by E A Price
She balled up her fist again, and Reid caught her wrist. He pulled her body against his. Trapping her and stroking his free hand down her back. “I’m fine,” he hissed.
“But you might not have been,” she mumbled against his hard chest.
She moved to push him away, but he held tight. “I’m fine,” he said in a softer voice.
He breathed in and out slowly, and she heard the thud of his heart in his chest, soothing her agitated beast. His hand moved to her head. He tangled his fingers in her hair and angled her head to look at him.
Her lips parted as she noticed the swirl of amber in his eyes. She could feel her own heart swelling and a tingle between her legs. Her wolf urged her to kiss him. She didn’t know where it came from, but she was about to when…
Norma bustled into the garage. “Reid, you in here?”
Jolene stepped away quickly. Reid’s hands fell to his sides, but his stormy eyes never left hers.
“Jolene, sweetie! This is a nice surprise.”
Hurricane Norma blew through the garage, giving Jolene a hug, telling her she wasn’t eating right, wiping a smudge off Reid’s cheek and in spite of Reid’s strenuous objections, trying to tidy up. In less than five minutes, Jolene had an unavoidable invitation to dinner, and she was helping set the table with Reid, who shot her a small, knowing smile.
Reid’s dad, Harry was quiet throughout dinner. He was angling to watch a hockey game on TV. Norma had insisted that he, at least, mute the TV during dinner, but he was still trying to get a look at what was going on. If Norma noticed, she didn’t say anything. No, in fact, she barely stopped talking from the moment she sat down. She was a one-woman conversation. Other participants were optional at best.
While she chatted about various pack mates, Reid leaned over and whispered, “Not exactly what I had in mind for feeding you.”
Jolene smiled. “It’s fine; I love your mom’s cooking. I have naughty dreams about your mom’s cherry cobbler.”
Something flashed over Reid’s face – interest perhaps? And his body seemed to tense. She realized what she said and blushed and started taking far too much interest in her potatoes.
“You know I heard from Beau earlier today,” said Norma, oblivious to any undercurrents between her other dinner guests.
“Oh?” squeaked Jolene, politely and keen to change the subject from dirty dreams about cobbler.
Reid went still, his face clouding.
“Yes, he’s thinking of coming for a visit.” Norma started babbling about her grandchildren. How accomplished they were, how much potential they had – even thought they were only two and four years old.
“How nice,” said Jolene, politely. Although, the thought of Beau returning deflated her a little for some reason.
She flicked her gaze to Reid, but he had returned to being sullen and was studiously avoiding looking in her direction.
Her wolf huffed. Great. Beau didn’t even have to be there to put a damper on her life.
*
Armed with leftovers, because according to Norma she was getting far too skinny, Jolene decided it was time to leave. Given that her eyelids were starting to droop, and she almost started snoring during her third helping of cobbler – she wasn’t kidding about those naughty dreams – she thought she ought to get going.
Reid was showing her out when she took his hand. “Would you mind if I took a picture of some of the things you made?”
“Why?” he asked, slightly suspiciously. “My mom’s probably already told the whole pack about me.”
“I think if I showed the pictures to people at work you’ll start getting a lot of orders. The mayor’s friends are pretty flush with cash – they could afford to pay for such lovely pieces.”
“If you say so.”
Jolene chuckled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I do say so.” Offloading her packages of food to him, she marched into the garage and took some photos with her phone, ignoring his embarrassed huffs.
She gave him a smug look when she finished and reached for her food. “I’ll walk you home,” he said firmly, gripping the Tupperware.
“There’s no need,” she said while trying not to yawn.
“I’ll do it anyway.”
They were quiet most of the way home. Jolene didn’t really mind. He wasn’t the most talkative of people, and she didn’t feel like making the effort. Although, Reid had been quiet ever since his mom mentioned his brother. She worried that Reid thought he couldn’t talk about Beau because of her. It was sweet but not necessary. She hadn’t quite turned into a crazy old woman sitting around in her crusty house wearing an old wedding dress just yet.
