Van, Becca - Keira's Wolf Saviors [Pack Law 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

Chapter Two

Jake and his brothers helped get Karen’s stuff from her car. He and his wolf had smelled her as soon as she walked through the door. His wolf had prowled beneath his skin, frustrated and anxious to claim her. He’d pushed his beast back down and studied her from behind the bar. She was so small and petite compared to him. Her shoulder-length hair was blonde, streaked through with red and brown highlights. He’d let his eyes rove over her body. He’d paused on the soft mounds of her lush breasts, and his cock had hardened even more. She couldn’t be any taller than five foot five, and she had nice, rounded hips and long, slim legs. She came from money. He could see that by the way she moved and acted. He wondered if she was a runaway. She had the sweetest eyes he’d ever seen. They were a combination of green and blue. He’d inhaled deeply and smelled her fear. He’d wanted to jump the bar and wrap her in his arms. He’d looked at his younger brother Devon and known he was battling his own beast as he stared at the beautiful woman.

Jake had watched as she clutched her purse to her chest. She’d looked ready to bolt back out the door. She’d straightened her shoulders and walked over to the closest booth. She’d sat down but slid around the curved seat a little so her back was to the window. He’d watched her reach for a menu and hide her face behind it. Jake couldn’t stand being so far away from her. He’d wanted to sniff her and roll in her scent, but had settled for going over to her to take her order. She’d looked up at him, and he’d seen her eyes widen, and then she had been staring.
Good.
It seemed his mate wasn’t immune to him either. He’d taken her order and sent Devon out back to get Mac to prepare her meal. He’d known it wouldn’t be long before he would be back by her side. His wolf had been butting against him, pushing him to stake his claim.

Jake had placed her order on the table and tried to think of something to ask her, to stay by her side, but she had surprised him by beating him to it. She’d asked if he had any work available, and he’d had to stop himself from rubbing his hands together. She’d just given him a reason to stay, and he wasn’t about to pass it up.

Jake had talked with her, introducing himself, and knew she was lying about her name as she hesitated when giving it. He could still smell her fear and nervousness and wanted to pick her up, to hold her tight. Devon had brought the coffeepot over when he asked, and he’d watched as Karen jumped when his brother placed a hand on her shoulder to nudge her over. His brother had sat beside their mate and he’d heard him growl low in his chest. Jake had glared at Devon, letting him know to get a hold of his beast so he wouldn’t scare their mate away.

Jake had known Devon had contacted their older brother Greg telepathically and knew his brother was on his way to the club. He’d wondered how their little mate would react to meeting his much-larger-built and taller brother. He didn’t have long to wait. Just as that thought had popped into his head, his brother had come crashing through the club doors.

Jake could smell Karen’s desire for them and wanted to pick her up, lay her over the bar, and sink his cock into her pussy, but he knew that wasn’t about to happen. Their little woman was so skittish she couldn’t sit still. He’d watched her pupils dilate as she’d looked up into Greg’s eyes. He’d seen her shiver and known she was turned on by all three of them. He’d hired her on the spot, and then he and his brothers had walked outside to help her unload her car.

“Which is your car, honey?” Jake now asked, already eyeing the piece of rusted-out junk close to the club’s doors. He could smell her scent on the car and knew it was hers. He wanted to get it towed and replace it with a new car, but knew he didn’t have the right. Not yet, at least. But if he had his way, she wouldn’t be driving that piece of junk ever again. Her actions and grace belied the car she drove and the cheap clothes she wore. He wondered whom and what she was running from. He moved in close to Karen as she unlocked the door to her car. He could see at a glance she had been living in the vehicle. What he wanted to know was for how long. He gently moved her to the side, reached in, and unlocked the back door. He and his brothers began unloading her stuff. She only had one bag of clothes that he could see, and he wondered how long she been running. There was a quilt in the backseat and a pillow. Her scent surrounded him as he began to gather up her stuff.

“Follow me, honey. My brothers can get the rest of your stuff. Let me show you to your room,” Jake said and walked to the side of the club.

He led her up a set of stairs and through the door. He walked to the first door off the hallway and stepped into the room. It wasn’t much, but it was clean and comfortable. He placed Karen’s stuff on the queen-size bed and turned to see her standing in the doorway. She jumped when she heard Devon and Greg coming up behind her. She moved farther into the room, just off the doorway, so his brothers could get through the entrance.

“Is there any more?” Jake asked his brothers.

Jake looked at the pitiful amount of stuff she had but gave a negligible shrug since he could do nothing about it,
yet
. He walked toward Karen and watched as she stood up straight as if she were about to take him on, and then he saw her cringe and step back. Her back bumped into the wall behind her.

