Chapter 44

The energy in the air was intense. I stood with Raven on the pack house lawn, watching her stretch as Nolan quietly rambled on about strategy this and strategy that. I wasn’t sure what strategy there was to discuss. They were running in the woods.

Whatever he was saying, I didn’t hear a single word of it. My focus was stuck on Killian across the way. Why couldn’t the man just wear a t-shirt and sweatpants like everyone else? No, he had to be in a pair of faded jeans and nothing else. Not even shoes. He just stood there, laughing with Declan and Cade, in all his half-naked glory while I was hung up on his muscles. The bulge in his biceps, those sinful veins in his forearms, the dips in his abs, and that perfect V-cut around his hips barely disappeared into his jeans. Why’d he have to wear them so low? And his smile? His laugh? Even the way his tattoos traced and defined the shape of his body was attractive.

Why’d he have to be so handsome? It’d be easier to be mad and put up boundaries if my clit wasn’t throbbing just from the sight of him. And I wasn’t the only one to notice him. Lusty little shits. I scowled. Not a thought I should be having. It shouldn’t have bothered me that they found him attractive—not that he seemed to care.

“Like what you see?” Raven’s voice in my ear startled me and snapped me back to attention. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I put my back to Killian. I regarded her with the most serious face I could muster, but it was clear she wasn’t having it.

“I wasn’t staring.”

“Tell that to the drool on your chin,” she teased.

“I do not!” And my hand still flew up to my mouth because God forbid she was right. Raven burst out laughing. “Don’t do that to me!”

“Oh, come on! You can stare. Hell, most of us are staring.”

“Us?”

“Well, I can’t keep staring at my fiancé while he’s in those damn sweatpants,” she retorted. “It’s basically porn, and then I get horny, and I can’t be running horny through the woods. At least not right now. Maybe later when he can catch me… definitely when he can chase me down and catch me…”

She clicked her tongue as she fantasized about it.

“Raven!” I snapped my fingers in front of her face.

“Sorry! I was thinking about—”

“I know what you were thinking.”

“You know what I wish?” Raven replied with a widening smile. “I wish I had that Byrne telepathy thing. The messages I’d send to that man. I wouldn’t even care that I had to be in wolf form to do it. It’d be absolutely worth it to keep that man on his toes.”

I snorted, covering a laugh. The things she said. There was never a dull moment with Raven around. I loved her all the more for it.

“Are you ready?” Nolan asked as he joined us once more with Declan alongside him.

“I’m ready,” Raven said.

“And you remember our strategy?”

“Of course, I do!”

“How much strategizing goes into running?” I interjected.

“So much,” Raven and Nolan replied in unison.

“They’ve had literal pow-wows,” Declan said, leaning toward me. I smiled. That didn’t surprise me in the least.

“All right!” Finn shouted and hopped on the back porch rail. “Let’s get this shit started!”

An uproar of excitement rolled through the lawn as Alice and Isla took their spots at the starting line. Roan joined them, dropping his sweats as he went. Before I could look away, Killian was right there and brought his hands down on Roan’s ass. Hard. So hard that Roan practically howled, Declan visibly cringed, and I gasped,

“Son of a bitch!” Roan hollered and rounded on Killian, who was bent over laughing.

“Payback’s a bitch.” Killian smirked all too proudly.

“That’s going to leave a mark!” he snapped.

“Good!” The positively thrilled expression on Killian’s face was something else.

“They got weirdly close while he was away, didn’t they?” I whispered.

“Questionably so,” Declan agreed.

“Racing for the Lochlans, we have the ever feisty little gingersnap, Isla!” Finn announced. He gestured dramatically to Isla. She waved happily, standing completely naked with absolutely no care as to who was around. Sure, we were wolf shifters and nakedness was kind of our thing, but I could never bring myself to be as unabashedly comfortable being nude around so many men. “And racing for the Ironwoods—and losing for the Ironwoods—”

“Watch yourself, baby Byrne,” Roan interrupted.

“Fuck you. I’m middle Byrne.”

“Does he really think that’s a good comeback?” Raven asked softly.

“Honey, you don’t know most of the shit that comes out of that boy’s mouth,” Declan murmured. “That boy talks long before he ever fucking thinks.”

