Claiming His Witch (4 page)

I grunted, swinging open the door and stepping out of Beast’s truck. The two men had a thing for big, burly utility vehicles. Most of the guys from our den had one or two cars available for when the weather turned too cold to ride the bikes. Trucks, SUVs, muscle cars—when the days grew short and the wind turned wicked, they’d line the curb outside the denhouse. I rode my bike until the cold forced me to put it in storage, but I didn’t own another vehicle. I couldn’t see spending the money on a car I would hate to drive when I only needed it for a few months out of the year. Besides, no matter how much money I earned, an extra vehicle seemed extravagant. My feet or paws could get me to most of the places I needed to go if I couldn’t take my bobber or hitch a ride with one of the guys from my den.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.”

Rebel stood on the porch of the second cabin wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and his black leather jacket. He looked…tired. Not in a good way, not like he’d been banging his mate all night and hadn’t spared a single second to rest. More like something was weighing on his mind.
 

“Keep your pussy to yourself, old man.” Beast bounded up the stairs and gave Rebel a rough slap on the back. “Congrats on your mating. I look forward to meeting her.”

A muscle in Rebel’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, I’m sure Charlotte will be out here any minute. C’mon, let’s get closer to the fire. The temperature’s dropping fast.”

He glanced at me, eyes dark and face serious. I didn’t duck my head, but I tilted it in a sign of submission. It must have been enough for the irritated shifter because he gave me a nod before heading for the fire pit.
 

As he walked away, I asked, “Where’s Julian?”

My question stopped Rebel in his tracks. He turned slowly, eyes burning with Alpha power as he looked my way. The weariness I’d noticed a few moments before was gone, replaced with a stoic façade the likes of which could rival even Gates.
 

“He’s with friends for the week. Charlotte and I have a lot of things to talk about, and I figured the time alone would be good.”

I nodded, my eyes darting to the door as the woman in question walked out. Tall, blond, with killer curves and sharp eyes, she’d make any man drop to his knees and beg for a little attention. But she was also smart and had a sarcastic sense of humor. Though there was no sign of her usual bright smile today. In fact, the woman looked like someone on the way to the gallows.
 

She eyed Beast from the porch, the scent of her adrenaline meeting my nose as her fear increased. Charlotte hadn’t gotten the best introduction to wolf shifters, so I could understand her fear for the most part. But she knew me, and her mate was standing only a few feet away. Rebel would die to protect her, so there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. And yet, her human heart raced to a beat I worried would send her into some kind of attack.

“Kitten.” Rebel held out his hand. Charlotte eyed it then looked back over at Beast before refocusing on Rebel. She was terrified; I could smell it, sense it. I just wasn’t sure why. But as she grew more frightened, and as her eyes darted from Rebel to Beast, I began to understand. Unfortunately, so did Beast.

“I’m not as ugly on the inside as I am on the outside,
conejita
. You can settle down.” Beast glowered at the woman until Rebel stepped between the two. The tension rose as they stared, growls sounding in the cold evening air.
 

“I’m sorry.” Charlotte’s quiet voice broke the two from their staring contest as they both whipped their heads in her direction. She stood almost beside Rebel, remaining one step behind him as if afraid Beast would physically attack her. “I didn’t mean to stare. I just—”

Beast didn’t wait for her excuses. He spun on his heel and walked away, heading toward the tree line where the path to the lakefront began.

“I’m taking the last cabin. You all can figure out the rest of the accommodations without me.”

I watched him leave, frustration a bitter burn on my tongue. The judgment Beast received due to his scars and his ink was something I’d long since grown used to witnessing, though I’d never expected one of the Feral Breed’s own to be the one delivering it. And though Charlotte wasn’t a member of the Breed, as a mate to one, I’d expected the same level of respect from her as I did from Rebel.
 

Charlotte clung to Rebel’s side, looking as if someone had just kicked her puppy. “I didn’t mean to upset him.”

Rebel grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. “I know. Beast’s just—”

The longer Rebel struggled with a descriptor for the man who’d introduced me to this new life, the angrier I became.
 

