“But this is how it starts. We have let a human into our midst and now our bloodlines are being diluted.” Tyler spoke again and the look that Ben gave him told Josh that his friend was treading on very thin ice. “The pack has a long memory, we all know what happened the last time an Alpha took a human as a mate.”
“It was more than a hundred years ago. You’re being ridiculous.” Josh felt that he had to speak up for his brother.
“So you think that pack being betrayed and slaughtered is ridiculous?” Tyler took a step toward him.
Ben stepped between them and moved Tyler back. “I think what he is saying that being afraid of an unborn infant is ridiculous. I will not deny that our pack has suffered at the hands of the Canergies, both in the past and more recently. I think it should not be forgotten that my brother suffered most at their hands and almost died. And they are still out there. Our focus should be on finding them, not quarreling amongst ourselves about something that may or may not happen. The Canergies want us weak, and that is exactly what we are doing with these petty squabbles. The suspicions about Lana and my unborn child are only causing division. A divided pack is a weak pack.”
Silence followed his pronouncement and Josh hoped that it meant that the pack was taking onboard what his brother was saying. He was right. How could they possibly fight their enemies if they were too busy looking inward.
The sound of feet at the door had Josh turning to see Derek walk into the great hall.
“What is happening?” Derek’s eyes went to his Alpha.
“I have informed the pack that Lana is pregnant.” Ben looked at him steadily, and Josh waited to see how Derek would react. A few months ago he would have been among the loudest to protest. In fact, he’d used the moment of unrest caused by the Canergie’s return to issue a challenge to Ben. But it would appear that Derek had learned the lesson that defeat at his Alpha’s hands well.
“Congratulations on the new addition to your family.”
If Ben was surprised by Derek’s words, he did not show it. Perhaps his reaction was not that surprising, considering that it had been Derek who’d risked his life to save Lana when she’d first been taken by the Canergies.
“I hope you have some news for us. Have you been able to locate the Canergies?”
Josh prayed that he had, since that would go a long way to diffusing the turmoil currently embroiling the pack, but the negative shake of his head Derek gave showed that his hopes would not be fulfilled.
“I have searched but cannot find a trace of them. If they are hiding somewhere close they are well concealed.”
Ben swore under his breath. “Does anyone have any ideas of what we can do to locate our enemies?”
Eloise moved a little closer to her Alpha. “Perhaps someone else needs to take up the search. It could be that the Canergies are familiar with Derek’s face and are taking extra steps to conceal themselves from him. I would like to volunteer to go search. Perhaps they will be less likely to see a woman as a threat and might make a mistake.”
Josh looked at Eloise in surprise. Of all the things he expected, this was not it. Eloise was certainly devoted to the pack, but he wondered at her volunteering to endanger herself. Did it have something to do with what had happened between them and was she taking it as a chance to get away from him for a while? He hated to admit it to himself that a part of him was relieved that he would not have to have another confrontation with her.
“If you are sure this is a risk you want to take, then you have my permission to search.” Ben’s face was grave as he directed his attention to Eloise. “Make certain that you maintain contact with the pack and be careful.”
“I will, Alpha.” Eloise bowed her head for a moment. “I will make arrangements to leave right away.”
She strode from the room and it appeared that the rest of the pack figured the meeting was over as they slowly dispersed. Josh didn’t think that anything had been settled. And judging by the look that Ben gave him, it was certain that his brother thought the same thing.
27
Josh
“Well, that could have gone a lot better.” Josh waited until the last of the wolves had left the room before he turned to talk to his brother.
Ben rubbed his index finger between his eyebrows and he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“I thought it best to break the news to the pack while I knew that Lana would not be returning for a few hours. I’m glad I did, since she would be hurt by the pack’s reaction. She wants to have a place here, and it is her right to expect respect from the pack as my mate and the mother of my child.”
“Give them time, I’m sure they’ll come around.” Even as he said it, Josh was uncertain if the pack would ever accept Lana as Ben’s mate and the mother of his child. The wound inflicted by the start of the blood feud with the Canergies so many decades ago was still present in the pack now. They’d almost been made extinct by that human family, and it was a piece of the pack’s history that they would likely never forget.
“We’ll see.” Ben didn’t look very convinced. “Hopefully Eloise will be more successful than Derek has been thus far. We need to find the remaining Canergies and eliminate the threat to the pack once and for all. It is the only way the pack is going to be able to rest easy.”
Josh refrained from saying that he hoped she didn’t get killed in the process. He may not want Eloise as a mate, but they’d grown up in the pack together and he wanted her to be safe.
He spoke with Ben for a few more moments before taking his leave. He had a twenty-four-hour shift tomorrow and he wanted to enjoy the rest of his day off in peace. He wished he could spend the evening getting to know Harper, but he would give her a few days before he approached her again.