“How long has it been since you saw Beau?” she asked brightly. See – she could act normal.
“Not since the wedding,” he rumbled. “You?”
Jolene gave him a half-smile. “Same, actually. Apart from the Christmas cards.”
Reid’s features tightened. “He sends you Christmas cards?”
“Yeah.” Letting her know how wonderful his life was – every card was personalized with a picture of him and Tawny looking like knitwear models, and more lately, him, Tawny and their kids.
Reid shook his head.
“I guess he wants to be friends,” said Jolene, lamely.
He stopped walking and gave her a searching look. “And what do you want?”
“I don’t really want to be his friend,” she admitted.
He looked at her for a couple of beats. “I better go home, will you be okay from here.”
She laughed as she looked up and saw her house. “It’s ten feet away… yes, I’ll be fine.”
He nodded, handed her the packets of food and stomped away. Her wolf sighed. It must be difficult for Reid to be still friends with her, knowing how she feels about his brother.
While unpacking the food, she decided that one more bite of cobbler couldn’t hurt. She thought about Beau as she chewed. She didn’t hate him. Well, mostly she didn’t. No, she definitely didn’t hate him. But she could never describe them as friends.
For a long time, she mourned the relationship with Beau. It was supposed to be everything she wanted – stable, easy, and then being with Mark – the anti-Beau - only made her miss Beau more. But she knew she didn’t love Beau anymore. She’d actually fallen out of love with him pretty quickly. It happened after that damn engagement party, and the dream started happening. She knew she couldn’t love Beau and dream that.
But as for the life she almost had – that was a different matter. Maybe the vision she had of her life wasn’t glamorous or exciting, or even that interesting, but it was a good, solid life. She would have had a dependable existence. Not to mention being part of his family. After witnessing her parents’ relationship up close, all she wanted was a little stability, she just didn’t seem to be able to make good choices about it.
And… what the hell? Where did all the cobbler go? She’d eaten the whole thing? Jeez Louise – she really needed to start exercising again.
Jolene shook her head and dragged herself off to bed.
*
Soft lips brushed over hers. She arched against the heavy body half covering hers. Too soon, he moved away from her. Her tongue darted over her bottom lip, savoring his taste.
“I love you, Jolene,” whispered the deep, guttural voice.
She moaned as she felt him trailing kisses down her body. His fingers pushed the material of her dress to her hips and hooked into her panties. Her wolf roared in excitement as she moaned the word ‘yes’ and… her phone started ringing.
Her beast snarled as Jolene awoke. Great, just as it was getting good.
Jolene let out a sound of disgust and turned the light on to see who was calling. Beau? Hell, talk about a mood killer. Not wanting to speak to him, she turned her phone off, flopped onto her front and tried to get back to her dream.
Hey, there was no harm in dreaming about Reid.
*
Reid pawed the ground as the lig
ht in Jolene's bedroom came on. The wolf inched closer to the house.
He was angry at the thought of her ex calling again. And even angrier at the thought of Beau contacting her in any way, even if it was to rub it in her face with Christmas cards.
No, Jolene didn’t want to be Beau’s friend – she wanted to be his mate. It was something Reid had always known, but it didn’t make it any easier. Thank all that is holy that Beau was completely off-limits.
He knew in his heart he could be a good mate to Jolene. He wasn’t the easiest wolf, but he would always be loyal and always kind to her, that certainly wasn’t something Beau could claim.
He needed to make her his, and soon.
Being out of town was one thing, but being this close, he couldn’t help but fear for her. Hadn’t the pack chief enforcer mentioned he had scented a couple of unknown shifters in the woods recently? What if Jolene was in danger? What if they were home invaders? What if they hurt her? He withheld the howl that wanted to escape.
He had to guard her; he had to take care of her… he had to make sure none of her exes came back to claim her.
