Falling Hearts (Hearts of Wolves Book 1)

by Maggie Garrity

  My wondering thoughts were interrupted by the little blonde bombshell who brought us two more beers. An unnecessary act, since Wyatt had only taken two drinks, and I had wisely ignored mine. She fluttered her eyelashes at us both, but I just leaned over to look around her for Zee. Not to be discouraged, she started flirting with Wyatt who had her giggling quickly enough. I held back a whine when I couldn’t see Zee anywhere in the bar. I took a deep breath, trying to block out blondie’s overwhelming perfume and tried to catch Zee’s scent.

  Chapter Three

  Zee

  I could see Jackie flirting with Wyatt from my hiding place behind the door in the kitchen. Jackie was truly shameless as she bent forward to flash Wyatt her cleavage and caress his arm. I shifted my gaze to Alex. His head was lifted, and he was looking around the room. What is he doing? I wondered as he appeared to be sniffing the air. I jerked away from the crack in the door when I realized he was staring directly at me.

  “What the…,” I gasped as I backed quickly away from the door that led out to the bar. How the hell did he know where I was? I thought as I moved farther into the kitchen. I doubted that Jackie had told him I was hiding back here. She was way too busy trying to lure Wyatt into the employee bathroom for a quickie, as per her usual routine. Either way I had no intention of going back on the floor until after Alex left.

  I slid past Curtis as he flipped a burger on the grill. I didn’t want to get roped into taking plates out to customers. I decided I’d help with dishes, a decision I regretted immediately as I rounded the corner in the sink area. I groaned at the mess. Dishes caked with grease and ketchup were stacked up on the sideboard. A huge tub of glasses from the bar was sitting on the floor. The sink itself was full of dirty pans and water sloshed out as the jets ran, rotating the water and dishes. Against the wall by the sanitizer sink, sitting on an upside-down beer crate, was the dish washer.

  “James!” I shouted as I kicked his foot. He jolted upright and rubbed his eyes before looking at me incredulously.

  “What?” he asked as he stretched his legs out in front of himself and tilted his head back against the wall. I looked at him disgustedly when he closed his eyes and seconds later started snoring loudly. Resigning myself to the fact that I would be a greasy soaked mess by the time the night was over, I dove in and started scrubbing while taking great care to splash water onto the sleeping lump every chance I had.

  ******

  Hours later, after helping close the bar I was finally slinking home to wash the grease off my body and collapse into my bed before getting up to head to my second job, cleaning cabins, in the morning. I was forever thankful that I lived in a small town, as I drove the short distance to my apartment that I shared with my little sister, Delilah.

  When I parked, I glared at the dark stairway that led up to my apartment, silently cursing the building manager for never taking the time to change a damned light bulb. I trudged up the dark stairs and down the short breezeway to my door. I had just put my key in the door when it was jerked open and I shrieked as I jumped back in shock.

  “Sorry!” Delilah grabbed my hand and dragged me into the apartment. Her excitement was bubbling over as she stared at me expectantly. I just looked back at her with her brown hair pulled up in a messy bun and her lounge pants and a t-shirt. She gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes when I didn’t start talking immediately. She yanked on the hand she still had a hold on and pulled me over to the couch and plopped down.

  “Why are you even up?” I questioned as I sank back onto the couch beside her. The coffee table was littered with soda cans and several pieces of popcorn that had obviously escaped her bowl as she snacked. Delilah’s computer was opened on the floor with a document on the screen and her schoolbooks were scattered around, some open with highlighted passages glaring at us. Gesturing at all her schoolwork, I asked, “Don’t you have a class in the morning?”

  “Not until ten,” Delilah waved me off, “I want to know about these guys from the bar. Jackie called me and said you hid from them all night. She also says they are definitely worth a romp, her words, not mine. So, what happened?”

  She rattled all of this off in seconds and I chuckled at her enthusiasm. Delilah was so dedicated to getting through nursing school that she didn’t get to go out with her friends often. The end result was that I was constantly getting the third degree about everything going on at the bar.