“Amen to that,” I said. No truer words had ever been said about Finn Byrne. The kid was an adventure—and that was before ever looking at his social media. He certainly had a flair for the dramatic.

“Racing for the Stones, we have the ever-eloquent Alice!” Finn continued.

“Fuck off,” Alice growled.

“Love you too, sweet thing.” He blew a kiss in her direction, making her glare. I giggled. That boy was going to get hit at the rate he was going.

“Stop stalling and get a move on,” Sam yelled. “We want to get to the drinking part of the night!”

“Boo!” Lucas chimed in. “We want to drink and kick some wolf ass!”

“Why hasn’t your mom stopped all the swearing?” I asked Declan.

“She drove a hard bargain when they asked for permission to swear,” he replied with a grin. “Lucas and Finn have an extremely long laundry list of things to do for Mom. They’ll be at it for weeks. Plus, she gets to keep track of every time they swear, and they have to give her five bucks.”

“They’ll end up broke,” I stated.

“Absolutely. Doesn’t count for me because I didn’t say a fucking word during the whole thing.”

“And running for the Byrnes,” Finn began but was drowned out by another round of cheers and howls rolling across the lawn from our pack. He waved his hands wildly. “Come on! I want to talk!”

“No one wants to hear you talk!” Sam laughed.

“Shut the fuck up, you furry little shit,” he snapped while the excitement waned just enough for him to finish. “And running for the Byrnes this year… the ever-so-lovely, future Mrs. Raven Byrne!”

Enthusiastically, I clapped for Raven as she joined the others at the starting line. Unlike them, she stuck with a swimsuit—she was still figuring out her comfort level with nudity. And, according to her, burning money on easy-to-shred swimsuits wasn’t the worst thing she could do with her fortune.

“Now, hold the fuck up!” Cole interjected. “She ain’t a Byrne. She ain’t racin’!”

“Fuck that shit,” Declan shot back, leaving me to strike across the lawn. Crossing his arms, he squared off against Cole with Raven right next to him doing the same. “She’s racing.”

“Not a Byrne,” he repeated.

“Fight, fight, fight,” Roan chanted playfully.

“I will marry her right here, right now, you furry fucker,” Declan growled. “Not a Byrne my ass. You’re just intimidated because you know we’re going to win.”

“Bullshit,” Cole shot back.

“Put your money where your mouth is, old man,” he said. “Join the bitch club.”

“I’m too old for that shit.”

“Oh,” Roan teased. “I think he’s scared.”

“I ain’t fuckin’ scared,” Cole snapped.

“I think you are,” Declan replied.

“Fine,” he bit out. “Name your fuckin’ terms, Byrne.”

“When my fiancé kicks your ass, you get to be bitch for the rest of the day,” he stated. “But you get to be her bitch for the rest of the day. Whatever her pretty little heart desires, you’ll do it.”

“I get to join the bitch club!” Raven gasped, clapping with excitement.

“Of course, you do, honey.”

“And when I win?” Cole demanded. “What do I get?”

“If you win, I’ll be your bitch,” Declan said. “But I suggest you warm the fuck up, Stone. My girl’s creative as shit. She’s going to have your ass running around all fucking night.”

“Deal,” he said and peeled off his shirt. “But I’m fuckin’ runnin’ this one. I ain’t countin’ on Alice to win this shit for me.”

“Whatever,” Alice replied with a shrug. “More fuckin’ beer for me.”

“Hey!” Sam yelled happily. “That’s my girl! Come get drunk with us!”

While Cole undressed and argued with anyone willing to listen to him, Nolan came to stand next to me. His mouth was set in a deep frown as he watched Declan whisper to Raven.

“Think she can do it?” I asked. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in Raven. I did. I was just one of the few people aware that she still struggled to control her shifts. Sometimes she could, sometimes she couldn’t. We wouldn’t know until she got to the second starting line at the edge of the forest where they were supposed to shift for the race.

“She’s got this,” he replied. “She’s fast and knows the forest like the back of her hand. Plus, she’s competitive as shit. Declan said he’s offering her some extra motivation. I didn’t ask him what that was.”

“That’s probably for the best,” I said.

