But should I keep secrets from them? What if they heard what happened from someone else? I walked over to one of the beds where I had been keeping my carefully folded clothes. I had tucked my bra and panties underneath one of the large t-shirts to partially get some privacy. I needed to figure out a more permanent solution. Maybe I could get one of those plastic bins they sold at Walmart? That would have to wait until the college started paying me, since I wasn’t going to be getting any more money from Mr. Reaven.
Wyatt laid back on his bed and put his arm over his eyes. The five of us were starting to be experts at avoiding seeing each other naked. We had to be, because this set up didn’t allow for anyone to have privacy. I idly wondered if Wyatt was attracted to me, or if he was affected because I was the only female around. I spared him another glance to make sure he wasn’t looking before digging through the pile of clothes to find what I wanted.
“I’m going to have more free time to help out here,” I called to him as I slipped my panties on underneath the towel. “I’m not going back there.” I tried to make my voice sound casual, but I know my true feelings slipped out because Wyatt tensed.
“Did something happen?” he asked. Was that a sense of worry in his voice? Surely not.
I dropped the towel and pulled on a comfortable bralette as I waged an internal debate. Finally I decided to tell the truth, but play it down as less serious than it was. “I got in a disagreement with the boss.”
“What kind of a disagreement?” Wyatt asked sharply.
I glanced over at him before pulling a t-shirt over my head. “He was arguing with his wife when I first came in today. After she left, he gave us girls a hard time.”
“So you quit?” Wyatt asked in surprise. “You don’t seem like the type to abandon a job because it’s hard work.”
Once I had my shorts on and buttoned, I walked over to him. “I didn’t quit because it was hard.” I scowled. “I quit because of the way he was treating me.”
“Can I look?” Wyatt asked.
“Yeah.” I sat on the bed across from him so we were facing each other, our knees only inches from touching.
“How was he treating you?”
I huffed. I didn’t want Wyatt and the other guys to think I was a lazy wimp that quit as soon as things got tough. “He… acted inappropriately.”
“What?” Wyatt sat up straight and looked at me with concern. “What did he do?”
“He just…” I swallowed nervously. “Sometimes he’d bring me into the storeroom to talk to me. Usually it was just uncomfortable with how close he’d get, but today he touched me and I didn’t like it.”
“He touched you?” Wyatt asked furiously.
“I didn’t let him get away with anything,” I said defensively. “I protected myself and made it clear that I wasn’t interested in his proposition.”
“Proposition?” Wyatt spluttered. “What the fuck?”
Oops. I turned bright red. “I handled it, Wyatt.”
Wyatt clenched his jaw. “It’s not even close to being handled,” he ground out. “Stay here, I think Gray and I need to have a talk with him.” He got to his feet and stalked out of the room and towards the stairs.
“Wyatt!” I ran after him, my bare feet slapping the floor. “It’s not that big of a deal.” He ignored me and pounded down the stairs as I followed him into the kitchen. “I said I handled it!” I grabbed his arm to make him stop walking. The last thing I wanted was for him to march down to the ice cream shop and do something that we would all regret. I didn’t want the whole town talking about this.
“Handled what?” Grayson asked with a frown as he wiped his hands on a towel.
“Her asshole of a boss touched her,” Wyatt growled.
Grayson’s head snapped toward me. “He touched you?”
“Oh my god!” I exclaimed. “Yes, but I took care of it.”
“That’s not okay,” Corey snarled from the doorway into the garage. “We need to teach him a lesson.” His face was thunderous, and I could feel the rage radiating off him. He stalked to the door as if he was going after Mr. Reaven right now.
“Corey!” I shouted. Kannon grabbed his arm to stop him but Corey shook him off angrily. I saw Grayson move to cut him off before he could make it to the door but I got there first. Corey stopped abruptly when I cut in front of him. I stood there in a wide stance with my arms crossed, making it clear he wasn’t getting by me.
“Lori, let me handle this,” he growled. “Move.”
