“Auntie you know I wouldn’t let you guys go through this alone. Moving is a big deal.”
“It is, and I’m getting too old for it but the five guys moving truck helped an enormous amount. Did you know they even pack your stuff? I’ve never seen guys be so gentle and pack boxes like that.”
Jordan laughed, it was all about the little things, apparently.
“I’ve never had to use a service like that but it’s nice to know they took care of you. Anything you need me to do?”
“Oh yes please, there are some boxes in the corner over there that need to be moved to the kitchen. I labeled them wrong I think.”
“No problem, where is Uncle Mike. I thought he’d at least be here to help you move stuff around.”
“Heaven’s no, he hates this type of work, always has. Now that I think of it, he never helped me with a single move. At this point he’d be more of a hindrance than a help. Besides, he’s trying to get his classroom set up at the high school in town. He starts teaching tomorrow.”
“I’m glad he found something so quick.”
“Me too. I’d rather not have him in my hair while I’m trying to get this house in order. I think it was sheer luck we found this home empty. I really love it.”
“It’s a lot different, don’t you miss that other one, you lived there for so long?”
“It was time for a change, we both knew that. I grew up in that house with your mom and while there were a lot of memories there, the ones I cherish most are inside my heart. And then there’s you. Your parents would be so happy you’re here.”
“I’m not staying auntie. You know this life isn’t for me. I promise I’ll stick around a while and help you get settled but then I’m off.”
“You know it wouldn’t hurt you to put down some roots, find a mate.”
“I do not want a mate. As far as roots, it’s you and Uncle Mike. Any time I feel the need I’ll come back to visit.”
“Good lord child, you sound more like your mother ever day. She was such a free spirit but her life and her way of thinking changed drastically when she met her father. She fought it for a minute but the love and pull of her mate was too much. She finally gave in and it was the best decision she ever made. She told me that once. Then they had you and their life was complete.”
“That’s it? Marriage, then kid and life complete? Sounds bogus to me.”
“That’s really it. At least it was for your mom. She was always maternal when we were growing up and even more so when our parents died. She took care of me, but I think that’s what made her the free spirit she was. She was tired of being tied down by her baby sister so when she had the chance, she ran far and fast. But fate had other plans for her and she loved your father with her entire being. I couldn’t imagine there was room in her life for another human being but as she always did, when she had you she surprised me by making you and your dad her number one priority. She thrived in that roll.”
“Well that’s not for me.”
“Won’t you at least stay around a while and consider joining the pack?”
“No. I’m not interested.”
“It’s really not as bad as it sounds, I promise. They don’t really try to run your life, it’s just like belonging to a club, with benefits.”
“Auntie, I’ve heard it all before. I don’t like the idea of it. I am an adult now and don’t have to check in with anyone, except you and Uncle Mike of course but I want to live by my own rules, not have to answer to a group of wolves that think they know what’s best for me.”
She really wished her aunt would stop trying to convince her. That life just wasn’t what she wanted for herself. That life is what killed her parents, and she knew for a fact. Her aunt and uncle never had kids of their own but took her in without even batting an eye and she owed them more than she’d ever be able to repay but joining a wolf pack wasn’t part of the deal.
Her aunt agreed to not bring up the pack again so Jordan said she’d stay a few weeks like planned and asked what she could unpack first. Within the hour, all of the kitchen boxes had been unpacked and the boxes thrown out the back door to be burned in the bonfire later.
“I hope it’s okay I stacked everything on the counter.”
“That’s perfect. I have my trusty step stool so I’ll start loading the cabinets from the top down.”
A knock sounded at the door and Jordan looked at her aunt.
“Would you be a dear and go answer that for me. It’s murder on my knees to keep going up and down these steps.”
“Sure thing.”
But the closer to the front foyer she got the more her senses warned her of impending danger. Jordan stopped short of the door and jerked slightly when a second knock sounded against the wood. It was a stranger on the other side but that wasn’t what bothered her. She already didn’t know any one in the area, but the alarming thing was the fact it was a wolf standing on her aunt and uncle’s front porch. It wasn’t because she could see out there, but she could sense and small him. As she backed away from the area, moving toward the kitchen again, the wolf knocked again.
“Jordan why aren’t you answering the door?”
Her aunt appeared behind her like a stealth ninja.
“Jesus auntie warn a person will ya.”
Her aunt Meg moved around her and grabbed the door handle.
“No, wait, don’t open the door.”
Her aunt didn’t listen and turned the deadbolt, swinging the door open enough to see who was there.
“Oh hi. Thanks so much for stopping by.”
The man inquired as to whether it was a good time to visit.
“Of course, come on in.”
She moved aside to let the man inside and shut the door behind him.
“Aunt Meg, who is this man?”
