Still, even though he was not going to bend her over and have her, he found himself inching closer, leaning into her wild red hair as he inhaled. “I smell Farkas on you,” Alarick whispered. His hands had a mind of their own, moving to hold her hips. He stood behind her, she between him and the desk.
“You should,” Maia said. “If you didn’t, I’d be worried about you.” She turned, spinning to face him. “We may have gotten frisky in one of the changing rooms.” Her admission was so simple, so easy, it took Alarick all his strength not to laugh.
“A changing room? You? I don’t know if I believe you,” Alarick said, his nose grazing hers. Why did Maia make it so hard to control his inner wolf? Why did he want to shift right here and claim her? Well, he knew why, of course, but he was not the kind of man who let his wolfish instincts take over. Maia brought it out of him, made him feel more…
More alpha-like.
That was most definitely not something Alarick would ever admit out loud.
“You’re very loud, from what I remember,” he whispered, moving his lips to her ear. “How was my beta?” Alarick didn’t care so much about how Farkas was, only how Maia felt, how she liked it. It was ingrained into every shifter’s head as they grew up that if they ever had an official mate, they’d have to learn to share. There was not a hint of jealousy inside him. If anything, it made him want her more.
“We were a little rushed,” Maia whispered back, running her hands down his chest. “Ask me again after I’ve had him in a more relaxed setting.” Her full lips curved into a smile, and she leaned against him, her hands stopping when they swept over the outline on his pants. Chuckling, she pulled away. “Tsk, tsk, Alarick. Here I thought you brought me here for a nametag, but instead it looks like you just want me to bend over.”
Letting out a soft growl from his chest, he agreed, “You’re right.” Alarick gave her a quick peck on the cheek before stepping back, much to the sadness of his dick and the annoyance of his inner wolf. Both screamed for Maia, for her attention and her touch, for her sex-crazed cries and that wondrous wet pussy.
He would have to stay in the office for a while, until he got his beast and his cock under control.
Alarick moved to the desk, reaching in the bottom drawer and retrieving a small box of unused tags. Red and white, about two inches long and one inch from the top to the bottom, the nametags were of the most generic variety. Hi my name is…and then a line where workers had to write their names in permanent marker. A bigger business might’ve been able to get pre-printed tags, but this was a small diner in a small town in the American Midwest. If he was in it for the money, he was in the wrong place.
He had to adjust himself as he started searching for the black marker. Alarick knew he put the sharpie somewhere on his desk; he moved papers around, looking under them, about to say a swear word when he happened to glance to Maia, who bent over to pick something up. When she stood straight, her slender fingers gripped the marker he was looking for.
“On the floor,” she said with a smile. “Maybe a little organization would do you good, Alarick.”
God, he did love the way she said his name. He also loved the way she writhed beneath him, how snug she felt around him, but those thoughts should not be inside his head, otherwise his dick would never soften and he’d never be able to leave the backroom.
“Yeah, yeah,” Alarick said, taking the sharpie from her. “Keep it to yourself.”
She only laughed.
Her laugh was so entrancing, so luring, he had to block it out as he scribbled her name on the tag. Alarick capped the marker and handed her the nametag, watching as she started to scrutinize it immediately.
“It looks like you wrote Mala. You should’ve let me write my own name, because my handwriting is a lot better than yours,” Maia said with a shrug, working to put the pin in her shirt. “No offense, dear alpha.”
Alarick chuckled. “Get out of here. Have Farkas show you the ropes—and please be nice to Violet. She’s expecting a fight with you, can’t imagine why.”
She set a hand on her hip. “And what will you be doing?”
Spreading his legs, he motioned to his still very prominent erection. “I will be hiding back here until this goes away.” He could think of a few ways it would disappear faster, but the longer they were back here together, the more suspect they became. If Violet ever found out that Maia and Alarick had fucked in the backroom, he would never hear the end of it. Roy would probably die of laughter.
Maia’s full lips pulled into a frown. “Oh, you poor thing. It must be so hard to be a man.” Whether she mocked him because men had it easier or because she made a pun, he couldn’t say.
All Alarick did was wave her off. He had no energy to give her a comeback. Maia, as wild and free as she was, would be the death of him.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Maia
Violet actually wasn’t so bad, after Maia had spent a good fifteen minutes assuring her she wasn’t here to steal her job or take her place. Violet’s position and her overall welfare would remain as they were, regardless of whether or not Maia kept working at the diner. For a girl who seemed like a little punk, Violet was passionate about the things that counted.
The lunch rush, as everyone called it, consisted of constant waiting on the tables, and there was always a new group waiting to be seated. Every seat in the diner was full until two in the afternoon, when things died down. People went back to their jobs, their homes to get ready for the kids or dinner. Dinner was actually slower than lunch, which surprised her, sort of. These people wanting home-cooked meals for dinner did not surprise her so much.
Alarick told her that she could leave at five, which seemed to placate Violet somewhat, for the girl worked until close. From what she said, she worked every day the diner was open, open till close, because she had nothing else to do, nowhere else to go and bills to pay. She was eighteen and alone in the world, relying on a minimum wage job.
