Nya's Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance

by Roxy Wilson

  He studied the statue. “There’s a lot of detail in this. Amazing, really. Do you have more of his work?”

  Flattered that he admired her father’s work, she led him inside. “Yes, I do, actually. He used to work on them in his spare time. Sometimes, he took years to complete one. Then sometimes, he would lock himself in his work shed and not emerge for days. I was always excited to see what he made.”

  He stopped to admire the disk she’d hung from the wall. It contained detailed battle scenes around the edge, and in the middle of it was the image of Hercules. “This is fantastic. Did he ever try to sell his work?”

  “No, I don’t think he even thought about it. Sometimes, he gifted things to people, but not too many. Most of all, he was just happy to make them. I’ve got a shed full of his stuff, and there are a lot of pieces in the attic too.”

  “Do you know I own an art gallery in New York?”

  She blinked her eyes, confused. “Really? I had no idea.”

  “Yeah, I know. A businessman isn’t supposed to be appreciative of art, but I did a minor in art in college. The art gallery was a gift to myself. Most of the time, I’m personally involved in the purchase of stuff that’s on display there. We do a lot of exhibitions.”

  She didn’t know where he was going. “That’s great.”

  “I would like to show and sell your father’s work in the gallery.”

  Now, she was befuddled. This was a complete shock to her. No one in her family ever talked about selling her father’s work. “I don’t know. I mean—I never considered selling his pieces.”

  “Can I see the rest of the stuff?”

  “Well, sure. But it’s late, and—”

  “No problem. I’ll need time to take an inventory and see which pieces I’d like to display. I think it would be better if we did a show first. I bet there would be a lot of a publicity, and then maybe I can sell a few and lend a few to museums.”

  Even knowing someone thought her father’s work was worth showing, she felt humbled. But it was too big a decision for her to take. “Not so fast. My head is spinning. I’ll have to talk to my mother and see what she says about it. I don’t think I’d like to sell everything, or even if I could bear to part with a few things. This is his legacy.”

  “And I’m sure you’ll want others to appreciate it as much as you do. If art is shared, it enhances the value of the artist and the art itself. If people talk about what a fine craftsman and artist he was, I bet you’ll like it.”

  The man sure knew how to make her say yes, but she wasn’t ready for such a huge move. With Reece, every step was something huge. “It’s a bit too much to take in.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry. Take your time.”

  “About that coffee. Why don’t you come into the kitchen?”

  As he walked through the house, she saw him look around. The house was magnificent, really. It was mostly because of her father’s work. He’d done most of the wood work himself and there was a lot of detail and love that went into each nook and cranny. Sometimes, she helped her father, but she was nowhere as good as he’d been with a hammer and a chisel.

  “You’re privileged to live here. It’s obvious your parents made a lot of effort to make this into a wonderful house.”

  “It was my home, and yes, they made an effort. Most of it was done by my father, and I’ve tried to restore and fix some things since I moved in. He taught me a lot.” She switched on the coffee machine. Now that he was in such close quarters with her, and there was no one else around, she was nervous. “What about your parents?”

  “My mother died when I was six. In a car crash.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “My father raised me, and he taught me the business. He also passed.”

  She nodded. Nya took out two cups. “Yes, I heard you inherited a hardware store but your ambitions were bigger, and you set up your own factories one by one.”

  “News travels fast in this town,” he said.

  She poured the coffee and handed him a cup. “You better believe it. It’s out of one person’s mouth and into another’s ears, and so forth and so on. Small towns thrive on gossip, but there are also a lot of warmth and love which go around.”

  “I haven’t experienced that.”

  “You will when you’re accepted.”

  “I doubt that will ever happen.”

  She poured coffee into her cup. Did he really feel such negative vibes from the people? Sure, people could be wary of newcomers, and he was an easy target because he was rich and successful, and no one knew him. But she had faith in the people. Sooner or later, they’d realize that he was a great guy. “It will. You have to be positive.”

  “Lately, it’s getting harder to be,” he muttered. “Except when I’m with you. You make me think there’s hope at the end of this tunnel.”

  She didn’t know what to say. Did he really feel that way about her? Or perhaps he was simply flattering her so that—what? Would he go to such lengths just to secure her help because he wanted her to pass information from the police? She didn’t think he was that desperate. And given that he could call in a number of favors, she didn’t think it would be that difficult for him to get information from other sources.

  Maybe he really liked her.

  Oh, yeah! A man like him wouldn’t really look at a woman like her, and yet she had the distinct feeling he was genuinely interested in her.

  Why?

  “This coffee is good,” he said.

  “Hmm. I get the beans from this specialty shop. They’re Italian.”

  She suspected they were filling in the silence with conversation because if they didn’t do so, they were likely to leap into each other’s arms.

  She wanted him to do that.

  No, she didn’t.

  He finished his coffee, stood, and rinsed the cup. The act was intimate. It was almost as if he felt right at home.

  Nya cleared her throat.

  “I should go,” he said. “Thanks for the coffee. I’m glad I had this opportunity to see the house as well as your father’s work. Do think about the exhibition. It will be a good way to honor his memory and his work.”

