by Lane, Jessie
Kent looked over at Adam’s quiet features and sighed. “Jenna, I don’t want anything from you. Hell, I just came to say that I was sorry for scaring you like that last night. You have nothing to fear from me. In fact, if you’d like it, I can request Capt. Nelson make us partners so you don’t have to worry about one of the other guys catching on to anything abnormal about you.”
Tipping her head to the side, she studied Kent. He appeared to be showing signs of genuine remorse. The question was, could she trust him? And did she actually want to? “Why would you do that, Kent?”
“We’ve all got our secrets Jenna.” Boy was he right about that, she thought to herself. “Whatever yours are, I respect them. I hate to see you so scared of the world though. Whatever you’ve got going on girl… maybe you should stand up to it. Maybe I can help you.”
Adam took that opportunity to cut Kent off. “You’re a wolf, Jenna. Where’s your pack?”
Her muscles tensed. It didn’t look as if Kent was going to be her problem. If she had a problem, it was going to come from the Alpha werewolf in front of her. Crossing her arms over her chest and keeping steady eye contact with him, she answered. “I have no pack.”
“I get that you don’t have a pack now, you’re a lone wolf, or you wouldn’t be here. You’d be safe on pack lands. What I mean is, what pack did you leave and why?” Adam’s amber eyes blazed with curiosity.
“I’ve never had a pack.”
Surprise flit over both men’s faces, but just then a scrape on the ground towards the street caught their attentions. They stood there quietly as the sound came closer until a hunched over wrinkled old man pushing a shopping cart filled with odds and ends started slowly crossing the entrance of the parking lot. The strong scent of unwashed body wafted over her nose. It didn’t take a genius to figure the guy was homeless. Taking a quick glance at Kent and Adam to make sure they hadn’t moved, Jenna walked over to man, stopping him with a hand on his arm. Digging into her back pocket, she pulled out a twenty and pushing it into his hands, Jenna told him to go get a decent meal on her. A tear slipped down his weathered cheek as he thanked her and started to push his cart away again.
Turning back to the two men, she found them watching her with rapt fascination. Adam took a slow step forward. “Perhaps this is not the best place for this kind of discussion, Jenna. Would you be willing to talk to me elsewhere? I promise you that I have no intentions of harming you.”
Alone with Adam? Now why did that knot her lower stomach muscles in all kinds of ways? His eyes twinkled with challenge waiting to see if she’d be bold enough to agree to talk with him where it wasn’t out in the open and safe. Her instincts told her that she was safe with Kent, not that she thought Adam would try to hurt her, but being in the vicinity of another wolf was stirring up what she was guessing were instinctual hungers that her inner wolf had managed to hold back all of these years. And her wolf was practically begging to come out and play with the dangerous Alpha now.
Not good.
Right?
These new feelings brought a painful awareness to how lonely her life truly was. Perhaps it was time to take a few gambles and pray for positive results.
“Kent, you said you got my duffel from the Captain?” He nodded his head. “Good. How about you hand it over and then the three of us can go somewhere and get some breakfast. I suppose havin’ a little talk never killed anyone. But let’s get something straight right now boys, if I even think that you guys are trying to screw me over somehow, I’ll show you just how accurate my aim actually is.” She said, giving pointed looks towards their itty bits to make her threat clear.
Kent laughter boomed across the lot. “Alright darlin’. Point taken.”
Adam snorted with amusement.
“Good. Now Kent, go get my damn bag. I feel naked without my duty weapon. I’m going to get my bike into the back of my truck, and then you can lead us to some place to eat.”
Adam’s eyes crinkled with laughter. “How can you feel naked when you have two guns already?”
Shooting him a have-you-lost-your-flippin’-mind look, she retorted, “A girl can never have enough guns. Never.”
He followed her as she rolled her bike across the lot to the back of the truck, pulling the tailgate down for her. Jenna watched him with curious eyes as he hopped up onto the bed of her truck, spreading the all weather blankets out across the bottom of it. Once he was done he held out his hands waiting. “Pass her up. I’ll help you secure it.”
