At nine, I nervously put my key in the front door and unlocked it, flipped on all of the lights and open sign, then settled myself behind the counter. Everything was pretty well set up for me. There wasn’t any stock to put out, any events to plan for, and the place was clean for the moment. I didn’t have anything to do or any customers beating down my door to get inside the store.
Stephanie had wanted to plan this huge grand opening, but I begged her not to do it. I wanted my entrance into their world to be quiet to allow me time to acclimate slowly to their world and for her world to get to know me.
She also offered to stay with me for my first week in Valeterra, but I hadn’t wanted her to put her life on hold for me. I was a grown woman. I’d reassured her that I could take care of myself. We had made plans for her to come by the following weekend to give me a full tour of Greenleaf.
The bell over Anne’s door rang several times that morning, but mine didn’t.
I didn’t remember to roll out my cart of free books until about ten. I felt so stupid for forgetting it, considering that was the first thing I did in the mornings at my old store. With no customers in sight, I hoped the free books would bring in people. I knew the cheap books weren’t what were sending customers to Anne and not to me, but I could pretend.
I was backing out of the door, pulling the cart with me, when I ran into my first customer of the day.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said before, turning around to see into whom I’d backed butt-first. My apology died on my lips at the sight of Jackson Nichols. “I…uh…, go inside the store. Let me set this up out here, and I’ll be in to help you.”
He didn’t move or shut the door, as I maneuvered the cart into place and put up the sign that read: Free Books. My entire body shook. I don’t know how I managed to walk back through the door he continued to hold open for me.
“What can I do for you today, Mr. Nichols?” I asked, motioning for him to look around.
Without saying a word, he looked at me for a long moment, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed the paper to me, then walked away to look at a spinning rack of romance novels. Initially, I found that odd. I realized a second later that he hadn’t done it on purpose. He had simply picked the rack at random. I waited for him to move on to a different section once he had read the backs of a few books. When he didn’t, I shrugged and opened the folded piece of paper.
“Would you like to purchase this book?” I asked, holding up the piece of paper. As if he knew I was looking at him, he nodded his head without turning away from reading the back cover of the book in his hand.
Okay, thanks for ignoring me, I did not say aloud. I knew the author of the book he wanted well, but not the book. It must have been a new release. I went first to the general fiction section, as the author is usually there, in mystery, or in horror. The book, as it turned out, wasn’t a new one, just one I’d never heard of, which wasn’t surprising since I wasn’t a fan.
“We have the hardback and paperback, which do you prefer?” I asked, returning to the front of the store, holding both books.
He sat the romance novel on the counter, and I glanced down at it to see that it was one by a well-known author. The book was about a were-hunter and a plus-size human falling in love. The book was one of my favorites. He took both books I held from me, turned them over, read the price, and handed me the hardback.
“Will this be all for you?” I asked, taking the paperback as well and putting it on my ‘returns’ rack.
He tapped the paperback romance.
“Okay,” I said, really wishing he would say something to me.
I rang up both books, stumbled through telling him the total and figuring up the change. He waited patiently and even pointed out the coins I couldn’t figure out on my guide.
When the transaction was over, I said, “Thank you for being patient with me. I wish more customers were here. On the other hand, until I get used to Valeterra, I guess it’s good that things are slow. I hate to let you guys down, but… I had my misgivings. I told Stephanie I was the wrong person for this. She said the building was empty, but maybe they should have picked a different business to put in here, or maybe I should have stayed behind the scenes. Let someone from here be the one interacting with the customers. We might have customers then.”
I had been looking out at the empty store as I talked and had all but forgotten he was there. His silence and my fear had me rambling on without being coherent to someone who could probably care less about what I thought about things.
“I’m sorry. I think aloud too much. Thank you for stopping by the store. I hope you enjoy the novels,” I said, handing Jackson his bag. As we made the exchange, his calloused palm ran across the palm of my hand. I suppressed the urge to both pull away and grab his hand. Both urges I felt at the same time; one because the touch left my palm tingling, almost like it was asleep and the other because I desperately wanted to touch more of him.
His pupils dilated, and his nose flared. I instantly knew that he could tell that that simple touch had turned me on so much that if he touched me again, I would come from that alone. I was more than a little mortified by my body’s reaction to him and looked down at the counter absently massaging my palm.
Jackson didn’t say goodbye, but the bell over the door told me he had left.
For the next hour or so, I wandered around the store, rubbing my hand and praying for someone else to come in to distract me. I heard Anne’s bell go off a few more times, but she seemed to be slowing down. I wondered why she didn’t come over to my side between customers. I also realized that I hadn’t gone over to see her either. I made a mental note to do so after lunch.
Around eleven-thirty, a girl who looked to be about sixteen years old came into the store. She peeked her head in at first, looked around, saw me, smiled sheepishly, and slipped inside.
“Hello,” I said. “Welcome. Can I help you find anything today?”
“I don’t know what to look for,” she said, shyly taking in the store with wide-eyed awe.
