Chapter 8 Public Relations

• He must've believed me, because he finally left, and getting dressed after he was gone was quick even with my injured feet.
• No way in hell was I putting shoes back on, so I just headed out with my socked feet. Every footstep hurt more than the last, but I braved my way to the front porch with Jesse at my side. The porch had a comfortable-looking hammock swinging across it, and I itched to sit in it and just swing for a bit but reminded myself that I'd been kidnapped.
• And there was no Stockholm Syndrome allowed.
• Jesse growled before I stepped off the porch.
• "I'm getting tired of getting growled at. And licked. And pretty much everything else that has to do with you being a wolf." I narrowed my eyes at him. "We aren't friends, okay? You think I'm your mate, but you kidnapped me. I don't like you."
• He scowled.
• Turning, he trotted toward the house next door.
• I went to step off the stairs, but like he had eyes on the back of his head, he gave a warning growl.
• "Damn wolf," I muttered.
• I was saying that a lot, wasn't I?
• What was he even doing?
• I didn’t know, but I stayed on the porch, giving him a minute for whatever he had planned.
• He came back thirty seconds later, with Smiley in tow.
• What was Smiley's name again?
• Eli?
• Dammit, I needed to pay more attention.
• "Looks like you need a little help," Smiley called out as he approached.
• "If you're offering to help, I'll take a ride home. I'll even agree not to go tell the police about the kidnapping werewolves of Moon Ridge if you take me back right now."
• He grinned. "The cops already know about us. Why else haven't you heard about all the other abductions from your college over the past few decades?"
• My eyes widened.
• Seriously?
• He scooped me up off the ground without asking permission. I fought his grip, attempting to get free, but the man was just as buff and football-player-esque as the rest of the guys.
• I expected him to set me down when we reached the house, but instead, he hauled me to Ford's kitchen table before setting me down in one of the chairs.
• "Wolves are protective," he explained to me as he stepped back. "Jesse doesn't like you walking around if it hurts your feet."
• "I noticed," I drawled. Looking around the kitchen, which was loaded with all five of the pack's men, plus Jesse, I wondered aloud, "Where are the rest of your mates?"
• One of the guys smirked. I didn't recognize him, even though I was sure he’d been with the group earlier. He had long brown hair tied up in a man-bun on the top but shaved on the sides, his face made up of sharp angles and well-trimmed stubble barely long enough to consider it a beard. "Not a clue. Our wolves don't warn us before they choose a mate, though they do start nesting."
• "Nesting? Like a pregnant woman?" I asked incredulously.
• "Yup. They make us buy extra crap, clean out our freezers, and get our houses nice and tidy. Shit like that," he explained.
• "I should probably already know, but what’s your name again?" I asked. I assumed the question would offend him, but didn’t care. I needed to know all of their names in case they were lying about the cops being in on this werewolf shit.
• "I'm Zed. We grow up being trained for this, warned that joining a pack is a lot for a human who's used to being on their own for the most part. Forgetting a name isn’t a big deal."
• Wow. That was surprisingly courteous...and surprisingly creepy, too.
• "Your parents prepare you for kidnapping humans?" I asked incredulously.
• "How else are we supposed to get our mates into our houses right after we meet them, while trapped in our wolf forms?"
• Okay, that was almost a valid question.
• Almost.
• Minus the abducting-innocent-humans part.
• "You could have one of your other pack friends try to woo the human girls into coming here before you sic a wolf on them," I suggested.
• Another of the guys whose name I didn't remember dropped into the chair beside Zed. He was almost as pale as I was, with scruffy blonde hair and an equally scruffy beard. "Ha!" He snorted and looked at Jesse. "You picked a funny one."
• I scowled. "Why is that funny?"
• "One of us flirting with another wolf's mate would pretty much be like declaring war. There's not a wolf in the world who would accept another man hitting on his woman. Our wolves are protective first, and possessive second."
• "Really?" I frowned.
• I'd just determined that they weren't possessive though.
• "He let Eli carry me here." I gestured to Jesse's house, and then to Smiley. I still couldn't remember the second half of his name, so I shortened it.
• "Elliot," Smiley called out from the kitchen, also not offended by my forgetfulness.
• "And pretty much all of you have touched me at one point or another, though not...sexily."
• Sexily? Geeze, I was going to get myself in trouble if I kept making words up and guessing names.
• The scruffy guy grinned. "Not sexily is the key part of that phrase. We're all packmates, which means we're brothers. Jesse trusts us, but not infinitely. If we hit on you, he'd still try to kill us."
• So theoretically… I could get myself out of Moon Ridge by kissing his packmates so the wolf attacked them.
• It wasn't the most ethical plan I'd ever had, but it could save my life from a bunch of werewolves, so I'd roll with it.
• "What was your name again?" I asked Scruffy Guy.
• "Rocco." He was still grinning.
• And the perfect first target.
• "Sexy name," I remarked.
• Rocco's grin faltered.
• Zed's eyes narrowed.
• Perfect. I had the absolute perfect plan.
• Minus the brothers killing each other, but I doubted that would happen if I was the one flirting and not them.
