Motley Crewed Shifters - Chapter 18: Chapter 18
You are reading Motley Crewed Shifters, Chapter 18: Chapter 18. Read more chapters of Motley Crewed Shifters.
It wasn’t even seven yet, and I had just broken up the third fight between Kian and Dante before ending the morning Crew meeting.
My phone started buzzing, and I took off my hat and wiped my forehead before answering it. This do sixty percent of the work shit my grandmother assigned to me was the fucking pits.
I’d had to get up at four to take care of some goddamned goat problem for Jed, and now this shit.
I looked down and saw it was from Penelope, and my heart started galloping inside my chest.
“That your lady?” Zeke asked, his purple eyes narrowing in on me.
I nodded and took a few steps away, but now all four men were looking at me expectantly.
Dante had a wad of tissue stuffed up his nose, and Kian was sporting a black eye. But no one bothered to leave and give me any privacy.
Fucking hell.
“Hello?” I said, expecting sweetness and sunshine to greet me.
Instead, I was treated to an ass chewing by a little spitfire I’d only met once.
“How dare you take my best friend out and then leave her at the door! You think you’re too good for her or something?”
“Avery? Um, where is Penelope? She was perfectly fine when I dropped her off. What happened? Is she okay?”
“I am standing right here with her, and she isn’t even having a hard time walking. Just what kind of man are you? You know I just updated her dating app profile, and she’s had six men ask her out in the last ten minutes.”
“What dating app? What. Are. You. Talking. About.” I could not stop myself from snarling if I tried.
Suddenly, all four members of my Crew were surrounding me. Thunder roared in my ears, and I looked down and saw my skin reddening.
“Alpha, your ugh, rack,” Kian mumbled, his eyes on my forehead.
“Shit. He’s gonna Shift. Get back!” Emmet hissed.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know I am the only man for Penelope,” I growled, hanging on by a thread.
“Oh yeah? Prove it. Or maybe BobR345 can!”
Emmet snagged the phone from my hand before I could break it. Unfortunately for all of them, when my Shift was brought on by emotion, I tended to lash out with magic.
All four Shifters went flying across the barn. Bolts of magic shot from my clawed fingertips and I howled and roared my rage to the ceiling. My wings beat and my body lifted off the ground as an unearthly surge of energy filled me.
I didn’t know for sure, but I could imagine the dozens of times I went wrong with Penelope last night.
She didn’t know what I was, or what she was to me.
But I did.
And it was time I fucking told her.
“Boss, don’t you think you should, er, change first?” Emmet asked as he picked himself off the floor.
I stopped snarling long enough to look down as I lowered myself to the ground. My form shifted back to that of my human side, and I took in my ripped and torn clothing that hung off my body in shreds.
“Fuck!” I snapped.
I hated to waste time, but it was necessary. I couldn’t very well drive across town like this.
“Clean this place up. I’ll be back,” I told the guys, waving at the mess Dante and Kian had made before that little phone call.
Almost twenty minutes later, cursing the Sunday morning traffic, I stalked into Devil’s Food Bakery. A young woman was working behind the counter and there was a smattering of customers in line.
“Where’s Penelope?” I asked quietly.
“Oh, uh, in the back?” the woman said, but it sounded more like a question.
The three older women who were waiting for their baked goods looked at me and whispered. I could only imagine what they were thinking, but I ignored them and walked behind the counter.
“Oh, sir? You can’t—”
I ignored her. The cashier was not important to me.
Penelope was the only thing of any importance. The only woman who mattered to me.
Something was going on this morning.
Something I had obviously fucked up last night on our date.
I knew I needed to fix it. And on some level, I knew barging in like this was probably wrong. But my Devil was champing at the bit, and it was all I could do to keep my shift at bay.
The kitchen looked bigger than I imagined from the front, but it didn’t matter.
Hell, there could be oceans between us, and I would always find Penelope with unerring accuracy.
Always.
