He read the neat handwriting, a few lines of a song. It was a ballad, a lonely one. Dark. Hmm. Dustin locked his arm against the table and turned the page to the next song. After reading that one, he flipped through two more until he came to a drawing of a panther. It was Winter. She was lying in the shadows of a group of white pines, head turned to the side looking straight at him. The drawing was in black ink, but the eyes were colored gold. Damn. Emma was really good at sketching—a true creative, clearly.
There was another song about wanting more. Dustin liked music as much as the next person, but these were clearly written for other people. To sell maybe, he didn’t know, but most of the lyrics didn’t match what he’d seen of Emma. She was good. The choruses were catchy, and he wished he could hear them with music. Guitar maybe, like the old scratched-up one that sat on a stand in the corner.
But as he continued to flip through, he lingered on the drawings most. After Winter’s Panther, there were angel wings, like his tattoos, and then a set of eyes, one green, one blue. Dustin’s heart froze in his chest. At the bottom, she’d written, Who are you?
Next was a drawing of his black-furred wolf with his teeth bared. That was what he had probably looked like when he and Kane had almost gone to blows at the trailer park. Fucker had forced a Change that hurt so bad. The next was of him in the woods, face turned up at the moon, lips pursed in a howl. It was a dark drawing, done in some medium other than ink. When he smudged the corner, the black strokes smeared. He sniffed his finger. Charcoal or something close.
The next few pages were songs, hopeful ones. Love ballads, as if her entire mood had changed. One talked about seeing the real side of a person. But the next was about a man with too many secrets. Dustin swallowed hard and turned the page. It was a picture of him in his human form, striding from the woods, naked, eyes glowing blue and green, face looking intense. He was reaching out. This must’ve been how she saw him the night he’d Changed in the woods, but had come back to her, needing to touch her to settle the wolf inside of him. At the bottom, she had written, I know you’re still good.
The next song was about falling for a man who was too good for her.
Shit.
He didn’t want to trick her into thinking he was more than a monster. Here he was sent to betray the Blackwing dragons. And now, if he did what Axton and Jace demanded, he would betray her, too. He wasn’t better than her, no. Dustin wasn’t worthy of a woman like Emma.
He could never bite her, never give into the urging of his wolf. Love didn’t work like that, and he couldn’t allow himself to take her chance to sing away, or to tether her to a man who would drag her down into the shadows with him.
Maybe it was a good thing she would turn vamp on him. Then she would be strong and able to defend herself from the trouble that followed him. Maybe then, they would be on the same level, and she could handle his demons. Emma the human was too, vulnerable, easily injured. Emma the vampire, though… She would be a force to be reckoned with. He fucking hated vamps, but he would still love Emma when she Turned.
And she would finally be able to sing all these songs she’d written.
“What are you doing?” Emma asked from the open doorway of the bathroom.
He didn’t jump. Dustin wasn’t startled because he’d heard the door open. “Reading your journal,” he answered.
She looked upset, but he didn’t give her the chance to filet him. He blurred to her and wrapped her up in his arms, rocked her gently side to side. “I get it now, about you wanting to be a vampire.”
Emma froze against him, but softened in seconds and slid her hands up his back. “So you aren’t mad about it anymore? You won’t try to talk me out of it?”
Dustin shook his head.
“Will you stop being my friend if I’m a vampire?” she asked.
The worry in her voice ripped his guts out. Emma eased back, and her forest green eyes were so earnest and full of hope.
“We’re past that, Shortcake. Vampire, human, or werepickle, I’ll still be your friend. I’ll be more if you let me.”
“What are you saying?”
Dustin leaned forward and kissed her lips, softly like she deserved. As he eased away, he murmured, “We’re not pretend anymore. Not to me.”
She looked mushy and made a high-pitched sound that made him hunch at the pain it caused to his ears.
“Sorry,” she said softer, placing her hands over his ears like that would fix it.
He laughed and pulled them away, kissed both of her palms and jerked his head toward the door. “I have surprises for you.”
“What surprises?”
