by Aubrey Rose
“Alright. I’ve become like a second daughter since we became friends. That has to be annoying for them. I mean if they wanted more kids, they’d have had more the old fashioned way.”
Jordan found the whole shifter community absolutely fascinating. If it were up to her, she’d be all in their business trying to figure out how the whole animal-human thing worked.
“Why would you say they’d be annoyed by you?” Ellie’s face creased in a frown. “They like you. Heck, they love you more than any of their sons’ previous girlfriends. In fact, they like you more than most family we have. You’ve grown on them.”
Jordan snorted. “Yeah like fungus or a rash.”
“No, not like that. Like an unusual but lovely woman who needs a mate.”
“What?” She spit out the wine she’d had in her mouth. “Who said I needed a mate?”
Ellie laughed, put her glass down on the coffee table, and settled into the sofa with her feet under her. “My mother. She thinks you just need a strong man to help you realize what you are missing out on.”
“And that’s a mate?” Jordan coughed, trying to stop the choking. Her tummy churned with anxiety. She held Barbara Wolfe, Ellie’s mother, in high regard. But Jordan would never think a long-term relationship would fix her. Thinking of any kind of dependence on anyone made her feel slightly sick. She didn’t really trust most people enough for that.
“Yes. She was highly upset when I told her you broke up with your last boyfriend. She thinks you just haven’t been chased by the right one.”
Jordan continued to cough while Ellie giggled. “Mrs. Wolfe thinks I need to be chased?”
Well hell, maybe she was on to something. Chasing sounded fun. Usually Jordan was too prickly for men to make a move, unless they were sure of themselves. But even then, most of them turned out to be full of shit.
Ellie nodded, flipped on her back and stretched, rubbing her bare feet on the leather. “Of course, dad thinks you’re too independent and need a man to rein you in.”
Rein her in? What the hell was she, cattle? Tristan, Ellie’s dad, was so old school. “Yeah, that sounds like your dad.”
“Although, Aric—”
Jordan’s gaze jerked to Ellie’s face. The bemused smile on her was one Jordan had often seen when Ellie was up to no good. “Aric was present during these conversations?”
Ellie knew Jordan liked Aric to some degree. It’s not like she could hide it from her. The woman was a wolf. She could smell Jordan getting all kinds of turned on when Aric’s name popped up. But what she never told Ellie was how deep her feelings ran. That was something Jordan had trouble even thinking about.
Ellie’s eyes widened, filled with innocence. “Oh, yes.”
Fuck. Sweat gathered in her palms. Now her nerves were getting the best of her. Her stomach did all kinds of acrobatic flips. She’d have to ask or die wondering. And she was too curious not to know. “And what did he say?”
“It doesn’t matter. We both know you’re not looking for long term anyway. You like your independence.” She shut her eyes and sighed.
“Ellie!”
Ellie jerked her eyes open with a chuckle. “Fine, if you want to know, Aric thinks you are fine just the way you are.”
“Which means what?” She asked before she could stop herself. She’d always tried to control her interest in Ellie’s older brother, but sometimes Jordan’s hormones just ran away from her.
Aric. With his piercing dark eyes, eyes she swore begged her to strip every time he glanced her way. And that tall slightly tanned hard body filled with boundless muscles. So many muscles.
She cleared her throat. Visuals of running her nails down his six packs and nibbling on his belly button made her reach for her wine again. But it was the strong jaw and “I’ll eat your pussy really good” smile she couldn’t stop thinking about.
Ellie’s smile dimmed. “Aric said, in time, you’d find your mate and for everyone to leave you alone to decide your life yourself.”
Her hope deflated. It was what she’d always told everyone. Somehow, hearing that he’d said the same made her want to run to the liquor store and buy a barrel of wine.
A sharp pain pierced her heart, deeper and deeper until she wanted to cry. Though Jordan would rather dance around naked in public than admit her feelings for Aric, she had secretly continued to hope. Now, that hope was dead.
