New Beginnings (17 page)

Hearing her response to her old Alpha killed
any stray thought that she might go back if Gregory gave her his
bar. Slater relaxed, and tried not to laugh at how the other Alpha
begged just like she said he would.

“Yes, I need you. Please, just come back.
I’ll do anything to make it worth your while.”

“Nothing you can do. I’m not coming back. I
happen to like my new pack and my new bar. So have fun picking up
the pieces.”

“If you don’t come back willingly, I’ll come
up there and drag you back. I’ll claim you are my property. I can
do it.”

Jess laughed, but Slater shot out of his
chair so fast it toppled over.

He snatched the phone from her hand and put
every ounce of his Alpha magic behind his words. “You will do no
such thing if you value your own life. She is part of my pack now,
and tired of being underappreciated by a piece of filth like
you.”

“Sla… Slater?”

“Yes, I’m her new Alpha. You’ll be
challenging me if you’re stupid enough to come all the way up here
with that bullshit claim. So you best remember that.”

He was still sputtering, but managed to ask,
“Why do you care about one wolf you hardly know?”

“She made it perfectly clear she wasn’t
happy with the way you treated her. She’s happy now. I will keep it
that way.” He hung up the phone, and turned back to Jess with wide
eyes. Shit, he hoped he hadn’t overstepped some boundary.

Her smile surprised him. Then she took the
phone and blocked the number. “I’m sure he’ll be trying to call
later or tomorrow from another number, but for now this will work.”
She tossed her phone on the counter and took her seat. “You could
have told him that we’re mated now. Maybe it would stop his
ridiculous property ideas. The bastard.” Her expression soured, but
she shrugged and took a bite of breakfast.

“Unfortunately, until we figure out what
Liam is planning, I don’t want to give him any more ammo.” Slater
righted the chair and sat. “I wish I knew what caused Liam to
change. He was different ten years ago. I just don’t
understand.”

Brody spoke up. “I still think Raj had
something to do with it. They did spend an awful lot of time
together back then.”

Slater nodded thoughtfully. There were times
he had wondered, but he made it a point not to pry into his wolves
business if he could avoid it. Maybe that had been a mistake in
this case. There was something definitely wrong with Raj. He liked
to play people against each other. He was one manipulative bastard,
and only became one of Slater’s enforcers because Liam fought so
hard for it.

Pieces started to come together that he had
never noticed.

Jess muttered, “It’s too bad I can’t read
minds.” That broke the tension in the room

Slater chuckled. “You would be awfully
dangerous if you could.” She grinned back at him. “Slater, thank
you for saying something to Gregory. He won’t sway me to come back.
He won’t give up so easily, but it was nice of you to try.”

“After we deal with Liam and your vision, we
can tell Gregory what’s up with us and he will stop. I hope you’re
wrong about your vision, but I believe you and it worries me.”

“It’ll work out.” She smiled weakly

“Have you seen anything else?” He asked,
knowing she was about to shut him down. Every time he asked, she
would get quiet.

She looked down at her plate, “Wouldn’t I
have told you if I had?”

No, but he didn’t bother to answer. She
could have her secret for now. He would just keep an extra close
eye on her.

Jess felt like she was being escorted, and
she sort of was in a way. It was so surreal. Neither man touched
her, but it still had to look weird. Wolves weren’t that stupid.
Before her mating, she had spent so much time with Brody, and now
she was either with Slater or both of them. They had to be
wondering what was up.

If Liam wasn’t being so cagey, she would say
fuck it and let the world know she was mated to Slater. Hell, she
actually wanted to tell everyone, just so no one would get any
ideas. Like the bimbo vampire.

Okay, wow, she was harshing on a total
stranger who supposedly told Slater to come after her.

“Hey, why are you jealous,” Slater whispered
near her ear.”

She huffed and shrugged her shoulders. No
way in hell was she getting into an argument like that until their
situation was made public. Now she was wondering why they were
keeping it a secret in the first place. Why were they keeping it
from everyone for one person? Doubt started to fill her again.

