Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Bullied Mate Chapter 12

Jada

Both horses whinnied while I obsessed over the field schedule board that I had propped up at the rear of the stables. A shiny red apple sat in my right palm as I held a pen in my left hand, scribbling and scratching every so often, riling myself up more than the horses nearby. They weren't as temperamental as my boyfriend. And they were hardly as handsome either. Though I didn't doubt that Snow, in the right stall, and Violet in the left one were among the most adorable horses I had ever had the pleasure of knowing and grooming. I made a point to tell them every time I visited them.

Which seemed to be a lot more often.

While Isaiah grabbed an extra thirty minutes because of his caffeine-lacking system, I'd wandered into the stables early to get a handle on the schedule. Most days were easy enough. I paired myself with Isaiah as often as possible because, well, he was mine so I should keep him around me, right? I had every right to do that.

Mine, I mentally claimed as I scribbled on the board again. I get to do what I want when I want because he's mine.

I stood upright.

Well, that was a new feeling. And it wasn't the brilliant kind of new sensation that made me wonder whether more was on the way. It was weird. Possessive in a way that made me feel like... A bully.

I scratched my head. Was Isaiah rubbing off on me? I mean, he was rubbing me in certain ways, and I had noticed an uptick in my sensitivity to criticism, but I didn't think he had that kind of influence over me outside the bedroom. No, it was only in bed that he could do that.

The hair on the back of my neck raised. I flipped around to find Skye scooting the stable doors open as quietly as possible-which wasn't particularly quiet at all. The only reason I hadn't heard the initial squeal of the wheels was because I'd been lost in my head. It wouldn't be the first time someone snuck up on me.

That's not supposed to happen, I thought. I wore a grin while Skye approached, but deep down, I just felt twelve types of wrong. I shouldn't be overly cautious, but I can't afford not to be cautious either. What a conundrum.

Skye motioned to Snow and then stepped into the stall. Snow hardly made a sound while Skye groomed her Such sweet creatures, these horses. They were all that remained of our barn animals aside from the others.

"It's such a shame," I whispered as I turned back to the board. "We used to have so many animals."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you get invaded."

I nodded. "Glad the pigs didn't miss a beat in reproducing."

She laughed. "The horses could use a little help."

I glanced at Violet. "I don't think these two have the right parts."

"There's always artificial insemination."

"Please, I don't want to know how that's done with horses."

Skye tittered and then dove headlong into an explanation complete with hand gestures that referenced the two horses a great deal. Unfortunately for her, I had a knack for tuning things out that I didn't want to hear. And impregnating horses wasn't something I wanted to hear about right this second.

Besides, my mind was occupied with other issues. Like why Isaiah was so sluggish and foggy all the time. Sure, the coffee withdrawals were probably bad, but then he had good days too, days like yesterday where he was peppy and ready to go.

He might be lying. It was such an odd thought to strike me. But it seemed to be an appealing one considering how much my brain wanted to focus on it. He might be sneaking coffee behind your back.

No, that was just downright silly. Isaiah wasn't about to lie to me over something as seriously stupid as coffee. If he was lying about that, well, that would mean he had been lying about other stuff too. And that wasn't an idea I wanted to entertain.

Skye sucked air into her lungs like she had been holding her breath for a good three minutes. Which was possible. I'd seen her do it.

She grinned. "Any questions?"

"Absolutely none. Please, no more talk about...what was it again?"

"How to simulate penetration so the horse can-"

I held up the apple with a nervous laugh. "Okay, how about we move on to something else?"

"Like how you've been hiding in the stables earlier every morning?" She crossed her arms over her chest as I turned away. "Jada, you can't hide stuff from me."

"No, because you'll go around blabbing it to people, won't you?"

Ouch-I felt the burn of that statement like a hot iron sizzling on my skin. That wasn't fair to say. While she had hurt me the other night after I picked her up, she hadn't meant any harm. She just wanted the best for me. But she had hurt me.

"Jada, I know you're upset, but that hurt my feelings," Skye explained. "You want to tell me what's going on with Isaiah to make you act this way?"

"He's not making me act any way."

She left the stall and drifted past me to the next stall where Violet was waiting patiently to be groomed. I listened to Skye moving expertly around the stall, and then I heard her brushing Violet next, the soft shwoop of the brush on Violet's coat acting like a soothing white noise in the background.

"You spilled the beans to Izzy without my permission," I snapped. "You shouldn't have done that. It really bothered me."

She hummed. It reminded me of Izzy for a second until I realized that he was probably still snoozing back at the condo.

And then the brushing sound stopped. "I'm sorry for that. You're right-it wasn't my responsibility to tell your mate about something that happened a long time ago."

"Correct."

The brushing resumed. "However, that doesn't mean you get to be rude to me. You know you can come to me with your feelings. I'm not an asshole." She paused again. "I'm not a bully."

That phrase sliced harder than my jab.

Shoot, I must have been hurting people left and right at this rate. How long had I been hiding my feelings and letting them fester? That wasn't like me. None of this was like me. Sure, I liked burying myself in my work, but becoming obsessed with it and hiding everything about my boyfriend in all the time I spent with my boyfriend was going to turn me into a jerk.

A lot like Isaiah had been a jerk when he first got here.

"It's hard," I whispered. "The guy was totally an ass when we met, but he's actually kind and sweet. He's considerate. He's..." I nipped my lower lip. Nah, I wasn't going to tell her about the way he worshiped my body. "It makes me crazy sometimes." "Why?"

I shrugged. "I have no frickin' clue."

