Red and Her Wolf

Kade:

"Are you okay?" Phoenix pipes up from the kitchen table, annoyingly curious behind her fresh-cracked book: some mainstream witchcraft nonsense.

"Yes." My gaze is transfixed on Red's house from my view on the living room couch, watching dusk flood her bedroom with gauzy light. She's been gone all day and it's driving me up the fucking wall.

"You've literally been glaring at our neighbor's house for the past twenty minutes straight. You're going to melt a hole right through the wood."

"I'm thinking."

"You're acting

weirrrd

," Phoenix sing-songs. "Like, weirder than usual."

"I'm fine," A lie. My skin is burning hot, muscle ready to explode out the pores. Every minute noise and detail has me incensed with the urge to smash something, shatter bones, tear flesh to small, bloody pieces.

Or fuck a certain redhead senseless. Show her what Blake could never give her.

Not exactly anything I want my sister to know.

"Why are you so

aggro

right now?" Phoenix doesn't retreat, likes to poke any emotion I have with a stick. "What happened with you and Emily? I mean,

Red

.

Ohh, Reddd! Baby!

" She mimics an over-the-top lewd moan. "Isn't that your little pet name for her?"

My spine stiffens. She really went there. "Eavesdropping?" I meet my sister's eyes with lethal force.

"My bedroom is right above the porch," she grins. "You guys are loud. Kind of whimper-y. You remind me of seals."

"Wonderful," I grimace, resisting the urge to flip the coffee table. "Remind me why I took you in again?"

"Because I'm your sister and you love me?" Phoenix pouts. "And sometimes I clean the kitchen."

"Sure." I lean forward, elbows resting on my knees. A hand palming down my sweat-damp face. "Doesn't make you any less of an meddling brat, though."

Silence. "Why do you talk to me like I'm ten?" Her voice is uncharacteristically solemn.

"Because to me, you

are

ten." Anger keeps my tone acidic. I know I should be kinder but I feel none of that.

"Oh. I see." She frowns before she raises her chin, transforming back to her usual acerbic self. "Well, to me, you're kind of a tyrannical dickhead."

"Good thing I don't give a shit."

"You know, it's funny you treat me like I'm a dumb kid when most of the guys I meet in this town think I'm a twenty-five year old model." She waits for a reply that doesn't come. "

And

they give me free drinks. Free pot too."

"Wow. Still don't give a shit." I kind of do, though. She's so stupidly irresponsible. I'll talk to her about that later when my head is straight.

More silence. "What's wrong with you tonight?"

I don't answer. I might say something I regret. Anger tends to do that.

"Oh my god, Kade, it's not like I won't be able to search your mind for the truth anyways."

I offer her a sardonic glance."I let you in my head

one

time. It won't happen again." With a blast of pain, she attempts to puncture my field anyways. "Phoenix, stop fucking trying, alright? It's not gonna happen. Jesus fuck." I massage my suddenly sore forehead. "You'd be more effective if you didn't make it hurt. Didn't Mama teach you that? You remind me of..."

Asher.

My brother's pale-eyed face flashes, disappearing just as fast. A burst of awareness floods my senses, but it leads to nowhere. Like I'm so close to realizing something but so far. Blocked by a wall of-

"Whatever," Phoenix shrugs. "I can tell something's wrong and you're not telling me." She turns a page but I know she's not reading. "Have you shifted lately? Seems like you should."

Irritation prickles like thorns, my teeth clenching. "I only need to shift once a month. For the offerings."

"Well, I think you should shift as soon as possible. Get that psycho energy out of your system. It's making you a real bummer to be around, and that's saying something."

"I'm not going to shift because I'm in a bad mood, Phoenix," I hiss. My honest-to-god best attempt at being nice.

"Hah." Her dark eyebrow arches. "No, you in a bad mood is just everyday Kade. This is like, disturbing. You're all sweaty and breathing heavy and look like you're about to stab somebody." She presses her lips together. "Are you always like this when you don't shift? Most shifters turn

weekly

, you know."

Truth be told, I have no idea what I'm like. I'm usually always alone. I've never lived with anyone for this long before as an adult. Normally, I don't keep track of how I'm acting, how agitated I am. Though, at this point I can tell I'm on the cusp of detonating.

Is my neighbor really enough to trigger this volatility?

"Trust me," I finally say. "You'd rather I was human than shifting willy-nilly."