Jolene was theirs, and he would guard her against everyone. He just needed to show her she was his. He would woo her, in his own way.
Chapter Seven
On arriving at work, Jolene found a wooden apple on her desk. There was no note, but it could only have come from one person. She held it up and inhaled the earthy wooden smell mixed with Reid’s intoxicating scent. Beautiful.
She was surprised he had managed to put it on her desk before she arrived. She was half an hour early to make up for being late.
Jolene lovingly ran her fingers over the wood. God, he was talented. That was no surprise, though, was it? Hadn’t he always done anything he set his mind to? He’d always been an impressive young man. She should call him and thank him.
She pulled out her phone but stilled as she heard angry, raised voices from inside the mayor’s office. For a moment she worried it was Adam again. But no, that didn’t sound like his voice. She scented and then frowned. It was definitely a wolf, but not her Alpha.
The scent belonged to Bryce – a pain in the ass wolf from the pack. He was known for a being a hound with women, and aggressive with women, and almost violent with women. Misogynistic dickhead might be a good description of him. He hadn’t crossed the line yet of really hurting a female, so the Alpha couldn’t kick him out of the pack, but he had come close. As Jolene heard it, the last pack female who had let him come near her had been Carly, the pack Omega and kindest female in the pack. Bryce had dumped her for another woman, and Carly had since found her mate, but rumors abounded that he hadn’t been very gentle with the sensitive Omega.
What was Bryce doing with the mayor?
She froze as the mayor opened his office door and spat at Bryce to 'get out'. The large wolf sauntered out, smirking. His swagger lessened a bit when he spotted Jolene, but he soon recovered and winked at her as he left.
The mayor saw her and opened and closed his mouth a few times before slamming his door. Her wolf growled lowly, worry pricking her every sense. What in the heck was that about? If it involved Bryce, it wasn’t good.
Jolene grabbed her phone to call Reid but was startled when it rang in her hand. Oh no, it was the person she dreaded more than even Mark or telemarketers.
Reluctantly, she answered. “Mom.”
“Hello sweetheart,” came the brittle voice of her mother. “How are you?”
She considered her answer and decided to lie. “I’m great, and you?”
“I’m calling because…”
Jolene sighed. “How much?” she asked in a growl.
Her mom paused. “There’s no need to take that tone with me.”
“How. Much?” she ground out amid yowls from her wolf.
“Two thousand,” her mom said in a quiet voice.
“I don’t have that much money.”
“But you have a good job.”
“And credit card debt.” Thank you very much, Mark.
Her mom clucked her tongue. “I really think you should be more careful with your money.”
Jolene spluttered into the phone. “You lecturing me on fiscal responsibility? Oh my god!”
“Calm down, that’s really no way to talk to your mother.”
Maybe if you acted like a mother once in while… is what she really wanted to say. Instead, she asked, “What’s the money for?”
Her mother exhaled. “Your father was arrested, and I need it for bail.”
“Arrested for what?” she asked softly.
There was a pause. “It’s not important.”
“Yeah, don’t worry I can guess. God, he is such a…”
“He’s still your father.”
“He’s a bully!” snapped Jolene.
“I love him! He’s my mate!” wailed her mom.
Jolene dabbed at her eyes. No, she wasn’t going to cry over her parents anymore. She’d wasted far too many tears on them. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I just don’t have that much to spare.”
“What about your Alpha? Couldn’t you ask him for money? Or your friend Kim? Didn’t you say she mated one of those wealthy Buchanan wolves? Surely they should help you out in your time of need.”
She went cold at the suggestion. “I’m not hitting my friends up for money.”
She thought her mom was going to argue, but she didn’t. The older she-wolf sighed. “I understand, baby. Take care of yourself.”
Her mom hung up, and Jolene fought the urge to throw her phone across the room.
