Jupiter's Shadow

by Tl Reeve

  He had a point. “Fine. I walked. It’s not far from here.”

  They formed a semi-circle around me and followed as I made my way through town. “Are you being forced to do this?” Okay, so I couldn’t wait for us to get to the house to start asking questions.

  “No,” Mace grunted. His disposition didn’t throw off the cute and cuddly vibes, in fact, he reminded me of a pissed off shark.

  Did it make me the chum?

  “Why is this happening?” I didn’t ask anyone directly. I guess it was one of those cosmic questions.

  “There is so much I should have told you.” Dax placed his hands on my shoulders. The welcomed weight didn’t do anything to dislodge the rock in my gut.

  “You think? As much as I see you, I’d have thought you’d have been a little more courteous.” I rolled my shoulder to dislodge his hand.

  “Pip…”

  “Who’s Pip?” Scout cut in.

  “I am,” I answered. “It’s a nickname.”

  The guy grinned. “I like it.”

  Goody for you. “Thanks. This is my place.” I hooked my thumb at the single-level shack. I’d tried over the last couple of years to renovate it as best as I could, but the outside still left a lot to be desired.

  Mace snorted. “Are you serious?”

  As a fucking heart attack, asshole. I nodded. “It’s better on the inside.” I stepped aside so they could enter.

  “No one prepared me for this shit before I left.” Again, Mace was racking up brownie points with me. My wolf bristled at his surly disposition, and didn’t do much for the fee-fees either.

  “Sorry, we’re not a high-class pack.”

  He grunted this time. Good to know we have a cave-wolf on our hands.

  “Not what I meant.”

  Sure, it wasn’t. I pushed into the house and flipped on a light. “See, much better.”

  “Wow, Pip. You’ve done a lot of work over here.” Dax entered my home and took in the great room. “You bought the sandstone for your fireplace.” He traced the rock face over the mantle. “Excellent work.”

  “Are you buttering me up?”

  He laughed. “No. I’m impressed. You’ve got an eye for this stuff.”

  Pride filled me, and for a second, I relaxed. “Thank you. Have a seat. Anyone want a beer? I could use six right about now.”

  A round of agreeing grunts filled my living room.

  “Want some help?” Bowie followed me into the kitchen. “This really is a nice place you have.”

  He was cute. Tall, but lean, he towered over me. His short brown hair gave him a boyish quality, but his whiskey-colored eyes also held a hardness to them. The longer we stood next to each other, the more I wanted to run my hands across his chest. Instead, I opened the fridge and stuck my head inside.

  “Domestic okay with you guys?” I grabbed six bottles. “Did you say which pack is yours?” I hip-checked the door of the fridge and handed him three bottles.

  “Scout and I are from Nickajack. He’s my twin.” His gaze darted to the left. If I was a paranoid person, which I’m not, I’d swear he was lying. However, it wouldn’t look very good for me or my father if I went around accusing people of shit, especially after the little dog and pony show my dad put on for everyone. So, I chalked it up to being nervous.

  I glanced at the guy named Scout.

  “We’re fraternal. Not identical,” he added. A nervous edge filled his tone as his gaze shifted to his twin, then back to me.

  “Ah.” Made sense, I suppose, but something was off about their scent. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, however it was there. “Cool. So, you both got chosen to come on this little adventure?”

  “Sure.” He shrugged as we joined the others.

  When we were settled, I glanced at each man. How the hell was all of this supposed to work? “I think the best way to start this is to explain to me what the hell is going on. Then we can figure everything else out.”

  Benning stood. “Fine. I’ll go first.”

  Chapter Two

  Benning had two younger brothers and a sister. His parents had passed away a few years ago, and while he was here, his brothers were doing their parents’ job—raising their younger sister. Of the men who occupied my home, I felt the most connected to him, beside Dax. It was effortless, almost like we’d been friends for years.

  Mace grunted and growled through his short explanation of “I didn’t volunteer,” speech.

