Wolves for the Bears: Book 5 Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas Page 2

  “Just over a year... we got married just before we moved here.” It pained him to tell her, but he couldn’t lie to her.

  “Oh.” She blinked back tears. She’d dreamed of meeting her true mate since she was an awkward kid, she imagined a fairy tale happily ever after with the handsome wolf of her dreams. Then again she was 7 at the time, and perhaps did have unrealistic expectations.

  Although she had to admit Andy was handsome, breathtakingly so... she had that part of her fantasy down pat. But what would Cinderella have done if her prince happened to already be married?

  “So, are you working for Adam too?” She forced her voice not to quiver, maybe if she feigned normal behaviour he wouldn’t realise that she knew he was her mate. She couldn’t really tell if he knew. Perhaps he was blissfully ignorant to the fact. She wished she was. Or maybe he did know and just didn’t care... that just made her sadder.

  “No actually I’m working at Bar Luna, as a bartender and sort of bouncer.”

  He reddened a little at that, he always found the idea of him being a bouncer ridiculous. Growing up he’d always been the weakest and skinniest of the males, and was therefore bullied the most. Bears were pretty aggressive when they sensed weakness. He eventually filled out to become larger and stronger than average for a black bear shifter, but he never forgot how humbling it was to be the smallest. He never looked down on people because of their physical strength, and truth be told was always a little surprised at his own. One of many reasons he hadn’t fitted in with his clan.

  Thoughts of his old clan angered him, he hadn’t realised he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly until his knuckles almost whitened.

  He needed to change the subject, and fast. “So, you just getting back from college?”

  “Yeah, well sort of... I mean after college I went travelling round South America... that’s where I’ve been the past year... but yeah this is technically the first time I’ve come home since college... so I am just getting back...”

  She felt her muscles ripple, her beast was trying to force the shift. Apparently the wolf wasn’t overly pleased at the way Mac was handling the situation. Neither was Mac really and almost let the change happen, however a giant grey wolf suddenly appearing in the cab might just startle the bear. Best not to risk it.

  “You planning on working for Adam too?” Dylan was a foreman at the pack owned construction company, maybe he could spy on Mac...

  She snorted inelegantly. “No way, I already take enough orders from Adam because he’s my Alpha and my brother, no way am I giving the idiot any more opportunities to boss me around. Shit! Don’t tell him I said that!” She turned back and looked at him pleadingly.

  “My lips are sealed.” He winked at her causing her to beam at him. Man and bear groaned internally at how lovely she was.

  Her wolf snarled at her, she really had been away too long, she was starting to forget her place in the pack.

  “Anyway, I’m actually going to be working for Alec as a Sheriff’s Deputy.” Alec Hart was the town’s Sheriff and the pack Beta. “My degree’s in criminology, it’s kind of what I’ve always wanted to do, my mom was a Deputy too until she mated with my dad... he didn’t want her working as a Deputy.”

  He noticed her shrug unhappily but didn’t comment.

  Mac inhaled deeply as they drove into Rose. Her wolf howled joyfully as they flew past the familiar sights. Home.

  “Glad to be back?” Asked Andy. Glad to be my mate? No, no way would that be true.

  She hesitated. “Yes and no... it’s hard to explain.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You’re happy to be home, to fit back in with your pack, but you enjoyed being out on your own, being your own self for once.”

  She smiled at him. “Yes, that’s it exactly.” Her wolf yipped, her mate was perfect for her... apart from the whole already being married thing.

  They sped out of town, past the turn off for her house or her brother’s house. Adam lived in the Alpha house, the main house, but she would be living in her grandmother’s old house. Adam promised he would get it ready for her return.

  “Where are we headed?” She asked curiously.

  Andy grunted. “Adam said to bring you to the pack clearing.”

  “Oh no, I’ve got a bad feeling about this...”

  As they drove towards the clearing her fears were realised. She was kind of hoping to slip back into Rose unnoticed, and to have a little time to herself to adjust. Fat chance.

