The Wolf's Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne (8 page)

“I love your optimism.  Okay.”

He sipped at his coffee and gave her a one-armed hug.  “If things go south at the wolf bar, then we’ll head on to North Paddock and The Eagle.  They’ve got a new DJ that is too adorable.”

“If things go south for which of us?” she smirked.

He shrugged.  “Either.  Both.”  Kissing her cheek, he promised to be ready by ten and left her to stew in her thoughts about Michael, wolves, and hyenas.

Her hope that Michael would be at the bar in Allen fizzled immediately.  In fact, she didn't recognize anyone there, which made her wonder if it was something wolf-related.  She decided to have a good time with Trav and Trace, who turned out to indeed be gay but not out of the closet, so when they headed down to The Eagle, a well-known gay club, Trace said goodnight.  She and Trav had fun dancing, but her mind wandered constantly to Michael and what he was doing.

* * * * *

If she had a nickel for every time she picked up the phone to call Michael, she would have been able to retire.  She just absolutely hated this.  That limbo-world full of insecurity and worry.  She didn’t want to be pushy, but she didn’t want to be aloof.  She didn’t want to be clingy, but she didn’t want him to think she didn’t care if he called or not.  After the uncomfortable conversation with Dante, she’d wanted to tell Michael on the phone that they couldn’t talk at the gym anymore.  She’d hoped he would call like he usually did in the afternoon, but he hadn’t by the time she headed out the door for her Friday class.

By the time her class was over, she was hoping that he was there but was unsure what to do about it if he was.  To her surprise and disappointment, he wasn’t.  Feeling defeated, she wasted no time heading down to leave for the night.  Cairo caught her, waving at her from where he was training with one of the trainers who was a retired pro boxer.

“You’re coming tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Something wrong, honey?”  His brow furrowed.

“I’m just a little tired, I guess,” she offered weakly.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a slow breath.  “If you’re wondering about the wolves, Dante rescinded their contracts and returned their money.”

Her brain went on the fritz for a minute.  She finally managed, “What?  Why?”

His dark brow rose.  “Because they weren’t the sort of people we wanted here.  It’s our right to cut the contracts.”

“But you guys wanted to bring in more clients to the gym.  There were at least a dozen wolves that signed up.”

“We don’t need clients that badly,” he sniffed derisively.

A bitter taste rose in the back of her throat.  It was one thing to suggest that she couldn’t be flirty and friendly on the floor because it wasn’t professional.  But it was an entirely different thing to tell Michael and his friends that they weren’t welcome.  Did Michael think she had something to do with it?  Was that why he didn’t call her?

“Did you threaten him?” she asked plainly.

“I didn’t do anything.”  Cairo flexed slightly, as if to remind her that just being around him was a threat all on its own.

She just didn’t know what to say.  After staring at him for a few moments, she cleared her throat and said, “Good night, Cairo.”

He touched her arm as she turned away.  When she looked back he said, “Wolves are dangerous, Shyne.  Don’t be foolish in thinking you can be anything but a plaything until he finds his she-wolf mate.”

She shook her arm free after giving him an acidic glare and stormed out of the gym.  She’d had just about enough of the boys interfering in her life.

When she sat down in her car and slammed the door shut, fuming, she noticed a rose and a card under the windshield wiper.  She opened the door and reached around to pull the flower and card out from under the wiper.  She sat back down, closing the door with less force this time.  The pretty white rose had dark pink tips.  The card was a folded piece of thick paper.

“Since I’m persona-non-grata at the gym now, I didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten all about you.  Some things came up last night, and I wasn’t able to call you like I’d wanted to.  I’ll apologize a hundred times if you’ll give me a chance.  Call me when you’re done with work.  Please?  Michael.”

Her heart thudded irregularly, and she couldn’t stop the silly grin.  She certainly hoped it was nothing serious that had kept him from the phone.  She rushed home, and as soon as she shut the door of her apartment, she dialed his number.

“So my penance?” he asked as soon as he picked up.

“I haven’t decided yet.  I’m a little miffed I didn’t get a call yesterday.  I’m a bit addicted to your daily calls.”

“That’s awesome.”  He laughed.  “I like being addictive.  And I’m totally addicted to calling you, too."

She twirled her finger in her hair.  "Well, your punishment depends on what kept you from calling.  If it was something bad, then, I'll let you off easy."

"Very generous.  I knew you were compassionate, I'm truly touched."  His voice was full of the smile that she'd come to like so well.  "I was totally slammed at work on Thursday.  And then one of the wolves in our pack left to go marry a human woman, it's what we call going rogue.  He was the fifth ranked in our pack, and he wanted to go for one more hunt before he left us, kind of an impromptu bachelor party and goodbye party rolled into one.  You were in class when I got the call to go, and by the time we got back, it was almost dawn and too late to call."  There was a pause, and he said, "Shit, I could have left you a message before I went.  I'm an idiot."

"It's okay.  I know I said I was addicted to your calls, but it's not like I have a reason to expect you to call me or something."  She bit her lip before she said something she couldn't take back.

"I don't feel obligated to call you, Shyne.  I call you because I want to.  'Cause I think about you all day long, and I want to share your day with you."

Aw.  All day?  He thought about her all day?

"Well, all's forgiven, okay?  The rose was really sweet.  I'm sorry that they kicked you guys out of the gym."

He sighed, "I'm only sorry I won't get to see you, but it's probably for the best."

"Michael, can I ask you something really personal?"  She decided to just go for it.

"I'm an open book.  Ask away."

"Do you have to have sex on the full moon with she-wolves?"

