The Reluctant Mate: (Book 13, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (5 page)

Chapter Five

“Really, Kim,” groaned Jolene.  “I’m fine, shouldn’t you be worrying more about the baby?”

“I’m a multi-tasker,” Kim told her smugly down the phone.

Jolene struggled to multi-task while holding her phone, opening the door and not dropping her shopping.  She failed miserably and dropped to her front step to focus on the phone call.

“How is the baby?” asked Jolene, thinking of the chubby little mite with wisps of strawberry blonde hair and rosy pink cheeks.  The thought of baby Billie made Jolene’s wolf stir in a way that she was trying to ignore for the moment.

“Billie’s fine.  She’s the perfect weight and size,” said Kim, proudly.

“And Jamie?”  Kim’s precocious six-year-old.

“Also fine, although I can’t pry her away from her iPad.  She sleeps with the damn thing.”

“And Ed?”

“Stop changing the subject!”

There was the sharp cry of a baby, followed by yelling and what ultimately sounded like chaos to Jolene, who was accustomed to a completely quiet house.  Hell, when Jolene had arrived in Rose her grandma didn’t even own a TV.

Kim didn’t seem to notice the noise in her house.  “Come over for dinner,” she enticed.  “We’re having banana pudding.”

“You tease.”

“And Jamie always loves seeing her Aunt Joey.”

“Using the kid – that’s low.”

Kim snickered.  “Are you coming or what?  Banana pudding and my kids are my only means of persuasion.”

“I’d love to, but... I’m really tired.”

Her pack mates were always trying to include her.  Inviting her to meals, coffee mornings, book clubs, knitting circles!  But Jolene just didn’t feel like it. 
Particularly the knitting circle – definitely not her thing.
  Her wolf had been growing quieter and lonelier ever since her split with Mark, and she just didn’t want to see all the happy families and couples up close while she was the piteously single friend.  She felt like an urchin pressing her nose against the window of a candy store.

“Kim, please, maybe another night.”

Kim breathed out.  “I’ll hold you to that.”

They said their goodbyes and Jolene made it inside her house.  Only swearing a few times when she realized she’d managed to break her eggs when she dropped them, and that the eggs in turn had made her packet of cookies soggy.  As she threw them out, she listened to her messages.

“Jo-Jo, it’s Mark, I…”  She immediately hit delete.

Great, not content with hounding her on her cell, he was now leaving messages on her house phone.  No wonder she hadn’t heard anything from him all day.  There were another two messages from him, both of which she erased the moment she heard his voice.

Her phone rang a surge of anger coursed through her, not just for Mark but because she’d felt frustrated all day long and she didn’t know why.  She snatched up the receiver and shouted, “Leave me alone!”

“Jolene?”

Crap
.  “Reid, I’m sorry.  I didn’t…”

“Are you okay?” he asked immediately, tension in his voice.

“I’m fine,” she sighed, instant relief flooding her body.  Her wolf yipped.  At last, someone she didn’t have to appease or worry about hurting.  Actually, she did worry about hurting Reid, but it never felt like hard work.  She sank back into her couch.

“Are you sure?” he demanded.

“Just… phone calls from my ex.”

Reid growled down the phone, which for some reason made her own wolf flutter all over.

“It’s nothing to worry about.  I just got in from work and found a load of messages on my answer machine.  I’m just tired, and it pissed me off.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Eh, me neither, what’s up?”

“Well,” he hesitated.

“Spit it out, soldier,” she said, teasingly.

She could almost sense his smile down the phone.  “You said you’d be interested in seeing some of my work, I thought you might like to come over… but if you’re tired…”

“I’d love to – but you better feed me,” she added saucily. 

“Yes, ma’am.  You sure you’re not too tired?  You don’t want to get some rest?”

Her cheeks heated, and her wolf virtually panted as she thought of her erotic dream.  “Nope, I’m fine, I’ll be over in half an hour.”

“I could come and collect you.”

“Bah – no need.”  She really could use a bit more exercise.  Her wolf heartily concurred.

“Are you sure, I could…”

“I’ll be over in thirty minutes.”

She shook her head and smiled as she put the phone down.  He was always so chivalrous back when he was a teen, too.

She wondered where that had come from about feeding her.  It wasn’t the most licentious thing to ever come out of her mouth, but it had certainly sounded flirty.  She wasn’t exactly the most flirtatious wolf in existence, not like that bitch, Marley –
grrr
– but sassing Reid just came naturally.  It was the easiest thing in the world to relax around Reid. 

