Claimed (Nightwind Pack Book 1)
Page 14
Brandi tried not to mind getting naked in front of the other woman. Roni didn’t look bothered, making it obvious that growing up around Werewolves made her immune to nudity. Then she took Brandi’s clothing and left the bathroom. Brandi sank into the hot tub after she was gone, but in minutes, Roni returned wearing shorts and a different top. Her long hair was pulled up in a loose bun on her head.
“I didn’t want to contaminate you either.” Roni grinned. “I hugged the dog boys out there.”
Brandi studied the other woman. “Do you like them or not? You confuse me a little. You act happy to see them, but then you kind of insult them.”
“It’s a love-hate thing and it’s fun to tease them. I’d kill for any of those three boys out there because I know they’d kill for me, but truth be told, I’m not really happy-skippy about the whole wolf thing either. Some of them from the other packs are nightmares. I’m talking worse than any scary movie you’ve ever seen. Wolves are wolves. They’re wild. They’re ruled by their instincts more often than not. Even big Des out there in his fancy suits, he’s a wolf first, and I’ve seen what happens to people who forget it, but our pack are good folks, for the most part. It was bad for a while there before Des and Jazz took over, but things have settled now. There are just a few I’d like to see stuffed and mounted in someone’s den.”
Brandi laughed. “I see.”
“So you mated up to a wolf, but you aren’t changed? Huh. I’ve never heard of that one before.”
Brandi shrugged. “I don’t like the idea of having a tail.”
“I don’t blame you.” Roni grabbed the shampoo. “Turn towards me. I’ll wash your hair. My gramps used to wash my hair for me when I was a kid and I loved it. You really need to scrub yourself. Wolf scent is strong, from what I hear. Your being mated to one is tougher, since he’s changed your scent from the inside out.”
Brandi turned, showing Roni her back and gathering up all her hair so it was easier for Roni to wash. “Thanks for this.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m all for taking out assholes. As a matter of fact, I’ve decided to tag along with you. Not to brag, but I’m impressively talented with guns. Ask anyone. This place is on the Goodwin-Nightwind pack border and sometimes those Goodwin jerks trespass. Let’s just say I’ve had tons of moving targets to shoot at.”
“Do they actually try to hurt you?” Brandi asked as Roni squeezed shampoo onto her hair. “Are you in danger here?”
“Nightwind really are good folks for the most part. I wasn’t lying about that. A few of ‘em have bad habits that carried over from the dark days, but Des and Jazz handle their business. The Goodwin pack, on the other hand, are real bastards. All of them. Trust me, you’d never want to meet up with one of those assholes. They don’t like humans, have even less respect for women, and they cause trouble wherever they go.” Roni started washing Brandi’s hair, massaging strong fingers into her skull in way that helped relax some of Brandi’s frayed nerves. “You’re safe in Hollow Mountain. That’s our town. Never go to Hardly or anywhere in that surrounding area. That’s Goodwin territory and they’d love to mess with a Nightwind enforcer’s mate. It wouldn’t be a good time for you, are we clear? They wouldn’t dare kill or rape you with Jason’s scent all over you, but terrorizing you would be on the table for those creeps.”
Brandi turned her head and eyed Roni despite the soap threatening to run into her eyes. “Great. Just what I need, more creepy Werewolves to worry about.”
Roni didn’t look too concerned as she used a container on the side of the tub and scooped up water. “Tilt your head back, let me rinse it.” When Brandi did as told, Roni went on as she poured the warm water over her head, “And don’t worry. Jason will protect you. He’ll never let something happen to you. Just stick close to home. Everyone’s terrified of Jason.”
Brandi swallowed. “Why?”
“That man can kick some serious ass. You landed yourself the best fighter in the pack, and he’s a great guy to boot. Plus, he’s nice to look at. I hate to say it, but watch your back with unmated bitches. They are going to hate that you took him off the market. They come sniffing around a few times a year looking for mates. After Jazz and Des, since they’re alphas, your mate is next on their most-wanted list.”