“Beast is Beast. Before you go pegging him with any other label, you might want to remember the definition of loyalty.”

Rebel growled and turned to angle himself in front of Charlotte. As if he actually believed I would do anything to put her at risk. Rebel may have been my den president, a respected leader within the Feral Breed, but at that moment, I felt let down by him. His mating had truly knocked him off his game.

“You might want to watch your tongue, Pup. I don’t yet see a Breed insignia on that leather coat.”

“Don’t.” Charlotte pushed away from Rebel and took a step toward me. “It’s my fault. Leaving my brother for the week and all the other stuff going on, it’s got me on edge. Rebel’s just…”
 

She glanced back at the man in question. His eyes met hers, a look of something wary and dark crossing his face. Something was definitely off between them, though I had no desire to find out what. I just hoped they could figure it out. And soon.

I shrugged, my body practically itching to shift and run. “It’s fine.”

Charlotte turned my way, a small smile on her face. “It’s not. I was rude, and Rebel defending me when I’d been completely in the wrong, while sweet, didn’t help things. I’ll apologize to Beast.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Rebel said.

“Yes, I do. And so do you.” She gave him a serious look, one filled with hidden meaning. “If you’re doing this, then we both have to figure out how to make it work. That means I have to get over my fear, and you have to figure out how to not always be the protective asshole I know so well. These are your brothers. We both need to treat them that way.”

The two held each other’s gaze for a few seconds before Rebel sighed and nodded.
 

“Fine.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose before meeting my gaze. If the look on his face was any indication, apologizing was the last thing he wanted to do. “My bad.”

“Whatever, man. We’re cool.” I rolled my shoulders, cracking my neck. Something had the wolf inside me hyped up. Whether it was Rebel’s odd behavior or knowing Beast had been hurt by Charlotte’s reaction to him, I had no idea. It could’ve been neither. But the feeling of something coming, something big, wrapped itself around me and had me practically dancing in my need to shift. “I think I’m going to head out for a run.”

Rebel’s brows drew together. “You okay?”

As he waited on my response, his blue eyes seemed to travel over every inch of my body, looking for signs of danger. When they came back to meet mine, he watched me, practically stared straight into my soul to examine both the man and the wolf residing within. It took only a few seconds, the briefest of moments for my wolf to settle a bit under his gaze. There he was; the man who’d led me into more fights than I could count. Who’d looked me over in that same intensive way nearly every day since I’d started hanging around the Feral Breed den. The leader who loved his brothers and was hard on us in equal measure. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed that quintessential Rebel-inspection until I was the subject of it once more.

I calmed under his gaze, knowing my pack was coming back together after being apart for too long. “If you mean, do I think I’m going apeshit; no, I’m fine. I’m feeling sort of twitchy—maybe it’s the coming full moon.”

Rebel continued to stare at me, still in his concerned-leader role.

“I thought shifters weren’t affected by the full moon,” Charlotte said.

“They’re not.” Rebel gave me one more full review before he huffed. “As long as you’re sure you’re stable.”

“Solid. As a rock.” I pounded my chest twice, grinning when Rebel rolled his eyes. “Sorry for the smart comment, Charlotte. I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for the old man.”

“No worries. I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for this old man as well.” She pointed her thumb at Rebel. “The old ones really seem to know how to screw with your brain.”

I chuckled as Rebel growled and lifted her into his arms. “Old man? I’ll show you an old man.”

I turned and left them to their mating haze. Whatever was happening between them—good or bad—they didn’t need me witnessing it. I hoped Charlotte and Rebel would find time to settle things with Beast, if only because I knew how much being judged for his appearance bothered him. Not that he’d say the words. Beast was filled with as much testosterone and male pride as the rest of us. Admit a weakness? Never.
 

But I knew.
 

I hurried to the third cabin in the string, still feeling the need to go wolf and get a little exercise. I hadn’t been exaggerating when I said something was making me twitchy. I had a sudden urge to shift, to run, to hunt for…something. I just didn’t know what that something was.
 

