Dallas
This wasn’t how I planned to spend New Year’s Eve. At The Redheaded Stepchild. Alone.
I wasn’t by myself; I stared past my brother Shadow as he held hands with his girlfriend, Trina. They framed my vision, making goo goo eyes at each other, giggling between kisses. I needed a beer.
Christmas had ended in chaos in every conceivable manner. The full moon coincided with the holiday, another moon with blood dripping from its surface. Our forest was under siege by wolves from Montana. Their attack was genius. We’d been outmanned and unprepared.
The worst part of it wasn’t X’s ruined body lying in front of the Christmas tree, or that our enemies were getting comfortable thinking our land belonged to them. It was the look of horror on Lyssie’s face when I shifted back to human. To her, I was neither wolf nor man—I was a monster. I couldn’t scrub the destruction from my hands. Her terror, branded on my brain, was the gift I took away from that night.
The woman who brought the animal inside me to life was horrified by it. It wasn’t the first time she’d reacted this way. We’d been fools to think we could take human women as our mates. It didn’t matter what we wanted. Just because something was stupid didn’t make the craving any less insatiable.
Tonight the battleground was The Stepchild. Shadow insisted we come here in a show of unity with the rest of the Sawtooth packs. The Lowe brothers were exempt from their alpha’s order, still caring for X as he healed from the attack. I was second in command, and I would not lose this forest to weakness or stupidity.
I thought the worst was behind us. Not a chance.
“I was hoping I’d see you tonight, Dallas.” A redhead I didn’t recognize sidled up to me. In human form, anyway. Her body heat wrapped around me like a blanket, her earthy scent topped with a fresh forest dew. Christmas night we’d tangled in battle, I pinned her throat to the earth with my paw. Call it holiday spirit, but for some insane reason I showed her mercy. Now here she was, batting fuck-me eyes at me like she’d won the fight.
My breath caught in my chest when she put her hand on top of mine. A fight, fuck, or flight kind of reaction. Her smile left no doubt that a predator had me in her sights.
Shadow’s second demand for the night was to make sure none of our wolves fell to the charms of the Montana she-wolves. Yeah, right. Open bar, Red Heaven, and a chance at a future a stumble away? Every single wolf in this room would be powerless against that siren song.
I leaned toward her, taking a long sip of a fresh, cold beer. I needed to cool the fuck down before I said a word. She was fighting with weapons we’d never seen before. “You came to the wrong place if you’re looking for more blood.” My eyes fell to her cleavage, barely contained in a skimpy tank top. She wasn’t wearing a bra. “Because you’re not going to get it here. I don’t even know your name.”
She smirked like we shared a private joke. It was hers alone. These Montana wolves weren’t right in the head. “I’m glad you asked. We need to get to know each other better. It’s Ember. Ember Randall. And that’s not what I was looking for. I was thinking more of a truce. We need each other, don’t you think? I watched you in the forest. You hate taking orders. You’re dying for more power. But speaking of red things, I hear Red Heaven’s where the fun is in this sad little town. There’s a few things I could show you. Do you know what it’s like to bring a she-wolf to climax while you’re inside her? Feel her body shudder, lose control, and know you did that to her? No, I don’t think you’ve ever been with a real woman before.”
I had to cover my mouth with my hand not to spit beer all over her. This wolf was no lady, but I was more civilized than that. Once the choking threat passed, I put my hand over hers. Bad move. “You have absolutely no idea what I can do.”
“Show me.” Ember pulled her hand away, brushing it against the front of my pants. Her entire being lit up as my body betrayed me. “Red Heaven’s right there. No limits, just pleasure. Let’s usher in the New Year in style.”
“Oh good, I found you.” My brother, Baron, ignored the she-wolf who had crawled under my skin in every conceivable way. “Get your shit together. Lyssie’s here.”
I jumped back, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. “Are you fucking with me? She’d never come here.”
