by Lilly Wilder
I washed it away underneath a stream of warm water. I sighed as the water cascaded down every inch of my body. There really is nothing better than a hot shower.
As I shampooed my hair, I had this strange feeling like someone was watching me. I dared to open my eyes, half expecting to find Roman standing there in all his glory but I was met with no such luck. I sighed and continued my morning routine. By the end of it, I was able to think about the duo less and less.
So what if I never saw them again? It would be no skin off my nose. They were probably a couple of playboys looking for an easy treat to snag. But, if that was the case, why did they walk out of the bedroom? Because you weren’t the treat they were looking for, came the self-doubt that liked to creep up from time to time.
My second alarm went off and I hurried to turn it off. It was time for me to go.
Of course, it was raining. I should have expected as much. My luck was always shitty luck — it never failed. It was the one thing I could always count on.
I struggled with the compact umbrella I kept in my work bag. “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me that you’re broken.” I banged the handle against my forearm and the thing flew open, nearly poking one of my eyes out.
See what I’m talking about?
Not only was it raining but it was windy too, which meant that I got soaked all the same, umbrella or not.
By the time I reached the bus station, I probably looked like a drowned sea otter or something of the sort. Fitting, considering I had nearly drowned less than twenty-four hours ago.
What would have happened to me if those guys hadn’t shown up to save my life? I thought to myself, as I waited for my ride.
Most of my college friends had cars of their own. Some of them had even made enough money to put a down payment on a house. One of them had gotten married on some tropical beach down in the Caribbean. Suffice to say, I didn’t really hang out with them all that much. Seeing them, just reminded me of my own shortcomings and no one likes to look their failure in the face.
Finally, the bus arrived.
It sped into a puddle and nearly soaked me with muddy water. Somehow, I had managed to sidestep the assault. That definitely would have added insult to injury.
The doors creaked open and the bus driver ushered me inside.
“Jane, how are you, dear? How was your weekend?”
I sat right beside Mrs. Shirley. She was a nice woman who had been divorced by her husband after he won some casino jackpot — the asshole. Mrs. Shirley, however, never seemed put off by it. In fact, if I had to guess, she was enjoying her newfound freedom. I had yet to see her without a smile on her face.
“It was… odd, to say the least.”
“Oh?”
“Long story.”
“It’s unfair to tease me like that,” she said.
“Alright, alright,” I conceded. “I went swimming last night and nearly had an accident but these two guys came and saved me.”
The woman smiled knowingly. “Sounds like the beginning of a romantic comedy to me.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s nothing like that. They were complete strangers.”
“Everyone starts off as a stranger, dear. It’s your job to get to know them.”
“But they left without giving me their numbers.”
“Now that’s a crying shame.” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Before she could say anything else on the matter, we reached the hotel. I thanked her for the ride and limped inside. I tried to make it as unnoticeable as possible but I was getting some funny looks from my fellow co-workers.
“What’s up with you?” asked Terry. She worked the front desk alongside me but most of the time she was MIA. It was very rare to find her actually doing her job, which meant that most of the workload fell on my shoulders.
“I fell.”
“Looks like it was a pretty hard fall.”
“Yeah, it was,” I said and my thoughts immediately brought me back to Landon and Roman. Had I fallen for them? Honestly, I had no idea. All I knew for certain was that they had infected my brain like some sort of parasite. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t forget them or their handsome faces.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” said Terry. A second later, she had disappeared. Typical. Rumor had it that she was sleeping with one of the wait staff in the laundry room during all of his breaks. I wouldn’t put it past her. She was the kind of carefree and scandalous woman, who would do, just that.
At the sound of the front door opening, I looked up and greeted our newest customers. “Hello, welcome to the Crown Loch Resort. Checking in?”
The father of the group stepped forward and handed over a bit of paperwork. Meanwhile, the mother struggled with two little girls.
“They’re adorable,” I commented. “How old are they?”
“They just turned four.”
I smiled. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full.”
“Tell me about it.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “But what I’m really worried about, is when they’re older and the boys start noticing them.”
“I’d suggest getting your shotgun ready.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” he said with a chuckle.
“If I could have your license.”
“Sure.” He reached into his wallet and pulled it out.
His wife joined us at the counter and leaned on her husband’s shoulder. She had a bright smile on her face, like she was the happiest woman in the world.
In many ways, I envied her.
I had hoped to start a family of my own one day and I had been foolish enough to believe that I could accomplish that dream with Ian by my side. Well, that all crashed and burned on me, didn’t it?
“Here you are.” I handed over their key cards. “Enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you.” The father nodded in acknowledgment, before rounding up his family and shoving them into an elevator. As that elevator door closed, another one opened and out came Homer. He was part of the cleaning crew but he spent a lot more time down by the front desk talking to me.
