Roaring for Him (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Wicked in Wilder Book 1) (9 page)

Emma tilted her head to the side so like an inquisitive wolf that he had to take a breath to assure himself she was human. “Why should I tell you where she is?”

“You’re her best friend.”

“I tucked her in nice and tight last night. I haven’t seen her today.” She lifted a single brow. “Besides, as you say, she’s my best friend. Which means I’m on her side, not yours. Amazing how that works.”

Kade snorted and he glared at the male. That had Emma giggling. Unacceptable.

Mitchell growled, his wolf unwilling to listen to others make fun of them while Tilly was still out there and not at his side. The low, rolling sound shut the two of them up in an instant. Mostly.

“Don’t get your tail in a twist.” Emma rolled her eyes. “What do you want with Tilly?”

“She didn’t tell you… Never mind. That’s none of your concern.”

“Incredibly enough, it is. You wouldn’t be here if you called her yourself.”

“I tried and left messages with Phoebe and at the bakery.”

Emma snorted. “Yeah, she so didn’t get
those
messages. Phoebe’s pissed at you.” Another growl burst from his lips and the woman scrunched her nose. “I know you’re trying to be mean, but I gotta admit, that’s kinda sexy.”

He ignored her. He didn’t want Emma to think he was sexy. He needed Tilly.

“Look,” he met Emma’s stare, “why isn’t she getting my messages? I need to speak with her.”

He needed to touch her, stroke her, make her sigh and moan his name.

“Because, for one, you’re the cause for Tilly’s pain, and two, you talked to Phoebe. She may be an airhead pretty damned often, but the sisters are tighter than Mother Theresa’s asshole. Tilly is injured. It’s your fault. She can’t physically kick your ass, but she
can
make sure she doesn’t put your messages through.”

“I’m sorry for her injuries, I regret them and Tilly understands what happened. I swore I’d…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Why am I justifying myself to you? I want to see Tilly. She’s not at home, she’s not at the bakery, and she’s not answering my calls. I need to speak to her. Now!”

Emma trembled. “Very sexy.”

Kade ignored him, the male’s attention on Emma. “Hey, I was wondering… I have this friend,” apparently now Kade found something in the store worthy of his attention, “and he has a new mate and maybe you could recommend…”

“What the hell?” He suppressed his snarls. Barely.

Emma ignored him and leaned toward a customer, which had
him
turning sideways to see the woman standing nearby. “That’s sexy, right? I think it’s sexy.”

“Very,” the woman nodded.

“I tried telling Tilly she could overlook a whole lotta ugly with that much sexy going on.” Emma sighed. “She didn’t agree.”

“She didn’t
what
?” His snarl broke free.

“Listen. So, my
friend
…” Kade tried to get Emma’s attention once more.

“Oh,” Emma reached across the counter and patted his beta’s hand. When had Kade come forward? “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’re sexy and I bet your friend is, too.” Emma looked at the customer again. “Sometimes men can be very sensitive.”

“I’m not… he’s not…” Mitchell fought for calm. “What the fuck is going on?”

Without missing a beat, Emma replied. “There’s no fucking in Lush, just fuck toys.”

That snared Kade’s attention. “Toys?”

Both women snorted. Dammit.

He’d lost control. The alpha of an entire pack of deadly vicious wolves had lost complete and utter control. He stood in the middle of a lingerie store that catered to curvy women with his soon-to-be mated beta trying to talk about something for his
friend
with the owner—and Tilly’s best friend—while he was still trying to figure out where his relationship with Tilly had gone wrong. Admittedly, things went a little crooked with the attack yesterday, but she was a shifter. She would have just brushed off the attack as something that came with being a werelioness and they could move past it.

Wouldn’t she? Couldn’t they?

Considering the fact that she hasn’t answered even one of my calls, I’m guessing I’m wrong. I fucking
hate
being wrong.

Somehow, while he’d been thinking of his wrongness, the women and Kade got into discussing sex toys for his
friend
. Considering Kade seemed
way
too interested in what Emma had to say, he highly doubted it was a
friend
looking for a toy.

“Really? The prostate?”

“Yes, you take this toy and… don’t forget the lube, that’s important.”

