“What did he say?” asked Shaya.

“He was boasting,” growled Nick. “I’m sorry you won’t have a job for a while, baby. I get this is my fault, so—” When she slapped his shoulder hard, he flinched. “Hey, what was that for?”

“You don’t get to blame yourself for other people’s actions.” Her wolf fully agreed. “I won’t allow it.”

The fierceness in her tone surprised him so much, he found himself smiling. “Is that right?”

“Yes, Beavis.”

“I am not stupid.”

She patted his chest patronizingly. “No, of course not. You just have bad luck in the thinking department.”

Scowling, he turned on the ignition and began heading back to her house. Unfortunately, he got there to find his mother, Roni, and Amber waiting outside the motor home. Surprised by their anxious expressions, he exchanged a confused look with Shaya. No sooner had they got out of the car than the three females were in front of them.

“My God, I saw what happened to the salon.” Kathy studied Shaya, rubbing her arm. “Are you okay, honey?”

“You saw what happened?” Nick asked, scratching between Roni’s ears.

“It’s all over the news,” Amber answered, standing a little too close to him for Shaya’s liking. Making that clear, Shaya went to his side and laid a proprietary hand on his chest while smiling pleasantly at Amber. Maybe things were doomed for Shaya and Nick, but if anything was going to separate them, it wouldn’t be some interfering bitch.

“The reporter said there’s a pack war here. Why didn’t you say anything to me about it?” Kathy chastised.

“Because it’s a load of shit,” replied Nick, curling an arm around Shaya. “There’s no war going on.”

Amber folded her arms over her chest. “Then what is going on?”

At that moment, Derren appeared at Nick’s other side. “Where’s your phone?”

Nick frowned and patted the pockets of his jeans. “I must have left it in the motor home.”

“Don’t be surprised to find that you have a ton of messages. I’ve just taken at least fifteen calls since we left the salon because you weren’t answering your phone. A lot of people saw the live footage on TV—you and Shaya are in the background. Apparently, there’s also footage that shows you and Logan talking in the background. As you can imagine, a lot of our friends remember that face. They all wanted to know what’s happening and if you need them to come here.”

“Who’s Logan?” asked Kathy.

“I hope you told them it’s not necessary,” Nick said to Derren. He had enough people hanging around as it was.

“I explained there’s no pack war and that you don’t need any backup, but a number of them are concerned about what’s going on with Logan. I’m guessing you’ll be getting a lot more calls from our friends.”

“Nicolas Axton, you need to explain a few things.”

Seeing that his mother was doing that hands-on-the-hips thing, he sighed and gestured to the motor home. “We can talk inside.” They all piled in, one by one. His mother and Amber seated themselves at the dinette while Derren plonked himself on the sofa beside Nick, who’d pulled Shaya onto his lap. Roni settled near Bruce in front of the TV.

“Well?” pressed Kathy.

“The problem around here isn’t the shifters, it’s the human extremists.” Nick spoke about the Sequoia Pack and the false rumor surrounding its Alpha, though he omitted the detail of the game preserve. He wanted to keep it as quiet as possible for as long as possible. Plus, he didn’t want Shaya, his mother, or Roni worrying. “The leader of this particular group, Logan…He worked as a guard when I was in juvie.” Kathy shuddered. “He’s intent on provoking me into reacting, most likely intending to use me as evidence of just how violent shifters can be to support the extremists’ argument. Vandalizing the salon where Shaya works was part of that.”

“But you don’t intend to retaliate.” It wasn’t so much a question as an instruction from his mother.

“Not right now, no.”

“Nick, please don’t risk yourself.”

“I won’t. But I have no idea how he’ll react when the court hearing is over. If he gets the verdict he wants, he may be smug enough to leave me alone. If the ruling of the judge goes in our favor, I can’t see him accepting that. If he comes at me, I won’t stand there and take it.” He’d never taken Logan’s shit before, and he wouldn’t start now.

“Maybe it’s best if you leave here, taking Shaya with you of course.”

“It won’t make any difference,” Derren told Kathy. “Logan has people following Nick constantly. He’ll have them follow Nick wherever he goes. Besides, running away from extremists isn’t the answer for any shifter. It’ll only encourage their behavior.”

Kathy sat in silence, considering that. When she eventually met Nick’s gaze, it was to give him an accepting nod. Then her eyes danced from him to Shaya, and she half-smiled. “I take it this means you two are making a go of things.”

“But you haven’t claimed each other,” said Amber tonelessly.

Nick kissed Shaya’s hair. “Yet.”

Shaya smiled sweetly at the bitch. “I’m sure you wish us all the luck in the world.”

When Derren’s phone began ringing, he fished it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “Looks like another of our friends is interested to know what’s going on. I’ll take the call outside, give you guys some privacy.” He looked at Kathy then. “Hint, hint.”

Kathy’s eyes widened, and then she nodded. “Well of course. Roni, Amber, let’s go.” Roni gave Nick’s hand a brief lick before following Derren and Kathy outside.

Amber slowly rose from her seat at the dinette and shot Nick and Shaya what was clearly a forced smile. “See you both later.” It sounded more like a threat than a farewell comment, but Shaya once again gave her a sweet smile and waved.

When the bitch was finally gone, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I can’t blame her for wanting you, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’d like to sneakily pour bleach into her shampoo and watch what happens with glee.”

Laughing, Nick twirled Shaya around to face him as she straddled him. “Vengeful. I like it. But, baby, don’t let her bother you. She’s not important.”

“At least you’re no longer denying that she wants you.”

Nick might have continued believing otherwise if he hadn’t seen jealousy briefly shimmer in Amber’s eyes at one point. “You know, it could be you that she wants.”

