Nolan gathered her into his arms, passion gone from his expression, replaced with concern. “What’s wrong, pixie? Talk to me.”
Jordan shook her head and buried her head against his shoulder. “Nothing. Just hold me.”
For a moment, he did as she tensed against him, wishing she had the nerve to finally confide in him.
It was Nolan who finally pulled away. “Let’s go.”
From gentle to terse, rugged alpha. The switch bewildered her. Jordan shrugged again to hide her feelings.
I can survive on my own. I don’t need you or anyone else.
Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she’d start believing it.
As promised, Nolan took her to a restaurant for a late breakfast. As she ate, he sipped tea and watched her.
Jordan chased a bit of sausage around her plate with her fork. “Tell me about the vineyard, Nolan. What kind of problems are you facing with this fungus?”
He sat back against the booth. “None yet. Managed to fend it off by pruning. Bigger problem is the Harlow pack.”
“You can try pruning them.”
Snorting, he set down his tea cup. “Negotiation’s more like it.”
“Tell me.”
Nolan rubbed the back of his neck. “Never mind that. I need to stop at one of our wine stores. It’s a small store in Dillsboro for the tourists who ride the train there in the summer and fall. Red Porch Wines.”
“Must I go with you?”
Expression blank, Nolan nodded. “Yes.”
“Can’t you send someone else? That’s out of our way.”
Nolan’s caramel gaze darkened. “No. Store’s run by Hetty, a longtime employee. Need to convince her to reduce her hours. She took a nasty spill last week.”
“Oh.” Jordan wondered about the myriad of problems Nolan juggled. “Anything I can help with?”
Nolan gestured for the check. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
In the truck as they headed out, she turned. “Talk to me, Nolan. I’m your mate now. What affects you, affects me.”
Jaw tightening, he stared at the tree-flanked road, the sweeping vistas as they passed scenic viewpoints.
She tried again to engage him in talk about the farm. “Who are you sending to work in the winery today? Palmer, Todd and Logan? They’re young enough, arrogant, could learn a few things from Galen.”
The three Lupines were only two years younger than Nolan, who was young himself. Yet they lacked Nolan’s maturity.
He shook his head. “I need those boys in the vineyard. They’re good workers, when they’re not arrogant and full of themselves or busy taking selfies and putting themselves on Instagram.”
She laughed. “Lupine selfies. At least they’re too busy taking selfies to challenge your authority.”
“They’re not. Palmer and Todd wanted to fight me last month.”
Alarm filled her. “For control of the pack?”
He nodded. “I put a stop to it with two things.”
Raising his hands off the wheel, he curled them into fists. “One and two. Took ten minutes before they cowered and apologized.”
“I have no doubt you could easily lick ‘em,” she murmured as he gripped the steering wheel once more. “You’re bigger and stronger and they’re dumber than a bag of rocks.”
He grinned.
Still, it worried her that Nolan had younger Lupines itching to move up in power and take over the pack.
“What’s your biggest problem? Controlling the pack?” Jordan pressed.
Nolan’s muscular arm tightened as he gripped the steering wheel. “Arson.”
Her breath hitched. She knew that fire had been a concern in the past, but ones deliberately set? “How many?”
Nolan’s gaze flicked to her. “Too many. Someone’s been setting fires in my territory. The Fae have managed to put them out, but my gut says it’s a matter of time before it gets out of control and burns. Reason why I’ve arranged a meeting with Brandon Harlow and Adam. It’s talk now or war.”
Jordan frowned. “Why would they burn forest that borders theirs? It’s so risky. Your father was always quarreling with their alpha. But they have Brandon now. That Lupine more reasonable than his father?”
Nodding, Nolan rubbed the back of his neck. “Things are still tense between our people. Feud’s been going on many years and that’s hard to forget. They might have set fires near our land to threaten our territory. No one in our pack would risk losing their home.”
Troubling news. An out-of-control wildfire could destroy all in its path.
