Bound to the Pack (Bound to the Pack, #1) (3 page)

“Any idea why he wanted to see you?” I managed to force the words out.

Kristen’s face darkened noticeably. “Yes, and it’s none of his business.”

The look on her face said it wasn’t any of mine, either.

****

T
he day passed in the usual fits and starts of retail. Hours going by in a blink then minutes feeling like hours. Kris slowly began to relax and become herself again by lunch time.

“Jen, I’m taking my break. Give a yell if it gets too busy,” she said as she walked off towards the break room.

“Sure, take your time,” I called after her.

Slouching against the counter I listened to the music playing through the overheads, doing a quick glance around the small store just in case I had missed something to fold.

Unlikely.

The minutes ticked by on the clock behind me and my mind drifted, unbidden, back to the encounter of the previous night. Now that I knew there was nothing between them and definitely not thinking about Kris’s warning in the slightest, I let myself daydream.

I saw myself as confident instead of fumbling with words, Liam smiling at a quip I had cleverly made. If only I could be as smooth in real life as I was in my mind. The door chime startled me from my fantasies and I looked up to see my distraction standing there in the flesh.

Impossible as it was, he was even more handsome in the daylight. He looked like one of the models on the posters and displays around the store. One that had gotten bored and stepped out of his frame to come walking towards me.

The thought bubbled in my mind as I stared at his approaching form. “Kris is out,” I blurted awkwardly.
Fuck!
What is my issue?!

A smile split his face and I felt like I was melting into a puddle right there in the store. “Good afternoon Jen. How are you today?”

“Um. Hi. Liam. Good.” What the hell did I just say? I’m an idiot. My thoughts felt scattered and I could have caught a cloud more easily than I could make simple conversation with this man.

“Since you were kind enough to inform me Kristen isn’t here...” I felt myself blush. “May I wait for her here?” he asked.

A minor flash of frustration flared within me. “No waiting, sorry. I have customers to help.”

Liam pointedly glanced around the empty store before looking back at me, smiling from ear to ear. “What if I were a customer and desired your time?”

My heart leapt at his words. Innocent though they were, they were deliciously close to the words I had been daydreaming of. “If you were a customer you could shop, yeah.” I said weakly, unable to pry my eyes from his.

“Then I’m yours,” he grinned. “A customer, that is.”

I blinked a few times, attempting to restart my mind. Is he flirting with me? No... he can’t be. “Ok, well, what are you looking for?”

I fell into the familiar routine of helping a customer around through the different areas of the store and before long he had several sweaters and some jeans to try on. Gesturing towards the changing room, I began to walk back to the counter when he grabbed my wrist. Heart in my throat, I turned to face him.

“Would you be kind enough to wait for me here? I would value your opinion on the clothes you helped me choose.”

“Um, sure.” That sounded like a fantastic idea. “Why do you talk that way?” Why did I just blurt that out? Stupid!

“What way?” he asked, the question having clearly caught him off guard.

“Well, you always seem so... I don’t know, formal?” God I am
such
an idiot!

“It was how I was taught. Is it inappropriate?” His question held a hint of concern.

“No. Just unusual.” I grimaced inwardly. Just what I need,
another
reason to make him stand out in my mind.

“Unusual isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” he smiled, “but please, I’ll change quickly.” And with that he stepped into the changing room.

Allowing myself to be distracted by the sounds of his changing, I thanked the powers that be that no other customers had come in. Kristen’s earlier warning was completely gone from my mind.

W
hy am I doing this?

I pondered over this simple question as I changed into clothes I neither wanted nor needed. She is a distraction and I need to be focused. There will be time for her after I deal with Kristen.

I paused at the thought. Had I actually just decided to pursue her as a mate? Apparently, I had.

Bonding with a human was expressly forbidden by doctrine so old as to be holy. Mating
was
allowed, but only with permission of the clan’s alphas and consent of the tribe elders. Doing so without either was a far worse offense than what Kristen might do and a guaranteed way to be exiled. At the least.

