Single Wolf Female (Midnight Liaisons) Read online

  When I re-entered the kitchen, she was standing in the center, baby Eddie on her hip, several plastic bags of groceries dangling from her other hand. And she was staring at Jackson, who was under the sink, long, strong legs sticking out as he did something to my garbage disposal.

  “Hi,” she began, and then stopped at the sight of me, her gaze dropping to my neck. “I…oh.” Hope lit her features, almost painful to see. “A new alpha?”

  I gestured at Jackson, who was even now sliding out from under the sink, and I took the groceries from her so I’d have something to do. “Meet Jackson Wilder. He’s going to be our new alpha.”

  “Oh gosh. Hi,” she said, her voice sweet and utterly thrilled. She smiled at him and bounced the baby on her hip. “I’m Holly, and this is Eddie.”

  I wanted to turn and put the groceries away, but I found myself transfixed to their interactions. I was curious how Jackson would treat Holly. She was sixteen and pretty. Would he leer at her like Roscoe did? Size her up for mate-hood?

  But he only gave her a friendly smile and ruffled her blonde hair. “Pleased to meet you.” And he held his arms out for Eddie.

  I watched as Holly handed the fat baby over to him. Jackson bounced him a little, smiling. Eddie’s arms and legs flailed and kicked for a moment as he watched Jackson, and he gurgled.

  Then, he sprouted dark gray wolf hair everywhere.

  Holly giggled as Jackson’s eyes widened in shock. He looked over at me, helpless. “Did I do something wrong?”

  I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my throat, and I moved forward to take the child from Jackson. “I’m pretty sure he just challenged you for dominance.”

  Jackson grinned at me, handing Eddie over. “He’s a little young to take over the pack, I think.”

  “He is,” I said, cooing as I pulled Eddie into my arms. Immediately, the hair began to recede, and within a few moments, the baby looked normal again.

  Jackson offered a finger to the baby’s waving fist, and Eddie latched onto it. “Does he do that a lot?” Jackson asked. “My last pack had no small children, so I’ve never been around pups.”

  “He’s too little to help his reactions, so we have to watch him. Just don’t make any sudden moves around him when we’re in public and you should be fine.” For a man that hadn’t been around children much, he seemed to be fascinated - and pleased - by Eddie. I recalled how he’d been with Dan - patient, kind, understanding. Like a father.

  He’d make a great alpha, I realized. I just had to get over my skittish responses to him.

  I bounced the baby to distract myself even as Holly moved toward the groceries.

  “I brought a bunch of food,” she said in a cheerful voice. “I wasn’t sure if there was anything left in the house, and you mentioned breakfast, so I thought I’d make pancakes just in case.”

  I grinned at Holly. “We sent Dan out to get fast food.”

  “Dan?” She asked, pulling groceries out of one of the sacks.

  As if on cue, the van roared down the gravel path and skidded to a quick halt behind Holly’s beat up little hatchback. Dan hopped out of the car, arms laden with bags, and began bounding toward the kitchen door. “That’s him right now,” I said. “Jackson brought Dan with him.”

  “Oh,” she said, straightening curiously. Her nostrils flared, and I could tell she was picking scents out of the air. Or trying to, anyhow. The smell of burger joints and grease entered the kitchen about two seconds before Dan did.

  The teenage boy jerked to a standstill at the sight of Holly and her blonde hair. His face went beet red and his throat worked. He looked at her, then at me desperately.

  I handed the baby off to Jackson again. “Let me help you with that, Dan.”

  “I… thank you.” His voice cracked and I could have sworn he got even redder. I took bags from him and set them on the counter, starting to go through the food he’d gotten. Lots of breakfast sandwiches, lots of breakfast tacos. Smart boy. “This is perfect, Dan. Thank you.”

  “Of course. Anytime.” He looked awkward and yet happy, his gaze sliding over to Holly repeatedly, and then back to me.

  “Holly, this is Dan St. James. He’s in Jackson’s pack, which means he’s now part of ours.”

  “Hi,” Holly said in a soft, shy voice. She looked like she was turning red, too.

  Dan immediately thrust his big hand at her.

