Mated To Magic (Stark Creek Shifters Book 1) by Barb Shuler (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

how I feel about him. I don’t flirt back and he doesn’t cross the line.” Dalton snorted and rolled his eyes. Shaking my head, I moved over to him. “Got something to say, Dalton? Because now is your chance. Better yet, let me. He is and always will be like a big brother to me. I have no romantic feelings for Sy and I am putting money on the fact that Jay just told you the same thing while you were drowning your sorrows at the bar. Do you want to know how she knows there is nothing between him and I?”

“No.”

“Well, tough shit, Dalton because I’m going to tell you anyway. Then I’m going to turn around and walk back into my bar to finish working and I’ll meet you at home. Jayden knows there is nothing between Sy and me because she knows that I love you, jackass! I have loved you for three years. I am here because of you! If I really wanted to be with him, then I would have stayed in Wyoming!”

I turned around and walked back into the staff entrance, leaving Dalton to digest my words. I didn’t want to deal with him right now. I couldn’t. I had to keep my mind on my job and get to the end of the night. Then I could go home and take a nice long bath to relax. Do I wish that I was going home and doing that with him? Yes. Every night I wished I was doing that then climbing into bed with him. I had put myself out there, now it was time for him to do it. If he didn’t feel the same then he needed to say so now or he could go and sleep on Tyson’s couch because I was tired of this.

Placing my thumb on the finger scanner, I typed in the code and walked back inside the bar. Angus stood looking over the bar and gave me a nod.

“Everything okay in here?”

“Yeah, boss. You okay?”

“I’m fine. Keep an eye on the girls?”

“You got it!”

I squeezed his arm and moved to the bar.

“Bottle of water, please?”

Melody passed me a bottle from the fridge. Jayden moved over to me.

“You want to talk about it?”

I shook my head and took a drink. “I’m okay, I just want to get through the rest of the night then go home. If he’s lucky he won’t be sleeping at one of his mate’s houses tonight.”

Jayden chuckled and squeezed my hand.

“I’ll be your man for tonight, gorgeous.”

I turned my head and saw some creep sitting down at the bar, smirking with a drink in his hand.

“I’ll pass, thanks.” I stepped away from the bar to go see how the front was doing. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him.

“Oh, come on now, don’t play hard to get. We both know where this will end up.”

“I think we have our wires crossed there. I see you kicked out by security. Still want to continue down this path?” I jerked my arm, trying to get it out of his grasp. I looked up at Angus, who was already moving toward us. The guy saw Angus from the corner of his eye and grabbed me around the arm, pulling me to stand in front of him. I saw Angus’s lips move and he glanced at the door. Josh walked in and they both headed toward us.

“Tell them not to move or you will get hurt.” I went to open my mouth but before I could, I felt the tip of a knife pressed to my throat. Well, that escalated quickly.

Dalton

I hated the fact that we were fighting. Hated it. I never wanted to upset her, but dammit, she saw her relationship with Sy as a friendship, like he was an older brother to her. His flirting and playfulness with her showed me he didn’t see things the same way.

Why was she not seeing this? Or did she truly not see it? I watched her face from the corner of my eye. When she said she loved me, something inside of me did a one-eighty. My heart raced, my wolf clawed to get free and claim his mate, but I couldn’t…process this.

She. Loved. Me.

Had I heard her correctly? More than likely, I’d heard what I wanted to hear.

I stood there with my hands balled into fists to keep myself from moving to her, lifting her up and kissing the fight right out of her. I wanted to do it so bad. It physically hurt restraining myself from acting on that impulse.

Letting her walk away from me was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. And, I had to do it. We both needed to calm down. When tempers flare, things are said that you may not want to say. When the back door clicked shut, I moved to my truck and climbed inside. I took in a deep, calming breath and let it out. My wolf, on the other hand, was pacing and clawing to get free. He wanted to go back to his mate.

I needed to get out of here. Truck engine revving, I pulled out of the lot and headed up the main road. A nice long run would help ease us both. Taking a few deer down would help slake my hunger as well.

I pulled up the road leading to our new hunting grounds, parked, and didn’t bother stripping. The moment the door shut behind me, my wolf broke free of his human cage, snarling, digging his claws into the earth, propelling us forward.

This was not going to end well. I’d left her back there, mad and upset. It was taking all I had in me to keep my wolf up here in the trees. She needed time to calm down. I need time to calm down and stop plotting the murder of a cop. Even if he was a no good asshole. Maybe that was an unfair judgement,