Page 5 of Fae Devoted (Fae Touched #3)

J ohnnie scanned the crowd for Jacob, taking advantage of the bird’s-eye view from the VIP section of Chess reserved for the evening’s guests of honor.

The club’s quarterly majority events were always well-attended, but in the past three months, two other local Fae Touched also reached adulthood status, and the place was jam-packed.

Where was he?

She should have pressed for an explanation as to why the handsome beta might not be attending the party, but Johnnie promised herself she wouldn’t push Jacob—not in this. Or maybe she was simply afraid to hear the night didn’t hold the same significance for him as it did for her. Maybe—

“You look awesome, by the way.” Noah raised his voice above the volume of the DJ’s current mix.

“Thanks.” Her emerald-green cocktail dress and ridiculously high heels were a far cry from the everyday casual skirts and jeans she usually wore.

The messy updo and chic ensemble Abby helped choose for the occasion made her feel sophisticated and a teeny bit sexy.

Johnnie wanted to wear something extra special—just in case all the doubts and maybes were wrong.

“Drooling is gonna be his new religion.”

“Whose?” She was half-listening when her clanmate swung a tuxedo-clad arm around her neck and leaned in close as though sharing a secret. “It’ll be the only path to his salivation .”

Johnnie couldn’t help it; she giggled. Although her friend’s puns were often terrible, the pack’s resident jokester always managed to make her laugh.

“ And that should do it,” he said, gulping the last of his Champagne.

“Do what?” Her lips continued to twitch.

“Set a fire under Tucker’s ass.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Johnnie followed Noah’s gaze to the approaching Clan beta, and a flush stole up her neck to heat her cheeks.

“Here we go. Contact in four, three, two…one.”

“Is it hot in here? It’s hot, right?” The butterflies in her stomach went into flutter-mode.

“Nope.” Noah’s light brown eyes danced with merriment.

Well, crap. Was her attraction to Jacob that obvious? Did the entire pack know?

“Lieutenant Tucker, glad you finally made it.” There wasn’t a contrite bone in Noah’s body as he greeted the scowling beta.

“Go,” he replied, attention locked on Noah’s hand on her shoulder.

“I was just—”

Jacob growled.

“Right, gotta run.” Noah palmed Johnnie’s left cheek and tilted her head to kiss her right temple before removing his arm. The innocent peck earned him another fierce scowl. “Happy Majority, kiddo.”

“Kiddo? You’re the same age as I am.”

“Not for long.” His grin was contagious.

“Long enough,” she shouted at his retreating form. Johnnie’s birthday was three days ago. Noah reached his majority last winter, right before joining the Guard.

Declaring a child an adult at twenty-five was a practice observed by all three magical races within Fae Touched society.

Even the timeless vampires required their kind to wait the full quarter-century after a successful Infusion to hold senior positions within a Dádhe House, no matter their human age when turned.

Noah descended the three flights of stairs to the main level and lifted his empty glass in salute.

Next, he set the drink on a nearby bar, then cut through the gyrating masses and snagged the hand of a pretty witch on the dance floor.

Johnnie lost them in the mad crush but continued to stare, not quite ready to confront Jacob.

She took a deep breath to control her jitters, but his mouth came to her ear before she got control of her jangling nerves.

“Gorgeous,” he whispered from behind her. The warmth of his breath on her skin the only part of their bodies touching.

A single word, yet the yearning in his voice caused Johnnie’s heart to swell with hope. Maybe they were finally making progress after months of standing still.

“Noah was right.” The staccato beat of her pulse competed with the thrumming music.

“About?”

“You really are late.”

“Got held up.” His chin hovered above her head.

Crap on a cracker. Could he smell how much she wanted him?

“Oh.” Johnnie turned and stepped away, putting distance between her and Jacob’s enhanced senses.

It hadn’t registered he was in the Guard’s uniform of cargos and a black tee instead of a suit, the butterfly shindig in her stomach wildly distracting.

“You should have told me you were on duty tonight. I would have understood.”

Been disappointed but accepted it. Jacob’s duties as Samuel’s second in command were vast, outweighing the needs of a single she-wolf, especially one he hadn’t claimed as his own.

“I wanted to be here.”

“Well, I’m glad you came.” Something strange in his tone made Johnnie ask, “It wasn’t something to do with the knights again that held you up, was it?”

The Knights of Humanity were getting bolder, attacking the Fae Touched without ramifications beyond the American government’s weak denouncements.

