by Sam Crescent
She watched as they introduced each other, and she looked at Dante’s arm. It was so tick, muscular, and she saw a tattoo on the inside of his arm. It was the picture of a wolf and the full moon in black and grey.
“I stopped by the nursery.”
“It’s a Saturday morning. We don’t open on the weekend.”
“Zadie is going shopping,” Luke said. “I bet she could use the company. Think about what we’ve talked about, Zadie.”
Her brother walked off, going back in the house. “Sorry about him.”
“Would you like some company?” he asked.
“I’m going to the store?”
“Excellent. I can pick up some snacks while we’re waiting.”
“I don’t mind. Jump in.” She climbed behind the wheel, and her hands shook a little as Dante got into the passenger side.
Driving was usually really relaxing to her, but right now she was tense. Her family didn’t help matters, nor did Dante’s presence. When she was with him, he made her remember that she was in fact a woman, while he was also a man.
Get over yourself.
A virgin she may be, but curiosity had always been part of her, and there were times she craved to be mated, too. Not just by anyone. She always had this fantasy of a guy chasing her, and only her, taking her on the floor of the forest because he couldn’t wait to get somewhere else.
“You seem a little upset today,” he said.
“No. I’m not upset. I told my family today that I’m planning on talking to Sloane, and finding a new pack to run with.”
“You’ve made that decision?”
“Yes. No. Yes. I’m not sure what I’ve done to be honest. My head’s all over the place. I’m worried that I’m making the wrong decision, and acting too fast while another part of me thinks it’s the best idea. I don’t know.” She left the pack grounds, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Yes, you can be.”
“Do you think that there is anyone in your pack or any pack that would…” No, she couldn’t ask this. It was so embarrassing not to mention humiliating. “Never mind.”
“No, speak up. Let me know what you’re thinking.”
“This is so not fun. I was wondering if there was anyone in your pack who would look at me, and consider mating with me, for life?” She cringed as she spoke the words. “This is just wrong. Forget I ever asked that.”
Get a grip, Zadie.
“Yes.”
“What?” she asked.
“There is a man out there that thinks you’re the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.”
She snorted. She couldn’t help it as it seemed so totally out of the question.
“You don’t believe me?” he asked.
“I’m not under any illusions about who I am, and what I look like. I’ve heard what some of the guys have said. It’s the problem with having excellent hearing.”
“What have some of the guys said?”
She tapped the steering wheel, and released a sigh. “I really don’t like talking about it, but seeing as it’s you, and for some reason I feel the need to be honest with you, I overheard a bunch of the guys talking. I think it was right around the time that I realized I was never going to be mated. It was like a wakeup call.” She paused for a second as she hadn’t thought about that moment for a long time.
“Dude, did you know she goes on the runs, but no one like catches her.”
“Seriously? You’d think she would quit by now.”
“She’s still, like, a virgin. Could you imagine being mated to her? I bet she weighs a ton, and she would, like, totally squash you. You’d never be able to allow her on top.”
“You could give her a sweet nickname, ‘fat mate’.”
She told Dante every single word, and she glanced over at him.
“It’s when I finally realized that I was the most unattractive woman in the entire pack. I stopped joining them for runs, and I decided to take my own path. I love it down by the river you know. I’ve always loved the water, and I stay there. There’s no reason for me to run with the others.”
“You need to forget everything that those bastards said, and if I ever find them, or discover who they were, I will fucking kill them.”
“Luke beat them up. He’d been with me at the time, and neither of us had showed that we could hear. When I learned they had gotten hurt, Luke was there. He told me that I was his baby sister, and no one spoke shit about me. I was eighteen at the time.”
“Then Luke has become my new best friend.”
“Where’s Bethany? Shouldn’t you be keeping her company?”
“My sister and I have kept each other company long enough. We are both now bored of each other, which is why this trip is very much needed. I’m hoping she will find a mate of her own.”
She laughed. “Good luck with that. She told me that she was against all men, so I don’t think you’re going to be getting rid of her any time soon.”
They pulled up into the supermarket carpark, and she watched all the humans milling around. Several of them had kids, and were talking with them. That was what she wanted.
“Please, play nice. We’re with the humans now.”
“I know how to play nice.”
****
If he ever found out who those assholes were Dante vowed to hurt them in ways that made them wish they knew their manners.
Spending time with Zadie was … refreshing. She didn’t flirt with him. There was no flicking of her hair, or trying to get his attention. They laughed and joked. He pushed a trolley of his own around beside her, and he made sure that no one got close to her. Seeing her smile and laugh was in fact a dream come true, for him at least.
By the time they were driving back into the village, he didn’t want this day to end.
“How about we drop your stuff off at your place, and then you come back, and help me?” he asked. “You’re always asking if I’m lost. Well, I am. I don’t grocery shop, and I never cook.”
“What about Bethany?”
“Nope. Worst cook on the planet, even more so than me.”