“For the last time,” I yelled. “It has been handled!” How many times was I going to have to repeat that? Corey and I faced off against each other and glared in silence. He looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something else in anger and I narrowed my eyes. “You’re not getting past me.” He took a step to the side to try to get around me, but I mirrored his motion, keeping my body right in front of his.
Corey took a deep shuttering breath and closed his eyes. Grayson moved to grab Corey by the arm but I gave him a subtle shake of my head. Corey wouldn’t hurt me, I doubt he would even lay a hand on me to move me out of the way. But I couldn’t say the same for Grayson. Antagonizing Corey further into a physical confrontation wasn’t the answer here.
Corey’s breathing was rough, and I could tell he was struggling. But he was trying. After what seemed like an eternity, Corey opened his eyes and looked at me with regret. “Lori, I’m sorry. I over reacted without knowing the whole story.”
I nodded and reached for one of his hands which was still tightly held in a fist. “It’s okay. I think we need to talk this through and make a decision as a group, though.”
Corey looked down at my hand in confusion and relaxed his fist. I gave his hand one last squeeze before I let him go. He tilted his head to the side and looked perplexed. “You shouldn’t try to touch me when I’m like that, I might mistake you for a threat.”
“You know I’m not a threat,” I said softly. “And I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t,” Corey said bitterly, sadness in his eyes.
There were a couple beats of silence where no one knew what to say before Grayson spoke. “Family meeting. Now.”
Kannon pushed by Corey to get to me. “Are you alright, Lori?” he asked with concern. I let him fold me up into his arms and inhaled his scent. I didn’t realize how worked up I was until he rubbed my back and I started to relax. “I smell blood,” he growled. Kannon pushed me back gently to try to look, but I held him to me.
“I’m fine,” I murmured into his chest. And it was true. I had been nervous about the guys acting out against someone encroaching on their territory, but that wasn’t what this was. Even Corey gave me the impression that he was more concerned about me than territorial. “I hit my head on a metal shelf when he grabbed me, but it’s just a small cut. It will probably heal in a couple hours.” I kept my voice nonchalant in an effort to diffuse the situation.
“Have a seat,” Grayson urged me. I walked over to one of the chairs around the table and sat as he hovered over me. “Where did you hit your head?”
I parted my hair so I could show him where I had collided with the metal shelf. “I have a thick skull, so I don’t even have a dent to show for it.” I grinned up at him but he tilted my head back down to look at the wound.
Corey snorted. “I know that’s right.” I was relieved to see that his shoulders were relaxing. The two of us shared a smile and my heart warmed towards him.
Grayson gently probed my cut. “I think you’re right, Lori. You should be fine in a few hours. But just in case, I don’t want you to go to sleep until we’re sure you’re alright. And stay close to one of us for the rest of the day so we can keep an eye on you.”
“Okay.” I was surprised at how gentle and caring Grayson was being. He walked around the table and took a seat opposite me. “Now, tell us everything that happened.”
I gulped but did as he asked. I told them everything that happened from the time I walked into the ice cream
shop, but paused before I told them about the crotch shot. “So, you have to understand that by this point I was beyond furious,” I explained. “I know I probably shouldn’t have done this, but… I kicked him in the balls.”
Corey laughed. “I’m glad you did.” He gave me a nod of respect.
“Senseless violence is never the answer,” Grayson said quietly. “But I never want you to hesitate to defend yourself if you’re in danger.”
“There are some balls that just need to be kicked,” Wyatt added. “It sounds like this situation warranted it.”
I nodded in relief. “He attacked me first.”
“We have to do something about this,” Corey announced. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is,” I said firmly. “He attacked me, I defended myself. I quit the job, so I never have to see him again. Problem solved.”
“It’s not like we can call the cops,” Kannon said bitterly. “The sheriff would probably put Lori in handcuffs and say it was all her fault.”
My face flushed. “There was a witness, but she said she has to protect her family’s reputation. She won’t speak up on my behalf.” I put my head in my hands. “I’m sorry guys, I just pissed off one of the most influential men in the town at the time you need his support most.”