  “Of course, Jackie called,” I rolled my eyes, “That girl can’t leave anything alone. I don’t know about the romping, but they were pretty hot.” I could even hear the lie in my voice. If I hadn’t been just a little afraid of Alex, I would have been luring him into the employee bathroom. There was just something about how intensely he had stared at me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very…different about him and his friend Wyatt.

  “Ugh, how can I live vicariously through you if you won’t sleep with the sexy stranger who stares at you all night?” Delilah threw her arms in the air and flung herself back on the couch.

  “Well, to start with, he stared at me all night,” I stressed, hoping that Delilah would get how creepy he had been. “He came in the bar after getting into a fight. His friend seemed to defer to him about everything. Oh, and I think he sniffed me. All together I’d call him a weirdo, not a potential lay. Sorry kid.”

  “Ok, so what I’m getting from you is: he finds you attractive, he’s tough, he’s a leader, and he thinks you smell good even when you’re in sweaty bar attire,” Delilah ticked each item off on her fingers as she said it. “Wow Zipporah, I don’t know why you didn’t have him thrown out.” She rolled her eyes at me and stood up to go to her room.

  “You come down to the bar and take him home if you want then,” I yelled at Delilah’s back as she stomped towards her room. Someone banged on the ceiling of the apartment below ours and I stamped my foot back at them. “Oh, keep your shirt on! You never sleep anyway!”

  I contemplated Delilah and my conversation as I stripped out of my greasy clothes in my room. I hated to admit that Delilah was right, and I may have been too quick to judge Alex. He was intense and gorgeous, maybe he just made me nervous because he didn’t act like the locals at the bar. I knew I definitely didn’t want Delilah to meet him. The thought made my insides twist with jealousy. Why the hell am I jealous over a guy I just met? I chastised myself and putting thoughts of Alex out of my head I got ready for bed.

  ******

  Sundays were always long days for me. I spent my day cleaning cabins and suites after tourists left. Even in early September people were still filling the cabins, sometimes for a week and sometimes just the weekends. They checked out on Sundays, and I got to clean up the mess. I was dragging when I finally made it to the bar that night, closer to six than I would have liked. Dinner rush was over, and people had started drinking. I got good tips from the drinkers, but the people who came to eat didn’t feel the need to grab my butt as often.

  I busted through the kitchen door hollering to Lynn, “Sorry, Lynn, I know I’m crazy late. You wouldn’t believe the shit I found in one of the cabins today. I swear, don’t these people know someone has to clean up that mess?” I was tying on my apron as I pushed through the door behind the bar to let Lynn take a break. I froze as soon as I saw Alex at the bar, with a highly amused look on his face. Perfect!

  Chapter Four

  Alex

  “Maybe they think you’ll enjoy imagining all the things they were doing,” I winked suggestively at Zee and she blushed. I’d been sitting at the bar waiting for her since it opened two hours earlier. I knew Zee would be there eventually. That was the great thing about having a beta who didn’t mind flirting for information. Jackie had been all too happy to tell Wyatt anything he wanted to know.

  “Hmm, maybe,” Zee purred, catching me completely off guard. I watched as she turned into a vixen right in front of me. She leaned across the bar, eyes half lidded with lust and whispered huskily, “Do you think they got off har
der imagining someone finding the room in shambles? Sheets all twisted up, condoms on the floor, handcuffs still attached to the posts, wax dried on the mattress. I bet she screamed when he dripped the wax across her breasts.” She shuddered and moaned quietly.

  “Sweet Jesus,” the man next to me muttered. Zee jumped and seemed to realize for the first time that she was surrounded by people. She blushed deeply, muttered an apology and dashed back to the kitchen. I glanced at the bartender that had introduced herself as Lynn when I first sat down. She looked just as shocked as I felt. When I caught her eyes and nodded in the direction Zee had run, she just smiled and nodded back.

  Where the hell did that come from? I wondered as I ran after her. I was so hard from her little display that I struggled to adjust myself as I searched for her. I was fighting my instinct to do to her exactly what she had just described. I could feel myself losing control, and I stopped to take several deep breaths before I walked into the alley to find Zee.