In spite of a few random thoughts and dreams – probably all down to the fact that he was now grown up, sexy as hell and she had been without sex for a heck of a long time – she was pleased with how happy she was to have him around again.  She could spend time with a pack mate who didn’t pity her, or try to set her up on –
shudder
– blind dates, or who didn’t want to talk about why she wasn’t putting herself out there and dating.  She could just be happy and be herself around Reid – just like in the good old days.  She’d always wanted to spend time with Reid.  How many times had she eschewed going to watch Beau practice football or play football or watch football so she could hang out with Reid?

Course, Beau complained that all the other girlfriends did those things, but she told him firmly that she wasn’t like the other girlfriends.

She wondered what Reid would say if he knew she was dreaming about him.  Probably best not to scare him.  The last thing he needed was to worry about offending her old, spinster ass.  He’d probably be nervous and think of her as a cougar if he knew about the other dream she’d had over the years.  That was something she wasn’t planning on telling anyone.

*

Reid stood rigid outside the garage.  His shoulders hunched, and his jaw locked as he counted down the seconds, waiting for Jolene to arrive.

She said thirty minutes, whined his impatient wolf. 
Thirty minutes passed like fifteen seconds ago!
  That was no reason to send out a search party soothed Reid, although without much conviction.  He had to wait at least a minute or maybe even two minutes until he could comfortably say that something had happened to her.

He tried to flex his claws in and out while letting in deep breaths through his mouth and exhaling through his nose.

Controlling claws was more difficult than it sounded.  Sure shifters could push their claws out when they were angry or maybe lusty, but being in complete control of a partial shift was another matter.

It was one thing his old sergeant had tried to instil in him – having complete control over his animal.  Easier said than down, especially where a certain blonde was concerned.  Logic told him that her ex was out of her life and that the phone calls were an annoyance – nothing else, but he still wanted to hunt the asshole down and warn him to stay away.

His mom had happily told him all the details of her marriage to that
total fucking dickhead
, who also went by the name, Mark.  It was another benefit of having a gossip-mongering parent - being able to stalk the woman you were obsessed with from a distance.

But that still didn’t change the fact that Reid wanted to rip him to shreds for even daring to touch Jolene.

His wolf stilled, and Reid looked up to see Jolene, tramping through the woods to get to him.  She lived a ten-minute walk away from them.  She never bothered to drive; she had always preferred either walking or running to the house as her wolf, with a bag of clothes slung around her wolfy neck.

His lips twitched and he fought back a chuckle as he remembered the numerous times he’d seen her wolf running around with a purse.  He’d always found it funny when she came to see him like that.

No, not when she came to see
him
– when she came to see
Beau.

That certainly quelled his amusement.  He couldn’t forget that.  Jolene was Beau’s before anything else.  She’d been heartbroken when he left her, and she turned around and threw herself at an even bigger asshole to try and get over him.

Reid had a few – or rather a lot – of lingering worries that Jolene still had feelings for Beau, even after all this time. Worries that infuriated his wolf.  But as she approached him, her cheeks slightly pink, and a huge smile plastered over her face, he forgot all about them.

Chapter Six

“Reid you made all this?”  Jolene smiled at him, wondrously.

Reid shrugged and looked away.

“Wow,” she breathed.

He was talented.  The pieces were so intricate, and beautiful, she had no idea he was capable of such beauty.  Not that she didn’t think he was a talented and capable young wolf
but this…

“Reid you’re… the freaking horse whisperer of wood – wait, does that mean you’re the wood whisperer?”

Reid rolled his shoulders and pretended like he wasn’t pleased.  “These are just some of the things I’ve been working on.  Trying to improve.”

“Improve?  Jeez, Reid, they’re beautiful.”  She ran her hand along a mirror frame.

He closed his eyes and shook his head.  “You should have seen Gary’s work; now that was amazing…”  He stopped and looked at her sheepishly.

“Who’s Gary?”

“Just a friend of mine.”

She raised an eyebrow and waited patiently.

Reid rolled his eyes.  “Guy I met in the army.  He kind of taught me a few things after we got out.”

“Is that where you’ve been all this time?”  She didn’t mean for it to sound like an accusation but it did.  What her wolf wanted to say was, ‘is that who’ve you’ve been with when you could have been here with me’.  At least, she managed to tone
that
down.

“He offered to teach me, so I said yes.”

“You must be good friends,” she muttered, trying not to let her irrational jealousy show.  It was stupid, and she felt guilty for even the suggestion that she resented him for it, but once upon a time, she’d been his only friend. 
Once upon a time, he needed her
.

“Saved my life.”

Jolene looked up sharply.  “He did?”

