Page 2 of Chasing the Wolf (Dark Wing #7)

Chapter 2

Xavier

C olton's back blocks the door. But I don't need my eyes or ears to know who is behind the door. Mackenzie Northwood, the reason I'm on the ship.

My best friend turns to me. "She fucking ran."

"Hello." A blonde woman holds her hand out to Colton. "I'm Mackenzie's friend, Ina. You're her brother, Colton."

"Yes, I see she's talked about me."

"Not really," Ina says with her lips turned down. "She had to run a message to the pool bar. You can meet her down there."

Colton holds on to her hand too long, and Ina pulls it back. That has me laughing. Colton's used to getting any female shifter or human woman he wants. But Ina's not playing along. I can't smell a mating on her either. Though it's tough to pick up anything over the coffee and sugar scent, and most of all over the faint scent of Mackenzie. It's been too long since I've been able to fill my lungs with her scent.

I'm smirking at the bewildered look on Colton's face, though. He heads down the stairs onto the pool deck and into the sun, though it's windy today. I came straight from a sales meeting with one of the biggest chains of spas in Florida, and I haven't changed my clothes yet. But I'm envious of Colton's T-shirt, for sure.

Ina points to a tiki-grass roof structure behind the pool. There's a game on the giant screen. Not one that I'm interested in. I'm a Maine fan, not a Kunyon fan. We weave through the lounge chairs on the teak floor. It's a nice ship full of luxury touches. Very much like my product. It's hard to turn off the businessman in me. I don't have to sell anymore. I've got a lot of people who can do that for me. But turning it off? That's hard.

Colton glances back at me. He has no idea. And fucking hell, it's going to hurt when I lose my best friend, but if that's what has to happen, that's what has to happen.

Mackenzie's standing in the middle of the bar, behind the bar top, a short bartender at her side. Mackenzie's in the middle of the bar. Too far away to know if she's... It doesn't matter. But the fur under my skin rises. Does she know? There's no way she could know. I haven't seen her since she was seventeen. And damn, the real thing doesn't compare at all with the scraps I've seen from Colton or from her ShifterChat profile. Because yes, I have a fake account I use just to follow her. If anyone in the pack knew I was following her, it would be a problem.

My wolf is clawing at my skin. It's too much. I need to touch her. She's clearly put up a barrier to keep me away.

Colton bounces on his heels. "Mackie! What are you doing back there? Come out here and let me squeeze the heck out of you!"

"Wow, that sounds like the kind of offer a girl can't refuse. I'm working, Colton." She picks up a bar rag and wipes down the inner counter of the circular bar. "I'm really glad to see you, though. We'll have to meet up later." Her eyes flick to me. "Xavier." Disdain drips from her lips. "I didn't know you were coming with my brother."

Colton wraps his arm around my shoulder. "My best friend a month before his mating? This will be the last time I get him alone."

My lips thin. The second we pull away from the dock, I'm telling him. Then her.

"Right, Venus must be so happy," Mac says through her teeth. "What a lucky female, getting hitched to the Alpha's son. I'm sure it will be a great pack run and party for days on end."

"Oh, Venus is happy all right," I say with a quick nod. She's happy she doesn't have to mate me. The two of us have been working together for ten years to put off the mating. But we had to wait. She's a wonderful female, amazing, beautiful, and like a fucking sister to me. The last time I kissed her, she actually rinsed her mouth out after we were alone. So, no. She's more than ecstatic I've finally arranged that we don't have to be together. Honestly, we've been trying to get out of it for almost as long as we were in it. The only reason she went to college in Alaska? Yeah, to be as far away from me as possible. Really does something to a guy's ego. But that's fine.

The damn wind, though. I can't get a reading on Mac. My wolf's prancing around inside me like a damn fool. He wants her, and that's a sign. It's not definitive because it's not like I've been a monk.

Colton glances back at me. He saw Venus at the airport. She's the one who drove us. Keeping up appearances and everything. We didn't hug goodbye. And she certainly didn't look happy about having to drive to Boston to drop us off at my mother's suggestion.

"It's been a long time since the two of you have seen each other,” he says. “Tell me you're not going to start bickering again."

Mac frowns. "We weren't bickering, Colton."

"Come on, what would you call it then?" Colton puts both hands on the bar. I'm not sure he's not going to jump over the damn thing and pull his sister out. Not that I would be opposed to it.

"Playful banter," I suggest. I take a step to the side to see if I can get a different angle on the wind.

"Playful banter?" She huffs. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Playful banter."

"So things have changed." Colton shrugs at me. "My sister swears now."

"You... I... You..." she stammers. "You make me so freaking fudge rocket mad that I want to––" Mac grabs a strawberry daiquiri from the hand of her bartender friend. I know what's coming and take a step behind Colton. She tosses it at him, but he apparently knows his sister and squats at the last second. The sweet red drink slides down the side of my face as I blink. It's an expensive shirt and suit pants, but I don't fucking care.

"Ohh," a woman says next to me, her eyes wide. The last thing I want is for Mac to get in trouble.

"He's her brother, and I kind of tortured her as a kid. I stole the pinata from her fourteenth birthday. The first pinata she ever had. I took the candy out and filled it with sample-sized toothpaste and toothbrushes."

"Hell to the no!" The woman splashes her mojito over my shirt and puts the straw in my pocket. "Good luck with your cruise." She pivots away.

I'm blinking at her back when a burly male, taller than me, comes to my side. He slides several bills into my pocket with the straw. "She's always wanted to throw a drink on someone. Odd, right?" He storms after his mate.

I turn back to Mac. I didn't expect to see her smiling. Like full-on eyes sparkling. Fuck, I want to see that close up. Preferably from the pillow next to mine.

