by Celia Kyle
Val froze in fear over her own thoughts. Wanting to kill someone simply because they hit on her seemed like… an overreaction.
“Huh,” she murmured, frowning over the dark turn her evening had taken. “Maybe I do have anger issues.”
Val took five deep breaths and her frustration at having to sit in a jail cell eased. She even managed to smile when Fang let out one of her adorable squeaky barks and then licked Val’s face like it was an ice cream cone. Suddenly, she no longer wished she’d murdered someone.
“Baby steps,” she muttered as she looked around her cell for the thousandth time.
It was tidy and clean, and much to her surprise actually smelled better than The Lair. It was as good a place as any to wait for the man the cop claimed he’d call—Chloe’s brother. He refused to say anything else about the man, or Chloe, which worried her. Why would her brother be summoned to “discuss” Chloe?
Before her misfiring brain had a chance to dig its morbid hooks into treacherous territory, the shouts and drunken laughter from the men’s cells lowered to a dull roar. Surveying the cells with her keen observation skills, she discovered that about half the men were sitting ramrod straight, their lips pressed together and their eyes trained on the main door.
The rest of the men continued their raucous ways for a few minutes before noticing their compatriots’ silence. One by one, they quieted as well, but not with the same attention toward the main door. Some slouched on benches, others took the opportunity to take a leak, and a handful took their chances and lay down on the floor for a beer-nap.
Every nerve in her body stood at attention and she instinctively sat up straighter. The air in the holding rooms sparkled with tension, like when a superior officer walked into a room full of subordinates.
A soft creak sounded from the other side of the main door, and then the door swung open slowly. Silhouetted against the bright lights of the station stood a very large, very muscular man. He stood in the doorway for a long time—almost too long.
Weird.
The other inmates didn’t seem troubled by his pause. They all sat quietly, but the first batch to shut up regarded the newcomer with obvious awe. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the man stepped into the flickering light of the room.
Valerie’s teeth clamped down on the inside of her cheek. She tried to swallow her gasp at the sight of him, but she couldn’t suppress that sharp intake of breath. He stood around six feet tall, with broad shoulders and deliciously narrow hips. Brown hair fell in wild waves almost to his jawline, and even at a distance, she caught glints of copper in the strands. His face was just as handsome and chiseled as she expected.
Her body warmed at the sight of him, a tingling between her thighs startling her. Wild thoughts ran rampant in her mind, and her nipples hardened to diamonds. They hadn’t exchanged a look or even a word, yet she couldn’t stop from imagining what the man looked like under his tight black t-shirt and worn jeans. She imagined the feel of his firm biceps, pecs, and abs under her inquisitive fingers. She pictured herself nibbling her way down that sweet muscle that led down to his thick, twitching cock.
Fang’s whine snapped her back to reality. Damn, she’d had her share of talented lovers over the years, but she’d never had such an intense reaction to the mere sight of a man.
He strode down the hallway that ran in front of the cells, not stopping until he reached hers. The overhead fluorescents cast an odd amber glow in his brown eyes, and then he closed them, his chest expanding as he took a long, deep breath. While the holding area didn’t smell as bad as The Lair, it wasn’t a bed of roses. Yet this guy looked as if he sniffed the most delicious and irresistible scent in the world. Like buttered popcorn or something.
Definitely weird.
When his eyes opened again, they blazed almost entirely amber. Talk about a trick of light! He just stood there scowling at her with those flashing eyes of his. Val thought about scowling back at the guy, but it was pretty clear he was some kind of big wig in town. Otherwise the dipshits in the other cells wouldn’t have shut their yaps. Hell, even Fang sat perfectly still on Val’s lap, watching every move the man made.
Hmm, if she treaded carefully and kept her temper in check, maybe he was powerful enough to make the charges go away. The last thing she needed was an assault charge on her record during a time when she was desperately trying to prove she didn’t have anger issues.