  Scout and Bowie finished each other’s statements, and were a little too…good at it. It elicited a few red flags as far as I was concerned. I found myself staring at both men more often than not while each spoke. They were a puzzle I needed to figure out. Their noses didn’t match nor did their eyes, but they had the same crazy, panty-melting smile. But I still didn’t pick up on the twin vibe.

  I glanced at Dax and rolled my tongue along the back of my teeth “So, like you were going to tell me when Dad started this little fucked up adventure in mating…” I prompted him, hoping this time he’d tell the truth.

  “It’s not like I wanted to keep this away from you. But your father…” He blew out a breath. “He’s set in his ways and laid down the law. He ordered me not to tell you.”

  Because my father knew I’d refuse. “Did all of your alphas attend this meeting?”

  All the men nodded.

  “Why?”

  “I think I might have an answer,” Benning replied. “All of our packs have issues. Our populations are dwindling. Your finances aren’t steady. I believe they think with a member of a different pack within each other’s ranks, it’ll stimulate growth.”

  “Or a coup,” Dax mumbled, glaring at the other men.

  “One against hundreds will get nothing,” Benning supplied.

  “Wouldn’t stop them from bringing people in,” I added. As strategies went, it wasn’t bad.

  “It’d be more work than it’s worth,” Mace huffed. “You have nothing here. My pack has nothing. What would be the point of taking over a pack?”

  “The land,” Bowie piped up.

  Scout nodded. “Cleared of these buildings and the timber rights, you could make millions.”

  “Just on the land,” Bowie interjected. “If you sold it to a developer and asked for a stake in the development…more so.”

  “How do you know this?” Benning sat forwards.

  Scout shrugged. “I’m a corporate lawyer.”

  Didn’t look like one to me, however looks could be deceiving. “Have you ever done anything like this before?”

  “No. This is all hypothetical.”

  Right, hypothetical reasons. “Are you here because you want to be here or were you forced to be here?”

  “We were chosen,” Bowie said. “I don’t know about them.”

  A rumble of agreements filtered through them.

  “Perfect.” I sighed. “As much as I would love to stay up and chat the rest of the night, I have work in the morning.”

  “She’s an investigator with Hamilton County,” Dax supplied. “She’s damn good at her job, too.”

  “We all have jobs, Jupiter. Some of us can’t do our jobs because we’re away from home.” Mace. The asshole obviously hated being here and taking it out on me.

  “You make it sound like I have a choice in this.” I crossed my arms and lifted my chin, challenging him.

  “None of us had a say.” Benning stood. “This is not how I intended to find my mate.”

  “I kind of did,” Dax mumbled.

  “What?” I couldn’t believe what he said. Maybe I misheard him.

  He sighed. “I had to be the guy chosen. I put myself in your father’s way. I needed him to see I could be the man who’d take care of you after he passed away or relinquished his rights as alpha.”

  The other men grumbled.

  “Then why are we here? You have your mate, go on. We’ll leave.” Mace. For a second, dejection darkened his blue eyes.

  “No. I don’t…I mean�
�shit.” I rubbed my arm. “I’m in a damnable situation here.”

  “What do you want, Pip?” Scout gazed at me from where he sat beside his fraternal twin, both of whom I wasn’t sure about.

  “I want my life to go back to normal. Your lives should go back to normal. I wish my father would have discussed this with me.” I frowned, frustrated by the whole situation. “None of this is fair to us. Any of us.”

  “No, it’s not,” Bowie agreed. “Yet, here we are.” His amber gaze landed on each of the men surrounding me, then locked with mine. “Don’t you think we owe it to ourselves to at least try to get to know each other?”

  “What do you suggest?” Bowie and Benning seemed to be the thinkers of the group. Bowie didn’t say much, however he absorbed everything we said and made thought provoking inquires—no matter how small.

  “Well”—Bowie cleared his throat—“Echo has already requested we get to know each other. I believe we should stay here with you, Jupiter, and date.”

  Again, these men had a way of knocking me for a loop. “If it’s what you all want.”