In halting words, because the subject was not something he was familiar with talking about, he told her about the time he was hit and almost died out in the field.  Gary saved him and was injured in the process.  Gary being human meant he wouldn’t recover as quickly as Reid, so Reid went back to Gary’s house to help him out for a while, repay him and Gary helped teach him about woodworking.

“That’s how we both got out early – we were injured.”  He said it matter-of-fact like, as though he hadn’t just admitted to almost dying and ripping Jolene’s world apart.  Her wolf growled at him for being so offhand about something so important. 

“Reid,” she murmured, walking to towards him.  His hard face softened slightly, until she punched him on the arm and he growled at her.

“Jolene!” he yelped.

“You should have told me!  You should have told your mom at least!” she snapped as her wolf snarled in agreement. 
How could he be so blasé?!

“I didn’t want to worry anyone,” he muttered, rubbing his arm.

That earned him a punch on the other arm.  She was sure she wasn’t hurting him, but he had the grace to pretend that she was.

He took a step back from her murderous look and held up his hands.  “I didn’t think it was a big deal; I really didn’t want to worry anyone.”

“Don’t keep saying that!  Don’t we deserve to know?  Don’t you know what it would have done to… to… your mother if something really bad had happened and she didn’t know until… until…  Damnit, Reid!”

She balled up her fist again, and Reid caught her wrist.  He pulled her body against his.  Trapping her and stroking his free hand down her back.  “I’m fine,” he hissed.

“But you might not have been,” she mumbled against his hard chest.

She moved to push him away, but he held tight.  “I’m fine,” he said in a softer voice.

He breathed in and out slowly, and she heard the thud of his heart in his chest, soothing her agitated beast.  His hand moved to her head.  He tangled his fingers in her hair and angled her head to look at him.

Her lips parted as she noticed the swirl of amber in his eyes.  She could feel her own heart swelling and a tingle between her legs.  Her wolf urged her to kiss him.  She didn’t know where it came from, but she was about to when…

Norma bustled into the garage.  “Reid, you in here?”

Jolene stepped away quickly.  Reid’s hands fell to his sides, but his stormy eyes never left hers.

“Jolene, sweetie!  This is a nice surprise.”

Hurricane Norma blew through the garage, giving Jolene a hug, telling her she wasn’t eating right, wiping a smudge off Reid’s cheek and in spite of Reid’s strenuous objections, trying to tidy up.  In less than five minutes, Jolene had an unavoidable invitation to dinner, and she was helping set the table with Reid, who shot her a small, knowing smile.

Reid’s dad, Harry was quiet throughout dinner.  He was angling to watch a hockey game on TV.  Norma had insisted that he, at least, mute the TV during dinner, but he was still trying to get a look at what was going on.  If Norma noticed, she didn’t say anything.  No, in fact, she barely stopped talking from the moment she sat down.  She was a one-woman conversation.  Other participants were optional at best.

While she chatted about various pack mates, Reid leaned over and whispered, “Not exactly what I had in mind for feeding you.”

Jolene smiled.  “It’s fine; I love your mom’s cooking.  I have naughty dreams about your mom’s cherry cobbler.”

Something flashed over Reid’s face –
interest perhaps?
  And his body seemed to tense.  She realized what she said and blushed and started taking far too much interest in her potatoes.

“You know I heard from Beau earlier today,” said Norma, oblivious to any undercurrents between her other dinner guests.

“Oh?” squeaked Jolene, politely and keen to change the subject from dirty dreams about cobbler.

Reid went still, his face clouding.

“Yes, he’s thinking of coming for a visit.”  Norma started babbling about her grandchildren.  How accomplished they were, how much potential they had – even thought they were only two and four years old.

“How nice,” said Jolene, politely.  Although, the thought of Beau returning deflated her a little for some reason.

She flicked her gaze to Reid, but he had returned to being sullen and was studiously avoiding looking in her direction.

Her wolf huffed. 
Great
.  Beau didn’t even have to be there to put a damper on her life.

*

Armed with leftovers, because according to Norma she was getting far too skinny, Jolene decided it was time to leave.  Given that her eyelids were starting to droop, and she almost started snoring during her third helping of cobbler –
she wasn’t kidding about those naughty dreams
– she thought she ought to get going.

Reid was showing her out when she took his hand.  “Would you mind if I took a picture of some of the things you made?”

“Why?” he asked, slightly suspiciously.  “My mom’s probably already told the whole pack about me.”

“I think if I showed the pictures to people at work you’ll start getting a lot of orders.  The mayor’s friends are pretty flush with cash – they could afford to pay for such lovely pieces.”

“If you say so.”

Jolene chuckled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly.  “I do say so.”  Offloading her packages of food to him, she marched into the garage and took some photos with her phone, ignoring his embarrassed huffs.

