Fanged Fury (The Adventures of Sydney Sedrick Book 3) Read online

  Blake was getting turned on.

  My heart melted when his eyes shown with mischief. If I told Blake how I felt about him, he’d intensify his advances ten-fold. That piece of information would just make his argument about us being meant to be together because the werewolves’ Moon Goddess had said so that much stronger. He was bad enough to deal with as it was because my heart wanted to do nothing but jump right in and take what he offered. But I was the Selected, and that came with obligations to both the vampires and the werewolves, and the vampires wouldn’t take it well if I decided to become the life-mate of a wolf. I didn’t want to know what they would do or how they would retaliate, but they would. I couldn’t live with myself if someone got hurt because I couldn’t keep my pants on.

  Before I could respond, the door chimes jangled in the front of the store, saving me from having to argue with Blake further.

  I went out to see what the customer needed while Blake stayed in the storeroom, probably waiting until his desire toned down and his eyes turned back to their human color version.

  Two women were gazing at the contents of the shelves holding jewelry pieces made from Celtic Astrology symbols. The more I read about the origins of the Celts, which was where the majority of the vampires came from, and the werewolves, whose origins were Native American, it gave me more and more hope that one day they would be able to share the city with one another. Both the Celts and the Native Americans based the foundation of most of their beliefs on the laws of nature.

  “Oh, Sister, look at this one!” The woman closest to my counter, who appeared to be in her mid-forties, brought up a necklace with an intricately carved symbol that represented Ogham, one of the many sacred trees of Druidism. The symbol, carved from stone, was quite heavy, but wearing such a piece guaranteed the wearer to experience enlightenment regarding the cosmic meaning of life.

  The woman’s companion squealed with glee and said, “Oh, Sister, you definitely have to buy that one. Mother will love it so!”

  People weren’t normally so happy when they were shopping in Morning Sun, but it made my heart swell with pride. It meant the world to me being able to help people find what they needed. I’d even made it known within the Druid and Celtic communities in town that I was more than willing to go the extra mile to make my customers happy. In return, they’d tell their friends to check out the store. My goal was to grow the base of repeat customers until there was never a time during open hours the store wasn’t hopping with shoppers. I’m talking elbow-bumping busy.

  The ladies came to the counter and shoved the necklace with the stone in my face. Their cheerful dispositions were catchy. I found myself smiling as I rang up their purchase and wrapped it carefully in bubble-wrap. I didn’t want anything to happen to the necklace. I didn’t have that exact one in stock, so I made a mental note to purchase more on the next order.

  The women waved on their way out and, once again, Blake and I were alone.

  I didn’t have the chance to turn around before I felt his warm palms and fingers on each of my hips. I shook my head and said, “Blake, I thought you had stuff to do today?”

  He turned me with care, avoiding my bruises, so that we faced each other. I was glad he wasn’t being too aggressive in his movements. Even though he put that cream on my back, for which I was grateful for his and Adaira’s thoughtfulness, I didn’t think I’d be able to fend him off being so beaten up the way I was.

  Blake leaned his forehead to mine. The connection felt both intimate and comforting. His warm and spicy breath tickled my nose and we both laughed. I put one hand on my side trying to curb the pain in my ribs from laughing and put the other one on his chest.

  “I do, but I wanted to come by and put that cream on you, ease the pain radiating off of you in hot waves.”

  I narrowed my eyes and studied his face for any sign of an ulterior motive. “I don’t know if I believe that.”

  He smiled and put his right hand over his heart. “My dear Sydney, woman whom I plan on having by my side, once she finally stops fighting fate and accepts the fact that we are meant to be as one for all time, I didn’t come here to do anything but offer you some relief from the pain you are suffering from, and to ask you out to dinner tonight.”

  I grabbed my side and giggled. I knew it. He didn’t come here just to bring me the healing cream from his mother. I sighed in resignation and said, “Yes, I’d love to go to dinner with you. That is, as long as we go to Mario’s.”