"I don't get it. It's who you are. If I were you I'd just transform all the time. In fact, I'd probably just be a wolf

most

of the time. Humans are boring. You're lucky you get to be something fun."

She has no idea how wrong she is, but I'm too pissed off to explain. I turn back to the window.

"

Kade

," she whines."Is it Emily? Did she do something?" Phoenix slams her book on the table and my I wince at her shrill tone."Oh my god, just

tell

me. What did she do? What happened?"

I give in with an annoyed sigh, knowing she'll never shut up otherwise."She's seeing someone. Some..." I gesture with a hand as I search for the right word. "Asshole."

"

Ohhhh

." Phoenix's eyes widen before she opens her book back up, flipping pages lazily. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you're hellbent on being alone forever. You get no sympathy from me."

"I never

asked

for your sympathy," I grate out.

"So what's this dude like?" Phoenix presses. "Let me guess: nothing like you?"

I scowl at how correct she is. "I only saw his fancy-ass car. Seems like some rich fuckboy."

"Did you actually just say

fuckboy

?" Phoenix guffaws, slapping the table. "The luddite is keeping up with the times after all."

"If you saw his car, you'd agree." I pause to remember the too-sleek lines of his Lamborghini. "There's something off about him. Something very fucking off about this whole thing."

"How so?"

"Well, for one, Red went into the forest yesterday."

Phoenix's grin dissolves, mouth parted in disbelief. "She

what

?"

Strangely, it feels good to share this disturbing news. A release valve opening. "She somehow came out alive and directly after that she went on a date with Richie Rich, who just

happens

to be living in this Podunk town?" I shake my head. "Something's not adding up."

"Bizarre. No one goes in the woods and survives." Phoenix taps her chin with her forefinger. "I mean, except for us."

"What's weirder is that I could smell the forest on her, but I couldn't smell

him

." I stare at her bedroom window again, seething inside. "She said he kissed her and I couldn't smell him, no matter how close to her skin I got. Her being in his car alone should be enough."

Phoenix snorts loudly. "So you got in real close and smelled her like a dog after her date. Nice."

"I was concerned." My hands clench into fists, nails biting. "And now they're going to the fucking ball together."

Phoenix's eyes roll towards the ceiling. "Kade, this isn't that complicated. Just say you're sorry and ask her to be your girlfriend while you still have the chance. And

tell her

what she needs to know!"

"I wish it were that simple."

"It

is

that simple! It's not like the Brethren aren't going to find out about her anyways. They eventually will if they're as good as you say. Otherwise, you're going to be given the cold shoulder and have even less ability to protect her. Because, hey, at least Fuckboy is pursuing her. Don't be surprised if she moves on and stops talking to you. I sure would."

Her point strikes horribly true, but my anxieties have their own narrative. "You don't get it. Humans don't easily accept us as real. And if they do, they will

always

put up a barrier once they figure it out. If their minds can even wrap around it being true, they only feel disgust or terror. They will run for their life or pray for our demise." My voice lowers to cement my point. "After they nearly exterminated us, we've been completely forgotten. We're reduced to being a conspiracy theory and humans love to keep it that way. They're blind to the truth."

"You sound like your father." Her statement hits me like a javelin between the shoulder blades. I stand up abruptly, white-hot adrenaline shooting through my veins. "Or at least, the way you describe him, seems like something he'd say..."

"Well, maybe he was right." I snap, struggling not to yell. "I've had enough experiences with humans to prove it."

"Fine, do whatever the hell you want!" Her voice raises in return. "Just take a fucking chill pill, okay?" She goes still, glowering at me. Then her mouth ticks into a smug smile. "By the way, while you were out delivering honey this morning, I caught Emily on her way to work. She said she was excited for her first day. Thought you might want to know."

"

Work?

"

"Oh yeah, she's got a new job now. Working at your

favorite

cafe." That smile turns mean. "Just think of how many new people she's meeting right at this very moment. I bet she'll be getting a lot of attention from the local male population. There's just something about redheads, isn't there?"

Despite all reason, this new info sends cold fear lacing around my chest, constricting my breath. "For fuck's sake, why is she getting

more

involved with this town?" I pace the living room, nearly knocking over a lamp. "Isn't she sick of this place yet?"

"Stop acting like you want her to leave. We both know you don't want that."

"The smart part of me does."

"You

need

to calm down, Kade. You're exhausting to be around." Phoenix gets up, book in hand. "I'll be in my room until your mood mellows out. So like... forever."