“Okay, fine, I will help you. I’ve always been a sucker for helping people.”
Dante was more than happy that he got more time with her. Parking up outside of her house, he carried in her groceries, and when he moved into her pantry, he nearly lost entire control. She was bending over a chest style freezer, placing in the frozen food that she had bought.
Her perfectly round ass was so tempting to him. All he wanted to do was run his hands all over her curves. What was more, he wanted to spread her ass, and fuck her so hard.
Instead, he placed the bags onto the floor, and began to pass her what she needed, like a good gentleman.
This couldn’t go on for much longer, but with the day he had with her, he needed to work on her seeing that she was in fact a beautiful, desirable woman.
Once she finished in the freezer, she placed the canned items on the shelves, and he saw her abundance of spices and herbs.
“You love to cook?”
“Yep, I love it. Mom always let me watch her, and now I get to do it. It’s a lot of fun.” In no time at all, they were back in her car, and she was driving toward his small cottage. When they got there, he was pleased to see that his sister was nowhere in sight.
Zadie took some of his bags, and he carried the rest.
Moving toward the front door, he opened it up, and led the way toward his kitchen.
“I helped to prepare the cottage for you,” she said. “I really hope you like it.”
He put the bags down and turned toward her. “You do a lot for the pack, don’t you?”
“I always have a lot of time on my hands, and I have this thing where everything has to be perfect. Sloane said he wanted you to feel right at home.”
“It’s nice.” Material stuff had never mattered, but knowing she’d been the one to do the finishing touches, now that meant something.
“Bethany and I can’t cook. The housekeeper that we have wanted some time off so we didn’t bring her back here,” he said. “We’ve been eating sandwiches, and the occasional diner cooked meal.”
“That is just … there’s no way you can eat this.” She grabbed a trash bin, and he held the trash bin for her to begin emptying it.
“Do you forgive me?” he asked.
She chuckled. “For what? Not knowing how to cook? Don’t worry. You’re not strange or anything. There are a lot of people in the world who don’t know how to cook.”
“I would offer to cook you dinner.”
“How about I cook dinner for you? Would that be okay?”
“That would be amazing. I know Sloane is hosting a large town barbeque tomorrow.”
“Yep. It was one of the reasons I wanted to get some food. I do a lot of the cooking or should I say marinating of the meat. See, I have my place in the pack. Everyone gets decent food.”
“I’m sure you have many, many talents,” he said.
She threw out everything that was rancid in the fridge, and then cleaned it up. Next, she told him how to stack his fridge, and finally, they moved to the small pantry.
“I didn’t know how much you’d eat in the month you were staying.” She checked over the cans. “So do I have free rein to make you dinner?”
“Yes, if you agree to something first?” he asked.
“Okay. What would you like besides dinner?”
“I want you to take me to your favorite spot in the forest.”
The smile in her eyes was something he wanted to see every single day.
She tucked some hair behind her ear, and he noticed she did that when she was nervous. “You’d like to see my favorite spot?”
“Yes. It’s a little after twelve. Way too early to be making dinner? Come on, what else do you have to do?”
“Sure, okay then.”
He held his hand out, and she took it. He got a thrill just by her willingly taking his hand. Leading her outside, he moved out of the way so she could take the lead.
“Tell me what it’s like to be a businessman,” she said.
“Long days, long hours, and a lot of fighting.”
“You’ve got to have loved it. I didn’t know wolves could survive for long periods of time away from nature.”
“It was tough. All of my weekends I came home, ran like the wind was running out of fashion, and Monday morning I’d be back in my office chair.”
“That sounds like a pretty long life.”
“It was long. The biggest problem came with takeover bids, and when I had conferences. They were tough,” he said.
“How come?”
“Being a wolf that I had caged for a long time, only allowing myself freedom at the weekend, it made a lot of negotiations tough. All I wanted to do was tear my opponents’ heads off. Being a wolf is brutal.”
“I couldn’t imagine caging myself in for a week. I don’t turn or anything, but the freedom of being close to nature, of breathing it all in, that’s what keeps us grounded.”
“I missed it, but it was something I needed to do. At the time, I wanted the challenge. I didn’t want to be at home, running a pack. That was my parents’ job. I wanted a life outside of the pack. I was a pain in the ass as a kid, and that didn’t change much as I aged,” he said. “When my parents died, I had no choice but to reevaluate things. I felt it.”
She paused, and looked toward him. “What did you feel?”
“I earned the right of my pack. I was the strongest, and like you I had inherited a lot of my wolf side. When my parents died, even before I saw the news, I felt him draining away, and the Alpha bond returning to me.”
“I’ve heard stories of that. Especially if the Alpha is part of the descendant line. You come from a line of Alphas?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry.”
