The Reluctant Mate: (Book 13, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas)

by E A Price

  He’d told her she hadn’t changed, but she had – she was lovelier than he remembered. Tall and curvy with long blonde hair and soft brown eyes. Although her curves seemed a little less defined – he needed to do something about that. Maybe she hadn’t been eating properly. He’d soon put some meat back on her bones. His wolf growled at the prospect of taking care of their mate. Although, easier said than done.

  His ability to woo and flirt with women was on par with his ability to fly and sneeze gumdrops – non-existent. He wasn’t a prude when it came to sex. He’d had sex, but he’d hardly call his encounters completely enjoyable. Maybe because the female lying under him couldn’t compare to a certain blonde she-wolf, and nor did they like it when he called another female’s name. They usually got pissed and accused him of being an unfeeling robot. Not that he cared. He was used to name calling and bullying. Weirdo. Freak. They were some of the tamer favorites. But he never cared what anyone thought. His wolf may have growled at their taunts, but Reid could give a crap. There was only one person who ever mattered to him. And Reid just had to make her see past the boy she once knew to the man he had become, and get her over her aversion to the idea of true mates. Hopefully, that was easier than it sounded.

  *

  Jolene tottered on her heels. Stupid boss making her late. Of course, he needed that file right that second.

  Ten minutes late wasn’t so bad. She just hoped that Reid stuck around. She worried he was kind of sensitive about things like that. Growing up, Beau had always been the star of the family – the football hero – and Reid had been forgotten more than once when their football-obsessed dad forgot to collect him from the library so he could practice with Beau.

  Not to mention when he was sixteen, and that vicious she-wolf bitch, Marley asked him out on a date and then turned up late with all her friends to laugh at the ‘weirdo'. Jolene was furious – mostly at herself because against the wishes of her wolf she had encouraged him to go on the date.

  Reid’s mom said it was just a she-wolf acting out, but Jolene had marched over to Marley’s house and yelled at her and her parents. Reid hadn’t seemed to care that much; he seemed to be doing it to make her happy, but she couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt in any way. She knew encouraging him to go on the date was a bad idea, but she’d done it anyway because Beau had been teasing him about him being unattractive to females – which was utterly ridiculous.

  Jolene almost cried with relief when she saw him at the back of the diner. She waved at him, and he stood up and gave her a shy wave in return. Her wolf yipped.

  She inhaled his cinnamon scent, and what was that? He’d taken a shower, and he’d changed and was wearing a black tie over his red plaid shirt, and some tight, tight jeans. She smiled. It was probably the closest he would ever get to dressing fancy again, and he looked ten times better wearing that than any other man would wearing a high-priced suit. Although she wondered whether he still had the tux from his brother’s wedding – it probably wouldn’t fit anymore.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” she puffed. She really needed to exercise more

  He grinned, but she could see the relief in his eyes. “It’s fine. I hope you don’t mind I ordered you a sweet iced tea.”

  “My favorite,” she said plopping onto her seat.

  “I remember,” he murmured.

  There were a few moments of silence while they watched each other. They both chuckled at the same time.

  “So when did you get back to town?” she asked trying to sound casual.

  “Last night.”

  “You already checked in with the Alpha?”

  Reid grunted in the affirmative. She didn’t imagine he enjoyed that very much. When Reid left, he barely said goodbye to anyone, and he certainly didn’t ask permission from the Alpha to leave the pack. It was perhaps fortunate that they had a new Alpha now, who was a little less strict than his predecessor, but that didn’t mean Adam was a total pushover. Probably best to move on from that subject.

  “Are you staying with your parents?”

  “Yeah, but I’m planning on getting my own place,” he added quickly.

  “Bet your mom’s pleased you’re back.”

  He grunted and looked at the menu.

  “And your dad, too.”

  His eyes flickered to hers for a few seconds before returning to the menu. She placed a hand on his and squeezed. “I’m sure he is glad. He missed you while you were gone. He might not say so, but he was so proud of you serving your country.”

