Wolf With Benefits (5 page)

“Matty?”

“Yeah, Shi?”

“I did miss you.”

“Good.” His smile was practically audible. “Go to sleep, pita. I’ve got this.”

“Okay.”
For today
. She’d let him take care of everything for today. Tomorrow, she’d be ready to fight her battles again.

T
he game was unremarkable
, yet he didn’t move a muscle once Shiloh fell asleep with her head tucked against him. Stretching his legs out, he rested his feet on the coffee table and let himself doze. It was barely evening when her phone rang. Catching it, he silenced the ringer before it woke her. The number on the screen was her parents. So, the Sullivans were home. Chances were they’d found her note about moving out.

They could wait.

Her mother was a difficult woman where her children were concerned. In the past, his parents had often ordered him to butt out when Delia dealt with her daughter. Since Shiloh moved in with him, it gave him all the excuse he needed to stand between her and Hurricane Sullivan.

A low rumble of thunder roused him after a while, and he cracked an eyelid open. The television was still on, showing the news. Shiloh continued to sleep with the tiniest track of drool escaping the corner of her mouth, and the room had gone dark. Another low vibration of thunder rolled over them, and he sighed. Was it the six o’clock news or the ten? Her phone was nearest so he flipped it over to check the time.

The brightness from the smart screen stung his eyes. Squinting, he almost laughed. It was after ten. They’d slept the rest of the afternoon and all of the evening. He’d been more tired than he thought. Time to get them both to bed. He needed a stretch and his bladder needed a side trip to the bathroom. A moment from setting her phone aside, it vibrated and a text message displayed.

Nash
:
Hey sweetness. Missing you. Call me. Better yet…come back.

Matt scowled. Restlessness invaded Shi, and she shifted against him. He stilled any sound and tightened his arm around her shoulders. The light squeeze settled her. Only once her breathing deepened and her heart slowed to steady, sleeping pace did he dare glance at her phone again.
Nash.

Another person who could damn well wait and not bother her. Setting her phone aside, he curved his body then slid an arm beneath her legs. Balancing her slight weight easily, he rose and carried her into the bedroom. Unlike the living room and kitchen, he kept his bedroom spartan. Most of his clothes were hung or put away in the drawers, but a few discarded items lay on the floor. The only furniture in the room was the big bed and a night table where he could sit his phone.

Going to one knee on the bed, he lowered Shi into place. A part of him wanted to strip off her clothes so she’d be comfortable, but the rest of him knew better. Peeling off those sexy jeans would wake her. Drawing the comforter over her, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and filled his lungs with her sweet and spicy scent.

The corner of his mouth split when he smiled at the picture she made against his dark sheets. Kissing Shi earlier had sent his wolf into a frenzy. He’d done it purely to establish their cover. If Robbie believed they were lovers, so would the rest of his family. Then Robbie admired her ass…and something altogether unkind clicked inside of him. He’d pounded his brother good and taken his own beating in return.

Nash
. The name tasted like acid on his tongue. Matt didn’t know him, and he didn’t want to either. He also didn’t want the wolf sniffing around after Shi. She was home, in Willow Bend—
where she
belongs.

Trailing a finger along her cheek, he ignored his scrabbling wolf and aching bladder. The plan was to get the pack to forgive her so she would be more comfortable.
Plans change.
He wanted her tied to home, so she’d never leave again, and he had the perfect excuse in the world…they were pretending to be lovers. His wolf settled almost immediately.

Making himself walk away irked his wolf, but he was in the bathroom all of four seconds before he noticed how much she’d cleaned it. Scowl renewed, he finished his business, washed his hands then headed to the kitchen. Shiloh wasn’t his maid. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he tackled the laundry first—folding all the clean clothes before swapping the damp clothes from the washer into the dryer. Setting his freshly folded pile aside, he then dumped all the towels into the wash.

