Releasing the Wolf (The Rossi Pack Book 1)

by Aimie Jennison

  “How do you know it’s her? She could be lying,” Clarissa says, pushing her way through the crowd of people and coming to the front.

  “Clarissa, are you forgetting I’m Alpha? I can’t be lied to.” He drops my hand, allowing his hands to fall to his side and form fists. “If you’d met her mother you’d know it isn’t a lie. Frankie is Maria’s double.” Leaving Clarissa to mull it over, he addresses the room in a booming voice. “The reason you can all feel her so strongly is because she has a lot of pack blood in her veins - her father was the original Alpha of our pack. His blood began our pack. It may be my pack now but his blood is still pack blood.” His eyes flick to me and then back to the pack. “I’ve been watching over Frankie since she was seven, when her parents were murdered. Rossi’s last order was to protect her from anyone who might recognise her for how special she is. That’s what I’ve tried to do all these years.”

  “If she’s so special why haven’t you claimed her as your own? If what Carter said was true and you were kissing just now, surely she’s yours? You’re Alpha, you can have anyone,” Clarissa argues once again. I’m starting to feel like she really doesn’t like me.

  Jesse looks at Clarissa with raised eyebrows. “Do you really think I’m such a bad a person I’d use the fact that I’m Alpha to force someone to be my mate?”

  “You’ve done it before,” snaps a tall woman with a long, slim face and short, choppy red hair, her nostrils flaring and teeth bared in anger.

  Jesse sighs, his shoulders drooping in guilt. “Yes, I have Mary.” The room fills with whispers, everyone no doubt as curious as I am about the revelation. “You and I both know how that turned out.”

  “You ripped them apart,” she spits accusingly.

  He releases a growl, clearly unhappy with her accusation. “I’ve learnt from my mistakes,” he admits; his voice breaking with emotion, a slack expression on his face.

  Mary steps in front of Jesse and cups his check with her hand, forcing him to look at her with his wet dull eyes. “She was my best friend, Jesse, I miss her. But it’s no excuse to speak to you like I just did, I’m sorry.” She drops her hand from his face. “You’re a good Alpha, I’ve seen you change since that day. All I’ve done is open old wounds.” She drops to her knees and turns her head to a side, offering her neck to him.

  Glancing around the room Jesse takes in a deep breath and his shoulders straighten, as though he’s made a decision about something. “Stand,” he demands, sounding tired with no real authority behind the words. Authority or not, Mary stands without argument. Jesse leans in towards her offered neck, he doesn’t need to bend down with her being tall. Being so close to them I watch his teeth become sharper a second before he strikes her neck. He steps back revealing a clean bite on her neck.

  I gasp in horror at the sight of the blood. Blood that’s running down her neck.

  Her hands go to her neck to staunch the bleeding and she suddenly sits on the floor, most probably dizzy from the blood loss.

  I take an impulsive step forward to help her only to find someone behind me, a hand gripping my arm and holding me in place.

  “She’ll heal,” Nate whispers in my ear, in a warning tone. I startle at the sound of his voice. I hadn’t seen him move from where I’d left him by the door.

  Wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, Jesse lets his eyes roam around the room, making contact with every single pack member. “We are lucky to have such a large number of females in our pack, but they choose their mates. Nobody in my pack uses dominance to force mates. Ever,” he orders, the authoritative tone making the order ring loud and clear. “I won’t allow it.”

  A nod of approval runs through the room, taking any lingering tension with it. Nate slowly releases his hold on my arm but stays close, the feel of his body warm against my back. His energy makes goosebumps ripple along the back of my neck.

  Mary’s still sitting on the floor with a hand to her neck The blood flow seems to have eased but I daren’t take my eyes off her just in case. So I don’t pay much attention to anything Jesse is saying, just hearing a word and name now and then. The mention of the full moon catches my attention, tuning back in just in time to hear him tell everyone to meet here at four in the afternoon on Saturday. My first full moon.

  He turns his eyes on me, and Nate behind me. “Frankie, Nate, Carter and Kelly, I want you four here at noon.” I nod my agreement.