It was when the diner was empty, while Violet and Maia worked to wipe down the tables and refill the condiments at each of them, that Violet said, “So. Running from your ex, huh?”
Maia hated the story the others had told the townies in the diner, but there was little she could do about it now. “Yeah,” she said, spraying down one of the booths. Alarick and Farkas were busy talking to Roy behind the counter, so she could rely on neither of them for help. She hoped whatever she’d say would match what they’d already said. “He’s…” Well, dead, but she couldn’t say that. “Not a good guy.”
Nodding, Violet said, “I get that, but to me, it’s still weird that you barreled out of here when Alarick walked in. You didn’t really think your ex sent him like a bounty hunter after you, did you?”
What did Violet want her to say? Yeah, the story the guys told everyone was a big fat lie, I’m really here because I murdered my ex and am trying to hide from my old pack? Oh, and by the way, I’m a wolf shifter?
No. Maia would never say that. Partly because Violet was human, and shifters and human affairs rarely mixed, and also partly because the guys didn’t know that she’d killed Zak. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell them; she was still afraid of what they might think.
So Maia softly spoke, hoping she sounded genuinely frazzled, “You never know what you’ll think in a situation like that until you’re there, in one. Your mind goes to weird places.”
Violet froze, her hands nearly dropping the glass ketchup jars she was in the process of combining. “That’s…true.” Her eyes were a lively green, bright and yet…there was something behind their color, a deep sadness that Maia recognized, even though the girl tried to hide it behind all that makeup and her fake tough girl persona.
Violet really wasn’t a bad person. She was just a girl trying to get by and deal with the shit her life had thrown at her.
The girl forced out a laugh. “I get it. I never thought I’d be stuck in a dead end town, working my ass off, but here I am, all because that no good, two-timin
g bitch.” Violet let out a harsh sigh. “I don’t know if she was really two-timing me. I just say that to help me feel better. So far, it hasn’t worked.”
Realizing that this might be the only way to deflect the attention off of herself, Maia said, “You know, maybe you should try taking a day off—” Violet instantly shot her a suspicious expression. “—not so I can take your place, but so you can relax. If you’ve been here nearly every day since you left home with your ex, you need a day off. You need to have some fun. All work and no play makes life suck.”
That wasn’t exactly the saying, but Maia couldn’t remember it. Was it from a movie? Her old pack had never been much for entertainment like that. Physical activities, yes. There was no sport, no game that the pack would turn down. But TV shows, movies, books? They were the things made by humans, for humans.
Violet shook her head. “Don’t have a car, and anything fun is at least two towns over.” She chuckled once, adding, “Never thought I’d crave going to a Walmart.”
“We could all hop in Alarick’s truck and go to the movies or something,” Maia suggested, not even sure why she suggested it in the first place. Having an acquaintance who was a human was bad enough; she didn’t need a human friend. When Violet only stared at her, she added, “Or not. Just a suggestion, please don’t bite my head off.”
As if. If anyone could bite the other’s head off, it was Maia.
“Sorry, it’s just…” Violet shook her head. “You’re not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know. Apparently I’m not good at judging people, so.” Violet shrugged, and as she walked back through the diner, probably to retrieve a few more bottles of ketchup to replace the ones she combined, she called out to Alarick, “Fine. You can keep her.”
That got the group of men to laugh, right as a customer walked in. Maia handled it like a pro, seating them and taking their orders, dodging all the curious questions they threw at her when she brought them their drinks. Working here seemed like it might be fun.
That, or she’d feel like ripping off the curious customers’ heads, but she was fairly sure she’d be able to hold back.
As she went to put their order in, also putting Roy back to work, she was stopped by Alarick and Farkas. One of them looked amused, the other worried. One guess as to who looked like he was about to laugh.
“Did I hear you right?” Farkas smiled. “Are we going on a group date with Violet?”
Violet was in the process of sweeping behind the counter, pausing to glare at him. “In your dreams, Farkas. If I was going on a date, it’d be with her and not with you.” She glanced to Alarick. “And definitely not you, no offense.” She went back to sweeping, as if she didn’t just insult the both of them.
“I am kind of insulted,” Alarick huffed, though Maia could tell he wasn’t upset in the slightest. Everyone in the diner got along. They worked well together, joked around constantly. It was a friendly atmosphere, after she’d gotten on Violet’s good side.
Honestly, it was the kind of place Maia could imagine staying at.
That…that was not something she’d ever thought she’d believe when she first stepped foot in the fields surrounding town. She’d walked from the next town over overnight—more like ran. Maia had thought this town would be a good place to lay low before moving on, because who in their right mind would want to stay in a small town like this?
Her, apparently.
And on top of that, not only did she want to stay in this homey town, but she was also part of a pack, and she’d had sex with two of its members just because she’d wanted to. Both of them had held their wolves back. She was still unclaimed when it came to her wolf, but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered—would it be an awful thing to let Alarick claim her? To belong to the pack in more ways than one?
Alarick went on, “Anyone would be lucky to go on a date with me. I can be a gentleman—”
Farkas was unimpressed. “I think your idea of gentleman and my idea of it are two entirely different things. Maia, if you had to pick one of us, which one?” A sly grin spread across his face. “I mean, of course, which one of us is more gentlemanly?” Just from the way he spoke the final word, she knew gentlemanly was the last thing he meant.
