Bound to the Billionaire

Chapter Ten: Give 'em what they want

 I wasn't ready to go back to the pack house. Then again, I was never ready to go back to the pack house. I'd been sleeping on cots in closests, holes in trees, strange men's houses, all so I wouldn't have to go back there. But I didn't have a choice this time, and I hadn't even bothered to memorize their  phone numbers. The thought of calling them had always disgusted me, they aways had disgusted me. Free-loaders, loafers, lazy-asses. When I thought of all my father's hard work being given to them, when I thought of how little they cared, how little they bothered to care for me, it made me hate them. Hate them.

But they were also the only family I had left. Take care of your pack, little alpha. They had let my dad down, but I wouldn't. It was the only promise I had to keep. But they sure as hell didn't make it easy. 

Nico slipped his arm around me as he drove down the icy roads, faster now than he had coming up. I expected him to spin out, I expected another car to come sliding into his. The sunlight glinted off of every surface, made the sky white and sharp to my eyes. But Nico didn't slow, didn't even squint.

"Watch out, will you. You're gonna kill us!"

"I've already 'died' a couple times on these roads. We'll be fine." He even turned his head away from the windshield to shoot me a smile, as if he'd just given me a morsel of comfort. I made a mental note to never let him drive me anywhere again.  My shoulders still trembled, I was still thinking about my wolf. I hadn't shifted in a year.  What had I done? He knew too much about me, about my wolf, about my pack. And I was trusting him. How could I trust him? 

The car slowed in front of bricks that looked a brilliant sort of red in the winter light. We'd arrived safely at the pack house. I'd thought, briefly, about giving him the wrong directions. About never going there again. But I had to check on my pack, had to show Nico where I'd come from, what he was allowing to call his. Would he luna my pack, would he expect me to do the same for his? I had a bakery to worry about, and now this. 

"This is what at least thirteen combined salaries helped buy," I said as he stepped out into the cracked driveway. Weeds had started to wend between the concrete, the lawn had started to become overgrown. Wilting dandelions stood proudly in the  garden Mrs. Rosalyn had started before she, like almost everyone else, left. 

But the house itself was beautiful. I had powerwashed it a couple moths before and torn down the vines, so the inevitable crawl of time wasn't so obvious to the unfamiliar.  The house was very clearly from another era, another generation's dream. A white picket fence surrounded a backyard. Many of the members had dogs, American dogs. All labs and beagles. Plantation style, bright white, with lamposts along the walkway. 

"This is yours?" asked Nico, wide-eyed as he stared up at the sprawling mansion-house. "And you live in a closet?"

"Well, yeah." I didn't want to explain, and I didn't have to. Not to him. Not to anybody. 

I was wearing his clothes. Designer slacks I had to cuff, a coal-gray button down that looked absolutely gross all wrinkled and tucked into his borrowed pants, the sleeves hanging over my hands because they simply wouldn't stay cuffed. My wolf was a mangy looking fellow and frankly so was I. It was hard not to become self concious standing beside the billionaire who couldn't look ugly if he tried. I was showing him where I came from, what had made me. I didn't like that. 

I reached for the doorknob. The scruffy doormat with the 'w' and ending 'e' scuffed over had at least three spare keys hidden underneath them, but I'd have bet my ass that they left the door unlocked anyway, and I was right. The door creaked open, but before I could storm in, ask if they'd seen an angry naked man and leave, Nico caught my hand. "Wait," he said. "Do I look okay?"

"Always," I said.

"I don't want to make a bad impression on your pack or your parents, but I suppose your parents must be retired if you're the alpha. What a love story it must've been for them," he looked up at the blue blue blue sky, his eyes misty. They were star-crossed. Different kinds of shifters, different packs; they weren't fated mates, they weren't supposed to be together. It was a love story that Nico would never get to have. The kind he never wanted, anyway. The opposite of the Moon Goddess's fairytale.

"No, they're not retired." That's all I had to say. That's all I wanted to say. 

He nodded. Didn't press any further. "Wish I could've met them." 

"I don't know about my mom, but you'd definitely have to really work to make my dad like you. Money never impressed him very much." But I couldn't help the feeling that my dad would've liked him. He would've liked the gentle way he talked, the calm way he carried himself. He would've liked that Nico spent most of his alone time by himself in a bachelor's apartment, reading. I liked that. "But somehow I think you would've one him over."

Nico smiled at me, and it made my heart turn soft. Made me want nothing but to fall into his arms. "May I kiss you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. And when he ran a hand through my hair, his touch was so light it felt as if he was scared I'd break if he was a little too rough. I liked the man. I liked him a lot. 

So I reached up on tip-toes and placed my mouth on those lips. They felt so soft against me. I wanted to stay pressed against him forever, his mouth felt so warm, the pressure irresistible. The door swung open, and Jenna stared out at us, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest. "What can I do for you alphas?" 

I opened my mouth to respond. Something about her made every little hair on the back of my neck stand up, made my muscles tense. As kids, we'd been friends. Alpha-and-beta-to-be, thicker than thieves. We'd skip rocks on the river, talk about boys, steal candy from the drugstore, smoke out in the woods like the little stoners we were. But now she wouldn't even look at me without her lip curling back. 

"I think your pack might be in danger. I want you to stay at the nearby Asim-Peiffer hotel for a little bit, all expenses paid, of course."

Jenna's eyes lit up. "I like him!" she shouted at me, her snarl turning into a grin that touched her cheeks. She turned on her heals. "Guys, guys! Dimitri's boy toy is gonna pay for us to stay at the Asim-Peiffer!" 

I sighed at him. "You don't know what you got yourself into."

"Well." He picked up my hand and gave my knuckles a warm kiss. "It's worth it for you."