by E A Price
Harry looked up from the TV. “He’s out, said he wanted a run.”
Jolene tried to hide his surprise about Harry actually looking away from the TV. Or knowing where any member of his family was. He was notorious for not paying any attention. It was how Reid had once made it all the way to Florida when he was seventeen and decided he wanted to go to a rock concert his mother had strictly forbidden him from attending.
“Oh, thanks. Did he say when he might be coming back?”
“No, used to disappear for hours when he was a kid.”
“I remember,” she said softly.
“Always been a good boy. Odd, but a good boy. Been through a lot.”
“I know.” Her eyes prickled even now as she remembered what Reid had told her.
Harry’s eyes widened slightly before he nodded. “Remember that. He’s not the easiest boy to get along with.” He gave her a significant look before returning his attention to the TV, summarily dismissing her.
Jolene left, dragging her feet. Harry’s words flitted through her head while she considered what Beau had said. It made her even angrier about true mates. The mere idea made stupid shifters think having a true mate was something wonderful, but it all led to nothing. If Beau hadn’t been hoodwinked into thinking he had a true mate, he’d never left her.
Her wolf whimpered. Would they still be together? No, surely… she didn’t like the directions of those thoughts.
For so long she’d lamented her lost life with Beau, which had only been worse when she married Mark and that turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions. But after the past few days with Reid, she couldn’t ever wish to go back in time and change things with Beau. She was angry on Beau’s behalf, and maybe a little sore that her pride was hurt. Knowing Beau had to dump her for his true mate was one thing. But knowing that he preferred Tawny within a few minutes of meeting her compared to all the years that he’d been with her – that smarted just a little.
Although, could she deny a little selfish pleasure in knowing the relationship hadn’t worked? Maybe just a touch. She felt bad, really she did, but it was there. Then she remembered their kids and felt really guilty. She was a bad wolf. She hoped they got back together. It’s not like she wanted Beau – no, that ship had sailed.
But where the hell was Reid? He’d just disappeared the moment Beau returned. Was he worried about his older brother knowing about them? Was he embarrassed by her?
He could, at least, have said goodbye – but, no, he just ran away. Was that it then? A couple of days of fun and now he was out. She knew they hadn’t labeled their relationship but still. Maybe he’d done this with other women. Her wolf growled at that thought.
She sighed as she walked home. Good thing she stocked up on ice cream. An ice cream orgy might be just the thing to improve her mood and make her forget her troubles.
*
Reid watched Jolene with the same stalkerish attention he’d given her throughout his teenage years. He was angry at himself for not sticking around. But he saw it on Beau’s face, he saw the happiness at being reunited with Jolene, saw the twinge of lust.
And his beast went crazy.
He had to get out of there and shift. It was the only way he had ever been able to deal with his jealousy of his brother. Not that there ever had been much rivalry between them. Beau was the perfect son who did everything right, and Reid could care less. Jolene was the only thing that Beau had that Reid ever wanted.
And now you have her, growled his wolf.
No, he didn’t, Reid responded sullenly. They’d had fun, but now that Beau was back, did he even stand any chance? Beau was the love of her life.
But we’re her mate insisted the beast.
Yeah, try getting Jolene to admit to it.
He stalked her, not too closely as she walked home, her head hung in silent thought. The wolf wanted to go to her, demand she choose him, demand she take them for her mate. But Reid wouldn’t let him. No, he couldn’t stand the thought of being rejected.
He wasn’t sure what to do. For now, in spite of strenuous objections from his animal, he had decided to keep his distance. He would make sure she was safe, but he would stay away while he figured out what he was supposed to do.
Chapter Fifteen
Jolene scowled as she stared at her computer screen. It had been two days since Beau had returned home and she was currently bored out of her skull.
Work was slow. The mayor, subdued over recent events had taken his family on an impromptu holiday – probably for the best. But that meant she didn’t even have work to obsess over. No, she was free to worry over a certain perfect male who was avoiding her like the freaking plague.
She hadn’t heard a word from Reid or seen hide nor hair of him. She saw Beau a couple of times in town. He gave her an affected wounded look while pouting and whining about Tawny, and Jolene tried not to let her temper get away from her. She had to remember they were still friends… or at least, friendly, and Beau was going through a lot. Shouting ‘I don’t care about your crappy problems’ and slapping the back of his head probably wasn’t the way to go.
It was just that every moment that Reid didn’t call, every time he didn’t answer his phone to her, she wanted to scream, shift and hunt him down to ask why he was ignoring her.
Yes, she was pathetic – all her problems amounted to a guy she slept with not wanting to talk to her. She certainly felt pathetic.
Her wolf griped disapprovingly. Wasn’t it more than that? This wasn’t any guy – it was Reid. They had been friends for years and the fact that he was ignoring her, that he didn’t want her… no, it was too much.
Yet, Reid never promised her anything. They’d just fallen into bed really. He probably had no idea the way she was feeling, the way she desperately needed him…
Maybe he was already bored with her. Maybe he’d moved onto another girl. Maybe he was scared of hurting his brother.
