by Celia Kyle
“It’s going.”
Levi’s face fell at her curt reply. She shrugged and focused her attention on the food the supermodel packed into a picnic basket. Most importantly, she wanted Levi to get the point that she wasn’t interested in him, but not far behind was the fact she wanted to eat every single thing in that basket.
“Cool.” Awkward silence stretched between them for a beat before he added hopefully, “You look slammin’ today, by the way.”
With a heavy sigh, Val set Fang on the floor and then reached for a loaf of bread that was sitting on the counter. “Thanks.”
She popped a slice in the toaster, hyper-aware Levi stared at her in confusion. Clearly, he’d been hoping for more attention from her. A pang of guilt twisted in her belly. This was her doing, and the best she could do was treat him coldly. That wasn’t who she wanted to be.
Turning to face him—and her responsibility in all of it—she gave him a pitying grimace. “Listen, Levi. You’re cute and seem like a nice enough guy, but… I’m just not into you. Like, at all. I’m sorry for giving you any other impression.”
He jerked back as if she’d slapped him. “Whoa,” he said, holding out his hands. “That’s not how it seemed this morning.”
The blonde’s gaze bounced between them like a ping-pong ball. Val sighed and nodded, relieved that he was handling this uncomfortable situation so calmly.
“Yeah, sorry about that. Still doesn’t change the fact I’m not interested though. Figured I might as well tell you that outright, so you didn’t get too attached.”
The toaster dinged at the same time Val’s stomach grumbled. Not waiting long enough to butter it, she took a big bite, totally dry. Meanwhile, Levi’s face had grown an alarming shade of pink and his eyes flashed a dark amber. He was angry, and she could almost see the hamster wheels in his brain turning frantically, searching for the perfect comeback. Fang took a step forward and growled at him again.
“Whatever,” he snapped, his face twisting into a sneer. “You’re just a stupid human anyway.”
Not even realizing he’d slipped up in keeping his wolfdom secret, Levi stormed out of the kitchen in a huff, followed for a few steps by a yipping Fang. The supermodel hadn’t missed his blunder, though. Her clear blue eyes practically bugged out of her head. Not wanting to get poor, deluded Levi in trouble, Val rolled her eyes.
“And they call us drama queens, am I right?” She stuck her hand out at the woman and introduced herself.
“Trina Edgecomb,” the woman replied, gripping Val’s hand firmly.
Val had met a lot of women who, for some unfathomable reason, thought it was ladylike to shake hands like a dead fish. It was one of her biggest pet peeves. Just thinking about it made her shudder.
“Edgecomb? Are you married to Warren?”
Trina threw her head back and laughed heartily. Normally, if someone who looked like her laughed at something Val said, Val would have ended up feeling like a massive, mold-covered turd. But Trina’s laugh wasn’t derisive in the slightest.
“Sorry,” she finally managed, flapping a hand wildly as her giggles subsided. “But no. No no no. In fact, ew. Warren’s my big brother.”
Val chuckled. “Ah. Yeah, that’s gross.”
They were still grinning at each other when the sound of a cell phone ringing sounded nearby. Zeke walked into the kitchen as he pressed the phone to his face. “Chloe? Is that you?”
Chloe!
Val lunged for the phone, but Zeke grinned and played keep-away. “What’s that? You’re off the mountain? How was it? Oh yeah?”
Every time she grabbed for the phone, he spun this way and that, always managing to hold on to it, just to torment her. Under other circumstances, Valerie would have enjoyed a little play-wrestling with Zeke, but she’d been so desperate to talk to her best friend, nothing would stand in her way.
Turning to Fang, she hissed, “Sic‘em, girl!”
Turncoat that she was, Fang trotted up to Zeke and sat on his foot, gazing up at him with her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. Obviously, Fang felt Zeke’s alpha nature.
“Traitor!” Val scolded, not that it did any good.
But when Zeke looked down at the dog, it gave Val the perfect opportunity to snatch the phone from his hand. She bolted before he knew what had happened, Benedict Fang hot on her heels.