Why then, am I unable to care?

The lack of caring about the consequences was worrying. I had never done anything that could be considered wrong in the eyes of the tribe. I had never even
thought
of doing something that could be considered wrong. Until now.

Breathing in deeply, I could smell her by the entry way to the changing area. The scent of her was a glorious mix of emotions that I could barely pick apart. The pull of my desire was enough to send blood rushing down as I took an involuntary step towards the door, pants considerably tighter.

No, not here, not now. It was a struggle to regain control from the wolf, it had a mind of its own and it was focused on Jen like a loosed arrow flying towards its target.

Picking up one of the sweaters to try on, I couldn’t help but smirk. It was clearly too small.

This
was going to be fun.

I
turned as the changing room door clicked, signaling Liam’s exit, but no daydream had prepared me for the sight of him stepping out.

Shirtless.

He was magnificent. Chiseled muscles that were hinted at last night were visible in all their glory. I flushed like the setting sun with only some of it reaching my face, the rest stoking the fire at my core.

“I am afraid this shirt is too small. Do you, perhaps, have it in a larger size?” Mirth filled his eyes as they found mine and he stepped towards me.

Words, I need to say
words
. What are words? His eyes rooted me to the spot, all moisture had fled my mouth for regions south. Stepping even closer he dropped the shirt to the floor carelessly.

The moment was shattered by a shrill and sudden “Liam!” As Kristen charged out from the back room.

Liam

E
ven at the call of my name I could barely stop myself. Jen’s arousal was a perfume impossible to resist, as the swell in my pants could easily testify. The sight of my quarry helped me gain focus though, fortunately.

“Kristen! You have been avoiding me.” My frustration was tangible, made worse by my own hypocritical thoughts of the human before me.

“Out! Get
out!
You won’t change my mind.” Kristen looked ready to start fighting me right here.

“So,” anger rose within me, “you have come to your decision. Truly?”

Kristen paused and some of the tension drained from her. “No. Not yet.” She said the words quietly, grudgingly.

“Then I have to continue trying to dissuade you. It isn’t right and you haven’t been given permission in any case. This farce has to stop.” She
has
to listen to reason.

“It’s none of your business, Liam! Or anyone’s for that matter!” Kristen glanced over at Jen. “Not that you’re one to talk. You
know
she is off limits.” Jen shrank back from Kristen’s ire, confusion and concern rolling from her in waves. “And you
definitely
don’t have permission.”

The last came as a hiss that I knew implied impending violence. Holding up my hands defensively, I backed towards the dressing area. This was not the time to provoke her. Knowing she was still undecided gave me hope that she could be talked out of her foolish course.

Grabbing my shirt, I began to walk towards the exit. “I will depart, but we have not finished this discussion, Kris.” I paused near Jen to drink deeply of her scent. “Jen. It was a pleasure. Perhaps we could meet...”

“
OUT!
” Kristen was visibly shaking with rage.

I stepped through the store’s front door while shrugging my shirt back on. More time to work on Kristen meant more confusing time spent around this tantalizing human.

Could nothing be simple?

I
alternated my gaze between the retreating form of Liam, and what could only be described as the thunderhead that was Kristen. I’d never seen her this angry.

“You!” Kristen whirled on me and I jumped in spite of myself. Kris took a deep breath to calm herself and winced, looking me up and down. “Jen... Sorry. He just gets under my skin.”

“It’s ok.” I manage to push the words out of a mouth completely devoid of any moisture.

“No. This is most definitely
not
ok. He should know you’re off limits. And you!” Kris looked intently at me. “I told you he was dangerous and you just run right to him the next time you see him? If I had known that’s all it took I’d have been telling you half the guys walking by were dangerous!”

“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t know what it is about him but I just can’t think when he’s around.” My words were weak, I really
didn’t
know what it was about him that left me a mess.

The sigh that escaped Kristen seemed to have been brought up from her toes and she gazed at the ceiling. “It’s not entirely your fault.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “I’m sorry Jen, really. I want to, but I can’t.”