  She was leaned against the wall, bent over with her face in her hands. Her dark hair wasn’t up in a ponytail and it curtained around her. The evening light shimmered off it and had me wondering what it would feel like wrapped in my hand as I pulled her head back to kiss down her throat. The thought along with her scent of arousal hit me like a brick wall. I almost turned and went back inside. I knew my eyes would be amber when she looked at me, but I couldn’t fight it all back with her like this.

  “I can’t believe I let him get to me that easily,” Zee groaned without looking up. I chuckled, wondering if she was talking to herself or if she expected someone else to check on her. She peeked at me through her hair and groaned again as she dropped to sit on the ground against the wall. Another interesting thing about her, I noted. She didn’t mind getting a little dirty. Even many of the female wolves I knew wouldn’t sit in an alley I was positive drunks puked in.

  “I disagree,” I countered, “I think it was you that got to people. That guy in there might not ever have sex again without imagining that little scene you just described. Adding in that moan at the end? Priceless.” I struggled to keep a straight face as she glared up at me. I lost the battle and started laughing.

  Zee shot to her feet and started stomping away from me. I followed closely behind her. “Oh, come on, you know it was a little funny. Besides, I think you succeeded in putting me in my place. I doubt I’ll ever have sex again without imagining that scene, either. Especially the moan.”

  She whipped around and poked her finger in my chest. “Why are you even here tonight? Didn’t you get the hint last night?” she poked me in the chest again, and I fought to keep my control in check. I wanted to push her up against the wall and kiss her senseless. I struggled to put my thoughts together before things got out of hand.

  “Look, I shouldn’t have teased you. It was sexy as hell, but I didn’t come here for that,” I told her quickly before she could get more riled up. “I just moved with some friends into a house on the preserve. I wanted to ask you to go out with me tomorrow if you aren’t working.” I watched her face for a reaction, but she kept her face straight. Only her eyes gave a flicker of uncertainty. “I know you don’t know me, so we can go somewhere public if it makes you more comfortable…” I trailed off, hoping she would say yes.

  “No, no,” she waved her hand at me dismissively, “That’s fine, we can go out. I don’t work during the day so how about I meet you here. What time?” Her easy acceptance surprised me, but then everything about her seemed to surprise me.

  “We can meet here at nine. I know a place we can go. I found it my first day here. Does that work for you?” I waited for her response. She gave me a brisk nod and then turned to walk back into the bar. “Ok, see you tomorrow then,” I hollered at her back as the door was closing behind her. I couldn’t help but laugh again. Zee was a firecracker, one that I couldn’t wait to light.

  I could feel pent up energy running through me, causing me to grip my hands into fists to ease the desire to shift. I was glad I’d decided to let Wyatt drop me off at the bar instead of driving. I was jittery and the run home would help me to blow off steam. I walked quickly down the street in search of a wooded area that I could shift without being seen. It was quite a way before I came to a slightly wooded area where I couldn’t smell any humans. I slipped deep into the trees, and finally shifted into a solid black wolf. My eyes would be amber, and I stood a head taller than the rest of the wolves in my pack. I had since I was a pup. My mother liked to say it was because I was born to be an alpha.

  I shook out my fur and stretched for a moment, digging my claws into the dirt and breathing in the air. I momentarily had the fleeting thought of turning back and finding Zee, but I pushed the instinct away and headed home. I was supposed to hold a pack meeting tonight, and it never looked good for the alpha to be late. I set off at a breakneck pace through the forested areas of town to get to my pack’s land.

  When I reached the trees of the National Forest, I let out a howl that was quickly answered by Ryker. He was a strong pack member. He worked hard, called things like he saw them and was always read for a fight if he was needed. His only downfall was that he attracted a world of females, wolf and human alike. As a human he had blond hair and blue eyes and he walked around with a knowing smirk. Half the single females from our old pack wanted to follow our new pack when they found out Ryker was coming. The other half wanted to follow for me. Odd with all those females he only likes the one who doesn’t give a damn, I mused.

