Denied Mate by Roxie Ray
Cal
Music thumped deep in my solar plexus and my wolf sniffed through the sweaty, sticky crowd at The Lair, scouting for trouble. As much as I hated leaving my mom’s side, I had to work a shift to take a sliver out of the medical bills we were sure to get hit with. I wasn’t much use, though—I’d walked past two conflicts on the verge of breaking into violence because I was completely distracted by thoughts of Liv Burns.
My pubescent fantasies were back, and I was stuck daydreaming about the girl I could never have. Except now I had explicit content to go along with the innocent stuff. I used to burn up thinking about holding her hand at the movies and kissing her cheek in her bedroom. It didn’t help that my wolf was constantly comparing her to any other girl I brought home. And now, ever since I saw her at her apartment, I’d been haunted by the thought of her nails digging into my back. Burying my face between her silky, white thighs. Her perfect body writhing under mine as I—
Fuck.
Danny waved me over to the bar and I snapped back into reality. I slid over, hoping he had intel on which fucker in town had a hexagon scar and a death wish. All I needed was a lead and I’d take care of the rest. I was more than primed to avenge my ma.
“No info for you man, but I’m working on it.” He shook a cocktail over his shoulder and winked at me. “Calling on the lone wolf network.”
It was the only network I had left, since Ma and I had been kicked out of the pack. Others on the edge of town had either experienced the same thing—dumped by the dominant pack—or had left for their own reasons. Danny was the latter.
“The whole idea of a pack order is archaic,” he’d told me once. “Barbaric. Stomping on the little man to benefit the family at the top. Disgusting. The minute I saw it for what it is, I was fuckin’ out of there. See you never.”
He’d been part of a pack in the city but had run away as a teen and ended up in Bridgehaven where he’d politely declined Jeff Burns’ invitation to join the local group. Jeff, and now Ben, I guess, let loners like us live on the outskirts, so long as we kept our heads down and didn’t make any trouble. I wondered if asking Liv to protect my mom would bring me unwanted attention, but I didn’t care—I’d bear the brunt of it, if it meant keeping my family safe.
“Heatin’ up in here!” Danny whooped and poured shots for a group of girls.
It was a usual Saturday night with a packed pit, dance music thumping between the live band’s sets, and barely enough light to see even with wolf vision. I mostly relied on my sense of smell to figure out who was who.
Chanel No. 5 caught in my throat just before fingers tickled up my spine and a pair of soft lips kissed my neck.
“Hey, baby.” Brittany slid beside me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “You stood me up.” She pushed her lips forward into a mock pout.
I growled low in my throat. “Sorry, I should have called. Some shit went down.”
“You okay now?” She smoothed her fingers through my hair and wet her lips.
“Yeah. I gotta work though.” I nodded toward the packed dance floor but couldn’t resist holding her waist.
“Come to my place tonight? Please…” She straightened my shirt collar and flashed pleading, puppy-dog eyes at me.
I never used to be able to say no to her. A lot had changed all of a sudden, and my mind was in about twelve different places, but I was still a little tempted…
At least, until Liv Burns stepped through the doors in a hot red dress and heels higher than should have been physically possible. A bolt of arousal shot through me and my wolf rumbled. It felt like everything became quiet. Just my breath, heavy and quick, as she walked down the steps. She hadn’t seen me, and I wanted to keep it that way. I’d asked her for what I’d needed, and I had no intention of pushing my luck when we were in public. At best, she’d be polite and rich-girl aloof. At worst, she’d shun me again.
But damn, it wasn’t easy to ignore her. The slit of her dress went all the way to her hip, and I couldn’t stop imagining sliding my hand under the fabric.
Brittany took the hint, or maybe she just got bored of my silence, and I realized she’d moved to the bar and was chatting with Danny. I made myself scarce and headed into the dance pit to do my rounds as far away from Liv as I could get.
As the night went on, the hottest girl in The Lair got wilder. I wasn’t the only one drawn to Liv, especially when she got up on the stage with her roommate and danced like she was doing it for money. I tried to focus on my job, on the music, on anything else but my blood was running hot. My wolf yanked me forward, demanding I talk to her. Kiss her. Get a damn coat from the back and sling it around her shoulders so men and women alike stopped eyeing her up like she was available or something.