  “Sure thing,” Kelly agrees from across the room.

  The room starts to fill with chatter as everyone falls back into the relaxed casual get together that the room had been filled with before Jesse exited his office.

  I stand and watch as Jesse bends down to say something into Mary’s ear. I strain my ears but can’t catch a word of it through the noise in the room. Kelly’s cheery voice pulls my attention away from the pair before me.

  “Hey Nate, do you fancy a thrashing?” he asks as he racks up the balls on the pool table.

  “I’d love to wipe that smile off your face.” Nate replies from over the top of my head, brushing the small of my back with his hand as he moves to step around me. My wolfs energy flares over him, causing him to freeze in place. Our energies mixing together feels good, too good. I don’t want to move and break the spell. No, that’s a lie, I want to move, to spin around and run my hand over every inch of the body my energy’s roaming over. I lick my lips as I’m overcome with the urge to taste him. Nate’s scent flares and I suddenly realise he can probably smell my arousal. My embarrassment gives me the strength to fight my wolf and step away from Nate, breaking the contact and sexual tension between us.

  “I’ll beat the winner,” I say glancing around the room, hoping no one else is aware of what just happened between Nate and I. If my wolf keeps acting like a hussy she’s going to earn me that name Carter called me earlier. Bike.

  Kelly laughs. “You’re on, Darl’. Just don’t cry when you lose.”

  “Oh, fighting words, Kelly,” I tease holding a hand to my chest in mock pain. “Fighting words.” I take slow steady steps in the direction of the pool table as I try to ignore Nate’s eyes burning into my back and my body’s need to turn back to him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Frankie

  Sitting on the bay window bench gives me a good view of the table and I watch as Nate sinks six of his balls in a row. Kelly takes his shot, sinking five, and I realise I need to prepare myself for losing abysmally when it’s my turn. Taking my eyes off the table I glance out the window and watch some of the other members leaving, making sure no one knocks into my baby. It looks completely different in the makeshift car park. No longer just the three vehicles like when I’d arrived, there are more than two dozen cars haphazardly parked out there now. There’s no order about it and makes me wonder how anyone will get out.

  I see a tall, slim guy, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a leather cut that makes me think he’s a bikie, although the fact that I can’t see any patches from where I’m sitting make me think he might just be a wannabe. Even Prospects have a prospect patch. The big burly bikie, who questioned Jesse during the meeting, is standing beside the wannabe, his shiny bald head glowing in the moonlight. They both walk around my bike, admiring it, giving me a look at the back of Mr Bald and Burly’s cut and the patch that’s on it - a howling wolf. He’s wearing a black t-shirt under his cut paired with jeans. When I had a good look at his face earlier I would have put him at mid-thirty’s but werewolves don’t age at the same rate as human’s do, our aging process is dramatically slower. Jesse is well over one hundred yet he doesn’t look a day over thirty-five.

  Mr Wannabe reaches a hand out, stroking my baby, causing me to jump up. “Kelly, who’s the guy with his mitts all over my baby?” I point out the window, wishing for the guy to turn and see my death stare.

  “Colin,” Kelly answers, the tone of his voice making me think he’s not very well liked in the pack. “The other guy’s Big Mac. He won’t touch, he has a baby of his ow
n,” he adds before turning back to the table and sinking the black. “Woohoo, I whooped your ar—” His cheer’s suddenly cut short as the white ball rebounds and drops into another pocket. “Aw, fuck.”

  Feeling the need to protect my baby, I head over to Kate who’s still behind the bar, pouring vodka into half a dozen shot glasses. “Hi Frankie, are you joining us for some shots?” she asks, nodding in the direction of the glasses.

  “Yeah, why not?” I shrug. “But first I need a cloth. Is there a clean micro-fibre one behind there somewhere?” I ask, leaning over the bar to try and see for myself.

  Ducking down under the bar, Kate drops out of sight. I hear the crinkling of some plastic wrapping before she jumps up and hands me a brand new blue micro-fibre cloth. “There you go.”