Chapter Two
As Porter walked into Meg and Mike Cross’s home, he wondered who the gorgeous woman was running her mouth. From the conversation, even as she tried to whisper, she could make out that it was Meg’s niece and she was not a fan of him being in their house.
“I’m sorry Meg, if this is an inconvenient time, I can come back later.”
“No don’t even think about it. My niece is just over-protective. Can I get you something to drink?”
“That would be nice, thank you.”
Meg disappeared into the kitchen but her niece never moved an inch.
“Hi, my name is Porter, are you relation to Meg and Mike?”
He held out a hand to shake hers but she didn’t respond. If anything, she was more on guard. He could see her jaw moving as she ground her back teeth.
“How do you know them?”
“Well…”
“Jordan Cross, you mind your manners. I have invited this man into our home and you will not be rude to him.”
She handed over a glass of lemonade and invited him to have a seat in the living room.
“Thank you.”
He followed her and sat only after she was seated in her arm chair.
“I’m sorry my brother wasn’t able to make it; his wife is pregnant and he was anxious to get home to her.”
“Oh, how wonderful for them but that’s no problem. I can meet him at the meeting.”
“Will your husband be able to attend with you?”
“What meeting are you talking about?”
“I’m so sorry Mr. Rivers. This is my niece Jordan. She’s visiting for a few weeks to help us with the settling in. I apologize for her terrible manners. She isn’t really a people person.”
“It’s no problem. Jordan it’s nice to meet you. The meeting I was referring to is an introductory pack meeting for the Windsor Woods pack. I’m the alpha and will be running the meeting.”
Instead of answering him, the woman, beautiful as she was, turned to her aunt.
“Are you and Uncle Mike really serious about joining this pack he’s talking about? Do you even really know this man?”
“Hello, I’m sitting right
here.”
She turned to look right at him then back to her aunt and continued talking like he wasn’t there.
“I’m only thinking of your safety auntie, and do you really know him or the pack that he represents?”
“What do you have against me?”
This time she turned her entire body toward him, and quite a body it was.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re excused. But seriously, what do you have against me? You already know I’m a wolf but then so are you so why is any of this a big deal?”
“It’s a big deal to me Mr. know-it-all, because I don’t want you to take advantage of my aunt and uncle.”
“You do know they contacted me, right? I didn’t seek them out.”
She stared back at him, not commenting further. Then she turned to her aunt with a questioning stare.
“Sweetheart, you never gave me an opportunity to tell you any of this. I mentioned the pack once before and you refused to hear it like you do any other time its mentioned. I understand you have contempt towards a pack but we don’t and it’s what your uncle and I want to do. We would love for you to join us but we obviously cannot force you and therefore respect your decision as an adult. Please try to understand and accept the decision we have made for ourselves.”
There her jaw went again, twitching as she ground her back teeth. He almost felt bad for her situation because he really did understand what she was saying but as Meg stated, it wasn’t her decision. Truthfully, it was an argument he should stay out of. They were family and he had no business getting in the middle, no matter that it was about his pack.
He would like to know what it is that she had against packs though. As a wolf, wasn’t it something that she should have grown up with? He’d heard of some that were orphaned and never knew their heritage but that didn’t make much sense for her. He knew that Meg and Michael had once belonged to their own pack where they came from, but he didn’t know they had any other family so when he’d talked to her on the phone, he hadn’t thought to ask those specifics.
He stood and approached Meg who still sat in her chair.
“No, please don’t get up Meg, it’s okay. I’m going to head out, I’m expected at the bar. My brother and I need to work out some details for the meeting. Just give me a call if you need anything at all from me, otherwise I will see you and Mike in a couple days.”
He turned next to her, stared a few seconds too long, not able to take his eyes from her beautiful green ones. She was beautiful, fiercely loyal and protective, and positively irritating. Porter couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit put off by her lack of respect for his pack. A face he was willing to overlook for now as she was new to the area and apparently lacking in her common sensibilities at the moment. He wouldn’t tell her goodbye however, because he had every intention of seeing her again at a later time to enlighten her on just how the wolf world really worked.
He nodded once and left without a word.
“Young lady you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Aunt Meg rose from her chair but made sure to give her very strong opinion before walking away.
“What did I do wrong?”
“What did you do? Is that actually a question you are asking me right now? You just blatantly offended the alpha of the pack that we specifically moved her to join. I invited that man in to my home. Why, I never expected such rude behavior to come from your mouth. You are lucky that your Uncle Mike was not here to witness that display.”
Jordan was thoroughly confused. Was her auntie really that oblivious? She couldn’t know that wolf from Adam and was hanging on his every word. Good thing Aunt Meg wasn’t forty years younger, Jordan was afraid auntie might have jumped his bones, no matter how cute he actually was. Not that she was admitting that.
