’t react, just waited patiently for an answer.
“When she’s ready,” Max said grudgingly.
“That’s not how it usually works for shifters. You know that, right? I mean, it’s highly unusual that she’s not ready in the first place.”
Max sighed. “She’s struggling with the idea of being mated to a wolf.”
“Seriously?” Adam scowled. “That’s the holdup? Glory’s a breedist?”
“No, of course not. She’s just concerned because she’s so much bigger than me in our shifted forms.” Max shrugged. “And in our human ones as well.”
“Ah.” Adam shook his head. “Such a human hang-up.”
“I know, but we do have our human sides, no matter how much we’d like to pretend we don’t.”
Glory was about four inches taller than his six feet and a good hundred pounds heavier than him. To him, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and he had the most vivid fantasies about the two of them in bed together, rolling around, wrestling for control, breaking the bed in their enthusiasm.
Adam coughed. “So, yeah. What are you going to do about it? I mean, are you seriously going to wait for her to get over her hang-ups?”
“Of course not. I have a plan for this weekend.”
“Uh. You do realize the full moon’s on Saturday?”
“Of course I do.” Max grinned. “I’m actually counting on it. Glory disappeared last month, but I got Travis to promise to keep her here this time.”
“Do you really think the full moon will help?”
“Well, it can’t hurt. It should at least level the playing field, maybe help her realize I’m not the puny wolf she seems to think I am.”
Adam let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, no worries about that, especially once you hit the height of moon wildness.”
Max waggled his eyebrows. “Here’s hoping Glory falls in love with my wild side.”
* * *
As they were prepping to open the bar that night, Phoenix asked Glory, “Is Max really your mate?”
Glory’s hands stilled on the chair she’d been in the process of pulling off the table, then after a moment’s hesitation, continued the motion and set it on the floor. “I don’t know.” She left that lie alone for a few minutes, then finally said, “Probably. Why?”
“Well, Travis thinks you’re mates and if he’s right, I was just wondering why you guys haven’t gotten together yet. I mean, you’ve known each other way longer than Travis and me, and I think Travis had me in his bed within a week. Well, maybe ten days if you count from the date he hired me.”
Glory groaned. “I really don’t want to know about my brother’s dating habits.”
Phoenix blushed. “Yeah, sorry. I just, you know.” She hesitated, then blurted, “We want you to be happy like us.”
That was just so sweet. Phoenix really was perfect for her brother. “Don’t worry about me, hon. I’m happy and if it’s meant to be, Max and I will happen in our own time. I promise.”
Yeah.
If she didn’t squash him like a bug first.
That man got on her very last nerve.