Page 42 of Clawless

She shuddered. “I hope you never have to do that, Reed.”

“So do I.” I held up my aching forearms. “But my wolf likes to keep me on my toes.” She went into the bathroom, but didn’t look much better when she came out. “I think we should go to the medical bay. Get you checked over.”

She was already shaking her head. “I really don’t want to be around the smell of antiseptic.” She paused, a hundred thoughts flitting through her eyes. “But the mineral pool, maybe?”

I was already moving to grab my trunks and some towels. “Good idea.” If a hot soak didn’t put my wolf back in his box, at least it might wash some of the strain out of Vail’s face.

But when we got down to the pool, Cal was sitting on the edge with a pair of females splashing around in front of him. He was smoking something spicy and the smell, along with the giggly shrieks of the girls, put my wolf even more on edge. Vail had managed the walk down on her own, but she wobbled a bit when she realized we had company. Cal just flicked us both a nasty smirk and blew a smoke ring in our direction. “You really are going to die a virgin.”

“Fuck off, Cal.”

He snickered out a mouthful of smoke and watched as I helped Vail down into the water. Since she didn’t have a suit, she was in one of my training singlets and fighting to keep the fabric from floating up. But Cal wasn’t interested in her legs; he was looking at the square of gauze behind her ear. “So, he really did tag your ass. Seems like you’ve got them both where you want them.”

“Really, Callum?” She snapped, moving away to the opposite side of the pool. “I don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about!”

“Sure, you do.” He tucked his cigarette in the corner of his mouth and slipped into the pool, leather pants and all. The guy wore them even in one-hundred-degree heat, and when I’d asked him why, he’d told me he liked skin on skin. “Jay’s all but put you in a cage, so now you want to bust out. What better way than getting the Ragemaster all worked up?” He flicked a handful of water my way. “You talked to her about messing with your wolf?”

I glanced at the two females, who were watching the back and forth with interest. “Take the show somewhere else,” I told him. “We’re just here for the water.”

“Bullshit.” He looked at Vail for a long moment, then shook his head. I knew it was going to be bad before it came out of his mouth. “Remember how I said you were nothing? You’re worse than that, No Chance. You’re a void with a toxic bloodline.” He blew another smoke ring in my direction, but all his malice was for Vail. “You think he’s hanging around for a piece of your princess pussy?” Anger still sizzled in her eyes, but she flushed when the other females started giggling. I was about ready to dunk the pair of them, but Cal silenced them with a look. A moment later, they were pulling themselves out of the pool and retreating without a backward glance. “He told you it’s political, not personal, didn’t he? That’s Reed’s motto. Because that’s how it is in his family. His dad would trade him away for even a sniff at Old Man Marrow.”

“That’s enough.” I surged through the water towards Cal, but instead of following his females to safe ground, he turned to face me. There was a glimmer of real concern in his eyes as he asked, “He ordered you to mate her yet?”

I didn’t bother answering. Vail was already climbing out of the water and wrapping herself in her towel. I could feel the heat on the back of my neck as I did the same. We left Cal in the pool, both of us still dripping because we didn’t want to wait while we dried off. I thought she might try to head back to Omega House, but she just followed me up to my room. When we were inside, she went straight to the bathroom, while I got one of my betas to drop off a sweater and some yoga pants. The shower ran for a while, but when she came out, her hair was in a ponytail and the gauze was gone.

“Is it true? Does your dad want us to mate?”

I was sitting on the sofa with two cups of coffee in front of me. I wouldn’t have been my dad’s son if I wasn’t prepared for that question. “He thinks you’d be a good match. You’re strong. Not just your bloodline, but how you looked after yourself all those years in the human world. Resilience is important.”

“And my name?”

I nodded slowly. Even though she couldn’t scent a lie yet, she wasn’t stupid. She knew her bloodline was a big deal. “Cal’s not wrong. My dad’s always looking for strong allies.”

“And what do you want?”

I wasn’t expecting that, and I didn’t have an answer prepared. When the silence stretched, she sat on the sofa next to me and wrapped her hands around her coffee. Her lips were pulled tight, and I could tell she was still in pain. I wanted to reach out and take it from her, but she was lost in her thoughts. “No one’s asked me that since I got here. It’s like there’s no room for wanting things in this world. You get what you get, because of your pack rank, or who shares your bloodline. But you know what I would have said if someone asked? I just wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere. Not because I can’t look after myself, or because it was a convenient place for me to be for a while, but because I fit. I got a little of that with Marnie. A few others. But I always felt like it was going to be taken away again.”

“It won’t. You’re pack for life, Vail. Nothing changes who you are.”

Her big green eyes fixed on me. “But who is that, Reed? Callum said I’m a toxic bloodline. I know nothing about the Marrows, except that they’ve put some kind of price on my head. And I know even less about Parker West.”

“I can help with that.” I should have thought of that already, but I’d been too caught up in her Marrow blood to think what she needed from my own pack. “You can come home with me for the holidays. My mom always goes all-out for the holidays. You can meet everyone.”

She nodded slowly. “So how would we do it? If we were to mate.”

She meant the ceremony, not the physical act, but my wolf started shoving images my way. Most of them were of her writhing under me on this sofa, so I forced them away with an effort. “It can’t be an arranged mating. Your grandfather would never go for it. So it’ll have to be a blood-to-blood claiming. Like we’re called to each other. That our wolves are choosing and we can’t stop it.”

“Like with Jasper.” I didn’t miss the flare of color in her cheeks. “But a claiming like that needs two other alphas to agree to it, right? Before it’s official? Because I can’t think about that, Reed.”

“You don’t have to. Carter and Beckett will endorse it. For friendship only. They’ll have your back.” She didn’t exactly look reassured, but she gave another slow nod and I took her hand. “The thing is, we’ll have to go public. It’s got to look like we’re caught up in the moment, and it just happens. Maybe at the Packball Cup on Saturday night. We sow the seeds all week. Let people think something is building between us. Then I’ll claim you at the game. Maybe at the end, in all the excitement when we annihilate the Arras clan.” I gave her hand a squeeze. “That should keep the flak from your Marrow relatives to a minimum.”

She bit her lip, her other hand going to the collar around her neck. “And Jasper? I mean, he won’t like it. Not because he wants me for himself, but he’s made it clear he doesn’t trust me. And you’re one of his alphasons. What if he reacts like Callum? Tells you I’m toxic and forbids the claiming?”

My wolf was already prowling and I felt him push forward at those fighting words. To keep him in check, I brushed my fingers over the small scar behind her ear. “Whatever he does, it’ll be on me, not you. And I’ll make sure he knows my wolf and I are all in.”

Thirty – Vail

Reed and I had less than a week to sow some seeds.

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