by Stella Night
A grin split Xander’s face. “So you two are gonna be neighbors? That’s fucking adorable. Noah could use the company. He spends way too much time alone.”
“I do not.”
Xander laughed. “One night stands don’t count.”
“One night stands?” I asked, turning to Noah. “A real lady killer, huh?”
Noah looked annoyed. “Don’t listen to him. Xander’s laid more pipe than all the plumbers in this state.”
“I learned it from watching you,” Xander shot back. “And Dylan. Women seem to love the strong, silent type.”
Dylan’s voice boomed from outside the truck. “Don’t include me in your bullshit.”
Noah cut in. “Enough. Xander. Dylan. Meet me in the house. I’m going to see to our new guest.”
Xander chuckled. “You see to her, big brother. You see to her real good.”
“Xander,” I snapped. “I thought we were going to be friends.”
“We are.”
“Is that any way to talk to your friend?”
He had the decency to look ashamed. “Sorry, Rachel.”
“That’s better.”
I slid out of the passenger door. Noah was looking at me with a strange expression. It looked like approval.
“Just ignore him,” Noah said.
I waved the comment away. “He’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Noah nodded. “I can see that.” He sounded a little impressed. “Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”
He grabbed my suitcase from the back of the truck. I was grateful for that. My body was so tired I could barely walk. The thought of even lugging the suitcase five feet made me groan.
Noah walked a few paces in front of me down a stone path. It led to another house, much smaller than Noah’s, but still a lot nicer than I’d expected. It was a surprise to see how close it was to Noah’s place. We were practically on top of each other.
The idea of Noah being on top of me sent heat blazing through my veins. If I had to be stuck next to a strange man out here in the woods, there were worse options than Noah. I wondered why Nina hadn’t told me about him.
Maybe she thought it would be a fun surprise. I could just picture her sitting in her rocking chair, smiling that mysterious smile at the thought of me running into Noah. Although, I doubted she ever expected me to literally run into him.
I smiled at the thought. The accident already felt like a lifetime ago. My body remembered it well, however. My bones ached, more from the spent adrenaline than the accident itself, I thought.
We got to the front door of the dark house, and Noah fumbled with his key ring before unlocking the door. He reached in and switched on the porch light.
“You have a key?” I asked, feeling nervous at the idea.
“Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye on the place while Nina’s gone. Keeping it clean and in good repair. I never knew when Nina might come back. What’s wrong?”
I didn’t know how to respond. Noah had been nothing but kind to me. If he was going to do something bad to me, it would have been after I almost killed him. Still, the idea of him being able to come in here at any time worried me.
He searched my face. Whatever he saw made his features harden. I could almost see the walls come up inside him. “You don’t trust me.”
When he said it out loud like that, I felt like an asshole. How could I explain to him what I’d been through? What would he think if he knew?
“I’m sorry, Noah,” I said. “It’s not about you. It’s just…”
My voice trailed off. I didn’t know what else to say. I looked up into his eyes, hoping that he could see how I felt, even though I couldn’t find the words.
He placed his hand over mine. An electric shock ran through me at his touch. His hand was so big and strong compared to mine. Once again, I got the feeling that I was safer with Noah than anywhere else in the world. It made me feel stupid for saying anything about the key.
“It’s alright,” he said. “I understand.”
He let got of my hand, and worked the key from the key ring.
“Here,” he said. “So you can sleep at night.”
I sensed pain in his voice. His feelings had been hurt, and I was the one who’d hurt them. Self-loathing filled my chest like acid, eating me away from the inside. Was this who I had become? Was I so broken that I’d never be able to trust a man again? Even if it was a seemingly good man like Noah?
Emotion welled up in me, and I fought back my tears.
“Thank you, Noah,” I said. “For everything.”
***
Noah
I said goodbye and walked back towards my house where Xander and Dylan waited for me. My feet moved slowly. I was in no rush to get back to them. More bad news was waiting for me there, I assumed, and my mind was still having trouble dealing with Rachel’s presence.
My thoughts were a jumbled mess. Something about her intrigued me. It wasn’t just because she was the perfect mixture of cute and sexy, although that definitely helped. There was more to it than that. She was strong in a way that most humans weren’t. She had fire and grit.
And she’d actually managed to get Xander in line. That was a feat even I couldn’t manage, and I was Alpha. Family was like that. They didn’t care if you were Alpha or Omega or anything in between. We were brothers first and clan mates second. My little brother’s rebellious streak was easily overlooked.
What I couldn’t overlook was the fear I’d seen in Rachel’s eyes when she asked me for the extra key. I hated that she was afraid of me, and I hated it even more that she was right to be afraid.
I was a monster.
If she knew what I really was, she’d run back to New York so fast there’d be nothing left but a little puff of smoke where she’d been standing. It had happened before, and I’d be damned if I’d ever let that happen again.
I growled my frustration into the dark night.
I didn’t know why I cared so damn much. I’d only just met Rachel. Her opinion of me shouldn’t mean a thing. Plus, she was a damn human. A human who couldn’t have shown up at a worse time.