“Well, do you read a lot?” I asked, smiling at her glee.
“I do.”
The way she ran her hands over the books, I could tell she was a kindred spirit.
“What kinds of things do you read?”
“I read everything. I like stuff about the gods, but I want something a little more realistic to what your world is like.”
“That gives me a place to start. How old are you?”
“I’ll be sixteen in a few months.”
“Good. I thought you looked like a teenager, but I have a hard time telling ages here. No offense.”
She giggled and said, “I heard there was a difference in the way we age between the two worlds.”
“There is. I’m thirty years old, but if someone here had to guess my age by the way I looked they’d put me at a hundred years old, wouldn’t they?”
“Yes,” she said, wincing as if I might get angry.
I only laughed.
“What’s your name?” I asked, motioning for her to follow me to the young adult section.
“Azure.”
“Well, Azure, I’m Valerie Stutts, but you can call me Valerie. I’m not ready to be called Ms. Stutts.”
16.
~~~Jackson~~~
“Good, we’re alone,” I said, entering my office building as casually as possible.
Giving me a confused look, Stephanie said, “We are. Things have been slow all morning. Very unusual for a Monday morning. Everyone’s worried about the human. Did you eat lunch while you were out?”
“No.” I headed to my office with my package covering my hand. “Come with me.”
Stephanie had been gathering her things to go to lunch when I entered the building. She froze and gave me a questioning look. I didn’t reply. I entered my office and sat my bag down on the desk. I didn’t remove its contents because I didn’t want her to see the romance novel I’d purchased.
I hadn’t worried about what Valerie had thought. I was betting she didn’t think I knew what I was buying. Stephanie would know differently.
All the research I’d done on Valerie told me that the romance book was one of her favorites. I know I could have requested the book and not bought it directly from her, but I wanted to see her face, smell her reaction to me purchasing the book. Her reaction had been more than I had expected. The need she’d radiated when she’d seen me had been powerful. The lust that had exploded from her at seeing me hold that book had driven my wolf to the surface, which had led to me making such a huge mistake.
“Is something wrong?” Stephanie asked, shutting the door behind her.
Without any preamble, I held up my hand. The beginnings of a mating mark glowed slightly red from the center of my palm.
“What. Did. You. Do?” Stephanie asked, stepping toward me and grabbing my wrist to examine the mark. Before I could answer, she continued. “I thought we agreed that you would wait to mark Valerie until you knew she was ready. Are you that hard up that you would do this to her so quickly?”
Jerking my hand from her, I said, “I didn’t do it on purpose. I went to her store in the hopes of talking to her. When I saw her, I was so taken by her that I couldn’t speak. I want to know why I can’t talk to that woman. Anyway, I was too busy breathing in her arousal and trying to calm my wolf while she checked me out that I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing when I took my bag from her. I only lightly grazed her palm, but it was enough. I didn’t even stay to explain things to her. I ran like a scared little boy when she diverted her attention to her hand.”
“You have to go back there. You have to tell Valerie what’s happening.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” Her hands fisted on her hips, and I knew she was seconds away from shifting and coming after me.
I put up my unmarked hand to stop her and said, “Because, I can’t be alone with her right now. With this mark and the way she smelled right before I left, I’m liable to take her right there in the store before I’ve said hello to her.”
“I’ll do it then,” she said, heading for the door.
“No,” I said, my alpha voice freezing her to the spot. “Not right now. I want to figure some things out first. Before we do anything, contact Tamera. I need her to hide the marks for now.”
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“Do you have any other suggestions? I can’t barge into her life at this moment, and say, hey, you’re my mate whether you like it or not. Now get in my bed so that I can relieve this raging hard on.”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear about your raging anything. You can man up, as the humans say, and court her. Tell her about the mark, but tell her that you still want to woo her.”
“We’ll discuss that option in a month or so, once she’s settled. For now, we’ll see what Tamera can do about these.”
As it turned out, there wasn’t much Tamera could do. Stephanie returned to the front office and summoned Tamera, who showed up a minute later. I told her my story, swore her to secrecy, and begged her to remove our marks, halt our mating, something. The best she could do was hide my mark, though she did warn me that she didn’t think the cloaking spell she put on it would last long. No one could stop a mating, even if the other person were a human. She couldn’t even hide Valerie’s mark, which frustrated Tamera, as she couldn’t figure out why the spell didn’t work on the woman.
I felt like an ass for hiding mine when Valerie’s would be there for all of Valeterra to see, but the mark would keep other males away from her and give the town proof that she was meant to be there.
17.
~~~Valerie~~~
Azure and I spent two hours in the young adult section of the store discussing the books I’d read and the ones I’d heard others talk about—both the good ones and the bad ones. In the end, she decided on three books—a copy of Romeo and Juliet, the first Hunger Games book, and Where the Red Fern Grows. She didn’t have enough money on hand for all three, but luckily, we were able to get a used copy of Romeo and Juliet from Anne.