“Huh. And it feels—”

“
Stop!
” He was not gonna hear about his beta’s asshole and some fucking butt plug. He wasn’t.

All three of them stared at Mitchell: a grin from Emma, a flushed pink embarrassed smile from the customer, and a glare from Kade.

“I’m looking for—” The shop’s back door—the emergency exit—banged open. Sunlight shining through the open doorway put the newcomer in shadows, but he would know that body, those curves and hips, anywhere. “
Tilly
.”

The other three fell silent and it was easy to hear her gasp of surprise, the soft catch of her breath as she jerked to a stop, and… the low moan of pain that escaped her lips.

Unacceptable.

* * *

The sound of Tilly’s name hissed through Lush, Mitchell’s voice loud and booming off the walls, was a surprise.

The pain that suffused her with her body’s jerk was not.

“Dammit,” she moaned. The stitches in her back itched and the sudden movement had them pulling taut. The coppery scent of her blood reached her nose and that smack of aroma was immediately followed by a snarl from Mitchell. He’d scented it. “Double dammit.”

The heavy tread of his rapid steps reached her a moment before his natural flavors filled the air and invaded her nose. He’d joined her in the store’s back room and his scent consumed her, calming her anxious cat with his presence. The animal was a cranky bitch, had been since he’d left her in the back of Kade’s SUV early last night. It’d also been cranky and snarled each time Phoebe’s needle pierced her skin. And don’t even get her started about—

“You’re still hurt!” He bellowed the words—accusation—as if she didn’t know the seven-inch gash on her back existed. Or that it was bleeding—again—and she needed to change the dressing.

Which was why she’d snuck over to Lush to get Emma’s help while Phoebe was preoccupied with handling the after-school teens at the shop. Saying Phoebe was protective of her was an understatement.

“Yes,” she swallowed hard and fought her body’s instinctual urge to cower and hide with the unending pain. “I’m still hurt.”

“Why?” He snarled at her as if she had anything to do with how slowly she healed. “You should be—”

Tilly held up one hand to cease his tirade. “I’m healing. These things take time for half shifters. I’m surprised you don’t know that. Why
don’t
you know that? Isn’t that something you should know about your alleged ‘mate’?”

Deflect, deflect, deflect.

When he narrowed his eyes and leveled her with a glare, she realized adding air quotes around ‘mate’ was probably pushing things too far. Maybe the word
alleged
, too.

“If you’re still injured like this, why aren’t you home? In bed?”

Man, she’d love to be in bed, snuggled under her covers and sleeping through the worst of her healing. “Because some people have bills to pay.”

“I—”

Must deflect.

“Why are you here? Buying lingerie for your girlfriend?” She knew the answer to the second question. Well, most of it anyway. If Mitchell’s wolf thought of her as his mate, then there was no girlfriend in the picture.

“Buying sex toys,” Emma shouted from the front of the store. “But we don’t carry the good ones. He’s gonna have to drive to Clover. The tigers are freaky.”

Tilly fought the smile threatening to split her lips. His stare was a mixture of anger—at her and Emma—and frustration. “I’m not here buying lingerie for anyone nor am I shopping for sex toys.”

For some reason, here in Mitchell’s presence, the pain was forgotten. It was masked by the need to tease him. “Of course not. You can only get the good ones in Clover, like Emma said.”

He narrowed his eyes. “How do you know about sex toys in Clover?” Tilly shrugged. At least he wasn’t asking her about her back any longer. Except when she shrugged, her cut pulled and that made her wince. Which had him focusing on her back once again. “Dammit, Tilly.”

She met his angry glare. “Don’t ‘dammit, Tilly’ me.”

“Why. Aren’t. You. Healed?”

Tilly blinked once. And then twice. “Really?” She knew she was being bitchy, but there was only so much a girl could take before she cracked. She tilted sideways, peeking around Mitchell to meet Kade’s gaze. “Is he really this slow? Are you sure he’s an alpha?”

Kade managed a chuckle before Mitchell spun to face the beta. His anger was a physical thing, a whip of emotion and strength that had the beta immediately staring at the ground. Even Emma and the customers shuddered with the rush of power from Mitchell.