She wasn’t wrong. They were definitely musty. Shoving them in, he dumped in some more detergent and sighed. He was almost out. Hating housework was a little pathological with him, and he wasn’t too proud to admit it. In fact, his mother recognized the trait well enough to drop in at least once a month and restock the apartment. If he wasn’t careful, Shi would do the same thing, and he didn’t want her cleaning after him. He was here for her, not the other way around.

Laundry, done
. He eyed the kitchen. It took him fifteen minutes to rinse and load the dishes into the dishwasher. The detergent was almost empty. Since he couldn’t remember ever purchasing any, his mother must have stocked it for him.

Grunting, he got the dishwasher started before digging through the drawers for a pad and pen. Locating them in a drawer stuffed full of bits of wire, tools, and random pieces of mail, he set them on the counter. Adding several items to his makeshift shopping list, he left it on the counter so Shiloh could add her items to it as well.

Girls needed stuff, right?

Laundry, done. Dishes, done. Kitchen, sort of cleaned
. He checked the living room. She’d been irritated at the coffee table, so he went through the magazines and tossed most into the trashcan. He’d haul it down to the big cans in the morning. Satisfied she could tolerate the space, he checked on her then headed into the bathroom. One long, hot shower later, he used the only towel left to dry off and hung it back where he found it, then padded into the bedroom.

Crawling between the sheets, he settled on his back. Shiloh’s sweet scent tickled his nostrils and her soft breathing accompanying the thunder lulled him. Yawning, he relaxed and let his eyes fall closed. No sooner did he feel as though he dropped into sleep than a vibrating noise woke him.

It felt as though he’d blinked, but his bed partner lay plastered to his side and her warm breath teased his skin. His cock woke even swifter than he did at the feminine softness pressed against him. Damn, too bad she was dressed. The lust-filled thought drove away the last vestiges of sleep. His phone vibrated on the night table and he wanted to swear. Easing Shiloh away from him, he stretched over her and claimed his phone.

Power out in Hokanan.

Son of a bitch
. Hokanan was an hour away on a good day, a small little ‘burb of mostly houses and a couple of community centers. It was also where a large number of the pack’s seniors lived, a quieter escape from the hubbub at the center of pack life. They enjoyed the relative peace and quiet away from the kids making all the noise and the changes.
A little after three in the morning
—he could get there, get the power back on and be home again before she woke.

It took him about five minutes to dress, get his shoes on and find his keys. In the kitchen, he made coffee to fill his thermos, then set it up to brew another pot at about six thirty. After jotting down a note so Shi would know where he went, he headed out. The overnight snow left another half a foot from the look of it, and it was raining with the snow.

Grimacing, he got the jeep started, fired off a text to let them know he was on his way before pulling out of the drive. The chains on the tires would help, but if the freezing rain left a layer of ice on everything, he would have more problems to fix. Normally, the weird hours didn’t bother him, but leaving a sleeping Shiloh alone in his bed?

Shi equals best friend.
He shook his head, and his wolf clawed at him.
Pretend lover. Real lover sounds better.

The heat flushing through him at the latter idea thawed the chill in his blood. He had no problem with the idea of making Shiloh his lover. They fit together. Their kiss? The one she didn’t want to talk about left him hungry for round two. Keeping his gaze on the road, he took a long drink of hot coffee. It didn’t do a damn thing to soothe the ache he could only label as Shi forming inside.

Stop being an idiot. She’ll be there when I get home.
And if he brought her chocolate éclairs, so what? Friends took care of friends.

T
he hiss
of the coffee maker woke her.
Odd
. Her bedroom was nowhere near the kitchen, so why could she hear…
oh
. Peeling her eyes open, she studied Matt’s bedroom. She was a lot closer than she remembered.
Ugh
. Scrubbing a hand over her face, she rose to a sitting position. Unlike her beer-earned hangover from the day before, she had a suspicion her issue was far too much sleep. Groggy, she shoved away the sheets and swung over to sit on the edge.