The pull I felt towards her was positively magnetic. My heart thudded heavily, and my cock grew hard just looking at her in her chef’s coat and pants. There were little red hearts with devil horns and pitchforks on them and any other time I would have grinned.
But not right then. All I wanted was Penelope. Here. Now. In my arms.
Mine.
“Oh crap! He looks pissed,” Avery squeaked, but she was grinning.
Penelope’s big brown eyes widened, and she backed up a step. Not smart. I was a hunter at heart and right now, my inner Devil recognized her as my prey.
“Avery,” I said, greeting her friend first.
The shorter woman looked like the cat that got the canary when she saw me, and she stepped off to the side, giving Penelope some room.
“Um, I think maybe I should get Lenny to come in a little earlier,” Avery said and started dialing.
But I ignored her, too.
“Penelope,” I growled, stalking her slowly.
“Um, hi,” she whispered, and I took a good look at her.
Fuck.
She was gorgeous. The most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Clearly, she’d been crying. Her eyes and nose were red.
I wanted to hunt down and kill whatever had distressed her, only I had the tiniest inkling it was me.
“Um, I’m sorry A-Avery called you like that,” she said.
“Don’t apologize. Talk to me.”
“I don’t know where to start,” she replied, her cheeks turning pink.
My Pretty Penny.
Sweet Sugarplum.
“Start with what I did wrong last night,” I growled.
She looked away, averting her gaze, and I didn’t like that. I wanted, no, I needed her eyes on me. So I moved closer, my hands on her neck, lifting her chin with my thumbs.
“God, you’re so fucking pretty.”
“You don’t have to say things like that,” she whispered.
“It’s only the truth, Sugarplum. You’re not asking me to lie to you, are you?”
“No, actually. I only want the truth,” she said, and I tightened my hold, relishing the way her pulse throbbed beneath my fingers.
Need pumped through my veins, and I had to work to stop the growl building inside my chest from spilling from my lips. But I couldn’t wait another moment to kiss her. That would be asking too much from a saint, and I sure as fuck wasn’t that.
I was a motherfucking Devil, and this woman was mine.
My phone started buzzing, and I took off my hat and wiped my forehead before answering it. This do sixty percent of the work shit my grandmother assigned to me was the fucking pits.
I’d had to get up at four to take care of some goddamned goat problem for Jed, and now this shit.
I looked down and saw it was from Penelope, and my heart started galloping inside my chest.
“That your lady?” Zeke asked, his purple eyes narrowing in on me.
I nodded and took a few steps away, but now all four men were looking at me expectantly.
Dante had a wad of tissue stuffed up his nose, and Kian was sporting a black eye. But no one bothered to leave and give me any privacy.
Fucking hell.
“Hello?” I said, expecting sweetness and sunshine to greet me.
Instead, I was treated to an ass chewing by a little spitfire I’d only met once.
“How dare you take my best friend out and then leave her at the door! You think you’re too good for her or something?”
“Avery? Um, where is Penelope? She was perfectly fine when I dropped her off. What happened? Is she okay?”
“I am standing right here with her, and she isn’t even having a hard time walking. Just what kind of man are you? You know I just updated her dating app profile, and she’s had six men ask her out in the last ten minutes.”
“What dating app? What. Are. You. Talking. About.” I could not stop myself from snarling if I tried.
Suddenly, all four members of my Crew were surrounding me. Thunder roared in my ears, and I looked down and saw my skin reddening.
“Alpha, your ugh, rack,” Kian mumbled, his eyes on my forehead.
“Shit. He’s gonna Shift. Get back!” Emmet hissed.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know I am the only man for Penelope,” I growled, hanging on by a thread.
“Oh yeah? Prove it. Or maybe BobR345 can!”
Emmet snagged the phone from my hand before I could break it. Unfortunately for all of them, when my Shift was brought on by emotion, I tended to lash out with magic.
All four Shifters went flying across the barn. Bolts of magic shot from my clawed fingertips and I howled and roared my rage to the ceiling. My wings beat and my body lifted off the ground as an unearthly surge of energy filled me.
