Page 24

She was beautiful tonight, her honey-blond hair loose around her shoulders.

I'd skipped my usual button-up and gone with a t-shirt and jeans so she wouldn't feel obligated to dress up, and my plan had worked.

She wore a pretty blue sundress with thin straps and a floral print, paired with some sandals.

When I looked closer, I noticed little bumblebees on the dress's flowers, and grinned.

Her outfits were never boring, and this one showed a hell of a lot of her creamy skin.

"Ready to go in?" I asked, glancing over at her.

"Sure." She offered me a smile. "I'm not usually a bar person, so this should be fun."

The place wasn't much to look at from the outside—a wooden building with a neon sign of a moon buzzing in the window, but it was a lot more charming inside. This was a shifter-only bar, which had been a conscious choice on my end. I wanted my people to see me out with Nayeli.

The ceilings were low, and the lights dim, a few wolves gathered around a single pool table in the corner. There were band posters on the wall; some faded with age, but they gave the bar character.

There was a quiet table in the back that I took her to, and as soon as we were seated, a waitress came over to us.

"What can I get ya?"

"I'll have a whiskey," I told her.

"Rum and Coke," Nayeli added, a soft smile on her lips.

"You got it." The waitress left us to ourselves, and Nayeli looked around.

"It's nice here," she said, and I could tell she meant it. "Cozy."

"I'm glad you like it." I smiled back. I couldn't stop looking at her face, and she caught my eyes, a flush creeping up her neck. Our bond buzzed, pulling me towards her, but I stayed locked in place.

"So what do we do on a date?" she asked, sipping her drink once it arrived. "We sort of did this backward, didn't we? A bond, getting married," she lowered her voice, "Sex, and now a date."

I shrugged. "When have things ever been normal for either of us?"

"True," she chuckled, swirling the straw around in her glass.

"So, tell me about yourself. Something no one else knows. Something no one else would even think to ask."

Her eyes flickered to mine for a second before she sighed. She usually wasn't quick to talk about herself or her past, the ghost of her parents always hanging over that subject, but I could see she was making an effort.

"I used to help design video games," she said finally. "Before...you know."

I tilted my head. "I didn't know that. What was the last game you made?"

"Well, made is a strong word. I was an intern. It was the latest entry in a racing game series," she said, her voice growing soft. "I worked with a small team and helped out with the storyboards, but I wasn't a huge part of the project. Still, I was proud of it."

"Was?"

She smiled, and it didn't reach her eyes. "It's not a thing anymore."

I didn't ask. Instead, I just leaned forward. "Tell me more."

"About the game? It was an open-world type. The player could customize their car and their avatar, and there were different areas where you could do street races, but there was also an official circuit..."

I listened, fascinated. Those years of Nayeli's life were a mystery to me, and from the way she spoke about them, she was a totally different person before her parents died.

Well...maybe not different, but more free.

They supported her to be her authentic self, and the awkwardness she was known for in the pack now wasn't a concern.

She didn't care what others thought. But after she was orphaned and had to move in with Samson, she hadn't had that support system anymore, and she changed because of it.

Insecurities popped up, and the plans she'd had for her future vanished.

She had so many dreams and was willing to chase them, but they were crushed by the weight of life. She was lost, at least for a while. With her cousin's help, she'd started to find herself again...and then she'd bonded with me, and I took her away from her support system. Again.

Fuck.

I wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, how amazing and strong, but I held back. It wasn't the right time, not yet, and besides, my approval wouldn't mean much to her. So instead, I let her keep talking, telling me stories of her early 20s.

"And then, Kiera showed up," she said, chuckling.

"Up until that point, I'd idolized Samson, but seeing how twisted up she made him caused me to realize that he was just as messed up as I was.

Seeing how he changed everything for Kiera and Kit, including the pack itself, was inspiring.

It made me think that...you know..." she tapped her glass with her nails, "That I'd find a connection like that too one day. "

The rest of that statement went unsaid. We both knew that she'd found her mate, only to be rejected by him. By me. I shot the rest of my whiskey back and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. "Samson really did burn it all down to build it back up for Kiera, didn't he?"

Nayeli shook her head, smiling fondly. "He did. He really did. It was amazing. He's still a bit of an asshole sometimes, but the change is clear. With the new pack structure, we've got women outranking men for the first time, and the she-wolves don't have to rely on their mates for status."

"Is it going well?"

"Really well, actually. There was a lot of grumbling at first, but after a while, they realized that if they kept complaining, Samson would demote them. So, the women have more say and their opinions are considered, and the men are...well, they're men, but it's a start."

I grinned at her subtle little barb. "Who would have guessed Samson would end up being the most progressive Alpha in the alliance?"

"You're getting there," Nayeli paused. "But you and Joe have a long way to go. Both packs are still very, very male-dominated. That stuff with Rhie earlier today proves it. You can't keep letting wolves like Mike get away with harassing women like that."

"I know, and I don't," I said, leaning back. "But Samson's pack is the youngest by far. I know my old wolves would push back hard if I tried to mess with pack dynamics like that. It would cause a lot of friction."

Nayeli sighed, but she didn't look surprised.

"I get it. But at the very least, you should stop rewarding your pack for misogynistic behavior.

It's the one thing I really don't like about the Shadowbay pack.

You're such a good Alpha, I just don't get why you don't want all your wolves, male or female, to feel equal. "

"It's not that, it's just...you have to understand how we've lived our entire lives. How I grew up."

"Then enlighten me." She leaned forward.

I swallowed. "My mother was a human woman.

