Forbidden Seduction (Lee County Wolves Series) Book #2 (2 page)

“The third one? Son of a bitch! How many have there been?” Hunter was pissed, and Garrett’s behavior toward his coming out in front of the world was freaking him out and had him wondering if he was in an episode of
The Twilight Zone
. What the fuck was going on?

Janna turned her head before demanding to be put down. She walked slowly toward Hunter.

Hunter prepared himself for the anger, and knowing Janna it would be a slap to the face or knee to the balls, but she did neither of those. Instead, she reached up and hugged him.

Leaning close, she whispered, “Take care of him.”

Nodding, Hunter studied her face and concern slammed into him. “Are you sick?”

A bright smile spread across her face before she turned a little paler. “No, the big bastard got me pregnant.”

Hunter pulled away from her slightly, looking down at the bulging belly he had missed because he was too busy staring at the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her face. “Ah, okay. When in the fuck did this happen?” Hunter looked between Garrett and Janna. “You weren’t like this when I left.”

“We’ve known for a while but didn’t tell anyone until I started getting sick and fat.” Janna grinned, rubbing her belly bump.

“You are not fat.” Garrett wrapped his arm around her. “You are beautifully plump.”

Hunter understood. Being an alpha was a dangerous job. Rogue packs looked for any type of weakness and yes, an alpha’s mate being pregnant could be a big weakness. Anytime a shifter’s mate became pregnant, the male had only one purpose and one purpose alone. That was to protect the mate and their unborn child. A strong adequate alpha could provide protection to both the pack and their pregnant mate, but a weak alpha could easily lose his pack. Garrett was far from a weak alpha, but keeping the pregnancy quiet kept unwanted notice of their pack away. And then the stress of what he himself had done in front of the world only added to it all.

“You better get out here, Garrett.” Jonah rushed in, quickly glancing at Janna before his eyes went to Garrett. “This one already thinks he owns the town.”

Garrett nodded, his eyes on Janna. “Go lie down and I’ll be right there as soon as I’m finished.”

“And what kind of mate would I be if I cower behind closed doors.” Janna grabbed his hand as he walked to her. “Now that Hunter is here, we are complete, and word will spread keeping any other challengers away.”

Once again, Hunter was at a loss for words and he wondered briefly if there was something wrong with him as he watched Garrett lead his mate out of the house. Knowing that word had probably already spread about Janna’s pregnancy, her standing beside her mate showed others that they were a strong pack. It was the way of the shifters. Hunter went to follow them out, but Jonah stopped him.

“She’s having a hard time.” Jonah broke the silence. “And the stress of Garrett defending every wanna-be alpha in the area is taking a hard toll on her as well as him. I know her standing beside him shows unity, but I don’t like it, and I know Garrett doesn’t either. He is trying to hold onto this pack, but everything is stacked against him.”

A large frown formed a slash across his mouth as anger surged through Hunter’s body sending his wolf into a restless clawing. Without a word, he walked out of the house, but this time, rage kept him quiet. No one fucked with his family, and it was time to make a statement… or kick ass, whichever came first.

Chapter 2

Emily stood in the shadows of her feed mill storefront, which she’d inherited with her sister from their grandparents. She watched from behind a shelf of rubber boots as Hunter walked up the steps of his brother’s house before he stopped and looked around. His eyes paused on the feed mill making her fall back further into the shadows. She sucked in her breath as if that alone would make her invisible. Before she could blink, he turned and disappeared into the house.

The tugging on her jeans became more ferocious. It wasn’t until razor-sharp teeth bit into her jeans and flesh that her attention turned from the house.

“Ouch.” Emily bent down pulling the puppy teeth from her jeans and skin. “No bite, Max. Bad girl.” Yeah, Max was a girl. Her ex was an idiot, and it was too late to change her name now.

As she pried teeth and dodged quickly from another attack, her mind returned to Hunter. He was as gorgeous as ever. She had dreaded seeing him again. Though she had changed since he last saw her, that wasn’t the issue. She’d seen his impromptu television reveal and had become suddenly jealous of a woman she didn’t even know. It was sad actually. She wasn’t even surprised when he’d turned into a wolf, which shocked everyone else. She didn’t understand it really. There were vampires running around, so why wouldn’t there be shifters? Didn’t anyone read paranormal? Did no one watch television?

She had known as a young girl about the shifters. She and her sister had come to live with their grandparents at a young age after their parents divorced, neither parent wanting to take responsibility of two young girls. It was a hard transition for two city girls, and yet, Emily fell instantly in love with Beattyville. She was just seven when she saw her first wolf, and it was shortly after that she saw a human shift into a wolf. She ran home crying and traumatized until her grandparents set both her and her sister down to explain. They were told it was the town secret, and they could never tell. Neither of them told a soul. To them it was the way of life in their small town.