“What? Why not? What’s going on?” I was torn between being angry and being confused. The past thirty minutes felt as if I had started watching a movie halfway through. My head full of questions that nobody seemed to want to answer.

“Let’s just call it... animal magnetism.” She looked out through the front windows even though Liam had long since gone out of sight.

“Fine.” I sighed, the rush of the encounter fading.

Shaking her head, Kris turned back to me. “Listen, it’s supposed to be nice this weekend. Troy and I are going to the park, maybe having a nice picnic. You’re coming. You’ve been avoiding me too long and you definitely need to get out of the house, all right? We’ll pick you up around one.”

I hesitated before nodding. “Sure.” I
had
been avoiding everyone and this would satisfy Kris.

At least she isn’t dragging me to a club.

Jen

F
riday flew by in a haze of normalcy that felt good, the routine comforting me. I barely even thought about Liam, maybe only once or twice every few minutes.  And that other guy—What’s his name? Oh yeah, Mike—barely entered my mind as more than an afterthought.

Even Kristen was her usual cheerful self, laughing easily and acting as the store manager. She even got me to agree to go hang out at her place after work.

Everything was fine until Troy arrived to pick Kris up and she told him I’d be coming over. “What?” The agitation he was clearly feeling dripped from his voice. “Why?”

Kristen was taken aback. “What do you mean, ‘why?'”

Troy stared daggers at me though his words were for Kristen. “We need to talk.”

“Troy, I think we’ve done enough talking.” Her voice left no room for argument. “You know how I feel. I’ll make up my own god damned mind without any more nudging from you
or
Liam, thank you very much.”

Troy’s eyes widened at the mention of Liam. “He’s
here
?”

Kristen clearly hadn’t wanted that tidbit to slip. “Yes. He is.”

“Then it is even
more
important...” Troy was cut off by Kristen’s glare.

“Troy, drop it. Liam is my problem.” Her voice was firm but did little to assuage his concern.

“Jen, is it all right if Kris rides with you to her place?” His eyes fell on me again and I felt myself shifting uncomfortably as I nodded in response.

“What are you going to do Troy?” Kris’s voice pulled his eyes back to her, thankfully releasing me from their intensity.

His soft words held danger. “I’m going to look around.”

“Troy, I said I’d handle it.”

“Kris, if we’re a pair then I need to do
something
to feel like I’m able to protect you. Don’t take that from me, too.” His intensity cracked, he was pleading with Kris. What was going on here?

His plea only served to anger Kris even more. “Fine. Do what you want. But don’t be stupid, don’t give Liam the chance to kill you.”

I would have laughed if Troy hadn’t taken the words seriously and nodded slowly at Kris.  The grin I wore slid from my face when she nodded back to Troy, saying that the words
were
serious.

He turned and left without another word. Kristen’s eyes followed him as he walked away, her face softening with each step he took. She half raised her hand to call him back, but paused and let it fall beside her instead.

“What was that all about?” I didn’t think Kris had heard me. I was about to repeat myself when she shook her head slowly and turned to look at me.

“Hopefully nothing.”

“Hopefully? So... maybe something?”

I knew the answer from the look in her eyes before the words had passed her lips. “Maybe everything.”

The ride to her place went by in a silence so heavy I felt I had to turn the radio down, its noise invading rather than soothing the atmosphere in the car. Kris seemed oblivious to the change, lost in her mind.

I feared that the night would turn into an even more stressful one of Kris worrying and me trying to comfort her somehow. I was pleasantly surprised shortly after we arrived when her phone rang and she had a quick conversation with Troy.

Everything was apparently fine, he would be coming over soon. He would even be picking up some pizza on his way back so we could all relax and not worry about cooking or dishes.

All of us together, we spent the evening laughing in her apartment. I even forgot to be creeped out by Troy. After a marathon of cheesy movies we confirmed the plans for the park tomorrow and I drove back to my own place, content.