"You must be in love."

I laughed so hard that I snorted. "You must be joking."

Her eyes got all starry like she was looking up to a celebrity or something. She wasn't even looking at me anymore. She was gazing at the ceiling like it was her saving grace. "Gosh, I can't wait to get paired with someone. I've always dreamed of having a mate who would take care of me."

"Isaiah doesn't take care of me."

"But you were just saying-"

I snapped my fingers. "I know what I said."

"You make it look easy."

"Well, it's not easy. It's not all it's cracked up to be. It's hard work."

I sure did forget how naïve Skye could be. She was a simple woman with simple tastes and a heart wide open for love. Honestly, the burns I had suffered from my past were evidence enough of relationships being hard work. Forget love. That just wasn't an option right now.

The doors squealed. Both of us glanced at the entrance just as Isaiah stepped into the yellow light. A smile graced his lips, one I had been seeing more of lately, though the crease in his brow told me something was up. Was he going to be honest this time? Or was he going to call it nothing?

I checked my top, fixed my tits as subtly as possible, and then tousled my hair.

"Right, hard," Skye whispered with a teasing tone. She opened the stall door and shut it quietly. "I can see how it's such hard work."

Before I could protest, she took off, swaying past Isaiah with a flirtatious grin that set my entire body on fire with anger. I would have chased after her to chide her for that offense if Isaiah hadn't approached me so quickly.

He pointed to the board. "Is that what you've been sneaking out to do every morning?"

My cheeks burned. "I wanted to let you sleep without my loud rambling."

"You don't ramble loudly."

"No, but I think real loudly."

He studied me carefully. The smile wasn't gone. But it didn't expand either like it usually would during our little banter moments. Was he second-guessing this whole situation?

Shoot, I knew Skye had made a mistake in telling him about my past. I scrubbed my cheek, hoping that I hadn't lost control of my shifting abilities again. What if I got stuck halfway between? What if I had a tail and walked around with a beard again? I couldn't go back to living like that. How embarrassing. How awful. How-

"You're thinking real hard again," he whispered while stroking my cheek. My hand hadn't left my face, so he slid his finger over my knuckles, drawing goosebumps to the surface. "You alright, sugarplum?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

His hand slipped to his side. He cleared his throat and then nodded toward the board. "I have a request for today."

My heart sank. "A request?"

"You know Lloyd Jennings? He's been having trouble with his back again."

"I thought Dr. Windsor had set him straight."

He shook his head. "Turns out the old man threw it out the other day. Just didn't have the heart to tell you so."

"I knew something was up when he couldn't bend. Why isn't he at home resting?"

"He's supposed to be doing that today. I told him to stay home. Told him I'd get his daughter in on it if he refused."

I planted my hands on my hips. It wasn't like me to be mean to the elderly, but I sure would be mean to that man if he didn't rest. "Let me guess. You saw him outside?"

"He's doing stretches."

"Damn it, Lloyd. I ought to hog-tie you to your bed and-"

He snickered. "His wife wouldn't like that too much."

"Well, his wife ought to be the one to do it. Because she's probably too busy designing something to be paying attention to his resting habits. If she's going to be distracted, then she should put something in place to-"

The way Izzy was staring at me made me want to throttle his throat. It was a mixture of infatuation and mirth-two things I didn't think he should have been feeling while I talked about the Jennings family.

I snapped my fingers for the second time in ten minutes. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, sugar tits."

I snarled. "If you don't get your shit together-"

"You gonna hog-tie me too, darling?"

Pure indignation rattled me. I held up both hands even though I was far from giving up. "You know what? I don't care. I'm getting back to the board."

"Hey, come on." He grabbed my waist, inspiring me to lightly smack his hands. "Jada, sweetie, sugar."

"This isn't something you can sweeten your way out of."

He chuckled huskily, drawing me close to his chest, rumbling with a growl that felt more primal than anything I'd heard from another shifter. The way it vibrated my body set me on fire. I wanted more from just a few seconds of pleasure. It wasn't fair. He knew he could make me feel things without me even wanting to feel things.

Until I felt them. And then I wanted them all the time.

It was rude and manipulative.

It was also impressive. But I would never admit that to him.

I smacked his hand a little harder. "Let me go. I have to finish the schedule. I have to-"

"Kiss tax."

As he dove in to kiss me, I turned my head, making my mouth collide with his chin instead of his lips. A pang radiated through my jaw and sent me stumbling back while I held my face. Hard pressure built in my cheek and a weird numbness settled over my mouth. Then pain blinded my vision. I bowed forward while holding my jaw. Unrelenting gods, his bones were hard. I couldn't believe how much that hurt. It was a simple bump, yet it felt like he had punched me square in the chin. "Green beans on toast," I groaned. "Shit on a shingle. What are your bones made of? Steel?"

Isaiah stammered over an apology and then rushed around the stables, searching for something. I had to guess that he was trying to find a cloth or an ice pack. There wasn't much in the way of first aid in the stables-that would be in the barn next door. I pointed at the door. "Out there, idiot."

"Don't call me an idiot."

"Maybe don't act like one."

Tension crackled around me as I listened to his footsteps retreat. The anger residing in my gut hardly quelled when I heard the squeal of the door. As soon as the door snapped shut, I released my face, fighting hot tears that threatened to fall, willing my throat to quit clenching up. It was just an accident. I didn't need to be a jerk about it.

But I couldn't seem to stop the feelings, the oddly placed betrayal. What was happening to me? Was this just a rough patch?

Or was I becoming a bully?