Dire(43)

“After everything, you’re still concerned with safe sex?”

“Yes. I’m still me.” You always used a condom.

His angry eyes glared down at me. “Well I’m not still me, and whose fault is that?”

I woke up with a start.

I turned to my side. Hunter was sleeping. I took several deep breaths. I was done pretending. There was only one man I wanted, and it wasn’t the one in the bed next to me.





Chapter Sixteen


Hunter





Sleeping with Mary Anne in my arms almost made me feel like my normal self again. Being near her was always great, but when I could focus on her peaceful even breathing, I was able to forget how close I was to losing my human side.

As content as I was, sleeping was the last thing on my mind. Her body had been everything I knew it would be, and seeing her soaking wet almost undid me. It took a lot of will power to walk away. I couldn’t tarnish what we had. She’d never forgive me. My brother would have laughed at me. He always said I was too soft to be an Alpha, but respecting a woman doesn’t make a man any less strong.

She started to toss and turn, and she murmured in her sleep. I listened closely to see if I could make anything out. I couldn’t, but the look on her face and the way she squirmed said it all. She was dreaming about me.

I closed my eyes, letting myself enjoy the knowledge that the shower experience had affected her as much as it affected me. But then she ruined it. All of it.

“Gage.” She spoke softly, but his name came out loud and clear.

I forced myself to lay there unmoving with my eyes shut for a few minutes. I could tell she’d woken up, and I knew if I spoke to her in that moment I’d say something I’d regret. Instead I waited until her breathing evened out.

The living area was empty as I hurried through on my way outside. I needed to run. I needed to embrace my Dire before it killed me searching for a way out.

I shifted before I’d even left the back porch.

The anger and jealousy dissipated slightly as I let my Dire side take over. My emotions were easier to digest when I embraced my animal side. I couldn’t take my anger out on Mary Anne. It would only push her farther away, but how could I pretend it hadn’t happened? She’d been dreaming about another man while lying in bed with me. A fleeting thought of what I wanted to do to Gage flashed through my mind, but that wasn’t me. I couldn’t kill what I’d created because my mate had feelings for him. That was the problem, my Dire side roared, she wasn’t my mate yet. I needed to change that. I needed to really make her mine.

I sprinted around the property several times before calming down enough to return inside. Jocelyn was waiting for me on the porch holding my pants. “We’re coming with you.”

“You’re what?” I jumped into the jeans.

“We’re coming,” she repeated. “We can help you.”

“I still don’t know what we’re doing. I will contact you as soon as I do.”

“You do know what you’re doing. Why else would you be going to New Orleans?” She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you haven’t told your pack, but you’re making your move.”

There was no reason to pretend. Jocelyn would only get angry. “It’s the perfect place to hide. The Pterons will never look for us there, and the witches would never step foot in New Orleans considering the kind of magic they are playing with. They’d be sentenced to death—or worse.” There were far worse punishments than death in the paranormal world.

“And we can help you. “

“You haven’t moved in years.” They’d settled down far longer than I’d expected them too. It had easily been three years already.

“That makes it more important that we do.” Jocelyn tapped her foot.

“We have it under control.”

“Are you sure?” She leaned in. “Are you sure you couldn’t use some extra help? Perhaps an extra female around to help your mate feel comfortable? She did seem a little bit overwhelmed last night.”

Jocelyn was a manipulator. She played people like chess pieces. I overlooked that part of her personality because of the other things she could offer. “What’s the game, Jocelyn?”

“Who says there’s a game?” She batted her eyes.

“There’s always a game with you.”

“Fine.” She sighed dramatically. “I want to be part of this.”

“Part of what?” Why couldn’t she just spit it out?

“Part of the takeover, of course.”

“There is no takeover.” Jocelyn had wisely sided with me when things went down with my brother, but she had more of a blood lust against the Pterons than I did.