Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Chapter 22_Part 2 - Mac

Friday 19 February

~*Mac*~

“They adore you,” I said to Nat with a massive smile on my face. We had just dropped Dakota and Peyton home after the dinner and were now heading to the cinemas to see a movie.

“You think so?” she asked, her worry still lingering.

“Absolutely.”

She remained quiet for a couple of minutes.

I could see her fidgeting in her seat out of the corner of my eye while I drove. “What’s the matter, Nat?”

She glanced at me quickly before turning away, hesitant to bring up whatever was bothering her. “Why haven’t you told them about what happened Tuesday?”

I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as I took a deep breath. “Because there’s nothing really to talk about.”

She shifted in her seat to look at me. The dashboard lights illuminated her face, lending her an ethereal quality that was more than a little spooky. “You nearly died, Mac. As a matter of fact, you did, at least for a minute.”

I exhaled the breath I had been holding and ground my teeth together. “I know,” I mumbled.

“Then why?”

“Because I don’t want them to worry about me.” I pulled into the parking lot of the theatre and parked the car, shutting the engine off, but not making any attempt to get out. “It was an accident, that’s all. There’s no point in worrying them about something that’s done and over with.”

Nat blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off before she could get a peep out.

“I’m still alive. You brought me back. That’s all that matters.”

She swallowed heavily, looking at everything in the car except me. “I shouldn’t have needed to,” she muttered under her breath. “It was all my fault.” She shook her head sadly.

I leaned over the centre console to take her hands in mine. “None of what happened was your fault, Nat.” I rubbed my thumbs over hers. “Stop blaming yourself.”

Her shoulders dropped in defeat when she finally looked up at me. “It was my fault, Mac. The shock wave came from me. I was the one who threw you into the tree and nearly killed you.”

My thumbs paused their movement for a moment while I looked at her, trying to figure out what she was saying. “You created the shock wave?”

“I don’t know why, but yeah.” She hung her head in sorrow. “It happened when I touched both you and Bells at the same time.”

I tilted my head to take in the news. Interesting, but there were weirder things out there in the world. “Well, I guess I can understand that. We’re both very sexy men.” I grinned at her and resumed my thumb rubbing.

She giggled, but quickly became serious again. “I’m serious, Mac.”

“So am I. You could dial 1-800-s*x-on-legs and find Bells or me. We’re both that damn sexy. I mean, have you looked at Bells? He’s the walking definition of f**k-me-now-daddy-please-more.”

Nat roared with laughter. “Goddess, do I have to compete with Bells for your affection?” There was that sparkle in her eyes I wanted to see every time I looked at her. If I could make her laugh every time that she was with me, I could die a lucky man.

I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but now that you mention it…”

Still giggling, she pulled one of her hands from mine so she could smack me on the shoulder.

I let the laughter die down a little before broaching the topic I actually was curious about. “I know I haven’t asked, but I’m thinking maybe I should. Especially after what happened on Tuesday.” I watched her carefully, waiting for the inevitable shutting down. “What happened between you and Bells? Should I be worried?”

Nat took a long, slow, deep breath in before letting it out slowly. “No, I don’t think you should have any concerns about Bells, but you’re right. I probably should tell you.” She turned to look out the passenger side window. “We were seeing each other during Camp when I was suffering from amnesia. It was all going smoothly until something traumatic happened to Bells.” She looked down at her lap, where her fingers were fidgeting with nerves. “When my wolf showed up, it affected how he saw me, so he dumped me.”

I closed my eyes as I felt her devastation. “I’m so sorry.”

She swallowed. “His trauma is affecting him, more than he’d admit. When we were together, I asked him to talk to someone about it, but I don’t think he ever did. And now it’s showing up in these bursts of rage that he’s been getting. You saw one on Tuesday.”

“When he wanted to rip my head off?”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “The two that I’ve seen, I’ve been able to stop before he goes nuclear. I nearly had him back to normal on Tuesday before the shock wave happened.”

I scratched my chin in thought. “Have these shock waves happened before to you?”

“A couple of times.” Nat sighed. “It seems to happen every time part of my heritage kicks in.”