“I can help flush out the arsonist,” she offered.
“How?”
Jordan rubbed her nails on her shirt. “I’ll sit every last one of them down and have a little talk, Jordan style. You know, the way I’d do it in the past.”
Nolan’s mouth twitched, but he shook his head. “Threatening to spike their dinner with cayenne pepper isn’t the answer. Stay out of it. I’ll handle this.”
He said little more during the drive, preferring to crank up the country tunes he played on his iPod in the truck. Jordan put her feet on the dash, not caring that her boots marked the fine leather. She resented his silence, resented the way he ordered her around, even though deep inside, she suspected he wasn’t being mean.
Just… Nolan.
Nolan who was probably told by his cousin Aiden how to keep her in line.
When they pulled into Dillsboro, the small town charmed her. People thronged the narrow streets, eating ice cream cones, shopping and sightseeing. The train, a big steam locomotive, idled on the tracks that paralleled a slow-moving river flanked by trees. It was all country and homey and rustic.
Nolan parked in the driveway next to the store with a bright red sign saying RED PORCH WINES. A red bistro table and lopsided chairs sat on the grass. The store was ancient, with a faded red porch, red rocking chairs and two wood tables painted like sunflowers. Bay windows displayed wineglasses, bottles and dolls.
“I get the wine and glasses. But dolls?” she asked as they started up the walkway to the store.
“They’re from Hetty’s personal collection. She takes pride in this store.”
Jordan squinted at the crude hand-lettered sign outside the red screen door. “Goat cheese. Seven types,” she read aloud. “You don’t sell the goat to eat? I like goat.”
Nolan said nothing, only held open the door for her.
A petite, gray-haired woman limped out of the back room, saw Nolan and cried out. Grinning, he scooped her up into his arms.
“Hey there, pretty lady,” he said in his deep voice. “How’s that sore hip of yours?”
“Ain’t nothing but a little bruise, young fellow.” the woman smiled at Jordan, peering over the tops of her half-glasses. “And who’s this beautiful Lupine?”
“Hetty, meet my mate, Jordan.” He drew Jordan forward. “Jordan, this is Hetty, my girlfriend.”
“Oh pooh, stop it now,” she chided, but a delighted smile touched the elderly lady’s face. “Pleasure to meet you, dear. I’ve been friends with Nolan’s grandmother since we were cubs.”
Smiling, Jordan shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, m’am. And you run this store by your lonesome?”
She caught Nolan’s troubled look as Hetty’s smile faltered. “For as long as I could. I’m afraid business is falling lately. I suppose I’ll have to retire soon when Nolan sells.”
“Don’t say the R word,” he told her, lightly squeezing the woman’s paper thin hand. “While I’m here, let’s take a look at your inventory. Got a mind to send you some of our special summer wine.”
Hetty’s relief was obvious. She beamed at him. “That summer wine has magick.”
“It certainly does,” Jordan murmured.
The woman brought her a tray filled with two wineglasses, a bottle of red wine and gouda cheese. “Here, dear. Sit outside a spell while we go over the books. It’s a lovely day. When Nolan is finished, he can join you.”
She sat on a red rocker, tempted to put her feet up on the red porch railing, but thought better of it. Hetty seemed like a sweet lady.
Nolan, on the other hand… Hard to provoke a reaction out of him. Maybe if she shifted into a wolf here on the porch he’d be surprised.
Staring at the steam locomotive on the tracks next to the shop, she thought better of it. With dozens of Skins milling about, wandering in and out of shops, they might get alarmed at a redheaded woman turning into a wolf.
On the other hand, her mate surprised her. Nolan had always been quiet, with an easy grin and a slow-rising temper. Respectful and dutiful, but ready to run off and have fun and break the rules if she egged him on. He cared about her, and his family, but never voiced any concern over his aging grandparents.
This consideration for his elders showed a new, mature side of the alpha. Absorbing the responsibility of being pack leader had changed him.