Apparently, Beast felt the same as his black-as-pitch wolf form was already sitting on the steps to his cabin, his muzzle in the air.

“I swear, sometimes it’s like you can read my mind.”

Blue eyes met mine as he turned. He chuffed once, an irritated sound, then got to his feet and growled.

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a second. I don’t want to mess up these jeans.”

I ran inside the cabin next to Beast’s and tossed my duffel bag on the bed. Within seconds, I was naked and staring down at myself. At my dick to be precise. I was hard. Not semi or chub-like hard, but fully and totally erect. For absolutely no reason. And every hair on my body was standing on end.

“What the fuck?”

I ran my fingers over the head of my penis and down to the base, but something didn’t feel right. Which was damned ridiculous. My own hand should feel just fine. I’d been jerking myself off since I was twelve. My hand had long been my most reliable and consistent partner. Yet right then, as I tugged and swirled my thumb over the tip, the sensation felt foreign.
 

I huffed and thought about my options. I could jerk it—try to rub one out before heading for a run. But with the way my body was recoiling from my own touch, I doubted I’d be successful in anything other than giving myself a rash. Plus Beast was waiting, and he’d know exactly what I’d been doing if I wasn’t outside in about six seconds. I could shift and hope it went down in the process. That had worked before when I’d been interrupted while in the company of a shewolf at the denhouse in K-zoo. Making your bones break and reform in the blink of an eye had a way of deflating an erection.
 

I opted for option two and prayed like hell that I didn’t end up with a red lipstick boner between my legs when I hit four paws. Concentrating on the wolf within, I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the staticky feeling of shifting from one form to another. Once I’d wolfed up and shaken out my fur, I took a moment to just be, to really sink into my wolf instincts.
 

And then I whimpered.
 

My wolf spirit lunged inside of me, desperate and furious as the human side of my mind fought against him. The wolf wanted to run, to get out in the woods, to head north and not stop until…something. For the first time since those weeks after the attack and bite that had led me to my shifter life, the wolf inside of me exerted his individuality and tried to force the human side into submission. I grappled mentally with the beast, hanging on to my humanity by the barest thread. I couldn’t last much longer against the need to run; it took nearly all of my energy to keep from bolting out the door and racing for whatever it was that was calling to me.
 

North north north north.

I growled and planted my paws, stretching my claws until they dug deep into the wood floor. A responding growl had me bracing for attack, but it was only Beast in wolf form standing at the open door. His blue eyes met mine for a moment before sliding over the rest of me. I could picture what he had to be seeing—I was a back arched, claws out, panting mess of a wolf.
 

The pull grew stronger, demanding I move. I fought against the need, against the want of my wolf, but it was no use. A sharp mental yank had me surrendering. I took two running steps then jumped over Beast, sailing across the porch and landing on the dirt. As soon as my paws made contact, I was in motion. Running, racing, across camp and toward the north tree line. Something I needed was there. Something I had to have. Something that needed me just as much. Only I didn’t know what it was.

I’d expected the wolf to completely take over our joint mind, but I kept my human thoughts in place. I knew who I was and what was waiting for me in camp, but the wolf disregarded it all. His focus was one hundred percent on the woods to the north, where the night had fallen a little faster due to the tall trees, and the shadows both invited me in and warned me away in turn. Something was in those woods. Something important.
 

Before I could reach the trees, Beast slammed into me, knocking into my flank hard enough that I fell to the side and slid on my hip. I hurried to my feet and spun, snarling. He didn’t understand, didn’t know how desperate my inner wolf was to move. I had to go north.
 

Beast circled, stepping between me and where I needed to be. My snarl turned vicious, the fur along my nape standing on end as I readied for a fight. Beast matched me in volume and aggression, his snarl turning to deep, grunting barks as he threatened me.

“What the fuck?” Rebel hurried over, his stride long and his eyes hard. “I don’t know what the problem is here, but it needs to end now. Shift back.”