Maia waited until Violet laughed and went around the back, leaving her with Farkas and Alaric behind the counter. She kept her voice low so the seated customers wouldn’t hear, “I think, if I’m going to choose between you, it should be fair, meaning I can’t just choose between you and Alarick.” She waited for it to sink in.
“You can’t choose Grimm. He pushed—” Farkas stopped when Violet rounded the corner, carrying a box of napkins. “—you into wearing those pants. I tried to argue against it, because with your complexion, you’d look much better in…”
“She’s teasing you,” Alarick said.
“Huh. How rude.”
Maia laughed. “Am I?” She let them think on it, though she wasn’t sure if she was only teasing or not. Really, before she went ahead of herself and cozied up to this place, logic would only dictate that she had to be with the remaining member of their pack. To make any sort of decision before then would only be foolish.
To think, before these guys, Maia never would’ve ever had a thought like that. Thinking about sleeping with any wolf while asking for their wolves to remain separate would’ve been akin to asking for the moon. It wasn’t done. Zak would’ve said it was impossible. Look who’s knee-deep in impossible now.
Yeah, that didn’t make sense, but Maia didn’t care.
She didn’t care because her decision was made. She would get off before the others, tell Farkas she could walk home—she was a freaking wolf, her sense of direction was pretty damn good—and she’d meet Grimm there. Then she would let things fall wherever they may.
Was she biting off a bit more than she could chew? Maybe, but other than the wall incident, Grimm had been nothing but quiet. He’d even shown a kind side when he showed her what he did when he got anxious. Maia wasn’t certain if she’d say she trusted him, but…she was willing to overlook his first impression.
Once it was decided, Maia bounced from task to task, happily taking customers’ orders. After today, she’d know. Granted, not much time had passed, but really, being a wolf, it was a miracle she’d held out for as long as she did. Wolves were instinct animals, they connected fast, formed the packbond more quickly than humans would ever understand.
Maia had found her pack, finally, after all this time. After all those years of keeping to herself in Jackson’s pack, doing her best to keep Zak’s greedy hands at bay. After tearing her half-turned claws through Zak’s neck and running in fear of revenge, she’d finally found where she belonged.
She would not give this place, these men, up.
Chapter Twenty-Six – Grimm
Alanna Monrose was a pretty enough woman. In her thirties with bright blonde hair, an ashy color instead of yellow, with blue eyes that twinkled like sapphires in the sun that always seemed to shine over the town. She currently wore a very tight and low-cut shirt, exposing most of her cleavage, cleavage which Grimm was certain made her husband very happy. What her husband would not be happy with, however, was the way she leaned back on her sedan’s hood, puffing out her chest and crossing her ankles, which were bare, since she wore the smallest jean shorts known to mankind.
“Thank you so much, Grimm,” Alanna went on, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. Her face was mostly hidden behind makeup—it wasn’t as if Grimm had anything against makeup. More like something against the woman wearing it.
Alanna, try as she might, was not his type. For many reasons.
Grimm only nodded to her, using a rag to wipe off the grease and oil on his hands. His shirt, his pants—they were all dirty. His skin was covered in sweat, and he was sure he smelled a bit, it’s what often happened since he had no shop of his own and had to do everything on their driveway, but it did not det
er her at all.
If anything, it made her giggle harder as she cocked an ankle, saying, “If only Greg was as good with cars as you.” She practically purred as she spoke. Alanna had sat and watched him the whole time, inviting herself inside the house multiple times for a glass of water, which now sat emptied on the driveway, its rim full of lipstick kisses.
He wanted to say that her husband could’ve picked her up, but the woman was ahead of him, saying, “Greg’s out of town on business, so I was stuck here, watching you work.” She smiled, and the smile did absolutely nothing for him. “Not that I’m complaining, of course, because you are one fine man to watch.”
Alanna went to her purse, which she held against her side, digging in for her wallet. “How much do I owe you?” As she asked the question, a tube of lipstick fell out, rolling to the grass off the driveway’s pavement. “Oh, silly me.” She went to pick it up, turning her body so Grimm could see more than he ever wanted to as she bent over.
Mrs. Alanna Monrose currently wore a bright yellow thong, its straps hiking up her hips with the movement. Straightening herself out, she gave him a flirty smile, flashing her set of pearly white teeth.
Any human man would’ve bent to her will, if they had no willpower of their own. Grimm knew this, and maybe that was why he felt stiff around her. He was not a human male; her wiles did not work on him as they would’ve someone else. Even if Maia had never entered his life, he would not give Alanna second glance—not in the way she tried for, at least.
“Four hundred,” he said. Usually he would charge her a bit less, but Grimm wasn’t feeling nice at the moment. He was tired of her flirtatious attitude. Alanna was usually the center of town gossip; he would not join her. He didn’t so much care about his reputation as he did Alarick’s and Farkas’s. Grimm cared more for them than he did himself. To do anything with Alanna, even if he found her attractive, which he did not, would be to embarrass the both of them.
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