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“Oh, yay.”
He snorted at the way she wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes. Pretty—yeah, she certainly was, and stubborn to boot if he’d been reading her right. The smile faded quickly when he thought of the choice Mia would have to make in the coming days.
There were only two ways to link into a pack. Being born to at least one parent of the blood…or a joining of a much more intimate nature. It was why there were such strict rules, why packs rarely saw newcomers who weren’t already part of a love match. The bite was only part of the equation. The bond, the connection with the pack mind, would only be complete after she’d joined with a Black-paw in a physical sense, at least once.
He didn’t want to be the one to tell her. No doubt she’d be furious, and with good reason. But the alternative was one he didn’t think she’d find acceptable, to turn feral, to lose all sense of right and wrong, all humanity. Jenner was already sure she’d have her pick of the young, single males in the pack.
All but him. The only joining he would ever be a part of was the one he’d already gone through. That couldn’t have turned out a whole lot worse.
Jenner frowned. He didn’t want to think about Tess tonight.
“Oh, crap,” Mia muttered beside him.
“To which part of the night so far?” he asked.
“My stuff. I mean, I have stuff. At the hotel.” She shoved the heels of her palms against her eyes and growled her irritation. The noise had Jenner’s senses kicking into overdrive before he could think to try and block them, and in an instant he found himself breathing in air scented with light citrus, some sort of vanilla body wash, and beneath even that, clean, feminine skin. He could hear every breath. Every heartbeat.
Then it was his turn to feel like growling.
“You staying at the inn? Down the road in Greenview?” he asked instead, irritated all over again when he realized she’d had a room with the biter at a fancy, scenic, known-for-its-romance hotel, had no doubt planned on sharing a bed with the psycho…hell, maybe they were engaged, how did he know? And more important, why did he care?
“The Sylvan Inn, yes,” Mia said, taking her hands away from her face and blowing out a breath. “God, why can’t I think?”
“It’ll get better.”
Jenner could feel her eyes on him, trying to bore holes in his skin, but he kept his own on the road. He needed to get it together. Hadn’t he told himself a million times to keep life simple, to avoid complications? Because he had the distinct feeling that Mia D’Alessandro could be one huge complication if he let her be.
“Better when?”
“Tomorrow, probably.”
“Probably?” She managed to sound both sleepy and outraged at the same time. Jenner bit back a smirk. She was fighting the sleep hard…she should have gone down by now, but that stubborn streak he’d suspected seemed to be preventing it.
He couldn’t help but egg her on a little.
“Yeah. Tomorrow or the day after.”
Her tone was acid. “Wow. You’re a font of information, Nick.”
“It’s Jenner,” he said quickly, not liking the way it felt to hear his given name roll off her tongue that way. It was too familiar, reminded him too strongly of his old life, and his journey into this one. “Everyone calls me Jenner.”
“Jenner,” she repeated. “Like that big rat in the kids’ movie. Secret of NIMH.”
“Rat?” Jenner looked over at Mia, and immediately understood what the problem was. She was no longer just fighting sleep. Sleep was actively fighting her, and the two appeared to be locked in an epic battle for supremacy. It seemed pretty obvious sleep was gaining the upper hand.
Not a surprise, since after a werewolf bite it was less like sleep and more like falling down a black hole for a whole bunch of hours.
“Bad rat,” Mia said. “Got stabbed. Was a happy ending.” She yawned.
Jenner grimaced. “Stabbed. Great. You’re making my night, Mia. Thanks.” What kind of literary asshole named an evil rat Jenner, anyway?
“I like Nick better,” she said, slurring her words. “Iss nice.” She yawned. “Nick the werewolf. Awoo.” Another chuckle.
This time, she sounded so young and exhausted that he didn’t have the heart to correct her. And he guessed he had to give her points for the little wolf howl she did at the end before falling silent. He drove on in silence, making the turn onto the heavily wooded road on the outskirts of the Hollow where he lived. It occurred to him all at once that he’d never brought a woman out here. Whenever he’d scratched that particular itch, a thing he did only infrequently because of complications he wanted to avoid, he’d done it elsewhere.