My wolf grumbled again, and I scowled to myself. Fine. I’d ask her if she’d talked to Ben for me. I’d tell her I needed to keep my distance from her for my own sake, and not to take it personally. I’d warn her to stay vigilant—The Lair was a favorite haunt for creeps.
It was a good plan but as I got closer and she stepped down from the stage, I caught her scent. Shorelines and sun-dried linen. Orange peel. I wanted her. No, I fucking needed to take her away from here.
At war with my wolf, I tried to turn back into the crowd, but she set her bright green eyes on me, and I was done for. She looked surprised to see me, but she laughed and waved me over. It was like being pulled with a rope around my chest and I was unable to resist. I moved people out of my way, including the guy who was hitting on her roommate.
Maren shook her head at him and made it clear she wasn’t interested. By his scent, he was a wolf, and it struck me as odd. Usually, humans were the ones begging us to give them the time of day, not the other way around. Maybe having Liv around that often made Maren attractive. Hot by association.
The thought didn’t stay with me for long once I was within reach of Liv. Nothing did. The whole world fell away when she smiled at me and pushed her long, blonde hair back from her face and behind an ear.
She leaned close to shout. “You come here often?”
I laughed and nodded. “Four nights a week and more if I can get it. I work here.”
“Really? It’s, um…” She waved a hand around at the exposed wiring hanging from the ceiling and the sticky bar. “Fun.”
“It’s dangerous and rough as hell. I came over here to tell you to be careful.”
“Scared I might bump into a wolf?” She winked, but her face suddenly fell when she caught sight of something over my shoulder. “Shit. Shit!”
“What?” I turned around but couldn’t tell who she was spooked about seeing.
“It’s Stephen. You remember him from Bridgehaven High?” She stepped closer and used my body as a shield. The heels weren’t doing her any favors.
“Stephen? Uh, no.” I hadn’t exactly kept a contact list of every asshole I’d gone to rich-kid school with.
“Jock. Kind of mean, but not the worst bully back then. Ran the newspaper. His dad runs the local news stations.” She gave me an expectant look.
It didn’t ring a bell.
She sighed. Before she could explain any further, the man in question had made his way through the dancing crowd. Like he didn’t even see me there, he reached around, wrapping fingers around her arm. “Olivia! Fancy running into you here!” he yelled over the music. My wolf bristled.
Liv jerked her arm back, her expression strangely closed off. “We are not doing this, Stephen,” she said, her voice icy.
“C’mon, baby,” he cooed.
I hardly heard her over the rush of blood in my ears. Who the fuck did this asshole think he was? “You heard her,” I snapped, shouldering myself between the pair of wolves. “She isn’t interested, pal.”
Stephen’s face twisted as he tried to push me to one side. It was about as effective as pushing a brick wall away. His lips pulled back in an ugly expression, his scent becoming thicker as he realized I wasn’t just going to buzz off like his rich-boy friends. “I don’t know who you think you are,” he growled back, taking another step into my space. My wolf was hovering too close to the surface. “But you don’t get to say shit.” He tipped his face, trying to address Liv over my shoulder. “C’mon, Liv, you don’t have to slum it like this, you know that, right? Fuck, do you even know what you look like right now, dressed like that?”
“Stephen!” she hissed, and I snapped back to the moment. “Fuck. Off. I’m just out having fun.” Liv’s head tipped to the side and our eyes met. She suddenly slipped her hand in mine. “Aren’t we, babe?”
I almost choked. I hadn’t signed up for this. I didn’t like being used, pulled into lies and political pack games. But her hand in mine felt perfect, and I suddenly recognized the asshole for who he was. Stephen Keplan. Liv was right, he hadn’t been the worst in school, but he’d bullied me like hell about my dad. If he thought I was fucking his hot ex now, then all the better for me.
I pressed my hand against the swoop of Liv’s lower back where her dress dipped so low my skin met hers. “That’s right, just out having fun… babe.”
