Not My Wolf (3 page)

While he spoke, Corey put more space between himself and Devin. For the time being,
Blaine
seemed too preoccupied with convincing him to take in Devin and his sister to note the tent in Corey’s pants. This was because he was horny. He’d find a woman the first chance he got to ease the itch he was feeling. He glanced at Corrin, whose head was lowered. Again, he felt no attraction to her. Her quietness grated more than drew him. His head wasn’t screwed on right. Maybe if he touched her…

Devin stepped into his line of sight, blocking his sister. The challenge in his gaze was both possessive and protective. Corey drew back. Just who was he possessive of—his sister? That was disgusting. And Devin couldn’t be jealous of
him
looking at someone else, could he? This situation had gone from poor to unrecognizable.

“What about Corrin?”
Blaine
continued, relentless. “She has no one but Devin to protect her up here. You know it takes a family to keep the women safe. Wild packs roam this area, wolf and others.

Corey blew out a noisy breath. “Fine, but any trouble from them, and it’s your head. You got that?

Blaine
saluted. “Yes, sir.”

Corey sneered, jumped into his vehicle, and started it up.
Blaine
could handle the details. He was getting the hell out of there. The more distance between him and Devin, the better.
Blaine
had better put the man on the opposite side of the homestead so he never had to see him except at pack meetings and other gatherings. His sanctuary in the mountains had fast become anything but a haven.

Chapter Three

Corey couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that scene, the one with him and his mate on the carpet. That evening when he came home, he’d stood there in his living room staring down at the area. He dared not bring up the image in his mind for fear that it wouldn’t be the soft, she-wolf he had thought, but the burly man he’d met earlier.

Sweaty and wound tight with tension, he rolled to the edge of his bed and sat up. Even though his air conditioner was working fine, he felt hot. He stood and peeled off the T-shirt that clung to his damp skin. His boxers followed, leaving him naked. Going out this way was not uncommon for his pack. Being in one’s natural state was a part of what they were.

He left his cabin and walked through the trees surrounding his place. With no particular aim in mind, it annoyed him when he came out on the opposite side of the grounds—just where he’d demanded
Blaine
house their guests. No lights shone through the window. Not that he expected them to be awake, as it was well after midnight.

Corey stepped closer, a powerful longing sweeping over him to go inside, to see Devin. He resisted and shook his head as if to dislodge the evil compulsion. He found it impossible to walk away.

The door opened, and Corey stumbled back a step. His gaze locked with Devin’s, who he could see clearly in the dim moonlight. Devin wore pajama bottoms and nothing else. His chest was sprinkled with dark hairs, and the muscles of his abs glimmered with a sheen of sweat. Corey cursed his eyesight for picking up on it.

“I’ve broken it off with
Blaine
,” Devin told him.

“What the fuck do I care?” Corey answered.

Somehow talking to Devin let him loose from the spell he’d been caught in. Corey turned and ran, transforming as he did. His paws pounded the ground. The blood pumped through his veins. With the moon overhead, egging him on, he ran and ran until his limbs ached and his chest grew tight. Thoughts of Devin and the feelings he’d felt when he saw him were less important than the exhilaration of being free. When he’d covered miles, he turned and headed back at a more sedate pace. Once he stopped by a lake and took a drink. Then he sat listening to the sounds of night and the other creatures in the forest. All of them respected Corey and his pack members. They steered clear because they sensed there was so much more to these wolves than any others. He and his men could reason while in wolf form, but their senses were heightened, sharp to the world around them.

When he neared his homestead, he shifted back to his human form and walked at his leisure. He didn’t have to take that route, but he passed Devin’s cabin. The other man still stood outside in the position Corey had left him. Had it been anyone else Corey would have invited him along on the run. He sensed Devin knew that.

“You’re just like I remember,” Devin called after him when he was just past the cabin.

Corey stopped and turned around. He should have kept going, but he couldn’t resist. “What are you talking about?”

Devin’s dark gaze swept him from head to foot, and he lifted his chin toward Corey. “I’ve been dreaming about that sexy, hard body for almost eight months. In real life it’s even more perfect.”

“Liar!” Corey shouted and clenched his fists. He shouldn’t let Devin get to him, but he crawled under his skin with ease. To Corey’s shame, his cock stuck out at attention, rigid and ready. Devin pinned his hot stare on it rather than Corey’s face, and he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. Corey felt the twitch in his shaft and turned his back on the man. “You’re just trying to get me riled. That’s not going to work, and if you keep pushing me, you’ll find yourself without a pack. I suggest you think about your sister before you let your mouth get you in trouble.”

Corey stalked back to his place and slammed the door shut before clicking every lock into place. He showered the sweat and dirt off of his body, washed down a couple of sleeping pills with a little juice, and dropped into bed. After tossing and turning another hour, he finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * * *

Corey stood at his office window looking out the grounds and the trees beyond. He wanted to leave, to shift and run. The wild didn’t call to him as much during the day. He’d found purpose and duty caring for his family. But the stress of dealing with the other pack that time and again kept nipping at his people was getting to him. He knew what it was about. They wanted their land, as if they were somehow entitled to it.

