by K. S. Martin
“Aimee, I am not in the least bit interested in any kind of relationship with you. I do not want to have sex with you or anything else. You are a pack member and that’s all. If you wish to remain as such, I suggest you find another wolf to play with. I hear Lucas is free, go find him.” Jordan pushed her gently toward the steps and went back inside slamming the front door.
Chapter Three
Lettie shifted back into herself when she got to the back porch. She found the key under the flower pot and went inside the dark house. Lettie went to the bathroom and stripped down. She needed a hot shower, this day had completely sucked. Jordan. She regretted ever meeting him. She regretted ever looking at him, at ever kissing him and she regretted his being born most of all. Lettie stood under water as hot as she could stand and scrubbed her skin until it was red. Her boss, Mister Thompson, offered her the apartment over the store when he’d caught her crying in the stock room the second time today. It was small but it would be quiet once the store closed at night. At least she wouldn’t have far to go for groceries. Her head shook of its own accord. She’d take her clothes, her Grandmother’s dishes and…nothing else was solely hers. Wow. Nothing was hers. Well that made it easy. She would box her dishes and carry them to the apartment tomorrow, on Friday she would take her clothes. It would be a long walk as a human. But what choice did she have? Maybe Lucas would take pity on her and would let her beg a ride with her box and suitcase. She would ask him tomorrow if she could find him. Lettie pulled her shorts and tank top on then went to the bedroom.
“You didn’t eat dinner.” Jordan sat in the wing chair in the corner of her bedroom.
“Get out of my house.” Her eyes flashed with anger.
“It belongs to the pack.” Her shoulders slumped in defeat. He was right, technically speaking this house belonged more to him than her.
“What do you want Jordan?” His eyes flashed amber at her. If she didn’t know better, she would swear that was desire. He didn’t desire her, not that way, not anymore. His only desire now was to stomp her heart and soul into the ground.
“I always loved this chair.” His voice was deep and dominating. She submitted. What choice did she have? They may have fought before when they were true mates but now she had no rights, she was a pack member and expected to bow to the alpha. It didn’t matter that she’d nursed him back to health after fights or that he’d taken her virginity. He was the alpha now and she was the omega. Omegas submit to alphas.
“Take it.” Lettie turned and left the bedroom shifting as she went to the back door. She ran as fast and far as she could before she collapsed under a tree far into the woods. The ground was soft and cold. It was covered in pine needles but she should be safe enough here. She lay panting until she shifted and then cried until she fell asleep there. Lettie was beginning to understand why some women swallowed a bottle of pills.
Jordan sat in the antique green velvet wingchair waiting for her to come back but she didn’t. He wondered where she went after a few hours when he woke with a stiff neck from his nap in the chair. He’d screwed the pooch again. He needed to tie her down and make her listen to him until he could say the right words. He needed to make her understand that he wanted her back and that he didn’t want her to leave. That he was a stupid jackass and that he loved her. She’d said that she would be gone by the weekend but it seemed to him that she was already gone. She didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He swallowed hard missing his mate. Why couldn’t they have a civil conversation? Jordan snarled at the empty room. She wasn’t going to return until he left her house and it was cold outside tonight. For the safety of his mate Jordan headed home.
Lettie woke up freezing. Her teeth chattered and goose bumps covered her chilled skin. She’d cried herself to sleep last night and had spent the night in the woods. Damn Jordan anyway. She thought as she shifted into her wolf and trotted to the house. Her nose twitched and scented the air for him as she crept closer to the house. He’d gone a few hours before. Good. Lucas loped by and glanced at her. She turned toward him and shifted. He stopped then started away from her. “Lucas?” He turned and shifted. “Can I ask a favor?”
“Sure, I guess.” He was watching her suspiciously. Lucas had a look in his eyes that she’d never seen there before. Even though she wasn’t sure what it was, she didn’t like it.
“Um…never mind, I’ll take care of it. Thanks anyway.” Lettie nibbled her lip.
“Whatever.” He shifted back into his wolf and hurried off like he wanted nothing to do with her.
“Jordan.” She spat, tears welled in her eyes. He was poisoning the other pack members against her. “Gah!” Lettie went inside the house and boxed the dishes that her Grandmother left her then packed her clothes. She would take her clothes today and hopefully Mister Thompson would let her either let her borrow his car or would give her dishes a ride. Lettie showered and got ready for work. Her stomach grumbled but the thought of a peanut butter sandwich was not appetizing. It was all that she had left in the pantry. Since she didn’t have a vehicle anymore and she couldn’t carry grocery sacks in her wolf form, she would go hungry. He always knew how to hurt her. He’d taken the truck on shopping day. She decided that Jordan probably planned it all along. He was devious when he wanted to be. She put the duffle across her back and left for work. It was about three miles and she needed to get an early start.
Jordan watched her from the office window. He saw her glance his way and watched her speed her pace. He punched a hole into the drywall with his fist. That was his mate and she hated his guts. It would’ve been less painful if she’d just put a bullet in his heart. He would be waiting when she came home tonight and they were going to have a very long and very honest conversation. She was going to listen to him. She was going to bring that duffle bag up here and she was going to hang her clothes in his closet. This bullshit was going to end, tonight.
