A Mate's Bite(17)
His hands tightened on the wheel as he took a couple of deep breaths. The leather on his seat squealed when he shifted to face her. “I spoke to Kel earlier. He told me you were leaving late. I was waiting to surprise you and take you home. But when you walked out, you smelled of a different male.”
She blinked, her jaw hanging wide open. Then it clicked. “I slipped in the teacher’s lounge earlier, and Charlie grabbed me before I hit the floor.”
His eyes narrowed. “I could smell his desire for you on your clothes.”
What? “You could?”
She’d never had any man show jealousy for her before. It was strange and a little freaky.
“It caught me unaware and pushed the wolf to the surface.” The wild side lingered close by. It was obvious from the deepness of his voice to the tightness on his face.
“I’m sorry.”
He shook his head and faced the steering wheel. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who’s sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you with my reaction.”
“You didn’t scare me.” It was probably not good that she’d actually been excited to see that aggressive side of him. Or that she’d loved every second of the rough coupling. But she had issues. She shrugged it off as another side of Nate she had the hots for. She lifted a hand and placed it tentatively over his. “It was new and different, but I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”
His brows dipped in a troubled frown. “You’re right. I wouldn’t hurt you. Ever.”
She smiled. “I know. Can you take me home?”
“You’re sure you want to be around me? The animal is still restless, but I promise you I have him under control.”
“Yes. Can you take me home or would it be a problem to have someone drop off my car?” She felt the need to reassure him again. “I’m not scared of you.”
The lines on his forehead smoothed a little. “I can take you home. I’ll call up one of the enforcer packs doing rounds in this area.”
She patted his hand. It was nice to be able to give him some reassurance in his time of insecurity. “Good. Let’s do it.”
“Guess who called me,” Kel said the following day at end of their long school day. They headed for the parking lot behind the gym.
They were the most unusual looking triplets. She and her sister were physically identical, while Kel was the total opposite. Where they were short, he was tall. They were curvy, he was muscled. The girls had their mother’s lighter skin tone, and he had his father’s bronzed.
“Oh! I know. Was it that TV show to let you know you are NOT the father?” She laughed.
“No, smartass. Kass.” He hugged her to his side and planted a kiss on her head.
Oh. Not the news she’d hoped for. “What did she want?”
Their sister had stayed away from them for years. She’d chosen to live with their mother and follow in her footsteps. Only Kass had a much meaner personality than their mother. And with the way Karla had felt lately, she’d likely tell Kass off than try to get along.
“Said she was headed this way and would come visit.”
Karla stopped at the entrance to the gym and turned to her brother. “You’re messing with me, right?”
He grimaced. “I wish I were. She said she misses us and wants to spend time with you.”
“Me? What the hell did I ever do to deserve that kind of punishment?” She groaned and yanked the door to the gym open.
Her question went unanswered when they saw Ellie, Jordan, and one of the Wolfe pack enforcers in the center of the gym, fighting.
“What’s going on here?” She yelled, rushing toward her friends.
Ellie had the enforcer in a headlock, while Jordan was twisting his leg in a weird direction.
“Hey, Karla!” Jordan grinned and blew a strand of hair away from her very flushed face.
“Um, hi?” She pointed at the guy. “What are you doing?”
“We’re training,” Ellie answered before letting the poor man go. “Thanks, Mike! We’re good for today.”
The enforcer nodded and rushed out of the back door. “I’m running late for my shift, Ellie. I’ll see you ladies next week.”
Karla moved closer to the yoga-geared women. “Is a zombie apocalypse happening that I’m not aware of?”
The roar of Mike’s bike sounded outside as he left the parking lot.
Ellie laughed, tossing a towel at Jordan along with a water bottle. “Nope. We decided we need to be better equipped to deal with more attacks, should they come.”
Kel nodded. “Makes sense. I’d love to take some of those trainings too.”