She liked that change, liked how he didn’t dismiss the elderly as his father once had. Craig had seen to their needs, but hadn’t exactly made them feel welcome in the pack, either. It had felt like Nolan’s father preferred to shutter them away so he wouldn’t have to see them daily.
See them and be reminded of his own eventual fate as he grew older.
Well, the fool certainly prevented that when he broke his neck in that stupid spring tradition. She had healthy respect for traditions that didn’t risk life and limb or hurt others.
Such as the disciplining of the pack’s young. That job should be left to the parents, not the alpha.
Jordan sipped her berry wine, enjoying the taste against her tongue. She nibbled on cheese as the screen door opened and Nolan stepped out.
He took the rocking chair next to her and poured himself a glass of wine. “Hetty’s resting a spell in the back.”
For once, she remained silent, sensing he needed to talk. Jordan waited.
Nolan drained his wine and slammed down the glass, cracking it. “It shouldn’t be like this. She should be set up in a cozy cabin or the lodge, entertaining passels of young and passing on her wisdom. Not working on her feet here, alone.”
“Why does she do it?”
“Pride and fear.” He took the cracked glass, pitched it into the outdoor trash can below the porch. “My father told her that as long as she was able to work in a store, she was worthy of staying in the pack. Nothing I can say will convince her otherwise.
“The ghost of my father haunts older members of the pack. They’re too scared to change.”
“Maybe they’re scared of losing their independence. Hetty doesn’t live with the pack and maybe if she did, she’d start feeling useless and wither away.”
Nolan’s caramel gaze grew thoughtful. “Never thought of it that way. I’ve offered to bring in help, but she insists on doing this alone.”
“Then change your tactics, Mitchell. If she’s that proud she won’t accept help. But sure as shooting I bet she’d accept young trainees eager to learn the retail side of the business.”
He blinked, and a warm smile touched his full mouth. “Pixie, you’re brilliant.”
Jordan blushed. “Naw. I just worked with the elderly for a while and know how they are with pride and fear of losing their independence. Skins and Lupines aren’t much different in that regard.”
He fished out his cell phone and barked instructions into it. As he hung up, Nolan looked at her with fresh appreciation. “Ben and his mate, Maggie, will be here by morning. I’ll tell Hetty. Thanks.”
They rocked a while, enjoying the fresh air and cool breeze. “Where did you work with the elderly?” Nolan asked.
Jordan sipped her wine. “In a nursing home out west. They were in desperate need of attendants and I was in desperate need of money.”
“You never told me what you did those six years you were gone from us.”
No, because that part of my life isn’t pretty. She shrugged. “Moved around a lot, did a bunch of odd jobs, sometimes working for fast food stores. Easy to fudge a job application for minimum wage or get paid under the table. Stuff like waiting tables or picking fruit. Tried to avoid Lupine packs, but I managed to run with the moon by my lonesome now and then.”
“You liked the taste of freedom, but not the freedom of living with pack.”
Nolan’s deep voice held no accusations, but the words made her uneasy. “Not really. I avoided other packs because I still held loyalty to yours. Just couldn’t come home.”
“Why?” He turned to look at her. “When are you going to tell me what happened that drove you away? Was it Bryce?”
Jordan stiffened, the glass halfway to her mouth. Her heart pounded and she tried to control her emotions. The mere mention of his brother’s name filled her with rage and grief.
She shrugged again. “Maybe I just needed to find myself. I had no parents, no real blood ties and I needed to explore.”
Judging from his expression, Nolan didn’t believe her.
When they were back in the truck and headed home, she kept the talk to mundane topics, like the winery and the business. Yet inside, she mulled over confiding in him about her issues with shifting into wolf on pack land.
“You have a selfless devotion burning inside you, Nolan. You truly care about your people.” She tapped her fingers on one knee to the rhythm of the song playing on his iPod. “It’s not a power trip like it was with your father.”
