by Kele Moon
Amber was scared to ask, but she did anyway. “What’d that asshole do to him?”
“It’s a sad story, Amber. You have your own wounds to heal from.” He glanced at her plate. “You’re not eating your breakfast.”
Amber took a bite of her eggs, and then looked at him expectantly. “Tell me.”
“We had a human girl who lived in our pack. Jazz was close with Marcy. Sort of like you and me, they weren’t mated yet, but it didn’t make a difference to Jazz. She was his, and he was waiting until she reached maturity to claim her.”
“Where is she?” Amber whispered.
“She’s gone.” Desmon’s voice cracked when he said it. “A few months after you left, Albert had her killed rather than risk his son being mated to a human. We never found her body, just smelled her blood where she was attacked. Jazz couldn’t even bury her.”
“How do you know she’s really dead?” Amber argued. “There had to be a body.”
Desmon shook his head. “It wasn’t uncommon for there to be very few remains left. Especially when wolves like Albert are in charge.”
“Oh my God.” Amber’s stomach lurched when she realized what he was saying. Over the years, she’d tried not to think of Desmon’s friend because she had so many of her own terrible memories associated with him, but never once could she deny that the handsome blond werewolf had been kind to her. “Your poor friend. How did he handle it?”
Desmon was quiet for a moment before he said, “Not very well. Jazz killed the enforcers who smelled of Marcy’s blood—all of them. I had to kill Albert, or I would’ve been forced to watch him execute his own son for the crime. My only regret was that I waited so long. Like I said, I should’ve done it the day he brought you to pack land. Right there, in front everyone—including my mate.” He looked at her as he said it. “I should’ve ended it then. I’ll spend the rest of my life being haunted by the mistake.”
Amber had her own massive set of issues about that night, but she couldn’t deny the horrible pain Desmon had suffered, either. “You were so young, Des. You can’t blame yourself.”
“Sure, I can.” He pointed at her plate. “You’re still not eating.”
She took a bite because he had taken the time to cook for her, and that was an extremely rare, almost non-existent occurrence in her life. A silence descended on them, but it was a comfortable one. When she was done, Desmon took her plate and started washing the dishes.
He could not possibly be that amazing in bed and do dishes, but the proof was in front of her.
“If you don’t want to use one of our plots for your mother, I understand,” he said with his back to her. “I don’t want you to think I’m overstepping my boundaries in your family.”
“No, you didn’t know they were my family when you offered. That was very kind, Des,” she had to admit. “We’d be happy to accept the plot.”
“Okay.” He turned back to her, those light eyes intense and contemplative. “Would you like help making arrangements today? Most of being an alpha is actually business related. Dealing with humans. Solving problems. Paperwork. Boring stuff most wolves hate, but I do alright with it.”
Warning bells were going off everywhere in Amber’s mind, but her sensible side was forced to wage a terrible battle with her heart. She wasn’t just horribly saddened by his story. She was touched by Desmon’s deep loyalty not only to his friend Jazz, but to her sisters as well.
“Please,” she decided when her heart won the war. “I’d love help.”
When Desmon said he was good at handling business, he wasn’t kidding. He took care of everything surrounding their mother’s funeral, but he was considerate the whole time. He dealt with the funeral home director when the greedy man tried to overcharge them, but let Amber, Katie and Bea sit down and discuss little things like music choices for the service.
When Amber went to sign the papers for the bill, it said there was a zero balance, and she automatically looked to Desmon, who simply smiled. “Turns out your mother had a small insurance policy that handled the costs.”
“Oh.” Amber looked back to the papers again, knowing for a fact her mother would never think that far ahead.
“Wow, that was really thoughtful of her,” Bea whispered from the seat next Amber.
“Yeah, I can’t believe it,” Katie agreed. “Maybe she gave a shit after all.”
Amber glanced back to Desmon once more, but rather than argue, she sighed. “Maybe we’ll use the money I was going to spend for something else then.”
