“Sorry about that.” Garrett’s eyes ran over her face, down her body in dry clothes, and to her bare feet.
“Yes, you will be,” Janna countered, a warning in her gaze. When no one said anything, Janna looked at all four men. “Who’s going to die and does that have anything to do with me?”
“Tomorrow is the blood moon,” Jonah answered when no one else did. “Whoever marked you is hunting you as we stand here. This is serious, Janna.”
“I know it’s serious, Jonah.” She looked at the man who was her father, but such a stranger to her. She didn’t know what to feel for him.
“I’ve never seen a Reaping, but obviously, they don’t know she’s a shifter, or perhaps they do. Who knows?” Marcus broke in, his eyes going to Janna for an answer.
“I don’t know.” Janna shrugged, not wanting them to see how nervous she really was. She was trying to be as strong as her mom had been. “But the man who knew Jonah and my mother was more focused on her while his son was carving me up.”
Garrett growled at her words, his body going tense, yet he didn’t say a word.
“From what I can remember, I really don’t think he knew I was your daughter, at least I don’t recall him saying that.” Janna frowned. “I wish I paid more attention, but watching my mother die and being…” She didn’t finish, just shook her head while turning away to take a minute to compose.
Taking her in his arms, Garrett held her tightly to his side, and it felt so right. “We’ve been through this before.” Garrett’s voice was even, offering her comfort.
“Sure have.” Marcus nodded, his eyes narrowing. “I’ll go talk to the rest and get things set up.”
Hunter was staring at the ground when he suddenly looked up. “If anything happens, which it won’t because we won’t let it, but if it does, all you have to do is shift. They won’t know what the hell is going on.”
Janna bit her lip, shifting nervously. “I’ve uhm…” She looked up at Garrett.
“She’s never shifted,” Garrett finished for her, his arm tightening around her back.
“Never?” Marcus was looking at her as if she was some kind of freak.
“Why the hell not?” Hunter was also looking at her, but with shock. “You have to shift, Janna. It’s just…unshifter like.”
Everyone gapped at Hunter who lifted his hands. “Well, it is.”
“I’ve never shifted because I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Janna explained, trying not to sound so defensive, but it was hard.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you anything?” Marcus questioned, his eyes going from Janna to Garrett.
“No, all I knew is that I had this beast…inside me.” Janna shrugged as she looked to Jonah. “She knew what you were, but that’s about it. When I started having problems at night with not sleeping and a feeling something was inside me, that’s when my mom told me everything.”
“Except who I was, because she was still trying to protect me.” Jonah didn’t form the sentence as a question. It was stated as a fact.
“Holy hell, this is complicated.” Hunter shook his head. “Well, one thing is for sure, you must be one strong woman to be able to hold your wolf back.”
“I fight it every day and it’s getting harder and harder to hold it back,” she admitted. Finally she felt she was with people who could help her. Feeling Garrett’s tight hold on her shoulders, confirmed it.
Hunter’s attention swung toward Jonah. “You know, old man, if I didn’t respect you like I do, I’d beat the living shit out of you,” he sneered, anger shading his eyes.
“He didn’t know.” Janna surprised herself by sticking up for Jonah.
“But he could have made sure,” Marcus added, glaring at Jonah.
“You guys go round up everyone and let them know what’s going on, and to be on alert.” Garrett came to Jonah’s rescue, breaking the tension and moving them into action.
Both Hunter and Marcus grunted as they turned to leave. Janna glanced over at Jonah who was staring at the ground, his hands in his pockets. She could actually feel the remorse and guilt coming off him in waves. Letting go of Garrett she walked up to him. His gaze slowly rose from the ground to meet hers.
Janna looked deeply into Jonah’s eyes, actually feeling the regret reflected so intensely. “I forgive you,” Janna said, her voice strong with meaning. “My mother loved you and because of that, I can forgive. Maybe one day, we can become friends.”