  She giggled and took it gently, shaking it. “Do you, um, want to help me put away the groceries? There’s some more in my car, but I couldn’t get them because I had the baby.”

  “I’d love to,” he said, looking at me again.

  I nodded at him. “Thank you, Dan.”

  The two of them went out of the kitchen, Dan holding the door open for Holly.

  I glanced over at Jackson, amused. His mouth was curled into an equally amused smile, and he patted the baby on the back, jiggling him. “Well, I think those two will get along well.”

  “He’s not going to be…pushy with her, is he? Holly’s a good girl.” And I really didn’t want to have ‘the talk’ with her. Sixteen felt so young to me. Then again, I was twenty four, and no one had ever had the talk with me.

  He shook his head. “I’ll make sure that he treats her with respect, though I don’t think that will be a problem. Never met a more straight-laced kid than Dan.”

  I nodded. Everything I’d seen said the same. “I’m just being protective.”

  “I’d expect no less,” he said, and patted the baby on the back some more. “Where are the others?”

  “Should be along any minute,” I said. “Trina will be with Spence, and Spence went to go get Len out of jail.”

  “Jail, huh?”

  “Probably just general rowdiness,” I told him, pulling food out of the bags and sorting it by types of breakfast meats. Breakfast tacos with sausage, ones with no sausage, ones with bacon, no bacon. Ones with both bacon and sausage, etc. “Len’s been struggling since Cash died. He’s acting out.”

  “I understand,” he said. “But it stops today.”

  “Sounds good to me. I don’t want to have to bail him out again.” Though I knew Len wouldn’t like Jackson’s new position. Not at all. And if Dan tried to set himself up as beta? It’d get even more messy.

  Jackson played with the baby while I unpacked food and Holly and Dan made short work of the groceries. We pulled out glasses for orange juice (that Holly had brought) and made a watered-down sippy cup for the baby and set out breakfast for the rest of the group.

  As if on cue, Trina, Spence and Len showed up just as I’d finished setting the last paper plate on the table.

  Trina was the first one through the door, cellphone in hand. Her dark hair was pulled into a thick French braid, and she wore a trendy neon tank top under a cutoff jean jacket and matching shorts. On anyone older, it would have been a risqué outfit, but Trina was thirteen and her figure was coltish and slim, so she simply looked young. Spence came in after her, dressed in a wrinkled t-shirt and dirty jeans, his hair rumpled. Len was behind him, and looked even worse for the wear, several days growth of beard on his jaw.

  They stopped at the sight of Jackson, still holding baby Eddie, and Dan, seated next to him. Holly sat next to Dan, her eyes wide as her gaze flicked from me to the others. Watching for reactions.

  They weren’t long in coming. Len pushed forward, scowling at Jackson. “Who the fuck are you?”

  I pointed at the table. “Sit. Eat breakfast.”

  Len sat, glaring. Spence and Trina did too, their eyes wide.

  I started to toss wrapped breakfast food in front of each person. “We’re going to eat breakfast, and while we do, I’m going to talk. And you’re all going to sit and listen, got it?” I turned to glare at each one in turn, exerting my will on them. “We’re going to behave like a civilized pack.”

  Silence. I looked over at Len, the most vocal of my small group. He was staring at my neck, his jaw clenched in a mutinous scowl. Oh great. He’d seen t
he mate mark and he wasn’t pleased. His gaze swung to Jackson and I admit, I looked over at Jackson, too.

  My mark was plain as day on Jackson’s tanned throat. For some reason, that embarrassed me. It was like advertising to the world ‘Hey, I’m going to shack up with this guy.’

  “You all know the problem we’re having with Roscoe. And you all know that the last thing I want for us - for all of us - is him stepping in and taking over. The girls won’t be safe with him at the lead.” I looked at Trina and Holly’s pale faces. Spence pulled Trina closer to him, hugging his younger sister. The scowl on his face echoed Len’s. “And you know that since Cash died…” A knot formed in my throat and I swallowed hard. Grief threatened to choke me again.

  As if sensing my distress, Jackson handed the baby off to Dan and stood. He moved to my side of the table and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  The unfamiliar touch made me jump, startling me.