So they picked out music, and had the funeral director make up memorial programs for a funeral few would attend using insurance money Amber was certain didn’t exist. Afterwards, Desmon took them home to give Amber and her sisters some time alone.
Three days later, Amber was well prepared for the three of them to be sitting there with only Desmon in attendance, since her mother didn’t have many friends, but something surprising happened.
People started showing up.
Desmon’s best friend Jazz arrived looking like a very tall, extremely buff blond model in a black suit. Behind him was another man, equally tall, with dark hair and olive skin like Desmon. He seemed uncomfortable in his suit as he draped one muscular arm around a short, curvy woman with long, curly brown hair who wore a beautiful black dress.
“Katie.” Jazz hugged Amber’s sister. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you, Alpha.” Katie’s voice sounded choked as she said it, and then she let go of Jazz, and hugged the man next to him. “Jason, thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” Jason returned her hug. “You remember my mate Brandi.”
“Yes, thank you for coming, Brandi.” Katie hugged Jason’s mate, clinging to the other woman, making it obvious to Amber she also hadn’t expected anyone for their mother’s funeral. “Really, thank you.”
“You’re not alone,” Brandi assured her. “Not even close.”
“Baby Bea.” Jazz hugged Bea tightly. “How you holding up, little girl?”
“Better now.” Bea sounded as relieved as Katie to have others there.
Brandi walked over to Amber, hugging her like a friend even though they were strangers. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Amber returned the hug, clinging to the shorter woman for being there, even if she didn’t know her two seconds ago. “Thank you, Brandi.”
“Brandi’s human. She’s the woman I told you was recently mated to one of my enforcers, Jason.” Desmon gestured to Jason next to Brandi. “Jason, this is my,” he paused, seeming to search for the right description, and finished with, “my Amber.”
“Nice to meet you, Amber.” Jason hugged her. “Sorry about your mom. I know how hard this is.”
“Thank you.” Amber nodded and turned to Jazz, who stood back rather than hug her, as if he wasn’t sure she would want to be touched by him. So, she took the initiative and hugged the big blond. “Jazz, thank you.”
Jazz seemed grateful, and he nearly crushed the air out of her when he returned the affection and whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry—for everything.”
“Des explained things.” Amber knew they weren’t just talking about her mother. She thought about Jazz’s mate, who’d died too young, and clung to him tighter. “I’m sorry, too.”
Jazz released her, and she could tell by the look on his face that he understood what she was sorry about. The haunted glaze in his light eyes told her he was still in deep mourning over the girl he’d lost as a teenager.
Amber felt a little dazed as she turned toward the door, seeing others coming in. Muscular men who looked as uncomfortable as Jason in their suits. Lithe, beautiful women wearing black dresses styled similar to Brandi’s, and there were so many of them.
Amber turned to Desmon in shock. “Are they all werewolves?”
“Not all of them.” Brandi smiled. “Roni’s human, too.” She gestured to a petite brunette with big brown eyes. “This is Roni. She works at the bar in town. The Barn.”
Desmon tensed next to her, but Amber smiled. “I’ve been there. You have your hands full, Roni.”
“True story.” Roni leaned in and hugged her. “So sorry, Amber, but so glad to meet you. We need to become best gal pals, ’cause I heard what happened at The Barn, and I know a girl whose made of steel when I see her.”
Amber just laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I’m grateful to you for being here. All of you.”
“We’re not perfect, Ams.” Desmon sighed. “But we take care of each other. We consider Katie and Bea pack. They all wanted to come to support them.”
Amber glanced over to Katie, who was hugging another big, burly werewolf, and Bea, who clung to Roni like an old friend. “I believe that.”
“You’re pack, too.” Desmon looked at her with that earnest, compelling blue gaze. “Most of them know who you are.”
She frowned. “How?”
“I made no secret about losing the woman I considered my mate. Now you’re back.” Desmon shrugged. “And crazy as it sounds, most of them want their alpha to be happy.”