  A grunt of agreements filled the room.

  This is fucking crazy. My life had gone from simple to complicated in a matter of hours. If I thought pinching myself would wake me from this messed-up dream, I’d do it, but this wasn’t a dream. This had become my so-called arranged life. The Bachelorette—wolf edition. I should tell my dad to give it up. I’m not some puppet to be manipulated in a shitty alpha game. Yet, I wasn’t on my own. These four guys had been sent here to help their packs, as well. What did it say about me if I didn’t at least try? Sane? Dang it, Dad. “Go grab your shit. We’re going to be short on living space.”

  * * *

  It looked like one giant puppy pile on my living room floor the next morning when I started to get ready for work. I still had no idea what I was going to do. My father, on the other hand, seemed a bit smug about his making life decisions for me.

  When we left to grab their things, my father had met us in the community gathering area. He asked questions, then got this glint in his eye. One that said he’d bested me somehow, or worse, thought he’d found men to do the manual stuff around the pack. Neither one settled well with me.

  “Good morning,” Benning whispered, after stepping back inside. After our little conversation last night, the Conasauge pack protector hadn’t said much to anyone. “I hope you don’t mind, but I made coffee.”

  Mind? Hell no. I traced every inch of his naked torso, and a thread of arousal wiggled through me. His skin was perfectly tanned. My mouth watered as I took at his flawlessly sculpted abs and that V-muscle, or whatever the hell it was called, leading to the treasure hidden beneath the fly of his pants. I must have been staring too long, because he growled at me, and instead of it pissing me off, it turned me on. What the fuck is wrong with me?

  “Sorry. I don’t think I slept well.” I shook my head. “Thank you for the coffee.”

  A sinful smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. In those few seconds standing there with him, I learned two things. He was dangerous and I was in for a long-ass month.

  “You’re welcome. So, any cases right now?” He stood beside me. The heat radiating from him made it so easy to slip into his arms and cuddle with him.

  Instead, I focused on my coffee. “Well, I didn’t get any calls last night.” I stirred in sugar and cream. “But I have a report due for a murder-suicide I investigated.”

  “Do you get calls at night often?” His arm brushed against mine, and tingles of awareness shot through me. Cedar, oak, and something earthy-masculine combined to create his addictive scent.

  “Sometimes. Summers are the worst. Winter, too.” I took a sip of my coffee, silently willing myself to hang tough and not give in to the urge to touch him.

  “Have dinner with me tonight. You can show me around and we can get to know each other.”

  I glanced up at him over the rim of my mug as I took a sip. “Sure. You work fast.”

  He chuckled. “Think of it as breaking the ice.” He sought out my gaze with his, ensnaring me with his soulful grey eyes. “You already have a connection with Dax. Years, in fact. If we have any chance of winning your hand, someone has to go first.”

  “A sacrifice?” I didn’t like thinking of this situation as some dating game where I had to send a loser packing each week, till only one was left.

  “Nah, nothing of the sort.” He skimmed my cheek with his knuckle. “I’m putting myself out there. You’re beautiful. I’d be stupid not to step up.”

  Smooth. “Sure. Dinner. Do you have a vehicle here?”

  “Yes. I left it at the community center and caught a ride with Bowie and Scout.”

  I grabbed the pad I used to make a grocery list and wrote down directions on how to get to the sheriff’s department in Chattanooga. “I’ll be off at five. Give me your number and I’ll call you if I’m going to be late.” I handed him my pen.

  He quirked a brow. “Happen often?” He wrote down his information.

  I grimaced. “Sometimes, more often than not.”

  “Then I’ll tell you to be safe and I hope you have an uneventful day.”

  I don’t know why I did it, but I went to my tiptoes, and brushed a kiss across his cheek. “Thank you.” Stepping back, I gestured to the fridge. “It’s stocked if you want breakfast, or lunch. The grocer in town has the basics. If you need something substantial, you’ll have to go to Chattanooga.”

  “I think we can figure everything out.” He turned me towards the hall. “Finish getting ready. Don’t need you being late.”