“Heritage?” I frowned, trying to follow the topic changes. This was a lot to take in, but I had asked.

She nibbled her bottom lip so much it almost distracted me from what she was saying. “You said you saw me shift at the last full moon.”

I nodded. The image of her magnificent white wolf flickered through my mind.

“So, you saw that I don’t shift like other wolves?”

I nodded again. “Yeah, there were all these bright, colourful lights. I just assumed you swallowed a disco ball or something.” I grinned at her to let her know I was joking. Or at least half joking.

She snorted. “If only it was that simple.”

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Nothing in life is ever as simple as swallowing a disco ball, Nat.” Something was telling me I needed to keep things light, so I continued joking around. Whatever had happened to her was obviously weighing heavily on her mind.

“I’m not a typical wolf, Mac. I’m what is called a Rainbow Serpent.”

I blinked and let my forehead crinkle. “Okay…?”

“You already know the main thing about me; how my wolf is male. But there are other things that set me apart.” She was really wringing her hands now with anxiety. “The shock you felt that first time we touched. Do you remember?”

My left hand drifted up my right arm of its own accord, tracing the path the electricity took. “Yeah. Felt like one of those static shocks everyone gets occasionally. Stung a little more, but it wasn’t too bad.”

“It wasn’t static electricity. It was me. The first time I touch a wolf, I give them a shock. It’s a warning system for me.”

“Warning for what?”

“It tells me if they mean me harm or not.”

Absently, I rubbed my chest where the shock had ended up. “Do I want to know what happens to those that mean you harm?”

“Probably not.” She looked away from me and out at the almost full carpark around us. “There’s still so much that I’m learning. Things like the shock wave that happened on Tuesday are going to keep coming, but I have no control over when they do or how they show up.” She turned back to me with worried eyes. “I can’t guarantee that you’ll be safe around me, Mac. I meant what I said to you on Saturday.” She pressed her lips together in concern. “I’m broken. And I don’t know if I’ll ever be whole.”

Smiling, I reached out my palm to cup her cheek. “And I meant what I said. Nothing is ever so broken—”

“That it can’t be mended,” she murmured, leaning into my hand. She brought her fingers up to clasp my wrist, a small smile appearing on her face. “I remember. But this is your life we’re talking about, Mac. You could end up getting seriously hurt by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Nat, that’s what living is all about. Every morning we wake up, we face the unknown. My life is fuller knowing you and being around you than not.” I smiled. “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll work this out together.” I ran my thumb over her cheek before glancing at the clock on the dash. “We should probably get a move on if we want to catch the movie.”

Nat peeked at the clock. “Oh, crap. Good point.”

We got out of the car and rushed to the ticket booth, only to be stopped by the line of people waiting. There must have been a couple of movies starting at the same time as the queue was massive.

“You want to get popcorn while I wait here for tickets?” I asked, rifling in my wallet for some cash to give her.

“Sure.” She closed my wallet around my fingers, not letting me get her any cash. “Combo deal?”

I nodded with a grin. “Sounds perfect.”

“I’ll be right back then.” She kissed me on the cheek and left me in the queue to wait, beaming like a Cheshire cat. I couldn’t believe how happy I was feeling. It’d been so long.

Five minutes later, I hadn’t made much progress, but she was back. She didn’t have any popcorn, but she did have someone following her and hassling her rather loudly.

“What the hell are you still doing here, freak? Just do the world a favour and go back to where you came from. Or better yet, go and kill yourself. The world would be a better place without the likes of you in it.”

I grabbed Nat’s hand and pulled her to my side. “Are you okay?” I asked, completely ignoring the numpty still spouting bullshit behind us.

“I’m fine.”

I couldn’t help but notice that her words didn’t quite match up with the pale look on her face.

“You think you can just run to your midget boyfriend for protection? So, it’s only in wolf form that you have balls?” Raucous laughter filled the air. “f*****g knew it.”

I cricked my neck, letting the rage at this obviously very drunk arsehole’s words fill me up. The stench of beer rolled off him so much I almost gagged from the smell. I didn’t even know I had Nat’s hand in a death grip until she tapped my arm to get me to loosen my hold.