Wow.
How hard had she slept? How long? The last thing she remembered was cuddling with Matt on the sofa and watching a football game—she checked the nightstand clock—yesterday afternoon. Sixteen hours of sleep? Rubbing her face again, she tried to wipe away the dried drool stuck to the corner of her mouth. Yeah, that had to be attractive. Standing, she reached to pull the sheet up and make the bed. The rumpled blankets were utterly disheveled, but the other side of the bed boasted a depression, as did the pillow.

Okay, so Matt put her to bed and slept with her. Processing the information, she smoothed the sheets, tucking them in before she fluffed the pillows. It took her a couple of minutes to make the bed neat.

A shopping list waited on the counter next to a note in front of the coffee pot.
Went to Hokanan to fix power. Be back by dawn. Want donuts?

Donuts.
She laughed. The coffee smelled heavenly, so after making a cup, she did a cursory inspection of the kitchen. He’d cleaned before he left. She folded the laundry from the dryer so she could transfer the towels. By the time she hit her second cup of coffee, the fog in her brain cleared away and the reality of her situation crashed in on her.

Living with Matt—she was living with a wolf. Coffee in hand, she retreated to the living room and turned on the news before looking for her phone. It was stuffed between the couch cushions and the battery was nearly dead.

Four missed calls. A dozen text messages. Her gut clenched.

First, she fired off a text to Matt and thanked him for the coffee, then added
I’d kill for some éclairs.

His one word response earned a laughed.
Soon
.

So maybe he was on his way back.
Good.
Downing a swallow of coffee, she checked the other text messages first. Three from Amelia.

WTH?

How can you do this to Mom?

Answer your damn phone.

So, sister was pissed.
Check.

Another message from Don, her brother.

Not sure whether you need a thump or a congratulations. LMK, K?

She shuddered. The support surprised her, but maybe it shouldn’t have. Donny hadn’t been thrilled with her choice to do the Three Rivers project, but he was also the least judgmental of her siblings.

The trembling in her hands increased when she spotted Mason and Nash’s names on the list of incoming.
Great.
The Alpha sent her a text. That couldn’t be good. Nash reaching out worried her, too. She’d told the wolf flat out she wanted to go home and she’d left. He’d been a little bent over her choice to leave with Linc and the Delta Crescent Alpha the same night as the fight, but…
the grotesque snap of bone…

Closing her eyes, she got her breathing under control. Hitting Nash’s name, she scanned the message. A single line. He wanted her to call.
Later.
Maybe never. Which wasn’t fair to him. The incident wasn’t his fault, but he’d been one of the crowd. He’d been right there witnessing it, throwing his tacit support to Patrick.

A message from her father waited, too. He didn’t text often.

Not a lot of great choices. She checked his message, delaying the inevitable issue with Mason a few seconds longer. Her father’s text proved cryptic.
Your mother is very upset. I do not agree with her, but I support her. Do as she says.

The voicemails.

Okay, she’d rather be in trouble with Mason than Mom, so she went to his message next.

Call when you receive this.

Damn.

She pressed the call button on his contact information. It rang twice, then he answered. “Thank you for getting back to me, Shiloh.”

“My apologies if you had to wait.”
Nice.
Her voice sounded a lot steadier than she felt. “I just woke up about thirty minutes ago.” After sleeping like the dead. Her best night’s sleep since coming home.

“No problem. Tiffany and Ryan told me about what happened yesterday.”

Her heart sank. “I’m sorry about that…”

A pause, the silence so audible, she swallowed any further statement.

“Why are you sorry, Shiloh?” Mason’s tone gentled, erasing any tenseness in his words.

“I know why it happened. I’ve made the pack unhappy…created more problems for you.”
Lame
. She drank the coffee rather than say anything else. The old adage of
it’s better to be thought an idiot than open your mouth and prove it
chanted through her head.

“Well.” He seemed to be pondering her declaration. “You did those things, save for the last. No one creates problems for me, Shiloh. I ordered you and your cohorts home. You obeyed the order, the first of the five to do so.”

