Grant Read online

  Chapter 3

  Grant

  After I got off the phone with Ford, I convinced Lincoln and Jackson to step away from their mates for the night and come out as well. It took some persuasion, but they finally agreed that a night out with just the guys was something that we all needed.

  We all sat down at the bar and ordered drinks. The bartender brought them over and looked at us waiting for someone to pay the tab. Lincoln looked over at me and I laughed.

  “Come on man, don’t tell me you are so pussy whipped by Charlotte that you can’t buy us all drinks.”

  “Fuck you, Grant,” Lincoln laughed. He reached into this wallet and pulled out his credit card. “For the record, I am not pussy whipped.”

  “Yeah I can bullshit on that one,” Jackson said.

  “You’re one to talk! I’m surprised I even got you out tonight.”

  Jackson let out a laugh. “Hey, I haven’t seen Skylar in years. We are making up for lost time.”

  “Yeah well make sure you make up for lost time at your own damn place,” Ford said. “I’m sick of seeing you two all over each other.”

  I let out a laugh in agreement. At least I wasn’t the only one tired of seeing Skylar and Jackson getting it on. I took a sip of my beer and looked around the bar. We were at Milo’s, a regular shifter hang out. There were a few humans around, but mainly the people that came to this dive were shifters that wanted to get away from the normal bar scene.

  “Has there been any movement from the pack?” I asked as I tried to spot any coyotes in the room.

  Ford shook his head. “There’s been nothing, which is surprising.”

  “Yeah that is strange,” Jackson said. “I thought Liam had all this pull as Alpha, but I guess not.”

  Ford shrugged his shoulders. “He had a pretty strong control over the coyote pack. But maybe that control was just out of fear. Let’s hope they finally realized that messing with our clan is a bad idea.”

  “Cheers to that,” I said and I raised my pint glass. The guys followed suit. I heard a vibrating sound and watched as Ford pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

  “Sorry guys, I gotta take this, it’s the Dean, the Alpha of the wolf pack.” Being Alpha of our clan meant Ford had a lot of other shit to deal with. I didn’t know how he handled it all, especially with not having a beta at his side. I nodded and watched him walk out the side door of the bar.

  Once he was out of earshot, Lincoln turned to me.

  “So, has he asked you yet?”

  I looked at him confused. “Asked me what?”

  “About you taking over as Beta for the clan.”

  I nearly spit up my beer that I was sipping. Me? The Beta?

  “Why the hell would he want me to be Beta?”

  “Because, I’m stepping down,” Lincoln said frankly. Shock washed over my body. Lincoln was stepping down as Beta? But I thought he loved being the Beta.

  “Why would you be stepping down?”

  “Because I have a family to look out for now,” Lincoln said. “Charlotte and Georgia and my main priorities. I don’t want to risk not being around them if something happened. And vice versa. I don’t want me dedication of being Beta to be compromised because I was worrying about my family.”

  It all made sense. Lincoln did have a family to worry about. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to get out. I was just a bit taken off guard by the fact that Ford was considering me to replace him.

  “My guess is that by the look on your face, is that he hasn’t asked you yet,” Jackson said.

  “How did both of you guys know?”

  Jackson and Lincoln looked at each other and then looked at me. “Because we both recommended you for the job,” Lincoln said.

  I was about to ask more questions, but that is when the door to the bar pushed open, and a beautiful woman walked inside.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her features were striking. She had wild red hair and fiery green eyes. Pale skin that reminded me of a creamy cup of coffee and curves for fucking days. She walked with a confidence that matched the determination in her eyes, and the way her hips swayed was mesmerizing. I could feel my eyes raking along her body, pulled by an invisible force that was ready to devour her whole. I felt my cock twitching at her sight as the bar fell silent.

  Her eyes locked on mine as she made her way for us all.

  Ford was still outside and both Lincoln and Jackson didn’t take a notice in her. It wasn’t until Lincoln hit my shoulder that I realized that I was staring at her.