Jordan sat on her back porch waiting. Lettie would be home soon and he was ready for her. They were going out to dinner because there was no damned food in her house. They would talk and then they were going to bed. He’d be damned if he spent another night without his mate. Yes he’d rejected her, he’d said it, but he didn’t mean it and she knew he didn’t. Didn’t she? Couldn’t she feel him anymore? She didn’t act like it. Lately she just acted like a cowering omega. Lettie was not the omega of this pack. Was she? Did he make her feel like she was? Where the hell was she anyway? It was after ten. He looked at his watch. Why the hell hadn’t she come home?
Lettie lay down on the musty mattress on the iron-framed bed in the corner. Mister Thompson had let her spend the biggest part of the day cleaning the apartment. He’d brought her a refrigerator, made sure that the stove, and plumbing worked then filled her cabinets and fridge with groceries. He’d made her feel welcome and at home. She hadn’t felt those two things in a long time. The keys to his car were hanging on a hook beside the door. He lived less than a block away. Why didn’t she know that until today? Mister Thompson was a widow, once married to a wolf that died in a nasty car accident. He knew what she was the minute she walked into his store and told her so. She was accepted, welcomed, and treated like family, something else she hadn’t felt in forever. Lettie drifted off to sleep finally at peace for the first time in years.
Jordan paced the yard, front to back, back to front. It was after four in the morning and she wasn’t home. Was that it? Was she gone? Or was she sleeping somewhere else? With someone else? Jordan froze. His eyes flashed. Lucas. It had to be. Lucas just asked about courting Lettie earlier. Maybe he hadn’t turned him off the scent at all. Jordan stomped to Lucas’ house and up the steps. He banged on the door with his fist. By the time a sleepy Lucas opened the door, Jordan was snarling and having a hard time not shifting. His nose twitched scenting the air. Lucas showed him his throat in submission. Jordan backed away shaking his head. “She’s not here.” Jordan finally calmed.
“Sir, there’s no one here. Aimee stopped by but I se
nt her away, I know that she belongs to you sir, I didn’t…” Jordan shook his head again.
“She doesn’t belong to me. I don’t want her so please help yourself to Aimee.” Jordan blew out a breath. Aimee was trying to make everyone believe that she had some sort of claim on him. She never would. He couldn’t stand her.
“Who are you looking for then? Maybe I can help.” Lucas was always ready to make a good impression on the alpha.
“Lettie.” Jordan looked around at the surrounding houses, all were dark.
“Oh, she’s at the grocery sir, I saw her earlier.” Lucas smiled, so glad he could help. He was such a sniveling ass kisser.
“She never came home, I was worried.” Jordan’s eyes flashed. Actually, he was more than worried. He feared that he’d lost her forever.
“Oh well, I heard someone say that she lived there now but that didn’t make any sense to me when she lives over there.” He pointed to the small green bungalow across the way.
“Thanks Lucas.” Jordan turned and shifted then ran toward the alpha house. She’d moved into the grocery store. Where the hell was she going to live? In the damned frozen food aisle? There was a small couch back by the pharmacy where you sat to wait for pills, not that he ever needed any, because wolves were quick healers. “Damn it!” He roared once he was inside behind closed doors. The rest of the pack did not need to know their new alpha was losing control. An alpha was always in control, always strong and always dominant.
***
Lettie stretched in her little musty bed, her nose twitched. She heard noises from the grocery store and smiled. Her apartment was small but it was hers. She smiled down at the small rag rug with the mud stains that always lay beside her bed. Lettie scrubbed at those stains for hours but the red clay wouldn’t come out. Jordan. He knew how much it meant to her and he’d shit all over it like he did everything else. Not anymore. Lettie went to the fridge and got out fresh milk and a box of brand new name brand cereal from the cabinet that Mister Thompson brought up yesterday. She sat on the one and only chair and ate her breakfast. It wasn’t much to look at, but it was hers. It needed paint and curtains but it was hers. It was hers for as long as she wanted Mister Thompson said and Jordan could not barge in and take it away. Lettie smiled for the first time in days. With her dishes washed, she went to shower. This would be great. A three second commute was better than a three miles run. She could sleep in. Lettie bounded down the steps twenty minutes later, she was ten minutes early for work. She got started on the previous days deposit and the books. When she finished this, she would order stock. Mister Thompson smiled at her when he brought the cash envelopes up the steps to the small office.
“How was your first night Lettie? Was everything okay?” She nodded.
“Yes sir, thank you again.” He put up his hand. “I mean it sir, that was the best night of sleep I’ve hand in I don’t know how long. I actually slept all the way through till morning.” He opened the envelopes and laid the cash out on the desk. They got started counting and bundling the bills. Lettie worked until five then went upstairs to make her dinner. She couldn’t believe how much she’d accomplished today without the world sitting on her shoulders or her mind preoccupied. She was done with the ordering for the week, two aisles were completely organized, and then she’d finished the books in record time. The corners of her mouth lifted, this was what it felt like to be a person again. After dinner, she would take the car Mister Thompson was letting her use and go get her dishes then she would be done with Jordan and the Summerville pack. Good riddance.