Anne had had two customers who eyed me the entire time Azure and I were in that section of the store. I tried to find the other two books for her, but Romeo and Juliet was all we had used. I smiled and tried to make conversation with the two women, but all they did was smile back and say hello.
“I’m sorry people aren’t friendlier,” Azure said when we went back to my side of the store.
“Don’t apologize. People are cautious. They don’t know me. Not only am I a stranger, but I’m a stranger from another world. They have a right to be leery of me.”
“Are you scared of us?” she asked as we made our way to the checkout counter.
“I thought I would be, but I’m not. Everyone I’ve met and have spent time with has been nothing but nice to me. Not everyone is as welcoming of me as you, Anne, and Stephanie are, but no one has been mean…except…”
“Mr. Nichols?” she asked as I rang up her books.
“Yeah. No. He hasn’t exactly been mean to me. He’s just stoic or indifferent, or I don’t know what to call it,” I said and unconsciously rubbed the palm Jackson had touched.
“Don’t let him get to you. He’s like that with everyone. His wife and baby died in childbirth fifty years or so ago, and he’s been detached, emotionally, ever since, or so my mom said. Hey, what did you do to your hand?” she asked, reaching out for the palm I was rubbing.
“What?” I asked before looking down to see what she was looking at.
My entire palm was red as if I had somehow burned it. Inside the red coloring, there was what looked and felt like a thin, raised welt that circled in and out of itself like a Celtic knot, but the bottom point was elongated and nearly reached my wrist. The mark had a slight resemblance to a wolf’s head.
“I don’t know,” I finally said, lightly tracing the mark. “I think I burned it somehow, but it doesn’t hurt. Does it look as if there is a design in there?”
“Yeah, there is. That’s a Wahya symbol,” Azure said in awe.
“A what?”
“A Wahya symbol. It’s a wolf mating mark. We still call it by an old word the ancients used to use. At some point in the last two days, your mate has touched you. The mating mark pops up wherever a person has skin-to-skin contact with their mate. Who touched your palm?” she asked excitedly.
“I don’t know.” I lied, knowing I couldn’t tell her that Jackson was the only person to touch my hand. I’m aware that I technically came to Valeterra to meet my mate, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon or at all really. I wasn’t sure if I wanted it to happen. Jackson didn’t appear to be showing signs of wanting it either.
“Look, Azure,” I said, feeling guilty that I wasn’t happier about the mark. “Please don’t tell anyone. I’m new to town. I don’t know anyone. I don’t want the news of this spreading just yet. I’ve caused enough of a disturbance coming here. I don’t want to create anymore by mating with someone so soon.”
“Okay, but people will find out eventually. Your mate will have that mark as well. I don’t know who in the area volunteered for the program, but if he or she wasn’t the one to touch you, this might cause a problem.”
“You don’t know who’s in the program?” I asked, unsure why the rulers of Valeterra had kept such a secret from its people.
“Well, our alphas were supposed to be the first on the list, but Mr. Nichols hasn’t said anything to us about signing up. Mrs. Katherine, one of my teachers, says it’s because he’s still in love with his wife. She says he’ll never fall in love again. When he announced you were coming, he told us that once you’d settled, alphas from all over Valeterra would come here to meet you. Although, just because they want you to meet an alpha doesn’t mean you can’t mate with someone else. Despite their plans, the fates choose our mates.”
Azure had a dreamy look on her face as she spoke. At her age, she must find the thought of a mat
ing as being the epitome of romantic.
“Shit,” I said, plopping down on the stool I had behind the counter. “Thanks for the information dump, but I’m still begging you not to tell anyone. I need to think about things.”
“Okay. Is it all right if I come by tomorrow afternoon to read and work on homework?”
“As long as it’s all right with your parents, then I’m okay with it.”
The look that spread across her face told me that I’d said something horrible. The realization that her parents might be dead took a moment to dawn on me.
“Oh, sweetie,” I said, coming around the counter and pulling her to me.
I had no idea if the people of Valeterra permitted such a gesture. The tears threatening to spill from the child’s eyes made me want to hug her. She allowed the hug but didn’t let herself cry.
“Who are you living with?” I asked as we separated.
“Mr. Nichols has an orphanage set up next to the school. Ms. Talia and Mr. Stanley, who used to teach at the school, run it with the help of volunteers from town. Mr. Nichols even comes sometimes to help serve meals or take us on excursions on the weekends. There are about fifty of us in the orphanage and only about a little over a hundred students, total.”
“Do they take good care of you there?” I asked even though it sounded like they did.
“Yeah. We don’t get a lot of one-on-one attention, but we have clothes, food, strict schedules.”
“Good. Well, if you don’t mind, have Ms. Talia or Mr. Stanley send a note with you tomorrow stating that they know where you’re at and that they’re okay with you staying here, please. I don’t want anyone getting upset with me.”
“I will. Thank you.” She gave me a quick hug and left.
Marked (Valeterra Series Book 1) Page 7