Well, whatever it was, she was going to find out. He could ignore her for a couple of days, but he couldn’t ignore her forever.
*
Reid stepped outside the bar into the alley and tossed the garbage into the trash can. He leaned against the wall of the building and inhaled.
He’d thought he could endure anything after being away for six years. But nothing had prepared him for the last two days. He could still scent Jolene, on the clothes he wore two days ago and refused to wash, her lingering scent in his workshop, in his bedroom… from when she was talking to Beau.
His wolf growled, caught between annoyance at Reid and fury at Beau. The beast couldn’t understand Reid’s reticence. But his plan to make Jolene his mate was shot to hell – how could he compete with Beau? Then again, how could his beast survive if she did mate with Beau? He couldn’t sit around and watch that happen. He could barely be away from her as it was – the only thing that appeased him was the fact that he slept outside her house each night, watching over her, making sure Mark didn’t think to come and annoy her, or Beau for that matter.
“Hey!”
He groaned as Marley advanced on him. Yep, that’s just what his agitated beast needed. He grunted a hello.
She gave him a dazzling, sunny smile. His scowl deepened.
She’d tried flirting with him repeatedly over the last couple of days. Apparently the word ‘no’ wasn’t in her vocabulary. He tried to remember if she was this annoying in high school. He suspected she was. He even vaguely remembered her playing a prank or two on him, but honestly, he could have cared less what she did. She was just a vapid she-wolf. He’d always been so focused on Jolene that everyone else paled around her.
Marley leaned next to him; her breasts, caught in the tight, low cut top, rubbed against his arm. He considered that she was dressed entirely inappropriately for bar work and thought he ought to tell her.
“So, Beau’s back in town then?” she asked brightly.
Reid paused. Perhaps Marley was setting her sights higher than him. A brief ray of suns
hine shone through his dark cloud of a mood. Yes, he would happily foist Marley onto Beau.
“Yep, getting a divorce,” he announced, just a touch manically. “The ladies of Rose should start forming an orderly queue now.”
“Good.”
Suddenly, Marley grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips. He froze in outraged shock for a moment before pushing her away. She stumbled back and frowned at him.
“What the hell are you doing?” he snarled in time with his beast.
“What? A girl could die of old age waiting for you to make the first move.”
“For fucks sake! How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not interested.”
She folded her arms. “You going to pant after Jolene forever? You know she’s just going to end up with Beau again.”
“You don’t know that,” he said quietly.
Marley let out a long sigh. “There aren’t so many single females in the pack that you can afford to be so choosy.”
“Not interested,” he said through gritted teeth as he pushed away from the wall.
“Aren’t you a little old to have a crush on your brother’s girlfriend?”
He made his way back into the bar with her taunting voice calling after him.
*
Jolene fumed as she saw Marley kissing Reid. She was going to storm over to them when she held herself back.
Instead, she dug her claws into her palms, turned around and stalked away.
Reid wasn’t hers. He didn’t belong to her; she had no right to stop him from doing anything. The thought angered her, but it was true.
They’d spent the weekend together, but that was it. When she’d tried to bring up the future, he’d ignored her. He didn’t want more.
And why would he want her? Her wolf snarled at her, but it was true. He was young; he could sow any wild oats with willing pack mates he wanted. She was just available.
But he promised not to leave whined her wolf.
Maybe he just promised not to leave as her friend. Maybe he wasn’t ignoring her; he was just indifferent to her feelings.
Crap, why was this so hard? Why couldn’t she function like a regular person? He had her caught up in knots. With Beau and Mark, everything had been easy – she never felt so torn apart by anything they ever did. Even when Beau left her.
But Reid was different, he’d always been different - he’d always been special.
Her insides clenched – perhaps she was only just realizing how different or special.
Chapter Sixteen
Jolene considered calling Kim, but no she was too busy with her happy family. That thought was depressing.
Kim wasn’t as cynical as she was about true mates. At least not entirely. She was happy with Ed, believing him to be her true mate, but she had hardly jumped on him and mated within seconds of meeting him. Unlike other wolves. But Kim was happy.
Jolene shook her head. Doesn’t matter she thought staunchly - true mates don’t matter.
She’d run out of ice cream two days ago so settled on wine. She was already on her second glass when a knock sounded at the door.
Her wolf wagged her tail, thinking it must be Reid, and her treacherous heart did beat extra hard for a few seconds before she realized it was actually Beau.
Unable to entirely hide her disappointment, she answered the door with a peevish, “What are you doing here?”
Beau gave her a slightly wonky smile before shambling past her, the fumes of his alcohol induced mood wafting after him.
“You’re drunk.”
Jolene folded her arms and watched Beau stagger around her living room. He tripped over a footstool and then apologized to it before trying to stand next to the fireplace nonchalantly. He was weaving too much for it to be natural.
“Beau, I’ll drive you home.”
He hiccupped. “Nope, I came here to say…” He trailed off and then frowned before hiccupping again. “I came here to say that I wish… ah… I should have written it down.”