  The entire pack appeared to have congregated, tables with food had been set up, balloons and streamers were everywhere. Then there was that enormous banner, ‘welcome home Delilah.” Undoubtedly Adam’s idea, no one else called her Delilah. No one else took so much delight in teasing her, well maybe apart from Luke...

  They had barely stopped before Adam yanked the door open and pulled her into a crushing hug. “Welcome home D” he boomed.

  This heralded cheering and shouts from other pack members.

  “Thanks Ad.” She said breathlessly.

  He let her go and she gratefully took in a few lungfuls of air. Everybody looked at her expectantly. “Umm, it’s great to be home... now let’s get this party started!”

  Adam howled into the sky and the pack members followed suit. Music began to blare and pack members dispersed.

  Mac found herself surrounded by numerous wolves all wishing to welcome her home personally. She was hugging Carly the Omega of the pack when she noticed Adam going to talk to Andy, who had been hovering in the background.

  Her brother had always been the biggest and the baddest of the pack, much larger than the average wolf, she marvelled that even he was dwarfed by Andy. Yet, despite his size Andy seemed so docile and sweet.

  Adam stuck out his hand and shook Andy’s massive paw. “Thanks man, I owe you. I wanted to make sure the party was all set up, we had a few hiccups otherwise I would have gone.” Adam seemed keen to reassure the bear shifter that he hadn’t dismissed his sister so lightly. From Adam’s tone Andy guessed that Adam was pretty damn protective of his baby sister.

  Andy looked at the Alpha bashfully. “No, it was my pleasure.” Oh by the way your precious sister is my mate, I’ve been desperately fighting my arousal for her the whole way home, you should be thankful I didn’t just jump her in my truck...

  Andy clamped his mouth shut, his bear would love nothing more for him to say that out loud. No way was he giving in. He didn’t really fancy starting a fight with his mate’s brother. He knew Adam was pretty fierce, but if incensed about his mate there was no telling what Andy might do. Best to keep things civilised.

  Mac watched as a young wolf called Felicity sauntered over to Andy, she was a year older than herself. Felicity placed a hand on Andy’s arm. Mac’s beast snarled and she had an overwhelming urge to run over and rub herself all over him and mark him with her scent. She hugged Kim the wolf in front of her a little more forcefully than necessary. Thankfully Kim was built like an Amazon warrior.

  Felicity gave Andy a hopeful grin. “You know you’re welcome to join the party, right?” She looked to her Alpha for confirmation who nodded. “You and your wife, is Esther free this evening?”

  Andy’s bear roared at the unfamiliar female’s touch. It angered him to have another she-wolf touch him, he hadn’t even felt his own she-wolf’s touch yet. That thought just angered him more.

  He shrugged her arm away casually, as if his bear hadn’t been about to rip the woman away from him. “Sorry I can’t stay... some other time maybe.”

  Felicity looked a little disappointed but echoed the same sentiment.

  He needed to get out of there, needed to get away from his mate and drown his lustful thoughts in a cold shower. Pronto.

  He said his goodbyes and moved back to his truck, wavering as to whether he should say goodbye to Mac or not.

  He saw her talking in earnest to a young male wolf about her own age. He’d been into Bar Luna a few times, his name was Luke.

&nb
sp; Luke seemed pleased to see her, Mac on the other hand looked uncertain and uncomfortable. Andy was about to go over when Mac hugged Luke. Luke clamped his arms round her and looked pleased at the turn of events.

  The bear growled his disapproval, urging Andy to bound over there and rip the male away from his mate. No, he couldn’t. She didn’t really belong to him. Yet...

  His fangs and claws lengthened and a few wolves walking past him stared in shock before giving him a wide berth. He was growling lowly.

  He needed to get out of there. He jumped in his truck and sped away, not allowing himself to look back.

  Mac saw him go, she’d been tracking his movements since they arrived. She couldn’t help herself. He tore out of there like he was on fire.

  Probably desperate to get home to his wife she thought sullenly. Welcome fucking home.