She gave him a smug look when she finished and reached for her food.  “I’ll walk you home,” he said firmly, gripping the Tupperware.

“There’s no need,” she said while trying not to yawn.

“I’ll do it anyway.”

They were quiet most of the way home.  Jolene didn’t really mind.  He wasn’t the most talkative of people, and she didn’t feel like making the effort.  Although, Reid had been quiet ever since his mom mentioned his brother.  She worried that Reid thought he couldn’t talk about Beau because of her.  It was sweet but not necessary.  She hadn’t quite turned into a crazy old woman sitting around in her crusty house wearing an old wedding dress just yet.

“How long has it been since you saw Beau?” she asked brightly. 
See – she could act normal.

“Not since the wedding,” he rumbled.  “You?”

Jolene gave him a half-smile.  “Same, actually.  Apart from the Christmas cards.”

Reid’s features tightened.  “He sends you Christmas cards?”

“Yeah.”  Letting her know how wonderful his life was – every card was personalized with a picture of him and Tawny looking like knitwear models, and more lately, him, Tawny and their kids.

Reid shook his head.

“I guess he wants to be friends,” said Jolene, lamely.

He stopped walking and gave her a searching look.  “And what do you want?”

“I don’t really want to be his friend,” she admitted.

He looked at her for a couple of beats.  “I better go home, will you be okay from here.”

She laughed as she looked up and saw her house.  “It’s ten feet away… yes, I’ll be fine.”

He nodded, handed her the packets of food and stomped away.  Her wolf sighed.  It must be difficult for Reid to be still friends with her, knowing how she feels about his brother.

While unpacking the food, she decided that one more bite of cobbler couldn’t hurt.  She thought about Beau as she chewed.  She didn’t
hate
him.  Well, mostly she didn’t.  No, she definitely didn’t hate him.  But she could never describe them as friends.

For a long time, she mourned the relationship with Beau.  It was supposed to be everything she wanted – stable, easy, and then being with Mark – the anti-Beau - only made her miss Beau more.  But she knew she didn’t love Beau anymore.  She’d actually fallen out of love with him pretty quickly.  It happened after that damn engagement party, and the dream started happening.  She knew she couldn’t love Beau and dream that.

But as for the life she almost had – that was a different matter.  Maybe the vision she had of her life wasn’t glamorous or exciting, or even that interesting, but it was a good, solid life.  She would have had a dependable existence.  Not to mention being part of his family.  After witnessing her parents’ relationship up close, all she wanted was a little stability, she just didn’t seem to be able to make good choices about it.

And…
what the hell?
  Where did all the cobbler go?  She’d eaten the whole thing?  Jeez Louise – she really needed to start exercising again.

Jolene shook her head and dragged herself off to bed.

*

Soft lips brushed over hers.  She arched against the heavy body half covering hers.  Too soon, he moved away from her.  Her tongue darted over her bottom lip, savoring his taste.

“I love you, Jolene,” whispered the deep, guttural voice.

She moaned as she felt him trailing kisses down her body.  His fingers pushed the material of her dress to her hips and hooked into her panties.  Her wolf roared in excitement as she moaned the word ‘yes’ and… her phone started ringing.

Her beast snarled as Jolene awoke.  Great, just as it was getting good.

Jolene let out a sound of disgust and turned the light on to see who was calling. 
Beau?
  Hell, talk about a mood killer.  Not wanting to speak to him, she turned her phone off, flopped onto her front and tried to get back to her dream.

Hey, there was no harm in dreaming about Reid.

*

Reid pawed the ground as the light in Jolene's bedroom came on.  The wolf inched closer to the house.

He was angry at the thought of her ex calling again.  And even angrier at the thought of Beau contacting her in any way, even if it was to rub it in her face with Christmas cards.

No, Jolene didn’t want to be Beau’s friend – she wanted to be his mate.  It was something Reid had always known, but it didn’t make it any easier.  Thank all that is holy that Beau was completely off-limits.

He knew in his heart he could be a good mate to Jolene.  He wasn’t the easiest wolf, but he would always be loyal and always kind to her, that certainly wasn’t something Beau could claim.

He needed to make her his, and soon.

Being out of town was one thing, but being this close, he couldn’t help but fear for her.  Hadn’t the pack chief enforcer mentioned he had scented a couple of unknown shifters in the woods recently?  What if Jolene was in danger?  What if they were home invaders?  What if they hurt her?  He withheld the howl that wanted to escape.

He had to guard her; he had to take care of her… he had to make sure none of her exes came back to claim her.

Jolene was theirs, and he would guard her against everyone.  He just needed to show her she was his.  He would woo her, in his own way.