Jonah’s face was emotionless, but his eyes swirled with unshed tears. Without saying a word, he grabbed her in a bruising grip, hugging her tightly. The breath hissed out of her, but she wrapped her arms around him and just as she was feeling comfortable in her father’s arms, he pulled away, turned and left.
Rubbing her sore ribs, she watched her father walk away. She felt Garrett walk up silently behind her and felt the sudden urge to turn into him. Her feelings shocked her to the core. How could she seek comfort from a man she didn’t even know? Yet his comfort was what she wanted more than anything. Biting her lip to keep her chin from trembling with emotion, she wrapped her arms around herself instead, not wanting to lose her cool in front of Garrett.
“Are you okay?” His deep voice was so close.
Closing her eyes tightly, she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered the lie. She wasn’t fine and she honestly didn’t think she would ever be fine. She was a shifter who had never shifted. Her mother, who was human, was dead. She’d just met her father who was a shifter; she was being hunted for something called a Reaping, and that wasn’t really the worst of it. She wanted nothing more than to turn to the man behind her, ask him to take her into the house, and make her forget everything. It was so wrong because he was a stranger, but she was so close to doing just that. She couldn’t lie to herself. Garrett Foster was in her blood and it terrified her.
“Don’t lie to me.” He turned her around, tilting her face up to his. When she wouldn’t look at him, he leaned his face closer to her. “I know we just met, but you can trust me, Janna.”
Janna stepped away from him, raising her hands from her sides in frustration. “And that’s the problem.”
“What?” Garrett looked confused. “Trusting me?”
“No.” She sighed, dropping her arms and really looking at him. “We just met and trusting you really isn’t the issue.”
“What is the issue?” His voice was deep and masculine. His eyes promised things that she wanted to explore.
Garrett’s persistence in knowing what was bothering her shocked her. The only person who ever really cared was her mom. Guys just wanted to get her in their bed. She was a magnet for dirt bags, but Garrett was different. At least, she thought he was. She had been wrong about guys in the past.
“I don’t understand…anything,” she finally said. When he remained quiet, she figured she might as well let it loose and find out exactly what kind of man Garrett really was. “But most of all, I don’t understand the feelings I have for you. I don’t know you at all, yet everything about you draws me in.”
A half-grin formed across his lips, his eyes darkening as he watched her. “You want me.” His growl wasn’t a question; it was a fact he more or less threw in her face.
The half-grin pissed her off. “You’re an asshole,” she spat out before turning to stomp away, but he stopped her.
“What you’re feeling is normal.” Garrett smiled down at her, not upset at all by being called an asshole.
“Save it, Garrett.” Janna frowned. “It’s not normal. It’s like I crave you.”
“Normal.” Garrett nodded the one word response, which seemed to piss her off even more. He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from walking. “You were raised a human, but you are shifter. Shifters are different in so many ways, especially with relationships. So what you are feeling is normal and I know this because I feel the same about you.”
“But you’re a guy,” Janna replied as if that explained everything.
“And what does that mean?” he asked
confused.
“It means you’ll go after anything with…boobs.” Janna pointed at hers rolling her eyes. “I’m a girl, which means I’m a slut if I just met you and I put out.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Garrett looked like he was either ready to laugh or explode.
“I’m talking about screwing you, dammit!” Janna said, then her eyes popped open wide in surprise at what she just said, but it was the young voice behind her that made her mouth drop open as wide.
“Why would you want to screw Garrett?” Sam’s small voice broke through the awkward silence. “He’s a nice guy.”
CHAPTER 10
Sam walking up on them was a blessing because the hole she had been digging with Garrett just kept getting deeper and deeper. Thank God, Sam was too young to know what she had meant about screwing Garrett.
“Come on, Ja…Janna.” Sam gripped her hand tighter as he pulled her around Garrett’s house. “Mo…mol…lly is throwing a party and wants to meet you.”
“Slow down, speedy.” Janna grinned at his excitement.
Sam did slow down as he looked up at her. “Are you going to stay?”