“I’m not done with you, Dallas.” Ember grabbed my arm, and Baron disappeared into the crowd, expecting me to follow.
Maybe she was funny after all. “You never started.” I scoffed.
“Finally, we agree on something.” Ember moved fast, gripping me with the strength of an animal. Only a wolf would lock in like this, fighting for what was theirs. Ember had me where she wanted me. She scraped her teeth along my neck, sinking in at the crook, paralyzing me on impact.
This bitch just fucking marked me.
“There.” She sounded motherly as she pulled the collar of my sweater over the fresh wound, like she was offering comfort, and patted my shoulder. “That’s how you start the New Year off right.”
I never saw Baron come back, but he pulled me away from Ember. “Come on, man. It’s almost midnight. Kiera’s going to kiss Lyssie instead of me if you don’t hurry the fuck up.”
I wasn’t opposed to that option. “You need to get control of your girl.”
Baron narrowed his eyes. “So do you!”
He might as well have punched me in the gut. I was the third born out of four. In most families that didn’t matter, but in a wolf family, it meant everything. Especially if you didn’t like being told what to do. My younger brother was dead, Baron quit the pack, and my oldest brother, Shadow, was alpha now that we’d taken out the old guard. We’d been stuck in captivity for six long months, and everything we knew before had been shattered. Now, we had this new threat to deal with. It made me gun shy about committing to anything but myself.
Ember joined a group of female wolves, laughing and looking back at me. All my life I’d wanted a mate. But not that one. And I wouldn’t be made a fool of.
“Give me a minute,” I said.
“Dal, stop playing games. We’re too old for this.” Baron sighed.
After Baron said he wouldn’t fight anymore, I took everything he said with a grain of salt. Who quit a pack? It gave me more leverage, sort of. I still had to answer to Shadow, but definitely not to Baron.
“There’s no games to play.”
Humans and wolves pushed past me, jockeying for position. I found our group—Lyssie was sandwiched in between Trina and Kiera, the two of them were trying to get her to dance. She moved with them for a couple beats, then covered her face in her hands, shaking with laughter. I caught the glint of the necklace I’d given her for Christmas hanging around her neck.
She’d shut me out after I’d given it to her, and I was so fucking relieved to see her wearing it. I still had a chance. I’d never tell my brother that I needed the beer to calm the butterflies in my stomach.
I didn’t know what to do with a woman like Lyssie. No mating meant no dating. Women like Ember, no problem. We had a primal need for each other than was easy to solve. No, stop thinking like that. The bite didn’t mean anything with no emotion.
But Lyssie needed so much more and it scared the hell out of me.
So far, I’d failed her miserably. I didn’t approach her right away, trying to transition from the Dallas with no future to the guy who wanted one. Lyssie was the breath of fresh air I desperately needed to forget the throbbing on my neck. The antidote. Ember didn’t claim me with a bite. Wolves mated for love.
I got lost in watching Lyssie’s hips sway, imagining her moving like that between my sheets.
“We like them thick, too.” A voice I’d quickly learned to hate shattered my daydream. One of the Montana wolves, wasn’t sure which one in human form. “But she doesn’t belong to you. You’d be a traitor to choose a human over Ember. She’ll help you claim the forest. This girl will cost you everything.”
It took everything I had not to clock this guy. A traitor would betray their pack. I’d never do that. The Montana Wolves had us on the ropes already, taking the Lowes out of commission. Thanks to them, X would stay a wolf at least until the next full moon. Our weakness fed their power. But the only way they’d lay a finger on Lyssie was after they pried my cold, dead hands away from her.
Lyssie caught my eye, a shy smile spreading across her face. She’d run if she had any idea what was going on.
“I’ll choose the better woman. And I’ll never send her to fight my battles for me like a coward,” I growled, slamming my empty beer bottle on the table. I’d shown way too much of my hand. There’s no way they wouldn’t smell one of their own on me, or the half-circle of blood welling on my neck.
