Escaping Monsters: A Reverse Harem Wolf Shifter Romance (Grayhaven Book 1)

by Rita Stradling

  “You’re not Jasper,” I said as I truly took the wolf in.

  The beast panted and shook his head.

  “That would make you Chad,” I said as I finished my descent into the main area of the firehouse. “And, I guess you’re the real Chad Jameson—the rockstar, back from the dead? According to Declan, I’m not supposed to tell you that I used to be a big fan, but last night threw that possibility out the window. This doesn’t change anything about the other day, though, but I will admit to you that your song ‘Silent Boy’ got me through high school.”

  The werewolf hopped over the back of the couch and walked straight into my legs, bumping me and rubbing his muzzle up the side of my calf. It was a forward gesture in wolf form, basically the equivalent of giving someone a big bear hug. Chad’s head pushed into the back of my legs and he started herding me off to the fridge.

  “You’re telling me that you’re hungry?” I pulled open the fridge door and gaped at the spotless interior. “My God, are you guys allergic to mess? I can’t believe Declan offered me a job cleaning up after you. I’ve never been this clean or organized in my life.”

  The refrigerator literally shone, and the food was as organized as the rest of the loft. The sight made me feel like I was making the space messier with my mere presence.

  Chad grunted and tapped his nose against the middle drawer.

  “You’re hungry for protein…” I pulled a bag full of bright crimson meat out and sniffed it. “Alright, venison. Do you want it raw?”

  Chad shook his head and pressed his nose into my leg.

  “Cooked?”

  He shook his head again and pressed his nose to my side. When I just stared at him, not understanding, he pawed my side and pointed his nose at the bag of meat, then the stove, and then up at my face.

  “You want me to cook these for myself?”

  He nodded.

  “No way,” I laughed. “I’m only going to cook myself food in your kitchen if I’m making it for you too.”

  He chuffed and pointed his nose at the stove.

  “Okay, cooked.” I set the meat on the counter and headed for the sink. The bandage on my hand was still secure, but when I peeked under, I found the skin of my wound closed. I peeled the bandage away before scrubbing my hands, which, unfortunately, ached. Skin abrasions were fast to heal, but it would probably take another half-dozen shifts to heal the muscle underneath the wound. I crouched to open a cupboard, and Chad leaned in and bit down on a handle of a large pan.

  I reached past him and grabbed a smaller, flat pan. “I’m curious about this one,” I said as I set it on the burner and grabbed the olive oil from the counter. “I usually cook these on the griddle.”

  The wolf huffed like he strongly disapproved. Rolling my eyes, I turned the burner on high, and Chad immediately jumped up and used his teeth to turn the burner down.

  I pointed into his face and turned the burner back up. “I’m going to sear the steaks.”

  Chad huffed, and as I reached for the spice rack, Chad was again jumping for the burner control, and I glared into his wolf eyes. “Seriously, you’re going to light yourself on fire. Look, I get that this is your kitchen, but either I’m cooking this venison, or you are, and you don’t have hands right now, so it’s not going to be you.” I turned the burner back on high. “I don’t care if you were my teenage crush, I’m not going to be micromanaged in the kitchen.”

  I set two steaks on the grill and nudged Chad’s head away from the controls with my hip.

  “Can I have a steak too?” a low voice asked from beside me. Jasper was suddenly there, leaning against the counter not three feet away.

  Chapter Ten

  My heart jumped, and I clutched a hand over my chest. “You move like a shadow, Jasper. How long have you been standing there?”

  “A minute,” Jasper said, with a small knowing grin. The grin was all I needed to remember that I told this man I wanted to screw him all the time. It was so much worse than the others, who I admitted to fantasizing about at specific times. Because even as Jasper looked at me standing before the burner, he knew that I wanted him—every moment—all the time, even when he was being a Grade-A asshole.

  There was something about Jasper that made him feel different than every other werewolf I’d met. He was more rugged than his packmates with his broken nose and split lip, but that wasn’t that uncommon with werewolves as a whole. Many werewolves had been enlisted in the military or were bikers before they were turned. There was just this wild, carnal energy about Jasper that both drew me closer and scared the hell out of me.