Brandi rubbed the water off her forehead and turned to Roni with her mouth hanging open. “Oh my God, I’m never going to survive out here.”
“Never fear.” Roni grinned. “I know where Jason lives. I’ve delivered beer and food to his place a few times when he threw parties and had the bar cater them. I’ll come out there if you want and teach you how to fire a gun.”
“Thanks.” Brandi breathed a sigh of relief. “I’d feel better if I knew how to use one.”
“Not that I think you’d ever have to fire one for real because Jason is Jason,” Roni added. “Most are too afraid of him to even think about messing with someone he loves. The Goodwins are all idiots though, so better safe than sorry. Stay close to home for any shopping trips. Now let’s condition your hair and get you dressed.”
****
“Thanks for the clothes,” Brandi said once she was perfumed and dressed.
“Jason is going to howl when he sees you.” Roni had showered and changed too. “You should wear tight clothes more often.”
Brandi looked down at herself wearing Roni’s skin-tight jeans and low-cut shirt. Roni was thinner than her, which made Brandi think the jeans were an old pair from days when she was bigger. Perhaps Roni even borrowed them from another human friend and was too polite to tell her. That was more likely, because despite what Roni said to the men earlier, there was nothing saggy about her ass.
The other woman had a body to die for, but Brandi wasn’t so bothered by it. Jason liked her just as she was, curves and all. It must’ve been good for her self-esteem. She didn’t feel uncomfortable in the clingy clothes and that was a new development. Two weeks ago she wouldn’t dare go out of the house in something like this. The lacy push-up bra she wore under the shirt made sure all her best assets were on display and the look worked in a way that was surprising.
Brandi felt sexy.
“He’s going to be shocked all right,” Brandi agreed as she stared at herself in the mirror over Roni’s dresser “I don’t own anything even remotely like this.”
“Keep everything. I bought them in town this morning and just wore them for an hour before you arrived, so they’d have my scent on them like they wanted. Des paid for them, so they’re yours. Let’s go.” Roni walked over to a chair by the door. There was a duffle bag there that Roni tossed over her shoulder. “After you—and don’t go near them.”
That explained the jeans, and it meant Desmon probably went into great detail describing her because they fit surprisingly well. Usually, Brandi would die of embarrassment, but with the wolves, it wasn’t such a big thing that she wasn’t bone thin. She got the impression Jason wasn’t the only one who liked women with meat on their bones.
Brandi walked outside and spotted Desmon, Jazz, and Jason leaning against the SUV talking. Jason’s head snapped in her direction and his nose flared, as though he was trying to smell her. Brandi grinned and put her hands on her hips. Then she slowly turned. When she fully made a circle so Jason could take in her new look, she saw Jazz and Desmon gripping Jason’s arms as if they were barely holding him back.
Jason growled, a low, dangerous wolf growl that made Brandi tingle in all the right places.
“Looking too good,” Jazz called out. “Couldn’t you have bought her something baggy and hideous, Roni?”
“Nope,” Roni said with a broad smile. “What’s wrong, Jason? See something you like? Did you notice that your mate’s got big boobs? Don’t they look nice all pushed up and getting some sunshine?”
“Yeah, baby.” Jazz laughed as he eyed Jason. “Give you any ideas?”
Jason snarled and tried to break out of the alphas’ hold. He didn’t get far, and his gaze locked on Brandi. “If you like that bra, you better
take it off before I’m allowed to touch you.”
She laughed. “Thanks for the warning this time. I’d like to have at least one bra that isn’t torn up.”
“I’m coming. Don’t argue,” Roni yelled from behind her. “I’m locked and loaded for a fight and I can go in with her in case someone slips past you.”
Desmon just nodded. “Thanks, Roni.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Jason took another long, cooling breath. “That makes me feel better.”
Roni held up a hand to the men, and then led Brandi to her black truck. She tossed the duffle bag in the back and then both of them climbed in. Roni drove. They listened to the radio mostly, and exchanged some girl talk, which was nice after being surrounded by nothing but men for almost a week. The drive was long, but Roni drove faster than the speed limit. Desmon’s SUV was behind them and Roni pointed out a pair of motorcycles also following. She told Brandi they were pack.