Well, it wasn’t like he was bringing her home to go to bed with, Jenner thought with a frown. And it wasn’t like she was staying long. And if she made him feel a little itchy that way, well…he could deal with it.
Mia sighed in the seat beside him, a breathy exhalation of pleasure that had his mind immediately racing for the gutter. He was pretty sure that after he got her carried into the house and tucked into bed, his mind was going to stay in that gutter for the night and roll around for a while.
He could handle it, Jenner thought, his jaw tightening. He could handle most anything.
But really, did their first feral victim in ages have to be quite so appealing?
The soft gasp beside him made him jump a little as he pulled into the long drive. The lights he’d left on glimmered through the trees ahead.
“What is it?” he asked. “Mia? You okay?”
“We forgot my stuff,” she slurred, her voice soft and getting softer with every word. “Di…did I tell you I was staying at…at the…”
“I’ll have someone get your things,” Jenner said, relieved. “No problem.” Bite complications were rare, but always a worry. This, though, was just Mia’s last stand against unconsciousness. He smiled a little. It was hard not to appreciate her effort, futile though it was. She’d lasted far longer than most. He pulled the truck up in front of the garage, put it in park, and killed the engine.
“We’re here, Mia. Time to go to bed.”
“Um. Mmm. It was…inna room…blue room…” She trailed off, and when Jenner looked over at her she was sound asleep, mouth slightly open, head tipped back. His smile faded as he looked at her, finally letting his eyes wander over her sleeping form. Small, slim-waisted but with curves in all the right places. Naturally, since he was a sucker for an hourglass figure. And that face…she really did look like a Roman goddess. Not Venus, though. More like Diana. Goddess of the hunt…and of the moon.
Pretty little thing, Jenner thought grimly, remembering Dex’s words. Hell with that. Mia was beautiful.
And if he didn’t want his life screwed up all over again, he was going to have to be very, very careful.
“Just for tonight,” he told her, though her only response was the deep breathing common to those soundly asleep. Jenner just shook his head, then got out of the truck and headed around to the other side to get his passed-out charge. The only sounds in the night were the crunch of gravel beneath his feet, the distant call of an owl. And, as he gathered Mia into his arms, the uneven beat of his own stupid heart.
Mia awoke, mouth watering, to the tantalizing scents of coffee and bacon. She could hear the sizzle and pop of the bacon in the frying pan, could almost taste the decadently rich coffee on her tongue.
Kona, she thought dreamily, drifting in the peaceful place between waking and sleep. Who bought the Kona? It’s my favorite…
Reality intruded far too quickly, and all at once. Mia’s eyes fluttered open as memories of the night before returned with a vengeance, each horrible image cascading into the next. Her heart quickened, the impulse to throw off the covers and run somewhere, anywhere, almost overpowering.
Almost.
Mia closed her eyes again and forced herself to think, to remember the rest. The rescuers in the woods. The ride in the truck with Nick Jenner, foggy though that last bit was. Jeff was gone, Mia told herself firmly. She was safe. She was being protected now.
A pair of big, golden eyes surfaced in her memory, and a husky growl of a voice. I can make him pay. You have to trust me.
In the company of werewolves. What a comfort. Especially since, along with her myriad of other problems, she was now on her way to becoming one. Or something like one. What exactly did you get when you crossed a werewolf with her sort of blood? Somehow, she didn’t think that would be a great conversation starter here.
With a strangled groan, Mia opened her eyes, sat up, and slowly pushed the covers back, blinking rapidly as she realized her contacts were dried out and stuck to her eyes.