“Take it easy, honey. We’re happy to have you on board. I hate doing the figures for the club. You have just taken a load off my shoulders,” Jake stated and stopped a few feet from her. “Now, let’s get down to business. You start work at ten a.m. There isn’t much happening around here before then. You can work through to six. All meals are provided, and so is your room. You’ll get a weekly wage on top of that. The pay’s not much to start with, but you will have a three-month probationary period just like everyone else. If you don’t like something, you will come to one of us and talk about it. If you have
any
problems at all, again, come to one of us and we’ll help you. Do you have any questions?”

“No. Thank you for helping me unload and for giving me a job. You don’t know how much I appreciate it,” Karen stated.

Jake smiled. She’d really tried to look at each of them in the eye when she’d said that, but she was so shy she ended up looking at her feet again. He slowly reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand and brought her eyes up to his.

“No problem, honey. You look beat. Why don’t you have an early night? Oh, one more thing. The bathroom is the second door on the right. Sorry you don’t have one off your room, but since no one else is staying here, it’s all yours anyway.”

“Thanks.”

“See you in the morning, baby,” Greg said.

“Bye, sweetheart,” Devon stated.

“I’ll be downstairs until midnight. Just holler if you want anything. Okay?” Jake said and was satisfied when she nodded.

Jake followed his brothers to the end of the hall and down the narrow stairs to the club below. He knew as soon as he was back behind the bar the questions would begin. He only wished he was able to answer them. He still thought she was lying about her name and a lot of other stuff as well. She’d been nervous and evasive when she’d answered his questions. But underneath all that fear and anxiety he could smell her sweet pussy creaming for him. Her musky scent had gotten stronger and stronger with the arrival of his brothers. He was going to have to put word out and about amongst the pack that she was theirs. He’d seen some of the younger Omegas from his pack, the Friess Pack, giving Karen the once-over. He intended to stop that tonight.

Jake stepped up behind the bar with Devon. Greg had already settled himself on a seat at the other side. His older brother stared at him expectantly, and he sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to satisfy his brothers’ curiosity. He knew that because he was just as frustrated as they were. He wanted to know everything about the woman calling herself Karen. He wanted to know her life story from the moment she was born.

“Where’s she from?” Greg asked.

“She says from Washington State,” Jake replied.

“You don’t believe her?” Greg asked with a frown.

“Actually, I think that was one of the only times she didn’t lie. Well, that and about her being a bookkeeper, but she was still hesitant when answering the question of her previous employment. So, who knows?” Jake replied with a shrug.

“Do you think her name is Karen Jones?” Greg asked.

“No.”

“Well, fuck. What the hell is she up to?” Greg spat out.

“That I don’t know. All I can tell you is she says she’s not on the run from the law and I think I believe her on that, at least. She’s definitely on the run from something or someone. She’s scared shitless,” Jake stated needlessly, knowing his two werewolf brothers would have smelled her fear like he had.

“We need to find out who she is. Devon, when she comes down here tomorrow for her shift, I want you to search her room,” Greg commanded.

“Don’t you think we should give her a chance to come clean first?” Jake asked, frowning at his brother.

“No. I want to know what’s going on with our mate. If she’s in trouble and needs protecting I want to know about it as soon as possible. We can’t protect her if we don’t know what we’re protecting her from,” Greg stated.

“Shit. The last thing we want is to have her running,” Jake said. “Are you going to dress down the Omegas that were staring at our mate, or do you want me to?”

“I’ll do it,” Greg replied.

Jake heard the low, growling rumble in his brother’s chest. It was so full of authority even the hackles on the back of his neck stood up on end. His brother talked really low, and he knew none of the humans in the room would be able to hear him. He heard Greg in his head as his brother used the common telepathic link to warn the Omegas.

“The woman calling herself Karen Jones is off-limits to all of you. She’s ours. If I catch anyone looking at her or treating her with anything other than respect, you will answer to me and my brothers. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Greg,”
the Omegas replied, and Jake sighed with relief. He had thought he was going to have to knock a few heads together after the way they had been staring at his mate. He was glad the younger men had decided to listen to his brother’s dictate.

“I’m heading back to the den. I intend to clear my calendar and get some of the other Betas to step up and take over until we have our mate safely in our wing of the pack’s mansion. I should be back around ten in the morning,” Greg told Jake, then left.

“She’s fucking gorgeous, isn’t she, Jake?” Devon asked him. “My dick stood straight up as soon as she walked in the door.”

“Yeah, mine, too. We’re going to have to be careful with her until we find out what she’s hiding. Don’t go pushing her too hard, too fast,” Jake stated.

“I won’t. There is no way in hell I’m letting her walk away though,” Devon said.

Jake sighed as he worked the bar automatically. His thoughts were both on the beautiful woman upstairs and in his pants for the rest of the night.