  His chest heaved. “Thanks.”

  Kira, a fellow pack mate, bounded over with their drinks, her curls bouncing up and down. She was a wolf who was virtually always happy – Jolene could attest to that as she and her sister had lived with Jolene for a while when they first came to town. Jolene admired and envied her for her sunny outlook on life, even after everything she’d been through.

  “Hey, Joey! This for you?” She placed a glass of water in front of Reid and passed her the tea.

  “Thanks. Kira, this is Reid Jacobs, he’s just come back to the pack after six years away.” She tried not to sound too accusing about that fact. “Reid, this is Kira.”

  Kira beamed, and Reid gave her a polite, forced smile.

  “Hi! I’m mated to Gabe; he’s a sheriff’s deputy. I’ve been with the pack just over a year now. I’m a Virgo, and I like running in the snow and piña coladas.”

  “She’s also disgustingly sweet all the time,” added Jolene with a smile.

  “Says the nicest she-wolf in the pack,” countered Kira. She turned to Reid. “She took my sister and me in when we came to the town, took care of us without wanting anything in return.”

  “Please, I just wanted free labor to clean my house.”

  “She’s lying, she’s an angel, and I don’t do dusting – my mate will attest to that.”

  Reid’s smile perked up, and he murmured a hello to Kira.

  “Your usual?” asked Kira.

  “Yes, please. Reid, what are you having?”

  “Same,” he muttered.

  Kira took their menus. “Back in a jiffy, guys.”

  “You don’t even know what my usual is.”

  “I’m guessing either meatloaf or a cheeseburger. It’s what you always order.”

  Jolene rubbed her hand. “Jeez, I really am boring, aren’t I? I haven’t changed a bit in six years.”

  “It’s nice to know some things haven’t changed.” Reid fiddled with a fork. “I kind of feel out of place in the pack.”

  “You shouldn’t, it’s still the same pack. I’d be happy to introduce you around to all the new members.”

  “Oh my god, Reid? Is that you?” A far too happy and excited voice floated in their direction.

  Jolene turned to see Marley, the stunning and lissom young she-wolf bounding towards them. She bit back her wolf’s snarl. To say Marley was not her favourite wolf was an understatement. Mortal enemy might be closer. The female was downright vicious, vapid and in addition the embarrassing date, had made Reid’s life hell in high school. On top of that, she looked far too thrilled to see Reid again. Jolene was mightily relieved that Reid actually looked mildly irritated by the interruption.

  “Hi, ah… Marley?” He frowned uncertainly, and Jolene coughed into her napkin as Marley’s face tightened.

  “That’s right,” said, Marley, brightly, quickly covering her annoyance. “How long have you been back in town?”

  Marley leaned over their table, butting her hip against Jolene and giving Reid an eyeful of her plentiful cleavage. The young wolf was wearing a low cut top and mini skirt, in spite of the cooler weather. Jolene felt like a dowdy old maid in her modest knit dress. Her wolf actually sniffed and seemed unconcerned by Marley’s display. Maybe because Reid’s eyes never dipped lower than her face, and also because he seemed to be trying to ignore her and focus on Jolene.

  After a few more desultory questions from Marley, during which she completely ignored Jolene�
�s presence. And some grunted, monosyllabic responses from Reid, the young she-wolf left with a giggle, a wiggle of her hips and a promise to ‘see him around’.

  “Unbelievable!” snapped Jolene, slapping her palm down on the table. “How dare she?”

  Reid’s lips quirked in amusement. “She was kind of annoying, but…”

  “How can she behave that way after what she did to you?” Her wolf snarled and flexed her claws on his behalf.

  He shrugged and actually looked confused.

  Jolene gaped at him. “You can’t seriously have forgotten?” She sure hadn’t. She and her beast were still furious.

  He continued to look blank, and Jolene harrumphed. “The date? She asked you out on a date and then she showed up with her actual date and loads of her friends and took pictures of you and laughed at you. She posted the pictures all over her webpage and called you a loser.”