“Oh, yeah? Cool.” Stephen squinted and looked me over like he couldn’t quite place where he knew me from.
A short Asian girl with a banging body appeared beside Stephen with drinks and almost jumped when she saw us. “Oh! Hi, Olivia.”
Liv shot her a smile so sour, it could have killed. “Caroline, you look amazing!” I snorted. Was this douchebag seriously trying to hit on Liv while he was out with another girl?
“Ha, um, you do too!” She passed a drink to Stephen and flicked her gaze to me. “Who’s…this?”
“You remember Cal, don’t you?” Liv frowned like it was very odd to have forgotten me. “He and I were childhood friends and we—”
“Just reconnected,” I finished. “Bumped into each other at—”
“My apartment building.” She grinned at me and sent a thrill down my spine.
I pulled her closer, hip to hip, and she rested her head against my shoulder. We looked damn fucking good together. I rubbed her back and she sighed, her expression softening. My wolf went wild, and pleasure bolted through me.
Caroline stared at us like the climax of a horror movie.
“Hey. Wait.” Stephen started to laugh as he pointed at me, still holding his drink. “I remember you.”
I met his gaze and let my wolf rise to the surface. Inches from shifting, I was ready to rip him to bits if he started shit in the bar on my watch.
Liv must have sensed it. She straightened and tried to snatch Stephen’s attention back. “Nice to see you, Stephen. I’m glad you two are… You’re doing well, aren’t you?”
“We’re great,” Caroline squeaked. The tension was so thick, she was practically choking on it.
“You’re Calum Meyers. The piece of shit whose dad fucked with the pack!” Stephen threw his head back as he laughed, then smiled wildly at Liv. “Didn’t think you’d fall so far after I dumped you. You really are slumming it, aren’t you?”
The punch threw itself. Everything flashed red and before I knew it, my fist was buried in his gut. Stephen doubled over and wheezed, his drink fell to the floor, and Caroline shrieked. The crowd around us howled and I was a second away from throwing another when someone grabbed my elbow.
Danny yanked me backwards and shouted, “Boss is here tonight! Don’t get messy!”
I heaved with rage and snatched my arm back, then turned to check on Liv. She was clasping her clutch to her chest and gaping in shock, but I caught her scent—she wasn’t just startled. She was aroused.
Stephen groaned but regained his height and stepped toward me before Danny got between us and shouldered him back. With her ex distracted, Liv snatched my hand and pulled me through the crowd. My pulse roared in my ears and I followed her, all instinct and no doubt. We bounded up the steps, pushed through the doors and laughed as we stumbled into the foyer.
Her blonde hair flew out in a wave as she flicked around to smile at me. “Saved you.”
My heart stopped and I could have fallen to my knees then, cold and dead and a happy man for seeing her grin at me like that.
Fuck, we were still holding hands. I laced my fingers between hers and squeezed tightly. “Guess I owe you again, huh?”
Her smile faded a little and something a little morose settled in her eyes. “I’m always going to be the one who owes you, Cal.”
The truth of it weighed heavily between us and our hands fell apart. My chest ached.
I nodded back toward the bar doors where the music had become bassier and grittier. “Is your roommate still in there? Maren?”
“No, she found someone to go home with. She sent me a text because I quote-unquote ‘looked busy.’” Liv shook her head and shrugged. “She always has her pick of the bar, then has to fight off the rest of them until she can get out of there. I think there’s something to be said for wearing a smile.”
“I’ll walk you home.” I didn’t like the idea of her walking anywhere in Bridgehaven alone at night, let alone in Westend. Especially dressed for a night out. My wolf bristled at the idea of letting her walk off again, just when she’d wandered back into our life.
She opened her mouth to say something, then frowned. “Aren’t you working?”
“Ah, who needs work?” I snorted and smirked cheekily enough to get a laugh out of her. “C’mon. It’s late. Maybe you’d like a little back-up again.”
Liv hummed and pursed her lips, swayed around, and looked out the front doors where a streetlamp was flickering.
“You strike a hard bargain, Calum Meyers.” She held out her hand, offering it to me again. She wriggled her fingers and winked. “You always have.”