"Fine by me." I plunk down on the sofa, relieved when Phoenix turns the corner and disappears down the hall. With her gone, my mind continues to boil with unwanted thoughts. Red's safety, Red's dating life, Red's new job, as well as...uncomfortable primal urges. The wolf wanting to prowl. Hunt, feed, and fuck.

I don't understand. I've never felt the urge to shift outside of my regular once-a-month schedule. Generally, my wolfsbane concoctions are enough to keep any desire to turn at bay. I've gone without shifting for months at a time before. And with my mother's recipes in me, no humans get hurt when I do turn. Brethren, on the other hand, aren't above torturing and raping humans before they kill them. Their depravity runs that deep, perverted over time by their lust for revenge.

Thoughts keep churning: Maybe the forest needs more offerings. Is that why I'm buzzing with excess energy? Is the forest calling me again?

The first thing I discovered when I moved here was that the forest is always hungry. Calling out to people to give their bodes, desperate for flesh. After conversing in dream-time with the spirit of the woods, I discovered one way to sate it: animal carcasses.

I despise these sacrifices but the agony of laying in bed every night and hearing the forest scream for blood wore thin fast. The solution was simple. Offer freshly-killed rabbits, rodents, birds. A monthly rotation. The only way I can go through with it is when I turn. Human Kade can't handle animal bloodshed very well, more squeamish than he'd want anyone to know. Wolf Kade craves it, dreams of it, tastes it on his tongue like a fine wine.

The screaming stopped. Now the forest spits the bones out and Phoenix gets her pick of dead things to play with.

It's all so grotesque, filling me with self-loathing. It's me, but it's

not

me: Hyde to my Jekyll. I won't even go into the phenomenal pain of bone and membrane splitting apart. Skin re-arranging and stitching back together. It hurts like the meanest bitch.

Even the thought of shifting makes my skin taut now, blood racing, the hairs on my arm and neck ready to sprout through. I shake my head to center myself. My sister is right. I probably should turn. Maybe it'll get this adrenaline out of my system.

But I also need to warn Red to stay away from this Blake asshole. Anyone who doesn't have a fucking scent can't be good. It's not natural. Not right. Maybe it's a weak reason, but I'm just dying to see her, touch her again. I've never felt this starved for a woman in my entire life. Completely consumed.

I'll pay her a visit at work, tell her to stay away from Blake, and shift right after.

*

Emily:

I'm counting a stack of twenties in the half-lit cafe, when a loud knock rattles the locked door. I startle, looking up with a wide-eyed jolt.

Kade is a hulking figure outside in the dark. Leather jacket. Smoke streaming. The fluorescent glow of the La Luna Cafe sign lights him up in eerie cobalt and crimson. I stare, frozen on the tile, my stomach tightening before I close the cash register and cross to partially open the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I look up to find stern eyes glaring, as if I did something terribly wrong. "We're closed."

He flicks his cigarette to cement. "I have to talk to you."

"Well, I'm busy." I begin to pull the handle back towards me.

His boot catches the door before I can close it. "Five minutes."

I look down the empty street, wind blowing fast food containers down the deserted sidewalk. Myra isn't here, gone to pick up supplies from the local Walmart before returning to give me a ride home. I bite my lip, scanning Kade carefully. There's something even more intense than usual about him now. Something needy. Something...feral.

"Just five minutes, Red," he repeats slowly.

"Okay,

just

five minutes." I back into the cafe to let him in, unable to shed the feeling that Kade is not quite himself.

I guide him to the nearby stock room. A dimly lit area full of shelves stacked with Dixie cups, bags of coffee beans, paper napkins. I beckon him to the sink where the only bulb streams it's dull light. "What's going on?"

"I need you tell me more about Blake." Kade's nostrils flare when he says that name.

Annoyance peppers my already tired body."I am not going to tell you a thing. You have no right-"

"If there's nothing wrong with him, then you don't have anything to hide."

"What do you mean, if nothing's

wrong

with him? Look, just because he's loaded, doesn't mean he's a bad person."

"It has nothing to do with how much money he has."

"Then what is your issue?"

Kade's expression darkens. "I don't like him. I don't think he's good for you. In fact, I think he's the fucking

worst

for you."

He got all of this from a stupid car? "I don't care what you think. I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions."

Kade stews for a moment, chest rising and falling, his breathing oddly rough. Shiny sweat dappling his forehead, his throat. "He doesn't have a scent."

My features scrunch into a look of sheer confusion. "What?"