I really didn’t mind him all that much. He was nice and, on most days, he helped take the edge off all the boredom that accompanied the job.
He approached the desk but before he could say a single word, the phone started to ring. I held up my hand to signal that he should be quiet while I answered. “Hello, this is Crown Loch Resort. How may I help you.”
A moment later, I returned the phone to its receiver.
He raised an eyebrow in question.
“Wrong number. They were looking for Crown Pizza. It happens all the time.”
“Right. Speaking of which, are you doing anything this Friday?”
“This Friday?” I wondered aloud. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, there’s this new nightclub that just opened up in town and I was thinking of checking it out. But it’s kind of lame to go by yourself, you know? So, I was hoping that you could tag along.”
“I’m not much of a nightclub kind of girl.”
“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun. I can promise you that.”
I bit my bottom lip, contemplating his offer. As I did so, I noticed two people standing outside the hotel entrance. My heart instantly skipped a beat. No. It couldn’t be them, could it? What were the odds?
There was a glare in the glass, making it impossible for me to see if it was really them or not.
“Jane?”
“Huh?”
“So, do you want to go with me or not? I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure, I’ll go,” I answered, if only to get him out of my hair.
He grinned. “Awesome! You won’t regret it!”
At the sight of his manager, he booked it out of there. I smiled at the man and waited for him to leave before I got out of my seat, hoping for a better view out the front windows. Unfortunately, the sun glare was st
ill there.
“Damnit,” I mumbled underneath my breath.
I had half a mind to go out there and check but at the same time, my feet felt like they were welded to the ground. Even if I saw them again, what would I say to them?
Thanks for saving my life? Oh, and by the way, Landon, do your eyes have a habit of turning golden every once in a while? And Roman, I just wanted you to know that when you rummaged through my pantie drawer and pulled out my thong, I found it hot as hell, although, it would have been much hotter if you had taken that thong off my body yourself.
And just like that, my thoughts were getting carried away again. That was the thing about these guys — they had this effect on me and, honestly, I didn’t know what to do about it.
Did I try and find out who they really were or was I better off running for the hills?
Chapter 6: Landon
“Will you give it a rest already?” Roman was lounging on the river bed, clothes covered in mud. In all likelihood, I probably looked just as worse for wear but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I took a deep breath and dove under the water, hands searching endlessly for something that could not be found. When my lungs started to burn, I resurfaced and punched the water. “Where the fuck is it?”
“I know how much that medallion meant to you, Landon. But there’s not a chance in hell that we’re going to find that thing. If you really lost it while taking a bath that night, then the current has probably swept it into the ocean.” He got up and rested a hand on my shoulder. “I know this is not something that you want to hear but the medallion is gone to us now.”
“No.” My hands tightened into fists.
“The pack is gone too.”
“It is our duty to keep their memory alive.”
“And we will,” he promised. “But we don’t need a medallion to do it. We will forge ahead — get the revenge we deserve — and then we will rebuild the pack from the bottom up.”
I didn’t want to admit it but Roman was right. We couldn’t afford to get caught up in a piece of jewelry, whilst the murderers that had killed our family were running free. First and foremost, we needed to make them pay.
“Now, I don’t know about you, but I need a shower.”
“What’s wrong with bathing in the river as we normally do?”
“One word. Jane.”
“What about her?”
“We can ask to borrow her shower and then, who knows, things might escalate from there. After all, she definitely owes us one.”
“We will not get involved with the girl until we have eradicated the problem.”
“Oh, come on!” Roman threw his hands into the air. “How can you say that? You saw her. She was gorgeous. I don’t know about you but I can’t stay away from that. Even now, I can feel a magnetic tug. I need to be with her — we need to be with her — and you know it.”
“I know,” I conceded. “I feel it too but if we want to protect her from harm, then this is, just, something we need to do.”
“Our rivals know nothing about her. It doesn’t matter if we see her again. Besides, we are unfamiliar with this city and she is not. She might prove an asset to our search.”
Again, Roman had a point. It wasn’t every day that he made himself sound so compelling. “Fine. We will return to her home and ask if we can take a shower there but no more than that.”
“You’re no fun.”
“You’re lucky I’m agreeing to as much as that.”
***
But, when we arrived, Jane was not home.
“Where could she have gone?” I asked.
“Work, probably,” Roman answered. “Humans tend to do that.”
“So, do we wait?”
“Wait?” he scoffed. “Why wait, when I can track her down?” He took one whiff of the air and off he went.
Now, I’m not much of a tracker myself but even I could tell that he was headed in the right direction, because there was this sort of excitement building all around us. Then, finally, it reached its pinnacle in front of a large glass structure. My instincts screamed, ‘Here! Here! Here!’
“Are you sure she’s here?” I asked just to be certain.
