Return to Kadenburg (23 page)

“Well if it’s not an ursi-lycan pumped full of silver
being dragged in, it’s some lunatic wrecking his car in the front lawn,” He
sighed.

Twenty
Six

T
hey had no idea how hard it was to be a single
ursithrope pretending to be
anything
but extraordinary in a mundane
world. Yeah, so he had his professional football career-big deal. He could
have any woman he wanted-so what?

It didn’t really matter that he was so famous with a high
ranking spot on the ‘most eligible bachelor’ list if he couldn’t procreate with
one of the many,
many
eager ladies who desired him. That’s just not how
life worked for him.

‘Okay to date, forbidden to mate.’
The long
running pain-in-the-ass adage he’d been hearing since early childhood. People
had no idea how frigging difficult that made life for an exquisitely handsome,
extremely talented man such as Colin Grimes.

Of course he enjoyed the fame and riches that came with
knowing how to score multiple touchdowns during a game, but he was getting
older and he needed to start thinking about settling down. Over ninety-nine
percent of the world’s female population couldn’t even be considered as an
ideal mate, and that was frustrating. He had to choose another ursithrope and
he’d never found a female that caught his ‘interest’ until he laid eyes upon
Presley Goult.

She was a juicy little morsel-that much was true.
Those big green eyes and pouty little pink lips. He’d been dying to kiss them
since day one. He wanted to tangle his fingers in those golden locks and bend
her to his will…..but Lorcan Bamey just had to ruin it, didn’t he?

It was bullshit, quite frankly, that most ursithropes
believed in the pathetic possibility of marrying a childhood friend or high
school sweetheart. It wasn’t an official rule in their twisted little
guidebook. No female
had
to choose a male she’d been around her entire
life. In fact, his mother and father hadn’t known each other until their late
adolescence, so why did everybody in Kadenburg feel the need to push off their
son on somebody else’s daughter at such a young age?

It still bugged him. He would’ve had a good chance at
snagging Presley up as a mate if Lorcan would’ve backed off for a bit. It
wasn’t fair. Why did that little punk have to take the only attractive
she-bear around?

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. That little Louisa
number was cute in a way. That long dark hair and those legs that went on for
days. Oh, he could imagine having those limbs wrapped around his waist as he
gave her everything she could ever want. Fuck. Maybe he was just horny. He’d
been stuck in this deadbeat town for nearly two weeks and he hadn’t scored his
favorite type of touchdown since two days prior to his departure from Chicago.

He didn’t even want to be back in this town. He
loathed
Kadenburg. If his mother hadn’t insisted on him ‘doing the right thing in the
name of Urseth’, he would’ve ignored Mrs. Bamey’s plea for help and gone about
his business. She was costing him big bucks and he didn’t like it.

He did, however, like Presley. Liam’s little brother
had snubbed out any chance he had of winning her over now. His disgusting
scent was all over her, and she was carrying his cub. Son. Of. A. Bitch.

With so many events happening as of late, Colin was
only growing increasingly annoyed by his fellow ursithropes. They were all
talk and no action. If they were going to kill the frigging werewolf, they
just needed to do it. Hell, he’d do it if it meant he could go back to
Chicago-Presley or no Presley.

Luck had seemingly been on his side for a small
while. Lorcan being taken prisoner along with Presley, the mutt, and Greg had
given him the opportunity to play the hero. He would’ve saved her and left the
rest of them to die if things had only gone his way; but of course Urseth
couldn’t let that happen, now could he? Natalie Carroll, although blessed with
a curvaceous ass and suckable lips, had once again screwed up his plans by
letting Presley and Lorcan escape together. Was no one capable of cutting him
some slack?

And now Greg was back, miraculously alive and well
-though a little on the weird side-so there wasn’t a doubt in his mind the
younger ursithrope would somehow win over Louisa. What a crock of shit.

