Page 10 of Stealing Sloane

Ha, youwouldlike her, he thought.

His wolf wasn’t exactly … normal. It was unruly and temperamental, perhaps due to the fact that he wasn’t an ordinary Lycan, but rather, a hybrid—part wolf, part warlock. While his mother didn’t have powers of her own, Selena Martin came from one of the most powerful witch bloodlines in the world, which meant she passed on her magical genes to him and his sister. While his older sister Lizzie could talk to computers, Jacob could create and manipulate flames, a talent his parents discovered one day when he was a child and he accidentally lit the kitchen on fire.

His fiery powers and his wolf nature were a volatile combination, and controlling both had been a challenge when he was an adolescent. His temper and emotions would get the best of him, and he would often get into fights, mostly goaded by his wolf.

He was much better now, as an adult, but something about Sloane got under his skin. The moment he laid eyes on her, it was as if his wolf had reverted back to that wild, hormone-and magic-fueled adolescent pup.

His finely-tuned ears picked up noise from behind the door—the sound of the water running, and the image of Sloane’s wet, naked breasts popped into his head. Which, in turn, got a reaction from hisotherhead.

With a groan, he knocked his forehead on the door.It’s just lust.An itch he needed scratched. It had been a few weeks since he’d slept with anyone, the last time being a human he picked up at Blood Moon, a human who wanted to know what being with a Lycan would be like. For thousands of years, Lycans had kepttheir existence a secret from humans, until a few months ago when they were outed during a battle with their sworn enemies, the mages.

He had to admit, out of all the things that sucked about having their identities out in the open, the never-ending stream of groupies wanting to get Lycans in the sack was the best thing to come out of it. He’d enjoyed himself a lot over the last couple of months, but lately, he couldn’t muster up the interest. The hooking up felt so meaningless, and he was restless.

For the first time in his life, he wanted something more. He looked at the people around him—his brother, sister, cousins—all of them were moving on and finding their wives and husbands, and starting their families. Why couldn’t he have something like that too?

After that, it was like the idea of settling down had stuck in his brain, and despite the many nights he’d spent trawling Blood Moon and other bars, he couldn’t find any woman who sparked his interest.

And just his luck, the first person after all these months who even caught his attention was a crazy she-wolf.

Taking a deep breath, he managed somewhat to calm his erection into a less embarrassing state, then turned around to head back to the kitchen where, hopefully, Cliff and Stella had sorted out their differences.

The couple was seated on the chair, or at least, Cliff was and Stella was on his lap, legs dangling over the side, their mouths melded together.

So, they did sort things out.

“Ahem.”

They swiftly broke apart, and Stella scrambled to her feet.

“Oh, hey, Jacob,” she greeted, her face red as a tomato.

“So …” He flashed his cousin a wry smile. “I take it everything’s good between you two?”

Cliff’s grin was as wide as an ocean. “Yeah.”

“And you really are?—”

“Yes.” The way he looked at Stella as her blush deepened confirmed it—they were, indeed, True Mates.

“Congrats, happy for you both.” And he really was. Almost everyone in his family found their True Mates, and he knew how special that was.I just wish …“You both deserve a happy ever after.”

“It’s not over yet, though,” Cliff said, rising from the chair and placing an arm around Stella. “Ronan Forte still wants Stella and Sloane.”

His wolf let out an uneasy snarl. “Yeah. We’re lucky they didn’t get into the mix today.”

“He’s going to try again, I know it.”

Unfortunately, Jacob had the same gut feeling. “What are we going to do about it then?”

“Well, for today, we stay put but keep our guards up. I’ll call Uncle Killian and tell him everything as well.” Killian Jones was not only the president of Lone Wolf Security and Investigations, the family business where he and Cliff worked, but as the oldest of their close-knit family, he was also their unofficial leader.

“He’ll know what to do.” Hopefully that meant keeping that asshole Alpha away from Sloane and Stella. “Meanwhile, I’ll take first watch?”

Cliff nodded. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll see you in twelve hours.” Heading toward the front door, Jacob unbuttoned his jeans and shimmied out of them, tossing them on the couch before he shifted into his wolf. On its way out, it raised its head, sniffing the air, taking note of the familiar scents inside. It recognized Cliff’s and Stella’s and of course, Sloane’s sage, lavender, and peppery scent, and let out a whine.

C’mon, he groaned at his wolf.We have work to do.

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