  I forced myself to focus back on cooking as I placed the third steak in the pan. “How well do you like your steak cooked, Alpha?”

  “How about you cook mine as you would yours,” he said.

  Chad once again bit the burner knob and adjusted the heat with his teeth, and both Jasper and I fixed our attention down on the rockstar in wolf form.

  Jasper leaned in, and my breath caught in my throat, but he only turned the heat back up. “Let Teagan cook the steaks her way, Chad.”

  The werewolf grunted and leaned into my side with his eyes on the steaks like he was sure they would go up in flame at any moment.

  “So…” I twirled a finger at the stove, “I take it that you’re okay with me cooking here.”

  Even though Chad and Ace had encouraged me to help myself, it felt a little odd to be cooking in a stranger’s kitchen--especially when I had announced to this massive blue-eyed biker stranger that I both wanted to fuck him and that I thought he was a dick.

  “Teagan, you’re welcome to anything here. As far as I’m concerned, this all belongs to you as much as it does any of us,” Jasper said as he pulled three plates and cups down from the cupboard.

  My stomach squirmed. “That’s generous and kind of you to say, but I can’t stay here, Jasper. I’m probably going to have to leave Grayhaven sometime today—at the latest, tomorrow.”

  He watched me for a few seconds with those fathomless blue eyes, and then he stepped away from the counter. “What do you want to drink? We have beer, milk, and probably every brand of hard liquor on the planet.”

  “I’ll stick to water. I’m not a morning drinker,” I said.

  “It’s five-thirty PM if you want one of these,” Jasper said as he held out a beer.

  “Five thirty? Fuck a fucking duck,” I muttered under my breath. Kane was probably one day closer to me, and I was still broke, injured, and at a loss on how to leave Grayhaven. “Yep, give me the beer.” I peered out the long windows at the sun approaching the forest. “I seriously thought the gray light meant it was early morning.”

  Chad nudged my side with his cold nose and then pointed up at the steaks.

  I pushed his nose away gently. “Chad here thinks I’ve never cooked venison before.”

  “It’s not you. This is usually Chad’s domain, but I’ve ordered him to be a wolf for the next forty-eight hours, and he’s grappling with some boundary issues in the kitchen. I can kick him out of the house if you don’t want him hovering.”

  “I don’t mind him here…” The wolf chuffed over at Jasper, but he was almost immediately leaning up to sniff my spices.

  “I don’t mind so long as he stops pawing me,” I directed down at Chad as I flipped the steaks and seasoned the other side, to which Chad nibbled at my shirt, which probably meant to stop seasoning.

  “You’re going to burn your chin,” I told him, but the wolf was still hovering right above the pan. I left the wolf to it. He might look like an oversized husky, but inside his head, he was a grown-ass man who could make his own mistakes.

  “Do you want this IPA?” Jasper asked, still holding out the bottle.

  “Sure…” I took the bottle from him and sipped it, wetting my suddenly dry throat. “So, I slept an entire day?”

  “Meaning that you needed it.” Jasper cracked open the cap to his beer and took a swig of his dark brew, before setting it down on the counte
r. “Declan said he offered you a job,” he said.

  “Yeah, Declan said you guys are looking for someone to cook and clean and garden for you…” I laughed and shook my head. “But this place is spotless, and you clearly already have a cook. I’m guessing that you either have gardening covered or that you don’t have one.”

  “Chad does grow herbs and vegetables on the roof, but he’s even more territorial there than he is here.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded as I pulled the steaks from the grill and set each on a plate. Turning off the burner, I set two plates on the kitchen island. “Where do you want me to put your steak, Chad?”

  The wolf shook his head. Then he jumped up, and he was so massive that his paws hit my shoulders. He leaned up and gave my cheek a lick before jumping back down and walking out of the kitchen.

  “Hey,” I said as the wolf climbed up the stairs. “Your steak?”