Grayson shook his head. “You did nothing wrong. And we’ll be having words with him. I don’t care who he is.”
I sighed, realizing that there was no way I was going to be able to talk them out of this. “On the bright side, most of the town already knows that I’m living here, so no need to come up with an elaborate story.”
“He shouldn’t have said those things about you,” Kannon said quietly. “I don’t like that other people are treating you badly because of us.”
I shrugged. “We knew this was a possibility.”
“Humans don’t understand that you can love more than one person at a time,” Grayson said softly. “They’re narrow minded like that.” He held eye contact with me pointedly and I blushed. Was he saying that he was interested in me the same way that Kannon was? I looked over at Kannon but didn’t see any jealousy on his face.
“I always assumed I would share a mate,” Kannon added. “I’m not as fierce of a protector as some of the other males, but I can make you happy in other ways.”
I turned bright red and squirmed. While it was true that I had wondered about Grayson’s feelings towards me, I wasn’t sure I was ready for this conversation yet. I hadn’t known the guys for that long and I was still working through my feelings and figuring out what I wanted in life. I needed to get my head straight.
“I’m glad to know that’s a possibility,” I said hesitantly.
“But it’s too soon,” Grayson finished. “You haven’t known us for that long and you’ve been through a lot. You need time to experience life as a free wolf.”
I nodded, grateful that he understood.
Corey scowled. “She was attacked not even an hour ago and the two of you are already trying to shove your cocks in her face.”
Grayson stood up, his face flushed red with anger. “I don’t appreciate your crude language.”
Corey stood to face Grayson across the table. “I’m sure Lori’s heard worse. She’s not an innocent little lamb, she’s been through shit.”
“It doesn’t matter what she’s been through, I expect you to treat her with respect,” Grayson growled.
“I’m treating her as an equal,” Corey retorted. “I’m treating her like she’s one of us. I’m not going to tiptoe around her like she’s a special little princess.”
“You’re an asshole,” Wyatt said disparagingly.
Nausea churned in my belly. I hated that they were all upset because of something that happened to me; maybe I should have just kept it to myself. There was really no need for me to stir everyone up. I didn’t like that they were at each other’s throats over this.
I stood and moved to touch Grayson’s arm. “I’m not offended,” I said softly. “Corey’s right that I’ve heard worse and he wasn’t aiming at me with that comment.” Grayson grunted but didn’t look away from Corey. “And Corey, I don’t like you using me as an excuse to antagonize the others.”
Corey’s eyes flicked to me in surprise before his expression settled into guilt. “Whatever. I take it the family meeting is over?” He looked over at Grayson for confirmation. At least he was still accepting Grayson as the leader of our little pack.
“No,” Grayson growled. “Sit your ass down.”
Corey stared at him for a moment and I held my breath. This could go very badly if Corey challenged Grayson again in such a short period of time. We might look human right now, but we were still wolves. And wolves fought for dominance.
Corey sat down slowly and crossed his arms over his chest, not saying another word. That was fine with me. Grayson glared at him for a moment longer before turning to me. “Lori, will you have a seat?”
I saw Corey’s jaw clench at the gentle way that Grayson spoke to me versus the harsh manner that he had put Corey down. I quickly sat at my place at the table and waited for Grayson to do the same. He had the undivided attention of everyone at the table now.
“We have more that we need to discuss,” Grayson started. “Lori and I are going to the university tonight to finalize her paperwork. Once she has a new identity here there’s no going back. She will officially be one of us.”
Kannon gave me a happy grin and put his hand up for a high five. I indulged him with a matching grin of my own. It felt good to hear Grayson announce that I was officially in their pack.
“You want to do the pack bond?” Wyatt asked thoughtfully.
My eyes widened at the thought of them letting me into their pack bond. In my old pack, it was only the males that received that honor. “You’re going to make me a part of it?” I asked with an embarrassingly high-pitched voice. I cleared my throat and tried to hold in my excitement. I could have misunderstood his intentions.