Everyone rushed outside to check on the idiotic
nit-wit called Rutley, leaving Colin alone with Greg’s unconscious form and the
ever timid Louisa Xiong. Even Lorcan had rushed past him to see what the excitement
was all about. What morons. Who cared if the werewolf hunter’s son got
himself killed? Colin definitely didn’t care. They could all die and it
wouldn’t bother him. None of them held an important role in society like he
did.

“How long do you think he’ll be out?” Colin asked as
he leaned against the wall, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat.

“I don’t know,” Louisa sighed, glancing at him
briefly. “Dimitri was out for days because of only one bullet. Greg could be
out for weeks. I can’t be sure.”

Oh, who gives a damn about the mutt?
Colin
rolled his eyes.

“So he’s some kind of freak now, huh?” Colin smirked
after a moment of silence. “Don’t guess a female ursithrope will be interested
in him now.”

Louisa shot a glare in his direction, frowning.

“Why would you say something like that?” She asked
softly. “It is not his fault that this has happened. He is still one of us.”

“Barely,” Colin rolled his eyes. “He’s a freak. We
don’t even know if he’s safe to be around. I think your brother is wasting
valuable life-saving skills on him, personally.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Louisa snapped.
She stood from the floor, crossing her arms over her small breasts as she
narrowed her eyes on him. “My cousin has better instincts than most females I
know. If a life is worth saving, he would know it.”

“My bad, my bad,” Colin grinned, holding his hands up
in surrender. “I’m just giving my opinion, you know. This is America. We’re
allowed to do that here.”

“I am not ignorant,” Louisa frowned. She was getting
angry, and a part of Colin enjoyed that. Maybe he enjoyed pissing people off.
He needed to let out some aggression anyway, right?

“No?” Colin smirked. “Yet you are tending to him as if
he’s some innocent little victim of a ferocious attack. He’s a monster.
Anybody can see that, Louisa. You shouldn’t be so nice to him. I bet when he
wakes up, he’ll prove that.”

“You have no way of knowing that,” She growled softly,
her eyes glowing as she curled her hands into tight fists. “I think you should
go outside with the others and see if you can help.”

“I’m not interested in helping,” Colin replied with a
low growl of his own. “I think I should stay in here and make sure that little
abomination never wakes up.”

“You will not touch him!” Louisa took a step towards
the couch, baring the razor sharp teeth elongating from her gums. She looked
fierce-and sexy. It turned Colin on in ways he never imagined. Yes, she would
do well in replacing Presley.

“Can I touch you then?” Colin sauntered towards her,
easily reaching her within three long strides. He lifted a hand to touch the
side of her face. “Oooh. You’re burning up. Do you want to bear out on me,
Little Lou-Lou?”

“Don’t you dare touch me again,” Louisa stated through
her clenched, sharp teeth. “You will pull back a bloodied nub if you try.”

“Oooh, feisty,” He snapped his teeth at her, wiggling
his brows. “I think you’re
really
adorable, Panda Pants.”

Louisa released a cry of anger as her fist flew
forward. Colin had to bite back the laughter wanting to escape his throat as
she punched his chest. It hurt, there wasn’t any doubt about it, but it only
fueled the fire he felt for her.

“
So
adorable,” He teased. “Look at how
beautiful you are.”

Louisa pulled her fist back, ready to strike again
when another voice echoed in Colin’s ears.

“What is going on?”

The little panda vixen was soon forgotten as Colin
turned his head to see his golden haired beauty standing in the doorway. She
was dressed in an oversized t-shirt, undoubtedly Lorcan’s, and the collar was
sliding over her shoulder in a way that made him wish he could rip the fabric
from her body. His nostrils flared as he licked his lips.

“Nothing, really,” Colin replied in a husky tone.
“Just having a bit of fun.”

Presley’s thin eyebrows drew together as she stared at
him, and then her eyes moved past him to study Louisa.

“What’s wrong, Louisa?” She asked.