When he spoke that way, it was hard to remember he was only a few years ahead of her in school or married—mated—to one of her oldest friends. “Yes, sir.” Still, the sir fit.

“Shiloh, I called to make sure you were all right. The incident with your tires and Kirk’s windshield are unacceptable. The Hunters will locate the perpetrators, and they
will
be punished.”

She frowned. “I don’t think punishment is the answer. They are lashing out. Maybe repurposing their anger would be better.” Teaching moments were as important to wolves as they were to people, right?

“How would you suggest we repurpose the anger?” Of course he asked her. It was her idea, after all. One of these days, she’d learn to shut up.

Rubbing her eyes, she considered her answer. “I’d assign them the challenge of understanding. What drives people to make decisions? How can they build a bridge between what they know and what they want to understand? How can they improve the world around them versus what they perceive? Most crimes of vandalism are predicated by boredom, anger, revenge, defiance, and unfortunately, peer pressure. You could call them a cry for help.”

“Defiance is not so easily forgiven, Shiloh.”

“You forgave mine.” The argument slipped out before she could contain it.

“Did I?” A dangerously soft taunt.

Chewing her lower lip, she stared at the television.
Shut up, Shi.
“Oh, what the hell. I’m already in it up to my neck. Yes, Mason, you forgave my defiance. I worked in opposition to everything the packs say is
law
because it’s how it’s always been done. You ordered me home and, more importantly, you’ve allowed me to stay. So, yes, I think you forgave my defiance.”

“I appreciate your faith in me, Shiloh, but I didn’t perceive your actions as defiance against me or my orders. You had no standing orders not to assist the Lone Wolves or Luciana. You acted in what you felt were the best interests of all wolves and, while I still believe you are naïve about what it means in the long run, I do not doubt for an instant that your heart was and is in the right place. You wanted to help. You did not act to cause injury.”

“Okay, when you say it that way, what I did was a lot cooler than I thought.”

His sharp bark of laughter dragged a smile from her. “Don’t get cocky, kid. What you did was pretty stupid from a lot of angles. Just because I think your heart was in the right place doesn’t mean I don’t curse you for the headache it’s left me to deal with—”

The front door opened, admitting a grinning Matt. Cold air rushed in with him, but so did the smell of donuts. Warm donuts—as in freshly made—so her stomach let out a growl.

“I am sorry about the headache, really…” She sighed, even as she stared at the boxes in Matt’s hands. He bumped the door closed and carried the food over to her. “I stand by my earlier statement. I think repurposing would be better for everyone in the long run.”

“You okay, Shi? Someone giving you a hard time?” Matt’s instant scowl didn’t prepare her for how fast he tugged the phone from her. “Leave Shiloh alone. She’s pack, and she doesn’t need your crap. You have a problem, you can take it up with me.”

She froze. “Oh my God, Matt…”

His fierce expression dissolved into one of shock, then he said, “Shit, Mason, I’m sorry. I thought you were Shi’s parents giving her crap again. They haven’t exactly been friendly.”

Shiloh covered her mouth with both hands. Whether to stop herself from laughing or screaming, she wasn’t sure. Matt blew out a slow breath then began to chuckle. “Yes, sir.” Another laugh before he added, “No, sir. I won’t brag to Margo about it.”

Wincing, she edged over to make room when Matt dropped onto the sofa next to her. He widened his eyes at her and mimed hanging himself, but the corner of his mouth kicked into a higher grin.

“Yeah, I moved Shiloh in yesterday, actually.” For a split-second his expression sobered. “Mason, I’m on her side. I don’t need any other facts.”

Not for the first time in her life, she wished she possessed the wolves’ acute hearing.

“I get that, and if they want to give her a hard time—hell, if anyone wants to give her a hard time—they have to go through me.” At his solemn declaration, she put her hand on his leg. She didn’t want him picking a fight for her. When his palm came to rest on hers, she mouthed ‘What are you two talking about?’

Matt shook his head once. “I hear you. I have no problem with that… Yeah, she’s right here.” He offered the phone to her and she accepted it, but Matt didn’t release the hand he held captive.