“That’s true. I can decide my life myself.”
She remembered thinking the same thing the night of her senior prom, until Aric had seen her. Memories flooded her mind. She’d walked down the hall in her sapphire blue dress to find him in the living room with Ellie. He’d given her a look she’d never forget. It was the kind of look she’d always wanted to see from him. And he’d lifted a hand to her face, caressed her cheek, and told her she looked beautiful. She’d almost melted into a blue spot on the floor. Her previous concern at going to the prom dateless with only Ellie as her companion had flown out the window. He’d been the only thing on her mind the rest of that night.
She cleared her throat, unwilling to think about Aric any longer. “So, back to this scenting ceremony, what exactly happens?”
“Well...” Ellie’s pale features turned a dark crimson with embarrassment.
Jordan started to worry about what went on. Would it be some rated R stuff? “Well what?”
“First, they start out as wolves and sniff each other.” She glanced at Jordan and bit her lip. “To see if the animals feel any kind of attraction.”
That made sense. Considering they were going to be mated forever, they needed to know if they were both compatible as humans and wolves, so nothing strange there. She stared at Ellie expectantly.
“They shift into their human bodies and scent each other that way too.”
If Ellie’s face turned any redder, Jordan would need to throw some water on her to bring her temperature down. “Wait, they’re naked after their shift, aren’t they?”
Ellie nodded, glanced down at her glass of wine, and took a gulp. Oh. Yeah that would be little more than Jordan had expected, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
“It’s okay, Ellie, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’re thinking.”
Ellie cleared her throat and downed the rest of wine.
“Why haven’t your parents pushed you into mating? I mean Kelly is like five years younger than you, so that makes her around twenty-five, right? But you are still unmated. And your parents don’t seem like they’ve lost their values. I mean your whole shifter history is based on pushing the males and females to mate as soon as they reach the right age. Go forth and make some fur balls and all that. Isn’t that what you’ve said before?”
Ellie shrugged. “Mom and dad are the pack leaders and don’t feel I need to be pushed into mating until I’m comfortable. Mom kind of had a hand at getting Kelly and Marco together, so that kept her occupied for a bit. Besides, the males are the ones that need to mate first. They continue our line and need mates as soon as possible.”
Aric would need a mate. Bone-crushing sadness enveloped her. She wanted to go hit something. Maybe shoot something. Dryness took over her throat. “So they’re going to get mates during this ceremony as well?”
Ellie nodded, her lips pursing. “If my mom has her way, yes. She’s invited a bevy of females for Aric, Mason, Nathan, and Jake to choose from.”
Her throat convulsed at the thought of Aric choosing another woman while she watched. Distress twisted massive knots in her stomach. It was definitely best for her to watch from a distance. If she caught some woman sniffing Aric, she might forget her composure and let her well-known temper loose.
“Are you sure you still want to do this?” Ellie’s gaze held a note of sympathy.
She nodded, folded her arms over her chest, and bit her lip. “If I want to write an accurate account about your kind in the book, then yes, I do.”
Where the hell were Karla, Emma and Nicole? This was ladies night. Okay, more like “let’
s get drunk, man bash, and eat a lot night” but still. Her friends had never been late for wine and food.
She was about to open her mouth when the doorbell rang. The three consecutive rings indicated at least Emma and Karla had arrived. Emma always rang the bell three times in a row. It was like a nervous tick or something.
Jordan stood to open the door and her legs tried to fold under her. Shit, how many glasses had she had? She slowly made her way to the front door to let her friends inside.
Another round of rings met her at the door.
“I’m here, cool your heels.”
She jerked the door open and found the three missing amigas.
Emma’s gaze roamed her face. “Damn, Jordan, how long have you been drinking?”
She licked her lips, tasting the residual wine on them. “Not long. Why do you ask?”
Karla tickled her side as she sashayed past her. “You’re all red in the face. You only get flushed like that when we talk sex or you’ve had like a ton of wine. We all know that.”
