Chapter Two

Drake

D rake couldn’t help the snarl on his face as he followed behind them. He had his reasons for being pissed off, and they were damn good reasons.

This was not how he thought tonight was going to go.

He and the guys had been in their usual booth at their bar, talking to a few girls and thinking about taking them home, when they heard the gunshot. Because of their shifter hearing, they had been able to hear it over the loud music and numerous voices in the bar. With a girl on his lap, whispering promises into his ear about what she planned to do to his dick, he had heard it plain as day. A quick look at the guys, and he could tell by their changed expressions that they had heard it too. It was a sound they were all familiar with, living their kind of lifestyle.

When they got outside and saw that Knox’s speed dealer was attempting to rob one of the businesses, they knew they had to step in. They may be rogues, but they were not assholes. It was the neighborly thing to do. That, and they didn’t want the place to become a crime scene and fuck with their business. Not everyone at the bar was a saint, and not everyone was clean. Cops sniffing around? That would have caused a few problems.

However, it ended up becoming both a crime scene and a problem anyway.

He knew the moment the girl turned around that she was his fated mate. With her red hair shining despite the lack of light and her wide blue eyes bouncing between the three of them, he knew then and there that she was all three of theirs. Her tits heaved with her deep inhales and exhales, and her larger curves made his wolf howl. It pissed him off. Not because he was supposed to share her – they shared women all the time – but because to him, women were only good for one thing: a good fuck.

Drake didn’t want or need a mate, but the guys seemed to have other plans because now she was in their shared apartment above the bar, and they were doting on her like love-sick puppies.

Practically vibrating with anger, Drake watched her take in the space from beside the closed door. It was a nice apartment, despite it being above the bar. It had three bedrooms, a living room with the largest flat screen TV they could carry out of the store, a dining room with a glass top table Zeke’s tastes couldn’t pass up, and a top-of-the-line kitchen complete with granite countertops and black stainless appliances. A man’s space. Not suited nor meant for a woman, let alone a mate.

Drake ground his teeth and glanced at the moon visible from the glass doors that led to the spacious balcony. It overlooked the alley, but they had a decent view of the town as well .

When the moon gave him no answers to all the problems he could count on both hands, he crossed the space to the breakfast bar and sat on the stool while the guys crowded Amara on the couch. Hands clenched on his thighs, he took in the little hearts in their eyes before observing Amara. She looked awkward and uncomfortable, squashed between them. But she didn’t flinch when Knox brushed her hair away from her cheek and brought it to his nose.

Knox seemed incapable of keeping his hands off of her. Satisfied with the scent of her stuffed up his nose, he leaned in a little more and draped his arm across her shoulders. It made her appear tiny, but still, she showed no fear. Wrong move with Knox. Fear wasn’t the only drug that got him high, but he’d do anything to pull it out of someone.

“So, uh, how long have you guys been in town?” Amara asked.

“A couple of years,” Zeke answered, glaring at Knox, who put his nose back in Amara’s hair and inhaled deeply. “Moved to town and bought the bar on a whim when it went up for sale.”

Amara shivered, and Knox pulled away with a wicked grin on his face. “Cool,” she said, clearing her throat. She leaned forward, grabbed the water that Zeke had brought her, and brought it up to her lips. Knox reached over and took it from her, replacing it with his glass of whiskey.

“Is the shop yours, or do you just work there?” Zeke inquired with genuine curiosity.

“It’s mine,” Amara answered, staring at the caramel liquid that had replaced her glass of water. “It used to belong to my mother, and it was passed to me when she left.”

Drake shifted a little on the stool. That was good to know. He didn’t understand how he could have missed the fact that there was a pack in town. If he had known, he would have chosen someplace else for them to set up roots. Most packs and rogues didn’t get along, which was another reason why their being fated was a mistake.

It was even more of a mistake to have her in their space. It was never going to work out anyway. Pack shifters and rogue shifters did not mix, fated or not.

“And we missed a pretty little thing like you?” Knox chimed in.

A small blush crept into her cheeks and the tip of her nose. “I tend to keep to myself mostly.”

Zeke’s eyebrows pinched together. “That’s strange for a pack girl.”

She just shrugged, which bothered him and grated at his nerves. She was hiding something, he could tell, and he didn’t like secrets. Secrets got people killed.

“What are you to your pack, anyway? A healer?” Zeke pressed on.

“She can heal me anytime,” Knox interrupted, whispering it in her ear.

“Uh, no. I’m not a healer. I’m . . .” She paused and took a large gulp of whiskey. Her face scrunched, and she let out a breath. “I’m actually the alpha’s daughter.”

Knox whistled low as the news settled into Drake’s gut, hot and heavy.

This was definitely not what he wanted to hear. The alpha’s daughter was one of the most important people in the pack, which meant the whole situation they had found themselves in just got a whole lot messier. But how was he supposed to get them out of it? Out of this ? He’d have to think of something because, no matter the way he looked at it, it was going to be difficult .

“From the sounds of it,” Zeke began after a moment of silence, “you’re not proud of that.”

“Let’s just say that my father and I don’t always see eye-to-eye,” she whispered while poking the whiskey’s ice with her index finger.

“And why is that?” Drake asked, speaking for the first time since they got her into the apartment. He could tell it was something she didn’t want to talk about, but he was hoping to make her so uncomfortable that she left. He needed to talk to the guys and convince them to stay away from her. This was a bad idea. She was a bad idea, and he didn’t understand how the guys couldn’t see it.

“It’s a long story.”

Drake’s nostrils flared. “So, more secrets.”

Abandoning the ice, she glanced up at him.

