He punched the bag, the smell of vinyl assaulting his nostrils.
When he said, no mating. He meant no—punch—fucking—punch—mating.
Maybe he’d been too reluctant to exert his power over the clan. Maybe they needed to see that he was serious.
Another hit, this one harder.
And then the scent of apples mixed with expensive perfume hugged him like an old friend.
Josie.
She’d always been like that. Familiar. Like he’d known her before they ever met. He’d never been able to figure it out, but her presence calmed him and riled him at the same time.
“Whoa,” she murmured from behind. “If only the bag could fight back, you wouldn’t stand a chance. I’d bet against you, that’s for sure.”
She strolled past him to the rack of towels against the wall, pulling one free and wrapping it around her slender neck.
Josie was Bethany’s human friend. She’d shown up with Ryan one season when Renner was recovering from an injury caused by hunters. But unlike Ryan, she didn’t stay long. Just visited often.
If he could keep out of her way long enough, she’d be gone. But he couldn’t leave the bag right now. If he did, he’d be tempted to kick Ryan’s ass until he told him what that mark was about. Or finally give Eagan the boot. It was either the bag or one of his boys.
So, the bag then.
He continued battering it, aiming to keep his eyes away from the female stretching in the corner.
Josie locked her fingers together and raised her arms high above her head, arching her back into the stretch. The result was her breasts jutting out, pushing against her skin-tight tank top until her nipples were visible through the fabric.
He recalled their conversation in the hall.
If you paid with your tits, it wasn’t enough.
He was a damn liar.
You wouldn’t know. You haven’t seen my girls naked yet.
Yet. Yet.
Yet, yet, yet.
The word implied that it was only a matter of time before he saw her girls naked. And that was simply never going to happen. Josie naked anywhere near him was not a good idea.
Magic didn’t bed females. Not anymore. Not since Mandi. And that wasn’t going to change no matter how much his bastard cat growled and snarled and hissed for the female across the room.
He forced his eyes away.
Glaring at the blue bag, he gave it another round of pummeling.
He’d known Josie four years, and it was always the same with her. She was trouble. Anytime she was around, things seemed… harder. Harder to breathe, harder to think, harder to feel. She was like… she was like riding a bicycle down a country road. All that wind in your hair, peddling fast as you can, because no motherfucker can take your freedom. Who’s gonna stop you? You’re on a goddamn bike. But then your tire hits a rock and you spin out of control, and by the time you skid to a halt, your freedom’s gone and all you are is fucked.
That was Josie.
She bent to touch her toes, graceful as a swan. Her body was lean because of her height, with just enough curves where it mattered most. But the beauty was in the way she moved. Scrappy as hell one moment, elegant as fuck the next.
She came up just as Ryan walked back into the gym, laughing with Mason. A black t-shirt covered the claw marks on his arm.
“Oh! Hey, Jos. I didn’t know you were coming.” He dropped his gym bag and scooped her up so her feet were off the ground.
She laughed, and the sound grated on Magic’s ears. Not because she had the laugh of a horse or anything. It was something else.
He ground his teeth as he watched Ryan set her back to the ground. Josie was tall for a female, but she was like a mere slip tucked in the big human’s arms.
She looked all wrong there, though she didn’t seem to mind. Her slender hands landed on his biceps as she leaned back to look at him, a smile spread across her face.
“I wanted to surprise you,” she said.
“Riiiight. No need to play me. I know what that really means, Jos.” He laughed. Why was he always so fucking happy anyway?
Josie’s smiled turned to a glare.
Scrappy.
“It’s not what you think.” She pushed away and continued stretching, twisting and bending to touch her other foot.
Elegant.
“Aw, now. Don’t be mad already. You just got here. And you know if you need anything, I got your back.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She stood to pull her long, dark hair into a high ponytail. “Go play. I’ve got work to do.”
Ryan leaned in to kiss her flushed cheek and her grin returned.
Magic’s panther snarled inside. His next punch hit hard enough to split the bag right down the middle causing Mason to whistle low.
“Catch ya later, Josie.” Ryan headed for the exit, eyeing Magic the whole way. “Give that poor bag a little less hell maybe,” he suggested as he passed.