Savage (Wolf Ranch 4)

A slow smile spread across my face. Becky shared that little gem with me now because she wanted more than a quickie. We’d been standing beside the evidence of her ex’s latest dick move. He’d been right there at the forefront of her thoughts. She told me the truth, all of it, because she wanted me to know the truth, know what she was up against.

That meant she wanted me. I’d do more than change a fucking tire for her. I’d finish her ex, so she didn’t have to spend a second stressing about him ever again. That was my job as her mate, to protect her in all ways.

I stood, grinned. My wolf howled and circled, eager to get back to her. To pull her into my arms and tell her everything was going to be fine. That she was safe. That her ex was going down. She had a fucking council enforcer to take care of her. Fuck, yes!

Wait. Fuck, no.

She needed protection, but it couldn’t be from me. I was a fucking council enforcer. I dealt with rogue shifters not human assholes. I wasn’t even allowed to mess with the guy, not only because he was human but because it would give away my job and the fact that I had it and shifters in general.

Audrey and Marina were both human, and while I was sure they’d been stunned to learn shifters even existed, they’d embraced it. They were part of the pack now. Audrey was even pregnant with the start of the next generation of Wolf pups. Rob had allowed the match. Hell, he’d gone so far as to go after a human female of his own, but she’d turned out to be half-shifter.

Still, Boyd, Colton and Rob weren’t enforcers. They didn’t have shifter blood on their hands like I did. They didn’t have their purpose within the pack kept a secret.

What the fuck was I going to do? I couldn’t stay away knowing what I did about Becky’s ex. Not when I’d gotten a whiff of her scent again and confirmation from my wolf that she was mine.

I had to talk to Rob, the only one within the Wolf pack who knew the whole truth about me. I had to figure this shit out and soon. It might have been just a tire today, but what would be next?

7

BECKY

“I’m sorry, ma’am. This card has been denied.”

After waiting an hour in Bishop’s small waiting area for the tires to be replaced, the scent of old coffee and motor oil making my stomach queasy then desperate for forbidden caffeine. I was hungry and tired and cranky. Mostly cranky. While I’d played a stupid game on my phone, my thoughts had veered to Clint.

Why had he come by? He lived on the other side of the mountains at Wolf Ranch. It made no sense why he was on my street unless to see me. Had he driven over twenty miles just for me?

His kiss said yes. His response to the bomb that I was married not so much. Well, maybe even more so. It didn’t matter though. It was over. Very over. No honorable guy messed around with a married woman. Clint was honorable. I knew it. He might be a dirty-talking horndog, but when his dick wasn’t hard, he was a nice guy. I hadn’t had time to prove that, but I just knew.

No way would he be friends with any of the Wolf brothers otherwise.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, blinking at the guy.

“Denied.” He held up the credit card and offered me an expression that screamed whoops!

After all this, the card machine was clearly broken. I hadn’t made it into work yet and would have to work over lunch to make up the lost time.

“Could you try it again please?” I asked, starting to feel panicked.

He gave me a sympathetic smile. “I did. Twice.”

He handed me the card.

“Twice?”

He nodded.

There was no reason for the card to be turned down. I paid my bill in full each month because I didn’t like to be in debt. At least, not in debt more than I already was being tied to Todd. The tires would eat into my budget, but I’d be able to pay for them if I watched my pennies this month.

I offered him a small smile and held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”

Moving to stand in the corner of the small shop’s waiting area, I called the number on the back of the card. After pushing a whole bunch of numbers to get me to a customer service representative, the person finally told me that my husband shut off my card the day before.

My husband.

Bile rose in my throat at what Todd was now doing. Not only had he slashed my tire, he’d shut off my card, so I couldn’t pay for it. As my husband, he was able to do so. I just had no idea how he’d gotten the card number. It was a new card. I’d signed up for it after I’d left him.