After lifting the back up to Adam, he then gently laid it down on the blankets. Obviously, he figured out she had them there so the bike wouldn’t get scratched during transit. As they secured it down with cinch straps, Kent pulled up in his dark blue Dodge Charger and parked it behind her truck. Getting out, he handed over her bag then watched as she tossed it in the passenger side of the truck, before shutting the door. The roar of a motorcycle engine vibrated through the lot as Adam pulled close to them and waited to move out.
As she hopped in behind the driver’s wheel, her brain started questioning the sanity of this idea. Whether she liked it or not, part of her had realized that she had reached a point in life in which she was tired of hiding. Tired of being so lonely. It didn’t mean she was ready to bare her soul to these two, but she was ready to get to know some of the supernatural community that she had stayed separate from for so long. Perhaps, if she learned enough, then she could finally get answers about her father that Mama would never give. Maybe even find Uncle Owen, who had not contacted her in close to six years. And maybe… for once… she’d find someone who understood.
*****
Walking into the Waffle House behind Kent and Adam, Jenna’s stomach was doing flips. Actually, forget flips. Her stomach was trying to impersonate Gabrielle Douglas’ floor routine at the London Olympics. As they approached the most discreet table in the place, she watched in silent horror as Kent sat on one side of the booth and Adam sat on the other. In other words, no matter where she sat it was going to be next to one of them. Great. Just fan-flippin’-tabulous. The wolf made her nervous because of all of the strange feelings and urges he provoked in her. But Kent had started to cross a line last night that two co-workers should never cross, not to mention two potential partners, and that was what he was offering her so that she wouldn’t feel the need to quit SWAT. So she needed to establish some distance between the two of them again. Spotting a lone chair a few feet away, she snagged it, placing it at the end of the table.
Adam cocked an eyebrow that seemed to say, ‘chicken much’?
Look at that, she was hiding yellow feathers beneath her clothes. Who knew?
After the waitress walked away with their orders she turned back and looked the two men dead in their eyes. Kicking her feet up on the bench Adam was sitting on, she crossed her arms over her chest to set the scene for her defensive explanation. “Okay boys. You can ask, but I won’t guarantee that I’ll answer. So, if I say pass, that means you move on. Got it?”
Adam turned his body to lean back against the wall and faced her. “How can you never have had a pack, Jenna? That’s essentially unheard of.”
Taking a deep breath, she thought of how to word her answer without giving away information she wasn’t ready to give yet. Perhaps it was best to start off by asking Adam a question first. “Tell me Adam, is it true that the wolf breed is prejudiced towards those who aren’t pure wolf? Do they actually kill you if you’re part human or whatever?”
Adam rubbed his hand across his jaw. “I won’t lie, it used to be that dire. There are those that still feel a hybrid, that’s what we call those who aren’t pureblooded, shouldn’t be allowed to live. But the majority of that consensus died years ago when our numbers started to dwindle. Not to mention the small matter of a revolution between the wolf packs over that very reason. A lot of wolves died in those fights, and since then a lot of the packs have new Alphas like myself. The younger generations of Alphas feel that hybrids should be welcomed into t
he packs. But that’s a lot of history and politics best discussed another time perhaps. Why do you ask?”
Mulling the information over, Jenna tried to make sense of it all. Her whole life Mama said that she had to stay hidden because she was what Adam called a hybrid. But he just said that they now accepted hybrids like her with open arms in the packs. Maybe Mama didn’t know? Or could she have lied? Shaking her head, she knew that wasn’t the case. Perhaps Mama wouldn’t know about changes among the packs, but her Uncle Owen would have. So there had to be more to it. Uncle Owen had always said that her father had enemies that would kill her. Perhaps there was more to that threat?
“Jenna?”
“Hold on to your boxers and be patient, I was lost in thought. To answer your question, I have never had a pack because my mother was told to hide me. My father died before knowing that she was even pregnant and my Mama was told that if his pack found out, they would kill me. So she’s hidden me all of these years to keep me safe. That’s why I have no pack. Why is it that whether I belong to a Pack or not so important?”