They stepped into the clearing and both
Brody and Slater moved a bit away from her. They still managed to
draw every set of eyes. There was one pair of dark eyes locked on
hers that immediately pulled her attention.

The young woman cocked her head and raised
one single brow. Make that young looking, because Jess felt the
power of the wolf roll over her. She didn’t seem to like the way
the two most powerful wolves surrounded her. Man, this was just
getting more and more awkward.

Slater squeezed her arm gently and nodded to
Brody before moving to climb onto the boulder he used as a podium.
At least all the eyes went to Slater, all except the brunette
watching her so intently. She stood and gracefully walked over with
a dark look.

“As you all may know,” Slater’s smooth voice
pulled her gaze, “Jess Abrams is running with us tonight, and she
would prefer to keep the physical contact to an absolute
minimum.”

“Walk with me.” The raspy voice of a woman
caused her to sigh.

Jess glanced at Brody who gave her a slight
smile and a nod in the other woman’s direction.

With a shrug, she followed the brunette into
the crowd. She caught sight of Liam clear across the field and took
a sigh of relief.

The woman remained quiet while Slater went
on about Jess’ talent and gift. She wanted to laugh out loud. Curse
was more apt. No one ever listened. Okay, so Slater was listening,
but this wasn’t one of those cases she would be able to change.

Slater’s voiced pulled at her, but she
managed not to turn and watch. She could feel Liam’s eyes on her,
and his stare left her feeling queasy. And the woman walking beside
her? She didn’t know what to think about that.

Once they were far enough away from the
group that they could whisper and not be easily overheard, the
woman stopped and turned toward her. “I hear you’ve taken an
interest in our most eligible bachelors, Jess. They seem to have
taken an interest in you.”

Jess snorted. “Eligible? If you mean Slater
and Brody, I think you’re wrong. Slater says he doesn’t date his
wolves, which I totally understand. Brody doesn’t seem ready to
move on. Can’t a girl have male friends without fucking them?”

The woman’s scowl melted into a teasing
smile. “So you did hit on them, but stopped when you learned the
score.”

Jess snorted. That was easy to answer
truthfully without giving too much away. “No. As a rule, I don’t do
our kind either. Being psychic, I tend to see all the ways the man
will fuck everything up, because it’s generally them. Besides,
avoiding the whole mate thing seems like a great idea.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Alina.” She
glanced at Jess’ hands before shoving her own into her pockets.

Now that the suspicion was gone, Jess
relaxed. “Hello Alina.”

“Maybe a walk with me will take some of the
speculation off of you and your little escort.”

* * * *

Slater walked back to Brody and tried not to
watch Jess as she walked away with Alina. The woman wouldn’t push
Jess for answers, and would keep her out of harm’s way. Maybe he
should have introduced them earlier.

“You really want her moving around the pack
without you?” Brody whispered.

“Better if she does. Everyone watched the
three of us arrive, and it had to look weird with us flanking her.
Now I have to back off and act like I’m not worried about Liam and
his bullshit games.”

Brody looked at him sideways and snorted.
“Good luck with that.”

He couldn’t argue, but maybe he could talk
to Liam, see what he was thinking. Brody followed and Slater almost
asked him to back off but the way Liam watched Jess was
unnerving.

“So which one of you mated her?” Liam
whispered harshly.

“What gives you that impression?” Brody
asked coolly.

That seemed to trip Liam up. Brody wasn’t
one to lie and rarely evaded a question. “You didn’t.”

Slater sighed, “I don’t understand why you
are so concerned with her, or with Brody for that matter.”

“Something about her is just wrong. Brody
shouldn’t be so highly ranked so young.”

“Bullshit, but it doesn’t matter because he
is, and that isn’t going to change. Brody is a good enforcer, but
ask him if he wants to be more than that. I can guarantee he
doesn’t. As for Jess, so what if she has an unusual gift. Perhaps
it will be useful.” A shard of guilt knifed through him. He didn’t
want to use Jess, he wanted to protect her.

Liam nodded slowly like he was considering
something. “Maybe that’s what you should do. Have her see what you
can about your enemies and the people you suspect.”