She never really understood a lot about the shifters other than they changed into wolves, which she thought was the coolest thing and wished she had been born a shifter. But she always knew there was something special about Jonah McCall because everyone looked toward him as a leader, even her grandparents. When her grandfather died of a massive heart attack, everyone came to pay their respects. Jonah McCall had been the one to make sure everything was taken care of for her grandfather’s funeral. When their grandmother gave up her will to live after their grandfather died, once again, Jonah McCall had taken care of everything. He had promised both her and her sister that they would always have a place in the town, and their safety was promised. Emily and her sister had only been fourteen and fifteen years old. Jonah had put Mike Pence in charge of the feed mill until she and her sister were old enough to take it over on their own.

Emily had soon started to hear things about Jonah, and she noticed he was gone more and more. There were fights breaking out in the streets, and strangers were coming into town. On different occasions, Mike would make them go to the back of the feed mill until he came to get them. It was one day when Jonah was gone that Garrett, Marcus, and Hunter came into town with a group of men following. Mike had once again sent her and her sister to the back of the store, but this time, Emily snuck out and crawled under her grandfather’s old pickup truck.

She had watched wide-eyed as Jonah and Garrett had faced off in the street. At the time, she didn’t really know what was going on. Mike had found her since her sister told and pulled her out from under the truck, so she missed all the good stuff. It wasn’t until later that she learned from Mike what an alpha was and how they became alphas. He said that because of Jonah’s lack of leadership in the past few months, word had traveled, so that was why strangers were coming in. They were lucky that Garrett Foster was the one who had beaten Jonah. Even though everyone respected Jonah, they knew it was his time to step down. Garrett was a fair and just alpha like Jonah had been. Garrett was respected even more when Jonah was allowed to stay in town.

Emily had felt bad for Jonah but noticed he always smelled of whiskey, his speech always slurred. It wasn’t until her and her sister were old enough that Mike stepped down from the feed mill telling them they were more than ready and could run the place themselves. He would take care of it while they went to school, but when they came home, they worked until the store closed.

Two weeks later was when she officially met Hunter Foster when his brother Garrett came to the store to tell them that Mike had been killed in an accident. No explanation followed. He assured them he knew of their situation and would make sure that someone took care of the store until they were back from school. The feed mill was the source of their world. The town ordered everything through their store.

Emily heard his words, but her eyes kept going to Hunter, who stood alert but looked bored. His eyes had flickered to hers only once the whole time his brother talked. As the years went on, Emily’s crush on Hunter Foster grew. Even though he never gave her a second glance, she still fantasized daily about the youngest Foster brother. Yeah, pretty damn sad.

One day her senior year, Hunter had run up to her asking to take her to her prom. Emily had immediately said yes, more excited than she had ever been in her life and at the time didn’t even question why he would ask her. Emily smiled at the memory, which quickly turned into a frown. Hunter was never really at ease with her, but after the prom, even though he kept his distance most of the time, he would stop in and talk, seeming to enjoy her company. He had even come to call her Em. It had broken her heart to see him with every woman in town, but as with everything else, she’d dealt with it and moved on. She left the feed store to go to college and only came back two weeks earlier, disappointed when Hunter wasn’t here.

“Don’t tell me you are still pining away for Hunter Foster?” Her sister, Deb, stood behind her looking out the large window with a smirk.

“No,” Emily lied, wishing Max would turn and bite Deb, hard. “I’m doing inventory. We need more boots.”

Deb snorted. “Sure you were, Emily, and I just restocked those boots.”

When Deb turned away, Emily pushed the puppy toward her sister with a whispered “Bite,” but the damn puppy turned and attacked her ankles. “Not me.” Emily once again pried the razor-sharp teeth from her jeans.

“You know….”

Emily rolled her eyes knowing what was to come. Deb always felt she needed to tell her how to run her life. With no parents and her grandparents both being gone, she was more or less at the mercy of her sister, who thought she was the prime example of how everyone should live their life, and it drove Emily crazy.

“The only reason Hunter took you to prom, Emily, was because crazy-eyed Mable threatened to curse him.” Deb smirked as if remembering the memory was funny to her.

“Don’t call her that.” Even though her stomach dropped, she still chastised her sister. Knowing she was just asking for heartbreak, she had to ask. “Curse him, how?”

“With something that Hunter Foster could never live without.” Deb chuckled and didn’t even look sorry for her sister at all. “She told him his little dick would turn black and fall off.”

Yeah, she shouldn’t have asked. While she was hurt, she wasn’t really surprised. She had begun to question Hunter’s motives after the dance, yet she felt they had become friends after the dance and remained friendly until she left for college. At least that’s what she liked to tell herself.

“Ah, come on, Emily.” Deb snorted with a shake of her head. “You really didn’t think Hunter had a thing for you. I mean, we all knew how much you liked him, but he could have his pick of any woman and not in this town alone. Didn’t you even wonder why he would up and ask you to prom when he never really said two words to you?”