“How’s that Newman guy?” she finally spoke, needing to break the silence somehow. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, but you don’t grab a soldier from behind and expect a hug instead of a fist.”
Once the anger had fled—when had that happened, exactly?—she realized she actually felt remorse over breaking the guy’s nose. At least she assumed it was broken. She’d done that kind of damage enough in her life to know what that sickening crunch meant.
Tall, dark and hot-as-hell’s frown deepened. “Wait, did you say shoulder?”
The guy might be sexy, but he was clearly hard of hearing.
Val stood, keeping her back as straight as possible while holding Fang. “No, sir. Soldier. United States Army.”
He blinked in surprise, some of the amber she’d thought she saw replaced with brown. “Wow. Impressive.”
Val clenched her jaw to keep herself from snapping at the guy. She’d heard it before, countless times. God forbid a woman could become a kick-ass Army Captain. She was torn between thanking him and telling him to fuck off. Considering she was on the wrong side of the bars, she opted for as much diplomacy as she could muster.
“Thanks,” was all she could manage.
She dug her fingers into Fang’s fur, hoping to soothe her anger, but the damn dog seemed much more interested in meeting the new arrival. She panted happily and wriggled in Val’s arms as if she wanted to be put down. Yeah, that wasn’t happening.
“Don’t worry about Newman,” he said, his lips twitching. “He’s got a hard head, and it’s not as if he’s going to win any prizes for his smarts. Besides, he never should have touched you without asking, even if he was just being… friendly.”
You mean horny, she wanted to correct him, but she held her tongue. Barely.
“One thing’s for certain,” he continued. “He’ll never do it again.”
Val wasn’t sure if he meant Newman would never try it again with her or all women in general. Hopefully both.
“That’s good to hear.” She took a couple of steps closer to the bars.
He stepped closer too, until little more than two feet separated them. Valerie only stood a couple of inches shorter than him, and even though she felt flabby and out of shape at the moment, she knew by civilian standards, she was tight with muscle. Yet somehow this guy made her feel like a tiny, delicate flower.
That’s new.
Her gaze skimmed him up and down. How the hell did someone grow so freaking sexy anyway? It didn’t seem fair.
“The name’s Zeke Soren.” The man shoved his hand through the bars. “I’m Chloe’s brother. I heard you were asking about her.”
Once he said it, Val spied the resemblance between her bestie and the handsome stranger. She shook his hand as she would any other man’s—hard and firm. No limp-fish, girly handshakes for her. The moment their skin touched, though, she yanked her hand away as if he’d burned her. Then she did her best to pretend he had no effect on her whatsoever.
“Barney Fife out there told me you were coming to ‘discuss’ Chloe. What happened? Where is she? I’ve been calling, but her damn answering machine never picks up. Who has an answering machine in this day and age anyway?” she grumbled.
When she realized she was rambling, she clamped her lips shut and waited for him to stop chuckling. She just wished she knew why he was laughing.
“Barney Fife?” His broad smile hit her, and her knees nearly buckled. “Second, I can’t tell you how many times I nagged Chloe to get voicemail, but as you know, she’s stubborn.”
“Whatever,” she mumbl
ed. She wasn’t affected by his smile. She wasn’t. “Just tell me what’s going on with her. I need to find—”
“Settle down.” Zeke’s roaming gaze set her skin on fire.
Wrong move. Val could take an order with the best of them, but she didn’t like being condescended to, especially by a civilian. The anger bubbled inside her again, but this time she couldn’t hold it back.
“Who the fuck do you think you are, telling me what to do and how to feel? Now tell me what the fuck happened to my best fucking friend and where the fuck I can find her!”
Any noise coming from the other cells died instantly and she sensed the weight of everyone’s gazes as they settled on her and Zeke. She barely noticed, preferring to glare at Chloe’s brother until he spilled every detail. Zeke stared at her for a long moment, as if he was deciding how to react, and then he held his hands up in surrender.
“Sorry to offend you. Chloe’s fine. She’s actually on her honeymoon with her new mate— er, husband.”