The waitress arrived before Adam could answer, bringing their plates and coffees. After she left their table, Jenna looked up to see a smug looking Kent glancing at an almost nervous Adam. He turned back to face her while scrubbing a hand over his face again. After what seemed like some internal debate, he finally shrugged his shoulders. “It’s important because a wolf’s mentality is healthier if they have a pack. We’re not meant to live alone, Jenna. And those of us that do eventually fall into a type of madness because of it. It’s hard to explain, but haven’t you ever felt as if something was missing while you ran or hunt? Felt like there was just something off about being alone?”
Dropping her head a little, she thought his words over. She hated to admit it, but he was right. That sense of loneliness that plagued her whenever she was a wolf. As if sensing her thoughts, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, “You don’t have to be alone anymore Jenna. You’re welcome to join my pack.”
“I’m not leaving Wilmington, sorry.”
“Well, lucky for you, I am Alpha of North Carolina. I’m not asking you to move. What I am offering is pack protection and benefits. You could come out to our land when you want to hunt or run to be surrounded by our kind. Get to learn our culture some. Does that sound so terrible?”
“I don’t know. I have to think about it.”
Dropping his hand from her shoulder, he continued. “I understand, Jenna. I do. What if we took it slowly? You can meet some of the pack first.” She started to object but he held his hand up to stop her. “Just hear me out first. There’s a club here in Wilmington,” His smile turned down right devious. “A club that caters to our kind only called Pier Six. I’ll ask my best friend and my sister to meet us there. What do you say?”
Unsure, she looked from Adam to Kent and then back to Adam. “Give me a minute to think while we eat. Our food’s getting cold anyway.” As the three of them sat in silence eating their meal, her brain categorized the pros and cons. Going to a place like this would unquestionably be blowing the whole secret lifestyle out of the water. On the other hand, hadn’t part of her already decided she was tired of that kind of life anyways? Never letting anyone near. Keeping everyone at arm’s length. Not that she was ready to let her guard down totally, but it would be gratifying if, for once, she was able to hang out with people and not have to worry about keeping every secret she had at bay.
Looking up to Kent, “Hey, did you mean it when you said you would talk to the Captain?”
“Yeah, Jenna. If you’d like I can talk to him when we go back on shift Monday. Ask him to partner us up for warrant services.”
“I’d like that then, Kent. Thanks.” Turning back to look at Adam she made her next leap of faith. “I’ll go tonight. No promises after that though.” Grabbing a napkin and the pen the waitress left them, Jenna scribbled her number on it and slid towards him. “That’s my cell phone number. Call me later with the when’s and where’s of meeting up. Now, if you’ll excuse me boys, I’ve got a house to finish unpacking.”
Throwing a twenty on the table, she got up and left before either had a chance to say anything. Hopefully she wasn’t walking away from just making what could be possibly be deemed the biggest mistake of her life.
Maybe it would be the leap of faith that led to her greatest reward.
Chapter Four
Later that evening, Jenna stood staring at her living room. It was really coming along. Just a few boxes left and it’d be completely unpacked. Glancing at the clock on the microwave, she realized it was time to start getting ready to go to Pier Six. Adam had called earlier to set a rendezvous time with him at a gas station a few streets over from her house so that she could follow him to the club. After taking a quick shower and blow drying her hair, she flipped through the clothes in her closet trying to decide what to wear. She wasn’t the kind of girl to analyze an outfit seven ways from Sunday, it was more likely that she would just snag whatever was clean and lying around her room, shake the wrinkles out of it, and call it a successful mission. She grabbed a pair of tight, low rise jeans and a black halter top out of her closet and threw them on the bed. Next, she pulled out a pair of knee high black leather boots with a three-inch heel. They’d pull over the jeans perfectly for a sexy look.
Wait.
Who was she trying to dress sexy for? Adam? The thought of perhaps making him drool a bit did seem like fun. Her inner wolf growled in agreeance at that thought. Taunting him could be playing with fire, but she couldn’t help but think that he could end up being such a delicious burn. Adam didn’t come across as a match being struck, before quickly fizzing out. No, he would be more like a raging wild fire, consuming everything in his path. Her wolf was yipping at her eagerly at the thought of what Adam could consume on them. For a shifter hybrid who was still a virgin, Jenna was quickly figuring out that if you waved a sexy shifter in front of her, well then apparently her wolf turned slutty rather quickly. She was seriously going to have to sit down and explain to her that they couldn’t just go lift tail for anyone. Especially, a potentially dangerous anyone. No matter how good he looked. Or smelled. Or made her want to throw him up against the closest wall and bite him. Hard.
