Page 23 of The Alpha Dire Wolf (Bloodlines & Bloodbonds #1)

Sylvie

I got to my feet without urgency. It was just a car, after all, not a tank crashing through the wall. Maybe it was Charlene, stopping by for a late-night visit, or another of my grandmother’s umpteen associates with something for me. It certainly didn’t reek of danger.

That didn’t stop Linc from putting himself between me and the corner of the house, where anyone from the car would come if they were sneaking around. Just like the night before, when he’d inserted himself between the forest and me.

Shielding me.

Only this time I didn’t need it. My gut wasn’t ringing out with danger. It was just a visitor.

I went to step around him, but his arm shot out, blocking me from moving around the side of the house to view the driveway.

“Wait,” he said.

“No,” I replied, grabbing his arm to move it, irritated at what I saw as an attempt to control my actions. “I don’t need your—”

My fingers gripped his forearm, and electricity shot up into my arm. Lincoln’s entire body went stiff, and he inhaled so fast and hard I could hear it even over the hammering of my heart.

What the hell? That’s twice now we’ve touched and this has happened.

My thoughts were interrupted by the car door opening as whoever it was got out. My eyebrows went up as the owner slammed it shut. The noise was loud and angry. I stayed where I was behind Lincoln as the person stomped up the front steps and proceeded to begin hammering at the door.

I still felt no imminent danger in my gut.

“Any ideas now?” Lincoln spoke quietly but without whispering. Not that there was much of a need over the sound of the door shaking in its frame.

“None.” I did question whether my instinct was working properly. How could there be no danger with someone pounding that angrily on the door? “But we should go inside.”

Together we slipped in through the back door and made our way toward the front of the house. I let Lincoln lead the way, just in case my danger sense was malfunctioning.

“Whoever it is, I believe it is safe to say they are less than happy.” Lincoln frowned thoughtfully. “Have you made any enemies?”

“Enemies? Are you serious? Who do you think I am? Normal people don’t have enemies !”

“ Sylvie! I know you’re in there. Your car is here and the lights are on! Open the damn door right now!”

Lincoln looked at me quizzically. “No enemies, you say?”

My mouth was clamped down into thin line. “That mother fucker! ”

Lincoln’s eyebrows hit the roof as I barged past him toward the door, ready to administer a verbal tongue lashing like never before. But before I got there, Linc was back, putting himself between me and the door and forcing me to come to a halt.

“Sylvie—”

I pointed my right index finger at him, and then without looking away, slowly pointed to the side, behind the door. My face did the talking.

Wordlessly, Lincoln moved aside.

“This is mine to deal with,” I said coldly.

Then I yanked open the door, catching Caidyn mid-knock.

He jerked forward slightly off balance, but recovered quickly.

He was wearing a dark-blue T-shirt and jeans.

His hair was freshly cut and to my surprise, he’d started growing a beard, something he’d adamantly been against while we were together.

For some reason, the sight of him all put together threw me off. I’d been prepared for him to be a mess, but instead, he seemed to be doing the opposite. Was it all for me?

The initial shock wore off, and he opened his mouth.

“Shut up!” I barked before he could get a word in, my anger rekindling itself. “Turn around. Walk down the steps, get back in your car, and go away. Now.”

Caidyn did not take being talked down to very well. His face turned red and his eyes bulged with shock and fury. A low growly sound bubbled up from his throat as he tried to recover.

To the side of the door, I could see Lincoln on high alert, ready to intercede if need be. But to his credit, he didn’t act without permission.

“I’m not leaving,” Caidyn said. “We have to talk about what happened.”

“Leave. Right now.” I pointed at the car, not acknowledging anything he said. Doing so would provide an opening for him to keep going. Right then, I just needed him gone.

If only I hadn’t slipped up and told him in text that I was out of town. Of course he would eventually realize I’d come here. He knew my grandmother was all I had left. I’d even brought him here with me several times.

“Sylvie, this is all a mistake,” he pleaded, ignoring my second order for him to leave me alone. “We can work this out. I promise. Just talk to me.”

“Go away!” I yelled. “I’m not anyone’s second choice, especially yours. If you wanted me, you shouldn’t have left me for your side piece. That is your fault. Not mine. Now go away!”

I stepped back and flung the door shut in his face. Only it didn’t close. Caidyn stepped closer, shoving a foot to stop it. I pushed on the door to try to force him to retreat. Instead, Caidyn barged in, shoving the door hard enough that I stumbled back with a cry.