Val dropped her eyes and pretended to focus on petting Fang, partially to hide her shock that her bestie had found a man and hadn’t bothered to tell her. She couldn’t be too butt-hurt about it, though. Their friendship had always been punctuated by long periods of silence, mostly due to Valerie’s career choice.
Mainly, she didn’t want to let on that she caught his slip about “mates” and how hearing her werewolf BFF had found hers affected Val. When Valerie had discovered her roommate’s secret back in college, Chloe had sworn her to secrecy. Something about it being against werewolf law or something. Val didn’t need a reason or excuse—the fact her best friend had asked her to keep it secret was enough.
Returning Zeke’s gaze, Val realized he must be a werewolf, too. Duh! Half the drunks in the other cells probably were as well—the half that quieted down right before he walked in, no doubt. Double duh!
“Mind if I ask why you’re turning Tremble upside down looking for my little sister?”
Val kept her gaze locked on his before answering. No way in hell was she going to admit to this handsome stranger that she didn’t have anywhere else to go, much less that she was on leave to sort out her alleged post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I wanted to check in on my best friend,” she muttered defensively. “Is that a crime now?”
Everyone in the holding room stared at her openly, even Fang. The silly pooch’s eyes were wide and adoring, as they always were when she looked at Val. Zeke’s gaze wasn’t nearly as affectionate. In fact, it looked downright suspicious.
“Fine.” He sighed. “Here’s the deal. I’ll only make this offer once, and you have exactly one minute to give me an answer. Got it?”
Val glared at him, unwilling to commit to anything until she heard the details. “What?”
He shook his head, just like so many people had when dealing with her. “Either you spend the night in this cell and get processed for assault—”
“Oh, hell no!” she snarled with a ferocity that matched her boiling blood. “There isn’t a jury out there who would convict me of assault when your hard-headed pal was the one to grab me first. We both know that. Don’t be stu—”
“Stop talking right this second or I’ll walk out that door and leave you behind.”
Anger flashed in his rich mahogany eyes and Val knew he wasn’t bluffing. She summoned every bit of self-control she had so she didn’t sass him further. Out loud anyway. She couldn’t stop her eyes from unleashing hell’s fury on him. Too bad he wasn’t fazed a bit.
“As I was saying… Either you stay here and get processed in the morning, or…” he paused dramatically “…you stay at my house tonight.”
Valerie’s jaw dropped as she gawked at him. The brass balls on this guy. Was that really how people did things out in the sticks? She half-expected his offer to be one gigantic, ridiculous prank destined for a reality TV show, but Zeke’s steely gaze never wavered.
Perhaps she should have been offended by his proposal, but she couldn’t deny that going home with Zeke sounded a million times better than her other option. Sit on a hard metal bench all night while the quickly sobering assholes in the other cells bickered and shouted …or … spend a pleasant evening with the sexy brother of her best friend.
But she couldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing she’d already made her decision. She counted backward from sixty as she pretended to think it over. She wanted to make him squirm, and she only had to get to thirty for it to work. His stony facade crumbled a little when he shot a look at the men in the other cells. Good to know she didn’t need a full minute to make her point.
With a melodramatic sigh, she shrugged. “Fine. Take me home, Jeeves.”
Chapter Four
Zeke held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip during the drive to the pack house. Valerie’s intoxicating scent filled the small space to the point of making his wolf insane with lust. The dumb beast seemed to think the human sitting in the passenger seat was their mate.
Ridiculous.
It was his own damn fault for inviting her to stay with him. He’d clearly been thinking with his cock, rather than his brain. At that moment, he regretted asking Levi to make her arrest disappear from the official record. If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t be sitting inches away, driving him wild.
But she wasn’t his mate, despite the way his body and inner wolf reacted to her. Anyone with eyeballs would be hot for her, just like Newman and Levi. Zeke nearly bared a fang at the thought of Newman touching her, but he brushed his wolf’s silly jealousy aside. She wasn’t his mate, so there was no reason for the wolf’s emotions.