“Leave it, Mac. It’s just Nolan from training,” she said to me before she looked directly at the f**k-knuckle in question. “He’s still salty that he can’t beat me in sparring.”

I turned to face the person in question, only to see his face turning a satisfying shade of purple. “Hm. He does look like he’s filled with piss and vinegar, doesn’t he?” I turned back to Nat. “Does he live in a fish and chip shop by chance?”

Nat’s eyes just about bugged out of her face at my words as she tried desperately to swallow the laugh that was tempting to break free.

A vicious growl sounded behind me. “You little f**k. What right do you have—”

“Oh, I think they have every right after the s**t I’ve just heard you spout.” We all turned around to find Kennedy and Kelly approaching us from the cinema exit point. Kennedy was glaring at Nolan with so much venom, it surprised me he hadn’t shrivelled up and died.

Nolan looked like he was about to blow a gasket. He blustered a little more, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, before he gave up, turned, and walked away.

“I’ll talk to Casey on your behalf, shall I, Nolan?” Kennedy called out to Nolan’s retreating form with a grin.

We all heard a grumble, but none of us could decipher what he said.

“You okay, guys?” Kelly asked us, letting Kennedy keep watch.

I looked up at Nat to let her answer.

“Yeah, I think so,” she said, sighing. “This is nothing I’m not used to.” She turned to me. “Might have been an unfamiliar experience for you, though. Are you okay?”

I waved my hand in the air to dismiss her concerns. “I’m fine. Gives me a chance to work on my comebacks. There’s usually so few opportunities.” I wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer. “You still want to tackle the movie?”

Nat looked at the line still ahead of us. “Actually Mac, if it’s all the same to you, can we call it a night? I feel like I’ve lost my appetite for watching a movie.”

“Of course.” I immediately stepped out of the line and motioned for her to lead the way.

“Did you drive here?” Kennedy asked, waiting for us to nod before he continued. “We’ll walk you out. I don’t trust Nolan not to try something.” He looked at Kelly, who nodded in agreement.

“Thanks Kennedy; Kelly.” Nat smiled at them, but I could see the disappointment in her eyes. The experience had hurt her, no matter how she tried to downplay things.

We made our way back to my car, said our goodbyes to Kennedy and Kelly, and I drove us back to Building Two in relative silence, neither one of us really knowing what to say. I wanted to crack jokes to lighten her mood, but I had a feeling anything I said would just fall flat.

I pulled into the short-term drop off point at the pack house. “Let me walk you up to your apartment. Nolan is living up there too, isn’t he?”

“He is,” she said hesitantly. “But his bark is way worse than his bite. He hasn’t been able to best me in any of our sparring sessions yet and I highly doubt he’d be able to tonight, especially seeing how drunk he seemed.” She undid her seatbelt and opened the door at the same time I did. “You don’t have to come up with me, you know.”

“I know, but I’ll sleep better tonight knowing you got home without running into any other idiots.”

She raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and got out of the car.

I locked the car and walked next to her on the way up to her apartment, my hands in my jacket pockets the whole time. She was still a little skittish after what had happened at the cinemas, and I wanted to give her as much space as she needed. It wasn’t until we arrived on her floor that she broke the silence between us.

“I’m sorry for calling it a night,” she said, sounding incredibly disappointed. “I know it’s still early.”

“Hey, it’s all good. We had fun at dinner though, right?”

A slow smile appeared on her face. “Yeah, we did.” She came to a stop outside one of the apartment doors and waved her wrist in front of the lock. Nat opened the door slightly just to get it past the latch, but didn’t open it all the way. “I enjoy spending time with you, Mac.”

“I enjoy spending time with you too, Nat. Very much.” Her cheeks darkened slightly, which made me smile. “I’d ask you to go out again this weekend, but Dad and I have a job we need to finish that’s run over schedule.” I noticed a flicker of disappointment sweep across her face that mirrored my own at the fact that it would be days before I got to see her again. “Would you like me to come early to lunch on Tuesday again?”

She nodded, her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm.