  No. I didn’t. When I finally exited the house, I took a deep cleansing breath. Being cooped up with five larger than life men for the night had thrown me off kilter. I needed to regroup and take control of the situation. I needed to tell my father to leave well enough alone—not like it’d do any good.

  “Hey, wait up.” Bowie jogged over to my car, and leaned on the door. “Benning said you had to get to work. I just thought I’d say have a good day.” The easy way his features lit up, and his happy disposition slid through me. He seemed the type of guy to make you laugh when you needed it most.

  “Thanks. You, too. Are you going to be able to work?” I felt bad for him. In one decree by the alphas, his life and his twin’s—which I still wasn’t too sure of, changed. And here I was keeping the same routine. It couldn’t have been easy for him to walk away from his job as a high school English teacher. Heck, it couldn’t be easy on any of them.

  “No, but Dax said something about the kids here needing some help, so I thought I’d get started.” He glanced at the house, then back to me. “It’s a little pretentious on my part, but it’s the least I can do while I’m a guest in your pack.”

  Ugh. Why did these guys have to be nice? “Well, our pups will be grateful. I hope you have fun today.”

  “Have lunch with me tomorrow?”

  Surprised by his question, I sat there for a second. “Uh…sure. Benning has the directions to the sheriff’s department.”

  He gifted me with a dimpled smile, and my heart tripped a beat. “Great. Thanks.” Then, he did something unexpected. He leaned into the car and brushed his lips over mine.

  I blinked. His lips were warm and soft. He didn’t force the kiss. He’d been content to linger for a second before pulling back. “Um…”

  “I’ll see you later, Pip. Be safe.”

  He ran back into the house, leaving me a little…okay, a lot bewildered. I pulled out of the driveway and licked my lips, unable to get the tingle to go away. I didn’t know if I liked it, or if I should have been repulsed. I wouldn’t say I was a traditionalist when it came to relationships, but how the heck was I supposed to go through this?

  Five men. I had to pick someone or someones, and wolves knew their mates, but this…I’d gone sense blind. Each of the men smelled the same. Unique, sure, however there’d been no indicators. No subtle difference between the men. Nothing had my wolf swishin
g her tail in triumph.

  I worried, of course. Perhaps none of them were my mate. It would devastate Dax. We’d grown up together, inseparable for the most part. I guess I’d seen him as my pal. Could there be more between us? What happened if there wasn’t? Could I risk our friendship?

  The long drive to the station gave me time to think it through. There were so many possibilities—some I liked and some I hated. The biggest like/dislike: I had a month to figure all this out.

  A call came in over the radio, a three-car accident at the main exit of the freeway. One person had been ejected and killed. Another had been in serious condition on the way to the hospital. The third driver, a teen on the way to school remained at the scene and was being treated by paramedics.

  I hurried to where the accident occurred, letting dispatch know I was the closest and would be arriving in fewer than three minutes. When I came upon the scene, traffic was backed up in all directions. The road completely shut down due to the wreckage and crime tape. Jesus. I parked on one of the grassy curb areas and walked over to where all three cars met in the middle of the road.

  “What happened?”

  Silvi, my partner, turned. Her lips were pulled thin. Her skin was pale. She didn’t look well. “I was first one here. Actually, in traffic when it happened. The traffic lights went spastic, and for a split second, all the lights were green.”

  I whistled, not sure how to process what she said. “I’m surprised there weren’t more cars involved.”

  “Me, too. One car came off the freeway with their light. Another in the northbound lane was turning and one going straight in the southbound lanes.” I didn’t think I wanted to hear what happened next. I could see the mangled mess. “The state has been called already to check the lights and the electronics on it. The kid from the southbound car is sitting in an ambulance waiting for her mother to pick her up. She’s refusing transportation.”

  “I bet she’s scared more than anything.”

  “I agree.” Silvi nodded. “The deceased is a Hispanic male. His name is Sal Ramirez and from the items located in his vehicle, he worked for the state road crew.”