Chapter 9
RODERICK
My muscles are loose. Relaxed. The sensation of having a good, thorough stretch.
Warner and I ride our motorcycles, me slightly ahead, roaring down a two-lane mountain road in the darkness of late evening.
When my brother suggested we head out of town for a run in our other forms, I realized that was exactly what I needed to deal with the discomfort I’d been struggling with these past few weeks.
And my failed date.
After visiting the librarian’s house, my nerve endings constantly itch. I blame my wolf, who wants to go back and create a comfortable den for the woman he sees as our future mate.
He wants to scare away the critters destroying her electricity.
He wants to patch the hole in her roof.
He wants to fix the rotting boards in her front porch.
Apparently, the need to find a mate is even more fierce than I first realized.
And, if anything, the outing with Sylvia seems to have made my wolf more anxious. Like the animal is aware of the fact that I’m actively fighting against its preferences.
This run was a boon in a way. Giving the beast inside me a chance to get out and take the lead. Shake off the nervous energy that was a constant hum in my veins. For the first time in a while, I start to relax. Even now, back in my human form, I’m feeling good. In control.
The sight of Warner coming up on my right and gesturing to me focuses my mind on the present moment.
“I’m pulling over,” he signs, then points behind him, where we just passed a parked truck on the side of the road.
The vehicle is in a small dirt lot that feeds a couple of trailheads. There’s no reason for Warner to be concerned by a vehicle there.
Still, he seems intent on stopping, and I want to know why.
Instead of continuing on to town, I park alongside him, the roar of our bikes fading as we both shut off our engines.
“You can keep going. That’s Zoey Gunner’s truck. I want to see why she’s out here.” Warner scans the forest, a tense set to his shoulders.
The name is familiar, but it takes me a moment.
Then I remember she’s the woman who was having a drink at The Rabbit Hole the other night when the pack returned from a group ride.
Most everyone in town knows that’s the meeting place of The Dark Moon Riders.
Only some know our biker gang is formed entirely of wolves.
The woman, Zoey, was clearly new to town and oblivious.
Warner was interested in the stranger, but I figured he just wanted a hookup.
My brother has never bothered with a relationship.
What is it about this human that has him concerned?
“Why?” is all I ask aloud.
He climbs off his bike. “She’s a city girl. Want to make sure she hasn’t gotten lost in the woods.”
Letting the scents of the forest surround me, all my relaxation from our run disappears. Entwined with the normal smell of pine and moss and earth is something else. A tart, homey scent.
“Juliet is here,” I announce without thought.
“Juliet?” Warner asks. “The librarian?”
I nod, not offering anything else, even when he gives me a curious look.
My brother doesn’t push, instead choosing to follow the trail into the trees.
I let Warner lead the way, mainly because my wolf is itching to spearhead this hunt. That is not an urge I want to give in to so close to the object of his fascination. Who knows what the animal will do once we find her?
Even in our human forms, we move soundlessly through the forest, made easier by the fact that there is a trail leading to the water.
Feminine voices drift on the night breeze once we reach Yellow Pine Lake.
In the distance, a fire glows. Fighting the neediness of my wolf, I hang back in the tree line instead of stepping out on to the rocky shore, like Warner.
There’s no reason Juliet needs to know I’m here.
“Guess they’re not in trouble,” Warner says, looking around for me, only to find I’m not at his side. He stares at the shadows I wait in. “You’re being fucking weird.”
Because I don’t feel like interacting with a sassy human who smells good?
Whatever. Who cares what he thinks?
Warner continues on without me, and I head in the same direction, only in the opaque darkness of the forest.
As their scents indicated, Juliet and Zoey are here together. The two women have set up a campsite, having some kind of party for themselves, drinking beer and singing a pop song off-key.
A dog spots Warner first, the big, furry brute approaching as if it already knows my brother. And from the way Warner greets the dog, I’m guessing it does.
“Who’s there? Show your face!” This command comes from Zoey. There’s a slurred edge to her words that convinces me she’s had more than one drink.
As Warner greets the women with his normal charm, I move as close as possible while still holding to the shadows, watching the scene unfold. Acting as spectator, I quickly pick up on the undertones of the conversation.
My brother is flirting with Zoey Gunner. And not how he normally does, where he’s friendly and goofy with everyone.
From the way Warner followed the woman’s trail in the woods, combined with the fascination he watches her with now, it’s clear this is different for him.
My brother likes the human woman. A lot.
This could be a problem.
Zoey is both outsider and not. The Gunners have lived in Pine Falls for generations. Minnie Gunner, Zoey’s grandmother, passed away a few months back. The woman was a recluse, and her relatives never visited, as far as I know. Which means Zoey Gunner never came to our town before a few weeks ago.
It’s hard to qualify where she stands in the makeup of Pine Falls. Where she belongs.
If she’ll be good for Warner or if she’ll hurt him.
And I need to take my brother into account. Tanya wasn’t lying to Juliet when she claimed that everyone liked Warner. And he, in turn, seems to like most everyone.
He’s rarely dated a woman more than a handful of times, and even then, it seemed like nothing more than a new pair of pants he was trying on.
But something, maybe his wolf communing with mine, hints this fascination he has with the Gunner woman could be more.
Another night, another setting, I might be able to concentrate.
To come up with a way to approach this development.
If only Juliet wasn’t standing on the other side of the campfire, adding comments to the conversation, swaying to some music only she can hear as she sips from her sweating can of Coors Light.
I bet if I kissed her, she’d taste like bonfire and cheap beer.
But I’m not going to kiss her because that would be ridiculous.
Kissing is good, my wolf insists.
“Why are you lurking, Roderick?” The sound of my name on her lips jolts me out of that train of thought. “You’re being creepy.”