"I was aiming for Colton," she says.

"I know." I hold her blue eyes.

My best friend has stepped away from my side. He’s fighting with a napkin dispenser.

I smile at Mac. The best, most charming smile I can muster. "Feel better?"

"Not even a tiny bit."

When I told the mojito-throwing woman that I’d tortured her, I wasn't lying. But it was a fragment of the truth. Torture barely scratches the surface. Teenager me was furious that I had to mate Venus. Furious that I couldn't go where I wanted, with whom I wanted. And I systematically made her life a living hell. Making sure that no one could have what I couldn't have. The why is a lot more complicated.

My father figured out what I already knew.

The couple who'd been standing on the other side of us grabs their bags and heads off. The guy has the audacity to push his mate's unfinished drink over to Mac. But I reach it first.

Mac puts her hands on her hips. It's a dare. A dare I'm more than willing to accept. I take the drink and pour it over my head. Blueberry maybe, some sort of schnapps. Sticky as hell.

Colton laughs and hands me the wad of napkins he’s secured. More importantly, Mac is full-on laughing now. And the sound goes straight to my cock. I could stand here all day and pour drinks over my head if she'd just stay here looking at me.

Colton pulls his phone out of his pocket. "Hey, our room is ready."

"Yeah?" I say, not taking my eyes off Mac.

"We should go get cleaned up and see what fun we can have. And by having fun I mean me. Not you. Because Venus's dad would have my head if I let you do anything you shouldn't."

"Right. Anything I shouldn't."

"Yeah, get going like the soon-to-be-mated male you are," Mac says, her hands still on her hips. "You wouldn't want Venus to be disappointed in you. Where's your room?"

"Fourteenth deck," Colton answers. "Is that good?"

Her mouth drops. "Yeah, that's like really good. What number is it?"

"1414."

"No, no. No. No. No. That's a big, gigantic mistake. There's no way your cabin is 1414."

The bartender next to Mac sighs. She fucking sighs. "1414, I love that cabin." She grabs Mac's hand and then drops it. "Sorry, right."

"Don't go to your cabin. I need to call the front desk because there is no way you can stay there." Mac points to Colton and then me. "No W-A-Y! Got it?"

"Sure. See you later, sis. I do like your aim, though." Colton laughs. "Let's go."

"See you later, Mac," I growl.

Her eyes flash at me. With what? Irritation? Excitement? Not the lust I’d hoped for. She narrows them at me again. "Find someplace to hang out. I'll text Colton your new cabin number." She says it to me because Colton's already working his way through the crowd of passengers with bags.

Walking away from her, my feet are heavy. It's too hard. But I catch up to him by the elevator. It's full when it opens, but everyone gets off. It's just us and a family with a large stroller.

"What floor?" the mother asks.

"Fourteen."

"Oh, that must be nice. You're not staying in 1414, are you?"

"Yeah. Why?" Colton asks slowly.

"No way. They're staying in 1414," the female says to her husband.

He arches his eyebrow and pushes seven.

"You don't know, do you?" she says as the elevator swishes open. "Well, congratulations. This is your floor." She giggles, then halts abruptly. "Oh, I didn't see your shirt. Did someone throw that on?—"

The elevator door starts to slide shut, but the male swiftly blocks it from closing and ushers his wife out, flashing us an apologetic look.

"What was all that about?" Colton asks.

I'm already on my phone. I need answers quickly. Pivoting was the key to remaking my family company. Quick action is how I've lived my business life.

The first article on ShifterChat is titled "Missing Your Soulmate."

Take a trip on the Dark Wing, request 1414, and let it do the magic for you.

I don't trust ShifterChat for my news. I use it to sell my products, but... the second article is a little more dependable, from Shifter Today .

Is 1414 really magic or just good marketing?

I skim the piece, finding that at least a half-dozen single guests who stayed in the cabin didn't find their soulmate. But there were more than that who had.

"What are you smirking at? Did you find the answer?"

"Yeah, it's nothing, just some made-up gossip on ShifterChat." I slide my phone into my pocket. I don't know if it's marketing or magic. But if it helps me win over the female whom I'm almost certain is my mate? And fix years of damage I've already done? Yeah, 1414 and I can work together.

Colton shrugs, unlocks the door with his band, and opens it. It's a nice room. Big by cruise ship standards. There's a balcony and a main room with a king-size bed. A bed which Colton jumps on.

"What? I've got to test out the bed. See if it can?—"

"No. Do not bring any girls, females, or anything or anyone back here. Okay?"

"Right, this is a guys' trip. Bonding. I got you." Colton salutes me. "There's a lot of bear shit everywhere." Colton runs his hand over a two-foot-tall statue of a bear with a clock in his belly. "You're a fucking mess. Thanks for taking the hit for me." He laughs. "You didn't even move."

I take a step into the bathroom and peel off my suit coat and drop it in the trash.

Colton's off the bed and has the thing out of the trash. "Nah, you can't throw this away. You have to get it dry-cleaned and let her see the stains."

"No. I'm not playing mind games with your sister anymore."

"But you were the master at it."

I clench my eyes closed. "I suppose I was. But I was also a teenager. Your sister deserves better."

"She can take a joke."

I think back to the smirk on her face. "I think you're right. But not from us."

Colton takes a step closer to me. "You know I would never let anyone hurt her."

"Just you, then? Just the gang of us? We're the only ones who can hurt her?"

"She wasn't hurt. She knew we were fooling around. That whole toothbrush in the pinata was the best ever. I've told that story so many times."

"I'm sure you have." I saw how much it hurt her. How embarrassed she was. And back then it made me happy. Happy to know she would always hate me.