Page 31 of Kiss My Sass

“Can’t let her out,” she grunted.

“How long has it been?” he asked, and panic hit her.

He knew her secret. Knew she’d been too afraid to change. For some reason, she felt so ashamed. He deserved a better mate. Someone who was strong enough to get out of a bad situation before it got to the point of no return. Someone who wasn’t afraid of themselves like she was. Tears filled her eyes, and she moaned, falling to her knees. Then he was there, lifting her in his arms and cupping her face, asking her again.

“How long you been keeping her locked up, angel?”

“Since the day I fell, and you caught me,” she replied and saw the horror in his gaze.

He would think she was a coward now, for sure. Sadness filled her at the thought of disappointing him, but Thor merely shook his head. He looked determined and powerful. She saw the mists swirling around him again, and the frank proof he was strong, that he was other was like a wake up call. Thor was magnificent, and at the very least, she could try to be brave for him.

“You’re safe here. You can Shift here with me,” he growled, his response brooked no arguments.

“I can’t. The Crows are watching me, I know they are, and Thor, I never want to go back,” she told him with feeling.

“You can do this, and I promise you will never go back there,” he said, still cupping her cheeks with his hands and kissing her head.

“Look, let me explain, angel.”

Thor stood up and pulled her to her feet. He took her hand, his big one swallowed hers, but she never felt as safe as she did with him. He walked her into the forest behind the parking lot. It ran the length of the property, but Nica had never ventured into the woods before. She had no reason to.

“The forest is ours from just beyond the creek to the property here where the bar, the Pack House, and the smaller houses all sit. This land is the property of the Dire Wolf MC, and any trespassers would violate our claims to this territory. We don’t fall under the purview of the Shifter Council, but we have a longstanding treaty with them.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

It was good to know, but she didn’t understand what it had to do with her very real fear that if she shifted and flew, the Murder would swoop in and attack like the sneaky bastards they were. She frowned, watching Thor as he shook his head, those dark eyes glittering with something that looked a whole lot like mischief and maybe some pride.

She’d seen the man angry, annoyed, serious, and horny, but his teasing face was the one that got her in the gut every single time. Gods, he was gorgeous. Spending the last two days wrapped around each other must have cut into his shaving time, because the two-day-old bristle on his face and head was darker than ever. Nica liked it. A lot. There was something dangerous about a man who looked better the scruffier he got.

“What it means is you can change here any fucking time you want, angel. The same laws that Crow motherfucker is trying to use against us will protect you. I will protect you,” he told her with a wicked grin and a promise in his eyes that settled something inside her.

Her Raven cawed. The animal was tired of being cooped up. She was weaker, unused to being kept from the world. And there as something else, too. She wanted to meet her mate in her feathers, not just her human skin. She needed to connect with him like that.

“Is that what you were talking out with those two men earlier? The twins?”

“The Lowell brothers? Yeah. Those Wolves are lawyers for the Macconwood Pack. They’re the largest Wolf Pack in North America. You see, he didn’t wait for us to get back to him. Jack Branwen went right to the Shifter Council of New Jersey and filed a formal complaint,” he told her in a rush.

“Wait. He challenged you?” she asked, wide eyed.

“Fuck no. He’s too much of a pussy to challenge me. He is making a claim that by Crow law, you are his mate because of the promising ceremony your mother signed off on. But the Lowell boys said it doesn’t hold water. That law is outdated, plus with the increase in female Shifters on the Council, there is no way in hell they’d vote for you to return to a mate you didn’t pick. And even if they did, I already bit you, Nica. You are mine. Anyone who says differently can kiss my big ass,” he growled.

“So, you were busy working this out, looking for ways to take care of me while I was getting massaged and waxed?” Nica laughed, not realizing tears had fallen from her eyes until he wiped them away.

“Who the fuck gave you a massage, angel?” he growled, but she giggled in response.

“A Witch named Helga at the spa we went to in town. She gave me a bikini wax, too. You want one? I can book her for you,” Nica teased.

“Bikini wax?” he murmured, eyebrows high as he mentally pictured what she was saying.

Then he shook his head abruptly, as if he had just processed the rest of what she’d asked him. Nica couldn’t stifle her laugh if she tried.

“Hell no, I don’t want one. Only woman I want touching me is you,” Thor stated, kissing her hungrily, and making her knees weak.

“Good.”

“Good, huh? Possessive little thing, aren’t you?”

“Sorry,” she began, frowning.

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