Crap. An attempted run of her fingers through her hair indicated that it, too, was showing the effects of a rough night. Snarl city. She exhaled loudly and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, dangling them above the floor for a few moments as she got her bearings. Gooseflesh prickled over her exposed skin. Mia looked resignedly down at her bra, a lacy black number that seemed ridiculously out of place this morning. Her tattered, bloodied shirt had been removed, a gesture that left her torn between gratefulness and embarrassment. At least her jeans were still on, slightly dirt-stained though they were. Her feet were bare.
The thought of big, handsome Nick Jenner removing her socks and shoes and tucking her into bed made her flush…and wish she’d been just a little bit awake for it. Quickly, she pushed the thought from her mind. She had more pressing things to worry about now. And after last night, another man who could sprout fangs was the last thing she needed. She took full responsibility for Jeff. She should have known better. She’d always gone for the damaged ones, the ones who might just need her enough not to push her away if they ever discovered what she was. Mia was old enough to know that secrecy didn’t have to mean shame, but the feeling that she was somehow wrong had lingered…and her choice of men had borne that out over the years.
But even by her standards, Jeff had been needy. Charming, yes, but unmistakably broken in some way she couldn’t begin to touch.
The thought of him brought a mix of emotions to the surface: fury, betrayal, even shame that she hadn’t seen him for the predator he was. And underlying it all, sadness. Maybe one of these days she’d learn that fixing emotionally wounded men—or trying—wasn’t going to fix her own problems.
At least he’d tried to kill her before she could sleep with him. Small favors. And now she was here with Jenner, who didn’t seem like the kind of guy who needed anyone, least of all her. Not her type.
Yeah, she’d just keep telling herself that…
Mia slid off the edge of the simple iron bed and wiggled her toes into the plush area rug that covered much of the wood floor of the small bedroom. Her eyes wandered a room lit by muted daylight, which was filtering in through a window hung with sheer curtains in a shade of deep cream. A single, low dresser sat opposite her against the wall, an old-fashioned basin and pitcher resting on top of it. A small nightstand sat beside the bed, and the little clock on it put the hour at a little past 9:00 a.m. The walls of warm, honey-colored wood left no doubt she was in a log home, and on them someone (Jenner, she assumed) had hung a couple of photographs, gorgeous shots that had been blown up, matted and framed. They showed a forest, probably this forest, in full autumnal glory.
As she looked around, Mia’s eyes lit on the weekend travel bag placed neatly on the floor beside the dresser. Her bag. Tears pricked her eyes as reality began to fully penetrate the protective cocoon she’d been wrapped in since last night. This was really happening.
She’d done exactly what had always been expected of her: the worst.
“You’ve the dark blood in you,” Grandmother Ada’s voice whispered in her mind, the rasp so familiar, so real that Mia shivered. “I knew it the instant you were born. Tainted. I warned your mother what your father was, but she wouldn’t listen, and look where it got them. My family’s light snuffed out, your parents’ lives lost, and only you to show for it. A little girl who’ll draw the shadows like flies to honey. They’ll break you, Mia, once I’m gone. And then you’ll break everything.”
Mia closed her eyes against the tears and forced that awful voice back into the dark corner of her mind where it belonged. She was determined not to lose it now. If she was going to be dealing with a pack of werewolves today, at least she could do it without looking like an extra from Night of the Living Dead. At least Jeff was something the werewolves seemed to know how to hunt. The shadows in her grandmother’s warnings, always feared but never seen, were her problem. She’d just make sure to get out of here before they became anyone else’s.
“I’ve managed so far,” Mia told herself in a bare whisper. “I can handle this. After last night, I can handle anything. No matter how weak anyone thinks I am.”
And as she dug into her weekend bag, she almost believed it.
Chapter 3
Ten minutes later, Mia padded quietly down a short hallway, drawn by the delicious smells that had flooded her senses the instant she’d left the bedroom. Rich coffee, toasting bread, potatoes and eggs and bacon…it was easy to push her nerves into the background when she was positive she’d never smelled anything so heavenly. And she felt much better since she’d changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a simple, fitted V-neck sweater. Her hair had been de-knotted, and she’d been glad to find the gorgeous bathroom across from her room so she could brush her teeth. Tired of her itchy, driedout eyes, she’d opted to soak the contacts and had instead put on the geeky-chic glasses she favored for work. Thick woolen socks warmed her feet.