Yup, Slater wanted to kick himself. He knew
he should have kept his big fat mouth shut, but he opened it and
inserted his foot with that damned comment. “She is a person, not a
tool. I’m not going to force her into doing anything she doesn’t
want to do herself.”

“But she is your wolf and therefore should
want to do anything you ask, regardless of what that is,” Liam
countered and Slater wanted to throttle the bastard.

Brody eyed Liam. “And if you were the one
who had her gift, would you want Slater to use you as a tool rather
than a person.”

“I would expect it.” Which was utter
bullshit. Not only could Slater smell the lie, but Liam couldn’t
keep eye contact.

“That is where you and I are different, old
friend.” It was an accurate term once, but not anymore. Slater
almost missed their friendship but he would protect Jess from
anything or anyone with his own life.

* * * *

Liam stood under Slater’s knowing gaze. The
Alpha was clever and knew Liam was less than loyal lately, but how
much did the man know? Clint showed up at Jess’ cabin and he had to
let things go.

Slater wouldn’t be so crotchety if he wasn’t
protecting something about Jess. The only thing he could figure
going on was a mating whether or not it had happened yet. What if
Brody was bound to mate her too? That would be a first as far as he
knew. But what if?

The last two years, Slater had been more and
more distant, less willing to share things with him. He’d spent
more and more time with Brody. Something was going on. Raj use to
tell him that Slater favored Brody. Liam didn’t believe it until
Brody was given the enforcer role just the day after becoming a
wolf. That was unheard of.

Raj had been right. Slater was going to
replace him.

Slater was too strong. Liam knew he would
never be able to take him one on one. Brody, well that was doubtful
too. The man had nearly killed an old wolf while he was still
human, and with his bare hands.

“Liam,” Slater asked, snagging his
attention. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

He shook his head and met Slater’s gaze.
“Maybe you’re right, Slater. Maybe it’s nothing.”

Slater sighed. “I wish you would trust me.
We’ve been friends for a long time.”

He nodded. They had been, but how could he
trust Slater? Too much had changed.

“Maybe it’s you who shouldn’t be so
trusting.” Liam turned and walked away. Jess walked through the
crowd of werewolves with Alina who was no doubt filling her head
full of warnings.

He strode through the crowd. Everyone
parted. He came to a stop just before Jess and Alina. Surprisingly
enough, Slater didn’t make a move toward them. Neither did Brody.
Could they be such great actors? Or did neither really feel
anything for the little blond firebomb.

“What’s up?” Jess asked easily enough.

Liam frowned. “You aren’t worried? You ran
yesterday when I showed up, but now you’ll talk? Is it because you
aren’t alone?”

“I thought we covered this. I was already
leaving. I didn’t realize you were at the bar until I was already
in my truck. Besides, should I be worried? I thought you told me I
shouldn’t be.” She stared back at him with full eye contact,
clearly disrespecting him. As much as that galled him, he had to
respect it. It didn’t change what he planned, however it would be
better in a full bar after the full moon, when the wolves wouldn’t
be so high strung.

“We did, and you’re right,” at least for the
moment. “Ready to run with all of us? I know you didn’t want to be
too close to anyone last time around.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. This wolf has
teeth and claws if anyone steps out of line.”

Alina laughed out loud, reminding him that
Jess was indeed protected. Alina couldn’t stand him and would
gladly rip him open. “Come on, Jess, it’s time to shift.”

* * * *

Jess froze the second Alina threaded her arm
through hers.

Her breath caught in her throat as the world
tunneled down to an airplane cabin.
She looked down to find
Alina
’s legs crossed as she swirled a glass of wine. Fear of
flying threaded through her as the plane ascended.

A husky British accent pulled her
attention.
“I can assure you that you will fall in love with
your new home.”

“
I suspect I will.” There was a smile to
Alina’s voice but Jess was looking through the other woman’s
eyes.

“Jess,” Alina whispered in her ear.

She shook off the remnant of Alina’s fear,
and looked her in the eye. “Sorry. Just had a vision.”