He was on his way to his room when Tyler stepped into the hall. Judging by the look on his face he didn’t appear to be very happy. Josh sighed. So much for finding some peace and quiet after the confrontation in the great hall.
“I want to talk to you.” Tyler’s voice was an aggressive growl and Josh tensed. He had an idea what this was going to be about, and while he didn't want to fight with the man he considered to be his best friend, he thought perhaps it would be best if the air was cleared between them.
“It would appear that we are talking.” Josh crossed his arms over his chest while he waited for Tyler to spit out what had put the deep scowl on his face.
“In private. I don’t want any interruptions in what I have to say.”
Josh shrugged and walked down the hall toward his room. He opened his bedroom door and swept his arm out to indicate that they should talk in there. Tyler stalked into the room and Josh followed, closing the door behind him.
“Well, you want to talk, so talk.” Josh was not looking forward to this conversation. It had to be about Eloise. Tyler was hyper-protective of his sister, and while Josh didn’t blame him for that, he had a feeling that this was going to be the beginning of the end of his friendship with him.
“What did you say to her? Why have you driven my sister out of the pack?” Tyler glared at him and Josh could see that his friend was not in the mood to be reasonable.
“For one thing, I have not driven your sister from the pack. She volunteered, of her own free will, I might add, to hunt for the Canergies.” There was no way he would let Tyler fool himself into thinking he was to blame for Eloise volunteering to go on the mission to hunt the pack’s human enemies.
“Eloise hasn’t said one word before today about hunting the humans. What did you say to her the other night that has made her feel like she needs to leave her home and endanger herself.” Josh could see the concern for Eloise deep in Tyler’s eyes. It was there beneath the anger, and Josh knew that his friend was doing this because he needed to lash out at someone.
But he would not insult his friend by lying to him about the contents of his conversation with Eloise. “Eloise was under the mistaken belief that something would happen between us.
I told her that it wasn’t going to happen.”
“Why? Is my sister not good enough for you?” It seemed that Tyler was itching for a fight and that it mattered little what Josh said.
“Eloise is like a sister to me. I don’t have those sorts of feelings for her, and rather than string her along and use her, I told her that nothing would ever happen between us. I would think that you would be grateful that I didn’t string your sister along with false hope.”
“Oh yeah, I’m really grateful.” Tyler took an aggressive step forward. “I’m grateful that the man I thought was my best friend hurt my sister to the point where she felt the need to risk her life for the sake of the pack.”
“I never gave your sister any encouragement to think that anything was going to happen between us. If Eloise wants to leave to help the pack, you cannot lay the blame for that at my door.”
“Or maybe she doesn’t want to help the pack at all. Maybe she is humiliated that a wolf would think that she isn’t good enough because she isn’t human enough.” Tyler’s lip curled. “Maybe she didn’t want to watch you make a fool of yourself over a human, Ariel.”
Josh ground his teeth when he heard Tyler speak the nickname his interest in humans had earned him years ago. The pack seemed to think that he was just like the title character of the Little Mermaid, and Josh hated it. He had not heard that name spoken to his face for a long time and he didn’t want to hear it now.
“Go ahead, call me Ariel one more time.” His voice came out as a low menacing growl. Despite his desire to have a reasonable discussion with Tyler, it appeared that Tyler just might get the fight that he was asking for.
“You’re pathetic. Do you really think that the human helping out at the bookstore will want you once she knows what you are? You’re living in a dreamworld, Ariel.”
Tyler’s words played on the fear that lurked deep inside Josh and his muscles tensed as he struck out at him. His fist connected with Tyler’s mouth and his friend staggered back. Before Tyler could react, Josh grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.
“Shut your mouth.”
Tyler laughed as blood trickled from his lips.
“You know I’m right.” He broke Josh’s hold and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “You’ve always been a fool for humans.”
Josh said nothing as he fought to calm down. Tyler straightened away from the wall and tugged his rumpled shirt.
“If anything happens to my sister, I will be holding you responsible. As far as I’m concerned, the only reason that she is leaving is because of you running around town chasing after yet another human. Don’t think that I won’t come after you if she gets hurt.”
“Don’t think I won’t be here.” He wasn’t responsible for Eloise but if Tyler wanted to make it an issue, he certainly wasn't going to back away.
Tyler left and slammed the door behind him. Josh sat down on the edge of the bed. He and Tyler had had their arguments in the past, and they’d always been able to mend fences. He had a feeling that this time was going to be different. The most important person in the world to Tyler was his sister. And Josh hated to think how he was going to react if something did happen to her.
28
Harper
It was a few days after her impromptu lunch with Josh, and Harper hadn’t seen him since. She knew that his job as a firefighter made it so that he had to work long shifts and that was why she had not seen him since. But a small part of her wondered if that was all it was. And she couldn’t help but look to door every time bell above it rang that it would be him walking through the door. And she tried to dismiss the feeling of disappointment that went through her when it turned out it wasn't.