When they finally got to her place, Roni parked and Desmon pulled around the street rather than follow her into the parking garage. The guys on the motorcycles went in the opposite direction, and something about being so far from Jason made Brandi’s chest hurt.
She felt lonely, even knowing he was just around the corner, and she was glad she had Roni with her.
When they got to her apartment, Brandi unlocked the door and led Roni inside. Roni dropped her duffle bag on the floor, and then whistled as she looked around. “Whoa, nice place.”
Brandi shrugged. “I saved and bought each piece. It’s been a work in progress.”
“I’m scared to touch anything.” Roni looked at the entryway table in the foyer. “Jason obviously hasn’t been to your place, has he?”
Brandi shook her head. “No, why?”
Roni turned and faced Brandi, looking uncertain all of a sudden. “You’re high class. Have you met Jason or seen his place? He’s basics to the fullest.”
Brandi glanced around her apartment. She had pristine white carpet. Her couches were Victorian. Her coffee table and end table were replicas of eighteenth-century Chippendales. She had a few tapestries on the walls, but they were replicas too. She couldn’t afford the real things. Those could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on their condition.
“What is it you do for a living?” Roni was still eyeing her hesitantly.
“I’m a self-employed accountant.”
Roni just arched an eyebrow at Brandi. “I see.”
Brandi frowned. “What?”
“Does Jason know you make good money?”
“Not really that good. I only cleared eighty thousand last year. I just live alone and have minimal expenses.”
Roni let out a snort of disbelief. “I made thirty-two last year. Jason probably doesn’t make much more. He’s pack paid. Hollow Mountain doesn’t have any big companies.”
Brandi looked around her apartment again. “I like Jason’s cabin better. None of this matters, and he told me he’d like me to stay home and have kids. I could do that and cut my hours down to part time. I always wanted to have kids. Being a stay-at-home mom sounds wonderful.”
“I guess.” Roni shrugged. “Just as long as you’re happy. So relax. I’ll guard the door.”
“I have some calls to make. I need to cancel the six credit cards in my wallet and handle some other banking stuff. I don’t like that my purse was unattended for all that time. Luckily, I don’t carry checks, and I have fraud protection either way. I should’ve done it at Jason’s, but he kept distracting me.”
“Six!” Roni gasped. “You have six credit cards? Geez, girl, how much debt are you in? Maybe you should tell Jason you just put him in the poor house.”
“I carry zero balances. Every month I pay them off.”
“Wow, it’s nice to be you.” Roni shook her head. “If I had six credit cards, I’d be in debt up to my eyebrows.”
Brandi snorted with amusement and walked to her bedroom. She eyed her room. It was Victorian too, done in pinks and white. Very girly. She knew without a doubt that Jason would hate it. She walked to her desk, pulled her laptop out of the bag she brought with her, and started making calls. In minutes, she was caught up in contacting her credit card companies and her bank. She also placed a call to the apartment manager and asked the woman to have her locks changed immediately.
Brandi’s cell beeped while she sat on hold. She hung up on the credit card company without hesitating when she saw it was Jason. “Are you okay?”
“Hi, darlin’. What are you doing in there? Are you naked?”
“Not likely with Roni here.”
Jason laughed. “I wanted to tell you heads-up. Company pulled in at the back of the building. Lock your doors and keep your head down.”
He hung up before she could respond.
Brandi’s heart pounded. She sat there stunned for a moment when she realized this was really happening, then she ran out of her room. Roni was gripping a shotgun. A handgun sat on the entry hall table as she stood by the door, squinting out the peephole.
“That was Jason. He said we have company in the back and to lock everything down. We’re supposed to keep our heads down.”
“Des called me too.” Roni nodded. “Go lock yourself in the bathroom. It’s not near any exterior walls. Huddle in the tub. If bullets fly, that’s where you’ll be safest.”
“What about my neighbors?”
