Chapter 5
Oh Boy
Braden picked an empty den in which to wallow. What the hell had he been thinking? He barely knew Eve, and two seconds into their acquaintance he was already trying to make her his mate.What a joke.Of course she turned him down. With options of bigger and badder alphas like Tom Ellis, Eve probably wanted to take her time in choosing. She wasn’t mated to Ellis. That was the only thing Braden knew for certain. Eve had been telling the truth when she’d said the only person she belonged to was herself. And when she’d told Braden she wasn’t a possession, he’d felt shamed.
Is that how she sees me? Someone who wants toownher?It wasn’t what he’d intended in the least. As much as he wanted Eve—wanted to claim her—he wanted her to do the same to him. Of course, she hadn’t been raised with the tribe, so she had no idea about their ways. She might go on for years without taking a mate, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t have lovers in the meantime. Could being her lover be enough?
Braden shook his head. His emotions were all over the place. Eve made him dream of a life he’d never given much thought to in the past. He taught second grade, but he’d never wanted a kid of his own. Eve made him think of the possibilities. He was one of the rare second generation who had swimmers—most second gens were born infertile, especially the females. Still, it would have to be a complete mating, there would have to be the exchange of bite and blood, without it there would be no offspring.
Why did it matter so much? When her sensual curves fit so perfectly against the planes of his body, Braden’s brain had shut down as instinct took over. The sweet and salty taste of her skin on his lips, the roughness of her hard nipples under his tongue, the soft give of her delicious breasts—when she came for him, her slick sex clenching against his tongue—Braden would give anything not to have completely blown the moment.
He inhaled deeply, the scent of her arousal still heavy on his face. Proof he hadn’t been the only one overwhelmed with lust and desire. Why had she stopped? It was in their nature to claim a mate. Could Eve’s refusal really mean she didn’t feel the same strong pull that Braden felt?
The quiet of the den allowed too many scenarios to run through his head. He couldn’t stay there, not if he wanted to keep his sanity intact. His stomach rumbled. He resisted the urge to rub Eve’s scent all over himself, another way to make his claim. He wouldn’t do that to Eve, not after she’d made it clear it wasn’t what she wanted. Instead, he threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and headed for the mess.
When he’d come to the tribe’s camp in the past, the eating situation was always one of hunting and sharing while in wolf form. Rarely did they have cooked meals, but since the cull began, there had been a tent set up for a daily evening meal. Braden had skipped several of the meals because he preferred to hunt, but Eve had scared off his prey earlier. Would she be at the tent? Would Tom Ellis be there with her?
Lizzy Langston, a first gen, who used to babysit Braden as a cub, waved him over to her table. Lizzy was drop dead gorgeous. She was every bit as curvaceous a woman as Eve and her hair was the color of fresh clover honey. Her green eyes were a light pale framed by thick eyelashes. Braden had always had a small crush on Lizzy, but she had forty years on him, and never really thought of him as more than an annoyance when he was younger. Although, when he’d first came of age, a couple years back, she was the first lycanosapien female he’d had sex with.
The way her hips moved against his had been pure music. How could she still be unmated? At one time, Braden had thought she would be the one for him, but he realized now, it wasn’t meant to be. He’d never felt the same pull for Lizzy that he did for Eve.
“Braden,” she called to him. “Are you coming?”
Braden smiled. Her question was one they used to tease each other with. Whoever asked, the other would respond with, “Not yet, but hopefully soon.” Her expression grew puzzled when he didn’t reply with the usual.
Instead, Braden nodded. “Let me get my plate.”
Suddenly, Eve’s scent hung heavy in the air. Braden turned his head toward her enchanting aroma, and there she was carrying a plate of roast beef and a pile of mash potatoes with Tom Ellis not two feet behind. Braden fought the powerful instinct to attack the larger man. He reminded himself that no matter how much he wanted Eve to be his mate, she wasn’t. He didn’t have a claim.
He couldn’t smell himself on her anymore. The disappointment made his muscles tense and bunch. She’d showered and put on a pair of cut off jean shorts and man’s royal blue dress shirt tied at her waist. The shirt stank of Tom Ellis. Braden’s knees shook, threatening to buckle as Eve passed by him so closely her breast brushed his elbow. Anger rolled off her like a fired up bull at a rodeo.
What the hell was she so mad about?
She’d rejected him, and now she wore a shirt belonging to another man, and she was the one pissed off? Braden fought the rage simmering beneath his normally calm demeanor. But even angry, Eve made his cock react—uncomfortably so. His hard erection strained against his jeans. She hadn’t even made eye contact with Braden, but Tom had… If looks could lop off a man’s head and cut out his heart, Braden would be on the ground a few inches shorter and a few pounds lighter.
Tom Ellis seemed to be directing a whole ball of hate at Braden. Well, good. The feeling wasfuckingmutual.
Braden watched them walk toward the tables, Eve still fuming. He still didn’t understand why she was angry. He was the injured party in this scenario. When Eve had told him to stop, he stopped. When she’d said she couldn’t be his, he’d let her go. Why was she so goddamned pissed off?
Just past Braden, Tom asked Eve where she wanted to sit, Eve pointed to two empty chairs across from Lizzy.
Oh boy.