And wasn’t that the question of the day. “I’m not sure, Sam.” She didn’t want to lie to him. She really wasn’t sure. Her beast growled at her answer, but it wasn’t up to her damn beast, or wolf, or whatever the hell was inside her. She could hear Garrett following close behind them as they crossed the street heading toward Molly’s.
“I don’t want yo…you to go.” Sam’s voice cracked.
“Don’t you like it here?” Janna stopped, looking down at the little guy. “Are they treating you okay?”
“I like it and Molly is really nice.” Sam frowned, looking from Molly’s house back up at her. “But it would be bet…better if you stay.”
Her heart melted. Kneeling down, she brushed the hair out of Sam’s eyes. “Sam, I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I promise if I don’t stay, I will come back and visit you and Leda.”
She could see his little mind working through his eyes. “I wa…wa…want to go with you.”
That did it. Her heart not only melted, but she wanted to pull it out and hand it to the little guy because her heart belonged to him. “And I would love to have you with me, but Sam, I don’t know what’s going on or where I’m going. You are safe here and I can tell you’ve already made friends.” Glancing over toward Molly’s, where a large group of people were gathered, she saw a little boy around Sam’s age waving him over impatiently. “See, your little friend there would be upset if you left.”
Sam also looked at his friend. “That’s Peter. He listens to everything I say. I’m a year ol…ol…older than him.”
“See, he needs you to show him the ropes since you’re older.” Janna fake punched Sam in the chin.
Sam acted like she really punched him, falling back dramatically, then he did the same to her. It was something they had started doing on their travels here. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Plus Le…Le…Leda would be mad if we had to leave. She’s has a big old cr…cr…crush on Hunter.” He snickered, then gagged. “She gets all weird when he’s around.”
Janna looked up at Garrett who still stood silently behind them, watching and listening to everything. He also wore a large frown on his face. “Hunter’s too old for Leda.” She told Garrett, who continued to frown down at her without saying a word.
“Come on, Sam.” Peter ran up, grabbing Sam’s arm. “Molly said we were going to play some games when all the kids got here.”
“Okay, Peter.” Sam sighed, and then thumbed toward Peter. “Kids.”
Janna tried so hard not to laugh. Sam was a hoot and a half. She still didn’t know what happened with their parents because both were tight lipped whenever she tried to ask about them. But by the way they acted whenever their parents were brought up, she knew it wasn’t good. It was going to break her heart if she had to leave them. “Well then, we better go.” Standing, she smiled when both Sam and Peter took her hand, hurrying to where Molly and some other women stood talking.
“I finally got her,” Sam said as they walked up to the group. “She wanted to screw Garrett, but I stopped her.”
Everything went dead silent, not even a bird chirp. All eyes went to Janna and then Garrett. She was mortified, absolutely mortified.
“What?” Sam looked at around at everyone, then pointed to Garrett. “I told her not to ‘cause he’s a nice guy and that would probably hurt.”
Hunter was the first to laugh and soon everyone was laughing to the point it was almost deafening. She even heard Garrett chuckling behind her and wanted to die, no…she wanted to kill him and then die.
“Sam, you and Peter go play.” An older heavyset woman came up, shooing Sam and Peter along. She looked up at Janna. “I’m Molly. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Janna tried to smile, but couldn’t wipe the mortified look off her face. “It’s nice to meet you also, Molly.” She nodded. “Thank you for taking in Leda and Sam.”
“It’s no problem at all. They’re good kids,” she replied, glancing over at where Leda was sitting with another girl. “But I can’t get anything out of them about their parents.”
Garrett walked past them toward his brothers without saying a word to either woman. Janna quickly glanced at him then away before looking at Molly. “Ah, no. They clam up tight when I try to talk to them about their parents.”
“He has that effect on all women.” Molly patted her on the shoulder. “Come on over with the girls.”
Frowning, Janna followed, knowing her face was beet red. “Sam misunderstood.” Was the only thing she could think to say. Her mouth got her in trouble so much, she just needed to become a mute and not say anything ever again.