It was almost time for the shop to close, and she was helping Lana take advantage of the quiet to put out some new stock that had come in with the order this afternoon. The bell above the door rang and she forced herself not to hope when she looked to see who had come in. To her surprise, it was Josh standing inside the threshold with flowers and a big smile on his face.
“Josh, what can we do for you?” Lana straightened up and smiled at him.
“You can excuse Harper for the day so I can take her to dinner?” He stepped forward and handed the flowers to Harper. Surprise went through her when she took the bouquet. “Will you go out to dinner with me?”
Harper’s heart leaped with excitement at the prospect of having dinner with him. She quickly squashed it. It was one thing to have a meal with him at the shop. It hadn't seemed serious, but a date with him was something altogether different. Was she ready to take that step with him?
“I was helping Lana put out the new stock. I don’t know if I should leave her to do it on her own.” She glanced over at Lana and judging by the look on her face, she knew that her friend was not going to insist that she stay.
“Nonsense, I can handle putting the stock away by myself.” She came forward and took the flowers from her. “I’ll put these in water for you.”
“Just give me a minute.” Harper looked at Josh before she turned to follow Lana as she walked to the back of the shop. Once they were out of his earshot, she put her hand on her friend’s arm. “What are you doing? I never said I wanted to go out to dinner with him.”
Lana sighed and smiled as she turned to Harper.
“You didn’t have to. It’s written on your face.” A look of understanding came over Lana’s face. “Go out with him and see what happens. You’ve been alone for a long time. Don’t you think that you should do something about that. Go to dinner with him, get to know him. Have some fun for a change.”
Lana would hear no more about it, and Harper had to admit that she’d had a good time with him before. And perhaps it was time that she wanted to spend some time with him. She straightened her spine and got her coat from the office.
She pulled it on, hitched her purse up on her shoulder and walked back toward the front of the bookstore. Nervous butterflies set up camp in her stomach as he smiled at her.
“It looks like I’m all yours.” Harper smiled tentatively at him, and he held his arm out to her. She slipped her arm through his and the nervousness in her stomach went away. Something about being with him calmed her and when she was with him her doubts about continuing to see him melted away.
With her arm comfortably tucked in his, Harper walked down the street with Josh and he took her to a lovely Italian restaurant just down the street from the bookstore. The host smiled at Josh when they came in and led them to a table in a quiet corner. Once they were seated, Harper smiled at Josh.
“I’ve been curious about this place since I was in town the last time.” She pursued the menu and decided on what she wanted. She closed it and set it aside. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“It’s my pleasure. Thank you for agreeing to come.” He set his menu aside and looked at her. His eyes were warm in the light of the candle in the center of their table. “How are you settling in? Do you miss Boston?”
“I’ve slipped into my routine here quite easily. And I find that I don’t really miss Boston at all.” To her surprise it was true. Perhaps it helped that Lana was here and she had missed not seeing her friend every day when she’d been in Boston and Lana had been in Lenox. And there was a much slower pace in the town compared to her life at home. She felt that she could catch her breath a little when she was here. Even the work that she did for her employer in Boston didn’t seem quite so frantic when she was doing it from Lenox.
“You seem surprised.” He was interrupted by the waiter, who quickly and efficiently took their order before leaving them alone again.
“I am a little surprised to tell you the truth. I’ve spent my entire life in Boston, and I always thought that I loved the fast pace of it all.” She reached for her glass of water and took a sip. “But I will admit that it’s nice to slow down.”
“That is one thing in Lenox’s favor. It definitely has a much slower pace than a big city.”
They continued to talk about the differences between life in Boston and life in Lenox. When their food arrived, it was delicious and lived up to all Harper’s expectations. And by the time they were finished, she felt that she knew Josh much better than she had when they had first arrived.
After turning down dessert, Josh settled the bill and they slowly left the restaurant. Harper was torn. A part of her didn’t want the evening to be over, but another part didn’t want to move faster than she was ready. Although she felt like she knew Josh better than she had, it was still too soon to take things further. To his credit, Josh didn’t appear to want to push her.
He grasped her hand and together they walked back down the street toward the apartment. Would he kiss her when the evening was over? The thought of it had nervous butterflies springing up in her stomach again.
A prickling feeling rose on the back of her neck and she reached her empty hand up to rub the back.
“What’s wrong?” Josh paused his forward momentum to look down at her. Harper glanced around for the source of the feeling that eyes other than Josh’s were on her, and her gaze latched onto a tall blond man standing across the street, glaring at her and Josh. There was venom in his eyes when he looked at her and she instinctively drew closer to Josh.
“That man, across the street. Do you know him?” She tried to subtly inclined her head towards where the man was standing. She didn't want to make it obvious that he alarmed her.
Josh turned his head to look in the direction she indicated and his shoulders stiffened slightly. “Yeah, I know him.”
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