“Has my nose ever led us astray in the past?” Roman looked at me, with a look of confidence painted all over his face. One day, that cockiness would bite him in the butt, I was sure. “She’s in that hotel.”
Trusting his word, I started towards it. Without getting too close, I was able to see inside and there she was, sitting behind the desk. “There’s a man speaking with her,” I commented.
“He’s probably just a co-worker or something. Humans tend to form relationships with the people they work with. Sometimes even romances.”
I didn’t like the thought of that. While Jane was far from ours, I still considered her as such because, deep down, I knew she was the one we had been looking for all this time. I had searched endlessly for a mate only to come up empty-handed time and time again. I had started to suspect that she didn’t exist and I was chasing after a phantom. Now, I knew exactly who she was. It only took the decimation of my pack to find her. The world was a cruel place like that.
The man was leaning in rather closely. I feared that he might kiss her and just the thought of it filled me with a jealous rage. I didn’t know who that man was but, already, I didn’t like him.
I stepped forward, about to barge in but Roman held me back. “Your wolf is showing,” he said.
“Huh?”
“Your eyes. Calm down, will you?”
It took me a minute but I was finally able to breathe properly.
“There, that’s better.”
By the time I looked back inside, the man had disappeared, leaving Jane alone. While I had argued that we should leave her be until the threat of our rival pack had been dealt with, now that I saw her again, I knew that such a feat would prove impossible. The call of one’s mate is truly irresistible.
Together, we walked inside.
Jane looked surprised to see us, her jade-colored eyes widening.
“What happened to you guys?” she exclaimed, as she rushed over. “It looks like you were rolling around in the mud all night long.”
“You could say that,” Roman answered.
“And why are you still shirtless?” she demanded of me. “If my boss saw you two, I’m pretty sure I’d be without a job. I mean you’re tracking in dirt and you’re halfway naked.” She said that, like it was a bad thing but I could see her hungry eyes roaming every inch of my exposed skin. I was sure she could feel it too — the call to mate — to explore each other’s bodies and bring new pups into existence.
“We’re travelers of sorts,” Roman explained, “but we lost our backpacks along the way. So, here we are, with nothing but the clothes on our backs.”
“Wait… so you don’t have any money? How the hell are you supposed to survive in the city with no cash?”
“Oh, we’ve got cash. Lucky for us, I managed to keep my wallet in my pants.” Roman reached into his back pocket and removed his wallet. While many wolf packs liked to keep their distance from the humans, we still acknowledged the need to interact with them and having their currency was a big part of that interaction. Since I knew very little about it, I tended to let Roman handle that side of things.
“Okay, so did you come here to book a room?”
“That’s part of the reason,” he grinned. “We also came here to see you.”
Her cheeks reddened. It was something that seemed to happen quite a bit and I liked it. Somehow, it made her appear even more beautiful.
“Alright… so, I’m assuming you guys want separate rooms?”
“No. Same room is fine,” I answered.
She gave me a strange look. “Wait…” She hesitated. “Maybe I have no right to ask this but you two aren’t… you know…”
“What?” I asked.
“An item.”
“An item?”
I repeated.
“No!” Roman interjected. “You’ve got the wrong idea. We’re just good friends trying to save some money. We’re both totally into women.”
“What did she mean by asking us that?” I pried Roman for answers.
“She was asking whether we were lovers.”
“Well, in a way we are. We’re mating partners.”
“Yeah, well, she thinks we have the hots for each other and that’s not good if we ever want to mate the woman, so just shut up and let me handle this, alright?”
I didn’t like the tone he was using with me but Roman was much better at navigating the world of humans. He could pick up on social cues that I didn’t even know existed.
“Alright, I’ve got one room available with two twin-sized beds. That should be fine, right?”
“Yes,” Roman answered.
“How long will you be staying?”
“We aren’t sure yet.”
“In that case, I’m going to need a credit card, so we can charge you for every night you stay with us.”
“Not a problem.” Roman pulled out a rectangular piece of plastic from his wallet and handed it over.
“Roman Amwulf? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What? I told you I was a wolf.”
“Yeah, but you made it sound like you could transform into a four-legged beast or something.”
“I can.”
“Cut it out.”
Roman shrugged. “I’m just telling you the truth. It’s your choice whether you choose to believe it or not.”
She handed over two more pieces of plastic. “Here are your key cards. Your room is on the fifth floor, number 512. I’d appreciate it, if you two took a shower and found yourselves some proper clothing.”
“Will do.” Roman flashed a smile. “Oh, and if you’re not busy tonight maybe we could buy you some pizza and bring it over to your place to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?”
“The fact that you’re still alive,” he answered. “That’s something worth celebrating, isn’t it?”
“I appreciate what you guys did for me but I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“We don’t really take no for an answer,” he said. “Just tell me what kind of pizza you’re into.”