The forest on the northern end of the island peninsula was set on fire by members of the hate-group last spring.

The wounds on the pack’s running land would take years to heal.

And a few months ago, someone breached security to strike at the center of their magical community.

Unknown assailants induced a feeding frenzy during Chess’s peak operating hours, the dark spell inciting the Dádhe to bloodlust inside a nightclub filled with humans.

The heinous act set in motion events that threatened Fae Touched sovereignty.

The KoH hadn’t claimed responsibility for that incident, but they hadn’t denied it either.

“No, it was personal.” He placed his hands on his hips, stretching his shirt taut across his broad chest. His biceps flexed.

Johnnie’s throat went dry, and she retreated another step.

Personal? The two of them spoke every day. Okay, so maybe Johnnie talked, and Jacob mostly listened. He was a great listener. But if something were bothering him, he would have confided in her at some point. Wouldn’t he?

“Anything I can do to help? Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head, posture rigid.

“Are you okay?” she couldn’t stop from asking. He certainly didn’t appear okay; he looked worried.

Jacob’s dark eyes softened, and he held out his hand.

Johnnie didn’t hesitate to take it, despite knowing her smell would divulge a tangle of conflicting emotions.

Emotions she needed to contain before she embarrassed herself.

Been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.

She hoped the tangle would confuse the beta’s sharp wolf-nose.

“Yeah,” he replied. “But I’ll need to leave the island to take care of it.”

“Leave the island?” she repeated, stunned.

He nodded again but didn’t explain. Jacob was as succinct as Johnnie was verbose, a dichotomy that didn’t bother her—until it did.

“For how long?”

“Not sure.” His thumb rubbed her sensitive inner wrist.

“Where are you going?”

“Can’t say.”

Johnnie pinched his forearm, giving the skin a good twist at the end, something she did whenever Jacob’s reticence exceeded her limited patience.

He didn’t even wince.

She tugged free. “You’re leaving Queenstown.” You’re leaving me? “And won’t say why or when you’ll be back. I thought we were…friends.”

Johnnie was beginning to hate that word when it was applied to their relationship.

She assumed—was desperate to believe—once the official festivities took place, Jacob would move their friendship to the next level.

But maybe he wasn’t waiting for Johnnie to come of age at all.

Maybe he never planned on asking her to start the Mating Dance?

No , she couldn’t be wrong about this feeling between them…not again. There had to be another explanation for why he was holding back.

“I’m sorry, Jo, but I can’t explain, not yet.”

She spun, horrified by the telltale sting behind her lids. It took a moment to respond, to ensure her voice wouldn’t break. “I don’t understand. If it’s personal, why can’t you tell me?”

“It is.” His tone held frustration. “But it’s also indirectly connected to things I’m not authorized to discuss.”

“I see.” She didn’t see. Not really. Was he implying it was tied to Guard business or the pack’s? “When do you leave?”

“Not sure. I’m waiting on a piece of vital information.”

“You won’t leave without saying goodbye first?

” Johnnie carefully placed her wine on the nearest table and clutched the waist-high railing, the brightly dressed gathering below a wet blur.

The queen set aside the nightclub’s strict black and white dress policy for the majority parties, and most of the guests were taking full advantage of the relaxed color code—Johnnie included.

“Yeah,” he promised from directly behind her again.

“Okay.” She blew out a breath, willing the tears away.

“How do you plan on surviving without your weekly allotment of my chocolate chip cookies? I suppose I could freeze an extra-large batch for you to take with you when you go. That way, you’d have a quick fix whenever you needed one… prevent sugar withdrawal and all that.”

Johnnie bit the inside of her cheek to stop her inane chatter.

“I’d like that.”

“You’ll call or at least text me while you’re away?”

“I will,” he said, looping a delicate chain over her head. The pendant settled between her breasts.

“What’s this?” She lifted the necklace to get a better look.

The opposing profiles of two wolf’s heads positioned muzzle to muzzle formed the arches of a heart while a Celtic knot wedged at the bottom created its point. The pendant appeared to be an antique, its silver finish worn and slightly tarnished.

“Happy Majority, Jo.”

The rumbling bass near her ear raised goosebumps on her skin.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you,” she managed after swallowing the lump in her throat.

“You’re welcome.”

“I’ll miss you.” Every. Single. Day. “Is what you need to do dangerous?”

A noncommittal grunt.

“Jacob, promise me you’ll be careful.”