It was, Mia figured, no time to try to be glamorous, not that she’d really packed for that sort of charade. She’d stupidly thought that Jeff had appreciated her being basically casual and earthy, the sort of girl who liked to run barefoot in fields and catch fireflies on lazy summer nights before dancing wildly under the moon.
She really should have known better.
Troubled by the way her thoughts kept circling around Jeff, Mia tried to concentrate on the mouth-watering smells wafting through the air and followed her nose into a room that opened clear to the peaked ceiling. As soon as she stepped into it, she forgot her nerves entirely.
Before her was a wall of enormous windows, turning nearly the entire thing to glass. And just beyond, seeming to be a part of the room itself, was a forest ablaze with color. Crimson and gold, vibrant orange to deepest rust—the colors flooded her vision until they were all she could see. Though her job and her fears had long kept her bound to the anonymous city, Mia was possessed of a sudden, wild urge to dash into the waiting arms of the trees and just…run.
Wow, she thought. Except she must have said it out loud, because the next thing she heard was his voice, deep, resonant, and just as gruff as she remembered, though now colored with a hint of amusement.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’m partial to the woods, myself. Thought breakfast might get you up. Coffee?”
Mia turned her head toward the sound, seeing the portion of the great room that had been turned into a kitchen. She saw gleaming marble in deep earth tones, glass-front cabinets, a scatter of containers and appliances that indicated the kitchen wasn’t just for show…and in the middle of all of it was Nick Jenner. Still bigger than life. Still simmering with the kind of latent sensuality that left her nerves raw and quivering.
Damn it, he was even better-looking than she remembered. And he’d asked her something. Which she couldn’t seem to remember for the life of her.
You wanted a way to get your mind off of Jeff, she reminded herself. Of course, she hadn’t wanted her brain to shut down completely, either.
“Hi,” Mia said, and immediately wanted to cringe. Whatever he’d asked her, hi wasn’t an answer.
Jenner lifted one eyebrow before turning to fiddle with something he had going on the stovetop. “Hi yourself. You feeling all right? Last time I checked the wound it was healing up well, but it could take a while for you to get your thoughts all the way back together.”
He’d checked on her. Of course he had. Still, she was absurdly touched. People simply didn’t take care of her…that was her job. Mia breathed in deeply, forced herself to concentrate on forming a coherent answer. He was right…she did still feel a little scattered. But she couldn’t afford to stay that way for any length of time. She had a lot of questions that desperately needed answering. And goddess forbid she slip up and say something.
“No, I’m fine,” she replied, and tried for a friendly smile. “Still a little foggy, but I think some coffee might help with that.”
Which was what he’d asked in the first place, Mia realized. What a great impression she was making. She walked to stand at the edge of the kitchen, all while Jenner watched her with his intense eyes, more like a wolf’s than a man’s. He didn’t return her smile, but he didn’t look irritated by her presence, either.
“Well, I’ve got plenty of coffee,” he finally said in his deep rumble of a voice. “Probably too much food, too, but I didn’t know what you’d like, so…” He trailed off with a nonchalant shrug that Mia found ridiculously attractive. “Cleaned out the pantry. Made a little of everything.”
“Oh, I like everything,” Mia rushed out. “Eating everything, I mean. Er, but not all at once.” She wanted to die, Mia decided. Just lay right down on the floor and give it up. Her foot was already glued into her mouth. Maybe she could just choke on that.
A slow, lazy smile curved up both corners of Jenner’s mouth and deepened the appealing little lines at the corners of his eyes. The bundle of nerves all knotted up in Mia’s lower belly seemed to tighten all at once.