I stopped walking as a thought occurred to me. Maybe she’d shown up at exactly the right time. Maybe she was the answer to my problems. I felt something for her, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. And even though she was human, she could always be Turned.
I rejected the thought. Don’t go down that road, Noah. You’ve been there before. You know how it ends. Her and I could never be, and that was that. Leave her alone and look somewhere else for your mate.
My brothers were watching me from the window of my house. Xander grinned at me like a fool. Dylan, as always, wore a somber expression on his face. Their presence did nothing to improve my sour mood.
I stormed into the house, ready for anything. Dylan stood waiting for me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Who’s the girl?” he demanded.
“She’s no one,” I said.
“She doesn’t look like no one,” Xander said with a dirty grin.
“She looks like a human,” Dylan said.
“I’ll handle her,” I snapped. “Just stay the hell away from her.”
Dylan frowned but said nothing. I didn’t know why I was getting so defensive about Rachel. Instead of telling them to stay away from her, I should be telling them the exact opposite. The smart thing to do was to let one of my brothers watch over her. Then she would be their problem, not mine. The thought of handing her off to one of them set my teeth on edge.
“What the hell are you all doing here so late?”
Xander looked like he was about to make another comment, but Dylan spoke up first.
“Maddox is stirring up trouble,” Dylan said.
“Tell me about it,” I said. “He paid me a visit earlier.”
“So you know about the deadline?” Dylan asked.
I nodded grimly.
“It’s bullshit,” Xander said. “I’ve never heard of the Elders e
nforcing that rule before.”
“I feel like there’s something else at work here,” Dylan said.
“It’s Maddox,” I said. “He wants me to marry Gillian.”
Xander’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “Gross.”
Dylan nodded thoughtfully. “So that’s why he’s pushing for the council to enforce the rule.”
“Yeah, and that’s why he waited until now to tell me,” I said. “So there’s not enough time for me to find someone else to take as my mate.”
“Why does he even care?” Xander asked.
“Gillian’s always wanted to be Clan Mother,” I said. “She wants the power and the control.”
“And to be better than everyone else,” Xander said. “Screw that.”
“What’s the plan, brother?” Dylan asked.
I exhaled heavily. “Not sure yet. Gillian is a last resort, but I’d rather step down as Alpha than share my bed with her again.”
“We could always fight,” Dylan said. “You, Xander, and I could take down anyone seeking to challenge your Alpha spot. Mate or no mate. Rules be damned.”
“Hell yeah,” Xander said, clapping Dylan on the back. “Now you’re talking.”
I felt a rush of gratitude for my brothers. They meant every word of it. They would fight for me. They would die for me. But I couldn’t put them at risk to deal with my own problems.
“I appreciate the support, brothers. But I want to handle this with as little conflict as possible. If I expect my clan to follow me, I have to be strong enough to play by the rules.”
“But you’ve only got two days,” Xander said.
“I’ll figure it out,” I said with more confidence than I actually felt. “I always do.”
“There’s one more thing,” Dylan said. “We’re leaving tonight.”
“Where?” I asked.
Xander shrugged. “Society business.”
He was referring to the Bear Haven Preservation Society. It was a group that started in Bear Haven before I was born. They set up nature preserves around the country. At least, that was their public goal.
In reality, all of the areas of wilderness they protected were places where shifters could live in safety and privacy. They’d started with the Bear Haven Preserve, where I lived now. Then they’d branched out to other places. Now the Society acted as a sort of shadow government for shifters.
Dylan and Xander worked for the Society as Peacekeepers. They were like deputies, traveling wherever the Society sent them. I’d always envied them for that, moving around from place to place like wandering gunslingers, doling out justice and riding off into the sunset.
I was never able to do that. From an early age, the Elders had me pegged as a future Alpha. It meant my place was here with the clan, not out in the world going on adventures. It was a trade off I’d made willingly, but sometimes I wished things could have been different.
“We can stay if you need us to,” Dylan said.
I shook my head. “It’s fine. There’s not much you can do here. Take care of business. And stay safe.”
Xander smiled. “Ain’t no thing. Just a couple of rogue wolves in Texas.”
“They keep getting caught on camera,” Dylan said. “People on the internet are starting to talk.”
“Idiots,” I said. “If people were to find out about us, things could get bad.”
Dylan nodded. “It’s getting harder and harder to keep our secret.”
“With you two on the job, I’m not worried.”
My brothers prepared to leave. I walked them to the door and a thought occurred to me. “Oh hey, can one of you call Pete?”
“Sure, what’s up?” Xander asked.
I pointed in the direction of the cabin where Rachel was staying. “Rachel’s car needs a tow.”
“Not a problem,” Xander said. “I know you’re all touchy when I bring her up, but I have to ask, why is she staying in Nina’s cabin? What’s her deal?”
I let out a long breath. “I don’t know yet. Trust me, I’m going to find out tomorrow. We can’t have a human here with all this uncertainty. I won’t let them get rid of me without a fight. It could get messy and loud. She can’t be allowed to see any of it.”