Kade inches closer until he has me stepping backwards towards the sink, encased in his pine and musk smell. An enticing contrast to this weird accusation. "I know it sounds crazy, but not having a scent...it isn't normal for humans. For anyone."

"Are you on drugs right now?" A legitimate concern. His eyes even look dilated, glassy.

Kade gives an exasperated grunt. "

No

. I'm just going with my feelings on this. Isn't that what girls want guys to do these days?"

"Since when are your feelings my problem? You never took mine into account." I roughly poke his shoulder and enjoy the contact a little too much. "Also, your feelings seem to be totally insane."

He glances at where I just touched him. "Gaslighting me already? Not the greatest start to our conversation."

"What conversation? Your five minutes are almost up, buddy." I press a hand against his hard chest to push him back an inch. To my chagrin, I don't want to retract my fingers. They stay there, the warmth of him spreading up my skin. Kade covers my palm with his own as he leans closer. The crackle of desire between us getting all too real, too potent.

"What's he like when he touches you?" Kade's eyes zero in on mine.

All attempts to move away fade before they begin. "Normal?"

"Does he make you feel good?" Hot innuendo sparks under each word, lights a flame in my lower belly.

"I guess," I gulp, still caught in Kade's honeyed gaze.

Kade's knuckles graze my cheek, my neck. "Does he kiss you right?"

"I don't know."

"It's a yes or no question."

I raise my chin, inviting more challenge than I intended. "If I say no are you going to try to prove you're better?"

Something behind Kade's eyes snaps. He pushes forward and sweeps me into an aggressively deep kiss. I don't fight it. Maybe because every cell in my body has been craving Kade's mouth since it last touched mine. Every time I'm near him I want more. Nothing has changed since the minute I first laid eyes on him.

He backs me up until I'm trapped tight against the sink, the cold counter digging into my lower back. Our mouths meet with sensual grace, no awkward teeth or poking tongues. Just a smooth, luscious kiss that leaves me exhilarated and weak-kneed.

Kade pulls away to graze his silky tongue up the side of neck. He reaches my ear with a low rasp that gives me goosebumps. "Does he make you wet?" Fingers slide up my inner thigh without warning, travelling under my modest black skirt.

"I can't remember." There's warning in that sentence. This game feels dangerous and I've never been the kind of girl to be involved with two guys at the same time. It's not fair to Blake to let Kade get this close when I know he won't ever date me. Kissing was already a step too far.

"No?" Kade's fingers pause an inch from my underwear. "You don't remember if you got soaked or not? Not even when he kissed you?"

"Kade..." The titillation of him almost touching the core between my legs is my undoing. I push towards him, a hopeless strain in my voice. "Why are we-"

I'm cut off when Kade cups my aching-hot center, his soft growl in my ear. "Do my kisses make you wet?" I'm slow to answer because the pressure of his fingers is too delicious, his middle digit sinking deeper through my damp panties.

"You already know," I gasp.

"Nuh-uh. Answer me, princess, and I might make you feel good." He repeats himself, speaking slower, fingers caressing. "Do my kisses make you wet, Red?"

My walls crumble to dust. "Yes." I'm squirming, my thighs rubbing together to increase the friction. "I'm always wet when I'm around you."

A fire blazes. Kade lifts up my shirt with a rough hand, breath quickening when my lacy black bra comes into view. He cups a breast with possessive hunger. "Has he seen these yet?" I shake my head and I can nearly see Kade's ego glitter as he curls his fingers under the thin bra padding. Pulling down until my tits pop out, exposed and sensitive, swollen pink at the peaks.

Lust clouds his eyes."Fucking hell, you're perfect." With a fractured groan, he gently squeezes each breast, head lowering to latch his lips over a puckered nipple. The slow suction creates a thread from my clit to his mouth. The simultaneous pressure at my breast and pussy feels excruciatingly good. Making me wetter, so much so that I can feel the glossy smear on my thighs.

Then his hand pushes my panties aside to fully feel me, a feral sound in his chest."God, this fucking juicy pussy, baby." His head rises to kiss me as a thick finger slowly enters, pumps me at a skillful angle before he adds another. "Can't believe you get this drenched for me. Did you have to sit in this when I drove you around town? Poor little Red."

A cry rushes past my lips, dissolves in his mouth. The most exquisite pressure expands in all the right places. His tongue sinuous and sleek against mine. Fingers pressing, fucking, undulating as his thumb rubs my clit. Perfect, so perfect.