Jordan bumped along the road in his grandfather’s pick up. How did she drive this thing? The alignment was shit. He’d get it fixed. Once he arrived at the grocery store, he would make her hear reason. She could not live there, it was a ridiculous notion. Lettie belonged with him and she was coming home with him. He parked the truck and went inside. Jordan didn’t scent her or see her. He found Aiden stocking on the floor and got directions to her apartment. Aiden was young but a sweet pup. He was Lettie’s third cousin or something. His parents were good pack members. They attended meetings and pitched in when they weren’t working. They were among the few that continued to hold a job when Frank sold the cabinet business. Aiden’s dad was a master carpenter and it was surprising that Aiden didn’t follow his example. Aiden didn’t seem inclined to learn carpentry though. He did work though and that was more than Jordan could say for a lot of his pack.
“But she isn’t here sir.” Aiden said. “She left about ten minutes ago.”
“Where did she go?” Jordan was about to lose it. He needed to talk to her and convince her that she should come back to him before he lost it completely.
“I didn’t ask but I saw her leave in Mister Thompson’s car, she was headed in the direction of home sir.” Jordan nodded. He’d only passed one car on the way here, a gold Buick but he didn’t pay any attention to it or the driver. She’d borrowed a car to get the rest of her things he guessed. Jordan went back to the truck and hurried home. The Buick passed him in a blur a block from her house. That was it. She was gone. She probably came back for the pretentious China that her Grams left her. He hated those dishes. You had to be so damned careful when you touched them and she walked on egg shells if he got within five feet of them. They were all so damned fragile and too small for his big clumsy hands. He slammed his fist down on the cracked vinyl seat with the frustration of missing her. Jordan turned around in the first driveway that he came to. Lucas flagged him down. He rolled the window down so that Lucas could speak to him.
“I just saw Lettie sir. She was picking up a box. She just left in a gold Buick. If you hurry, you might catch her. Oh and she asked me to give you this key to the house.” Jordan nodded and said thanks as he backed out and turned back toward the grocery.
Jordan climbed the stairs to her apartment. He went over what he was going to say to her. He shook his head to clear it before knocking on her door. She had the dishes out. He could hear the newspaper crinkling and the radio playing. The door clicked then opened. When it opened, she’d looked young and happy but now she just looked bitter and angry. “Jordan.” She spat. She kept the door open only a crack but he pushed his way inside. Lettie skittered out of the way. She couldn’t stop him because he was so much bigger than her. All she could do was stay out of his way and hope that he didn’t hurt her. There was a time that she knew Jordan wouldn’t hurt her but those days were gone. Now he was twice that size and an alpha, she didn’t know what he was capable of anymore. “What do you want Jordan?” She stayed between him and the hundred year old dishes. He scoffed. They were still more important than anything else to her. Jordan closed the door quietly behind him.
“I want to talk to you.” He said calmly stepping inside the tiny apartment and closing the door. How could she breathe in here? Besides the musty smell, it was as big as a shoebox. She was smaller than he was but still this was smaller than his living room.
“I don’t want to talk to you.” Jordan edged closer and she put her arms out to protect her China. He wouldn’t ruin the only thing she had left of her Grams.
“I’m not here to hurt your precious dishes Colette.” Jordan crossed his arms over his huge pectorals. His biceps were still massive and if he wanted to, he could crush her without any effort at all. “I want you to come home.” She shook her head. Why would he want that? He’d left her.
“I live here now, where I am productive.” She spat the words at him. That hurt. She could still cut him deeply when she wanted. Lettie was a pro when it came to tossing his words back at him.
“You can’t live in a damn grocery store.” Jordan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Why would she want to live here instead of with him? This place was horrible.
“I live over one, there’s a difference.” She set her jaw. He just wanted this to be over, to have his mate back. He wanted to lay her down and love her in anyway she’d let him. This wasn’t going well because she was defensive and an
gry, already.
“Over, in, same thing, still under the same roof.” He edged even closer and her heart started banging loudly. He was going to hurt her. She moved away from the dishes in hopes that they wouldn’t be collateral damage when he did. Jordan advanced until she backed up against the bed. “I came to tell you a few things Lettie.” She was going to listen. He was going to make her listen to him.
“I don’t care to hear anything you have to say.” She crossed her arms mimicking his stance. He edged closer still and forced her to sit to get away from him. Jordan took advantage and pushed her back onto the bed. Lettie swallowed hard. He was frightening and sexy all at the same time. Lettie would always be attracted to him. She couldn’t help the way her body responded to him even if she hated him.
“I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen.” His eyes flashed and hers flashed back at him. “I want you to come home. I need you to help me balance the books. I need your help with the pack.” He demanded.
“You rejected me Jordan. You left me to fend for myself. I have no interest in helping you or your pack.” Lettie ground her teeth. She was very angry with him.
“Our pack.” Jordan countered.
“No. Your pack. You kicked me out of the pack. You’ve done everything you could to make me unhappy and uncomfortable. You took the money, the truck, the house, and my pride Jordan. You made me regret ever meeting you, regret ever being born. You rejected me and now you need my help? No!”