Knox moved her hair off her shoulder. “And I suppose Daddy won’t be very happy if you come home with a rogue’s bite mark on your neck,” he guessed, playfully nibbling her neck.

Drake slammed his fist down on the granite, making Amara jump. “No one is biting anyone.”

Knox chuckled. “I think we made him upset.”

“We are just getting to know each other a bit,” Zeke said evenly to Drake. “Calm down.”

Knox’s eyes sparkled. His attention hadn’t left Amara the entire time. He settled a hand on her thigh and slid it up. She finally peeked at him when he said, “Does it bother you that a rogue wants to fuck that little pussy of yours?”

Amara nearly choked on her own spit. “Well, I . . . uh . . . I personally don’t have anything against rogues. But I don’t know you well enough to think that kind of thing.”

“You’re our mate,” Knox stated, his voice deep and gravelly. “What’s there to think about? ”

“Knox . . .” Zeke warned. “Stop trying to get into her pants.”

Knox spared him a quick look. “I think she secretly wants it. I think she secretly wants all of us. I mean . . . look at the ice. Little bunny is trembling.”

Amara’s brows pinched together, and her attention focused back on the ice, which was indeed rattling around inside her glass because of her trembling hand. “I think she’s sitting right here and can speak for herself, thanks,” she grumbled.

“You don’t need to speak. I can smell your arousal,” Knox proclaimed with a smirk. He inhaled the air around them. “You’re interested. More than interested.”

Drake watched as Amara subconsciously squeezed her thighs together, and her cheeks flooded with color. Knox wasn’t wrong. He could smell it from where he sat – that sweet scent that had his wolf begging. Damn it if he didn’t want her too, but he was never going to cross that line. He couldn’t. Someone had to be smart about this.

“Well, you’re not afraid to speak your mind,” Amara commented a little dryly, taking another drink.

“He’s an acquired taste,” Zeke muttered.

Knox’s grin was feral when he asked, “Do you want to taste me, little bunny?”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Drake growled.

Amara giggled nervously. “I don’t even know what to say to that. But before we get to any . . . tasting, we should probably talk about what this means for us. Clearly, there’s no denying what’s going on here.”

Drake couldn’t help the edge to his voice when he said, “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.”

He didn’t miss the frown Zeke turned his way. “What the fuck are you talking about, man?” he asked, his accent thicker .

How the hell could they not see it? “She’s pack, Zeke. We’re not. The two don’t mix,” he growled. His fist clenched and unclenched on the counter.

“I see,” Zeke murmured as something dawned on him. “Well, you can deny it all you want, but I don’t plan to, and by the looks of it, neither does Knox.” Zeke motioned toward Knox, who was leaning ridiculously close to Amara and playing with a few strands of her hair again. He twirled them around his fingers as if they were ribbons of silk.

Amara’s lips twisted to the side. “In a way, Drake is right though. This is bound to cause some problems.”

Knox nipped the air between them. “Problems are fun.”

“We can figure it out as we go,” Zeke promised. “But I have no plans of knowing my mate is within reach and not doing something about it.”

She looked between the three of them. “You guys can’t have seriously already decided that you want to be with me. You just met me a half hour ago.”

Exactly.

“Are you saying you don’t want this?” Zeke asked.

“I . . .” Amara glanced at her feet. She seemed to be struggling over her words, but Drake mentally chanted for her to agree that she didn’t want them. It would make this so much easier.

Part of him hoped that she didn’t want this, the part that didn’t want to fuck her. The guys would be heartbroken, but they would get through it just like they did with everyone else they had left behind before settling here. But if she admitted that she wanted to give it a try, he didn’t think there was anything he could do to convince the guys otherwise.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” she admitted after a while. “I know the pull is there, but I don’t see how it would work with my being pack and you guys being . . .” She let her sentence trail off as if calling them rogues was something dirty. It was what they were; there was no denying that fact.

“That’s because it won’t work,” Drake said simply. Maybe he could convince her to see reason.

“How about you sleep on it?” Zeke suggested. “Nothing has to be decided right now.”

“The fuck it doesn’t,” Knox growled.

Zeke gave him a look over Amara’s head, and Knox bared his teeth but said nothing else.

Amara set her now-empty glass down on the coffee table and rose to her feet, forcing Knox to drop his arm. “I should probably go anyway. I need to get back.”

“Will you touch yourself when you find yourself missing me?” Knox asked, his expression serious.

Amara laughed, the first real laugh Drake had heard from her. It was not an unpleasant sound. In fact, it gave him goosebumps. “Anyway, thank you again. For, well, everything tonight. The drink and the other thing.” She was avoiding saying that they had actually killed someone for her. He briefly wondered how she felt about that.

Zeke stood up with her and pulled out his phone. “What’s your phone number?”

“Why?” Amara asked skeptically.

“So that you can have mine in case something happens and you need us,” Zeke answered.

After a moment of consideration, she rattled off her number, which he, unfortunately, committed to memory while both Zeke and Knox put it into their phones. With every second that passed, he lost hope of being able to forget this night ever happened even more.

Her phone dinged twice with two incoming messages. “ There,” Zeke said, pocketing his phone. “Now you have them.”

Pulling her phone from her back pocket, Amara looked at them before laughing again. She glanced at Knox. “Did you really send me a dick pic?”

“Thought you might need some inspiration for when you touch yourself tonight,” Knox answered in that deep voice again. A feral grin overtook his face once more.

“Uh-huh. And you just happen to keep pictures of your dick on your phone?”

“I’m sure you’d like to know why,” he said, his eyes raking over her attention-grabbing tits down to her wide hips as if he were undressing her.

Amara shook her head and pocketed her phone again. “You guys have a good rest of your night, and I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Not if he had anything to say about it.