“He-”

“I was just playing with her,” Colin chuckled, cutting
Louisa off purposefully. “I was bored and thought I’d pick on her a bit. It
was some harmless fun, Presley. I swear it.”

He knew she wasn’t buying his story as she approached
them. She had that look in her eyes that a woman often got when she didn’t
trust a man.

I don’t need her to trust me to make her mine,
he thought.

“Louisa?” Presley repeated in a gentle voice. “Are you
all right?”

“Oh, please,” Colin whirled around to face them,
letting his smile fade away as his cold eyes landed on them. “She’s fine,
Presley. Stop pushing it. She’s fine. Greg’s fine. And in case you’re
wondering, that little alcoholic idiot outside is fine, too.”

Presley tilted her head to the side, opening her mouth
to respond when the front door opened. Dimitri entered with his arm wrapped
around Rutley. The human looked a mess, for sure. The gash on his temple was
still bleeding, and his lower lip had a cut upon it that could rival the state
of Texas.

“Get him inside, quickly!” Mrs. Bamey instructed.

Colin fought the urge to roll his eyes. That woman was
so
annoying….

“Louisa, I need some more towels,” Beau said in an
exasperated tone.

Colin watched in silence as the panda lifted his gaze
to meet his cousin’s, and he cursed every single one of them for their bad
timing.
Of course
Beau would see the expression her face.
Of course
he would be able to feel her emotions because they were related. Fucking…

“What is wrong?” Beau asked in a flat tone. “Louisa?”

“I…” Louisa was trying to find the words caught in her
throat, and that gave Colin the two seconds of time he needed to screw
everything up for everyone. In his mind, the way he saw it, if he couldn’t
have happiness-neither could anyone else. He was tired of playing this game.
He was tired of living by these rules.
He
was the professional football
player.
He
was the rich guy.
He
was the most successful
ursithrope in this room! If he couldn’t walk away from this mess with a new
gain, then he would make sure everyone felt his misery after he was long gone.

“I’m afraid she’s upset for discovering this,” Colin
sighed. He reached his hand out quickly, grabbing Presley’s and curling his
fingers tightly around hers so she couldn’t pull away. He strategically
stepped back enough for Lorcan to see. “I didn’t know she liked me and
well….I’m afraid I belong to another.”

“What are you doing?!” Presley shrieked as she tried
to pull her hand away from his.

Colin took great pleasure at the look of bewilderment
on Lorcan’s face. The way his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. The way his
mouth fell open in disbelief. Hell, Colin even gained some satisfaction from
the gasp leaving Mrs. Bamey’s lips.

“There’s no need to hide it, Sweetheart,” Colin said
in a gentle tone. “They needed to know sooner or later.”

Despite her struggle against him, Colin was much
stronger. He easily pulled her body against his as he dipped his head,
catching her mouth in a searing kiss of immense heat and promising desire. Her
lips were so sweet; finer than any honey he’d ever tasted. He wanted to know
what the rest of her body tasted like…..

His bliss was short lived as he felt fingertips
digging into his shoulders. He found himself sailing through the air,
colliding with a shelf and falling to the floor. Various trinkets and pictures
fell upon him and it took a few seconds for him to realize Lorcan had spiraled
into a fit of rage.

“Keep your hands off my mate!” Lorcan growled.

Colin chuckled, slowly pushing himself up from the
floor as his eyes met the livid ursithrope’s.

“Or what?” He asked in a calm tone. Things were
getting really fun now. “Going to hurt me, Bamey?”

Lorcan’s eyes were glowing something fierce as he
stared at him wildly. His chest rose and fell with each staggering breath. The
veins in his neck bulged out as he bared his fangs for Colin to see.

“I will kill you,” Lorcan promised.

Colin narrowed his eyes on the other ursithrope,
listening to the hushed murmurs and soft gasps escaping from their spectators.
Let them watch. He didn’t care anymore. He was done playing this game with
them. He wanted to go back home and be done with Kadenburg. He wanted to move
on with his life and forget he was even from this god-forsaken dump.