A home cooked meal prepared by him. He’d listened when she told him she was tired of fast food. Telling her would ruin the surprise, though, and for the first time in his life, he cared about stuff like that. “You’ll see.”
“What should I wear to see these surprises?”
He plucked the tucked end of her towel and let the fabric slip to the ground. God, her body was beautiful. “Nothing is good.”
“No one would appreciate that but you,” she said, still too loud as she gathered the towel back to cover herself. She was so fucking cute when she giggled to herself like this.
And also she was dead wrong. Any red-blooded, heterosexual male would be tripping over his own boner to see Emma naked. She had the perfect curves, full tits, hourglass shape, grab-able ass, and a confidence that made her so damn attractive.
And her skin was so soft he wanted to bite it. We should.
Dustin shook his head hard to punish the wolf for such thoughts, cupped her cheeks, and lifted her gaze to his lips. “I’m gonna go load up the car. Come out when you’re dressed.” He smirked. “Or not dressed, whatever.”
Emma shocked him when she suddenly went to her tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck. She rubbed her cheek against his like a happy feline and sighed. On a whim, he lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around him and sat on the bed with her on his lap. And there they sat, rocking back and forth gently, as he stroked her wet hair and hugged her close.
This was the moment his life changed. Oh, he’d been heading here for a while. With his wolf paying attention to her, the kiss in the woods, the easy laughter, the budding affection, sex, and wanting to bite her…the I love yous. Somewhere along the way, he’d begun to change his mind on what was important. No…Emma had changed his mind. She’d changed him from the inside out, and now he wanted to be a better man for her. One she could rely on. One who wouldn’t hurt her.
This right here was the moment that he decided he couldn’t betray the Blackwings.
For Emma, he was going to betray his pack instead.
Chapter Eleven
Tugging her hoodie over her head, Emma stepped outside and froze at what she saw. The D-Team was all loading up the back of Logan’s truck. Dustin’s gaze immediately collided with hers as he shoved a giant blue cooler in the back. He gave her a charming wink that made her stomach flutter.
She offered him a smile and wave, then grabbed Winter’s arm as she passed. “What’s happening?”
Winter grinned big, her smoky gray eyes sparking with excitement. “Tonight is the first trailer park party. Dustin planned it.”
“False,” Dustin called loud enough for her to hear. “I planned a trailer park party for me and Emma so I could maybe get my dick stroked, but then these assholes begged to tag along. Cock blockers, every one of them.”
It was chilly out, so Emma shoved her hands into her pockets and jogged over to him. He turned and caught her up in a back cracking hug like they hadn’t just parted ways forty-five minutes ago. He eased his lips near her ear. “Plus I know you like hanging out with these losers, so maybe I invited them a little. Remember the bat signal.”
Emma giggled and kissed him hard, bit his bottom lip at the end, hugged his neck as tight as she could and slid back down to the ground. “You’re my favorite werewolf.”
“Not a compliment. I’m the only werewo
lf you don’t hate.”
“Still counts.” Emma shrugged coyly and scrambled into the back seat of Logan’s truck.
Dustin slid in beside her, scooting her with his hip.
“Whoa, Dustin’s not bitching about shotgun?” Logan asked, his dark brows knitted into a frown as he climbed into his truck. “Are you sick? I mean besides in the head.”
“I feel fine, fuck you very much.” Dustin lifted his arm over Emma’s head and pulled her close. “Sex puts me in a good mood, like a normal person.”
“Dustin,” Emma reprimanded him.
“What? You don’t screw and tell, and that’s classy of you. I’m not classy.”
Ever the optimist of the crew, Winter said helpfully, “At least he isn’t ashamed and hiding it. That would suck if he had intimacy with you and then pretended he didn’t.”
“See?” Dustin said, giving Winter a high five. “Really, I’m being a gentleman.”
“Werewolves aren’t gentlemen,” Logan muttered. “No more high fives.” His voice was way too snarly.
Beast yanked the passenger door open. “Finally.” When he climbed up on the seat, he rocked the entire truck with his massive size.