  “Yeah, I’ll talk to my mother.” She left her half unfinished cup on the table as she followed him out. All she wanted to do was to touch his broad back and make him stop. She couldn’t wait to touch her lips to his, and to savor the taste and scent of him. But it would be a foolhardy move.

  He opened the door and stepped out. Turning back to face her, he raised his hand almost as if he wanted to touch her.

  The need to leap into his arms was almost a physical pull. She swayed on the spot as she leaned towards him.

  Was it her imagination or did he also step forward?

  Nya forced herself to stay still. They both locked glances. The same passion she felt coursing through her body gleamed in his eyes. She was almost certain he would attempt to kiss her.

  Should she let him?

  Was that the right move?

  Then he stepped back and cleared his throat.

  She swallowed the disappointment that rose within her like bitter bile. “Good night, Reece.” She closed the door before he moved away. Her heart contracted with an intense pain, but then this was the best decision. She couldn’t afford to get involved with Reece. He wasn’t the right man for her, and never would be.

  It was a fact she couldn’t afford to ignore—and she damned well better not.

  Chapter Eight

  He’d almost kissed her.

  Reece wished he’d acted on that instinct and tasted the delectable mouth that beckoned him. Her scent tantalized him, and yet he made an effort to pull back—just in time. he could imagine tasting her. He yearned to crash his lips on hers and savor the taste and scent of her, but it wouldn’t have been the best idea to do so—and he’d already made enough mistakes—at least as far as she was concerned.

  As he worked in his office, he tried to keep his thou
ghts off her, but she kept popping into his mind. He hated the intrusion, and yet he loved it. His intercom buzzed and pulled him out of the conflicting thoughts. “Yes, Martha?”

  “Good day, Sir. Mr. Foster, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Duncan are here to see you. They don’t have an appointment but they insist that they’ll wait until you’re free.”

  Reece grimaced. These three men were the troublemakers who have been challenging him at every turn ever since he became the alpha. While they did nothing directly confrontational, he knew they whispered about his lack of experience as alpha and didn’t waste any time about pointing out his mistakes. He was tempted to make them wait, but it would only antagonize them further. “Send them in.”

  When the men swaggered in, he stood and walked out from behind his desk. “This is a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you, gentlemen?”

  The men were all rugged and strong. Foster led the trio. “We’ve heard rumors,” he said without preamble.

  Reece didn’t lose his cool. Instead, he gestured for them to take a seat on the couch that was lined against the wall. “Regarding what?” Did they know he was the prime suspect to Miles’s murder? He had no doubt they were aware.

  These men were local, and there wasn’t much that would get past them. If he so wanted, he could have asked any one of them to check with the police regarding the status of the case, but he didn’t want to involve them in his personal issues. Funny, he didn’t feel that confidence with his pack, but he didn’t hesitate to demand that Nya do that for him.

  Reece didn’t know what to make of the sudden realization he trusted Nya more than anyone he knew.

  Strange.

  Not one of the men chose to sit. Instead they surrounded him in a half-circle.

  For a moment, he wondered if they were here for a fight.

  No, they wouldn’t dare do that in his office.

  And if they did, he was more than prepared for a battle. Reece wasn’t afraid of a fight. “What’s going on, guys?”

  It was unlike them to visit him in his office. The pack kept a distance from his work place, not only because they didn’t want to make anyone suspicious, but also because they all tried to give each other space. It was important for the pack to be in sync, and to care about each other, but at the same time it was crucial to allow each other to have a life.

  “You’ve been hanging out with that girl?”

  It took him a few seconds to figure out what they were talking about. While he resented this intrusion in his privacy, he could understand their concerns. “Nya?”

  “Yeah, the same. The forest ranger,” Foster said with a sneer. “She’s not a member of our pack.”

  “I know that. There have been reasons why I’ve been running into her.”

  “The murder isn’t a secret. Everyone knows about it.”

  Reece crossed his arms. “There isn’t much that happens in the forest that the wolves don’t know about, but I’m surprised no one seems to have an idea who killed Miles. I mean, a bunch of us are running around in that forest all day and night long, and still the murderer killed him and left his body there for two days, and no one has a clue.”

  “It was just sheer luck that the body wasn’t discovered for two days,” Smith said. “I caught a stench a day ago, but thought it was an animal.”

  “You didn’t go to investigate?”

  Smith scratched his head. He looked a bit perturbed. “Frankly, I…didn’t pay much attention to it.”

  “We’ll have to make more of an effort to keep the forest clean. If people start murdering others and dumping bodies there…it’s just not good for anyone,” Reece said.

  Maybe they could start patrolling the forest on regular intervals. But then surely this was just a one-time thing. The police would catch the murderer soon and then things would go back to normal. He didn’t want to alert the whole pack and unnecessarily create a headache for all concerned.

  “Hey! We didn’t come here to discuss that,” Foster said.

  Reece didn’t like his tone of voice. The man was spoiling for a fight and as yet, he hadn’t made up his mind if he wanted to give it to him. “Then come to the point.”

  “You can’t date a human.”

  “Actually, there’s no law within the pack that states that. Werewolves have dated humans and nothing bad ever happened.”