“Chloe, is it really you?” she panted into the phone as she hurried up the stairs to her room. “It’s me, Val.”
“Val?” Chloe’s voice sounded a little crackly, but otherwise clear. “Oh my god, it’s been forever! What are you doing in Tremble?”
“Looking for you, duh!” She checked the stairwell before closing the door to her room. No sign of Zeke or anyone else. She could speak freely with her friend about everything that had been bothering her. Most of it, anyway.
“I tried calling to set up a time to meet, but I never got your answering machine.”
Chloe laughed through the staticky line. “Yeah, Zeke broke it and you know me. I never bothered to get a new one. Now tell me how you found Zeke.”
If anyone could appreciate the story, it would be Chloe. After Val recounted her arrest and Zeke’s subsequent help in busting her out, Chloe could barely breathe from how hard she was laughing. They barely needed to say two words to get the other cackling all over again. A solid five minutes passed with them just giggling and making jokes before they could continue the conversation.
“Zeke tells me you’re on your honeymoon. You weren’t seeing anyone the last time we talked, and that couldn’t have been more than three months ago. What the hell, girl? Tell me everything!”
“Are you alone? No one can hear us?”
“Yup. Now spill.”
“God, I can’t wait to see you! Okay, so he’s a member of a different pack. If you can believe this shit—”
“Whoa! Did I just hear the S-word spill from your sweet virginal lips?”
Chloe chuckled. “Let me tell you, these lips are far from virginal these days. Anyway, Ezekiel kind of… I won’t sugarcoat it. Zeke kidnapped Drew.”
Val remained quiet, remembering Zeke’s explanation, which was severely lacking in detail.
“Drew’s a healer—like a doctor for werewolves. Really smart and caring. He’s a bit of an expert on what had put Mom into a coma for all these years, and he actually managed to wake her up for a few minutes before she eventually passed.”
“Zeke told me she died,” Val said, her heart aching for her friend as she lay down on the bed, followed closely by Fang, who nestled her head on Val’s tummy. Chloe had often spoken about her mom with profound love and sadness. “I’m so sorry, Chlo.”
“Thanks, but as strange as it sounds, it was a good thing. It had dragged on for so long, I know it was a relief for her. For us as well, if I’m honest.”
“That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is why this Drew guy stuck around to help at all. Why didn’t he bolt at the first opportunity?”
“Me.” Chloe’s tone brightened. “That’s how it usually works with fated mates. You meet each other and you just… know. Like a part of you is missing whenever they leave the room. I know it sounds crazy.”
“No,” Val said, her heart aching for some reason she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “It sounds romantic, actually.”
“Oh god, is it ever!” Chloe sighed wistfully.
Valerie’s stomach twisted in knots over Chloe’s description of fated mates. She certainly felt a connection with Zeke, but nothing nearly as strong as what Chloe had described. Besides, Val was human, as he liked to point out. Nothing real could happen between them. Not that she wanted more from him than a quickie—maybe two. She had other things to think about, such as when she could return to her job without raising red flags with her superiors.
“I’m really happy for you, Chloe.” And she really meant it. If anyone on this great, big, swirling rock deserved it, Chloe Soren did.
“Thanks! I can’t believe you dr
ove all the way to Tremble to find me. Can you stay for a few extra days? We’ll be driving through on our way to the Blackwood pack in a couple of days. We want to say hi to everyone.”
Val frowned at her ceiling. “Why? After how they treated you growing up?”
“What can I say? I’ve moved past it, with the help of Drew, of course. Besides, things are different now that Zeke’s in charge. After our father passed, Zeke managed to adjust the pack’s attitude toward me. That’s how it is in wolf packs. We follow the direction and example of our alpha.”
Valerie thought about it for a moment. “Makes sense. Sounds like the military, actually. Follow orders, and don’t ask why.”
The bitter grudge Val had been holding onto for her friend’s sake eased. If Chloe was willing to forgive and forget, surely Val could do the same.
