Chapter 4

Chapter 4

RILEY

The soft,muffled murmurs of distant voices reach my ears. Light pounds against heavy-lidded eyes which refuse to open.

Where the hell am I?

What the fuck happened?

Attempting to turn my head is an epic failure as the sensation of stampeding elephants parade across my mind. I will my arms and legs to move, but the connection to my brain is like a computer saying reboot,please stand by. The light on the other side of my lids goes dark, and I force my eyes to open, blinking through the blurry vision.

A shadowy figure prowls towards me on all fours, much too large to be a dog. Eyes, an ethereal blue, glow through the darkness. Not a dog … a wolf, but not just any wolf … a shifter.

“Shit … shit … shit, shit, shit,” I whisper, my mind whirling with thoughts of Alastair and the pack.

Did he find me?

Is he here?

What’s he going to do to me?

My heart thunders in the confines of its cage, and the throbbing in my head increases with my pulse. Black spots invade my vision—pricks of fear on the edge of consciousness. Adrenaline-fueled fight-or-flight burns through the muscles of my legs, but I’m frozen, unable to move. A haze blankets my mind, and the darkness swallows me whole.

Gods,my head is killing me. Lifting my lead-weighted hand to rub at my aching temple sends an itch skittering down my arms and legs. Memories of glowing blue eyes flood my mind, and the need to run burns through my muscles. Flipping off the covers that drape over me, I jump to my feet—or at least I try to—only to fall flat on my ass.

Fucking wonderful. I shake my head for having all the grace of a depressed elephant.

Snickers from the other side of the room catch my attention. Slowly, I look over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes on the poster boy for big bad bikers everywhere. Sitting in a seat by an open window is my boss, Cree Blackwood. He holds at least a foot over my five foot eight, and his shoulder-length silky brown hair just begs for fingers to run through it, not that I’ve considered it.

Liar,the voice inside my head taunts, and I roll my eyes at the snarky bitch before they catch back on Cree. Tracking across the muscles that define his broad shoulders and down to his firm, well-sculpted—and shirtless, I might add—chest. Narrowing in on the valleys of his deliciously chiseled abs just begging to be nibbled. And, oh, my gods, that swoon-worthy V. You know, the one that points straight to the promised land. Oh, yeah, that’s the one. Not that I have ever thought about any of this before.

Sure, Riley, you keep telling yourself that.

I’ve been working for Cree for a little over two months and have never—and I mean never—seen him without a shirt. Until now. The man is sex on a stick, delicious to look at. I lick my lips, and a groan echoes through the room.

Get a hold of yourself, Riley, he’s your fucking boss for crying out loud. Fucking … now that’s an idea.

The clearing of a throat from the corner of the room snaps me out of the trance I’ve been locked in with Cree, and my eyes race back up his naked torso to his eyes. The corners of his mouth curve up, forming a wicked grin. Yep, I’ve been caught staring, and he knows exactly where my thoughts have been.

Flushed, I focus on the furniture to avoid his face. There’s a chest-of-drawers, a single nightstand, the king size bed I apparently fell off, and another man standing in the opposite corner from where Cree is sitting. That’s when I realize I’m still sprawled on the floor beside the bed with legs as useless as a baby deer.

Fucking greatness, can you make a bigger fool of yourself, Riley. Bracing against the bed, I slowly work my way back up to sitting on the bed instead of beside it.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” I ask, resting my head in my hands as the throbbing intensifies, bringing along with it a sensation of swimming.

“You’re at my place. I’ll tell you what happened in a minute, but, first, I want Axel to check you out. Make sure you’re okay.” Cree’s no-nonsense personality is showing strong. He pokes his head out the door and bellows, “Axel.”

I wince at his volume before asking, “Who the hell is Axel?”

“That, dear, would be me,” a rich, soothing voice replies from the door. The man that goes along with said voice is stunning. I swear, my heart skips a beat when our gazes meet. His eyes are narrow with a deep, intense brown tone that is almost onyx in color. His skin tone is a warm, rich sepia, hair just a bit darker brown than his eyes with a closely cropped cut. And his smile, oh, that smile, it is panty-melting.

Shit, I’m in trouble with this one. What the hell is going on with me?

“.… Riley?”

I blink. “Huh?”

Axel walks into the room, coming to sit next to me on the bed. He takes my hand in his, and a tingling sensation travels from the point of contact up my arm, to settle in my chest. He reaches for my neck with his other hand, and when his fingertips make contact with my skin, that tingling sensation returns, traveling from the tips of his fingers to the center of my chest. My heart races, and my breathing quickens, creating a sense of euphoria that has my wolf stirring for the first time in a year.

Mate. My mate. My mates. My wolf hums in my head. Her voice is a stranger to me. Tears brim my eyelids, threatening to break the dam wide open at the sensation of having her so close again. Wait, what did she say?

Fuck me. No … No mate, No mates.I tell her over and over. I do not want, nor do I need, a mate. I get she does, it’s what every wolf wants.

Besides, how the fuck do you know that? There’s no pull, no connection that I feel. I remind her what needs to be there for it to be a true mate bond. I’m being honest with her; I don’t feel that instant connection that we’re supposed to feel when we find our mates, just a tingle. From what I heard growing up in the packs, it’s an undeniable pull that makes you want to mate right then and there. Looking inward, I know this hurts my wolf to hear. She craves that connection, but I just can’t right now. A loss of a mate would kill me.

You’ll see. All are my mates. They feel me. I see her in my mind, squaring her shoulders and holding her head high. Ready to prove me wrong.

Oh, fuck.

“I need a drink.” I sigh.

“No,” Cree barks at me. My head snaps in his direction, and my glare turns deadly.

“Excuse me?”

“I fucking said no, Riley.” Cree declares as though he has some magical control over me.

“Okay,” I state in the sweetest tone possible, an innocent smile crossing my face.

Cree’s eyes narrow as he looks me up and down. His gaze holds mine for a long minute, searching for … something, though I’m not sure what. One brow lifts, and he questions, “Okay?”

“Sure,” I state, nodding my head, my smile never faltering as I slowly rise from the bed and head towards the door.

“Okay. So where are you headed then?”

All the guys are wearing matching, puzzled and suspicious looks.

“Somewhere else,” I sing-song.

Cree jumps from his chair with so much force the wooden seat flies into the wall at his back with a crash. “I don’t fucking think so. You are not leaving this apartment.”

I look him in the eye and whisper, “Then give me a drink.”

“Give her a drink, just one.” I look over my shoulder and watch as Axel’s eyes rake over my body from head to toe, landing on my hands.

I look back to Cree, who has, yet again, a look of utter shock written on his face. “You’re fucking joking, right?”

“No,” Axel says, coming to stand beside me, taking my trembling hand in his and leads me out of the bedroom to a living room.

“For the record, I don’t like this. You don’t give someone with an addiction what they’re craving,” Cree states as he pours a glass of whiskey and brings it to me.

I wrap the throw from off the couch around my shoulders and take the proffered glass from him with a shaky hand. “Noted, but I’m not an addict, so you have nothing to worry about. I’m just exhausted.”

Sipping my whiskey, I relish the burn as it glides down my throat and take a moment to gather myself before the interrogations start. Someone is going to give me answers about what the hell is going on.