Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (7 page)

The guilt
the
man harbored for everything that was beyond his control was truly admirable,
but
irritating at the same time.

“That is not it, Toran.
I met someone,” I explained.

“Huh?” he choked, his eyebrows shooting upward
in surprise
.

“I met someone, a human.
She is...what is the word I am looking for?” I asked; that was a good question.
How would you describe Jay Dee?

“Beautiful?” he offered.

“Beyond words,” I instantly corrected and he nodded
his understanding
.
“Toran, it is more than that,” I assured him.
“I am not like Romeo.
The face of an angel can devilishly guise the most horrid demon.
She is...” I paused, trying to find the words but they eluded me for the first time in my life.
“Honestly, she is even more beautiful on the inside; smart, modest, content, happy and caring.
However,
nearly every person at that school talks nothing but shite about her.
I do not know if it is because she is white or what it is.
She knows they do not like her.
She may know the reason, unfortunately the stubbor
n bird did not elaborate
, either
way
,
it does not faze her
in the least
.
She takes it with a grain of salt.
Someone so accepting of such treatment is
interesting
to me.
I would have lost m
y
te
mper and killed everyone by now,
”
I admitted with a chuckle.

“Interesting,” he said and leaned back, looking at me curiously.
“But you didn’t.
You kept your temper in check, which is a first and much appreciated.”

“It would have been rude if I had not.”

“Are you trying to impress this girl?” he asked.

Ugh, why am I talking to him about this?

“The bird is impossible to impress.
Because of her acceptance of everything, and how
unbelievably
humble she is, nothing would impress her and she would not accept anything of value even if I tried.
I nearly had to throw her over me shoulder to give her a damn ride to work so she did not have to walk in the rain.
Oh, did I
fail to
mention that she is quite possibly the most stubborn creature I have ever met?”

Talking about Jay Dee, even after only knowing the enigmatic creature for less than
ten
hours, mentally exhausted me.

“This is wonderful!” Toran clapped his hands together and a smile consumed his face.
“I cannot wait to meet this
petite
, dark haired beauty
who
has so easily bewitched you.”

That wasn’t embarrassing
in the least
.

“Um,” I said and chewed on my lip.
“Well...I mean...huh.”

Toran sat up.
“What is it, Son?” he asked, concern and amusement washing across his face.

I shrugged.
“It is nothing,” I assured him.
“But she is tall and blonde.”

“What?” he asked, all the mirth and concern stolen from his face and his complexion became slightly paler than it was before.

“Blonde, fair haired, nearly white blonde hair, and she’s nearly as tall as I am!
And petite, not even close! She
has this round arse that apparently feels the need to tease me with each step she takes
...and her
thrups
are huge.
Arse over tits,
I know, right?
I like
tiny,
dark haired birds.
Talk about arse backwards.”

He swallowed hard.
“Indeed.”

“And her eyes,” I said with a heavy, longing sigh.
“They are so beautiful: deep, dark and mysterious, and yet they sparkle like precious gems in the sun.
You do not want to get me started on her lips,” I warned him, trying not to think about her lips myself.

“Tanis,” Toran interrupted, “I do not think that it is wise to rush into something, especially since we are new to the area.
This is a
very
small community with a strong, established werewolf pack.
It could cause problems if it ended badly.”

I sat up and looked at him with wide eyes.
“
I beg your pardon
?” I scoffed, completely appalled and insulted.
“End badly?
Do I look like me git sister?
I have not taken a human life from feeding in centuries, and even then it was purely accidental!
You know as well as I
,
that my
control is freakishly strong
and that I would rather sink m
e
fangs into a banoffee pie than a neck!
I though you of all people would be glad that I stopped being a
narked bitch
and accepted this small town shitehole you moved us to,” I hissed.

He put his hand up to stop me.
“I am well aware of your control, it has always brought me great pride to boast about my son and his mastery of control over the thirst, and I am very appreciative that you stopped being a
pissed off
bitch...though you are being rather
pissy
and bitchy at the moment,” he amusingly pointed out and I rolled my eyes.
“Tanis, your control and thirst was not what I was referring to... Son, I cannot stand to see you get hurt.
You are a lucky man, and an even luckier vampire, but you are not lucky in love.
I wish that you would think of
Ka
i
...her,” he said, catching himself and I cocked an eyebrow, “of the young woman and how it might affect her first.
The last time you found interest in another it did not end well for anyone involved.”

I opened my mouth to argue with him, to tell him that he was wrong and that this wasn’t like last time, or the time before that
,
or the time before that, and that Jay Dee was different, but the words weren’t there.