• Jesse eyed me suspiciously, jumping up in the chair beside mine and sitting.
• "So what are you studying, Teagan?" Smiley called out from the kitchen, smoothing over the tension my comment had created.
• I liked the tension, though. Tension was going to save my ass.
• My real major was nursing, but it wasn't the time for real majors.
• "Public relations."
• "Public...relations?" Zed lifted an eyebrow. Rocco lifted two.
• "Yes sir." I smiled.
• Honestly, I wasn't sure what classes a public relations major would even take, but I thought the name of the major might make their minds go to sexual relations.
• Ford's suspicious gaze landed on me. "You're acting weird."
• "Isn't this how you wanted me to act when you kidnapped me?" I drawled. "Agreeable?"
• Jesse growled at me, and I ignored him. Instead of responding to his grumpiness, I changed the subject abruptly. "Where's your bathroom?”
• If I was going to make things more tense and uncomfortable, I needed to be wearing less clothes.
• "I'll show you," Rocco offered, coming around the table. As I hoped, he picked me up out of the chair and carried me toward the bathroom.
• The wolf didn't even realize that his protectiveness was going to work against him. And damn, I was enjoying feeling evil.
• Jesse trotted beside us, and I leaned my head against Rocco's chest. I was so far from comfortable doing it that it wasn't even funny, but comfort would be sacrificed in favor of survival every time around.
• I tugged my hair out of its ponytail, letting it fall against Rocco's arm as he walked. I hadn't brushed it out, but I knew guys liked the just-woke-up look sometimes.
• "Thanks for the ride," I gave Rocco what I hoped was a sly smile and kissed his cheek before he set me down.
• The wolf growled at his friend/brother, and I bit back a grin as I shut the door behind me.
• Evil. So, so evil.
• I analyzed myself in the mirror. I didn't own many sexy outfits because I didn't particularly like the attention they attracted, but I knew how to make my curves work for me.
• First things first: the shirt had to go. With the faded concert T-shirt on, I looked cute. Without it, I had on leggings and a sports bra... AKA workout clothes, and what guy didn't like workout clothes on a girl?
• I pulled up my boobs a bit, making my cleavage spill a bit out the top of the already-tight sports bra. Next, I finger-brushed my hair to get rid of some of the tangles, tugging the blonde locks over my shoulders so they framed my curves.
• Stepping over to the toilet, I flushed it just so the guys wouldn't be suspicious. Then I washed my hands, because who knew what germs were on Ford's toilet.
• The house looked clean and modern, but the men were gross.
• I opened the door and walked right up to Rocco, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I'm ready for a ride." I had to bite back a laugh at myself because I knew the guys would take the comment sexually.
• Jesse's snarl told me he had, and Rocco's red face said the same.
• "Right. Okay." Rocco lifted me off my feet, carrying me honeymoon-style toward the kitchen. His eyes were focused away from my exposed stomach and cleavage. "Do you want me to turn the AC on? We could cool it down in here if you're feeling warm."
• I laughed.
• Bold Teagan, coming right up.
• "Oh, no. I just prefer not to wear shirts when it's avoidable. I figured I'd come over and check out the crowd, and see if it would make anyone uncomfortable first before stripping. But you all are just so welcoming, I realized I was being silly to hide who I am." I wrapped my fingers around his bicep. "Wow, you're so strong."
• Rocco's expression was bordering on panic at that point, so I was positively gleeful.
• I lifted my fingers to his face, brushing my hand over his scruffy beard.
• Damn, I was good.
• Or terrible, depending on your perspective, but I was going with good.
• Rocco grabbed my wrist, tugging it away from his face as he stepped back into the kitchen. "I'm not really"
• I grabbed him around the neck, pressing my lips to his.
• Go big or go home, right?
• I'd had a couple of boyfriends, though none of them had been serious. But if there was one thing I'd learned, it was that little kisses on the lips didn't feel intimate to me. So kissing Rocco? Easy. No conscience is required.
• Rocco dropped me into a chair just as Jesse the wolf lunged for his throat.
• I bit back a grin as I leaned away, only to get confronted by another of the guys.
• Elliot began, "Teagan, what"
• I cut him off with a kiss to his mouth, too.
• The more the merrier.
• Jesse roared, and Elliot stepped away from me just in time to get tackled by the wolf.
• One last guy would ensure proper, full-out chaos, so I grabbed Ford by the shirt and smacked my lips to his. He shook his head at me, but the respect in his eyes told me he knew exactly what I was doing.
• And, just like Elliot had, he ducked away from me just before he was tackled.
• The other guys were trying to calm the wolf as well as keep him from ripping into the ones I'd kissed. One of them had started shifting too at one point which wasn’t a short process and the house was loud and crazy.
• Stepping to the side of the room, I grabbed Ford's keys off a hook on his garage door and silently slipped away from the chaos. When I got outside, I climbed into the sporty silver car without a moment of hesitation.
• Hitting the buttons to start the engine and open the garage at the same time, I prepped myself for wolves to run out into the garage and try to stop me.
• They didn't come.
• When the garage door was far enough to open, I reversed faster than I ever had in my whole damn life and then peeled away from the house.
• Free at last.