Full lips and short whiskers grazed the skin where the clasp of his gift rested beneath her upswept hair. The sensation gone so quickly she might have imagined it, but Johnnie knew she hadn’t.

Ask me to start the Dance…ask. There’s nothing stopping you now. Ask, dammit.

Breaking her self-imposed rule of waiting for Jacob to make the first move, she turned and placed her palms on the cotton material of his t-shirt. The tendon in his jaw jumped, and the ridged muscles of his abdomen tightened beneath her fingertips, but he didn’t move away.

She rested the side of her face over his heart, lulled by its comforting beat. “Please promise me.”

A sigh escaped him, tense muscles relaxing under her cheek. He lifted a hand to cup her gathered hair, and she tilted her chin to meet eyes tinted wolf-yellow. Jacob’s gaze dropped to her lips, and his head slowly lowered. Johnnie’s pulse rate skyrocketed.

“Johnnie,” Abby shouted from the level below, her attention on her feet as she climbed the steeps steps. Samuel was right behind her, carrying a huge box tied with a bow.

Jacob stiffened at the interruption. His arms dropped to his sides, and he straightened to his full height. Well over six feet, he towered above Johnnie’s five-foot-nine…including the heels. Taking a step backward, Jacob shoved his hands deep in his pockets and greeted his Alpha’s mate.

Johnnie felt bone-deep disappointment but plastered on a smile for her friend.

“I thought I’d missed you.” Abby’s cute pixie face was devoid of makeup, her long white-blond hair tied into a sloppy ponytail, a baggy t-shirt that smelled like Samuel covering her jeans almost to the knee.

“What’s wrong?” The Abby MacCarthy she knew never went anywhere without being a hundred percent pulled together. If she hadn’t been wearing her standard sky-high shoes, Johnnie would be bracing for news of a death, or at the minimum, a natural disaster.

“Nothing.” She glared at the Alpha. “Someone didn’t wake me up in time for the party.”

“You needed the rest.” Samuel shrugged, unrepentant.

Abby had been through a lot since coming to the island a few months ago. She’d survived an assassination attempt on the queen, a mugging at gunpoint, a high-profile new job, and the added responsibilities that came with mating a Ferwyn Clan príoh.

“It’s okay. You brought me a cake with candles on my actual birthday.”

“But I wanted to be here for the majority celebration. I know it’s a big deal.” She snatched the present from the Alpha’s hands and almost dropped it.

They all made a grab for the falling package. Jacob was faster than Johnnie and had a better angle than Samuel, catching it before it hit the ground.

“Crap, I forgot how heavy it was.” Abby’s cheeks went pink, the hazy blue lighting of the club emphasizing the purple smudges underscoring her eyes. She looked exhausted. It was no wonder the Alpha let her sleep.

Samuel wrapped an arm across the front of his tiny mate’s shoulders and pulled her against his broad torso. She sighed and capitulated, hanging both hands on the rock-solid forearm pressing on her collarbone. “It’s the electric mixer I noticed you admiring online.”

“Oh, Abby, you shouldn’t have.” Johnnie refrained from bouncing on her toes, but it was a near thing.

“It’s from Samuel too.” She smiled tiredly. “But he’s expecting an increased quota of the treats you bring to the Guard’s lounge on Fridays. I just want more cookies.”

“Which kind?”

Abby’s fatigue faded for a moment, her expression brightening. “Anything chocolate.”

“Done.” It was too expensive a gift, but she loved it. Johnnie considered opening a bakery shop before finding her true calling. She adored baking for others, but it was more of an enjoyable way to work off her seemingly boundless energy—along with a good long run. “What color is it?”

“Red, but you can return—”

“No, that’s perfect, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Her jaw stretched in a wide yawn.

“Time to go home.” Samuel swept Abby off her feet.

“I can walk,” she replied, indignant.

“I know.” He kissed her on the forehead, hitching her higher.

“Stubborn Ferwyn,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes at Johnnie.

“Happy Majority, pack sister.” Samuel carried his Ca’anam down the stairs, and Abby waved goodbye over his shoulder, fighting another yawn.

“Thank you, Alpha,” Johnnie called with less enthusiasm than planned, throat thick witnessing the happy couple make their way to the exit.

She wanted what they had more than anything. Yearned for the connection only truemates shared. But Johnnie didn’t want it with any male, she wanted it with Jacob. Unfortunately, he wasn’t cooperating.

Stubborn Ferwyn indeed.