“Just give it some time,” he said softly, as if he could read my mind and understood my qualm, “and help me convince the others to keep to the inconspicuousness that small town life requires, regardless of how temporary it may be.
Can you do that for me?
And I promise we will join the others in a few weeks, a couple of months at most.
Okay?”

Toran was hiding something, I could tell, but I was too preoccupied with the haunting
onyx
eyes surrounded by thick, black lashes
,
and
the
puckering
,
pouty, pale pink lips in my mind to think about it.

“Tanis?” he asked.

I looked at him curiously.
“Aye, I will see what I can do
. However,
I make no promises,” I said.

He nodded.
“Thank you.
The others are going strolling around seven-thirty, are you joining them?”

I looked at my watch: five-thirty.

“No, I have to see a mechanic about a phantom noise coming from under m
y
hood.”

“Um, okay?” he said, sounding even more confused than he was before.

“It was nice talking to you.”
I hurried to the closet and threw on a white dress shirt with a black tie and suit jacket.
Jeans and boots would work, casual but nice.

“Do not wait up!” I called out, hurrying
from
my room and down to the garage.

Why am I doing this...going to see a bird that obviously
does not
fancy me in the least
?
Jay Dee was very nice and sweet while playing football.
She always apologized when she hit one of us and made sure we were okay before talking shite.
And she kept the werewolves in check, arguing with them when they would deliver a cheap shot to one of us.
I thought she was going to rip the head off of the lad that cheap shotted me! The look she gave him…it made me want to apologize for him! And m
ore than once she called both sides to order.
It was very parental.
However, she
did not
show any interest in me other than that of a mate.
Damn it!

The lights went out at the shop right at six
,
and
Jay Dee
locked the front office door.
She looked around for Yahto but he wasn’t there.
However, she saw me,
scratched her head in confusion
,
then
crossed the
street
to where I was parked and knocked on the passenger window.

“Are you stalking me?”
she
asked when I rolled the window down.

“Not that I am aware of,” I answered honestly, though I was pretty damn sure that
it
constituted stalking in the States.

“Okay.
Do you hang out in the shadows outside of garages often?”
The way she said it was ominous yet fully saturated with sarcasm.

I
chuckled
; she had a point.
“No.
I was
uncertain
if you needed a ride, and if you did, perhaps you could give me a tour of town in return.”

It was give and take with her
.

Jay Dee
made a face
.
“Okay, you got me.
You’re a smart one; I’ll give you that.
I have to wait until six-thirty-one to make sure that Yahto doesn’t show up, which he won’t, but I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“Fair enough,” I said, trying to sound as nonchalant and indifferent as possible but I could tell she heard the excitement in my tone so I rolled up the window and she climbed in.
“How was work?” I asked since small talk is what humans
did
and I was trying to appear human for the first time in centuries.

The things that damn
woman
reduced me to
doing
.

“Rebuilt a transmission,” she absently said while intently looking out the window.
“How was your first day of school?
Did any of those
skanky
bitches throw their bras or panties at you?
Your cousin
sure did look like a kid in a candy store.
O’
Romeo
of Romeo
s
thou
is not,
”
she said with a chuckle.

“I suppose that is one way to put it,” I agreed with a
smile
; the shite out of that
woman’s
mouth was amusing to say the least.
“He rather enjoys short term female companionship.
That is the only way to properly explain it without straight out saying
that Romeo
is a slapper...a slut,” I explained when she
cocked an eyebrow;
bloody Americans.

“Like you just did,” she pointed out with a smirk.

I nodded.
“Consider it a friendly warning.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding completely uninterested.

What did that mean?
I wondered.

I opened my mouth to press the matter, to explain to her of just how dangerous Romeo could be...not to her in general but to my bigger plans, all of which involved her, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what those plans were just yet, but stopped when
she
softly sighed.

“What has captured your
fancy
out there
, Miss Jay Dee
?” I whispered, trying to follow her gaze out the window but there was nothing sigh-worthy out there, if anything, it was cringe-worthy.

“Huh?” Jay Dee turned and looked at me.
“Oh, um….you’ll think it’s stupid, but Mr. Nelson, who owns
the gas station, has a nineteen
thirty-eight Ford for sale.
I’ve been debating if it’d be worth it or not.”
She started rambling so fast that I didn’t catch half of what she was saying, and the way her pouty lips formed each word captivated me and pulled my attention in the most perverse ways, but from the gist of what she was saying, the truck was a
brass
trap.
“Six thirty-one, let’s go!”
She smiled wide, a teeth-baring, face-consuming smile that wa
s solely to make me laugh, and I
did; her lightheartedness and carefree nature was refreshing, and being around her made it more than obvious that it was something that had been missing in my life.