Anger hit Emily hard, overtaking the hurt but not burying it completely. She could only imagine what everyone had been saying about poor Emily Snodgrass during that time and probably still were. Snapping her head back to the window, her burning eyes landed on Garrett’s house. She was done being the butt of jokes and having people feeling sorry for her. She wasn’t the same Emily Snodgrass who’d left two years ago for college, and it was damn time people realized it.

Grabbing a rubber boot, she slammed it into Deb’s stomach before pushing her way past her.

“What the hell is this for?” Deb held the boot, a confused look on her face.

“Shove it up your ass, Deb,” Emily sneered without looking at her. Her only purpose at the moment was to seek out Hunter Foster. She was no longer the quiet fat girl with glasses. No, she wore contacts, and she was… well, still a little overweight, but she loved herself, shapely hips and all, and that made a big difference in the attitude department.

Marching outside, she didn’t even look around, didn’t pay attention to the puppy nipping at her ankles. Her eyes were only on the last place she had seen Hunter Foster. Tripping, she stopped when Max whimpered.

“Well, stop biting my ankles.” She looked over the puppy to make sure she was okay. Realizing Max was being a drama queen, she rolled her eyes and began her angry march down the street passing people without seeing anyone or anything other than her final destination. She didn’t even slow when Garrett and his wife, Janna, came out of the house followed by Jonah, Marcus, and Dell. The last to walk out and the one to slow her steps was Hunter Foster, the ass.

Hurt, anger, and other emotions she couldn’t name rose to the surface. She felt her face flame and her feet that had slowed seeing him sped up. His eyes looked past her, before briefly flickering to her, and then away. There was no recognition whatsoever, and didn’t that sting.

Finally reaching him, she stopped and poked him hard in the chest. “The only reason you took me to my prom was because you were afraid you’d lose that sorry excuse you call a dick.”

Hunter glanced down at her finger poking him, but her words sent his eyes straight to hers in shock. “Em?”

“It’s Emily. Only my friends call me Em,” she lied. He had been the only one to call her Em.

He once again looked over her head with a frown, his eyes intense. “Can we talk about this later…
Em
,” he emphasized, indicating he was ignoring her statement about her name. His eyes stated the same thing as they once again looked down at her. An eyebrow even cocked as if saying, “try to correct me again.”

“I have nothing to say to you other than stay away from me.” She poked then pushed him, but her push could have been a nudge for all the good it did. He didn’t budge. Before she could turn to leave, Max once again started biting at her ankles. “Dammit, Max, stop it,” she whispered down at the dog. It wasn’t easy trying to be a hard-ass with a puppy biting the crap out of your ankles. Reaching down, she picked Max up.

“Having problems in the ranks again, Foster?” A voice came from behind them. When Emily turned her head, she noticed a crowd of people standing there. The majority she didn’t know, surprising since she knew everyone in town. Her eyes went to Garrett.

“Why don’t we head somewhere more private and talk.” Garrett sounded calm, but his body language said otherwise.

The man laughed as did the six other men with him. “I’m not here to talk.” The man glanced at his comrades with a snort. “No wonder he can’t control his pack. Talking is for pussies.”

She heard growls. Hunter’s was one of them, and she glanced his way, her heart skipping a beat. He looked absolutely enraged; his teeth gritted and eyes focused on the men behind her. Holy shit, this man was coming to challenge Garrett, and she was right smack in the middle of it.

“No need to draw innocents into this.” Garrett, who continued to remain calm, tilted his head staring at the man.

“These innocents are soon going to be under Darnell Waters control, so I think it’s a real good idea for them to see who is weak and who is strong.” The man’s gaze went straight to Emily, his eyes roaming up and down her body. “And I can’t wait to start meeting them.”

Horrified, Emily watched the man as he licked his lips before giving her a lewd wink. Hunter’s growl sounded terrifying as she was yanked behind him.

Hunter snorted, but his eyes were narrowed dangerously. “The only thing you’re going to be meeting is my fucking fist down your throat,
Darnell
.” Hunter took a step toward the man but stopped when Garrett threw out his arm, hitting Hunter in the chest.

The man laughed again. “Ah, look who it is. So, pup,” the man sneered the insult, “how does it feel to single-handedly out the shifter community?”

“Not as good as when I kick your ass out of this town, motherfucker,” Hunter sneered back.

“She’s pregnant,” one of the men stated as Janna stepped out from behind Garrett.

“Not too smart, are they?” Emily snorted, then frowned at the man who growled at her.

“Well hell, how about I make you a deal.” The leader smiled, his eyes leaving Janna’s stomach to look up at Garrett. “If you concede all claim of this pack, in turn making me the alpha, I will assure all of your people will remain unharmed and let your mate leave with you. You have to admit, that’s more than fair considering how small of a pack you have.”

When Garrett’s eyes only narrowed, the man’s whole demeanor changed.

“If you do not concede, I will break every single member of this pack as well as making your mate my whore and the child will be raised a bastard.” The smile the man gave was pure evil. “So those are your choices.”