  Foster pointed a finger at him. “We’ve got different rules here. You knew that when you joined our pack. For decades, we and our ancestors have been living here, and no one has ever been made privy to our secret. Now you come here, with all your money and your new ideas, and you think you can change things around. We’re not going to tolerate this.”

  With an effort, Reece controlled his temper. He’d heard worse before, and while it annoyed him, Foster and his cohorts were in the minority. They didn’t provide a threat to his authority yet, but then he couldn’t allow them to dictate terms. As always, this was an effort to chip away at his confidence, and he wasn’t going to allow it. “And I believe I made it clear when I took on the position of alpha that we’re going to have some new rules. One of them is that we can be with a human as long as we’re able to guarantee that the human is not a threat to our secret.”

  “Nya isn’t a fluffy airhead who isn’t going to figure out who you are,” Duncan said. “She’s very smart, and I bet you, it’s not going to take her time to figure out that there’s something different about you. When she discovers who you are, it’s going to shake her. And don’t think you’ll be able to easily control her reaction afterward. She’s a woman who has a mind of her own. If she decides to tell the whole town, there isn’t a damn thing you’ll be able to do about it.”

  Reece was a little rattled by Duncan’s long speech. For one thing, the man didn’t usually talk. He stood behind Foster but he rarely spoke, not because he was afraid of Foster, but rather because he and Foster had been friends since childhood. Duncan was a solid guy. His loyalties misled him but there was nothing wrong with his thinking.

  And he was bang on right about Nya.

  “You know her?”

  “We dated briefly in high school,” he said. “I realized pretty quickly that I wouldn’t be able to fool her for long; so I broke up with her.”

  The burning sensation in his chest took Reece by surprise. He could imagine Duncan with Nya, and the image didn’t please him at all. It was her past, he convinced himself. It didn’t matter.

  Shit.

  Why was he getting so worked up about it?

  The fact that Duncan dated Nya ages ago wasn’t even relevant. There were bigger issues at stake here. “She’s intelligent, kind, and obviously very beautiful; but we’re not really dating.” Not yet. Yes, he wanted to do so, but even Reece wasn’t a hundred percent sure if that was a good idea. For one thing, the pack wouldn’t like it. And another thing, he was pretty sure he would have to come clean about his identity, his true nature. Reece didn’t know what he felt about sharing such a secret with her. Also, the emotions that swirled within him when he was with her scared him.

  He’d never been vulnerable with another woman before.

  “You went out for dinner with her?” Foster asked.

  Reece bared his teeth and lunged forward. The sudden movement seemed to scare Foster who took a step back and crouched as if he expected a blow. Reece stopped himself just in time. “You followed me?”

  “Hey, we’re only looking out for the best interest of the pack. You’re no longer acting with reason, so someone has to—”

  Reece jabbed him in the chest with his finger. “Do not question my authority. I’m the alpha, and more than you, I know what needs to be done for the pack. If, at any point in time, my relationship with Nya threatens the pack then I’ll take the necessary action. Until then, you better stay out of my way.”

  He’d never spoken like this with anyone before. It was obvious Foster and the rest were taken aback. Perhaps they thought his reason to remain quiet and calm was because of his desire to
not piss them off, but actually he’d kept his cool all these months because he wanted to win over supporters. Now, it seemed, he was making enemies. Reece didn’t know if this was the right move, but it was the only one that suited this particular situation—and there wasn’t much he could do about it.

  “We’re not questioning your authority,” Smith said.

  “When you’re following me, then it means you don’t trust me. I don’t want anyone in the pack to work against each other. If there’s dissent, we’ll solve it in the ancient way, in the way that our ancestors did for a long, long time.” His gaze remained fixed on Foster. “You want to be alpha? Challenge me, and we’ll fight to see which one is more suited.”

  Duncan stepped forward. He placed a hand on Foster’s shoulder. “Hey, hey. No one wants to issue a challenge. You won the position of alpha fair and square, and we all trust you. It’s just that…right now, things are a little haywire, and any extra tension will make things messy.”

  “I know how to clean up a mess,” Reece said. “The police will find the murderer, but if they don’t, then I will. In the meantime, I want the pack to lay low. Regarding my situation with Nya, that’s personal. Understood?”

  “Yes, of course,” Duncan said.

  “Yes,” Smith replied.

  Foster curled his upper lip. Perhaps he’d expected more support from his buddies to support him more, but then Smith and Duncan were smarter than him. They didn’t want to pick a fight with Reece, not when they didn’t have a reason to do so. He nodded, turned on his heels, and left the room without saying a word. Smith followed.

  Duncan stayed put. “I’m sorry.”

  Reece nodded.

  After Duncan left, Reece ran a hand thought his hair. The encounter disturbed him; he didn’t know what the hell Foster was up to, but now it meant he had another thing to worry about. The knowledge that the man dared to follow Reece upset him more than he cared to admit. He’d enjoyed what was his special time with Nya, but now the memory of it was marred by the realization that Foster was there. He must have watched them while they talked. They were sitting outside, and it must have been easy for him to keep an eye on them.