by Tasha Black
“The alpha’s leadership has to be absolute. This isn’t like voting for president and choosing someone else in four years if you change your mind. The drawing of the alpha is for life, and packs are torn apart if an alpha is displaced. It needs to be done the right way – so that it feels right and smells right and is right.”
He paused, and she knew there was more. She placed an Earl Grey in each mug and turned to him again.
“It seems to me, that the wolves of Tarker’s Hollow are more than capable of making a good decision and sticking with it. There must be something else.”
“Ainsley, you’re in real estate. What do you think will happen when the Inn comes, and the bookstore, and the highway?”
She leaned back against the counter, finally in her element.
“At first it will be messy – like it is now – dirt everywhere and neighbors complaining.”
He nodded, “And then?”
“Then the property values will increase: once for the downtown area and again – much more – for the highway. Center City will be thirty minutes by car, twenty minutes by train, and you’ll be able to have wine with dinner and walk home.”
“How much land do you think the pack owns?”
“You mean individually?”
“Well, yes, we do own a fair amount of the village individually. But I meant the pack itself. Do you know about the land owned by the pack?”
Ainsley shook her head slowly.
“To begin with, we own the woods on the south side of town, and the apartments on Drexel.”
Nice.
“We also own the apartments on Princeton, and a majority share in the Co-op grocery. We own all seven parks, though we lease them to the town for $1 per year. And we own the woods,” he paused.
“You already said the woods,” Ainsley’s head was spinning.
“I mean the college woods… and all the college property.”
What?
“That’s impossible,” she murmured, grasping the counter behind her with all her strength.
“It’s not impossible. Your great-great-grandfather bought the college out of ruin during the Great Depression. But he made them sell him the land. He gave the college a 75 year leasehold.”
Ainsley’s knees felt weak. She gulped air.
“I’m going to wager that you would say that the pack has some pretty impressive assets, correct?”
“Yes,” she nodded, relieved to focus on trying to figure out how to go about calculating the value of all those acres. Anything to distract her from Erik’s own impressive assets. The college literally occupied a third of the town’s land. And the woods went on for miles.
“Did you know that there are wolves in other places?”
“I never thought about it.”
“Well, there are. As a matter of fact, there’s a Federation that the packs from all over the country report to. There are bigger, stronger, richer packs than ours. But with our land rising in value and that leasehold coming to an end, we’re becoming more interesting.”
“So?”
“So if we have no alpha, we become vulnerable. Young wannabe alphas from all over will come to try their hand at taking us. The Federation will step in to ‘protect’ us.” A dark look crossed his face.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“By protecting us, I mean that they will send in new leadership.”
“But that’s perfect!”
“I told you, wolves don’t work with assigned leaders and the Federation doesn’t take chances. They will break up this pack and scatter us so we don’t rise up. They will raze our land and turn Tarker’s Hollow and the college into new construction and strip malls. Then they’ll lease it out or sell it off and it will all be gone.”
Chapter 3
Gone.
A barrage of scenes from Tarker’s Hollow flooded Ainsley’s mind.
Her bare four-year old feet slapped the old sandstone sidewalks, the trees forming a warm green ceiling above. Young Sadie Epstein-Walker waved at her from across the street where she was pruning the pinkest roses in the world.
Mrs. Lee, the librarian, greeted her quietly and slipped her the next Nancy Drew book while her mother perused the mystery section.
The smell of the moist earth filled her nose as she picked blueberries at Penny’s house, putting as many of the tangy sweet berries in her mouth as in the bucket.
Pine needles squeaked under her feet as Brian Swinton chased her into the college woods.
Even to this day, the sound of the fire horn was the same. Sadie Epstein-Walker was still gardening in her floppy hat. The trees embraced each other over the streets and dappled the sidewalks with green shade.
Could this be wiped away so easily?
She opened her eyes. Erik was gazing at her with a look of naked sympathy. Did he realize she loved this town, in spite of everything? Did he know how much it hurt her to go?
That turned her thoughts to Brian again, and her heart iced over.
“I’m sorry, Erik, I really am. But I’m not a wolf. I’m just not.”
He stood angrily. At that moment the silver wolf appeared.
One second its shoulders rolled under a pelt of silvery fur, then during a single step it transformed into a young woman.
Ainsley caught her breath in shock.
Would she ever get used to such a thing?
Not changing was so difficult. How did they make changing look so easy?
The girl sniffed and threw her head up proudly. Naturally, she was naked. Tousled blonde hair skimmed her thin shoulders but didn’t reach her small, perfectly shaped breasts with their tiny pink nipples. Ainsley could see each of her ribs under her tawny, flawless skin. She was tall and lean - the opposite of Ainsley’s softer, darker look.
Running at night, my ass. The way the blonde was hanging on Erik gave Ainsley a clue as to what they were really up to. She could see why Erik would choose this beautiful wolf. She was lovely and brimming with a restless energy. For a fraction of a second Ainsley met the she-wolf’s eye.