“I’ll pack a picnic basket again,” I said, feeling a broad smile sweep across my face when her eyes sparkled even further. What I wouldn’t do to have her always looking like this, so beautiful, so happy, so at ease with the world.

So sexy.

I felt my c**k twitch at the thought, just like last weekend, when she’d joked about kissing my shoulder better. Just like then, my smile dropped slowly away as I felt the desire to kiss her ramp up.

“Uh… Nat?” I asked quietly, my eyes never leaving hers.

There was that adorable blush again. “Yeah?” she murmured before she licked her lips.

My heart fluttered at the sight. Oh, how I wanted her. “I would very much like to kiss you right now.”

Her lips opened ever so slightly as she dragged in a slow breath. “What’s stopping you?”

The words had barely left her mouth before I took a step towards her. My hands were out of my pockets and cupping her cheeks before I knew it, coaxing her down to my height so I could press my lips against hers, before pushing her gently against the wall next to her apartment door. Teasing her lips open, my tongue tentatively searched for her own, massaging the very tip gently when she let out a soft moan.

I heard the door click closed as she let it go before she wrapped one hand behind my head and the other underneath my jacket and around my waist to hold me closer. Once I felt her hands on my body, I moved one of mine to grip the back of her neck, letting my thumb caress the skin just below her ear. My other hand drifted down her side to grasp the back of her upper thigh, as close as I could get to her arse, without actually touching it. I flattened my body against hers, letting her feel exactly how much I wanted her, knowing that she’d be able to feel my now incredibly hard c**k pressing against her through our pants.

She let out another moan, this one louder than the last. My hand that was at the base of her neck gently followed the curvature of her neck around to the front, where I let my thumb rub softly against her throat before I lifted my hand up to her mouth.

Reluctantly, I pulled my lips from her and ran my fingertips across her bottom lip. I watched with hooded eyes as she coaxed the tip of my index finger into her mouth so she could suck it, letting her warm, soft tongue flutter against the pad.

I groaned as the desire for her rushed through my system. The need I had for her was almost overpowering, but I was very aware that we were standing in the corridor where anyone could come across us. I let out a ragged breath as I pulled away from her, my hands ever so slowly leaving her body.

“Wow…” she breathed, her head tilting back to meet the wall behind her, her eyes closing. She let out a little giggle as she brought her right hand up to let her fingers drift across her bottom lip. “You were holding back before.”

I chuckled at the breathless nature of her words. “Sweetheart, I’m still holding back,” I said gruffly, my voice thick with the amount of longing I still felt coursing through my body.

Her eyes flung open and found mine instantly, immediately realising the truth to my words. Her bottom lip lowered enough so she could drag her tongue over it once more, the sparkle in her eyes almost wicked.

Wicked enough to get me into a lot of trouble if I wasn’t careful. Forcing myself backwards a step, I broke her eye contact to look at the ground. I desperately wanted her, but now was not the time to get myself invited in. It was obvious that she still held a lot of unresolved feelings for Bells, regardless of how her body reacted to mine right this minute.

It was still too early for us to take this any further than just a kiss.

But, Goddess, how I wanted her.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday.” I coughed to clear my throat. “With a picnic.” I shoved my hands in my pockets again so I wouldn’t be tempted to touch her again. I felt my fingers twitching with the need to feel her again.

“Okay,” she said, sounding a little lost. It sounded like she wanted to continue our make-out session, but I couldn’t chance it. If I started again, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

I looked up to find her somewhat dazed, but she was nodding slowly and already holding her wrist to the locking mechanism again. I heaved a sigh of relief—I’d made the right call, regardless of how much we both wanted to make the wrong one.

I waited for her to go inside and watched her watch me as the door gradually closed, the glow from the overhead lights glinting in her eyes. The door was just a foot from shutting completely before I grinned mischievously at her, leaning against the door frame with both hands.

“Sleep well, Nat. Dream of me.” I winked at her when I saw her smile appear. “I’ll be dreaming of you.”

I watched the door click shut before I turned to walk back to my car with a skip in my step and a lightness in my heart I hadn’t felt in ages.

Oh, what dreams I was going to have tonight.