  Reid let out a maddening chuckle – like he didn’t care at all about the thing Jolene had been stewing over for years!

  “Oh, that. Yeah, she did that to loads of guys.”

  “You’re okay with that?”

  Reid scratched his beard. “I never liked her. I didn’t care what she did. Still don’t,” he added after a moment.

  “But don’t you remember how bad it was?”

  “I remember you came and picked me up and took me out to the drive in over at Darlington. We watched The Blob.” He smiled slightly. “We took a pizza with us, but we weren’t supposed to have outside food so we kept having to hide it and you hid a piece down your…” He gulped as his eyes did venture below her face. “Down your top.”

  For all his animation during his speech he shut up just as quickly, and Jolene felt a warm flutter at the memory.

  “Yeah, that was a fun night.”

  She looked around the diner, more so he couldn’t see how flushed her cheeks were. Course, what she saw didn’t help. A couple of other females were also throwing him longing looks, almost as worrying as Marley’s. Her wolf growled, but she needn’t have worried. All the females were all met with a stony, disinterested look from Reid.

  “So what’s your business going to be?” she asked, moving the conversation away from any other females. For some reason that was important.

  “Uh, Woodworking. I’m going to make… things.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I uh, for the past year I’ve been kind of training.”

  “Oh, I thought you were overseas,” she said with a slightly sinking feeling.

  “Discharged.”

  Jolene frowned. “So you’ve been back in the country for a whole year?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  She couldn’t help but feel a pang of unhappiness about that. When he was overseas, she could pretend that his letters got lost, or he couldn’t find a telephone or a computer. But a whole year? There was no reason he couldn’t have contacted her in all that time. Not that she should complain. Really, what was she to him? His brother’s ex-girlfriend. Yes, she kept thinking it over and over, but really, she was no one to him. Although, she had thought they were friends at least. She had thought they were close friends at one point.

  Jolene shook her head. It wasn’t important. They were still friends. And Reid was hardly the most communicative man on the planet. Getting information out of him was akin to pulling teeth out – painful.

  She smiled genuinely. She was happy he was back. She really was. She’d missed him. More than she’d ever realized before and she didn’t want to drive him away with her needy insecurities over the fact that he didn’t send her a freaking postcard. Instead, she focused on trying to be happy for him.

  “Please, tell me about it.”

  He looked at her doubtfully. “Really?”

  “Yes, I want to know everything, so spill.”

  He blushed, but he smiled, and he opened up to her like a flower.

  Chapter Three

  Reid grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. Harry, his dad, was slumped in front of the TV, snoring in his recliner. His mom, Norma, despite the late hour, was gossiping on the phone. He’d never known anyone talk more than his mom.

  Although Jolene could be chatty, she was chatty in a good way. She talked to make people feel good – to make him feel good. His wolf wagged his tail, happily. She could probably care two hoots about what kind of wood he liked to work with, but she asked because she knew he was interested. She had a way of making people feel better about themselves. Or maybe it was just him – she made him feel better and less awkward. She made him feel like he was actually an interesting person.

  Maybe she never had to do that with other men.

  He thought of Beau and his hand clenched around his bottle as his wolf snarled. No, Beau never needed anyone to make him feel good about himself, he was too busy making others feel lousy. He could care less about the torment Beau put him through, but how many times had Jolene cried over him flirting with other females, or forgetting her birthday, or his other selfish antics. Yet she always forgave and forgot. It infuriated the hell out of him.

  His mom waved at him and fiddled with one of her hair curlers. Uh oh. She wanted him. Reid was about to make his escape when she hung up. He uttered a silent ‘crud’ as she steered him to a chair and poured his beer into a glass. A freaking glass! She was also the kind of woman who insisted on eating hamburgers with a knife and fork.

  “I didn’t think you were coming in tonight, sweetie. I thought you were going to sleep all night in the garage.”

  Reid grunted. His dad also grunted in his sleep and then farted before turning over. His mom rolled her eyes. Prince Charming had nothing on his dad.

