“Bartender.”
“You went over his place already?”
“For obvious signs of struggle or intrusion—and then for anything that screamed ‘kill me.’ Nothing did. Even his emails in and out didn’t point us in any direction. He didn’t seem to favor anyone in or out of the pack, and I wouldn’t have guessed he’d been here long enough to have anyone go homicidal, but maybe I don’t know these Lycans as well as I thought.”
“Well, if it’s a Lycan masquerading as a human, maybe it’s time we found out if anyone outside the pack hated him…and then we go sniff them and see if they bite.”
…
“I feel like an old dog,” Jordan said, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the bar that Colby had worked at. Even early in the afternoon, this place smelled like stale beer and disappointment. He couldn’t imagine being here when it was filled with people hoping to meet other people to divert their attention for a few minutes. At least the loud jukebox was good at masking their quiet conversation as they surveyed the sparse crowd.
“Well, don’t look at me to teach you new tricks—I’ll leave that to the missus—but Colby said he had to wear earplugs, and it was still ruining his hearing,” Travis said as he glanced around the bar that was dimly lit for humans, but was almost a comfortable light level for them.
“No one is paying undue attention to us, and I don’t smell a Lycan in here, but it’d be easy to hide that scent with all the rest of this. Alcohol is perfect for that. Watch the south end.” He cleared his throat and said, “Colby,” at a slightly higher volume. Still too quiet to break the ambient noise for humans, but any Lycans might give away their better-than-average hearing.
“Nothing,” Travis said, watching one half of the room.
“Nothing,” he agreed. No one in the north end had so much as skipped a beat. If there were Lycans in here, they were either wearing earplugs or consummate actors.
“Time to ask about a missing person.”
Jordan pulled out his phone. They’d found a snapshot of Colby and sent it to both of their phones. It was telling that no one had reported him missing yet.
“Okay, you take the staff and I’ll take the…” Jordan’s phone dinged with an incoming text from Christa. Hopefully nothing was… He blinked dumbly before jerking the phone closer to his chest as Travis angled to see.
“Something wrong?” Travis asked, confused.
Jordan swallowed thickly. No, he’d say not. Other than he was here instead of with Christa, who’d apparently found a red cloak and a patch of the forest—hopefully without any passing Lycans—with good cell reception.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Jordan said. “If we don’t figure out anything that makes me think the pack is in danger, I’m heading home for a few days at least.” Or a week. Christa would be fertile next week, and even if they used protection, it’d be a shame to miss Little Red Riding Hood when she was in the mood for the Big Bad Wolf to come knocking. It was hard to prevent a predatory grin at this…and clearly he failed, because Travis laughed.
“Oh, so it was that sort of news.” He shook his head. “You’re even sweating…that must have been some picture you snatched out of view.”
Jordan nodded at the bartender. “You go ahead. I’m going to make a call before I start asking about Colby.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “You look like less of an old dog at least. Go talk to the wife—tell her we’re glad to have you even at half your game.”
He nodded at the door. “Five minutes.”
Travis dropped his eyes to half mast and slipped seamlessly into his slow-to-the-starting-line facade. “Yup.”
…
She was about to get back on the road and drive the rest of the way home when he called. “I thought maybe you weren’t going to call.”
He laughed—it was deep and throaty, and sent shivers along her skin. Mm-hmm, definitely the Big Bad Wolf. “With that kind of invitation? If I wasn’t Travis’s ride, I’d be halfway home.”
“Only halfway?”
“It’s a two-hour drive if I go ninety…which I would be.”
She grinned. “Do you like my new coat? Dane got it for me as a joke.”
“Well, that certainly didn’t go the way he planned. I guess I don’t need to ask what you’re wearing this time.”
Actually, she’d put everything back on and only stripped down to her underwear in the first place. It was a shame his house didn’t have cell reception. Still, hopefully that poor man from the grocery store, Ethan, wasn’t strolling by on four legs during the time she’d been taking a quick picture, or he was somewhere poking his eyes out right now. “Nope. I was thinking it’d save on laundry if I just wore my coat around until you got back.”