Chapter 6

Michael's heart stopped for a second as he let her question roll around in his mind. 
Did he have to have sex with a she-wolf on the full moon?
  Where the hell had that question come from?  Growling, he knew that it was from the hyenas.

Fuck.  How could he have this conversation with her over the phone?  "I know it's late, Shyne, but I want to come talk to you.  Give me your address."

"127 Barber Street, Apartment 2B" she replied without hesitation.

"I'll be there in about a half hour.  But put the thought from your mind, sweet.  The only thing I absolutely have to do on the full moon is shift and hunt.  I swear."

She said goodbye, and he stormed through his trailer, stopping only long enough to pull boots on and grab his keys.  His bike roared to life, and he raced to her apartment, using the GPS program on his cell to find her place.

She opened the door with damp hair and skin that smelled warm and clean like she'd just come from the shower.  She was wearing pajama shorts and a matching tank, red with pink and white hearts.  He stood there for a moment in the hallway, just drinking in the sight of her.  Her skin was a beautiful silky color like coffee with cream, and her large eyes were dark brown and ringed with a fringe of lashes to rival the thickest lace.

She backed into the room, and he followed, closing the door.  She had the coffee table set with soda and snacks, and he sat down on the couch next to her.  With little prompting, she told him that the hyenas had been whispering in her ear about him since the moment he joined the gym.  Chief among their whispers were that wolves only had sex with she-wolves and mated them because the full moon made them too horny to resist the hot wolf tail.

"I'm really sorry they had you so worried.  You could have asked me, I would have told you anything."  He took her hand, rubbing his thumb across her smooth skin.

"I didn't want you to think I was prying, or, taking anything for granted."

His heart swelled.  Did she like him?  Did she want more?  "Shyne, I haven't had sex in a long time.  If what they were saying was true, then I'd be with a she-wolf at least on the full moon, and I haven't."  He stopped speaking for a minute, realizing he'd just said he hadn't gotten laid in a while.  Well, too late to take that back.  Hopefully she'd think it was sweet and not that he wasn't worth fucking.

She was looking at his hand with hers quietly, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were bright, and a small smile touched the corner of her mouth.  "I'm not a wolf."

He relaxed, "I know, sweet.  Doesn't bother me a bit.  My brother's wife is only half wolf, her father was human.  Some wolves in our pack are married to humans.  If what your bosses said was actually true, there would be a lot of divorces, and wolves don't do divorces.  When we mate, it's for life."

"How long is a long time?"

"What?"

"Since you've, you know, tumbled with someone?"

Shit.  Damn his big mouth.

"About a year."  He winced inwardly, feeling like a total loser.  But then he mentally shook himself out.  It wasn't that he didn't have offers, it was that the offers he had weren't worth it.  He laid that truth out for her, and when her eyes crinkled when she smiled, he knew she understood.

"So what now?" she asked, taking a drink of soda and leaning back against the couch, still holding his hand.

"How about you let me take you on a real date, tomorrow?"

Her frown surprised him.  "They asked me to accompany them to a boxing match tomorrow night."

"Wait, those underground ones?  I know he doesn't fight legally, because he's a were."

She nodded absently.  "I've been to two.  They were really supportive of me when I was getting my certificate.  I feel guilty turning them down when they ask me for simple stuff like that."

"Well, I don't like it a bit.  Those places are full of dangerous people."  Criminals and gangsters for one thing.  While some of the fighters might be good people, the ones running the matches and making bets most certainly were not.  He'd heard enough over the years about those fights.  People died at them, their deaths covered up.  His wolf snarled in his brain about letting her go.

"No one will mess with me, it'll be fine," she promised, squeezing his hand.

If she was his already, he'd have put his foot down before putting his fist through that one bald hyena's face.  He was just pissed off enough to do it, too.  You didn't take someone gorgeous like Shyne and parade her around in front of a bunch of criminals.  It was insane.

"Will you do me two favors?" he asked.

"Three, if you ask nicely."

He returned the smile even though he really didn't feel like it.  "Will you please call me when you get home so I know you're safe?"

"Sure.  That's one.  Number two?"

"Promise not to go to another one again."

"Because they're not safe?"  She quirked her head to the side.

"Right."

"And because you care about that?"

"Yes, woman," he growled, and she laughed, biting her bottom lip.

Ah, tease.  "It's dangerous to tease a wolf when he's in a bad mood," he groused, pulling her hand up to his mouth and kissing the top.

"I think you're not in a bad mood anymore."  She leaned over and kissed him just once on the mouth and hugged him.  "I promise I won't go to any more of them.  And thanks; no one besides Trav has ever really cared about whether I was safe or not.  My bosses, they claim to care, but there's something off about it all, and I'd just as soon not spend time outside of work with them if I can help it."

"Then we'll have to find something else to occupy your time."  He took the opportunity of the hug to take a deep breath of her scent, loving the natural sweet way she smelled.  His wolf agreed completely.

"Do you need to get home?" she asked, pulling away from him slightly but keeping her cool fingers against his neck.

"Nah.  What did you have in mind?"

"Movie?"

He nodded, and she hopped up and went to a small cabinet, kneeling in front of it and naming DVDs.  He teased her about her taste in movies, way too many chick flicks, but when she said she had Exit Wounds, he stopped her.  Finally a decent action flick with a great soundtrack.

She put the DVD in, flicked off the light, and snuggled right up against him on the couch.

"Okay?" she asked, pressing play on the remote.

"More than okay," he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and settled back to watch the movie, more interested in the beauty leaning against him then anything on the screen.