*
Reid paced up and down in front of Jolene’s house. He was overreacting. Or maybe he was just a needy ass. But he expected Jolene to at least call him when she saw the apple. But no, nothing, nada, zip.
He’d tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail.
Maybe she hated it. His animal grumbled in annoyance. Or maybe she was too busy to call. Yes, his wolf much preferred that.
It was that thought that stopped him from storming up to her office and demanding to know what she thought of it.
Fuck, he really was a needy ass.
He made a pear for his mom too, because she insisted she wanted one for herself, and when he pressed it into her hands, he didn’t even bother to wait for a thank you never mind her gushes of how lovely she thought it was.
But if Jolene didn’t like it… that really would send him into a funk.
He wasn’t good at romantic gestures. He couldn’t see the point in flowers – they’d just die. And chocolates? Surely Jolene just bought chocolate whenever she wanted it. And jewelry? What was the point? Overpriced baubles that she couldn’t wear when she shifted anyway.
He thought she’d appreciate something he made more. She wasn’t the kind of woman who went for flashy. He’d noticed that when Beau once sent her twelve balloons and a gorillagram for a Valentine’s Day – she’d tried to run away from both. She was more sentimental and quieter in her affections.
Jeez, he hoped she liked it.
Reid stiffened as he heard her car approaching. His wolf gnawed his teeth uneasily. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to accost her outside her house and demand to know whether she liked it or not. It might be considered as coming on a bit strong.
He considered shifting and making a run for it as unaccustomed nerves assailed him. Hell, he could face down enemy guns, but one she-wolf made him more nervous than a mouse in a house of cats.
Damn. Too late, she saw him. Running would be downright weird now.
Jolene parked and got out. A smile spread across her face, but she couldn’t hide the sadness in her eyes.
Unable to stop himself, urged by his beast, he strode toward her. “What’s wrong?” he demanded gruffly.
She was going to say ‘nothing’, she was going to lie, but she let out a sob and instead threw herself at his chest, crying on his shoulder. He slid his arm around her waist, leading her into the house.
Reid grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a glass. He settled them onto the couch, her lush body fitting perfectly against his. She eagerly guzzled down a glass of whiskey and then another.
He clutched her to him, not saying a word just enjoying the closeness, waiting patiently for her to tell him what was wrong.
He didn’t like seeing her upset. His wolf was howling that someone may have done this to her, wanting him to hunt them down. But it gave him a small sense of satisfaction that she was comforted by him. Although if it was a boyfriend who had made her feel this way he wasn’t sure how long that feeling would last.
Eventually – but far too soon for his liking – she came up for air.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered through sniffles.
Her face was blotchy and tear streaked, and yes her nose was red and snotty, but she looked as beautiful as ever.
“Don’t be sorry,” he murmured.
She tried cracking a smile, and it turned into a grimace. “I’m getting you all wet.”
“I’ll dry. What’s up?”
Her face shuttered slightly. “It’s nothing.”
She tried to move out of his embrace, but he didn’t let her go. He held firm, keeping her pressed against him. Where she belonged.
“Tell me,” he demanded softly.
“My mom called me today.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes. Her gaze fixed on his chest and she began tracing circles over his stomach. Even through clothes, her touch was potent. He tried to control himself. An erection right now would be downright tacky. Instead, he thought of mental cold showers – baseball and his mom in a face mask and curlers – and grunted encouragingly.
“She wanted money again… for him.”
“For who?”
Jolene sighed. “My dad. He was arrested again.”
Reid placed a finger under her chin and lifted her, so they were eye to eye. “There’s more to this story.” The only thing he knew was that Jolene came to the pack to live with her grandma when she was fifteen. Jolene never talked about her parents, and no one had ever quizzed her about them. He guessed the Alpha knew why she was there. But even Beau hadn’t cared enough to get the whole truth from her. Before now, Reid hadn’t felt like he had any right to that part of her, but whether she knew it or admitted it right now, they were mates. He owned her body and soul, just as she did him.
