Four #3
His energy was right. The strength that rolled off him put you at ease, made you feel safe, and of course there was that raw animal magnetism that I’d never met a true alpha without.
None of that was present with Abel Swann or his son.
And no matter what Narah hoped, no matter what she wanted for Justin, no one was missing that fact.
Because yes, Justin was handsome, but there was no heat that jumped off him at all.
Wolves were earthy creatures, and sex was something that drove them, plain and simple.
It was one of the primal draws of every alpha.
Other wolves craved being near them for safety, discipline, and to mate.
Narah had told me last night that her wolves didn’t realize that Abel didn’t exude the command and virility other alphas did, but honestly, she was lying to herself.
They knew, and it was why I didn’t feel the warmth and connection that was present in other packs.
They were people living in a community together, but they were not a family.
Not a pack. All of that came back to the leader, and they didn’t have one with any power.
Moving slowly, giving Cole time to go without having to look at me again, I walked to the heavy nine-foot-tall glass-and-wood door, and gently closed it.
There was no way to slam it, but it was impressive that he’d thrown it open.
The strength in the man’s frame made me want to bite him back, and that would be bad for him.
It was better this way. Alone was better.
“You’re an idiot, he was dreamy.”
Turning, I found Ondine sitting at the counter, her glossy black hair so long that it fell like a curtain and puddled on the floor.
It looked like an oil slick when it caught the light, shimmering blue and green, and her solid-black eyes were locked on me.
The skintight jeans and iridescent midnight-blue shirt she wore were for my benefit. Her preference was to be naked.
“Nice of you to change colors while he was here,” I said curtly, watching her start to eat what Cole hadn’t finished, which was quite a bit.
In her falcon form, no vegetables for her, but sirens ate whatever they wanted.
If they wanted. She didn’t need to eat anything if she wasn’t in the mood.
She could go on forever if she felt like it, her form fed only by water and sunlight and the lust of hot, sweaty sailors.
“I liked him, and more importantly, he really liked you.”
I took a seat across from her.
After she stared at me for a moment, those bottomless black eyes of hers narrowed. “He was sincere. I heard it in his voice.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s not for me.”
“He could be.”
I scowled at her.
“Fine, what do I know?”
“You know a lot about watermen,” I said petulantly. “And gods.”
“It’s true. I know a lot about the fae as well, but if you’re done being contrary…”
I groaned. “Fine.”
“We should be talking about what it is you like at the moment.”
“Or not,” I grumbled at her.
“Why do you stay away from love?”
“That’s not love. Him and me, that’s lust. You, of all beings, should know the difference.”
“No, I felt the strength in him. He would make a good mate.”
“He needs a wolf mate, and he needs to lead that pack.”
“The human side of him says no, be grateful, be humble, remember what his aunt and uncle have done for him. It’s the wolf that knows better, knows what’s right and what needs to be done. The animal in him wants to draw blood.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I heard what you said, and you know that when people speak, I can see their memories.”
I did know that. “Right.”
“I’m going to go swim in the stream. I might go all the way to the lake and see what’s there. Maybe let some fishermen see me.”
“Don’t—”
“Please,” she said with a roll of her eyes, which looked really odd with the all-black sclera she was sporting at the moment. “I haven’t drowned anyone in ages.”
I nodded.
“I might make a snack of someone, though. I haven’t fucked in ages either.”
“Just don’t bewitch anyone.”
“I’m not a witch,” she reminded me, her voice going dark with warning.
“Enchant anyone. Is that better?”
“Yes.” She suddenly brightened, sounding cheerful. “Better.”
“I don’t want anyone following you home.”
“Of course not.” She was back to sounding terse. “It’s my sanctuary too.”
I’d overstepped. I knew she didn’t bring strangers home. Now I needed to distract her. “And leave Teague alone if you see him.”
She scrunched up her nose as if the very idea was distasteful.
“All he said to me that day was, ‘there’s a mermaid in your bathtub,’” I said in defense of my friend.
