Page 18 of A Twist of Luck (Shifter City Fated Mates #2)
CHAPTER 18
EMME
C ora and Warrick showed up in their very shiny Range Rover, and I spent the few seconds it took for them to stop in front of our house, trying to figure out who cleaned all of these alphas’ cars. I couldn’t imagine them out there washing and waxing them, and yet they always looked so shiny. Maybe it was magic. A far nicer magic than the one Kellan dealt with.
Hunter approached the driver’s side before I even made it down the outside stairs. I heard him inform Warrick that they would be taking me to the forest, and to meet us there. Ignoring him completely, Cora tumbled out of the car and raced up to meet me.
We collided in a mess of limbs and tears; it was hard to tell at this point who was crying harder. It wasn’t that I’d been holding it together with my pack—the shower breakdown with Hunter was evidence that I wasn’t holding anything, but there was just a weird freedom in blubbering on your girlfriends. The comfort as Cora held me and rocked back and forth was nicely different to the guys.
Eventually Hunter huffed. “Time to give my omega back, Cora.”
She snorted out a laugh into my neck, and to my surprise, held on for just a few more seconds. It wasn’t in her nature to rebel against the very dominant shifters of this city, but for me she made an exception. You go, bestie . “She’s not just yours. I know you have the strongest claim, but you can’t dismiss bestie rights.”
It was the most deferential I’d ever heard Cora be, and to my relief, Hunter took it well. Not that I’d have let him disrespect her either. “While that might be fair, you do need to hand her back before my wolf decides he wants to step in.”
With a shake of my head, I rolled my eyes at him. “You slept in the same bed as me last night. You’ve had plenty of omega time.”
Cora opened and closed her mouth a few times as she looked between us, but she didn’t comment before Hunter leaned down, his face hovering near mine. Despite everything that had happened between us, we’d never really kissed, and having his lips so close had my heartrate spiking hard enough for everyone to hear. My scent grew stronger too.
“I didn’t sleep inside you though,” he rumbled, and everything went a little blurry as the blood rushed to my vagina. “Therefore, I did not, and will never , have enough omega time.”
Cora released a hushed gasp, but I couldn’t look away from Hunter long enough to catch her expression. The entitled alpha kept me enthralled, captivated, and completely ensnared.
My tongue darted out to moisten my lips, and Hunter’s gaze lowered. Was he going to kiss me? Our first real kiss, right here in front of everyone?
Before I could hyperventilate and swoon like the most pathetic damsel, he smirked and straightened. “Come on, little omega, let’s go on our pack run.”
Too stunned to respond, I barely squeaked when he gripped my waist with both hands and threw me over his shoulder, striding away from Cora and back into the house. He moved fast toward the garage, and I swear I managed less than two breaths before I was gently deposited in the passenger seat of his Bentley Flying Spur. I’d never been in this dark green car with its cream interior, and as I sank into the soft leather, my distracted brain could only focus on the interior of the vehicle. Oh, this was nice . Really nice.
The back doors opened as Slade and Finley slid in, or more accurately, wedged themselves inside. Slade was behind me, and I fumbled until I found the control to pull my chair as far forward as I could. “Happy to switch and let one of you have the front,” I said, my knees almost in the dash. “I’m the smallest.”
Multiple growls and rumbles filled the space, which appeared to come from Hunter and Slade. “Stay right where you are, Snow,” Slade said shortly. “I can manage a small space for ten minutes.”
Luckily, claustrophobia wasn’t part of his touch aversion, and Finley, who was planted against the far door, didn’t come close to touching him.
Hunter started the car; the powerful engine rumbled to life, filling the garage with the delicious rev of all those cylinders. Twelve, if I knew my engines correctly. A W12, and it was a beautiful, beautiful piece of machinery.
“I enjoy that look on your face,” Hunter said casually as he reversed out of the spot and headed for the exit. “It’s this mixture of awe and desire, and honestly, as frustrating as it is that a car of all fucking things gets you off, it’s worth it for that look alone.
A snort escaped me. “You can’t possibly be jealous about me lusting after your cars.”
