She closed her eyes, anticipation scurrying heat through her system. Beck’s mouth touched hers. The cold night made the first touch icy but fun. She giggled, but didn’t stop the kiss. He slid his hand behind her head as he deepened their connection. Warmth radiated through her system, and she forgot that it was colder than a deep freeze.
His stubble brushed her chin. When she breathed through her nose, the woodsy aura that surrounded him filled her senses and transferred her to that hot summer night she’d been thinking about.
Nothing had ever felt as good as Beck’s mouth against hers. Not even winning a race against Kelyn, who was amazingly swift. This kiss was all hers. She hadn’t needed to compete for it. It was a prize she’d not known she needed until now.
Above them the fireworks glittered up the sky. Beneath them the compacted snow crunched as their pack boots slid over the surface. Beside them, the thermos of hot chocolate rolled across the snowy ground and hit the booted toe of a man who had just arrived hilltop.
“Daisy Blu?”
She broke away from the delicious heat of Beck’s mouth, wishing she hadn’t heard her name and that she could kiss him again and again, but the voice was too familiar. And it wasn’t a brother.
“Ah, shit,” Beck said under his breath.
Daisy twisted to sit and looked up at the dark-haired man towering over them. “Hey, Dad.”
Daisy got a hand up from Beck. She noticed Beck did not stand tall before her father, but instead bowed his head, showing submission, as was expected when a lesser wolf stood before a pack alpha.
Most men might stand up to Malakai, to grandstand in an attempt to show him he couldn’t be pushed around. Those men generally walked away limping or bleeding.
Much as her anger for her father tightened her muscles, Daisy appreciated that Beck showed her father respect.
“Hello, Mister Saint-Pierre,” Beck said.
“What the hell are you doing here with my daughter?” Kai asked.
“Daddy, please.”
“Quiet, Daisy. I’m talking to Beckett.” The taller wolf was dressed in a leather jacket, his long curly dark hair pulled back behind his head to reveal his square jaw held in a tense frown. “Are you two on a date?”
“Uh...” Beck looked to her.
“Of course we are,” she broke in. “And will you stop treating me like I’m a teenager? I’m a grown woman. I can see whomever—”
Kai’s hand landed on Daisy’s shoulder, a staying move that he’d employed as she’d grown up. A means to show her he was not to be trifled with, and must always be respected. It was his gentle way of showing authority.
And she quieted.
“You won’t be seeing this lone wolf,” Kai said, his gaze fixed to Beck’s, who had trouble holding the alpha’s stare. “Isn’t that right, Beckett?”
“Uh, sir.” Beck’s shoulders rolled back. He tucked his thumbs in his pants pockets and looked Kai straight in the eye. “I don’t want to cause any problems, but I think Daisy can choose whomever she wishes to date.”
Daisy smiled inwardly. Go, Beck!
“Are you trying to tell me how to run my family, boy? My pack? Because it sure sounds like it.”
“No, sir. I— It’s our first time out together.”
“And you thought it was okay to kiss my daughter?”
“Daddy,” Daisy said under her breath. “Do not do this.”
The fireworks had ceased. The night sky grew dark with few stars. The waxing moon hid beyond the tree line. While the humans tromped back to their cars, the trio of werewolves held position at the top of the hill. Daisy scented her father’s anger, and yet, there was a tangible softness to it. Similar to how he reacted when she’d made a mistake when she was little. Like maybe he was puffing up to show aggression in display but didn’t mean it as much as he showed it.
But she hadn’t made a mistake this time. At least, she didn’t want it to be a mistake. She could understand that her father wouldn’t want her hanging around an unaligned wolf, but to approach her when they’d been kissing had been too much. She wanted to tuck tail and crawl off into the woods.
“I’ll take Daisy home,” Beck said.
“No, you won’t. I’ll drive her home,” Kai asserted.
“I brought her here. I won’t abandon her,” Beck said, his shoulders tilting back a little farther.
“I said I’d take her home, boy.”
“I want Beck to drive me, Daddy.”
Malakai Saint-Pierre twisted his neck to look down at Daisy. The menace in his gaze could never be softened, and it did not fail to strike at her heart. She swallowed back her bravery and bowed her head. When would she be able to break free of her father’s influence? Was it even possible?
“Get in the car, Daisy,” her father said.
Beck bent to pick up the thermos and handed it to her. “I’m sorry about this.”
“No, I am,” she offered. “This isn’t how things should have gone tonight.” Inhaling a deep breath, she swept her gaze over her father’s stare then wandered down the hill.
She hated leaving Beck at the hands of her father. And what had he done? He’d only wanted to get to know her better. Rare was it a guy actually asked her on a date to do something, as opposed to wanting to go straight to her house to make out on the couch. She craved the wooing process. And that kiss. It could have been amazing had her father not shown up.
Glancing up the hill, Daisy saw that her father was already on his way down. Whew. He hadn’t given Beck a chewing-out. Her father was not a cruel man, but he was feared for the very reason that his physicality was remarkable. It was the rare wolf in this area who could stand against him, alpha or otherwise.
Daisy got into the old pickup truck and pulled the door shut with the duct-taped handle. As her father got in, she tucked her legs up to her chest and twisted to face the window. The engine rattled, and the truck took off.
“He’s arrogant,” Kai said after they’d driven a few miles.
“He’s kind.”
“I’ve invited him to join our pack too many times.”
Daisy swung her head around and met her father’s brief glance. “How many is too many? Two? And the one time he was grieving his lost father.”
“Two too many. He’s refused both times. Says he doesn’t need a pack. That’s arrogance, if you ask me. Stay the hell away from him, Daisy Blu.”
Beck had every right to refuse her father. Daisy could imagine that if he had grown up with a father who had been a lone wolf, then the idea of a pack must be odd to him. Overwhelming. Perhaps even threatening.
“You’re not going to stay away from him, are you?” Kai asked softly.
Daisy bit her lower lip to fight the tears that threatened to spill down her cheek. She wanted to do the right thing in her father’s eyes. But her right and his right weren’t in alignment now. And she was a grown woman. Too old to still have her father tailing after her, approving or denying her choice in men.
“Daisy?”
“I don’t know,” she finally said.
Kai’s sigh rippled through her skin and twanged at her heart.
* * *
The afternoon had been designated