“Hi again, Mason.” She kept her tone solicitous. She’d already stepped in it a few times.

Laughter underscored his reply. “So, as I was saying, I’ll keep your suggestions in mind. Once we’ve identified the culprits, you will be given an opportunity to confront them directly. We own our actions, both positive and negative. Understood?”

“Absolutely.” She could appreciate his terms, especially after her own interrogations and subsequent meeting with Mason.

“That said, Lexi tells me Tiffany invited you to tea-lunch girls-only thing on Thursday.” The fast subject change left her with zero time to recover.

“Yes, she did.”

“Excellent. I know Lexi was irritated she wasn’t here for our meeting, but you understood why.” It went without saying, but if Mason had decided to boot her out, he didn’t want his mate taking her cause. Not that she expected Alexis to do so.

“I did and I will call Mrs. Huston to confirm lunch and tea and girl stuff.”

“Good. They’ll be having it here.” The information gave her pause. “Matt, if you bring her over, I have some work for you to do while we wait for them to finish. If you can’t, let me know and I’ll make sure she has an escort.”

Shock piled upon shock. Matt squeezed her hand. “Will do.”

“Talk to you two later.” Mason didn’t wait for her to agree, he simply hung up.

“I need more coffee,” she said.

Matt chuckled. “You didn’t just growl at him.” Though he didn’t seem terribly upset about the
faux pas
. “And…” He leaned forward and retrieved the white boxes, flipping them open one at a time. “I brought you breakfast. I also have the rest of the day off.”

Her stomach rumbled, and she tugged her hand from his to steal one of the chocolate crème-filled treats. Biting in, she let out a little groan and caught him staring at her. His smile didn’t waver.

“What?” she asked around the mouthful.

“Finish orgasming over your bribe and I’ll tell you.” The lick of promise in the statement sent her unease ratcheting a notch. On the other hand, it was éclairs. She didn’t care how uneasy she was, she planned to eat all—she paused to peer in the box again—six of them.

“Okay,” she agreed and he smiled. After he brushed his fingers down her cheek, he rose. “Coffee?”

“Sure.” He grabbed her empty mug and headed to the kitchen. She polished off the first pastry with a moan. The sugar would have her system zinging in no time.

“Like that, do you?”

“Oh my God, yes.” She sighed. “You know the way to win my affection is directly related to the sugar and fat content of the food you give me. Course, my ass may hate you later.”

“I’ll make it up to your ass, too.” More sensual promise hung in that sentence than he’d ever thrown in her direction. He returned with her coffee mug and his own. No sooner did he set them down, than he offered her the next one.

“Trying to fatten me up for the slaughter?”

“Maybe.” He grinned. The wicked laughter dancing in his eyes proved damn near irresistible. When had he gotten so good looking?

“Matt,” she said slowly, then licked the lingering taste of the sweet treat from her lips.
He’s my best friend; I can tell him anything.

“Shi?”

“We’re just pretending to be lovers, remember?”
Make believe. Fake. Sham. Counterfeit.

“I remember.” He flipped open the second box to reveal bear claws and apple fritters—his favorites. “I just want to play.” Lifting one of the bear claws from the box, he glanced at her sideways. “Will you play with me, Shi?”

Her heart did a little twist. “What?”

“Will…you…” he closed the distance between them and tapped his bearclaw against her nose once before offering it to her for a bite. “…play with me?”

Did he mean play or
play
? She took a bite, because suddenly, she didn’t trust her answer. Chewing slowly, she remained wildly aware of his observation. Only after she swallowed did she cobble together her courage. “What did you have in mind?”

His grin widened. Why did she think she was in big trouble?

A
fter breakfast
, he encouraged Shiloh to change into a snow suit. The waterproof pants, jacket and boots would keep her warm. With a roll of her eyes, she did as he asked and even tucked her hair into a knit cap. Tugging the hood up on her jacket, he secured it.