Winter held onto the oh-shit-bar dramatically, and Emma thrashed around like she was caught in an earthquake. Logan and Dustin looked amused. Beast, however, did not. He poked the radio dial until blaring opera music blasted through the speakers, flipped them all off, then pulled his baseball cap over his face like he was going to sleep.
Emma loved him. She loved all of them. Beast with his mood-swings but protective nature, Logan with his quiet observations, dark past, and sweet demeanor with Winter. She loved that Winter was so bright and positive about everything. She could spin any bad day into a good one, and she was becoming a really good friend. And Dustin…well, she liked him best for a million reasons.
He was watching her with a wicked smile. You want my dick, he mouthed.
Stop it, she mouthed back.
I like your boobs.
Emma slowed her words and formed them carefully so he could catch them all. Well, I like your hair and your tattoos.
I like your eyes. The smile was dipping from his face, and he was getting more serious as Logan eased the truck onto the main road. And your lips. I like those a lot. And this game because I get to watch those lips.
I like that you didn’t snore last night when you stayed over.
I liked that you snored like a freight train.
I did not!
How would you know? He tapped his ear and arched his eyebrow.
Oh, my gosh, do I really? That was news to her.
No.
He laughed when she shoved his arm.
Mean, she accused.
When Dustin pulled her hand to his lips in a flash, his smile disappeared completely. But I’m trying to be better.
“What are y’all doing?” Logan asked suspiciously.
Jerking his chin in Logan’s direction, Dustin mouthed, Psycho-baby.
Emma giggled and shook her head. She wasn’t going to get into a name war with the king of name-calling.
Winter stared at them with narrowed eyes. “I think you two are grosser than me and Logan.”
“That’s bullcrap,” Dustin said. “My room is close to yours, Winter Donovan. You and Logan are loud. And super-gross. And you always have to be touching, and you always look at each other with those dumb googly eyes—”
“I’m never pairing up,” Beast muttered from under his baseball cap. “You’re all disgusting.”
Emma frowned. Dustin said he’d been the head of a pride for a long time. He would have been paired up with lots of lionesses…right?
But when she looked up at Dustin to ask him, he looked just as confused as her and shrugged.
When Logan pulled onto the dirt road that led to the fledgling trailer park, Emma unbuckled and eased forward between the seats. She thought Beast would growl at her, but he gave her a grimace that was almost a smile instead. And when Emma rested her cheek on his muscular shoulder and made a happy sound, Beast didn’t even shove her head away this time.
There was a brand new wooden sign over the entrance. Blackwing Mobile Park had been carved into it neatly, and in smaller letters just underneath, it read Home of the D-Team.
Emma laughed. It was perfect.
“Kane got the Novak Raven to make it,” Logan said. “He’s good at woodwork.”
“Logan said wood,” Dustin muttered as he pulled his cell from his back pocket.
“Is it just me, or is Kane starting to relax around us?” Winter asked.
“Well,” Logan murmured, “he did sit on a dirty bathroom floor just to hang out with us, so I’d say yes. Except for Dustin. He still hates Dustin.”
“Thanks, man,” Dustin muttered, typing something into his phone.
“What are you doing?” Emma asked him.
“Inviting Kane and Rowan to the party for brownie points.”
“Damn, you really do want to pledge to this crew,” Logan said, pulling to a stop in front of his and Winter’s doublewide. It was still getting electrical and plumbing hooked up, so they hadn’t moved it yet, but soon. A wave of envy washed through Emma.
She didn’t know if she and Dustin could pledge yet, and she was sick of living in the motel room. For a moment, she imagined her and Dustin coming up on their moving day. It wasn’t fair to Winter, though, for her to be jealous, and Emma was really happy for her and Logan. They’d found a place, found home, and this, in this clearing, would be it for them. This would be safety and security. This would be their constant.
Suddenly, Beast snarled. As he swung toward her, Emma squeaked and threw herself against the backseat. He reached for Dustin. “What did you do to her?”
“What are you talking about?” Dustin said, ducking his swiping paw.