“It doesn’t sound crazy,” Amber assured him as she watched more werewolves walk in and comfort her sisters. Like Desmon said, these wolves weren’t perfect. There was a darkness to them that scared her, but there was good there, too, and she suspected it was Desmon who helped bring it out in them. “Not at all.”
7
The next ten days after her mother passed were a blur.
Usually, Amber considered death somewhat isolating. No one wanted to hang around long enough for it to touch them, but the Nightwind werewolves weren’t like that. The evening after the funeral, they started bringing food over. All sorts of food.
Some of it, Amber wasn’t particularly excited about. The venison sausage and frozen rabbit burger patties seemed unappealing, but Katie and Bea ate them, making it apparent this wasn’t the first time they’d received wild game gifts from the werewolves. Other dishes were amazing, like Jason’s peach cobbler that his mate Brandi brought over. There were lots of frozen stews, soups, meat patties, and it was obvious the wolves didn’t waste things and were used to stockpiling food.
Desmon explained that they did that in case hunting became scarce in the area. They mingled with humans now, but for a long time they hadn’t.
“I don’t know how your sisters eat those rabbit burgers,” Brandi was saying as she leaned over the large deep freezer Jason had brought over in a truck. She wiped out the inside, her jean-covered ass high in the air as she kept complaining. “I love Jason, but I’m not eating frozen Thumper.”
Amber suspected Katie and Bea learned to eat them because they’d been struggling for a long time, and any food was good when it was scarce. It angered her, wondering what their mother had done with the money she’d sent every month to help them out. It obviously hadn’t gone to improving the house or helping to feed her sisters. That mystery would remain unsolved, since she couldn’t ask a dead woman. Her best guess though, as Katie said, was it probably had been wasted on booze.
“Well, they eat them.” Amber shrugged rather than explain.
“And now you have a place to store them. Glad Jason found this in the shed out back.” Brandi leaned farther into the freezer, so much so her feet barely touched the ground because she was so short. “And you’re doing me a favor taking the extra food, because all that frozen meat has been taking up too much room in our freezer. I think you’re doing the whole pack a favor. I know Jason’s not the only one with a meat-hording problem.”
Jason came out the backdoor, making it obvious he heard them talking. He walked up behind Brandi, grabbed her hips and leaned over to nip at her neck. “You love my meat.”
Brandi laughed and reached back, smacking his chest lightly.
Rather than be deterred, Jason just growled, low and animalistic, a sound no real human could make. He flashed dangerous canine teeth that had grown long. Then Amber saw him actually bite the curve of Brandi’s neck. Not violently, but hard enough that two small specks of blood appeared on Brandi’s pale skin. Jason licked at the tiny wounds, slowly, with a low grunt, as though her blood was the greatest thing in the world.
When Amber heard a growl behind her, she turned, seeing Desmon standing there watching them just as intensely as she was. He had stopped by this morning to help Jason, even though he was in alpha mode, complete with the designer suit and tie. His long dark hair was pulled back with a single black band, showing off his handsome face and strong jawline. He resembled a powerful businessman, but his light eyes were darker than usual, pupils dilated like those of a wolf, making him seem wild and almost feral.
“Jason.” Desmon’s voice was harsh, not quite human, and undeniably reprimanding.
Jason turned back to Desmon. His pupils were dilated the same way Desmon’s were. Amber blushed to realize Jason was blatantly hard, his cock straining against the line of jeans, and he didn’t seem self-conscious about it.
Jason looked confused, as if he wasn’t certain what he’d done wrong. Still, he cleared his throat and mumbled, “Sorry, Des.”
“They have no boundaries with it comes to sex.” Brandi translated for Amber as she straightened up. Her face was flushed, her long, curly hair chaotic as she shoved it over her shoulders. Then she turned to Jason. “Humans call that PDA, public displays of affection, and most consider it rude.” Brandi sighed and looked back to Amber. “Jason knows better, believe it not, but he forgets since we’re around wolves all the time and none of them care.”