  *

  Andy ducked under the frame and shut the front door quietly. His head was pounding from the roars and growls being levelled at him by his bear. The animal couldn’t comprehend why he had chosen to leave his mate at the party, whey they weren’t already together, why they hadn’t already started the bonding process...

  The man however was a little more reticent. He couldn’t just jump on his mate. For one thing, he was married and he doubted his wife Esther would be too happy with him doing that. Nor would the Alpha. Or the Beta. Or his boss and pack mate Kim. Or his cousin Dylan who worked for the Alpha. Or Dylan’s wife Charlie who was Esther’s boss... Yeah there was a long list of people who’d want his balls for trophies if he tried anything stupid.

  Given his mate’s mood on the drive home he doubted his advances would be particularly welcome. He doubted she was the kind of person who would want to get involved with a married bear. Maybe she was even sad that her true mate was a bear and not a wolf like her. His beast snarled at the thought, furious at even the suggestion that he was not good enough for her. The bear had an abundance of confidence not entirely shared by the man.

  All he wanted to do was to get to his room and take a nice long cool shower. Get rid of the heat flooding his body that her nearness had caused. He was practically on fire.

  He crept quietly past the living room and kitchen. Not an easy task for someone as tall and bulky as him. Impossible in fact given the excellent hearing of the she-bear he lived with.

  “Andy, that you?” Esther poked her head out of the kitchen.

  Esther was attractive. He’d always thought so, ever since they were kids. Growing up she’d been the most beautiful in the clan, much to the consternation of the other females. She was just a couple of years younger than him and now age 28 she was stunning. She was just an inch short of six feet tall, with long chestnut hair and hazel eyes. Her pale skin and rosy complexion radiated health and beauty. Like all she-bears she could never be described as skinny, she was well-built but still feminine and graceful.

  He’d had a crush on her when he was a teenager, every young bear in the clan had a crush on Esther at one time or another. But that was a long time ago...

  His thoughts turned to Mac. No Delilah. Why would anyone called Delilah prefer to be called Mac? It was mindboggling. Delilah. The pretty name just rolled off the tongue.

  He remembered her mysterious smile, her enriching scent, her long willowy limbs... His animal groaned contentedly. His arousal was starting to become unbearable. Un-bear-able, damnit he hated that word.

  Esther sniffed the air and raised her eyebrows. His arousal surely wasn’t a new scent to her. Although smelling it once again was probably a surprise. She’d ribbed him mercifully when he was a teenager going out on dates, back then he hadn’t been able to control his desire... up until meeting Mac he’d learned how to keep it pretty well contained over the past eleven years. Now, all bets were off, his beast did not want to be contained.

  “You okay?” She asked frowning.

  He exhaled deeply, trying to pull himself together. “Sure.” He sniffed the air, chicken pot pie, one of his favourites. “Something smells good.” Although not half as good as Mac smells.

  “Yeah, it might be a little singed though, I’ve been keeping it in the warming oven. I thought you’d be home earlier.”

  “Jeez, I’m sorry, I should have called.” He looked at her shamefacedly.

  She smiled kindly. “It’s not a problem sweetie, I don’t want you to feel like you have to report your every move to me. Come on I’ll dish up.”

  She glided back into the kitchen and Andy followed, packing himself into a kitchen chair. It was a cramped little room, especially when Andy was in it but Esther loved it. She said the yellow paint always cheered her up. Esther fell in love with the little cottage the first time she saw it. Andy not so much.

  Esther loved the white picket fence and gorgeous front garden. She loved the red door with the coloured glass panels and the black slate roof. She said it was quaint. Andy just thought it was small. Too small for two largish bear shifters, yet he hadn’t the heart to say no. He never liked to let people down. So half-heartedly, he had agreed to live there.

  Esther placed an enormous plate in front of him containing a huge portion of pot pie, some corn, green beans and homemade chunky fries. He grabbed a glass of water. Easy to do when he was sat down, all he had to do was lean back and he could reach both the glasses and the tap. There wasn’t much he couldn’t actually reach from his sitting position. It really was that small.