Nolan fell silent a moment and she feared she’d offended him somehow. Then he turned down the music and spoke quietly, his deep voice reverberating in the truck’s cab.
“My father wasn’t a great Lupine, Jordan. Keep trying to tell myself he was, but he had many faults. Since I took control of the pack two years ago, I’ve come to realize that. Hetty was just one example of a wrong that should have been made right.”
For once, she listened, not saying anything as words poured out of him. By the time they pulled into the lodge’s driveway, she had new understanding of the challenges he faced.
Not only trying to live up to his father’s reputation as a tough alpha who brooked no disobedience, but also dealing with younger Lupines opposing him and hinting they could run the pack.
He parked the truck and turned to her, gaze solemn. “It’s always something, Jordan. Some days I feel like I’m riding a roller coaster, going three hundred miles an hour and no one’s going to stop it.”
She placed her hand over his, feeling the strength and the rough hairs feathering the back. “You’re not alone, Nolan. Let me help you. You took on a role you weren’t ready for, but you’ve handled it. Nothing says you have to do everything exactly as your father did.”
He nodded. “Got a point there.”
Nolan scratched his chin, day beard bristles evident. “Full moon soon. I’m looking forward to running with you. Our first time out leading the pack together.”
His confident smile filled with warmth filled her with dread.
“Nolan, there’s something you should know about me,” she began.
They were interrupted by Sam, approaching the truck, his expression grim. Nolan rolled down his window.
“Nolan, you need to decide about the monthly run beneath the moon next week,” Sam told him. “The pack is worried about leaving the little ones behind and guarding the lodge. I can arrange for security, but you’d better reassure them and calm them down.”
“I’ll call a meeting.” Nolan withdrew his cell phone. “In one hour. In the basement. Let’s go over the security details now and prepare assignments.”
He glanced at her, expression apologetic. “Sorry. I have to handle this.”
“Of course,” she said politely.
Jordan climbed out of the truck, slamming the door behind her. Pack first, always.
Would she always
come in second in his life? And what would he say when he found out she refused to run with the pack beneath the moon?
Jordan arrived two minutes late. She slipped into the room in the basement set up as a meeting space, careful to close the door quietly behind her. Nolan didn’t tolerate lateness, but it was the first official meeting since her arrival, and she’d spent an extra five minutes fussing over her hair.
Standing at the back, she spied the dais where Nolan stood to conduct business. Sam sat at a table next to the podium, along with a few other Lupines she recognized as being senior pack members.
There were two empty seats in the middle of a crowded row, but she stood near the door, hoping Nolan would see her and invite her to join them on the dais. He was her mate. Maybe his father hadn’t given Nolan’s mother a place of honor to show the pack they were equals, but times were different now.
Weren’t they?
She waited for Nolan to call on her.
A minute passed, and he did not.
Nolan drummed his fingers on the podium. “If everyone will be seated, we’ll get started. Jordan, find an empty chair.”
She forced a smile as people turned to look at her. Inside, she died. Jordan squeezed past three young, smirking men to get to the empty seat, nearly tripping over someone’s big clodhopper shoes. Someone tittered.
Never had she felt more alienated than she did now. It was as if she were invisible.
The polite fuss everyone made at the wedding had vanished. The pack regarded her with caution, most of them giving her covert gazes and frowns.
Then she saw Shirl and Erica and knew why. Her former friends were talking behind her back. That little scene on the pathway hadn’t helped.
Reading from a clipboard, Nolan began the meeting, giving out assignments for the upcoming run beneath the moon. Her stiffness increased as she realized he mentioned her name.
“As tradition dictates, Jordan and I will lead the hunt in five days.”
All heads turned to stare at her.
Her smile slipped. Damn, this was so not the attention she wanted. Shifting into wolf in front of the pack? All those times when she’d had trouble came to mind.
WILD WOLF: Werewolves of Montana Book 12 Page 11