Jordan was probably flushed from all the thoughts of Aric. Damn man made her get all flustered without even being in the vicinity. “Get inside and stop whining or you won’t get any food.”
Emma shoved her aside and made a beeline for the kitchen behind Karla and Nicole. “Thank God. I’m starving.”
Jordan snorted. Her friends would never change. “Yeah, okay. I didn’t cook this time. Sorry.”
Emma turned to her with wide eyes. “You mean you didn’t make the flan or the empanadas?”
She shook her head. Her friends loved the chicken and shrimp filled dough. “Sorry. It was my night off.”
“Since when? You and Ellie are the cooks. Nicole and Karla are the bakers. And I’m the eater.”
Jordan laughed. “We’re all eaters. I don’t see a single skinny person here. Now go. We have take-out in the oven. We’ll eat now that you’re all here.”
She followed the others into the dining room. For as long as she could remember the five of them being friends, Ellie had always been the worrywart in the group. Though the others had met the Wolfe’s back in college, she and Ellie had been friends the longest. It worried Jordan to see Ellie so quiet. Somehow, she knew that the scenting ceremony was not as simple for Ellie as she made it sound. While her family may not be putting pressure on her to mate, it was probably not the case with the others in the pack.
“Alright! Pizza!” Nicole cheered.
“Thank God. I swear I could eat a horse.” Emma rubbed her stomach dramatically.
Jordan lifted a brow. “Um, didn’t you already eat horse when you did that stint in China during your semester abroad?”
“Hell no. I did take a stab at the fried bugs, but I just couldn’t go past a single bite.” She wrinkled her nose.
Nicole grimaced. “Damn woman, I couldn’t even take the one bite. You got bigger balls than me.”
“It has been established that Emma has bigger balls than most men.” Jordan ran her fingers through her hair.
“Will you all get in here already? You know I can hear you, and I’d like to participate in how big Emma’s balls are,” Ellie yelled.
They brought the warm pizza boxes into the living room. Jordan opened a new bottle of wine and maneuvered it with the extra glasses onto the coffee table.
“Alright. Now that we are all here, I need to inform you that Ellie has agreed to let us watch the scenting ceremony.”
Everyone spoke at the same time.
Emma lifted her wineglass. “That’s awesome!”
“Finally,” Nicole said between pizza bites.
Karla laughed. “Leave it to Jordan to wear the poor woman down.”
“Hey, I resent that. I will have you know. I did not wear her down. I may have offered my first born, ninety percent of my paycheck for a year, and a possible front seat to some Broadway show, but that’s it.” Jordan leaned back on her easy chair, the single item in her house she’d bought not caring about how it went with the décor. The fluffy chair was like being snuggled by a giant pair of warm hands. It had an automatic heater and massager. Hell, not that she’d tell her friends, but one of the reasons she’d bought it was because the damn thing started vibrating under her ass at the store. She’d gotten embarrassed and excited at the time. Oh, the possibilities.
“So,” Emma, the other bossy one in the group other than Jordan started, “what’s the plan?”
Jordan laughed, holding the glass of wine by her lips. “It’s going to be a long night.”
* * *
Chapter Two
“I’m ready,” Jordan whispered.
Emma had gone full commando mode and made everyone wear black outfits and earpieces to stay in constant communication. Emma loved all things action, so it hadn’t surprised Jordan that she’d tried to get them all to look like they came out of Mission Impossible.
“This is Karla. I’m ready too.”
“You guys are supposed to say over,” Emma hissed over the line.
“This is Nicole. Ready also. And over what?”
“When you finish saying something, you’re supposed to say ‘over’ like in the movies,” Emma said.
“But this isn’t a movie. And why would I say over?” Karla whispered.
“This is the most action we’re going to see in a while. Can we at least make it interesting?” Emma tried to make their simple mission into a scene from Die Hard.
“We are wearing frigging black spandex for you. I draw the line at painting lines on my face and hauling army gear. I am not going to end each thing I say with over.” And just for the hell of it, Jordan grinned and added, “Over.”