“I was away in Vegas at the time. Just having some fun. It … broke something. I’d been fighting who I was for so long, I forgot that I was a wolf, that I was part of a pack. Normally, I was alone, and I was okay with that. When my dad died, and I became the Alpha, and I became part of the pack once again. I couldn’t close it off, and I couldn’t handle the office. I stepped away. I go there every once in a while. For the most part, I keep my distance.”
“That makes a lot of sense. Still, that had to have been tough.” She placed a hand on his chest and rubbed. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” Then she went onto her toes, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
She took his hand, and then they were at the clearing where he’d hidden away while she’d spoken to Bethany.
“This is where I come every single full moon. It’s here, or up and down here along the river line.”
She bent down and removed her shoes, then began to turn up her jeans so that her ankles were exposed.
“Come on, try it. It’s so cold and nice.” She stepped into the water, and turned back to him. “You’re not going to let the businessman side of you dictate what you do now, are you?”
He kicked off his shoes, and did exactly the same as her. When he stepped into the water, he held her hand, locking their fingers together.
This was how it was supposed to be, the two of them together, and he wasn’t going to stop until she belonged completely to him.
Chapter Six
“You’re happier,” Luke said to her the following morning.
Zadie smiled at her brother, grabbing out another large bag of marinating chicken. “What does that mean?”
“You came home last night after spending time with Dante, and you’re in fact happy.”
“It was nothing. He’s a nice guy, and I can’t be happy about that now?” she asked, confused.
“You’ll be seeing him again, right?”
“Of course. This entire barbeque party is for him. What’s going on, Luke?”
“Let’s say I’m concerned with what happened yesterday.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“Have you spoken to Sloane?”
She paused while reaching into the fridge. “I’ve not spoken to him yet. I told you I was only thinking about it.” She looked at the kitchen island, and made sure she had everything ready.
“I don’t want you to think of leaving for another pack, Zadie.”
“Luke, please, not today, okay? I really just want to have some fun today, and cook some food, and for us all to just have a fun time. Will you help me with this?”
The doorbell rang, and she went to answer it. There on her doorstep was Dante. The man who was present in every single one of her sexy dreams. Even at twenty-five years old, she was still experiencing those kinds of dreams. She didn’t know if she should be happy or sad about that.
“Dante,” she said.
“Zadie, I was wondering if you needed any help.”
“I do. Come on inside. My parents have already gone on ahead to set up some tables, chairs, and stuff like that.”
“Is it always a big party?” Dante asked.
“It has been a long time since we had a massive one like this where everyone got involved, but I think it’ll be good.” They entered the kitchen, and Luke had his arms folded. “You remember my brother. He’s being a pain in the ass at the moment.”
“Pain in the ass siblings. I can relate.”
She laughed. “He’s here to help.”
Lifting up several of her bags, she placed them on her shoulder as Dante and brother did the same. It wasn’t long before they were walking toward the town square. Several barbeque pits had already been set up.
Sloane was standing by one of the tables near the pits.
“Here we go. Here is everything that I made,” she said. “It shouldn’t take long on the grill.”
“You’re a star, Zadie. Really.”
She smiled. “It’s more than fine.”
“Can I have a word with you?” Sloane asked.
“Now isn’t the time,” Dante said.
“With all due respect, Dante, she’s part of my pack, and I want to talk with her.”
She didn’t like how tense Dante got behind her. Spinning around, she patted his chest. “It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
Following Sloane away from the pit and into his home, she heard they were alone.
“Have I done something wrong?” she asked.
“Far from it. I just wanted to ask you something.”
She locked her fingers together, in an attempt to stop herself from being nervous. She doubted that would ever work, but she could at least try. “Sure, you can ask me anything.”
“Are you happy here?”
“Yes.”
“It has been brought to my attention that you’re … not?”
“Oh, erm, it’s something I wanted to talk about, but I hadn’t really thought it out yet. It’s nothing at all.”
Sloane stared at her, really stared at her.
“Is there something on my face?” she asked, moving toward her cheek. Had she left butter on it when she ate her toast this morning?
“No, it’s nothing. I’m just…” He smiled. “I’m just seeing something that I’ve been very blind to, Zadie. Tell me, what is it you want out of life?”
She frowned. “I … I don’t feel comfortable saying.”
“I’m your Alpha. Surely you can be honest with me.”
Biting her lip, she glanced at the floor. “One day I do hope to be a mother, and to help guide my kids.”
“You want to be mated?” he asked.
Her cheeks heated. “That feels really private,” she said. “Of course. I would ask that you wait to leave the pack, or to search for what you’re looking for. At least until after Dante and his pack have left. I don’t want any trouble to come. Did my brother tell you my thoughts?”
“No. I just had a hunch. Don’t worry about it. Go and enjoy the party.”
Feeling more confused than ever before, she joined the rest of the pack out on the main town square. There was already lots of music playing, and she grabbed a bottle of water and watched the children who were on the dancefloor.
“Hey, dinner last night was amazing,” Bethany said, linking her arm with Zadie’s.