“I doubt a bullet will ever be fired. Wolves like to keep things physical with hand-to-claw combat.”
“Shit.” Brandi sighed, knowing she couldn’t leave this woman to fight her battles for her. “Do you need help? Do you want me to hold the gun? It’s point and fire, right?”
Roni chuckled. “If anyone gets to this door past your mate, I’d be shocked. I’m just here because I was bored. I wasn’t working today. Go in the bathroom. Maybe you can pack up some of your stuff while you’re in there. I have a feeling Jason is going to see this place and want to leave fast. It kind of reminds me of a museum.”
Chapter Fourteen
Since the moment Roni’s black truck pulled into the parking garage, Jason’s entire body had been tense. He was wound so tight, he jerked and growled at Jazz when the alpha touched Jason’s shoulder to point out two white vans pulling into the lot behind Brandi’s building.
Jazz held up his hands at Jason’s show of aggression, for once not teasing as he said, “Relax. I get it, okay? We’ll get this done and you’ll be back with her.”
Jason nodded, thinking of Jazz and his situation. Before now he’d never fully understood what it was like for Jazz to lose his perspective mate as a teenager. Jazz hid the pain with humor, but the wolves in their pack all knew he had never recovered.
Brandi had changed Jason. Now he truly knew what it was like to have a woman he would do anything for. Even if their relationship was still new, Jason would tear down entire empires to protect his mate without thinking. The fact that she was human made it so much more difficult. It physically hurt knowing how vulnerable she was to the anger of wolves.
To lose her…
Jason shuddered, hoping he never knew that loss like Jazz did. He couldn’t even comprehend a pain like that.
“Hey, don’t worry, big wolf, we’ll make sure she’s safe.” Jazz reached back from his seat next to Desmon and grabbed his shoulder reassuringly. “I promise. You’re not losing your mate, Jason.”
“We got your back,” Desmon added as he turned around from the driver’s seat and gave him a hard look. “We’re taking these bastards down. Call Brandi, give her a heads-up, and then let’s do this.”
“Keep it light,” Jazz warned. “Don’t be growling at her and scaring her for no reason.”
So, Jason called Brandi. He kept it light like Jazz suggested, but his body was still coiled tight as he watched the other wolves get out of the vans. They weren’t well-kept wolves, like the ones in his pack. Their clothes were ragged, and they were all lean, with scraggly hair. It didn’t make Jason feel better.
Jason went ahead and hung up with Brandi in case she could hear the background conversation. These wolves barely looked human, and they were in the city. Some Weres lost complete touch of their humanity, choosing instead to fully embrace their animalistic sides. The results were terrifying, not just for humans but for Weres too.
Packs this blatantly obvious risked exposing them all.
Jason grabbed the door handle, but Jazz reached out to stop him once more. “Hold on.”
Jason growled, low and dangerous. “They’re heading for her building.”
He could smell the wolves, their scent filthy, deadly and primal. Jason didn’t want them anywhere near Brandi. It was going to take extreme restraint to capture rather than kill.
“Look.” Desmon tilted his head towards the parking lot. “Bad timing.”
A police car had pulled up next to one of the vans. They couldn’t very well attack five rabid Weres in front of a human police officer.
“Call Miles,” Desmon said to Jazz. “Make sure they hold off until we can see what this cop’s doing.”
“Sure,” Jazz said, and then sniffed as the car door to the police vehicle opened. A middle-aged man got out, dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt instead of a uniform, but that wasn’t what was most noticeable. “Christ, that cologne that cop’s wearing. He reeks. There’s no way human women like that.”
“They do, though.” Desmon shrugged. “Go to a human bar sometime. All the men smell like that and they’re getting dates.”
Jason watched the five wolves stalk towards the back of the building in typical pack formation. He growled again. “Fuck the cop; we’re letting them get to her.”
“We won’t let them hurt her,” Desmon said calmly to Jason while Jazz made the phone call to the other pack members waiting in the front. “We can’t risk exposing ourselves to human law enforcement.” He turned back to Jazz. “Did they disable all the cameras on the building?”