mate all to herself over food? That was a no-brainer.
The answer was swift.
Well. That suited her plans down to a T. She had every intention of giving him the mating bite tonight, changing him into one of them and marking him as hers for the rest of eternity. From the way Ben shivered as she grinned, it was probably a good thing Steve couldn’t see her expression. She typed quickly, knowing she had to head back to the lodge and start on her plans for the evening.
Steve flinched at the knock on the door. Sure, he’d agreed to dinner with Graciela, but part of him was still wondering if running wasn’t the better option.
Of course, with his luck,
No matter how cute the girl was, he still wasn’t sure it was worth it.
“Steve?”
He stared at the door, his heart pounding. He’d agreed to this, said yes against his better judgment, and now she was here.
There was a fucking werewolf at his door.
A cute one, but still.
“Steve? I have steaks.”
He huffed out a breath. She sounded wary, like someone who was trying to gentle a frightened kitten.
He didn’t want to be that kitten. He wanted his life back.
He went up to the door and opened it, determined to face her once and for all. “I’m not sure about this.”
She stared up at him, her gaze full of sorrow. “I swear, I won’t hurt you.” She was twisting a bit of ski jacket between her gloved fingers. Her dark hair was back in a bouncy ponytail, making her eyes seem huge.
Shit. It was hard to be frightened of someone wearing bright pink plaid and looking like he’d kicked her puppy.
She nodded toward a cart loaded with covered plates and a bottle of wine. “Food?”
He glanced behind her, making sure she was alone.
She nodded solemnly. “I give you my word as Omega.”
That declaration had weight to it, her voice more serious than anything he’d heard from her yet. “Okay.”
The smile he got as reward was stunning. He opened the door wider so she could start carting in the food. “You need help?”
Another unbearably sweet smile that pulled at his heart. God, she was so sweet he wanted to cuddle her. “Nope. I’ve got it.” She looked down, her expression turning puzzled. “I thought you hated the cold?”
“Yeah, I’m not fond of it. Why?”
“You’re barefoot.”
“And?”
She went back out for the second plate. “Aren’t your feet cold?”
He shrugged. “I prefer to be barefoot indoors. Always have, ever since I was a kid.” It was the first thing he did when he got home after a long day at the office. The shoes got kicked off, the socks thrown in the hamper, rain or shine, hot or cold. She wasn’t the first person who’d commented on it, and she probably wouldn’t be the last.
She just shook her head, carting in the last of the food before closing the door. She took off the bright pink ski jacket and hung it next to his red coat.
He ignored how right they looked next to each other, the calm certainty that her coat was right where it belonged.
She’d worn a pair of jeans that should be illegal, the way they hugged her curves. The sweater was a warm cinnamon shade that made her skin glow. And, unlike a lot of the women Steve had dated in New York, she’d kept the makeup to a minimum, wearing just enough to make her eyes sparkle and her lips look wet and inviting.
He hoped he’d be able to keep his desire under control, but as she bent over, setting the table, those jeans stretched across her ass like an invitation to sin.
Her shy smile as she set the table had his inner voice whimpering. He cleared his throat. “So. The wolf thing.” She grimaced, the smile disappearing, and he almost let it drop.
Almost.
“Yeah. I’ve always been a Wolf.” He could hear her emphasis on the word wolf, and wondered at it. “I was born this way.”
He shuffled his feet. Part of him wanted to get closer, to see if she smelled as sweet as she looked. The other part wanted to remain by the door in case she went all
She shook her head, looking around the kitchen until she spotted what she wanted. “Nope.” She tucked an uncovered plate into the microwave, her fingers flying over the buttons. “A Wolf can be made, but most in this Pack were born.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “Ben’s been one forever, then.” Once the true fear had worn off, he’d felt betrayed. He understood, but that didn’t make the feeling go away. This was a huge secret, but it was one he would have been willing to keep for his best friend.
She stared at him for a moment, ignoring the microwave when it beeped. “Ben couldn’t tell you. The Alpha wouldn’t allow it.”
He scowled. “And Ben always does what his Alpha says?”
Her brows rose. “You’ve met our Alpha? Rick Lowell? Big, scary-ass dude with long red hair and a scar on his cheek?”
Okay. She had a point. “But what about when we were kids? Why didn’t he tell me then?” Hell, he never would have been able to keep something like that a secret, especially from Ben.
She shrugged. “We’re taught from an early age to hide what we are from humans. I mean, would
“That shit doesn’t really happen,” he scoffed.
She stayed silent, her gaze on him weary.
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “It happened once, a long time ago, but in the private sector.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Let’s just say that some very useful drugs on the market today weren’t found by accident and leave it at that.”
He took a step into the room as she took one plate out of the microwave and set the other in. “So you guys really do heal super-fast?”
She shook her head. “Nope. That’s all a myth. The legends all say that, but the truth is we’re just people. We scar, we get diseases, we get broken bones that don’t magically get better when we shift shape. We’re a little bit stronger, a little bit more resistant, and our senses are sharper than a normal human’s, but that’s about it.”
“And you get fuzzy around the full moon.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Myth. We can run in our Wolf form whenever we want.”
“Silver bullets?”
“Myth. Regular bullets work just fine, thanks.”
“Wolf’s bane?”
“Ugh. Myth. That shit’s poisonous to everyone.”
“Drinking water out of an animal print to change you into a wolf?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”
“Wearing a belt of wolf skin under a full moon?”