And to Tilly… It was a soothing balm, a calming wave that her cat reacted to in an instant. Rather than cowering and whining, it purred, relaxing for the first time since they’d been parted. She released some of her tension with a soft sigh and swayed toward him. She was so fucking exhausted, so tired.

She’d spent the night in a pain-laced haze, her lioness fighting to repair the damage to her human body. She’d downed several pounds of raw beef when she’d gotten home, her cat practically inhaling the protein. Then, throughout the evening, she consumed several more pounds of cooked meat. She wasn’t even sure how much she’d eaten in that short time. But even with all that protein, she was still weak and the gash on her back remained raw and painful.

When she’d stumbled from the house just after four a.m., she’d been in an exhausted daze. She tripped through the darkness, cursing because her little strength couldn’t get the front door to budge. So she slowly made her way out the back and around the house to her car. She’d have to see if Mitchell knew anyone who could fix a sticking door since the fucking thing refused to swing open this morning.

Tilly’s feet shuffled on the floor, rubber soles scuffing the acid-stained concrete. That small sound had Mitchell whirling and facing her, his arms outstretched. “What the hell are you doing to yourself?”

What? Did he think she was the cause of her own pain? She totally dug her own paws into her own back. One hundred percent. If she had enough energy to tell him that, she totally would. Asshole.

Instead, she let his anger, the presence of his wolf, soothe her further. It felt so damn good, so damn right, to have him close and dominant. Powerful. Possessive.

Hers.

“I’m not doing anything,” she mumbled. She’d really forgotten how good he smelled. How good he looked. How good she felt was he was near.

“Tilly,” he growled.

“Stop being mean.”

“I bet if you bought him that mando I was telling Kade about he’d be a lot nicer.” Emma added helpfully. The girl had the best ideas.

Tilly grinned. Mando. A dildo for a man. One that was curved in just the right spot to… She didn’t imagine Mitchell would ever go for such a thing, but it was fun to think about.

“Whatever that is, it won’t help me calm down. The only thing that will is you getting the hell out of here and going home.” It was wrong that his deep growl got her hot.

It was even worse when he breathed deeply and those angry sounds turned sexual. At least, she thought they were. With her cat working double-time to heal her, the super-sniffer was offline. The lioness could only do so much.

“I have to work, Mitchell. I can’t leave Phee by herself. ” The bakery didn’t run without direction.

“Kade will handle the shop for you,” he murmured as he eased closer. Gentle hands snared hers and tugged her to him, easing her forward until her front was snug against his. That was nice.

The beta didn’t like the sound of that. “Kade will
what
, now?”

“You’re going to Bless Your
Tart to help Phoebe until closing.” His tone left no room for argument. Man. Super hot.

“Marcia knows how to run things, too,” she murmured and nuzzled his chest. Already some of her pain drained away, easily replaced with a low simmering desire. It was fucked up. Like,
so
fucked up. Her back was killing her, blood was probably soaking into her shirt, and still she
wanted
him.

“Okay, you and Marcia are helping Phoebe until closing. I don’t care if you just sit and watch the girls work. She’s not to be left alone there, and take her back to the pack house when the night is through.”

Tilly grunted her objection. “No, our house.”

“Tilly…” His warm hand caressed her cheek. “You’ll be safer in the pack house. I’m still concerned about Seth’s behavior.”

She snorted. Right. “You can think that all you want, but Phee and I are staying at our place.”

She refused to be dependent on anyone ever again. It was easy for someone to let you walk through a door. And then it was just as easy for them to kick you out. That couldn’t happen to her in her own home.

Mitchell sighed. “You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”

“Nope.”

He lowered his mouth, lips resting atop her head. “You’re a pain in the ass. My pain in the ass, but still a pain in the ass.”

He released her hands and stroked her arms, his touch leaving goose bumps in his wake. He eased away and she lifted her head, meeting his gaze a brief moment before he lowered his head for an entirely different reason.

Mitchell’s kiss was soft and sweet, a gentle meeting of mouths that wasn’t meant to arouse her and yet it did. Her lioness purred for him, anxious for more from their mate.

Her mate. There was no getting around the truth. She just needed to get over her shit and accept it. Though acceptance didn’t mean submission.

At least, not yet.

His kiss was soft, as if he was afraid of hurting her further, and she closed the little distance between them in an attempt to deepen the connection.