“Good,” he said, his amusement clear in his voice. “Try to eat a little more of everything all at once this morning, though. You’re going to need the energy.”
“Yes, I guess I will,” Mia said, glad that he didn’t seem to think she was as ridiculous as she felt right now. She felt as skittish as a deer scenting a predator on the wind. It was both unfamiliar and unnerving. But there was something she needed to get out of the way before anything else was said this morning. She took a deep breath and plunged in.
“Look, I want to say thank you,” Mia said. “For helping me. Your friends saved my life. And you took care of me. If there’s any way I can repay you…”
Jenner’s eyes seemed to brighten as she trailed off, their strange honey-gold lighting with some inner fire for just an instant as he eyed her in a way that made heat spread from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. But before Mia could do more than register it, he had turned back to the eggs and was poking them with his spatula.
“No need,” he said, his voice slightly huskier than before. “Wolves like this Gaines are scum. Dex and the others were happy to run him off. Just like we’ll be happy to make sure he never hurts you or anyone else again.” He paused, flicked a glance at her before shoveling some eggs onto a plate, then beginning to butter a slice of toast roughly enough that it looked slightly mangled when he put it back down.
Disappointment flooded her. “Oh. So they didn’t catch him last night,” she said.
Jenner shook his head. “No, not yet. But we will. Which reminds me, Bane’s going to want to talk to you as soon as you’re up to it.” He sounded apologetic, Mia noted with a prickle of unease.
“Who’s Bane?” she asked.
“Jayson Bane. He’s Alpha of the pack. Don’t let him intimidate you when you meet him, though. He can be a hardass, but he’s a good man. I sure as hell wouldn’t want his job, but he does it well.”
“Oh,” Mia said, slightly taken aback. Considering Jenner’s size, the aura of power and confidence he projected, it hadn’t occurred to her that there would be other men in charge of him. “I thought maybe you were, you know…the leader,” Mia confessed before she could stop herself.
Jenner lifted his brows, and he chuckled, a warm rumble. He looked genuinely surprised, but not in an unpleasant way.
“Me? No. I’m not what you’d call Alpha material. You could say I’m sort of his second-in-command, I guess, though that’s not exactly right, either. We’re more like…two halves of a whole. He handles the stuff that requires talking.”
She watched him curiously, fascinated by the casual, predatory grace in every small move he made.
“And you do the stuff that requires…”
His grin was fast, wolfish, and moon-bright. “Not talking. Come on and sit down, Mia. Not all of us bite.”
Jenner loaded the rest of the plate with bacon and hash browns, grabbed a fork out of a drawer, and set the plate down on the island, which looked as though it doubled as an eating space. Mia hesitated only a second before approaching. She settled herself on the leather-padded seat of a stool, trying not to feel unnerved by Jenner’s watchful gaze.
“Wait a sec. Napkin,” he said with a frown, and brought her a hastily torn off paper towel. Her fingers brushed his when she took it, and Mia shivered, pulling it quickly away. Even that slight contact left her with the ghost of that beautiful melody she’d heard singing through his veins last night. It was only one of her gifts, but it had never come to her so effortlessly, nor had any man ever responded to her abilities so openly, even if Jenner seemed unaware of how receptive he was. She could only imagine the heaven of joining with him, skin to skin…
“Thanks,” she said, trying for a smile as her heart fluttered wildly. What was wrong with her? Yesterday at this time, she’d been happily imagining a romantic weekend with Jeff. But Jenner’s mere presence seemed to eclipse every thought of Jeff, good and bad.
“No problem.” He drew back almost as quickly as she had. Did he feel it, too, she wondered, this weird chemistry between them? She decided it was a stupid question almost as soon as she’d come up with it. Jenner was a big, sexy, supernaturally powerful man. And she was just…Mia. Not that she was unhappy with being just Mia most of the time. But it was not something that seemed to have set the male hearts of the world aflame just yet.