Shaya snorted. “I’m pretty sure it’s you, Beavis. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer someone like her? Dominant with the physical strength to match yours?”

Though Nick’s expression was reprimanding, he kept his voice low and sensual. “Don’t make me bite you again.” Her pupils dilated, and she took an unsteady breath. “Oh, you liked it, did you?” Her snort said, Don’t flatter yourself. He placed his mouth to her ear. “I can smell your arousal, Shay.” The tips of her ears were suddenly as scarlet as her cheeks. “What I really want is to taste it again. What I want more than that is to be inside you. You have no idea how badly I need it.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

He smiled against her lips. “For you to beg.” Because he needed an element of surrender on her part—he knew he wouldn’t get her total emotional surrender yet, so if he had to settle for this, it was enough for now.

Her mouth fell open. “That’s so not going to happen.”

“We’ll see.” He cocked his head, running his finger along her collarbone. “You didn’t give away the movie tickets I gave you, did you?”

“No. Actually, I was going to suggest we go see a movie together.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do tonight.”

The deviousness in his tone made her narrow her eyes. “I don’t like the way you said that.”

He just smiled before kissing her hard. “I’ll be at your door at six. Be ready.”

“Huh?” She’d thought he would be eager to answer those mating urges that had been riding them both so long.

He cupped her chin and rubbed his thumb along her jawline. “Baby, I want you more than you know. But you’ve had a shock this morning, and it was a blow to your system. What you need to do is go inside, take a long bath, and relax for a little while.” And then she’d be in an emotional state where she could deal with him, because Nick wasn’t “nice” or “tame” in bed. “Then later, you can get ready for our date.”

“Where are we going exactly?”

“We’ll get something to eat—you can choose where we go. Then we’ll go watch that movie you want to see, although I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to concentrate because I fully intend to make out with you the entire time.”

“Sounds promising. And then?”

“There’ll be foreplay. Lots and lots of foreplay.”

“I don’t like foreplay. I say we skip it and go straight to the main event.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry, you’ll like the foreplay. Then as soon as you beg, I’ll give you what you want.”

She should have guessed he’d be the type to love begging. He was a dominant male after all. Although she’d been with dominant males before, she knew without a doubt that it would still be nothing like sex with a very dominant alpha male—particularly when this male was her mate. She had to admit that she was beyond intrigued.

She knew that some people thought females who enjoyed sexual submission were weak, but Shaya didn’t believe that. How could it make her weak when it took a lot of strength to give up that level of control, to entrust herself and her safety to someone else? Despite that Shaya enjoyed submitting in bed, it didn’t mean that she could easily give up control. No, the male had to be someone she was comfortable with.

Her wolf was just as intrigued about tonight. Having a strong, powerful, dominant mate was what her wolf needed, what made her feel safe and secure. Being sexually dominated by her mate was an extremely attractive idea to her wolf. But Shaya had no intention of making it easy for Nick. Where would be the fun in that? “You really think I’ll beg? Aw, bless your little heart.” Complying was one thing, but begging was a whole other thing.

“Oh, you’ll beg, baby. I can promise you that.”

Shaya snarled at the woman sitting a few seats away who was ogling Nick…just like Shaya had snarled at the waitress in the restaurant, and at the girl who served them popcorn, and at the group of young women who had been behind her and Nick in the line. Annoyingly, the guy was ogled wherever they went. Although it was perfectly understandable, Shaya—much like her wolf—did not like it.

Most of the time, he didn’t seem to notice the ogling, though that was probably because his focus was on Shaya. When he did notice, he never reacted other than to come closer to Shaya or to touch her, almost as if he sensed that it bugged her and that the reassurance eased her irritation. Maybe he did sense it. After all, she wasn’t exactly discreet with her snarls.

The ogling had been a little easier to deal with when she’d rejected the idea of giving him a chance and had kept an emotional distance between them; it had dimmed the possessiveness slightly. But now that she had made the choice to include him in her life, this shit was getting annoying real quick. And so she was cranky.

Maybe her level of crankiness wouldn’t have been so high if Nick wasn’t doing his best to make her so freaking horny she couldn’t stand the feel of her own clothes. At every given opportunity, he was touching her. He licked the bite mark on her neck, or nipped at her mouth, or sucked on her earlobe, or kissed her. Even when he simply brushed a hand through her hair or splayed a proprietary hand on her lower stomach, there was a sensuality and teasing quality to it that made her shudder. In essence, the foreplay had begun the very second she had stepped out of the house to find him waiting on the doorstep. Right now, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to slap him or straddle him. Her wolf liked the latter idea better.

True to his word, he’d spent the majority of the movie kissing and touching her, but each kiss and touch was featherlike—designed to frustrate her, designed to make her push for more. She had, clinging to him, sucking on his tongue, and unsheathing her claws to dig into his skin and keep him in place. But never did he give in, and she quickly came to understand why: He was communicating to her, her body, and her wolf that he was the one in control; that though he wouldn’t expect her to hold back, and though he didn’t want a puppet, he wouldn’t be pushed into handing over dominance—that the control was his.

In short, he was ensuring there would be no misunderstandings when they got home.

When the movie finally ended, a sigh of relief left her. At this point, her face was flushed, her body felt restless, and she was so wet that she would bet even a human could smell her arousal. Nick’s smile was smug as he noticed her discomfort. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she could scent how much he wanted her, she might have thought he was totally unaffected. Marching down the aisle of seats, she gave him a sideways glance. “You’re an a**hole.”

Nick slid an arm around her waist and pulled her back against him. “I told you there would be lots and lots of foreplay.”