My heart beat so fast I was afraid he’d feel it. He kissed me like I was water in the desert and I clung to him like I was hanging off a cliff… which I kind of was.
My head spun, buzzing, thrumming with my pulse that pounded until I couldn’t hear anything but that.
But there was something in my chest, crawling up my throat, urgent and desperate.
Then Rig stroked his fingers through my hair and the tingle that started in my scalp made my breath shudder, and I knew if I didn’t get the words out now, they were going to get drowned in desire, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I yanked back, out of the kiss.
Rig’s face dropped. He was
~ RIG ~My pulse thumped in my ears as Cara’s eyes flew wide and her mouth dropped open. She froze and suddenly every fear, every last nerve, screamed at me.Was she going to say no?“What? Rig… how? Your dad… the pack—”I gripped her, pleading with her to see that I was telling her the truth. “I don’t ever want you to question if I’m really here, Cara. Not once. I see it in you every day—I smell it on you. You’re afraid. Afraid I’m leaving or that I have eyes for anyone else. You’re afraid that I’m… I don’t know… still a man-whore? That kills me. You’re everything to me now. I swear it. I want to bite something every time you doubt me because I’m over her
~ RIG ~“Rig, focus.” Mack stared at me, frustrated, but patient.I blinked and tore my thoughts back from the obsessive thoughts about Cara and wondering what she was doing and if she was okay.Mack rolled his eyes. His dark hair had fallen over his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he’d lost weight, or it was just the dark circles under his eyes making them look more sunken.A tidal wave of guilt washed over me from knowing that my friend had been so tortured for so long and I was only just noticing because he’d finally told me.“Mack—”“Cara’s fine,” he said quickly. “You know she’s fine. Natalie isn&rsqu
~ RIG ~I took a deep breath and prayed, then lied to my father through my teeth.“I’m thinking… I’m thinking I tell him that you want me to establish the pack before the matebond. That he’s going to be my second, and not to tell the others, because they all want it too. Not to tell Charlie, because he’ll be mad. I’ll tell him I’m going to spring it on the others that we’ll do the vows when we get back from our trip. He won’t want to submit to me, Dad. But he won’t want me out of his sight either. So if he’s planning to challenge me, he’s going to solidify his support while we’re gone. Charlie will sniff it out. If he does, I’ll kill Mack and his little human… whatever she is while we’re gone. We come back and no one has to think about it again.”
~ RIG ~It was an exhausting day, and one in which I was reminded again how grateful I was to have money.It was amazing what a person—or a wolf—could accomplish in a day with a bottomless wallet. And amazing what you couldn’t buy.I couldn’t buy safety. I couldn’t buy certainty about what was going to happen. I couldn’t buy reassurance.But damned if I couldn’t buy most everything else I needed. Everyone had their price.It was also amazing how every task, every step in every task, seemed to just remind me of something else that would be needed.By the time night was falling, I wasn’t just exhausted physically, but mentally.
~ CARA ~Rig was at my side, both of us leaned back against the kitchen counter eating pizza off paper plates. He’d held me so tightly when I got back with Natalie, for a minute I’d been worried. But he was smiling when he pulled back to check if I was okay, and he hadn’t left my side since.Even now, he stood right against me, our arms brushing every time we moved.We were all gathered in the kitchen, two massive pizzas and a slightly wilted salad scattered on the table. Everyone was sitting on the stools or standing around while Rig filled us in.“We’ll leave first thing, but we’ll make a performance of it, right? Bags in the back of the Jeep, everyone tired but excited, talking about it. After the ceremony it’ll take hours to g
~ RIG ~My entire body thrummed in time with my pulse which thundered in my ears so loud I had to concentrate to catch what was said, both out loud, and in the link.Cara stood in front of me, her little shoulders back and hands fisted at her sides, her feet shoulder-width apart.And my little kitten was growling.Holy shit.Natalie’s scent rolled between horrified, shocked, and angry.‘She’s still finding her confidence, Nat,’ I sent quickly through the link. ‘Don’t tear her down now. Please.’A growl puttered in Natalie’s throat too, and she cut her eyes up to look at me over
~ CARA ~When the door to Rig’s room flew open, startling me out of sleep, I groaned.“Get up! Get up!” Natalie sang.I groaned again and threw a pillow at her, rolling over to bury my face in Rig’s neck. I didn’t know how long we’d been asleep, but I knew it wasn’t very long. We were all still up and making plans, Rig assigning instructions and explaining the risks he was trying to avoid at three that morning.We’d fallen into bed and into each other’s arms at some time before dawn, but there’d been an unspoken agreement that we would wait… so, with barely time to breathe each other’s scents, we’d fallen asleep almost as soon as we’d laid down.
~ RIG ~I was bleary-eyed, exhausted, exhilarated, and… horny as fuck.It was a good thing Natalie had come to the door and woken us. If I’d had any time with Cara alone that morning I would have said to hell with the plans, locked the door, and not let her out until she was mine.Her stand-off with Natalie the night before had had my blood boiling in my veins. The planning and organization—not to mention the hovering threat of what my father would do if he found out what I was up to—had been a useful distraction. Then watching Cara drag her ass into bed the night before, barely able to keep her eyes open… well…The way she’d thrown herself into my arms and immediately fallen asleep had curbed any ideas I might have been brewin