  Reid was using his parents’ garage as a work area until he could rent somewhere. It was an ideal space, but it meant that his day was littered with visits from his mom who wanted to see what he was doing. Sure, she brought snacks, but he kind of preferred the solitude.

  In spite of his protests, she bustled around the kitchen making him a small snack before bed – a huge, quadruple decker sandwich with three kinds of meat. “Did you have a good day?”

  He grunted again, and she sighed. “Did you see anyone when you went into town?”

  “Saw Jolene,” he blurted without thinking. Or maybe because he and his wolf were only thinking about her.

  He’d sensed she was hurt that he never got in touch while he was away, but given he was trying to forget about her, he didn’t think long phone calls where he had to listen to her agonizingly sweet , dick-hardening voice were the way to go. Course, apparently absence only made the heart grow fonder. Not to mention the state of his dick. He couldn’t forget the feel of her body against his. Absently, he rubbed a hand over his bicep where she’d squeezed his arm when they said goodbye earlier.

  “Poor girl.”

  He looked up sharply. His mom was always disappointed Beau never married her. Reid kept his happiness over that fact to himself.

  “She barely even leaves her house anymore except to go to work,” prattled his mom. “Ever since her husband left she’s been so closed off and quiet.”

  Reid frowned. That wasn’t the way he would have described her earlier. She seemed as vivacious as ever.

  “The male she married was awful.” Norma clucked her tongue. “It was just a rebound marriage, and she never loved him.”

  “Good,” he breathed.

  “Hmm?” She placed the towering sandwich in front of him. “Did you say something, sweetie?”

  “Good night, mom.” He grabbed his food, beer and pecked his mom on the cheek.

  Norma beamed at him. “Good night, dear.”

  Reid climbed the stairs to his bedroom, mulling over what his mother said. His bedroom was the same as it was six years ago. The same as the night of the engagement party.

  That night… that was the night he knew he needed to get away from her, that his obsession was too much to handle. Needed to try and forget. What he did… no, it didn’t matter now.

  His ey
es roved over the pictures on the wall. Pictures mostly taken by Beau, featuring Jolene smiling as her blonde hair whipped around her face. Jolene as she licked an ice-cream. Jolene as she dozed on their couch.

  Jolene closed off and quiet? Yes, he’d seen that before – when Beau broke her heart. But he hadn’t seen that in her during their lunch. Did he dare to hope that she was happier for seeing him?

  As a wolf given to introversion and pessimism, it wasn’t easy, but yes, he felt a flicker of hope for their future

  *

  Jolene moaned as his breath blew over her nether lips. Her fingers tangled in his silken locks as he suckled on her clit, teasing the sensitive pearl between his teeth and soothing it with his tongue. Her hips undulated against him as his fingers squeezed the flesh of her thighs.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  Her lover looked up, a half-smile dancing on his lips as his eyes burned into hers.

  “Reid,” she whispered as lightening flashed through her body.

  Jolene sat bolt upright in bed; her nightshirt was soaked in sweat, and her wolf was howling. She pressed the heel of her hand against her hammering heart.

  What the heck was that? A sex dream?! She hadn’t had a sex dream since… ever. And Reid…

  Jolene chewed her lip as she tried to free herself from the tangled bedsheets.

  She caught sight of the clock. Crap, crap, crap. She was now late for work.

  Chapter Four

  Jolene ran into the office, half an hour late. She’d slept in. Slept in!

  The last three months she’d barely been able to sleep at all, but last night she’d been dead to the world the moment she hit the pillow. And damn, she’d been too engrossed in her naughty dreams to wake – only doing so when she found release. She couldn’t believe she was so turned on that she actually orgasmed in her sleep. It was so… so… unlike her. She could count her sexual partners on one hand, and nothing she’d experienced with them had ever been so explosive as her own freaking imagination.

  And Reid… Her wolf wagged her tail. She hushed the beast. She was almost thirty for heaven’s sake. She was too old to turn into a lovesick puppy. But, Reid? She’d never… well, apart from that one dream… but that wasn’t…