Molly laughed loudly, but didn’t comment on that further. Instead, she introduced Janna to the rest of the women. “I was just telling Janna that the Foster boys have a certain affect on all the women here.”
The women nodded, except for Roxy who was staring at Janna. “Well, I won’t be here long so…”
“The way Garrett keeps staring at you, I think you might be here longer than you expect.” Another woman, whose name Janna couldn’t remember because she was still in deep mortification and nothing was penetrating her brain, grinned at her knowingly.
Janna glanced his way and sure enough, he was staring at her with that same frown on his face. His eyes narrowed as if seeing into her soul. It was unnerving the way that man made her feel. Looking away quickly, her eyes found Roxy who turned and walked away. Sighing, Janna stood listening to the other women talk, not feeling a part of their group at all, but they weren’t being rude.
“Got your car fixed.” Dell walked over dropping the keys into her hands. “It should run like a well-oiled beauty.”
Stuffing the keys in her pocket, Janna grinned. “Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?”
Dell’s eyes lit up as his grin spread, but then he also glanced at Garrett. “No charge.” He gave her another grin, but this was full of disappointment as he walked away.
Well, that wasn’t going to do. She was going to give Dell some money whether he wanted it or not. She didn’t take to charity.
As she made small talk with the women, her eyes kept going to Roxy who stood alone watching the kids play. With a sigh, she headed toward the woman.
“Hey,” Janna said, stopping to watch as Sam and Peter played egg toss.
Roxy looked startled, but replied, “Hey.”
Well, this wasn’t awkward. “Listen, Roxy, I’m really sorry about last night. But I promise you nothing happened between me and Garrett.” She looked over at the beautiful redhead and honestly couldn’t understand why Garrett wasn’t pursuing this woman. She was gorgeous and seemed sweet. “And I’ll be leaving soon.”
“I don’t have a chance with Garrett,” Roxy replied, glancing over at Janna shyly. “I don’t even know why I try.”
“Why do you think that?�
�� Janna asked, actually curious. She did have a smidge of jealously thinking of Roxy with Garrett, but she really did seem sweet. And who was she kidding, what woman wouldn’t want to be with Garrett?
“I’m human.” Roxy sighed, and then laughed at Janna’s shocked face. “Garrett saved me from my ex-husband who was dead set on killing me. He brought me back here and now I guess I have a hero worship thing going on.”
“How long have you been here?” Janna asked, before waving at Sam who had spotted her. He waved back as he jumped up and down in excitement.
“Over three months. Sam is so cute.” Roxy nodded toward Sam and shrugged. “I’m afraid to leave because if my ex finds me, I won’t be so lucky next time. Garrett and his brothers said I could stay here under their protection as long as I want.”
Janna turned her head slightly to look at the Foster brothers. They stood in serious conversation with other men. Her eyes fell on Marcus, who she had seen staring at Roxy. Rolling her eyes as her mind went into matchmaker mode, she decided to go for it. “You know there is a Foster brother who I heard has his eyes on you.” Checking out all the males standing around, Janna frowned. There really weren’t many of them.
Roxy also looked over at the men, a blush tinting her cheeks. “I seriously doubt that.” Roxy snorted.
Knowing why she said that, Janna shrugged. “My mother was human,” she replied, glancing over at Jonah who stood silently listening to Garrett. “And was deeply in love with a shifter.”
“So it’s true.” Roxy leaned against a tree. “Jonah is your father.”
Nodding, Janna waved at Sam again when he looked to make sure she was watching him. “So it’s not impossible. Why don’t you go talk to Marcus?”
“Marcus?” Roxy looked surprised.
“Well, I sure didn’t mean Hunter.” Janna laughed. “That boy’s eyes are on all the girls. Plus he wasn’t the one who got into a fight with Garrett over you.”
“What?” Roxy’s mouth opened wide.
Forbidden Hunger (Lee County Wolves Book 1) Page 7