Slade leaned forward, just enough that I got a whiff of his toasted marshmallow goodness. “You’d be amazed at what Hunter can get jealous over. Don’t look too closely at the toaster or he’ll toss it right out the window.”
Hunter shot him a dark look, which oddly morphed into a smirk. “Now that I think about it, that fucking toaster has been getting a little handsy with our omega lately.”
Another. Joke. “The world’s ending,” I muttered, shaking my head.
Hunter threw his head back and laughed. It was a deep, husky reverberation that sent sparks of heat down my spine and through my limbs. “Feels weird to laugh when Kel isn’t here with us,” he said, sobering as he turned out into the main street, leaving the family compound, and heading toward the forest where most of the city ran in their beast forms.
“He’d be pissed if he knew we were all moping around because of him,” Finley added in the heavy silence. “When they figure out how to bring him out of this spell, he will ask how we all reacted, and it’s best if we don’t disappoint him. Who knows what his revenge will be.”
“Have we had any updates from Jewels?” I asked, a stupid sliver of hope seeping out when I knew better. “She said we didn’t have an infinite amount of time, so she must be working on it, right?”
Hunter nodded, glancing away from the road toward me. “Yep, she updated me this morning. Her coven has managed to find a possible counterspell, and she made it clear that it would be his only chance…”
He didn’t need to fill in the blanks. I refused to consider this spell failing. I was all about manifesting Kellan’s recovery.
We drove for a few minutes in silence, which Finley of all shifters broke. “Why haven’t you asked about our relationship with the witch?”
As much I wished I could just ignore him, because this bastard always knew exactly where to poke to hit my sore spots, I couldn’t bring myself to stay quiet. Turning to meet his hooded gaze, I was briefly distracted by how much darker the bronze and gold irises looked against the white of his hoodie. “What do you mean?”
Finley shrugged, his tone remaining even and conversational. “Hunter wants to smash the kitchen appliances for getting too close to you, but you don’t even care about a strange, magical female who clearly is comfortable and familiar around us. You haven’t asked once, Ice Queen.”
His tone might have been light, but that nickname reiterated the fact that it was still another dig. It didn’t matter how much I’d changed since our first meeting; he would always point out which of my actions backed his anger toward me.
It felt like all the alphas waited for my response, a newly unfurled tension holding the interior of the car hostage. Too tired and heartsore to bother playing games today, I went with the truth: “Of course I’ve wondered about your relationship with the witch. She’s alluded more than once to a very familiar connection in the past, and as far as I know, that could have been as recently as last month. I’m confident that none of the other alphas— except for you— have been with anyone else since I came into your lives. Which is the only part that matters to me now. I’m not a virgin either…” That statement set off a bunch of growls, and I was surprised to hear a rumble from Finley too. “But they were before you, and all humans. They meant absolutely nothing to me. What’s important is now, and how we treat each other.”
I met his gaze full on, feeling the burning stare of the other two as well.
“Names,” Hunter bit out. “What are their names?”
Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. “You can’t kill humans for touching me,” I told him, still unwilling to look away from Finley. “It’s not worth it either.”
“We can kill whoever we want,” Slade growled, and fuck if that wasn’t the rumbliest he’d been in a while. “I’ll find them.”
This was bad, but I had come too far to turn back now. “How about you two focus on building a relationship with me and forget about the past. It’s done. We can’t go back. The future is the most important part.”
My brow started to sweat as I kept up the staring contest with Finley. If he didn’t tap out soon, I’d probably combust. Unfortunately, he appeared to be content to just stare into my soul.
Hunter and Slade grumbled for a few more seconds, and when I caught sight of Slade pulling out his phone from my peripherals, I really hoped the poor humans who’d stumbled into my life were hard to trace.
“I don’t have a right to care about your past,” I finally said, hoping to push Finley into a response. “We all have one, and frankly, mine is a shitshow. What would hurt me, and what would cause me to lose faith, was if you pursued a relationship now. While I was here in your lives.”
Like the night you came home smelling all gross and floral. Or the time you implied you were still single.
“That would be disrespectful when I’m doing my very best not to even touch another male shifter.” I side-eyed Hunter, unable to keep up the staredown with Finley any longer. “Or the toaster.”
