Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ember

I tug at the sleeve of my leather jacket as I step out of the employee exit of The Den.

My wolf is antsy.

There’s a full moon coming up, and she wants to run and hunt.

The door shuts behind me with a scratchy sound that makes me shiver. It’s obnoxiously loud, and I’m so distracted that I barely pick up the flutter of wings until Veryn is on me. His huge, tattooed hand wraps around my throat as he shoves my back against the brick wall.

“Mmm, you smell extra sweet tonight.” He smirks, and those damn dimples in his cheeks pop. “I had no idea you were going to stop by to surprise me.”

“I came to check on my brothers.”

He chuckles, like he knows it’s a lie, but he doesn’t call me on it. Fine, maybe my purpose for stopping by tonight was twofold.

Damn sexy dragon. He’s not supposed to make my brain all melty.

It’s baffling to think about how different his life could have been if he had chosen to stay in Faere with his father.

Veryn’s mom had no idea she was hooking up with the heir to the dragon throne back in the day. He left her knocked up with his egg and returned to his people.

A few years later, some stuff went down. Veryn’s biological father sent his men to retrieve his heir. They kidnapped Veryn and brought him to the dragon court in Faere. If it wasn’t for his mom’s new mates and a few of the OG Haven Hit Squad, they might not have been able to retrieve him. But, luckily, they brought him back in one piece.

Veryn’s head dips, and he brushes his lips over mine. My fingers dig into the front of his plain white T-shirt as I tug him closer. He’s an alpha shifter through and through.

My wolf aches to fight—to make him chase us if he wants us.

The human part of me just wants to feel his stubble scratch my cheek as he shoves his tongue into my mouth.

He growls.

The sound rattles out of his chest and vibrates around the small alleyway that leads to the employee parking lot.

I shiver in response, and even my wolf seems to roll belly up in my mind.

The traitor.

Not thirty seconds ago, she was playing images of running through the forest and flooding me with the desire to be chased.

Veryn uses his hand on my throat and the other on my hip to lift me before shoving his knee between mine. His scent hits my nose, and it has a wild effect on my system. That could also be related to the feeling of his multitude of muscles pressing against my front.

His facial hair does, in fact, scratch my cheek as he devours me to the point I start to grind over his knee.

This is not the place to be getting handsy .

He’s friends with my brothers and, to my knowledge, they don’t know we’ve been fucking like rabbits for the last few months. Ever since they turned eighteen, they’ve been in and out of The Den. They’re constantly trying to prove they can handle the day-to-day operations of the place.

The thought reminds me how Veryn recruited them to make sure no guys would touch me while he was giving me the cold shoulder for years.

A low growl rattles out of my chest this time. Even as enamored as my wolf is with him, she doesn’t like that he so easily ignored us.

Veryn rests his forehead against mine, brushing his fingers over my cheek. “I wish I knew where your head goes every time you manage to get pissed at me all over again.”

I’m basically dangling in the air with his thigh as my seat. It’s kind of a vulnerable position.

I sigh, clenching my eyes closed.

“Ember, you can’t punish me forever.” He slides his hands down, cupping my ass. “We’ve already wasted three years. Every time I think we’re moving in the right direction, you pull back. It’s starting to drive me fucking insane.”

I hate that it still bothers me, but he was my best friend, and losing him was devastating.

He was just gone, but not really.

I still had to see him around town, hanging out with Fox and Talon, and even worse, with my little brothers.

On one hand, I want to trust that he won’t disappear on me again, and on the other, there’s that old saying once bitten, twice shy.

“I am trying,” I assure him. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t let you fuck me.”

“Goddamn, woman. You are so fucking stubborn.” The long, straight black hair on top of his head falls over his forehead as he sighs. “You get that it was out of my hands, right? Our parents had an old-people meeting and decided we needed to be kept apart until you turned eighteen. It wasn’t my choice. In fact, it was the last fucking thing I wanted.”

God.

Even thinking about it makes me upset. My mom wasn’t included in that conversation. I know because I flat-out asked her when I first found out about it, but it sounds exactly like something my dads would do.

“And if you had come to me and explained that, I would have understood,” I snap, wiggling my legs as my fury grows. “At the very least, I wouldn’t have spent two years wondering what I did wrong.”

“I was under the impression your family sat you down and told you the rules the same way my dads did for me. I had no idea they never told you about their bullshit mandate. Not until you turned eighteen and told me yourself. I can't fix the past.” His hold on my ass tightens. “But I can court the fuck out of you now. Just give me a chance. Please? I want a real relationship. Not this bullshit where you climb into my bed and try to sneak out every morning before I wake up. I want to be official. Fuck what anyone else has to say about it. Not that it matters anymore, since we’re both adults, but I’m done hiding.”

My stomach dances with freaking dragon-sized butterflies, and my wolf is to blame. She’s really stuck on what courting will look like from a dragon.

“Okay,” I hear myself say.

The smile that breaks out on Veryn’s face should be criminal, because it’s far too sexy to be legal.

“Perfect,” he purrs, slamming his lips to mine once more. My back hits the brick wall behind us, and his hands caress the globes of my ass. He’s playful and teasing as he swirls his tongue around mine.

God, he’s dangerous to my self-control.

“Veryn,” a gruff voice calls out. “Where the hell did you disappear to? I’m getting slammed up here!”

Veryn grinds against me one more time for good measure and groans as he pulls back.

“Damn.” His hand moves to brush the hair back from my face. “I’ve gotta run, but I will call you later to make sure you made it home okay.”

I try to keep my face placid as I shrug.

“I’ll answer if I’m still awake,” I say, like I won’t purposely force myself to stay up, waiting for his call.

He smacks my ass with the hand holding me in place. “You better. Otherwise, I might show up on your doorstep.”

I snort.

I still live at home with my family. He would have to be exceptionally dumb to try to sneak into my house. Although, my parents are pretty good about giving me my space.

I have my own entrance directly into my bedroom, and they don’t give me any trouble about coming and going as I please, but I have my mom to thank for that.

“You think I won’t, but you’ll find me tossing rocks at your window if you don’t pick up,” he says, giving me a final kiss.

My wolf preens in my mind.

She’s fully convinced he’s meant to be ours, but I’m only twenty-one.

Wolves and dragons mate for life.

That’s a whole lot of commitment to make when I’m just starting to trust him again.

Veryn lowers me to the ground, and my heart races. His straight black hair falls over his forehead as his bright blue eyes glimmer.

He really is ridiculously attractive.