  “You might want to close your mouth,” Lincoln laughed. “Girls usually like the guy to be confident, not a deer in head lights.”

  I let out a laugh, but I couldn’t take my eyes from her. There was a glimmer in her eye and a confidence she exuded in her step. It was all of it combined into the framework of curves I wanted to sink my teeth into. To sink my lips into.

  To sink my cock into.

  The guys kept teasing me as the woman walked towards us. She had silenced the entire bar with her entrance as men turned their heads from their dates to look at her. She was one of those women whose confidence ushered her into a room. She walked with her head held high knowing she had the attention of the room.

  She slid into the barstool next to me, her eyes holding mine as the bartender came up to her.

  “What’ll it be?” the bartender asked.

  “Whatever beer is on special,” the young woman said.

  “You didn’t strike me as a beer drinker,” I said.

  “Yeah? And what kind of drink did you think I would enjoy?” she asked.

  The bartender slid her a glass bottle beer, and she caught it in her hand. Without even fucking looking at it.

  “I don’t know. A fireball?” I asked with a grin.

  “That a quip on my hair? Good one,” she said.

  “I’ve got more if you’re interested.”

  “Assume I am, Clever Boy.”

  “Boy?” I asked. “What makes you think I’m a boy?”

  “Your charm,” she said with a grin.

  She was a spitfire, that much was for sure. She sipped on her beer, her lips wrapping around the tip. I felt my legs pulling taut, imagining her luscious tongue wrapping around the head of my cock. Licking off the pre-come I knew would ooze for her if I ever got the chance to press my body against hers.

  Fuck, Ford was really missing out on this one.

  Silence settled onto all of us as we quietly sipped our drinks. I didn’t want the guys to think I was going to ditch them for a little bit of pussy.

  But every time I looked their way, they kept giving me these insane looks.

  “Hey, Jackson wanna go shoot some pool?” Lincoln asked.

  “I’m in,” Jackson said.

  “You guys go enjoy yourselves. I’ll be over in a bit.”

  “Take your time,” Lincoln said.

  He couldn’t have made it more fucking obvious if someone had painted ‘stay the fuck there’ on his damn forehead in red ink.

  I chuckled and shook my head as the guys walked away. It left just me and the fireball at the bar, nursing our drinks in silence. Now that the guys were gone and Ford still wasn’t anywhere to be seen, I drew a deep breath through my nose and turned my body towards her.

  I grinned when our eyes connected, and I knew I was going to have her.

  No matter what I had to do tonight, I was going to sink my cock into this luscious woman.

  Chapter 4

  Violet

  I busted into Milo’s and began looking around. I was prepared to eat and drink alone tonight, but a part of me didn’t want to. I hadn’t come back home to sit alone in my parent’s house pathetically applying for jobs and hoping one called. I had come back to bond with my brother. To learn about his life. To help my parents and to make friends of my own volition. I looked around for my brother, trying to find him amongst the sea of people who were settling down in hushed tones.

  But I couldn’t see him,
or anyone else for that matter.

  It didn’t shock me that I didn’t recognize anyone. Even if some of the guys were in here, I would have no idea what they looked like. I hadn’t seen most of them in years. Since before I had graduated high school. Ford shielded me from the clan as much as he could, so I had only met some of them a handful of times. I used to think it was because he was ashamed of me. He didn’t want his geeky sister mingling with his cool ass friends.

  I came to understand, however, that it was because he was trying to protect me.

  I wasn’t ignorant. I knew things with the coyotes were bad. I was friends with Skylar. Everyone associated with the clan was shocked when her father was killed. I remember rushing over to her house to comfort her, but she was gone. She vanished and no one in the clan knew what happened to her.

  After that Ford got really involved with the clan. So much so, it landed him as the clan’s Alpha when Nixon decided to step down. As soon as he became Alpha, he pushed me far away from him and anything to do with the clan.