To Ainsley’s horror, the girl’s skin began to shimmer. Her luminous brown eyes widened and her lips parted. Her hand dropped from Erik’s shoulder. Ainsley could hear the girl’s heart banging frantically in her chest.
The kettle whistled and Ainsley managed to break eye contact. Quickly, she busied herself pouring the steaming water into the mugs.
Fuck.
Ainsley willed her heart to beat slowly. She knew the girl didn’t like her. Now she was surely going to laugh at her and tell Erik that Ainsley was a giant slut, trying to draw every wolf she met, male or female.
Chapter 4
Erik’s heart almost stopped. The way Ainsley and Cressida were looking at each other…
Cressida was a low-ranking female and females weren’t alphas anyway. He had to be going crazy to think that Ainsley could draw an alpha out of Cressida.
Lust warred with jealousy in his chest and he struggled to tamp them down and forget he’d seen what he thought he’d just seen.
It was impossible.
He forced himself back into the moment.
“What the hell, Cressida?” Erik sighed, “Could you maybe say hello?”
Ainsley turned. She seemed to be purposefully looking down, away from Cressida’s eyes. That left her looking straight at the she-wolf’s stiff little nipples. Erik’s suspicions were at least partly confirmed when Ainsley blushed and looked away.
“Hello,” Cressida said in a low purr.
“Hi, I’m Ainsley.”
“I know who you are.”
“Would you care for some tea?”
Cressida gave Ainsley a slow smile. “Nope, I think I’ll be going now. Erik?”
Ainsley was clearly squirming.
“Ainsley, I think we’ve taken up enough of your time. Call me when you’re ready to talk more about the pack,” he heard himself say.
She shook her head, but pushed him a sweet smelling little notepad and pen across the tab
le anyway.
“You will want to talk more. There’s no point trying to run away,” he said as he scrawled down his number. “And I saw your ad on Neighborly dot com. You can take it down. My crew will be here tonight at 5:00 to take care of anything you need.”
“Thank you, Erik, and Cressida, for checking on me,” Ainsley replied in an annoyingly formal way. “And I would appreciate your help tonight, Erik, thank you. Cressida, did you find anything amiss in the house?”
Cressida shook her head, puzzled. “There were some books all over the floor in your dad’s sitting room, but I assume you’re just going through them, right?”
“Were they stacked neatly?” Ainsley asked.
“No, they’re all over the place. Did you not leave them like that?”
Ainsley was pounding up the stairs in an instant.
Erik followed her, taking the stairs two at a time. They threw open the door to the study. There were books everywhere – spread across the floor in a single layer.
“Did your dad have any valuable books?” he asked.
Ainsley dropped to her hands and knees and scanned the titles frantically. Erik tried to keep his mind on her search and away from her ass and her unbelievable smell. In this position he could take her hips and just plunge himself into her.
To hell with the books.
To hell with the house.
To hell with Cressida.
“I’m not sure if anything is missing, but I can see at least fifty thousand dollars in books right here on the floor.”
Cressida whistled in admiration.
“What could they have wanted?” Ainsley asked plaintively.
Erik was at a loss.
“Cressida,” Erik finally said, “I’m staying here to protect Ainsley – do you want to stay and take a shift or go get MacGregor?”
Erik stood and Cressida was instantly draped over his shoulder. For some reason, it annoyed him. He fought the urge to push her off.
“I don’t need your protection.” Ainsley retorted, jumping to her feet.
“Erik, she says she’s not one of us, why should we protect her?” Cressida asked.
“She is one of us. Whether she wants to admit it right now or not we need her safe.”
Ainsley closed her eyes.
“Get out, please. I don’t want you here,” she said.
Before Erik could decide what to do, Cressida turned on her heel, dropped seamlessly into her silvery wolf form and trotted down the stairs. He heard the sound of her claws on the kitchen linoleum as she headed out the back door.
“Ainsley,” Erik tried once more.
“Erik, please go.”
He unbuttoned her father’s jeans and loved the way she caught her breath before she realized that he was just returning them.
His hand touched hers for an instant as he handed them over and he was sure she couldn’t have missed the electric shock between them.
But her eyes were cold.
He sighed, and by the end of the sigh he was a gigantic black wolf again.
Ainsley looked searchingly into his eyes.
Before he could think the better of it, he affectionately bumped his furry head into her perfect breasts. Then he leapt down the stairs and loped into the night.
Chapter 5
Ainsley was alone again.
She padded downstairs and closed and locked all the doors. In all the time she had lived in the house, her parents had never locked the doors. Maybe it was time to start.
She returned to the study and snapped a quick picture of the mess with her iPhone. Then she organized the books into the stacks she had created earlier in the week. Nothing was missing.
She was still filled with a helpless anger but there was nothing left to do, so she got ready for bed.
As she slipped between the sheets, too furious to go to sleep.
She thought of Erik.
His arrogance at thinking he could tell her what to do. His muscular shoulders. His assumption that she was a frail thing that needed protection. His deep, kind eyes.