  Len’s eyes narrowed, watching us.

  Jackson’s hand rubbed my shoulder, comfortingly. One might almost say possessively. It was expected, especially with a new alpha stepping in. But I’d made things awkward by flinching away. Even now, I stood next to him, stiff as a board.

  “My name is Jackson Wilder,” he said, and gestured at the other end of the table. “That’s Dan St. James. We were passing through Texas when Alice called and suggested we pool our resources. I liked what I saw and that’s why I’m here.”

  Trina’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t get it. We don’t know you. How’d Alice get your phone number?”

  “There’s an Alliance agency,” I began, not mentioning that it was a dating agency. I had some pride left.

  Spence and Len groaned. “Alliance? You serious?” Len asked. “Those nutjobs? That’s for packless freaks.”

  “The Alliance is made up of a lot of different shifters,” Jackson said, clearly unruffled by the tension at the table. No one was eating. They were just staring at the mountain of wrapped sandwiches. “And it’s good to have allies when you’re down on your luck.”

  “We’re wolves,” Len sneered. “We don’t need allies. We have the pack.”

  “We also don’t need their dating agency, then, do we, Len?” I glared at him.

  He slouched lower in his seat, scowling.

  “So anyhow,” I continued, clenching my hands on the table so I wouldn’t start wringing them. “Jackson is our new alpha and he’s my…mate. It’s going to take some time for everyone to get used to each other, but as of today, I want you all back in the house. You know the rules, too. No changing to wolf unless on Savage territory. No pack runs without clearing it through an alpha first. No interaction with other wolf packs without clearing it first, for the protection of everyone.”

  “What about Jackson’s rules?” Holly asked, her voice whisper-thin. “Doesn’t his pack have rules?”

  Jackson’s thumb caressed my nape again. “We’re going to go with Alice’s rules for now. She knows you better than I do. If anything needs changing, we’ll discuss it.”

  Len snorted.

  “What?” I snapped at him.

  He shrugged his shoulders, glaring up at me and Jackson. “I can’t believe you picked up a stranger on the internet.” He wouldn’t look me in the eye, though. That would have been a challenge, and male wolves never challenged female wolves.

  “We needed an alpha,” I told him, my teeth gritting. I could feel the growl rising in my throat. “Another alpha was the only way to keep the girls out of Roscoe’s grasp—“

  “Yeah, well, he doesn’t seem very alpha,” Len said, getting to his feet. He was a yard away from me, in the seat closest to mine at the table. I’d noticed that he’d picked that spot - probably very deliberately. When he stood up, he towered over me. “You should be with me.”

  “Len, don’t even start,” I said.

  He reached for my arm — only to have his hand batted away by Jackson.

  “That a challenge?” Jackson asked in his low, careful voice.

  “It’s not,” I said quickly, trying to push between them. “Len doesn’t even want me. Not really. He just wants to be in charge, but he doesn’t realize—“

  “Oh, it’s a challenge,” Len said, refuting my words.

  “No,” I began, but no one was listening to me any longer.

  Over my head, Jackson seized Len by his shirt, and before I could blink an eye, he’d thrown Len against the kitchen wall and held him there, pinned. Jackson’s lips were bared in a snarl, and as I watched, he stared down Len. Just stared at him. No thrown punches, nothing.

  A long, tense moment passed…and then Len edged his chin up, showing throat.

  It was over so quickly.

  Jackson released Len’s shirt, now stretched out from his fists, and Len collapsed against the wall, chest heaving as if he’d ran a mile. He stared at us for a long moment, then bolted for the door.

  I needed to go after him, smooth things over.

  Trina had the same idea. She got to her feet, intending to go after her brother.

  “No,” Jackson said, pointing at her. Then he looked at me and gave a slight shake of his head, as if he knew what I was going to do.

  Trina thumped back into her seat, eyes wide.

  “Let’s finish breakfast, shall we?” Jackson’s voice was easy. “It’ll make Alice unhappy if we waste all this food.”