  “I’m honored to have such a beautiful woman accompany me to dinner, since we already have reservations for nine-thirty.” He winked.

  “You are such a brat.” I swatted at him playfully and stepped out from his grasp. Despite telling Aunt Judith that I was fine and wouldn’t have a problem working at the store, I was having a hard time staying on my feet. The pain was distracting and it took my breath away with minimal movement.

  Blake shrugged his shoulders and said, “I knew you’d cave. You just can’t get enough of my handsome good looks and irresistible personality. Admit it.” He angled his face away from me so I had a good view of his profile. He was right. I couldn’t get enough of him, or his good looks. But I had to re-draw that firm line I had set in place once upon a time. We’d crossed that line a few days ago, and now I had to resurrect it for both our sakes, and everybody else’s.

  “I’ll go with you, but it’s not a date. We’re friends, Blake, and we’re going to go to dinner because friends enjoy meals together.” I put my hands on my hips to help emphasize my statement.

  Blake’s brows cinched together in irritation. He didn’t like when I pointed out I hadn’t caved to his advances, like he’d insisted I one day would. Okay, I did dabble in the pond of his hot lovemaking, and, yes, I wanted to do a cannon-ball dive right back in, but I couldn’t, and he knew why.

  “Fine, whatever you say, Sydney. I’ll pick you up after work from your house.” He strutted to the front door of the store. I could have sworn he clenched his ass muscles with every step. Dang him, he knew I was watching, and he knew he had the best-looking backside in all of Kenosha, possibly in all of the United States.

  When he took the one step up to the door, he turned, peered at me with a lowered head, and sighed. I couldn’t tell if he was sighing in sadness or anger, but I did know it had to do with his feelings for me.

  “Sydney, I love you. But I beg you not to make me wait too long. The longer you take to become my life-mate, the less control I have over my wolf. I feel the beast clawing at me from the inside. I know you don’t understand what I’m saying, but I want you to know I love you, Sydney, and not because you’re the Selected.” He put his head further toward the floor. He looked like he was deliberating with himself on whether to say something more.

  He glanced my way once again and said, “I’ll see you tonight,” and with that, he left.

  I shook my head to no avail. My mind was full of thoughts running in and out of the forefront of my mind, and there was no organization to them. Blake was sprinting a marathon around everything else in my life.

  Fate had dealt us a hard path.

  It was obvious to both of us, and everyone else who has ever been in the same room with us, that we wanted each other. There was a pull between us unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life with any other man. Blake said he felt the same way—that’s why he insisted the Moon Goddess had chosen for us to be life-mates, and that we were meant to be together forever.

  If that were true, and there was in fact a Moon Goddess who was messing with my life and my heart, I wanted to have a talk with her. The all-knowing, higher-thinking entity the werewolves put all of their faith in was supposed to provide them guidance and help protect them from their enemies. That was my opinion of what she should be doing. I didn’t think having Blake believe we were destined to be together because the Moon Goddess said that wa
s what’s best for her wolf was a good enough reason to make such a commitment, one that came with dangerous repercussions. I knew in my heart our feelings were based on more than just a higher entity playing with our futures. Manipulating fate to ensure Blake and I would meet and having his wolf instincts triggered when he was in my presence gave me the impression that the Moon Goddess was bored and wanted to play a big, dangerous joke on an heir to one of her wolf packs, and I had a lot to say to her.

  The phone sitting next to the register rang, bringing me out of my angry thoughts toward the Moon Goddess and all that life had handed Blake and me.

  “Hello, Morning Sun.”

  “Hey, Sis, how’s it going?” Brianna, my younger sister, said on the other line. Life must have been going well for her and Michael, Blake’s cousin, because she sounded happy and bubbly as usual.