  So, I threw myself into school. That’s probably why I ended up getting my PhD.

  After looking around the bar and not recognizing anyone, I scanned for a place to sit. I thought about leaving. Going back home and cooking dinner instead. I had purchased steaks and a head of broccoli as well as potatoes to make a creamy, whipped concoction of potatoes, sour cream, cheese, and bacon. It would be easy to throw together, and I could set plates aside for Mom and Dad.

  But I could just as easily get something to go for them from here.

  I decided to stay just in case my brother showed up. I hadn’t seen him at all since I’d gotten home and I got the distinct impression that he was avoiding me. Even though we patched things up over the years and even though he came to my graduation, it still felt like he was trying to erase me.

  And if he didn’t want to come over to the house, then I would simply inhabit the places I knew he enjoyed until he showed up.

  I found an empty place up at the bar that suited me just fine. People were staring at me. Men were raking their eyes up and down my body. And while most women would roll their eyes and scoff, I drank it all in. It reminded me of my job in college. Of the connections I made and the men I served and the protected atmosphere they created. Yes, they were dogs. Whistling at me and tapping me on the ass so I could secure a nicer tip. But if shit ever started in that bar, they were the first to jump to my rescue. The first to throw themselves in the line of fire to make sure I was okay. They worked hard, and they partied hard, but they defended those they cared for hard as well.

  I never took it to heart. Especially when it lined my pockets with money that helped save up to help my parents.

  I rolled my shoulders back and started for the bar, my eyes settling on the man I was going to be sitting beside. His frame was strong, and his hair was dark. It accented the sun-kissed element of his skin as he talked with the guys that sat beside him. They were all murmuring to one another as their eyes traveled my body. But his eyes were different.

  His eyes stayed connected with mine. Never once did they drop to my breasts or my ass or my thighs.

  I sat down beside him, my eyes taking him in. His posture was unassuming. Unguarded in a way the rest of the guys weren’t. There was something familiar about the entire situation. There was something familiar behind the hazel eyes staring back at me. The bartender approached us and asked me for my order, peeling my attention away from the handsome man beside me.

  If I weren’t so thirsty, I would’ve been annoyed at the intrusion.

  “What’ll it be?” the bartender asked.

  “Whatever beer is on special,” I said.

  “You didn’t strike me as a beer drinker,” the man said.

  “Yeah? And what kind of drink did you think I would enjoy?” I asked.

  I had his attention, and I wasn’t letting it go. I could hear my beer sliding towards me, and I reached out for it, clocking it in my peripheral as I caught it between my fingers. The man’s eyes fell to my hand as I brought the beer to my lips, his eyes following my every move as I tilted my head back.

  I made a show of how easy it was for me to swallow the liquid down as the men behind him groaned.

  “I don’t know. A fireball?” he asked.

  Now his grin matched mine as I set my beer back down on the table.

  “That a quip on my hair? Good one,” I said.

  “I’ve got more if you’re interested.”

  “Assume I am, Clever Boy,” I said.

  “Boy?” I asked. “What makes you think I’m a boy?”

  “Your charm.”

  He was a fun one to play around with. And I was surprised at how attracted I was to him. The rough bad boy type had never been my thing, especially since Ford kept me shaded from the clan. Even if it was my thing, I could never get within a mile of another shifter before my brother stepped in. He didn’t want to spend time with me and hang out, but he sure as hell was ready to come in between me and a piece of nice cock.

  But now, Ford was nowhere to be found, and I was falling into the hazel embrace of the man sitting next to me. His legs were strong, and his chest was broad. His forearms were flushed with veins that were bulging for my viewing pleasure. I felt my body yearning for him. I felt the heat rising up my back and threatening to choke my air supply off. There was something that drew me to him. An invisible force that felt both erotic and recognizable.

  I knew he had to be one of Ford’s friends, I just didn’t know from where. He looked familiar somehow.