Her thoughts on Erik continued to war as she drifted off.
Chapter 6
That night, the dream returned.
Something was different.
Ainsley burst out off the sidewalk and into the college woods, delighting in the sudden scent of pine as her eyes adjusted to the shade. She could hear Brian’s footsteps behind her, so she ran faster. The pine needles could be slippery, but Ainsley never fell.
Somehow today, the trees seemed taller and the pine smell more pungent than usual. There was a thunder of footsteps. She looked back to see Julian crash into the woods behind her.
The hair went up on the back of Ainsley’s neck. This wasn’t right. It was supposed to be Brian. She stopped and began to turn back.
Julian swung his arm around her and lifted her up to spin her in a wild circle. He seemed so strong – she was practically weightless. Suddenly, she felt like a helium balloon, and grasped his forearms - trying not to float away.
He laughed and she looked into his eyes. The color was off. They were like blue fire.
He set her down and flung his backpack to the ground.
“Well?” He raised an eyebrow.
She slowly slid her own backpack off her shoulders and placed it down.
He was watching her, the electric blue of his eyes glowing oddly.
What was wrong with him?
“Julian, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
The woods around them darkened.
Ainsley shivered.
“Poor darling, you’re cold! Let me warm you.”
His smile was sincere but his eyes were all wrong. She backed up a step.
“I’m okay.”
“Ainsley, what’s wrong?”
“What’s happening to your eyes?”
A fleeting look crossed his face and was gone.
“It’s the light, Ainsley. Your eyes are glowing too.” He took a step toward her. “You’re beautiful.”
His voice had grown low and hypnotic, it made her heart race. She stepped forward to meet him, expecting soft teasing kisses.
He surprised her by pushing her into the tree at her back. The bark pressed its fingers to her shoulder blades as his insistent mouth claimed hers. He ran his hands down her ribcage and let his thumbs brush over her nipples.
The unexpected thrill of pleasure made her gasp.
He pressed his lean body against her soft one and she could feel the length of him harden against her hip. Another shiver of desire ran through her in response.
She pressed her breasts against his chest and ran her nails down his lightly muscled biceps.
He growled in excitement and devoured her mouth again, rocking the bulge against her helplessly.
Suddenly Ainsley could hear the clink of silverware at the inn restaurant. She could smell the exhaust from the cars on the highway just outside town. She could taste the rain in the air. A storm was coming, a hundred miles away.
What was happening? Everything seemed familiar but it wasn’t right. Like a bad imitation.
She began to cry. Sobs racked her body.
Julian pulled away.
“Ainsley, I’m sorry, I know you’re a nice girl. We don’t have to do this.”
She heard herself say, “Julian, being here like this with you might just be my favorite thing.”
Her arms went around his neck and she grasped his bottom lip between her teeth and suckled gently.
He surrendered with a growl and took her face in his hands. His tongue sought hers. Again, he pressed himself against her.
A wave of desire coursed over her and she moaned into his mouth.
He swept her off her feet and laid her gently on the bed of pine needles. He lay down next to her on his side and stroked her from her rib cage down to her hip, his azure eyes searching hers.
She could feel each individual pine needle under her. But she couldn’t feel the cold ground and she didn’t care
anymore about the color of his eyes. She only cared about the heat of his hand as it traveled the length of her body. She arched her back, offering him her breasts.
He responded immediately, cupping her right breast in his hand reverently. She watched as his thumb brushed her nipple again and his lips parted in wonder as her nipple swelled, popping over the demi-cup of her bra, and pushing against the fabric of her thin t-shirt.
Ainsley’s head fell back on the pine needles as he mouthed her nipple through the cotton of her shirt. The sensation was overwhelming and she felt it all over at once.
Soon the muted contact was not enough for him and he lifted her shirt. She helped him slip it over her head. Her breasts ached as he pulled away from her to remove his Tarker’s Hollow High t-shirt.
His lightly muscled body was graceful yet powerful.
He gave her no time to admire it. Quickly he dipped his head down to nuzzle and kiss her breasts gently.
She clutched his hair, pressing him to her.
He responded with gentle sucking. The moan that escaped her immediately seemed to give him confidence and he drew harder.
Ainsley could see stars. Her skin prickled all over. She felt too big for her body. And she could hear Julian’s blood pounding through his veins. The scent of his arousal burned in her nostrils.
When he pressed against her side she could feel his erection through their clothes. She began clawing at his jeans, trying to remove them.
They groped at each other frantically. Their shared lack of experience slowed progress, but in the end passion won out and all their clothing was spread around them
Julian lay on top of her. They were both naked and shivering with desire.
By this time Ainsley was half-mad with lust and a horrid crawling feeling. She was sure as soon as he was inside her the fire would be assuaged.
Wasn’t that show it was supposed to work?
She lifted her hips to meet his and he found his way to press against her most sensitive spot.
He tried to be gentle but in the end he had to push hard against her to find entry. He gasped as she received him.
The pain was brief.