“Why the fuck does she smell sad?” he bellowed.
“Why aren’t you buckled?” Winter yelled equally loudly.
“Everyone get out of my truck!” Logan also yelled.
Emma held onto Beast’s arm, chanting, “He didn’t do anything! He didn’t do anything!” But now Beast was hanging halfway in the backseat with his hand around Dustin’s throat. Dustin kicked him in the face, and though Beast’s nose bled like a bloody fountain, he wouldn’t loosen his grip. And now his eyes were bright gold. Fuck!
Panicked, Emma reached into her purse and pulled out her pepper spray, popped the top, and squirted a healthy dollop into Beast’s face. The spray filled the cab of the truck like a fog, and the burn in Emma’s eyes was instant. They all started screaming and yelling at once, scrabbling for doors, falling out of the truck, crawling on the ground.
“Fuck, Emma!” Logan yelled. “Why didn’t you just knee him?”
“Don’t yell at her!” Dustin said from where he was rolling on the ground rubbing his eyes.
Choking on the spray, Emma bolted for the blue cooler in the back, fumbled desperately to get it open, and pulled out bottled waters. She dumped one on her face and scrubbed her eyes as fast as she could. Her eyes were watering so bad she could barely see. She wanted to dump another one on her face immediately, but her guilt was real and deep, so she lobbed a bottle at each of the D-Team.
On accident, she pegged Beast in the face, and he roared a terrifying sound.
“No, no, no!” Winter screamed as a monstrous lion exploded from Beast.
He turned furious eyes directly at Dustin. Dear lord, he was as tall as the truck bed. Three times bigger than Winter’s panther at least.
“Oh, my gosh,” Emma choked out.
Dustin looked back at her. “Get out of here. Now, Emma!”
Beast stalked closer, his lips snarled back over impossibly long, white canines. Dustin Changed in an instant, and the snarling black wolf placed himself in front of Emma, backing her up slowly. She could barely see now, but something huge was coming in fast from the other side of the truck.
A monstrous grizzly tackled Beast
, and then there was a panther in the fray, clawing, slapping, and hissing as the titan shifters went to war. Shit! She still had pepper spray, so she bolted for them. They were going to kill each other!
She emptied the entire damn canister, but all she got for her effort was a lion ass to her chest, which blasted her backward. She screeched as she hit the dirt, and now Dustin was in the fight, teeth sunk deep into Beast’s back.
Her tailbone felt like it had just rocketed through her esophagus, but this was deadly bad, so she forced her way upward and to the back of the truck.
“Stop it, all of you!” she screamed as loud as she could as she lobbed water bottle after water bottle at them. A jug of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky hit Logan in the face, and he roared at her.
“What the fuck is going on?” Kane bellowed. “Change back! Now!” Power crackled through the air like lightning and, whoo, the dark dragon looked pissed.
Rowan was giggling behind him like this was funny, but it most certainly wasn’t. The D-Team had just done the most D-Team thing ever, and it was all Emma’s fault.
The roaring turned to grunts of pain, and then there was a pile of naked people trying to untangle. Apparently somebody accidentally touched Winter’s boob because Beast got popped in the jaw by Logan, and now the two were brawling in their human skins, just…blasting each other in the faces, fists connecting with sickening thuds. The sheer violence was terrifying.
Kane ripped Logan backward and shoved a hand on Beast’s chest, then gave Dustin an I-fuckin’-dare-you glare when he trotted forward a couple steps.
“Fuck,” Dustin said, then spat red into the grass. “For the record, this one isn’t my fault.”
“Separate! Logan, over there.” Kane shoved him toward one side of the truck. “Beast, over there.” He shoved the tatted-up lion shifter to the other. “Dustin, stay right there, and Winter, I swear to God, if you don’t stop stalking Beast, I’m going to burn your tail hair off.”
Winter froze all hunched over, her eyes still glowing gold. Everyone was super naked but Emma, who gave Kane a two-fingered wave when he glared at her.
“What is wrong with you?” Kane asked to no one in particular.