  Jasper slid his plate onto the kitchen island. “He wants you to eat it.”

  “These two steaks are probably a pound of meat each.”

  “Three steaks.” Jasper cut a slice of steak off with his fork and knife and held it up toward my lips. The rich aroma of seared meat and spices filled my senses, and my stomach churned.

  I leaned in and took the first bite off his fork, and the savory flavor burst across my taste buds.

  “Why can’t you stay here?” Jasper asked as he cut off another chunk and held it up.

  “Well…” I took his fork, “As of this moment, four supernaturals outside of this pack know who I am. It only takes one person knowing, and likely, the fae queen and those demons told others. Trust me, secrets like that don’t stay hidden for long.” I put the next slice in my mouth and closed my eyes, savoring the flavorful meat.

  “Only supernaturals fleeing for their lives can find Grayhaven,” Jasper said. “Do you think Kane is going to be fleeing for his life any time soon?”

  I examined the large man before me. “Kane will find a way through. I guarantee you that sooner or later, he’ll figure out a way.”

  Jasper gave one decisive nod, and I was pretty sure that he was confirming my words. Kane would find a way around the enchantment.

  “Lucas told me that you were the man to see if I wanted to know how to leave Grayhaven. You left before.”

  “Lucas said that, did he?” Jasper snorted and took a swig of his beer. “I did leave, once, ten years ago. Can you guess why?”

  “To challenge Kane?”

  “No. I didn’t know that Kane had you, yet, but you’re close to the mark on the reason I left Grayhaven. It happened in the middle of the night, one night. You woke me, your fear and your pain, and just this sense of you. Feeling you for the first time, it was so…” Jasper looked off, remembering, “Visceral and strange. It was like waking up to a new kind of hunger or thirst, and not even knowing what I was yearning for. Your voice was in my head--”

  “My voice? I was talking to you?” I asked.

  “All you said was ‘Mate,’ but I knew you were calling out for me to help you,” he said.

  “I—I’ve never experienced anything like that on my end, Jasper,” I said with a shake of my head. A moment later, I realized that my words weren’t completely true. I had known the yearning feeling Jasper described all too well. I’d always chalked it up as my need to be part of a true pack, a need that was never met. It was a low constant ache, like a broken bone that never quite healed. If I was being honest with myself, I hadn’t been feeling that pain since I got off the bus in Grayhaven.

  “I set out to find you,” Jasper continued with a furrowed brow. “And so far as I know, Grayhaven just let me leave—simple as that. I remember somehow knowing that the magic would let me out before it did. One minute I was walking the same familiar paths around town, and the next, I came out on a road in Colorado, five miles from Kane’s compound. That’s all I know about leaving Grayhaven.”

  Jasper’s words definitely didn’t inspire hope. “How did you get back in?”

  He winced. “That’s a long, unpleasant story I’d rather save for a different day. Anyway, your steaks are getting cold.

  I took another few bites of the rich meat, staring off at nothing and trying to remember any details about the route my bus took into town but coming up with nothing.

  “I’ve upset you?” Jasper asked.

  “No.” I set down my fork. “I’m just disappointed. I was hoping you knew how to get out of here.”

  “Sorry I don’t know more. Where are you planning on going from here?” he asked. “You can trust me to keep your secrets all the way to the grave if necessary.”

  Maybe it was the intense way Jasper was looking at me or that this man seemed to hate Kane even more than I did, but I believed that Jasper was the kind of werewolf that would keep my secrets. And, for some unfathomable reason, I wanted to confide in him. “My only chance is to head up into the Boreal wildlands.”

  “To do what?” Jasper asked.

  “Disappear. Live off the land. Wolves do it all the time.”

  “Yeah, man-eaters, rapists, and wolf killers that have been exiled from their packs.”

  I took a steadying breath. “A couple of bad characters have headed that way, yeah, but there are one and a half billion acres of forest. “That’s a lot of wilderness to get lost in. There are towns with almost no contact with the outside world that I can settle in for months or even a couple seasons before eventually moving on.”