  Perfect, I think to myself as I take it. “Thanks, I’ll be back in a sec.”

  Glancing out the window one last time to check if my bike is still being manhandled as I make my way to the door, I see it is. I stride down the steps two at a time and come to a stop in front of Colin, waiting until he acknowledges me with the cloth held out towards him.

  Colin notices the cloth first, which is no surprise since I’m practically holding it under his nose. He glances from the cloth to me, and then back to the cloth again, nothing but a puzzled expression on his face.

  I wiggle it at him. “Here, take it. You’ll need it to wipe your grubby fingerprints off my baby.” I shrug at his blank expression. “Or you could use it to stop your nose bleeding all over my baby. Either way, it’s your choice,” I say, losing patience quickly.

  Reaching his fingers up, he touches his nose hesitantly. “My nose… isn’t bleeding,” he states in an uncertain tone.

  Mr Burly, Big Mac - Kelly had called him, laughs a hearty belly laugh, clearly amused by Colin’s complete stupidity.

  “No, it’s not.” I growl, hoping to make my intent clear with my next sentence. “But it will be if you don’t wipe my bike down.” I try to put as much authority into my threat as I can, which is a mean feat for someone who comes across as a submissive wolf.

  Snatching the cloth with a grunt he gets on with wiping my bike down, finally heeding my warning.

  Big Mac turns to me, a grin taking over his face as he offers me his hand to shake. “You’re my kinda girl. Your baby is gorgeous, I’ve always loved the ZX.”

  I take his hand and hold my breath, hoping my wolf doesn’t react to him like she has some of the other men when I’ve had physical contact with them. I release his hand and a huge breath when she does absolutely nothing. The last thing I need is for her make me look like more of hussy than she already has. I take in the President patch on the front of his cut and realise he’s not only in an MC, he’s the President of one. Having spotted a beautiful Harley and a motor cross style bike when I’d looked out the window earlier I take a guess as to which is his. “It looks like she’s got a fight on her hands with your Harley for the top beauty award.”

  He laughs. “My Hillary may just be the winner there. Biased or not.”

  “Big Mac, is your place open?” Colin interrupts us, glaring in my direction.

  A rumbling growl vibrates through my chest. My wolf isn’t overly impressed with the look Colin’s giving me. If looks could kill, I’d be dead and buried.

  “Sure is! That’s why I employ all species,” Big Mac says, stepping in between the two of us, clearly having picked up on my mood. Grabbing Colin by the arm, he pulls him towards their bikes. “Come on, I’m heading there too.” He looks back at me over his shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, Frankie.”

  “You too,” I shout after him. I watch as the two bikes drive off down the dirt road, wanting to be sure Colin doesn’t decide to take his anger and hatred towards me out on my bike. Swiping the cloth off the seat of my bike where Colin had left it, I can’t help but notice he’d done a pretty good job.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jesse

  Relief flows through me as the pack nods their agreement to my terms regarding female pack members. I learnt from my mistakes a long time ago and I will not sit idly by watching someone else live through the same terror. I move the meeting onto more general things like territory patrols and our hunt during this coming weekend’s full moon.

  As everyone falls back into relaxed chatter between themselves, I duck down and speak into Mary’s ear. “Come, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

  She takes my offered hand without argument. “Thanks, Jesse.”

  Once she’s steady on her feet I lead her out of the room towards the ground floor bathroom. I feel Frankie’s wolfs energy flare up and the scent of her arousal invades my nostrils. I sense Nate’s wolf react and force myself to carry on walking, all the while reminding myself this is what I wanted. I wanted her to weigh up her options. “It doesn’t mean we have to like it,” my wolf reminds me.

  “You really meant what you said back there,” Mary says beside me, sounding surprised. “You have learnt from your mistakes.”

  “I have. It’s killing me to not go back in there and fight my way through the contenders, and into her heart, but I will not let history repeat itself. I will not see her dead and definitely not by my hand. Not like… Cl…Claire,” I stumble over the name I haven’t uttered in over thirty years.

  “Frankie seems like a smart girl, she’ll see past all the other males and find the only real contender in the pack,” Mary says with a consoling pat on my back as I reach out to open the bathroom door.