“Let’s kick some wolf ass!” Finn screamed and threw his head back in a loud howl. See? Dramatic.

Even still, I smiled. The excited energy in the air was infectious as Cole joined the other three at the starting line. The race itself was simple. The four had to run across the lawn to the forest edge, shift, and then run the designated path through the woods. From start to finish, the race would take a half hour at most. Several wolves were scattered along the path to howl as the racers passed.

Meanwhile, the party would officially start here at the pack house. The Byrne leg of the partying was always less intense. There was still drinking involved, but for the most part, it involved a lot of snacks, grilling, music, and hanging out.

In a heartbeat, the four were off. I clasped my hands together, holding my breath as I prayed my heart out that Raven would make the shift. I wasn’t the only one, either. Nolan was as rigid as a board beside me while he tracked her across the lawn, and Declan looked stressed out. So did Cade. Even Sam, Finn, and Lucas were hanging onto one another as we waited for Raven to hit the tree line. We were the only ones privy to her struggle.

When she hit the trees, her shift was flawless. It didn’t matter to any of us that she wasn’t the first to shift. The screaming and cheering from us as she did was met with a loud howl that faded into the woods.

“Jesus fucking Christ she’s huge!” Killian exclaimed. I glanced in his direction, taking in the shock on his face. Oh, he hadn’t seen her shift before.

“And they’re off!” Lucas yelled. “Let the party begin! Drinks are in coolers around the lawn, snacks are in the kitchen, and Finn will get the grills going!”

“Well, now we wait,” Nolan said. He dropped an arm around my shoulders. “Come on. Let’s find a place to sit.”

“You’re with us,” Cade ordered, pointing at Nolan. “You and Declan can worry together.”

“I’m not worried,” Declan scoffed. He was worried. Granted, I wasn’t sure there would ever be a day that he wasn’t worried about her. That was just Declan. I gave him a small smile, which he barely returned.“She’s fine. She’ll be fine.”

Cade and Nolan made fast work of dragging lawn chairs—five of them—to our spot. As always, Cade and Declan stuck together with Holly wedged between Declan’s knees, staring at him as if she wanted his beer. When Killian dropped into the other seat next to Declan, my heart stuttered in my chest. Killian’s gaze briefly caught mine, but he said nothing.

“I’m going to… I’ll go inside,” I said quietly to Nolan. “Maybe your brothers need—”

“Sit your pretty self down. We get both of you in the divorce,” Cade said. An uncomfortable moment stretched between the group of us as Killian and I glanced at one another. Divorce had not been a conversation between us, but I had a feeling both of us were just waiting for the other to bring it up.

“Way to make things awkward, Cade,” Declan snorted around his beer.

“It’s what I’m good at,” he replied. “And drinking.”

“At least you know you suck at baseball,” Killian stated. That was a little harsh.

“I suck a lot of things,” Cade retorted with a cocky kind of pride. “I’m a fucking champ at it.”

“Suck at,” Declan corrected. “He said you suck at baseball. Baseball, Cade. That thing you do with the balls—”

“I do a lot of things with balls, Declan,” he interrupted with a cheeky grin.

“Wait… how many things can you do with balls?” Nolan stopped pacing to stare at Cade. Declan spit out his beer while Killian tipped back in his chair, laughing hard.

“Nolan!” I chastised through a giggle.

“What?” he demanded. “It’s for research!”

“You know, you say it’s for research, but I’m beginning to think you’re a kinky little fuck who likes seeing what you can get people to say,” Cade said. His head tilted to the side. “Are you a narratophiliac, Nolan?”

“What?” Nolan faltered, eyes blown wide in confusion. Oh, my sweet little smutty wolf writer had met his match. “No! I’m not whatever that is—we should look up what that is.”

“I’ll put it in your notes,” I told him.

“Nolan and his fucking research,” Killian snorted under his breath.

“Better yet, I’ll explain it to you, Nolan,” Cade replied. “Buckle up, you smut-writing fiend, Daddy’s about to teach you a fucking lesson.”

My face fell into my hands as I lost it. Cade launched into a very lengthy explanation that was only made better by the absolute way Nolan clung to his every word with the utmost curiosity.