  It felt strange saying the words aloud for the first time, ever. I hadn’t even written anything alluding to my plan in case it could be discovered. And, fuck. The dream that had always been a bright light in the distance sounded so desperately lonely when spoken.

  “All right. That’s your plan.” Jasper’s gaze seared straight through me. “Do you want to hear mine?”

  The way that Jasper was looking at me made butterflies take wing in my belly, and I wasn’t at all sure that I should hear his plan. But I nodded. “Sure.”

  “I’m going to kill Kane,” Jasper said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.

  I coughed, almost choking on the bite of food I was eating. “You’re going to kill the Head Alpha of North America?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Just like that?”

  “Yes.”

  “And… then you’re going to take over?”

  He shook his head slowly as if this should have been obvious. “I’m needed in Grayhaven. Fire season is coming. I couldn’t give a fuck who takes over as head alpha, so long as Kane is dead.”

  I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. “Do you have any idea how many supernaturals have tried to kill Kane? When I said no one had challenged him, I meant legally. I once saw him kill another werewolf alpha in less than a minute. And, those are the supernaturals that get to him. Most don’t even get close.”

  “I’ll get to Kane,” Jasper said with complete confidence.

  “Uh-huh. How?”

  “Because…” Jasper held up a piece of meat in front of my lips, “I’ve been tracking Kane’s movements for years. A friend of mine sends me a letter every time that Kane is on the move, and I have it on their authority that Kane is hunting you personally. I’m going to be there when he finds you. It will be easier if it’s here in Grayhaven with my pack, where we’re familiar with the land and have allies, but if we need to go with you to the Boreal wildlands, then we will.”

  “I’m not going to lead you guys to your death. No. I appreciate that you want to help me—”

  “This isn’t just about helping you, Teagan. I’ve been preparing to face Kane for decades. He needs to die, and this might be my pack’s only opportunity to kill him.”

  I shook my head. “This is… if Kane is setting a trap for me. More than likely, we’ll all fall into it.”

  “Then stay here,” Jasper said. “Where we can set a trap for him.”

  “I can’t. My money will run out quickly here, and then I’ll be broke and unemployable in this town… I’d be st
uck here, trapped and depending entirely on the generosity of others. I need to live in a place where I feel like I could leave without asking anyone’s permission.”

  “Grayhaven could be that for you,” Jasper said with his blue eyes fixed on mine. He set his beer on the kitchen island. “Declan was talking out of his ass when he offered you a job, as you know, but I do have a job offer for you.”

  I raised my right hand. “A one-handed job?”

  Jasper stepped forward just close enough that his power crackled against my skin and his smell of fresh pine and wolf musk filled my senses. It had to be deliberate. I was pretty sure everything this alpha did was intentional. “This job won’t strain your injury, and you have the right skillset for it.”

  Heat flushed up my whole body as the implications of his words hit me. Obviously, the Teagan show last night gave him the very wrong impression, and I was sure using the words that I wanted a “one-handed job” didn’t dispel him of that notion.

  “Jasper, I don’t know what skillset you’re referring to, but you should disregard everything I said last night.”

  “Last night?” He moved in closer, so close his proximity made my skin tingle with awareness. His hands slid down to grip my hips, and my breath caught as he pinned me. “What do you want me to disregard, Teagan?” Jasper scooped me up under my thighs and slid me onto the counter.

  “I was talking nonsense.” Without even thinking about it, I parted my legs for Jasper, and he slid in between my thighs.

  “Which part was nonsense, when you called me a dick… or when you said that you want to fuck me?”

  At this moment, as Jasper stood flush against me, I definitely could not deny the second part. Every inch of my body ached for his touch.

  “We don’t even know each other,” I said.

  “You don’t have to know someone to think they’re a dick.” His hands gathered up my sweatshirt and pulled it up over my head. As he set the garment aside, his eyes came up to meet mine. “You definitely don’t have to know someone to want to fuck them.”