  No one ever called me smart he replied to my thought as he neared me on his sweep of the land. I turned to intercept him. Sorry man, I mentally shrugged, mind’s been wandering today. Have you noticed anything off? I had caught up to the light grey wolf I knew was Ryker and we ran side by side towards the pack house.

  Naw, a few hikers but I avoided them, and they didn’t get near the house. As we entered the clearing in front of the main house we shifted to human form. I knew we’d have to address the possibilities of humans in our territory. It was part of our reason for the meeting tonight, among other issues I had noticed cropping up in the pack.

  I looked up at the cabin, mansion really, that my parents had given the pack as a gift. It sat deep in the forest, back against the edge of a large clearing. The clearing gave the pack a huge expanse of yard in the front of the house for pack meetings outside. The house itself was a two-story log cabin. The kitchen and pantry were large enough to store and cook food for a pack much bigger than ours. The living room was huge and full of several couches and an entertainment center. There was an attached garage and a nice porch. Altogether, including the living area over the garage, there were ten rooms, several bathrooms, an office, a laundry room, and a huge basement. It was much more than I would have asked for, but the house had a natural feel that I liked.

  “How was Zee?” Ryker asked curiously. I knew Wyatt wasn’t completely happy about a female distracting me, but I didn’t know that Ryker or anyone else knew about her yet. I hoped that Delaney hadn’t heard about Zee yet. She was hard to deal with on her best days, but if she found out I liked a human my night would go to crap quick.

  “Yeah, Alex, how was Zee?” I looked up to find a red-haired beauty glaring at me, her emerald eyes flashing with malice. Guess that answers the question about Delaney knowing I sighed and didn’t answer either of them. Now was not the time to fight with a jealous female. I knew Delaney would corner me soon enough and it wouldn’t end nicely.

  “Pack meeting in the dining room, 30 minutes. Be sure everyone knows,” I barked as I went inside the house and headed straight to my office. I quickly locked the door and collapsed at my desk. I stared for a moment at the huge stack of things I needed to address. I would need to get Wyatt’s help on some of the paperwork.

  We had too much that needed to be handled. The land was scouted, the towns had been looked at, and now we needed to get to work setting up our forms of income. I needed to delegate some help for Tegan who was working constantly to tr
y to make the house perfect for everyone. I worked quickly to sort through the paperwork, making a pile for Wyatt to deal with, and a pile for myself. I was hoping to get it finished before the meeting and have time to grab food.

  Forty minutes late, and in a bad mood at the prospect of facing all the pack issues without a full stomach, I walked into the dining room. Everyone but Jarren and Tegan were there, and the table was covered in different finger foods for the pack to eat during the meeting. I was about to ask about Tegan, as the small blond-haired girl walked into the room carrying another plate of sandwiches. Her brilliant blue eyes met mine briefly with a knowing smile as she nodded at the food on the table.

  Tegan was classically beautiful, and it wasn’t hard for me to understand why Wyatt found her fascinating. As she sat the plate on the table his eyes followed her graceful movements. It was too bad for Wyatt that Tegan was a very shy wolf. She had been in my father’s pack for as long as I could remember. No one ever claimed turning her since she was just a small child at the time. Her human parents had left her with my family, and so she had lived in the main house and grown up with me. I would always consider her a little sister.

  “Since everyone else was prompt and Tegan provided us with a perfect dinner,” I waved my hand in Tegan’s direction and she dropped her gaze quickly, blushing. I continued, “Why don’t we start with you all airing any concerns you have.” I sat down and started loading my plate with food.

  “More like you want to stuff your face so you’ll let us talk first,” Wyatt said wryly. Ryker chuckled and Tegan smiled shyly at Wyatt. I suspected from the look on her face that my shy little sister felt more for Wyatt than I realized. I looked away from them to find Delaney still glaring at me. I waited for her to tear into me for one thing or another, and I was rewarded.