The entitled alpha’s lips twitched, even as the rest of his expression remained hard and annoyed. My entire body sighed when he slid his hand across the console to wrap around my thigh, giving me a brief squeeze. My statements had gotten through to him, and he wasn’t quite so murderous.
Unable to not look , I glanced at Finley to find his head hanging low, his hands clenched tightly in front of him. Someone needed to give this bear a hug, because I’d literally never met anyone who needed one more. Along with a punch in the face.
“There’s been no one else since you showed up,” he said suddenly, shocking the crap out of me. “I implied there was to hurt you, but my bear is loyal to you, even though we both know you plan to leave us. It feels… selfish… to expect respect when you don’t intend to return the favor and abandon us.”
His words really shouldn’t bring the joy they did, and I pretended it wasn’t due to his admittance that he’d been faithful to our bond. “I promise not to just up and disappear on you all,” I said, which was the best I could offer. “If I need to leave, for my own safety or yours, I will tell you about it. I won’t just disappear like a thief in the night. I won’t show you that disrespect, because you all deserve more. I’ve grown to see that my initial actions were ill thought out and cruel, and I won’t—” My breath stuttered from me, and it took a few seconds to catch it again. “I’m grateful to have found you. You make me wish for a different future.”
Hunter lifted his hand and grasped mine, twining our fingers together. “Fuck the future you think is yours,” he growled. “Fate does not control us. We control ourselves and our future.”
Slade leaned forward to add, “And you’re going nowhere, Snow.”
Oh goddess. Was that a claim from the dragon himself ? Or was he just annoyed that one of his possessions might choose to leave before he was ready to finish playing with it? One could never tell with Slade Riverson.
Finley’s energy was calmer as he settled back in his chair and stared out the window for the rest of the drive. Hunter never released my hand, even as he drove at insane speeds, weaving through the town and toward the forest.
When he parked, I didn’t get a chance to touch the handle before Slade was there, pulling the door open and letting in the chilly air. The scent of snow drifted in with the breeze, though none had fallen yet. We were well into November, and I expected winter pack runs would start taking place sooner rather than later.
Warrick’s car slid in next to the Bentley, and the mated pair jumped out. “Cores, you need to wait for me to open your door,” Warrick huffed, and Cora laughed him off.
“Sorry, babe. I’m just so excited to have Emme here to run with us again. I haven’t been out since the last time we went. My wolf is quite literally somersaulting inside me.”
Mine had also upped her game of swirling and twirling and scratching at my insides to get free. Slade crossed his bare arms, seemingly unaffected by the freezing winds cutting through the air. “Are you planning on shifting?” I asked, trying to figure out the logistics of a dragon on a pack run. Especially fitting through the tightly packed sections of the forest paths. Maybe he just knocked everything down and made it easier for all of us…
The green of his eyes appeared lighter out here, and I was surprised by his slight smile. “I can keep up in this form.” I’d just bet he could.
Cora and Warrick undressed where they stood, with Warrick’s bulk shielding her from the other alphas. Nudity might not bother shifters, but alphas were possessive of their mates no matter the circumstances. As I started to lift my sweater over my head, the cool air hitting my nicely warmed boobs, I found myself surrounded by my pack. They turned their backs to give me privacy, forming a circle around me. Hunter’s shoulder even touched Slade’s as they blocked me from view. None of them had said a word, moving in sync, like they bore a single mental thought.
My hands shook from more than the cold as I shucked my clothes, the frosty air biting until I shifted into my beast.
I’d been worried for a second that with the alphas here I’d struggle to shift so quickly, but my wolf was raring to go. She pranced from the middle of their huddle, and they turned to give her all their focus.
My wolf’s size wasn’t comparable to alphas, but I was still large for a female. Slade reached out and traced his hand over my snout, wrapping his massive palm around the back of my head.
I blinked up at him, wishing I had the ability to talk so I could ask him what the fuck he was doing. The alpha with a touch aversion was threading his fingers into my fur.
“Snow,” he murmured, tilting his head in that predatory way of his. “As white as snow.”
Finley broke the moment by snorting derisively and walking away, and Slade released me as if he’d never touched me in the first place.