  I check in the cabinet under the sink to ensure there is a spare shirt for Mary since hers is covered in blood. I usually have plenty of spare clothes in all the cupboards and rooms for pack members to use. The house is, after all, the pack house and any pack member will always be welcome. Seeing everything she’ll need I wave her in and exit the room myself. “You should find everything you need to clean yourself up in the cabinet,” I state before pulling the door closed behind me.

  I brace myself for any kind of flirting Frankie’s wolf may be doing before I slip back into the poolroom. I’m surprised to find everyone quickly moving away from the window and no Frankie in sight. I lean against the wall just beside the entrance and open my mouth to ask what everyone is doing when the front door opens and Frankie walks in. Kelly meets her in the doorway of the room blocking my view of her and hers of mine.

  “That’s the first time I’ve seen Colin knocked down a peg or two,” Kelly chuckles, handing Frankie the cue. “I took your first shot. You’re stripes.”

  Frankie swaps the cue for a blue micro-fibre cloth. “Thanks, Kelly.”

  What the hell is she doing with a cloth? And what has it got to do with Colin? Is he another contender for her mate? I feel the tension flow into my body at the thought but try to remain propped against the wall as casually as I can. “How did you knock down Colin?”

  “She made him clean his finger prints off her bike,” Kelly says waving the cloth around as evidence. “I think we should frame this cloth,” he adds as the room erupts into laughter.

  I suppress my own laughter at the thought as I watch Frankie weigh up the table, preparing to take her shot. Kelly had sunk three of her balls in the shot he took. A smile graces her beautiful round face as she spots the eleven hanging over the corner pocket. She lines up and hits the white ball with enough force to make it bounce back and not follow the eleven into the pocket. She hits the fourteen into a middle pocket but, unfortunately, the white follows suit, entering the pocket too. “Damn,” she mutters under her breath, probably to herself even though we can all hear her clearly.

  Nate steps up and slowly circles the table weighing up his options with a brow furrowed in concentration. He has three balls and the eight left. His brow suddenly relaxes, indicating that he’s come to a decision. His three balls go down without any effort but the eight is another story. It rebounds out of the pocket to a chorus of “Aww” throughout the room.

  A quick glance around the room has me finding Carter and Clarissa all ove
r each other on the sofa, which is no surprise really. Those two have been on and off for months, which is one of the reasons why I was so pissed at Carter for sleeping with Frankie. Turning my eyes from them I spot Joey and Mick sat in the window seat, deep in conversation. They are an unlikely friendship, Joey being a farmer and Mike being a pilot. You wouldn’t think the two would have much in common but Mike is one of the nicer dominant wolves; he isn’t one to throw his dominance around. He likes to keep the more submissive wolves happy.

  I can hear Tracey, Kate and Niki giggling at the bar and I can’t help but smile hearing it. It’s nice to feel my pack members happy. My eyes turn back to the table just as Frankie is leaning over the table directly in font of me, giving me a clear view at her ample cleavage. I’d let my eyes linger if I couldn’t see Tim directly behind her, staring at her arse, a number of wicked thoughts written on his face. I release a threatening growl. Both my wolf and I are unhappy with his thoughts. I hear the telltale sound of Frankie miscueing but don’t take my eyes off Tim. He looks up, making eye contact for a second, before dropping his eyes to the floor in submission. A slow threatening rumble is still coming from my throat in warning. I’ve had my wolf on such a short lead in regards to Frankie I can’t pull him back now. He feels the need to assert his dominance. It’s taking everything from me to stay where I am. He’d challenge Tim in a heartbeat if I let him, regardless of Tim’s apparent submission.

  The pressure of someone’s hand on my forearm, followed by a calming wave of energy, flows through me causing my wolf to step back and relax, allowing the human to come to the forefront. I glance down at the hand in question.

  “Can I have a quiet word?” Frankie’s voice says right in front of me. I look up wondering where she had come from, she’d been at the other side of the pool table only moments ago, and find her smiling shyly at me.