“Okay, I’ll wait here for you then,” Val said, sitting up. She’d planned on dumping all of her problems on Chloe, but she couldn’t do that to her friend on her honeymoon. That would just be rude. Besides, Chloe would only worry, and she deserved to have some fun on the last few days of her trip.
“I can’t wait! Oh, by the way, you haven’t mentioned—”
“That you broke some sacred wolfy law by telling me about what you really are? No. You know me better than that.”
Chloe laughed. “I know, but I had to ask. Be sure to tell Zeke to treat you like an honored guest or he’ll have to answer to me.”
“Will do,” Val said, smiling at her friend’s bravado. “Love you!”
“Love you more!”
The line went dead, and Val stared at the black screen with a mix of joy and sadness. She missed her friend and couldn’t wait to catch up with her in person. Chloe was the only person in the world who really got Val and loved her anyway.
“Come on, Fang,” she said, heading back downstairs to return Zeke’s phone.
As soon as she walked into the kitchen, he thrust a picnic basket into her arms—the same one Trina had been packing. Val frowned at the basket, then at Zeke, then at Trina, then back to the basket.
“What’s this?”
“What’s it look like? We’re going on a picnic.”
Val could not have been more confused if he’d said they were taking a rocket ship to the moon to pick up some cheese.
Trina smiled. “You need to see what we’re fighting for.”
Before Val could react, Zeke stooped and picked her up easily, as if it was no big deal. She tensed briefly, her instincts telling her to fight him off, but the warmth of his chest and the faint scent of cedar lulled her into relaxing against him.
Still clutching the picnic basket, she stared up at him as he carried her through the house to his waiting SUV. A vein throbbed in his neck, and somehow she knew it was because they were so close, skin on skin. The contact between their bodies drove her mad with yearning, something she never thought was even a thing, much less would happen to her.
It was intense and hot and almost overwhelming, but… not how Chloe described it. She wanted him more than any man she’d ever met, but she was pretty sure she could walk away without feeling as if she’d lost a limb. Which only confirmed what she already knew—they weren’t fated mates.
Chapter Ten
Thirty minutes later, Zeke pulled into the wide spot off the side of the road that acted as a sort of secret entrance to Wolf Woods. The main entrance was a mile or two farther down the road, but that was more public, more human. As soon as the SUV came to a halt, he hopped out to race around the front of the car to Val’s side. This time, he even vaulted over the hood to get there faster, but all it accomplished was getting him smacked in the knees when she swung the door open and stepped out with a smug look on her face.
“Oh, c’mon,” Zeke groused.
“You’re playing a losing game, my friend,” Val said with a grin as she pulled the basket from the back seat.
Zeke snatched it from her triumphantly. “They say chivalry is dead because it’s in your crosshairs.” She seemed to like that a little too much for his taste.
As they hiked into the clearing Zeke had scouted the night before, he surreptitiously sniffed the air for the lone wolf who’d been hanging around. All he got was the scent of the trees and flowers and grass—no non-Soren wolf had passed this way recently. Hopefully, that was a sign the bold bastard had moved on.
Zeke pushed through the last stand of shrubbery and held it back for Val. She gasped as soon as she entered the clearing and got a full view. He couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sun bathed the entire meadow in warm light, illuminating the grass like glittering jade. The tree line looked like a painting by a master and the low clouds skimming along the horizon acted as a beautiful frame. The temperature was gorgeous, especially since Georgia’s famed humidity had apparently taken a sick day. Almost like a cherry on top of a verdant sundae, a red cardinal flitted around overhead.
“Wow,” Val breathed, as if she couldn’t find any other word to express her appreciation for the beauty before them. Zeke couldn’t argue with that.
“I grew up with this,” he told her with some pride. “The woods are showing off for you today, it seems. But even when it’s hot and humid, or even worse, pouring down rain, I can always come here when I need to center myself.”
Her smile sent tingles throughout his body. “I love nature too. Sometimes it’s the only way to disconnect from all the bullshit, you know? I learned that pretty fast in the Army.”
“I hope you learned how to eat too,” he said with a chuckle as he set the basket down in the very center of the meadow. “Trina packed enough for everyone in the Army—past, present, and future.”