“You’re my mate,” Jason stated, as if that should explain it all.
“We’ll handle the freezer.” Desmon’s voice was still low with unbending authority. “Thank you again.”
Amber knew the mate thing was a sensitive subject, but it was likely Jason and Brandi didn’t. On the outside, Amber and Desmon were on good terms.
She’d decided to spend the money she would’ve used for her mother’s funeral on the house her sisters refused to leave. Desmon had been there every day since the funeral, helping get the house ready for more elaborate repairs, and fixing the small things that didn’t require a contractor. Desmon was surprisingly handy, and she was too thrifty not to accept the free help. To others, their rekindled relationship looked cozy, almost domestic. They didn’t know Desmon hadn’t touched her since the night Merl’s blood put her in heat.
Amber was embarrassed when Jason and Brandi left quickly.
She wanted to snap at Desmon for being bossy, but she bit her tongue instead. He’d been so helpful, and she knew he had good reason to be grouchy. Truth was, she was growly too, because the sexual tension between them was slowly starting to drive her insane.
When he stepped closer to her, she realized something. This was the first time Desmon had been alone with her in nearly two weeks. There was always someone underfoot. Bea or Katie, or members of Desmon’s pack, like Jason and Brandi, who showed up to help with the house or drop off food.
This morning, Bea was in school. Katie was at work. Desmon had just stopped by to help Jason move the freezer, though Amber was certain Jason could’ve gotten it off the truck on his own. She’d been watching the werewolves work for a while now and they were far stronger than humans.
Desmon was supposed to go to the pack office afterwards and do whatever it was alpha wolves did all day, but he didn’t seem like he was interested in going anywhere. Instead, he stood there with his broad shoulders noticeably tense under the lines of his suit. His pupils were still dilated, making him look untamed and incredibly sexy in a way that Amber didn’t want to admit she found exciting.
The rush of longing was blinding as it washed over her, making her almost ache with the need to peel that expensive suit off him and touch Desmon, even if it was just one more time before it all went to hell.
Desmon’s nostrils flared, and he closed his eyes. He was completely still as he stood there, reminding her of an animal stalking prey. Something about his strong, powerful stance made her nervou
s. Even the expensive suit couldn’t hide what he really was—not today.
Needing a distraction, Amber turned around and took up Brandi’s abandoned chore of cleaning out the inside of the freezer. She knew she was being a coward, hiding in the task without saying anything or even acknowledging they were alone for the first time since that night.
For a long minute, Desmon let her work. The sound of his breathing echoed over the chirp of northern California birds. She tensed when she realized he was watching her, and she got the impression he couldn’t stop himself from staring.
Desmon was as powerless to this crazy attraction as Amber.
Then he stepped forward, crowding into her personal space. Desmon gripped either side of the freezer with his big, tanned hands, trapping her. She stared at the way his knuckles strained, making her worry the edges of the freezer may crumple under his werewolf strength.
“I don’t know if I told you this.” Desmon breathed the words against the curve of her neck. It caused a shiver of pleasure to rush over her, making her nipples tighten and her clit ache to the point that she squeezed her legs together. Desmon took another deep breath, and his voice was husky when he confessed, “Wolves can smell desire.”
Her cheeks heated for an entirely different reason, but the clash of embarrassment and yearning only made her hotter. It was obvious he knew it, because the growl that came from him was pure wolf, hard, animalistic and undeniably possessive. She wished she didn’t find it so compelling, making her feel wanted and feminine, desired, when she had been alone for years. Long before her divorce, her bed felt very empty. Truthfully, she’d been feeling cold inside since the day she’d left Desmon behind as a teenager.
He ran his fingers up her arm, lightly, making all the fine hairs stand on end as he whispered in her ear, “Want help with that problem, Angel?”
She tried to hide the moan of longing, but she knew he heard it. Desmon touched her hip, caressing it through the material of her blue day dress as he made his case. “Just you and me. No bloodlust, only our natural chemistry, the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. Don’t you want to taste it one more time?”