  I pulled my eyes back to the man sitting next to me, his body now turned fully towards me as one of the men spoke up behind him.

  “Hey, you guys wanna go shoot some pool?” someone asked.

  “I’m in.”

  “Get me a stick ready, I gotta piss.”

  “Don’t get lost. Pretty sure our friend’s slumped against a wall or something.”

  “Or found some chick to bang.”

  “That, too,” the man with the hazel eyes said. “You guys go enjoy yourselves. I’ll be over in a bit.”

  “Take your time,” someone said.

  So, there was another one of them. Interesting. But I knew what they were doing and they sure as hell were obvious about it. They wanted to give me and their new little friend some time by ourselves. Which I was grateful for. I hadn’t come out with the intention of finding someone to sink my teeth in, but I wasn’t going to deny myself the pleasure I was sure he could bring if he wanted it as much as I did.

  His group got up and made their way into the other room as the two of us sat there, nursing our beers and staring at one another.

  Most women would find interaction like this uncomfortable, but I didn’t. I enjoyed looking into the eyes of the men I wanted. It helped me to read their truthfulness in a situation. A man who was willing to open himself up to the idea of a woman reading him was a man worth screwing. It meant he wouldn’t play games. It meant he wouldn’t fuck around with my body. It meant he was willing to get down to business and treat me with the respect I deserved from him.

  I never fucked around with men who couldn’t look me in the eye.

  An easy silence descended upon us as I turned back towards the bar. The man with the beautiful hazel eyes followed my movements, turning himself back to the bar. I finished my drink and beckoned for another one as the bartender came over.

  “The same? Or you wanna try something different?”

  “The same. And could you bring me some chips and salsa as well?” I asked.

  “You’re gonna want a different beer with those,” the bartender said. “The beer you’re drinking now will taste like shit.”

  “Then bring me what you think will go well with chips and salsa, since that’s a thing now with drinks,” I said.

  I rose my eyes and caught Mr. Hazel Eyes in the mirror that made up the wall behind the liquors. He was grinning as he tipped his beer up to his lips. I snickered and shook my head, suddenly
feeling like a giggling school girl sitting next to my high school crush.

  What was this man doing to me?

  “You got a name?” the man asked.

  “Violet,” I said.

  “Seems to be a common name around here,” he said.

  “What’s yours?” I asked.

  “Depends. Usually, people call me by my last name. At least, they did.”

  “What would you prefer I call you, then?” I asked.

  “Whatever your heart desires,” he said.

  “Okay then, hot stuff.”

  I winked at him in the mirror, and he smiled and shook his head. His smile lit up his eyes and exposed the cute little dimples in his cheeks. They were deep. So deep they cast the smallest shadow upon his features. Those dimples turned his rough, rugged face into a boyish beauty right in front of my eyes.

  I used to know someone like that. Someone from very long ago.

  “Everything okay?” the man asked.

  “Yeah. Sorry. Just… thinking about someone,” I said.

  “Ah. So, you have a someone.”

  “Nope. But your smile. When you smiled, you reminded me of someone I knew awhile back.”

  “He a good someone?”

  “What makes you think it’s a ‘he’?” I asked.

  “With beautiful women like you, it’s always a ‘he.’”

  “Down boy. There’s no competition here. Just some friendly flirting with some drinks and chips,” I said.

  “Your chips aren’t-”

  “Order up,” the bartender said as he slid the chips and salsa my way.

  I turned my head and grinned at the hazel-eyed man as he shook his head.

  “Used to work in a bar,” I said. “They’re all different, but they all operate off the same rhythm. The same pulsing vein.”

  “You make a dive bar sound romantic,” he said.

  “Just because the word ‘dive’ is in there doesn’t mean it can’t be.”

  “You lookin’ for a bit of romance tonight?” he asked.

  “Not really my thing. Gets in the way of what people really want.”