“Well, yeah,” Grayson stated with a look of confusion. “Unless you have an objection?”
I shook my head enthusiastically. “Nope. I was just surprised because I’m a female.”
Wyatt and Grayson exchanged glances. “Most packs let females into the pack bond,” Wyatt said kindly.
I bounced a little in excitement. “Can we go on a pack run, too? To celebrate?”
Grayson nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. We’ve gotten a lot of work done this week and I think we all could use a reward for our dedication. Lori and I have our meeting at three so we’ll be back in time for a family dinner. After dinner we’ll do the pack bond and go for a run.”
“Awesome,” Kannon said eagerly.
I agreed with Kannon and looked around at the faces of my new pack. Grayson looked pleased and Wyatt thoughtful. Corey’s face might have been slightly less annoyed than usual, but it was difficult to tell. He hadn’t voiced any objections to Grayson’s plan so I was going to take that as a win. Things were finally working out in my favor.
Chapter 19
Lori
“Your old pack sounds like a bunch of real assholes.” I looked up to see Corey leaning on the doorway to the office that Gray and Wyatt had built in the front of the garage. I was surrounded by what seemed like a million pieces of the desk that I had volunteered to put together. The picture had made it look so easy but it was now going on an hour of me working on it and I wasn’t even a quarter of the way done.
Grayson had wanted me to sit and relax but I was too restless. I didn’t want to sit by and do nothing while the other guys worked. The cut on my head was already mostly healed so Grayson had compromised and let me work in the office with the door open so they could keep an eye on me. I had been going back and forth between annoyed that they thought I was so delicate and pleased because they cared so much.
Corey’s face was lacking his usual scowl and instead had a look that was suspiciously sympathetic. I sat back and tossed down my Allen wrench. This seeme
d like a good time to take a break from my struggle with the desk and use the opportunity to get to know Corey a little better. “Yeah. I always thought the humans had it so good. I used to wish I could be one of them.”
“Hmmm.” Corey moved further into the room and I watched him curiously. What was he up to? “This would probably be easier if you had a second person to hold the wooden pieces in place while you screwed them together.”
I looked at him in surprise when he knelt and picked up one of the boards I had been working with. He looked at the instruction manual I had open and angled the board into an L-shape against another piece. He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow, probably because I was staring at him with my mouth open.
I blushed and picked up my Allen wrench again. He was right, it was a lot easier to get the screws in when I wasn’t wresting with holding the heavy boards in the right position. This was going to go a lot quicker if he was willing to help.
“There was one time in my life when I wished to be human, too,” Corey said softly, avoiding my eyes. “In some ways, they have so much more freedom than we do. But even if it were possible, I could never give up the part of me that’s a wolf and I wouldn’t want to lose the guys. They’re my family.”
I worked quietly and thought about my next words. “I’m starting to realize that I don’t know as much about humans as I thought I did.” I sat back in satisfaction after getting the next couple screws in easily. “I used to think that humans fell in love when they mated. But if Mr. Reaven loved his wife, he wouldn’t have tried anything with me.”
“Anyone can fall in love, not just humans,” Corey told me as he picked up the next board. “And there are all types of humans, just like there are different types of wolves.”
I focused on lining up the next screw and adjusted the board that Corey was holding a little to the left. “I guess I just had an idealistic view of the human world. I wanted to escape into their world where everything would be perfect.”
Corey frowned. “But you lived in the human world? Went to human schools?”
“Yes. I went to the classes, but I was always isolated.” I sighed as the memories came back to me. “I never had a human friend. I wasn’t allowed to join any after school programs and most of the other kids looked down on me because I didn’t have name brand clothes or a fancy phone. I just didn’t fit in.” Plus, my cousins had always been nearby to scare off any humans who would have given me a chance.
New Beginnings: Hollow Crest Wolf Pack Book 1 Page 15