And then Lincoln was there. Huge, hulking, and silent, he blocked Caidyn from taking a single step inside my grandmother’s house. No words were exchanged. Lincoln just stood menacingly.

But Caidyn was no wimp, and he could look Lincoln square in the eye with ease. Unafraid, his lips pulled back in challenge before looking past Lincoln at me.

“What the fuck is this, huh? What the hell are you doing with another man?”

The shock of Caidyn trying to force his away inside had worn off by this point, and I’d recovered my voice.

“Who he is and what he’s doing here is none of your business,” I shot back, beyond furious at this point.

“We broke up. You dumped me. Don’t you remember?

After that, you have no say in anything about me.

You could have chosen me from the start, but you had to go find someone else instead because I apparently was never enough for you.

So don’t come crawling back here, pretending like you cared, when we all know you didn’t. ”

Caidyn started to protest, but I cut him off again.

“What’s the matter? Did she decide she didn’t want your cheating ass either, and now you’ve come crawling back to me? Is that it?”

“So you admit you are with another man. Do you?” Caidyn snapped, easing sideways.

Lincoln growled.

Just that. Just the one singular noise, but it was loud and rumbly enough that Caidyn’s attention whipped back to him. There was no mistaking the warning contained within. Caidyn was pushing the limits of what Lincoln would allow.

“What I am or am not doing has nothing to do with you anymore. Not now, not ever again. We’re through. You are not my boyfriend.”

“Yes, I am!” Caidyn barked. “We’re meant to be together!”

Meant to be together? Meant to be together? Why, that slimy two-timing asshole!

A sound of rage, wordless and deep-seated erupted from my throat like a mutated scream of some sort, and something snapped in my brain.

“If we’re meant to be together, why I am doing this?” I howled, taking Lincoln by the shoulder and hauling him around so I could grab his collar.

Then I yanked him down to my level and kissed him. Hard.

The first thing I learned about kissing Lincoln was that he was hot.

Not just to the eyes but to my lips. Kissing him burned in the most delightful and delicious of ways, like sticking my feet into hot water after being stuck in the cold.

Pain and bliss blended together. That was what kissing him was like.

Such shock brought immediate clarity to my mind as it screamed at me, wanting to know what the hell I was thinking.

He was about to kiss you before Caidyn got here, and you were going to allow it. So shut up and enjoy the ride, brain.

The kiss lingered until my body began to vibrate with intense need.

“There,” I said, pulling back at last and ignoring the shocked look on Lincoln’s face, even as it quickly turned to smug satisfaction. “See? You and me, we’re done. Through. Over . Now go away!”

Caidyn looked ready to acquiesce, so shocked was he at what happened, until his eyes landed on Lincoln, who was not bothering to hide his emotions.

Oh, shit.

But before my ex could do anything more than cock his fist back, Lincoln was moving. He bustled Caidyn out of the house and down the steps without stopping, somehow manhandling my ex like he was a child. They disappeared down the driveway out of sight.

I heard a short yelp, and then the car door closed. A moment later, the car started up, and backed down the driveway.

Thirty-seconds later, Lincoln reappeared, still looking smug as hell.

“Your shirt is wrinkled,” I pointed out. “Anything I should know about?”

He looked down and then shrugged. “Just making sure he received your message properly.”

Then he calmly pulled the shirt back down into position as if nothing had ever happened.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully. “Seriously. I had no idea he would come out here like that. Ass.”

Lincoln shrugged again. “I was just trying to be a good person.”

“Maybe,” I said. “Either way, I appreciate it a lot. I don’t know how to thank you for dealing with him.”

A smile started to break through onto his face. A big one. Too big, in fact. My stomach started to sink. “What’s that grin for?”

“Well,” Linc said with more than a hint of mischievousness in his eyes, “if you truly mean that, maybe you’d consider giving me a redo.”

I blinked. A redo? “You want me to call him back here so you can macho man him again?”

Lincoln blinked in surprise and then tossed his head back, laughing uproariously as his hair bounced wildly. “No, no, that’s not what I meant at all, though that would be unimaginably fun for me.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

The air grew dense as the humor abruptly faded from his face. Locking eyes with me, he took a step closer, suddenly quite serious.

“I want a redo of that kiss. I want to kiss you this time. Properly .”