  Eagerly they ate their meals. Bears had enormous appetites and very fast metabolisms. Most bear shifters he knew ate between five and six meals a day.

  “So how come you were late anyway?” Asked Esther pleasantly.

  “Adam asked me to do him a favour, he ummm, wanted me to pick up his sister.” My mate...

  She rolled her eyes. “You know you can always say no, he’s not your Alpha. Don’t let him take advantage of your good nature.”

  He shrugged. If he hadn’t agreed to do the favour for Adam he wouldn’t have met Mac... well honestly it probably would have just delayed the meeting to another time. It was probably easier this way, no prying eyes...

  “Adam just needed someone to collect her while they got her coming home party ready.” He cleared his throat. “You know we were invited to the party too if you wanted to go...” He half hoped she wanted to go so he could get another glance at his mate, another whiff of her intoxicating scent.

  Man and bear were already pining for her.

  Her expression clouded. “I know, I just don’t really feel like it tonight.”

  “No me neither.” He said, trying to mean it. He forced a smile on his face. “Let’s have a movie night.”

  She brightened. “Sounds good. Let’s do the dishes first and then you pick the movie I’ll make the popcorn.”

  He agreed and they quickly washed and dried before settling down to watch ‘Some Like it Hot’ with a bowl of sweet popcorn.

  He forced himself to watch the TV, laughing mechanically at the funny parts. He’d seen it a million times, he could anticipate when he needed to laugh. In truth his thoughts were dominated by Mac, He wondered what she was doing at the party. Probably hanging out with her friend Luke...

  After the movie ended he stood up stretching and yawning. “Well I think I’m gonna turn in.”

  “Mmmm, I think I’ll go relax and have a bath before bed.”

  Locking the door and turning the lights off they both climbed the stairs. At the top he turned to her and tweaked her ponytail. “Night Ess.”

  She kissed his cheek. “Good night sweetie.”

  They parted and went to their respective rooms. Another reason Esther loved the house was that it had two equal size bedrooms, both en suite.

  Andy lay on his bed, the frame groaning under his size. He closed his eyes but all he could see was Mac. His beast yearned for her.

  His erection was painfully hard. His hand travelled south to try and relieve himself. He grunted, this might go better in a cold shower.

  Hauling himself up he moved
to the bathroom. It was going to be a long night.

  Chapter Three

  14th August

  Mac adjusted the gun at her hip. She’d officially been a Sheriff’s Deputy for ten days now. True most of those days had been spent attending seminars and training sessions, and she hadn’t actually been out on a call yet but she was still a Deputy.

  She just couldn’t get used to carrying a gun. She was no stranger to guns. As a child her father had taught her how to shoot, he had insisted.

  Most shifters eschewed weapons, preferring their own claws. Her father was kind of paranoid though and wanted both his children to be able to protect themselves no matter what. Her father had also hoarded food, blankets, gas, candles... as it turns out he was a secret survivalist. They’d found it all after he died. He had thought that one day the country would be thrown into anarchy and he wanted to be prepared.

  It had surprised her to find all the stuff but not as much as it really should have. After her mother died her father had gone a little... cuckoo. And he wasn’t the most stable man before she died either.

  But losing your true mate can be harrowing for a shifter, a death sentence to some of them. She felt a sharp twinge. She’d lost her mate, would she go crazy too?

  No, technically she hadn’t lost him. She’d never had him. She was too chicken to even admit to him that he was her mate. Too afraid of the inevitable rejection.

  She hadn’t seen Andy since the day she met him. Numerous times other wolves had asked her to get a drink with them in Bar Luna but she always begged off. She daren’t risk running into him.

  She didn’t know what to say to him. I’m your mate, your my mate, please leave your wife and be with me? Her wolf could get on board with that idea. Mac however balked at the idea of laying her heart on the line. If she never told him she was his mate he could never reject her. It was that simple...

  Carrie the surly station receptionist came in and gave her a note with an address on. “Here, we have a call.”

  Mac took the note and stood up to put her jacket on, “what’s it for?”