~ RIG ~Holy shit.I’d only thought I might get her to soften, to start trusting me. But she got close and the smell of her filled me. And her smile. And the pure delight she had watching me hold a fucking cat.I mean, the thing was stinking cute. But still…I had just been making a mental note never to arm Mack with the whole kitten effect, when she started touching me, and then I didn’t even think. I just told her the truth.I never told girls the truth. Not really. I didn’t lie. I just… hid myself.But this time I didn’t hide. I couldn’t.And then she kissed me, and every other thought fled from my head.The sensation of Cara’s lips against mine was incredible. Stunning. Consuming. Every nerve in my body jangled to life, and I sucked in a breath against the sense that every single one of them was trying to escape my skin, to burst out of me, into her touch.A shudder rolled through my entire body. I froze, rocked by the softness of her lips, the rich sweetness of her scent, and the
~ RIG ~My head buzzed with stunned disbelief as Natalie threw herself into my chest, squeezing my middle.I was suddenly nauseous. Natalie? Here? What the actual—“I can’t believe you’re here! What a coincidence!” she gushed.“What the hell, Natalie?” I muttered, peeling her arms away from my waist, everything in my body recoiling.“It’s so good to see you! It’s been forever.”“That’s not an accident—”As if I hadn’t spoken, Natalie kept her grip on my shirt but peered around me, smiling too-wide. “Who’s your friend? I’m Natalie,” she said brightly. I wanted to snap my teeth. “Rig and I go way back—you must be from the university?” She reached past me to offer Cara a perfectly manicured hand that Cara shook mechanically.“Cara,” she said quietly, but then she looked up at me, a question in her eyes.She’d kissed me. She wanted me. She was mine—I blinked, then pried Natalie’s grip off my shirt and took another step back. “Natalie. What are you doing here?”She couldn’t ignore me sinc
~ RIG ~It was a good thing I could trust my wolf-senses to keep us safe on the road, because for the first few miles, I wasn’t even aware of driving, I was so consumed with fury.I couldn’t believe Natalie had ambushed me—and with Cara there! I had been so close to shifting when she tried to make trouble with Cara I had scared myself. I couldn’t imagine what that must have done to Cara.Actually, I could. Cara sat in the passenger seat, stiff as a board, stinking of tension that spun in and out of fear. I’d really given her a scare when I reached out for the car—something I’d seen my mother and sister do countless times, because of my father. It made my guts twist even tighter seeing her do it because of me.I needed to explain. Needed to ease her mind. Needed to find our way back to the kissing. But I didn’t know how to start. And so we drove for ten minutes without a word, my hands flexing on the steering wheel as my rage gave way to frustration.In the end, Cara was the one to bre
~ RIG ~“Yo, Rig. What’s going on? Why weren’t you at the seminar this morning?” Charlie asked from the couch where he and Jack were sprawled playing video games as I walked into the house, very tense, a few minutes later.I wanted to growl, but just shrugged and kept walking towards the kitchen. “Nothing, I just needed to get out.”“You weren’t at lunch either, though,” Jack pointed out.I rubbed my face and walked to the fridge, considering a beer. It was early, but the last glow of sunlight would die in the room soon as the autumn day passed into twilight.“I’m tired. I took a day off.”“Is our fearless leader worried about losing a certain bet?” Mack laughed, appearing from the hallway. “You should be. I’ve been working on Cara. Something’s up with our little pet.”“How the fuck would you know? You didn’t spend the day with her.”“Says who?” Mack grinned.“Says me, who did.”My packmates all leaped on that, shouting over each other, demanding to know what I had done, and when, and
~ CARA ~“I said… he’s not my boyfriend,” I ground out, hands on my hips.Natalie stood on the other side of the library desk looking just as coiffed and perfect as she had that afternoon, though her hair was swept up now, and there was a gorgeous, cashmere scarf wrapped around her long neck.My stomach was twisted like that scarf, but with a strange mix of frustration and jealousy. I had already been feeling sorry for myself that Rig was so obviously hung up on this girl. I couldn’t believe I’d kissed him—and I couldn’t believe how much I wanted to do it again. This guy was a walking red flag! I didn’t have time or energy to figure it out. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about him.Work had been a welcome distraction. But then it had all come crashing back in when Natalie had shown up twenty minutes earlier and proved impossible to deflect. When I had to help another student, she’d simply waited, then started in again when they left.It was the first time I had prayed for my shift to be
~ RIG ~I glared at my ex-girlfriend, furious. I couldn’t believe she was trying this shit. “I don’t need a fucking thing from you.”“Oh, really, Rig? Because from my perspective, that little human’s got her fingers twisted right into your fur and you aren’t even growling about it. Your dad might put up with the man-whoring, but you’re out of your mind if you think he’s going to consider a human for his future pack Luna.”I snorted. “You’re so full of yourself, you don’t have a clue—”“Rig, I followed you today. I saw you with her when you didn’t know anyone was watching.” Her eyes clouded, but she blinked to clear them. “I know you. You watch her the way you used to watch me. She makes you smile. She made you laugh. She got you to pet kittens for fucks sake.”“So?”“So, you have feelings for a human, Rig.”“Bullshit. I don’t give a fuck about her.”Natalie’s perfectly manicured brow arched and she folded her arms. “Oh, really? Then you won’t mind if I tell her about the bet.”Shock r
~ CARA ~My hands kept shaking and I couldn’t make them stop. I was on the edge of tears, and I didn’t really understand why. Except that watching Rig with Natalie—even the furious Rig—had made it so very clear how well those two knew each other.Rig with Natalie was the same Rig who slouched around with his friends when there was no one else with them. He wasn’t trying. He wasn’t pretending. Even if he hated her, he knew her. He spoke with her like someone he could be himself with, and never fear losing. Unguarded.It was the way he’d started to talk to me that afternoon at the fairgrounds, before everything went to shit. That was when I’d realized Rig used arrogance and flirting like a shield. A wall he could hide behind.But earlier that day his wall had been down. I’d spent hours with the Rig who had nothing to prove and he was… fun. Sweet. Thoughtful. And funny as hell. Hot as hell, too. Unfortunately.And then I’d kissed him—shocked him. But when he came alive… the hunger in him
~ RIG ~Exactly five minutes later, I stood over her as she used trembling hands to pull her staff card up to the reader on the study-room door and open it.My entire body hummed. I stood over her, right behind her. The temptation to put my hand over hers on the door handle, to use my bulk to press her forward and into the room was almost irresistible. But I knew I couldn’t force this. Everything hung on this moment.When I’d shown up behind her in the aisle, she’d looked over her shoulder with wide eyes. Scared eyes. I’d backed off, almost certain she was going to change her mind. But she hadn’t.Now she was standing here… vulnerable.Even her scent was a state of uncertainty—lust mingling with fear. It was a state that I hadn’t hesitated to use to my advantage with other women countless times. A small push with the Allure to soothe her fear and fuel that fire…But now… now I found myself oddly reluctant to push her. I was desperate to know what she’d decide for herself.So when the