I didn’t know for sure, but I could imagine the dozens of times I went wrong with Penelope last night.
She didn’t know what I was, or what she was to me.
But I did.
And it was time I fucking told her.
“Boss, don’t you think you should, er, change first?” Emmet asked as he picked himself off the floor.
I stopped snarling long enough to look down as I lowered myself to the ground. My form shifted back to that of my human side, and I took in my ripped and torn clothing that hung off my body in shreds.
“Fuck!” I snapped.
I hated to waste time, but it was necessary. I couldn’t very well drive across town like this.
“Clean this place up. I’ll be back,” I told the guys, waving at the mess Dante and Kian had made before that little phone call.
Almost twenty minutes later, cursing the Sunday morning traffic, I stalked into Devil’s Food Bakery. A young woman was working behind the counter and there was a smattering of customers in line.
“Where’s Penelope?” I asked quietly.
“Oh, uh, in the back?” the woman said, but it sounded more like a question.
The three older women who were waiting for their baked goods looked at me and whispered. I could only imagine what they were thinking, but I ignored them and walked behind the counter.
“Oh, sir? You can’t—”
I ignored her. The cashier was not important to me.
Penelope was the only thing of any importance. The only woman who mattered to me.
Something was going on this morning.
Something I had obviously fucked up last night on our date.
I knew I needed to fix it. And on some level, I knew barging in like this was probably wrong. But my Devil was champing at the bit, and it was all I could do to keep my shift at bay.
The kitchen looked bigger than I imagined from the front, but it didn’t matter.
Hell, there could be oceans between us, and I would always find Penelope with unerring accuracy.
Always.
The pull I felt towards her was positively magnetic. My heart thudded heavily, and my cock grew hard just looking at her in her chef’s coat and pants. There were little red hearts with devil horns and pitchforks on them and any other time I would have grinned.
But not right then. All I wanted was Penelope. Here. Now. In my arms.
Mine.
“Oh crap! He looks pissed,” Avery squeaked, but she was grinning.
Penelope’s big brown eyes widened, and she backed up a step. Not smart. I was a hunter at heart and right now, my inner Devil recognized her as my prey.
“Avery,” I said, greeting her friend first.
The shorter woman looked like the cat that got the canary when she saw me, and she stepped off to the side, giving Penelope some room.
“Um, I think maybe I should get Lenny to come in a little earlier,” Avery said and started dialing.
But I ignored her, too.
“Penelope,” I growled, stalking her slowly.
“Um, hi,” she whispered, and I took a good look at her.
Fuck.
She was gorgeous. The most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Clearly, she’d been crying. Her eyes and nose were red.
I wanted to hunt down and kill whatever had distressed her, only I had the tiniest inkling it was me.
“Um, I’m sorry A-Avery called you like that,” she said.
“Don’t apologize. Talk to me.”
“I don’t know where to start,” she replied, her cheeks turning pink.
My Pretty Penny.
Sweet Sugarplum.
“Start with what I did wrong last night,” I growled.
She looked away, averting her gaze, and I didn’t like that. I wanted, no, I needed her eyes on me. So I moved closer, my hands on her neck, lifting her chin with my thumbs.
“God, you’re so fucking pretty.”
“You don’t have to say things like that,” she whispered.
“It’s only the truth, Sugarplum. You’re not asking me to lie to you, are you?”
“No, actually. I only want the truth,” she said, and I tightened my hold, relishing the way her pulse throbbed beneath my fingers.
Need pumped through my veins, and I had to work to stop the growl building inside my chest from spilling from my lips. But I couldn’t wait another moment to kiss her. That would be asking too much from a saint, and I sure as fuck wasn’t that.
I was a motherfucking Devil, and this woman was mine.
End of Motley Crewed Shifters Chapter 18. Continue reading Chapter 19 or return to Motley Crewed Shifters book page.