“Yes, I know. But what he might have said, instead, is ‘there’s a seductress in your bathtub,’ or a nymph, a siren, or an angel—though I doubt he’s ever seen one—or even, as banal as it is, ‘there’s an ethereal mermaid in your bathtub with the most glorious tail…
’ But he said mermaid as though I were beneath him, or common. ”
I couldn’t count how many times we’d had the same conversation over the years. “The fact that you heard him in your head should tell you something.”
“I’m certain I have no idea what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. Obviously, he wanted you to know he saw you. And we both know he thought you were exquisite.”
Her humph of annoyance wasn’t fooling me.
“If he wasn’t captivated by your beauty, you would have never heard him.”
“So you say,” she replied, not believing a word.
“Fine, I’ll see you whenever you get back.”
She got up like she was boneless, the movement so sensual and graceful that I couldn’t help but smile.
“What?”
“You are a wondrous creature.”
“I keep telling you that.”
I nodded.
“You know, I myself would make an exceptional mate for your wolf if he loved women,” she told me as she turned at the back door. “I’d kill anyone who dared touch him.”
“You’re too fickle. He needs someone steady. Nothing holds your interest for long, we both know that. Cole lost both his parents, and now he’s everything to his little brother.”
“Which is another of the many reasons he lists for himself why he fears taking over the pack,” she said. “Because that burden then falls on his brother as his newly minted beta.”
“That’s true. I didn’t think of that.”
“I heard him tell you that there is no beta now.”
“Abel himself had to have been Anson’s beta, Cole’s father, which allowed him to step up into power when his brother died.”
“Yes.”
“I wonder why there isn’t one now?”
“It sounds like there were only the two brothers,” she said.
“As you know, normally the alpha would have either his brother or sister at his side as his second. But now, Justin can’t be his beta because he’s his heir, and he can’t make Cole his beta, because then when he died, the pack would simply be returned to the original lineage. ”
I shrugged. “It’s none of my business. I doubt Cole and I will even be friends.”
“But you want to be,” she whispered huskily. “You crave dominance, and that man is dying to make you submit. He’s absolutely vibrating with it.”
“Go swim,” I groused at her.
“It’s interesting that, as fearsome a creature as you are, that your desire to belong to another in all ways lives deep in your soul.”
“Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.”
Ondine was chuckling when she opened the back door that led down toward the ravine that ran behind the house.
“What’s so funny?”
“Earlier, you didn’t correct me when I called him your wolf.”
As usual, she didn’t have the decency to wait so I could yell at her, but I could still hear her laughing for several more minutes as she took her time sauntering away from the house. Sometimes having preternatural hearing was not a blessing.
I was restless, and every time I was certain I had Cole Swann completely out of my head, he popped right back in.
I knew better than to give unsolicited advice, even when following it was in someone’s best interest. Because honestly, the problem wasn’t him falling for me, it was me falling for him.
I was endless, he was not. What was the point of love for a creature like me?
I had mourned the loss of every human friend I’d ever had, and each one had gutted me.
But I’d also watched when they lost those they loved, seen them grieving with all their hearts and minds and bodies, and their pain was visceral and overwhelming.
I wasn’t brave enough to love like that.
As the hours dragged by after Cole left, I worked hard to distract myself from thinking about the gorgeous man I could have taken to bed.
I did that first by trying to read, then by readying the inventory sheets for the yearly horror of counting napkin packs and rolls of paper towels, and when nothing worked, I finally decided that I would open up my laptop and deal with something I truly dreaded: payroll.
Two hours later, I was finished with the Thanksgiving bonuses and was making sure everyone’s 401(K) contributions were in for the month when there was a knock on the door. I really wasn’t that surprised to find police officers from White Sulphur Springs on my doorstep.
“Good evening, officers.” I saw Teddy Braun behind them.
He was our fish and wildlife guy who had an office in town.
I was never really sure what his position was because it changed a bit depending on who was in office, what voters decided on at different times, and who paid his salary.
I didn’t think he was a forest ranger, but again, the badge changed from time to time, as well as his hat and uniform.
The cards he left at the restaurant had different titles as well, and the logo went from a fish—too small to tell what kind—to a deer, then back to a fish.
But he didn’t leave the cards for me, he left them for Dakota just in case she ever needed him.
“Bless his heart,” Kim Rawley, one of my four cooks, always said. “Someone needs to tell him that girl only likes lumberjacks.”