It was the last thing she wanted to do but maybe she should stick around for a little while longer just to make sure that her aunt and uncle weren’t heading into the proverbial wolf’s den.
Now that she’d thoroughly pissed off her aunt, it would be too awkward to help in the kitchen so she was going to take the opportunity to do some sight seeing around town. It wouldn’t hurt to get a little more familiar with her surroundings and if she happened to learn more about Mr. Porter Rivers, well so be it.
From that last conversation, she learned he might own a bar, and that particular setting she was not a stranger to. Unfortunately, after the events at her aunt’s house, she would stick out like a sore thumb and in the middle of the afternoon, there was no sneaking in to an empty bar. Maybe she could grovel and beg for forgiveness and then ask for a job. She might as well work while she’s around.
“Yeah, no, that’s not happening.”
At least the groveling and begging for forgiveness, it just wasn’t her style. But asking for a job was right up her alley. She did know how to bartend with the best of ‘em. It also couldn’t hurt to have a little extra cash for traveling when she finally did head out again. Maybe she should find out first what kind of bar it was, but she doubted it was like a coyote ugly thing where the girls dance on the bar. Even though it might be fun, it probably wasn’t a promising idea. Jordan and dancing didn’t really mix well.
After driving down and back on the main strip, she determined that there was only one bar so that had to be it. With her car parked out front for an easy getaway if necessary, she locked it up and headed inside. There was already a man behind the bar but it wasn’t Porter, just as handsome though.
“Howdy, what can I get ya?”
“You serve this early in the day?”
“Yep, as long as it’s after eleven. Kind of one of those, it’s 5’oclock somewhere.”
“Do you serve food?”
“We do, menu is on the chalk board on the wall right there.”
He pointed back over his right shoulder.
“I’ll give you a couple minutes to look that over while I go grab another order.”
He was nice. Sounded just like Porter which meant it was probably his brother. She could tell right away though, that they didn’t exactly have the same mannerisms. Apparently, Porter played the alpha position well. She could only take a guess that this brother was the beta. No less striking but definitely friendlier.
After looking over the list of options, her stomach growled so she decided to get food.
“Hey there, did you decide on anything?”
“Actually, I did. I would like to try some deep-fried pickles and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.”
“Oh, you won’t be sorry with that choice. They stack the ham high on that sandwich and the cheese just runs off of it. Anything else?”
“Maybe just a coke and one more question, do you happen to be hiring at all?”
“Well, today might just be your lucky day. I had my bartender quit this morning first thing. Do you know anything about working behind the bar?”
“I actually do. I don’t have a resume on me but if you have a piece of paper, I can write down my employment history for you.”
“That’ll work. Are you from around the area at all?”
“Not really. My aunt and uncle just moved here this week and I’m going to stick around awhile to keep an eye on them, but I could use an income. They can’t really afford to take care of another grown adult.”
“I understand that. It’s nice that you want to stay and help them out though. I tell you what, this isn’t my usual hiring practice but go ahead and get me that work history. If you have any references that’d be great too, but you seem to be a straight forward person so I’ll hire you. I need the help for today’s shift.”
“Really? That’s great, thank you.”
“No, thank you. The guys around here would much rather see you behind the bar than me and with a pregnant wife at home, my availability comes and goes. Take your time but when you’re done eating, holler and we’ll go over pricing and stuff.”
Oh my God, I did not expect it to be that easy.
Chapter Three
Porter sat in his car in front of the bar he and his brother owned. He should go in but his body was just tired. He hadn't even been for a run in…he couldn't even remember when. They’d both spent the last few days working their asses off putting new life into the place to impress all the new pack members and walking in there now would deflate him because the place was probably a mess. The crowd looked more lively than usual which was a positive change but at the same time disheartening for him because there would be that much more to clean up after closing tonight. He hadn’t heard of any problems from his brother, which wasn’t really a surprise. Paxson did a fantastic job of running the place.
Against his better judgment, he urged himself to get out of his car and face the music, which was really loud. He pushed the front door open to what appeared to be a standing room only. That never happened. As he made his way through the crowd to the bar, he noticed a familiar face but it should be behind the counter.
He wasted no time in approaching her.
“Excuse me, what are you doing back there?”
She ignored him and continued filling orders as customers shouted them at her.
“I’m talking to you and I want to know what you’re doing behind the bar.”
He’d made it a statement, not a question, which demanded she answer.
“I’m working, in case you couldn’t tell. Now if you’ll excuse me, we’re really busy and I need to get back to it.”
“No, you don’t, you can come out from behind there, I’ll take over.”
“You take that up with your brother, he hired me.”
Damn it Paxson.
He walked away, controlling his temper because the patrons were starting to stare. The hunt was on for his brother. Porter wanted an explanation and then he wanted to get rid of that woman.
“Hey Porter, can you believe how busy we are tonight?”
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