“Woman, you play dirty pool.”
“Oh, you heard that about me, huh? And here I was hoping to take you on that pool table in your house.”
“Maybe I’ll take you on that pool table instead.”
Her body flushed with heat, and her heart beat faster at that visual.
“Mmm, Christa, you make it hard for a guy to concentrate.” He lowered his voice. “I can hear you breathing faster—and you probably smell good enough to eat.”
That definitely didn’t slow down her heart rate.
“What time do you usually go to bed?” he asked.
“Why?” Was he coming home? Her heart started pounding. He was coming home? She’d been hoping for that ever since he left, but suddenly it almost caused a panic. It was easier to tease him with pictures and talk knowing he wouldn’t rush in with expectations—expectations she might not meet. On the other hand, he’d be home, and this would stop feeling like a fairy tale without a prince…or a villain. Wolves generally weren’t heroes, but then again, Jordan would be bad in a good, good way.
“I wanted to know when I can call and tell you a bedtime story.”
She grinned. In her entire twenty-four years, no one had ever talked dirty to her. That might be worth another night alone just to have that experience. “Ten probably.”
“I’ll call then. You’ll be all dressed and ready for bed?”
She laughed. “Lights off and the fire on. I might even kick Lucifer out of the bedroom for a bit.” It sounded like she might have her own devil on the phone.
“Okay, I should get back on the hunt.”
“Is it going well?”
There was a moment of silence before he said, “It’s strange to have someone ask that and feel like I should answer.”
“You don’t have to.” It seemed a simple enough question, but it’d been prying teeth to get him to answer her questions before.
“No, I will. I’m just not used to…answering to anyone, I guess. I should call your brother, too.”
“About the coat?” Her eyes went wide. He was really going to taunt Dane already? She’d planned on taunting Dane eventually, but that was later on—when he’d gotten used to the idea of her and Jordan together.
She could hear the smile in Jordan’s voice as he said, “No, about the Glacier pack—and to reassure him it’s not what we thought down here. It’s been…frustrating. We’re out looking for someone who might have hated the victim. I guess I can tell you that—that much is obvious.” She almost got pissed, before he added, “I’m not really in a private location, and I don’t know who is listening on your end, outside of you. Hopefully no one with how you’re dressed…or undressed.”
She looked around. Hopefully no one. “It’s a little hard to find privacy when you’re surrounded by people with really good hearing.”
“And a good sense of smell, can see in the dark, and can move around almost silently.”
She frowned. “You know if that’s the sort of bedtime story you’re planning on telling I’ll be sleeping with the light on.” She was tempted to do that anyway since she’d discovered those prints, but it’d just backlight the curtains so they’d see her even better.
“No, your bedtime story will leave you shivering in a
good way.”
“Speaking of things that go bump in the night…”
He laughed.
And she fought a smile. Everything sounded dirty in a conversation like this. “Have you added me on your security system’s ‘people not robbing me blind’ list?”
His tone shifted immediately. “No. Why? What happened?”
See! She’d known this was how he’d react.
“My brother mentioned it since I’m here alone at night.”
“I thought he was having the pack watch over you.”
Oh, great. Now Dane would be in trouble, too. “He is, but if I accidentally set off the alarm, I might not make it to the panel to shut it off.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense.” She heard him take a deep breath. “I’ll call them and authorize you. I should really authorize you on all my accounts.”
The unreality of the moment took her breath away. She was with Jordan. Officially. In the pack. In the world. For forever. She’d been alone just days ago, and now she was Mrs. Hill…eventually…when the words didn’t make her want to scream in terror. She hadn’t even told her parents. That would make it real. If being with a werewolf Alpha would ever feel real…
She swallowed and tried to fake casual. “No way, I’m not getting suckered into paying your gas bill, buddy. I’ve been running the fireplaces nonstop.”
“Okay, well, not that one then. I’ll call you tonight.”