“Shhh. They’re going to hear us!” Emma chastised.
Jordan rolled her eyes. “They can’t hear us. We’re so far away we need binoculars. Now, everyone be serious, this is an important mission we’re doing.”
“Okay, so now that we all know we’re at our designated spots, we just do the videotaping all the way through?” Karla sounded breathless. What the heck was she doing?
“Yes. Don’t forget to put your video cameras on their tripods in the best location we can get a clear image so I can review all the memory cards later on.” Jordan glanced around the darkened vicinity. A shudder crawled up her spine. She’d swear someone was watching her, but it was impossible. She’d done a full scouting of the area and had not seen anyone.
“Did you all remember your backup batteries?” Funny that they were all middle school teachers and Emma was the only one all kids referred to as drill sergeant.
“Yes. I got ‘em. Over.”
Jordan rubbed her temple. She would end up with a headache before the mission ever started.
A prickling at the back of her neck made her glance around. Thick trees surrounded her in the dark forest. The hairs on her arms stood on end in warning. Her sole focus turned to every sound she heard. The soft whistling of the crickets tried to soothe her mind. But then something shuffled in the trees. What the hell? She wasn’t a person to be easily scared, but she knew something or someone was out there. The sound of her heartbeats turned louder in her head. Still, no other noise could be heard. Then, howling from the ceremony location made her turn to stare at the area. A crowd had gathered. A big crowd. They were surrounding the clearing, but far back enough where she and the others could see from the higher elevation.
Everyone was in human shape. They chatted animatedly. Hugs and kisses were shared. A massive fire roared in the center. Torches and lanterns hung from chains draped over branches, illuminating the clearing and allowing for a great visual.
She dropped down to her knees and dug the legs to her tripod deep into the earth for stability. Then she locked her video camera on to it and set it to record.
“Don’t forget to set the recorders to mute, per Ellie’s instructions.” Emma ordered.
“Got it.” Jordan eased back to her feet.
Moments later, her eyes locked on him.
Her heart raced at he
r first sight of Aric. He and the others marched to the center of the clearing. They said something to his father. His mother pointed into the woods surrounding them. The guys spread out, each taking a different direction into the trees.
“You all saw that?” Emma’s voice broke into her intense staring of the clearing.
“Yes. Remember we can’t move from our spots or the sexy four might catch us as they do their rounds,” Jordan reminded them.
A burst of wind shook the trees and kissed her skin. Electricity danced in the air, turning it thick with anticipation. Something cracked behind her. She swirled so fast her earpiece fell. Slowly taking in every dark crevice between the tree limbs, she looked for the noisemaker. Nothing. But she knew there was something out there. She could feel eyes watching her. No matter how hard she searched, nothing came out from the darkness. Dammit. She should have brought her mace, or her stun gun, or hell, even her bat. Something. But in her excitement she’d left all of her precautionary ass-kicking-survival-kit in her SUV.
She crouched down, quietly cursing the darkness, hunting for her ear piece. A quick move from her left grabbed her attention. One very large, very angry looking brown wolf stood there, baring his teeth at her. She shot up to her feet, her hands immediately going into fists. She knew all the Wolfe’s in their wolf shape. With a white wolf for a mother and a black one for a father, all the men had some combination of black and white on them. She knew Aric’s by heart from secretly watching him all those times in her youth while he tore from his shorts to run with his brothers and friends. This was not one of the wolves she knew.
“Now you stay right over there and nobody gets hurt,” she whispered. Her mind ran a million miles per hour. She tried to figure out how to defend herself if it came down to a fight with the big wolf. Something poked her from behind. She grasped around, until she had her hands wrapped tight on the branch behind her, tugging until she broke a limb off.
A low growl was the animal’s only response. Heartbeats pounded hard in her chest, spreading the fear she was trying to tamp. He took a menacing step toward her. She didn’t know what the animal’s plan was, but her gut said it wasn’t a good one.