“We’ll be back in two days time,” Dylan said. “If it comes to a fight, save some for us.”
I nodded. “Deal.”
My brothers left. I stripped down and collapsed on the bed. My thoughts raced in my head, making sleep impossible. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Maddox and Gillian that haunted my thoughts.
It was Rachel.
Chapter 5
Rachel
I tossed and turned in bed, unable to get comfortable in Nina’s house. The place itself was fine. The problem was me.
Now that I was alone and had time to react to the night’s events, a rush of emotions assaulted me. I’d come out here for peace and quiet, but tonight had been anything but peaceful.
Running into Noah was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me. I could have killed him.
Lucky for me, Noah was strong. He walked away from the accident with hardly a bruise. I envied that kind of strength. I hoped I could be that strong someday. Picking myself up after a fall was not my strong suit. I had one move when things got too hot for me. I ran. As fast and as far as I could like a scared little rabbit.
It’s why I’d come out here. I tried to tell myself I was running towards something instead of running away from something, but I knew the truth. I was running away from a bad relationship, an angry publisher, and a year-long bout of writer’s block.
Basically, I was running from my entire life.
I had sworn off men altogether after Nick, my crappy ex. I blamed him for killing my creativity. Although really, I was to blame for getting with him in the first place. There was no way I was making that mistake again. That’s why I’d stayed away from any romantic entanglements for the last few months, and that’s why I planned to keep it that way.
I needed to be alone to find that creative spark again. I didn’t want any more distractions holding me back. That’s why I’d come out here. Of course, now that I’d met my new neighbor, it seemed like distractions would be unavoidable.
A man like Noah could be a hell of a distraction.
Cocky, sexy, and gruff. I’d been drawn to guys like him my entire life. It had gotten me into trouble more than once. Men like Noah were fun in bed, but a pain in the ass for everything else. Men like him weren’t capable of love. I was starting to think that no men were.
My lack of faith in true love was problematic. I was a romance writer who didn’t believe in romance anymore. It sounded like a joke. Too bad I was the punchline, and my publisher wasn’t laughing.
I needed to put all my old hangups aside and focus on my next novel. That meant steering clear of my new neighbor. Considering the fact I’d run him over, that was easier said than done. Besides, the man was so close to Nina’s cabin I could almost feel his presence.
The best thing I could do was avoid Noah as much as possible. I’m sure that would make him happy, too. He seemed to want nothing to do with me. Not a big surprise. I’d want to avoid the crazy bitch that almost killed me if I were him.
And even if he was interested, I simply wasn’t here for romance. I needed to save my career and get some goddamn work done.
The only man in my future would be the hero of my next book. That was the best part of a romance story. The men were dreamy and didn’t break your heart like in real life.
I pulled myself out of bed, flicked on the light, and pulled out my notebook. There’d been a time in my life when I scribbled furiously in books like these all day long. Ideas flowed from my pen like a waterfall, so fast I could barely keep up. Not anymore.
I flipped through the pages of the notebook, all of them empty. The pristine pages stared at me accusingly. They said I was a failure and a fraud. I had no business calling myself a writer. I might as well pack it in and go wait tables again.
&nb
sp; I pressed the tip of my pen to the blank page, ready for more rejection. Over the last year, I’d run out of things to say. My voice was gone, and I knew exactly who’d stolen it from me. He was two thousand miles away but his memory still haunted me.
I wrote his name down. Nick. Then I wrote some more. Nick the prick. He made me sick. So full of himself he’d suck his own dick.
Not the best way to start a new book. I mean, it rhymed but I wouldn’t exactly call it poetic.
I scratched the words out violently, pressing so hard I almost tore the page. If only I could erase my time with him as easily as I could black his name out. He’d made me feel weak and broken, and I hated feeling that way.
I dropped my pen in disgust and pushed my notebook away from me. This right here was the problem I’d been having. Every time I sat down to write, either nothing would come out or stuff like this would happen. It wasn’t enough that Nick had lied to me and broken my heart. He also robbed me of the only thing I’d ever loved to do.
I was about to quit and crawl back into bed when a thought occurred to me. I picked up the pen and I wrote down a new name.
Noah, I wrote. A smile curved my lips at the sight of it. What a difference three little letters could make. I wrote some more. Noah the strong.
I laughed to myself, feeling like I did back in high school, writing down the name of a boy I liked over and over. It was a foolish notion, liking this man I’d just met. I knew almost nothing about him, except he was sexy, strong, and a bit of a mystery. Just the kind of man I liked, and exactly the kind of man I should avoid.
I was about to scratch his name out, too, but something stopped me.
To my surprise, I kept writing.
***
Noah
I stepped from my house and inhaled the sweet, night air.
A restless energy buzzed inside me. I’d given up on trying to sleep, and I couldn’t stay caged in the house for one more second. My bear hungered for release after everything that happened tonight. Both of us needed to run until my limbs were sore and I was too tired to give a shit.
I was about to change when I noticed the light on in Nina’s house. Rachel was still up. I couldn’t risk letting her see me shift. I needed to go out into the woods before I could change safely.