The idea a human could be his mate was beyond laughable. Zeke was an alpha, which meant his mate would be the baddest she-wolf in existence. Period. It wasn’t lost on him that Valerie had just taken down one of his toughest sentries, but that didn’t sway his thoughts. Big deal—she could have the title of “baddest human” and leave him the hell alone.
If he’d been even mildly fond of humans in general, he might have explored his desire for her, but he was neck-deep with Valerie’s kind in Tremble. They had the weirdest obsession of turning the town into a werewolf sideshow tourist trap. So much so that his father had played along when he named his business Full Moon Construction. Plus, who could trust a species that didn’t keep to a pack? No one, as far as Zeke was concerned. It was downright unnatural.
The one thing Zeke liked less than humans was awkward silences, such as the one he endured at that very moment. Valerie had immediately been hostile, only loosening up a tiny bit after Levi had made the charges go away. Talk about gratitude! But he felt a responsibility to Chloe to at least keep her best friend out of trouble—if that was possible.
“So,” he finally grumbled, scrambling for some way to break the ice with the ice queen, “you and Chloe met in college?”
“Roommates.”
Oh goody, the one-word response game. This was going to be fun.
“Did you get together much after college? I don’t remember you ever visiting Tremble.”
Val shrugged, her toned, bronze shoulders glistening in the dim light from the dash. “Not really. I was ROTC and went straight into the Army after graduation. Moved around a lot. The Army doesn’t give day passes for brunch with your bestie. It can be tough to stay in touch. Unless you’re on leave for something stupid, in which case…”
She trailed off, her tone bitter, as she turned to glare out the side window. Zeke waited a minute for her to elaborate, which never happened.
“How long are you on leave?” he asked, wondering what her stupid reason was.
More silence.
“Just curious,” Zeke muttered. It didn’t make a difference to him if she wanted to be difficult. It wasn’t like he had a stake in her life, or anything.
“Chloe talked about you sometimes,” she finally replied, taking pity on him by changing the subject.
“Everything she said is a complete lie,” Zeke said with a smirk. To his
utter surprise and delight, she actually laughed. Well, snorted actually, but he’d take it.
“You must be a real son of a bitch then.”
Zeke laughed and then frowned. “You’re shitting me, right? Chloe hated all of us at that age.”
“Don’t get a big head or anything. She didn’t talk all that much about her life back home, but you sounded okay, as far as brothers go. Were you two close growing up?”
Zeke focused on the glowing yellow stripes in the road for a few seconds as he struggled to form an answer. His heart grew heavy as he thought about those bad days.
“Yes and no. Things were good when we were young. Then… they weren’t. Do you know about Chloe’s accident?”
Val met his eyes, her gaze intense and deadly serious, and nodded.
“That was hard on all of us,” he continued, “but especially her. The last year hasn’t been particularly easy, but in a strange way it got better for Chloe.”
“How?” Her brown eyes danced with excitement at the mention of her friend’s news.
“Dad died about a year ago. Cancer. I stepped up and took over his construction business, but he’s a hard act to follow. He was a sort of… community leader in our village.” It was the easiest way to describe an alpha to a human outsider. “The transition has been challenging. Then our mother passed away a little over a week ago.”
Val gasped and buried her hand in the fur of the little dog sitting in her lap. He glanced over at the happily panting pooch and rolled his eyes over its name.
“I had no idea,” she said, her tone softening. “I’m sorry for your loss—losses.”
He flashed her a grim smile. “Thanks. Dad was rather unexpected, but Mom was a long time coming, as I’m sure you know. She was in a coma for many years. Thankfully, we got the chance to say our goodbyes before she passed.”
Val stared at him with sadness in her eyes. It was really the first time she’d appeared vulnerable and it suited her. His wolf reacted to that softness by howling with need for her. He had to do something to ease the tension building inside him.