  I didn’t give a shit about the food. Every instinct in me that wanted to keep the pack together screamed that I should go after Len. It was hard to ignore that and sit back down, but I did, the thump of my seat echoing Trina’s from a few moments ago. I forced myself to pick up a sandwich, unwrap it, and take a big bite.

  Following my lead, the others began to eat.

  Chapter Seven

  When breakfast was over, the kids scattered to unpack their things and return their rooms to normal. Holly, always the thoughtful one, offered to help Dan set up his room. Trina naturally wanted to help as well, and tagged along. Before I knew it, they were all hanging out in Dan’s new room, pointing out how he should arrange furniture and asking him what sports he liked, what TV shows he and Jackson watched.

  They seemed to be settling in okay. “Jackson and I are going to run and visit the rent houses. You have my number if anything comes up, right?”

  They nodded. Holly smiled gently at me. Trina texted into her phone, ignoring me. Heck, things were almost back to normal.

  “Okay then,” I said, and left them upstairs. I headed back down to where Jackson was hanging out in the living room. He seemed to realize that hovering would only make everyone more anxious, so had split off from the group once he’d finished eating. I headed in to the living room and his gaze immediately went to me, though he didn’t get up off the sofa. “I want you to come on a business call with me.”

  “Sure thing,” he said, voice easy.

  “Unless you have somewhere you need to be?”

  “No plumbing calls at the minute,” he told me. His gaze didn’t leave my face, though. “Business is slow when you’re new to an area. I imagine that’ll change soon enough.”

  Thinking about the future made me all flustered again, especially when he was looking at me like that.

  We got into my truck, since I insisted on driving. Jackson was fine with that - again, not something I was used to. Cash would always fight me on this sort of thing, because he liked to be in charge of everything. Just one more way that Jackson was different than the alphas I was used to.

  Of course he’s different, I chided myself. The others were your family. This one’s your mate.

  The thought of having a mate freaked me out a little. I cast another nervous look his direction, my hands tight on the steering wheel as I turned the truck onto the local farm road.

  My phone rang, and I fumbled for it, grateful for the interruption in my thoughts. “Hello?”

  “Hi, is this Alice?”

  I frowned at the female voice. I hadn’t looked at the number before I answered,
my concentration on the road. I noticed Jackson’s posture had changed. He was listening; werewolf ears were so keen that we could pick up phone conversations from several feet away. Likely he was just being protective, knowing I’d been harassed lately. It still bugged me. “Who’s this?” I asked, my voice brusque.

  “Oh, this is Bathsheba Ward-Russell, from Midnight Liaisons. I thought I’d call and see how things were going. I noticed your profile was updated and attached to Jackson Wilder’s. Have you guys made a match?”

  My mouth worked silently as I tried to process this. I hadn’t updated my profile? A quick glance over at Jackson and he raised his eyebrows at me, as if challenging me to answer her. “Match?” I asked, the nervous squeak in my voice again.

  “Tell her we’ve mated,” Jackson said in a low voice, not wanting to interrupt my conversation. Despite the soothing tone of his voice, I still felt that irresistible urge to please my alpha. It was not a comforting feeling. Jackson was an alpha with a strong personality, despite his charming demeanor. Whatever he wanted, he could get, just by a smile and a softly worded command.

  “Um. Profile. Yes. I updated it,” I lied. “Jackson and I have combined our packs.”

  “Mated,” Jackson corrected again, off to my side.

  I ignored him. “So yeah, I won’t be needing your services anymore.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” Bathsheba said, her voice happy. She was oblivious to the tension on the other side of the phone. “Then that brings me to my other reason for calling. My husband Beau wanted me to invite you two out to dinner to discuss the possibility of the Savage pack - though I guess it’s the Savage-Wilder pack now - joining the Alliance?”

  “I don’t think—“ I began.

  “We’d love to go,” Jackson told me, his voice firmer and louder. “Tell her that.”

  I cast him an irritated look. “Would you shut up for two seconds?”

  “I’m sorry?” Bathsheba said, confused.

  “Not you,” I told her quickly, glaring at Jackson and trying to drive at the same time. “I have a backseat driver that won’t be quiet.”