“Beau, come on, let’s get you home.”
“Nope, not going home until I say what I need to say. I should never have left you. I made a huge mistake, and I want to make it up to you. But first, need to have a little sleep.”
He half-fell-half-walked to her couch and toppled onto it.
“No, Beau, don’t!”
He was sleeping the moment he hit the cushions. Her wolf groaned in annoyance. “Terrific.”
She tried moving him to no avail. Strong though she was, Beau was enormous, and all she managed to do was flip him onto his back. He burbled the name ‘Tawny’ and started snoring with all the finesse of a fire truck.
Jolene rubbed her temples. Great. There was no way she was moving him on her own, and she didn’t really fancy explaining this to anyone else – or embarrassing Beau, who would undoubtedly feel foolish in the morning.
With resignation, she pulled his shoes off and dragged a throw over his body, it barely covered any of him, but it would have to do.
Suddenly feeling exhausted, she made her way up to bed and carefully made sure to lock the door and place a chair under the handle.
Beau wasn’t a bad guy, but she didn’t know what he was doing there, and she didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings
*
Reid snarled. He prowled around the house, pawing the ground, impatiently.
Beau was in there. Beau was in Jolene’s house. He saw Beau arrive, his car moving slowly and awkwardly. He scented his brother’s intoxication. The fumes hit him even from his hiding spot.
What the fuck was his drunken brother doing at Jolene’s house? Was he asking her to come back to him? Surely Jolene wouldn’t say yes. Not when he was drunk, at least.
But surely she wouldn’t be foolish enough to say yes anyway?
Wasn’t that why he was staying away – because he feared she would fall back into his brother’s arms?
He was livid, impatient and desperate to know what was going on.
That was his mate – Beau had no right to be there. Beau had taken his own mate; he should be with her.
Reid wanted to rush into the house, savage his brother and take Jolene.
No, he couldn’t – he, at least, held onto that much of his humanity, no matter how much it pained him. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t scare his mate. Plus his mom would be pissed at him for doing anything to his brother who as she put it ‘was going through a lot’.
He snorted. Fucking Beau would always land on his feet. Just, preferably, away from Jolene.
Maybe staying away hadn’t been the best plan. He should have been with her, showering her with attention, showing her he was the brother she needed, showing her he wouldn’t leave her… again.
Oh, he had fucked up through his pride – he needed to set that right. He’d wait for Beau to leave, and he’d show her how important she was to him.
His lips curled back and his bared his teeth. What the fuck was taking so long?
*
Beau’s nose wrinkled as Jolene flicked water onto his face.
Hey, there were worse ways to wake up? And given Beau’s drunken frat days, he’d experienced plenty of them.
He grunted and then scratched his nose. “What’s happening?” he mumbled.
Jolene pressed her lips together in disapproval. “You passed out on my couch after you turned up here drunk.”
Beau scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Beau, but I really think you should get going, your mom’s probably going bananas right about now.”
She passed him the remainder of the glass of water, and he guzzled it down.
“I doubt that, Reid hasn’t spent a night in his bed since I got back. I reckon my mom’s relaxed a bit over the last few years.”
“But I thought… Where’s Reid staying then?”
Beau chuckled. “Probably shacking up with a horny she-wolf. He’s young and single. Making up for lost time – he pretty much
lived like a monk when he was a teenager.”
Jolene felt cold. “You should go, Beau.”
“Sorry, I’m having a hard time right now
“I know, and I’m not mad. But you can’t do this again. What if I hadn’t been alone last night? What if someone had been here?”
“Like who?” snorted Beau.
“You need to leave,” she growled.
“Look, I was drunk last night, but I meant what I said.”
“Beau, you can’t do this to me. Being dumped at the drop of the hat was hard for me. We’d made all these life plans together and then snap, they were all gone. You can’t just turn up now and say ‘whoops, my bad’.”
“You’re pissed at me.”
“No!” she snapped in exasperation.
That awful pitying look returned. “I get it.”
“I doubt it.”
“Jolene, I’m sorry for how I treated you.”
“I know.”
“I regret it.”
Jolene stamped her foot and pointed at the door. “Don’t Beau, I want you to leave.”
Beau held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, we’ll talk later.”
Jolene breathed a sigh of relief when she finally had him out of her house. She leaned against the door and only groaned a little when someone banged on it.
She threw it open ready to tell Beau to get lost but was met with the sight of a furious Reid.
Chapter Seventeen
“Why was he here all night?” demanded Reid, barging into her house, buck naked and bristling with rage.
“Reid, what are you…”
“You let him stay all night!” roared Reid.
Jolene gaped at him before outrage reared its head. Even her wolf was at a loss to put a positive spin on his behaviour. “How do you know that?”
“Answer the question, Jolene. Please tell me you aren’t dumb enough to take him back?”
Her cheeks burned bright in indignation. “He was drunk, and he slept on my couch. How dare you! You have no right. You don’t hear me going on at you for kissing Marley or… or… whatever else you’ve been doing with her.”