She was an artist, and my father fell in love with her on a trip to California, when she was painting a mural on the side of a building.

She was so beautiful, and she didn't even know about our world.

She had no idea about what he was, and he couldn't bring himself to tell her. "

Nayeli's eyes widened. "Wait, what happened? Did she find out?"

"Yeah. When she gave birth to a shifter," I motioned to myself, feeling sick.

How in the hell did we get on this subject?

"She ran as soon as she was out of the hospital.

My dad returned to the Shadowbay pack, which my grandfather was the Alpha of, and raised me there.

I guess...I guess she died when I was five.

I never knew her. After her, there were no other serious relationships.

By the time Dad took over as Alpha, he was so bitter that he let his she-wolves fall to the bottom of the pack, and he died not long after.

I've never known any different. So, you see, it's hard for me to just change overnight.

And it's been so long, it might be too late. "

"It's never too late," she insisted. "If Samson could change his ways, anyone can."

"Yeah, but you don't know what it's like here. How it's been for so long. There are old wolves who've had their entire lives built around the way things are now."

"So?" Nayeli challenged. "They should get the fuck over it."

I almost choked on my drink, not expecting the profanity, but it made me grin. Her honesty was refreshing. I didn't know anyone else like her, and that's why I wanted her. "You're a spitfire," I said, chuckling. "You're more like Samson than you want to admit."

"Bullshit."

"Nope," I doubled down. "It's probably why you two are so close. I've always been jealous of that relationship, you know. I'd have done anything to have some family left to be close with."

"I didn't know you were an orphan," Nayeli admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I waved it off. "It was a long time ago."

We were quiet for some time, sharing an appetizer of fried food and having a second drink.

I contemplated the strange, beautiful Omega across from me as we kept the rest of the conversation surface-level.

Her explanation of those lost years, which I had no idea about, had finally completed the puzzle of Nayeli in my mind.

Now all of her geeky hobbies made sense, and I couldn't help but be proud that she'd worked on her dreams and gone for it, even if her path had changed.

"Do you have a favorite game?" I asked her out of nowhere, but she didn't even need a second to process.

"Oh, I can't just pick one!" She giggled. "I love a lot of them."

"Give me your top three, then," I suggested. "Maybe you'll talk me into playing one of them."

"Well, the first is the original Pokémon," she started.

"Then I love Stardew Valley, and maybe..

." she tapped her chin as she thought. "Maybe Final Fantasy.

The storyline is really good, and I love the combat.

The characters are so interesting and diverse.

Plus, there are a ton of mini-games and stuff. Like, there's a city—"

"Sounds like a great game," I interrupted, and she chuckled. "Do you think you'll go back to that sort of work?"

"Oh...maybe someday." Her smile was a little less bright. "I've got some things to get through first, though. Like this mess I've made with the bonding spell."

I opened my mouth to tell her I didn't regret the spell nearly as much as I had in the beginning, and that I was glad it had forced us to be close to each other when we otherwise never would have, but a tall figure walking in the bar door caught my eye.

It was Joe, and that same irrational jealousy that had hit me at the party started brewing.

I was taken aback at first—having a negative reaction toward Joe was alien to me—but it was overwhelmed by the bond and the possession I felt toward Nayeli.

She hadn't even seen him yet, and he hadn't seen us, but I was already drowning in the memory of how close he had been to her at the party, whispering in her ear, and I gripped the edge of the wooden table so hard I was sure it would crack.

Then he turned and saw us, gaze drifting down to Nayeli, and a slow smile crept across his face. Oh, that motherfucker. I'd kill him right here in this damn bar—

Nayeli had put down her drink, looking at me with worry. "Scott, what's wrong?"

I glanced at her, at the endless, deep blue of her eyes, and the impulse was undeniable. I sat up, reaching out my hand to cup her cheek, and before she could react, I kissed her.

It was ferocious, the kind of kiss that wasn't made to be gentle.

It was a claiming, a way to stake my territory and show Joe and everyone else in that fucking bar that Nayeli was mine.

I could smell her, the echo of her heat pheromones ratcheting everything higher and higher within me.

I was dizzy with it. I pulled her close, needing her, wanting her.

She tasted like sugary soda and the spiced bitterness of rum.

There was a gasp, and then her hands were on my chest, pushing me away. She looked shocked and breathless, her eyes wide and her lips red and swollen from the kiss.

"Scott," she murmured, shaking her head. "What was that?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago," I growled. My cock was rock-hard, and I wanted her so badly it hurt. I knew I was scaring her, and I hated it, but I couldn't stop myself. I dipped my head down to kiss her again, but she scrambled back.

Nayeli stumbled away from the table, the rest of the bar already stopping to look at us. Dammit! I'd done it again. Embarrassed her in front of everyone. Even Joe, who was sitting at the bar now, was chuckling to himself.

Even worse, I didn't regret it nearly as much as I should, even as I watched her build her walls back up around herself in real-time. I'd finally gotten through to the heart of her, and then immediately ruined it by acting like a Neanderthal.

"Take me home," she breathed, and the vulnerability in her eyes was almost too much to bear. "Please."

I stood, fishing out my wallet and dropping a few bills on the table.

Then I followed her out to the parking lot in silence.

She was shivering a little, her arms wrapped around her waist. It wasn't particularly cold out, making me realize it was an anxious tick.

I'd been an idiot to push her, even if the bond demanded it.

She was a confounding mix of strong and fragile, and even when I knew more about her than ever before, I still somehow managed to fuck everything up.