  “Everything’s fine, Brianna. What’s up?” Despite everything going on in my life—with finding out that I’m the Selected, being the sole employee of Morning Sun, and having Blake chip away at my resolve to stay at arm’s length from him and the promise of sexual bliss that came with him—Brianna was still my best friend, my little sister, and the one who still didn’t know I was the Selected or that she was dating a werewolf.

  She sighed into the phone and said, “Michael wants us to come up this weekend, and he keeps saying I have to go with. I don’t know what to do. I’m supposed to spend the weekend with Dad.”

  That was odd, my father loved his daughters, but he didn’t make it a habit to insist we spend an entire weekend with him.

  “What’s going on with Dad?” My heart constricted with the possibilities. Was he sick? I couldn’t take it if both he and Aunt Judith were both ill.

  “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Dad just wanted to spend the weekend together before I start school again. Ever since you left Chicago he’s been a little more needy and attentive with what’s going on in my life.” Brianna laughed. We both knew our father was an active part of our lives, even more so than our mother.

  He must miss having both of us around to keep him company since my mom worked a lot.

  My heart did another flip, but this time it was because of guilt on my part. I didn’t call my parents often. I did have a lot going on, but that was no excuse not to give them a jingle once in a while. I’d have to change that.

  “Well, how are you and Michael doing? I mean, do you think he can do without you for an entire weekend?” I teased my little sister. Brianna and Michael had been attached at the hip since the day they met.

  “Yes, he’ll be fine. It’s just weird, he was pretty demanding when he told me he wanted me to go up there with him. He’s so not like that.”

  I could hear the confusion in the tone of her voice. To my dismay, I knew why Michael wanted both of them to come up to Kenosha, but I couldn’t tell her, or why.

  “Brie, I think you should do what your heart tells you to do. Dad would totally understand if you said you had to make your plans for a different weekend. On the other hand, Michael doesn’t have a leg to stand on where your wanting to spend time with your family comes into play. He does it all the time. So, I guess it’s up to you.” I thought she should make the trip up here. Our father would be fine with her canceling, but she had to make that decision herself.

  My sister grunted into the phone. “Sydney, you’re not really helping me here.”

  I laughed and said, “I know, Sis, I just don’t know what to say. Sounds like you’re being pulled in two directions.”

  “Yeah, I’m going to tell Dad he’ll have me all weekend next weekend. Michael doesn’t ever ask me to change my plans to do something with him. I don’t know, it sounded pretty important to him.”

  “Yep, making compromises is part of being in a healthy relationship.” I hoped she’d feel that way when they came up to Kenosha, after Michael told her he was a werewolf. It was important she understand we lied to her for her own protection. In a way, I felt if she didn’t accept him, she wouldn’t accept me for who I had become. My protective instincts warred inside me. I wanted her safe. I didn’t think having her date a werewolf was going to keep her as ignorant and far from danger as I’d like, but I’d come to the realization that we put her in more danger keeping her ignorant regarding the Others.

  “I hear ya. I’m going to go and tell Dad. He’s out in the garage working on the snow blower.”

  We both giggled. Our dad wasn’t the best at fixing mechanical problems, and he’d been working on the snow blower for the last year and a half. We’ve both learned to stay far away from the garage when he was working on something.

  “See you this weekend, hon.”

  Several hours later, after I’d closed shop and returned home, I felt the bathroom air heat up, but I hadn’t heard the loud knocking of the furnace kicking in.

  Blake.

  He stood at the bottom as I descended the staircase, waiting to take me to dinner. I smiled. Just the sight of him made my body flush with warmth.

  “You are so beautiful, Sydney.” Blake’s eyes began to turn the amber-bronzed color that signaled he was getting turned on. They also changed when he was angry and going to lose control of the beast within him. I’d say he was getting turned on by the slow and heavy way he spoke.

  I stopped halfway down the steps, raised an eyebrow, and crossed my arms over my chest.