There was a second where she considered saying, “I love you,” but it was too soon and too…insane. She would have tripped on the words if she’d tried. “Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”
As soon as she hung up, the air felt colder, the forest around her more shadowed, and everything seemed a bit more empty. She locked the doors. Yeah, she was a real brave Red Riding Hood. In fact, if she had some cookies in a basket, she’d be eating them to calm her nerves. Granny would get no cookies from her.
“Back to the Big Bad Wolf’s den,” she whispered as she started the car. At least there’d be cookies there, even if there wasn’t a wolf.
…
Two hours later, they walked out of the bar feeling like they had less information than when they’d walked in. If Colby weren’t dead, he’d be out of a job. His employer had said to tell Colby when they found “his sorry ass” that he was fired for missing work.
Travis switched back to being an Alpha as soon as they walked out. His face looked older even as he scowled while shaking his head. “After this is over, we’ll have a funeral for him—a real funeral—and I’m having a chat with my pack about how lone wolves end up.”
“I hope when I’m dead a few people care,” Jordan said. Colby didn’t have a significant other. He hadn’t really been accepted into the pack. He’d worked a job with a high turnover rate. The only ones who cared he was dead, him and Travis, were more concerned about finding his murderer. If Jordan disappeared for more than a day, a dozen individuals would be out looking. If he died, he liked to think it would cause a deep ripple, but he wanted to be in his own house with his own mate to reassure himself of that.
Travis snorted in disgust. “Colby makes a real case for monogamy. I know he hooked up with Kelly at one point, but she was so torn up when she heard he was dead she went to the nail salon straight from the meeting. I wouldn’t have even known about them if I hadn’t caught them at it in the lodge closet.”
They both slid into the SUV, and then just sat there.
“Sometimes, I’ve seen them jumping from bed to bed and thought it’d be simpler to not be Alpha in that regard. I can’t take up with one of the pack and then dump her when I get bored or someone else interests me. Now I think that’s a pathetic way to live—not forming attachments.”
“You still want Alanna?”
He shrugged. “We’d be good together. Not everyone scent-matches. And she hasn’t been mating with any of the others. She seems to enjoy the chase more than being caught.”
Out of all of the females, Alanna was the most likely candidate for Travis.
“Besides, I went through one cycle of the pack being in heat without choosing anyone, and you know the pressure from the pack and then this…drive. I didn’t feel it before I was Alpha. I find myself thinking crazy things, like the pack won’t survive if I don’t start making like rabbits—as if me having sex is the only thing holding an apocalyptic wipeout of our species at bay.”
Even though he knew exactly what Travis was referring to, and had been feeling it since he became Alpha, he still said, “Maybe it is. Do it for your species, Travis.”
Travis snorted a laugh. “Think that line will work on Alanna?”
“Hell, it might have worked on half the females in there,” Jordan said, nodding at the bar. “It’s going to take three or four showers to get rid of that smell—that smell of…hopeful desperation, and the owner called it a slow day.” He’d need to shower it off before he attempted to catch that trail again. He’d also need to run through the scents again.
“I’d call you prissy except I’m thinking of at least four showers. It wasn’t that smell, though. The smell of arousal doesn’t seem to bother me as much as you. It was all those depressed loners at the bar—the ones staring down at their drinks and flirting with another few shots instead of flirting with the bar staff. Two of them looked like they’d maybe even slept on those stools, passed out across the bar.” He drummed his fingers on the door frame while shaking his head. “I’ve been in there before to break up fights, and it’s never stuck with me like this.” He glanced over at Jordan. “And those fixtures at the bar were the only men who remembered Colby. All the rest who’d remembered him were women. I’m definitely going to use this as a wake-up call for my pack to stop wasting their time.”
Jordan nodded and turned to stare out the window. He was going home tomorrow. One more night to get through as a lone wolf himself. It struck him, though, as he was talking with so many females about Colby, that if Christa hadn’t come along, he’d been intending on dying alone, too. And if he had died alone, it might have been better than the sham relationships he’d had before her.