He’d done the research, but everyone knew the story. One of Fenrir’s sons had offspring not by his mate. That branch had veered off in a different direction and didn’t inherit this land. Now his descendents wanted to return centuries later and claim what wasn’t theirs. While Corey understood their plight of having no place to go, he was not going to give up this land. He would be willing to give the rival pack a permanent home among them, but that was it. So far, the offer wasn’t taken seriously.

A knock on the door behind him snapped him out of his reverie. He returned to his desk chair and dropped wearily into it. “Come.”

The door opened at a snail’s pace, and then Corrin came into view. “I hope I’m not disturbing you. I know you’re busy.”

“No, come in.” He watched her step inside and shut the door. He indicated she take a seat, and he waited while she got settled. Corrin and her brother were definitely twins. When he looked at her, he was reminded of Devin. But
Devin is all steel
, he thought with a sense of longing. Corrin was gentle sweetness. “What can I do for you?”

He kept his voice low and calm so he wouldn’t frighten her. Whatever she’d come for had her almost trembling. She clutched her hands together in her lap and straightened her back. For a few minutes she remained silent, and he figured she was dredging up her courage.

“I want to talk about Devin,” she announced after some time. Just like him, she lengthened each word in an appealing drawl. He chided himself to stop comparing everyone and everything to that damn Devin.

To show that he was a reasonable Alpha and that Devin meant little more than any other guest, he asked, “Is he finding what he needs here? The others being cordial?”

She frowned at him, but when he raised an eyebrow, she dropped her chin to her chest. The fingers in her lap turned white. “You have to know that no one wanted us around in our old pack. Everybody could see that Devin is a born Alpha, but because we’re mixed, we don’t get respect. Still, Devin can’t help being good at well…everything. He was better, faster, and stronger than our leader. Everyone hated him for that.”

Against his will, Corey pictured the man in his mind. “How much of the fenrir blood do you have?”

“One quarter.”

He gasped. “Are you sure?”

She looked up and nodded. “Our mother was half fenrir wolf, and our father was full of the more common type. They were killed when we were young, and I think even they didn’t find anywhere they belonged because everyone thinks the fenrir’s act superior to the rest. Devin just wants a place where he can be accepted as he is. That’s all. He’ll never say so, but he feels alone. Please if you can find it in your heart, let us stay. And as for that other thing…”

The door burst open, and Devin walked in as if he owned the place. Corey’s nostrils flared, and he frowned and stood up. “You don’t know the rules here, so I’ll give you a break. No one just bursts in without knocking except my Beta.”

Devin shut the door behind him and strolled over to the desk. Corey tried not to be too aware of how he looked in a long-sleeved shirt, hip hugging jeans, and cowboy boots. He met Corey’s angry gaze head on. “If my sister is here, I have every right to come in.” Dismissing Corey, he turned to Corrin. “What do you think you’re doing, Corrin?”

Her jaw worked her mouth, but no words came.

Devin caught her chin to stop the movement and forced it higher. “You keep your nose out of my business and let me handle things on my own. Got it?”

Her face a mask of misery, she nodded.

Devin tilted his head toward the door. “Git.”

She stood and fled.

“Don’t you think you were a little hard on her?” Corey demanded. “She was only thinking of you.”

“That’s not her job,” Devin retorted. “I take care of her, not the other way around, and either way it’s none of your business.”

This is an about face, Corey thought. All the pushing for him to notice him, to accept that he was his mate was gone from Devin’s attitude. He didn’t give Corey suggestive looks or even seem attracted in the least. The absence was a relief. Yet Corey still felt a pull toward the man, which irked him.

“Anyway,” Corey said, “I’ve decided that you can stay as long as you like. You and Corrin can consider us your pack if that’s what you want. You’ll have to come to a meeting with everyone there, swear loyalty and all that.”

“Is that what you want? For me to stay?”

Corey blinked at him. Had he thought the intensity gone? That must have been an oversight. He felt Devin’s emotions, the longing, the lust, the loneliness, and the need to belong. Maybe some latent ability his ancestor Alphas had was kicking in. But he didn’t feel what Devin felt when he was away from him. Nor did he pick up on it from anyone else, near or far.

Another knock sounded on the door, and he grunted. “What is this, Grand Central Station today? Come!”

The door opened.
Laramie
, one of the men who most opposed him, stepped inside.
Of all times, not now
. “As you can see,
Laramie
, I’m with someone. If you could come back later—”

“I just need two seconds,” the other man insisted, “two seconds to know when you’re going to go after that other pack. You know my brother was injured last week in that attack, and it was them who did it.”

“We have no proof of that,” Corey countered. “The—”

“We have the damn proof. If you weren’t too chicken shit to do something instead of holing up in your office, this situation would be over.”

Within the blink of an eye, Devin had
Laramie
hanging by a hand around his throat, slammed against the door. Devin sneered at him, teeth bared but not sharpened. “You watch your mouth when you talk to your Alpha.”