Val laughed as she helped him spread out the blanket Trina had tucked on top of the food. “I’m not shy when it comes to food.”
Together they unpacked the basket, each item more mouthwatering than the last. It was exactly the kind of picnic you’d expect to have in a small Georgia town—fried chicken, collard greens seasoned with bacon, fried okra, and of course still-warm biscuits as big as his fist, with small tubs of butter and apple jam in which to drown them.
“You all really know how to treat a lady in these parts,” Val said, her eyes taking in the spread as she licked her lips in a way that made him turn away. Popping a boner over a drumstick probably wouldn’t be appreciated.
“Or is it y’all?” she quipped with a wink.
Zeke chuckled and started filling their plates. “I think y’all slips in more and more with every biscuit you put away.”
“Hope you’re ready to hear it a lot then,” she said, snatching a biscuit and taking a big bite out of it.
She wasn’t kidding. For every bite he took, Val took two. Had the Army been starving her? The woman ate like a wolf! Only once she leaned back on her elbows and sighed with satisfaction did he notice the two beers buried at the bottom of the basket. He popped them and handed her one.
“Shall we toast?” he asked with a grin.
She returned the grin, setting his belly on fire with its brilliance. “To telling politicians to sit on an ice pick!”
“I’ll drink to that.”
Who knew sharing a meal with a human could be so much fun? Zeke knew a lot of humans in Tremble, and for the most part, they were…fine. A few—such as Mayor Calhoun—were assholes, but most were just… fine. Val was so far beyond “fine,” he wasn’t sure how to classify her. As he watched her lick jam off her finger, it came to him.
Exquisite.
The afternoon’s light breeze wrapped her exquisite scent around him like a cocoon he never wanted to escape from. He adjusted the way he sat to conceal the effect she had on him, but as lunch went on, he became less concerned about that. He wanted her and she made no effort to hide her attraction to him. His damnable wolf wanted to throw her back and claim her right there on the red-checked blanket, despite Zeke telling the beast how ridiculous the idea was.
“So how do you like the military?” he sought a subject t
hat wouldn’t be rife with the possibility of innuendo.
“Mmm,” she moaned as she caught a dribble of butter running down the side of her hand with her tongue. “I love it.”
His body reacted instantly to the sight of her licking her own hand, but his brain tried to stay on track. “Really? Personally, I’ve never understood the appeal, aside from serving your country, of course.”
“It’s not for everyone,” she admitted. “I’m always amused when teenage boys discover they don’t actually like having orders barked at them.”
“Who’da thunk it,” he laughed. “If I’m being honest, you don’t seem like the type who does either.”
“Want to know a secret?” she asked, leaning in conspiratorially. “Nobody does. But it’s part of the hierarchy. Everyone in the Army knows exactly who’s above them and who’s below them. That makes the whole thing work like a well-oiled machine. Well, mostly. It’s still a bureaucracy, but it works for me.”
“I can appreciate that.” Wolf packs worked in a similar way. They just didn’t fly overseas to trade gunfire with people. Not that he could tell her that.
“I thrive with the solidarity of the Army too,” she continued. “It’s a great big, sometimes dysfunctional, family. The best part, for me, is that we know we all have each other’s backs. For the most part.”
Zeke’s eyebrow shot up. “Oh?”
Val shrugged as she studied the label on her beer. “Oh, you know. It’s still mostly a white boys’ club and I don’t tick either of those boxes. A white boy screws up and he blends in with the crowd. A dark-skinned woman messes up, and she’s got nowhere to hide. I learned that pretty quickly and worked twice as hard as most of my counterparts. I’m not saying it’s like the bad old days, but I stand out, draw more attention.”
“I’ll say you do,” Zeke said, his gaze skimming the length of her body in appreciation. When he reached her mouth again, she was smirking.
“Damn right. By that standard, you wouldn’t do half-bad in the Army yourself.” She followed his lead and scanned the length of him, her gaze lingering on the prominent bulge in his jeans, which only made things worse.