  Blake laughed and said, “You can’t blame me for complimenting a nice-looking woman when I see one.” He narrowed his eyes and placed his hands on his hips before saying, “Sydney, is that a new perfume you’re wearing? Because I would suspect you were attempting to hide your emotions from me if it was.”

  I skipped the rest of the way down the stairs and slapped him on the arm. “No, it is not a new perfume. I didn’t get a chance to take a shower so I put a splash of body-spray on, that’s all.” Ugh, he was so difficult to deal with sometimes, because he was right. In the short time we had known each other, Blake had become my closest friend besides Brianna, and he read me like an open book. Most of the time it worked out well, but at times such as this, when I wanted to mask the scent of my arousal, his knowing me so well was quite inconvenient.

  Werewolves had hypersensitive olfactory senses. Blake was able to read how I felt because my body emitted smells that went along with my emotions. On many occasions he had described, in fine detail, what I had been feeling, and he’d always been right. My scent changed as my emotions changed, including when I became sexually aroused. That was a problem, because I always tried to hide that fact from him.

  Blake’s smile broadened and his eyes finished their transformation to full-blown wolf eyes. Those eyes were my downfall, and he knew it, but all he said was, “Are you ready?”

  “I am starving, let’s go.” I had skipped lunch and looked forward to the delicious gnocchi served at Mario’s.

  We walked outside of the house and he waited while I closed the door and locked the deadbolt in place. I closed my eyes and put my palms out away from my sides and threw out my Selected senses. The gentle hum of Aunt Judith’s protection wards caressed me with a familial comfort. She had placed them to help keep the rogues from being able to enter the house. We’d learned the hard way the wards had to be doubled up when rogue wolves and a half-breed lightning demon had come in and kidnapped me. Blake had saved me then, too.

  Once I was satisfied that my sleeping aunt would be safe while we were away, I turned and nodded to Blake.

  A puff of white came from the exhaust pipe of his car. I appreciated his consideration and knew he’d have the passenger’s seat heater on high. Blake didn’t need the extra warmth the luxurious accessory gave me because his werewolf status had his blood running warm all the time. He opened the door to his two-seater Audi and held it open while I climbed in. I breathed deep while he circled around to the driver’s side and got
in. The scent he gave off reminded me of lying on soft grass in the summer, with wild flowers swaying from a gentle breeze. He gave off a spicy aroma with a hint of clean earth.

  “Mario’s?”

  “Of course.”

  The ride over to the restaurant was uneventful. As we sat at a small round table with a white tablecloth, Blake reached out a hand with his palm open and facing upward. I gave him a raised brow to let him know I was suspicious of his intent, but couldn’t help but place my hand into his. The moment our palms connected, his warmth began to ease the tense muscles in my back. Blake’s touch soothed every part of me when I was in pain, and ignited me to the core with his eyes having turned full liquid amber.

  Blake rubbed his fingers over my palm and massaged my fingers before saying, “I know by pressuring you to be my life-mate doesn’t make perfect sense to you as it does to me. But I want you to know that my feelings for you don’t come from just the bond that is between us. I know you feel the draw of the bond, the reason why we can’t stay away from each other for too long, but I want you to know that what I feel for you is more than that. You’re an amazing woman. You’re strong.”

  I put up my other hand and placed a finger on his lips to stop him. “Blake, yes, we care for each other, friends do, but—”

  He took my hand away from his lips and held them both on top of the table. I could feel his agitation growing by the waves of heat radiating from his body.

  “Sydney, let me finish what I’m trying to say. I’ve never explained how I feel, so I’m doing it now. Your loyalty and protectiveness over your family is admirable, especially to me, even though I think you’d put yourself in danger to protect your family when you don’t need to. Your sense of responsibility toward both the wolves and the mosquitoes makes you honorable.” The temperature of the heat Blake gave off while he spoke began to lessen and his eyes began to turn a warmer hue of bronzed amber. “Sydney, you are the sexiest woman to walk this planet, and I—”