Now he couldn’t figure out how he’d had sex with females over and over without managing more of an emotional attachment than he had to his Bronco. They’d been possessions and a means to an end. That two of the alpha females had left him for other packs to find their real mate hadn’t bothered him because he’d thought it was “a female thing” to believe in that—to believe that there was “the one.” The second of the alpha females he’d had—whose image he could scarcely bring to mind—had told him her biological clock was ticking, and she wanted to have offspring with “the one.” Maybe he’d lacked a soul before, because he hadn’t wanted that for himself.
And two weeks had changed everything.
“Back to the trail before it’s cold…and wet?” Travis looked up at the sky. “Definitely by midnight.”
Nodding, Jordan turned the key. Damn. He’d have to take a rain check on Christa’s bedtime story—literally. They had to beat the rain’s washing away the trail.
When they arrived at Travis’s home, he motioned Travis to go on in as he pulled out his phone. “I’ll be in soon.”
Travis smirked, but went in.
Jordan sighed in relief when the phone rang instead of going to a busy signal, but it was fresh on his mind so he asked, “Who are you calling during the day?” just as Christa blurted, “What? What’s happened? Is someone dead?”
“What?” they both asked, and then simultaneously said, “Go ahead.”
He smiled, but she growled in frustration.
“What?” he asked again, sitting upright—the smile dropping from his face.
“You weren’t going to call me until later. Has something happened?”
“No, we’re about to go out on the hunt after we both eat and shower, and I won’t be home at ten.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.
“You wanted to talk later rather than now.”
“Well, I’ve made it to twenty-four without someone talking dirty to me, and I thought that was about to change.”
The smile was back on his face, and he was glad Travis had gone in because his grin was probably downright lecherous. “That sounds like something I can remedy.” He’d be happy to do it, in fact.
“I can go crawl into bed early.”
“No, let me shower first. I just spent two hours in a singles bar talking to other women after being around a bunch of horny Lycans.”
She was silent.
“Christa?”
“I guess mates is more of a generic label, then.” Her next breath sounded shivery.
His heart stopped as he replayed his comment. “No, I mean, Travis and I were interviewing people looking for a motive for them killing Colby…and collecting scents from his pack.”
“Oh. I thought maybe monogamy was optional.” She took a deep breath. “Someone called me Ms. Hill today, and members of your pack kept avoiding eye contact because I’m already Alpha, and we’re married—I guess?”
“Our pack, but yes,” he said slowly.
“When I tried to talk about it with my brother, Dane told me not to talk about it because he wasn’t sure who was listening, and I’d be implying you suck as an Alpha to anyone who was if I didn’t act like an Alpha and like your…wife.”
It hit him like a punch in the stomach. He’d expected her to balk at some point, but he’d anticipated being there to explain…and okay, distract her.
“Jordan?”
“Do you want to leave?” It stung to ask that—in a reasonable tone—and not let her know the cost.
She gasped. “What? My hell—are all the men in my life morons? Of course I don’t want…” She broke off. “Wait, I mean…would it be better for you as Alpha if I left? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No! Christa, you’re telling me that you’re disturbed that my pack thinks of us as married and you don’t want the responsibility of being alpha female—I’m suggesting a solution.”
Her growl rivaled his own in Lycan form. “Jordan, you weren’t listening to me, either. I don’t know what I’m doing without you here. I’m in Wonderland without my white rabbit. Plus, I feel like I’m pretending at all this without you here. I had to threaten you with assault and battery to get you to keep me, and now everyone is acting like you…you…jumped at the chance—like it was the other way around. I feel like a total fraud.” And she burst into tears. If he didn’t have exceptional hearing and a strong motivation to decipher her words, he’d have never caught, “And I told Dane I’m not an alpha female but he said I am because you chose me but you never chose me…I chose you…and I realized that later…” And then it all dissolved to sobbing.
This Weakness For You (Entangled Select Otherworld) (Taming the Pack) Page 15