I didn’t give that asshole a second look as I approached the girls. Trina and Kiera kept dancing, reaching for each other over Lyssie’s head and spinning away, giving me the opening I needed.
“I didn’t know you liked to dance.” I slipped my hands around her waist, taking advantage of her shock.
“Me neither.” Lyssie bit her lip, tensing at my touch. Fuck. She looked down at my arm, then flicked her gaze back to me. “You wore the sweater I gave you.”
“Of course I did. It’s the only thing I have as soft as you,” I said. She’d given it to me for Christmas, and her scent was all over it. That’s how those Montana fuckers knew Lyssie was mine. Or the closest thing to it. I should’ve never worn it tonight, but I was glad I did. I caught her chin in my hand so she couldn’t look away. I should’ve done this a long time ago. “We have ten minutes ‘til midnight and I’m done wasting time. Dance with me, Lyssie.”
Lyssie swallowed hard and I thought she’d refuse. “I don’t want to waste time anymore, either,” she said.
We moved to the beat; the tension, everything forgotten as her hips moved in that hypnotizing sway, her fingers curling in my sweater. Taking her by the hips, I pulled her closer, imagining how her skin would feel moving against mine just like this, in a tangle of ruined sheets as the sun rose. A growl slipped from my lips against her cheek. Her head fell back in laughter, exposing the long line of her neck. The sigh that escaped from her lips when I kissed her was enough to bring me to my knees.
It should’ve been like this all along. But I couldn’t be mad at her for running. I’d had my doubts, too.
“It’s the countdown!” Trina burst in, breaking the spell, forcing plastic champagne flutes at us. Startled, we took them from her, staring at each other like we had no idea what just happened.
Shit.
The room chanted in unison. “Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven....”
I grabbed her drink with my teeth, gulping it down, then lifted my flute to her lips. The cups fell to the floor as the room erupted in cheers. I crashed against her in a kiss before she had a chance to protest, pressing her against me. I wasn’t wasting time, her lips were open, and I let myself in. Tonight she tasted like champagne and promises of new beginnings. She didn’t fight me. Her lips moved with mine in a much more intimate dance than our bodies had shared.
We were starting over, effective immediately.
It wasn’t our first kiss, but I was beginning to understand what Lyssie needed. Something that came from deep within me that made us fit together like lock and key.
Marked or not, no one in this room could argue that Lyssie was mine.
There was some old business from last year that had to be taken care of. “Why are you afraid of me?” I whispered in her ear, then pulled away, giving her a chance to answer.
Her blue eyes widened. They stole the show tonight, the same color as her shirt that dipped dangerously low, giving a delicious hint of cleavage. I’d laid in this woman’s bed but I’d never seen more of her than I did right now.
“I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of me,” she said, adding to the riddle.
“Sometimes I’m afraid of you, too.” She’d brought so many feelings I was unfamiliar with to the surface, and the wolf in me had been too wild to commit to her. The idea of mating with humans was risky, and the ladies of Forever Home had been hurt enough. Lyssie saved my life; I couldn’t ruin hers by being selfish, especially now with this throbbing wound Ember inflicted on me as a reminder of exactly what was at stake. “But I think I like it.”
It was the easiest way to explain what the hell was going through my head. Lyssie hesitated, but finally offered a wobbly smile. I had to make the feeling of losing her go away.
“Kiera got me here tonight by reminding me what we do at midnight on New Year’s is what we’ll do all year long. Does that mean we can keep doing this?” she asked, her cheeks pink with the suggestion.
“Excuse me,” Ember interrupted, putting her hand on Lyssie’s shoulder and shooting me the most feral smile I’d ever seen on any creature’s face. She turned back to Lyssie. “I thought you might want to know I can still taste him, sweetheart. He belongs to me now. Happy New Year!” She pulled the neck of my sweater down and glared at Lyssie before walking away from the carnage she created.