She can see me?
I should be completely hidden by the shadows of the trees, but apparently, the librarian has sharper eyes than I thought. And now she thinks I’m creepy.
Well, that’s fine. Who cares? Juliet can think whatever the hell she wants about me, and it won’t matter at all.
Want her to like us, my wolf says.
Gods-damn it.
Zoey, now aware I’m here, appears only mildly interested in my presence, much more focused on my brother. She even intentionally falls into his arms, giggling and clearly drunk.
I want to hold our mate, my wolf whines.
She’s not ours.
Then the librarian speaks again, throwing another taunt my way. “Careful, Zoey. All that cutesy talk might scare these big, tough Dark Moon Riders. Roderick won’t even come out of the woods!”
A growl almost climbs out of my throat before I stifle the noise.
“Who’s Roderick?” Zoey asks.
“My older brother,” Warner offers with a sheepish grin. “He’s a little antisocial.”
I’m plenty social. With the pack. I sit in The Rabbit Hole most evenings so any one of them can approach me.
“That’s okay. I am too,” Zoey says before bopping his nose.
I can tell, even from a distance, that the playful gesture pleases my brother.
And I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.
But I don’t have any more time to consider it because Juliet captures my attention by climbing a large rock, all the while still gripping her beer.
“Not tonight! Tonight, we christen our friendship! Two outsiders, taking over Pine Falls. To hell with the bikers! This town will be run by women!”
The declaration has me gritting my teeth. Not the women part. If the pack magic had chosen a female alpha, that would have been fine by me.
No, what rankles me is Juliet’s obvious pride at being an outsider.
Outsiders only bring pain. That’s nothing to brag about.
The women shoo Warner away, and he backs off with a smile.
When he rejoins me, my mouth moves before I consider my words. “They’re ridiculous.”
“They’re drunk.” He shrugs.
“It’s not safe.” The admission is reluctant, and I do my best to make it clear I’m chastising their poor judgment to get intoxicated in the wilderness.
“Well, yeah. That’s why I’m not actually leaving.”
At least we agree on that.
Warner heads deeper into the forest, and I follow, pulling at the strings connecting me to my other form.
After quickly shucking off my clothes, shadows shift around my body, clinging with cold tendrils to my skin, coaxing out an inner part of me.
My wolf rises happily, ready to guard the woman he considers our mate.
As eager as the animal is, the pain of the change is still acute.
I let out a grunt as my bones snap and muscles tear, but quickly shake the aches off and sit still as Warner finishes his shift.
He’s slower than me, but only because the added power of being the pack leader sends me through the change faster.
The two of us settle in our wolf forms, close enough to hear if either of the women screams. Juliet would probably be pissed to find out we were lurking here like this. I’m betting even more so after the pushback I gave her about alarm systems.
But I’ve already folded on that matter, spending a good chunk of money on web courses instructing how to install different systems. The needed parts are in the mail, and soon, Juliet will have her very own security system.
I try not to dwell on how my pulse picks up its pace at the thought of returning to her little house.
The security system will take time to install.
Hours when I’ll be surrounded by her scent, moving through her home.
Then, when it’s all done, the woman will be grateful.
Maybe she’ll be so happy that she’ll smile at me or raise her arms for a hug—
Yes! my wolf crows.
No, I remind my brain and my instinct.
The Gunner woman leaves the safety of the fire to stomp loudly through the trees, singing a silly rhyme about peeing in the woods.
Warner gives a chuff of a laugh and follows after her, though I’m sure he’ll still keep his distance.
I know my brother, and he’d never watch a woman when she’s taking a private moment.
Even this level of spying, staying within earshot of the pair, causes us both discomfort. As the pack leader, I can pick up more information than the average wolf through our bonds, which is how I know Warner is torn between respecting Zoey’s space and wanting to keep her safe.
The big dog they have with them belatedly lumbers after Zoey, leaving Juliet alone at the bonfire.
I expect her to stand quietly and wait for her friend to return.
Instead, the little librarian sings some country-sounding song about a cowboy killer and attempts to moonwalk her way down to the waterline.
I keep a wary eye on her, positive she’s about to trip into the lake and drown herself.
But she keeps on her feet, still singing to herself as she picks up a handful of stones and, one by one, skips them along the still surface. The reflection of stars ripples with each toss, and I make out the soft plops of the stones hopping along.
Zoey and her dog reappear in the firelight just as my brother returns to my side, and we settle in.
Soft voices float toward us, carried on the breeze from the lake, picked up by our advanced hearing.
The conversation is missing the lighthearted tone from earlier, and I struggle with my curiosity, finally slipping out from the trees and stepping carefully along the rocky shore in hopes of discovering the actual topic being discussed.
“How’d you hear about Pine Falls then?” Zoey asks.
The question has me slipping even closer, hungry for the answer.
“The job posting was online, and I was looking …” Juliet pauses in a way that makes my ears twitch and my body freeze in case she’s somehow spotted me despite my dark fur blending seamlessly with the night. “I wanted to get away.”
“And Pine Falls fit the bill?”
“Better than most,” the librarian agrees with a cryptic vagueness.
There’s a certain tone in her voice I’ve heard before.
Like a too-tight wire vibrating under each word.
It’s how she sounded the first day I met her, when she told me her name was Juliet Adair.
It’s the tone I heard when Juliet claimed to my sister that she didn’t live anywhere interesting before moving to town.
She’s either lying outright or holding back information.
Their conversation shifts, then falls silent, and I stew about the tension in her words.
Juliet—or whoever she is—is hiding something.
Pine Falls isn’t a big place, and it has far too many secrets already.
There’s no room here for hers.