Digging through her underwear drawer, she found a delicate lace set that was only a shade off from the husky pale blue of her eyes. After getting dressed and putting on some mascara, then lip gloss, she headed out the door. Checking her pockets to make sure she had her ID, badge, and some cash before getting onto her bike and driving towards the gas station. Minutes later, pulling into the parking lot, she spotted Adam already waiting. Giving a chin lift, he pulled out in front of her on his bike leading the way to the club, glancing backwards every few minutes to make sure she was still behind him. Obsessively observant predator.
Go figure.
It’d be too much to ask for her to meet an Alpha shifter who was either; one – of a different shifter species, and ultimately not likely to be interested in her. Two – had senses that were barely heightened to that above a human’s, so that it would be easy for her to lose him if needed. Or three – had the intelligence of a dish sponge, so in other words, he would be easy to confuse or diffuse if she felt it necessary.
Nope. Her luck was apparently of the shitty variety lately. So not only did Adam seem interested in her for whatever the hell the reason, but he was also intelligent and had top of the line shifter senses. From what she absorbed from Uncle Owen’s long ago lessons, top of the line shifter senses were way more advanced than the superhero spidey sense Peter Parker had. So all-in-all, Jenna figured she was suffering from the worst case of unreal-shittiest-luck-in-the-entire-universe type luck. Luck so pathetic, that if she was dumb enough to hit up a casino right about now, she wouldn’t hit the jackpot. No sir, she’d walk away owing the casino so much money off of one play from a penny slot machine that they would demand her first born child as down payment.
Hence, the reason she c
ouldn’t seem to move her eyes off of the very delectable backside encased in mouthwatering denim that fit just right, sitting astride that damn Harley motorcycle in front of her. The backside that belonged to the seemingly intelligent, super shifter, overly interested, pain-in-her-ass Alpha Wolf that was built like a small tank with masses of rippling muscles, but looked ridiculously hot with hair that still resembled a pissed off red porcupine on top of his head.
See. Shitty luck.
Saturday night was a busy time in Wilmington, so it took a while to reach their destination. Catcalls and whistles from college age boys stuck with them through traffic until they finally ended up at the older abandoned district by the waterfront. It was dark, with just two street lamps in the parking lot and the neon sign flashing from the front of the club. Even though the rest of the street looked like it hadn’t seen any activity in at least twenty years, the parking lot was packed with vehicles and bass coming from inside the club could be heard. Of course, hearing music from somewhere inside a building when your hearing was six times better than the average human was a normal day for her.
Two figures stood in the parking lot where Adam pulled his bike to. Pulling in next to him, Jenna parked and stood next to her bike as Adam greeted the two figures. The man was tall like Adam, probably about six foot two, packed with muscle easily seen through his thin, short sleeve cotton t-shirt and low slung jeans. Instead of Adam’s pale skin though, he had a healthy tan that complemented his sable brown hair. Sharp cheekbones and light green eyes topped off the impressive package. However, it was his sharp, assessing glare that got to her.
It said, ‘Beware. My teeth are bigger than yours, and I bite harder’.
It made her want to chop off his cracker jacks, hang them around his neck like a sadistic necklace and say back, ‘Big boy, you’re the prey’.
The woman next to him was no doubt Adam’s sister. She didn’t have quite the same auburn hair as her brother; it was more of a flaming red with dark auburn highlights that fell just below her shoulders. But she did have the same creamy, pale skin, except on her it looked fantastically flawless, as if someone had covered her body in the freshest, sweetest milk that could be found, just to tempt those of the opposite sex to lean in and take a lick. Set in all of that creamy skin were two chocolate brown eyes. It seemed as though Adam’s unusual wolf amber eyes were not a dominant trait of the family gene pool. His sister was small framed but stood several inches over Jenna. The inches gained from the fuck-me shoes she was wearing didn’t count. Standing in front of the three of them, she felt like the midget who walked into the big and tall convention on accident.