New Beginnings (4 page)

“Ooh, what’s he like? What is he?”

“A wolf. Big, Blond, totally
scrumptious.”

“Ooh, good. Isaac is such a douchebag. I
don’t see why she’s playing with him.”

“Because, and I quote ‘he’s good to me’. We
both know that won’t last.” Jess snorted. “And remember, your man
isn’t in it for the long haul.”

“Hell, I’m not in it for the long haul, just
the hot monkey love while the gettin’s good.”

“All right. Well, I’m going back to making
my dinner and rocking out. Night Jamie.”

“Night Jess.”

She screamed and Slater
’s head
whipped up as he frantically looked around. There was nothing but
trees and the occasional bird. Then he heard her voice again and he
took off into the woods at a dead run.

But wait
… that wasn’t Clara’s
voice and it wasn’t fear that he heard. Confused, he slowed down,
but then he heard her roar. He ran flat out to the sound, expecting
to find his mate bloody and dying under an enraged bear.

He came to a stop and found the scene all
wrong. The bear roared and reared up on its hind legs as it swung
at the pretty little blond. She snapped a sapling at the base and
swung the whole damned tree at the bear, chasing it back with her
own roar.

Instead of the old dress, she wore jeans,
tank top and combat boots. Jess was pissed off.

The bear fell forward with a growl and
she screamed back at it in anger, not fear as she shifted into a
honey colored half-human werewolf, her clothes shredded as she
batted at the monstrous creature. The woman wasn
’t afraid at
all and wasn’t going to let the bear threaten her. She slashed at
the creatures throat, ripping it open as blood spilled down its
fur.

A thundering sound shattered the dream. He
bolted upright and heard the knock again. Dazed, he found himself
in the living room on the couch. He stretched as he stood, and let
out a big yawn before walking across the room to open the door.

Hayden’s gruff voice woke him the rest of
the way. “I did a background check on Jessica Abrams.”

“Yeah, and let me guess. You didn’t find
enough shit on her so you’re suspicious again?” Slater grumbled
before he walked into the kitchen. It was early, the clock only
read six. Great, he didn’t want to be awake yet.

The door shut and Hayden’s heavy feet
pounded behind him. “Did you check with the Silver Council? Did you
know she was used by the Dales?”

Slater reached into a drawer to grab a tie
and pulled his hair back. He flipped on the coffee pot. “Look, I
did the background check. I spoke with Robert McCallister, the lead
enforcer on the case.” Well, the lead had been Tremaine, but he
quit before turning in the report so Robert took over. Either way,
they were both good men in Slater’s book. “I know they held her,
and made her fight in two rounds. She won both. Yes, she killed a
couple of people, but she was forced to.”

“Yeah, just wanted to make sure you knew
that.” Hayden sighed, and sat down at the table. “They didn’t want
her for her psychic ability. They wanted her to fight. She won
against one nasty cat and a shaman who was known for his
bloodthirsty tendencies.”

Slater ground his teeth together and took a
breath. “What? Would you be happier if she had given in and died?
She chose to live in a fucked up situation. What would you do? Lie
down and give up? Or fight? She’s a fighter, just like most of us.
Or did you forget your roots, old friend?”

“No. It’s not that, and I’m not saying she’s
a bad person. I just don’t get her.” Hayden ran a hand through his
hair and shifted in his seat.

“Coffee? I’m assuming you have a theory.”
Slater leaned back against the counter, his arms crossed over his
chest.

“Sure to coffee, and yes to a theory. I
think she’s exactly what you think she is, a wolf looking for a
fresh start.” He half-laughed, and raised a single brow. “Did you
also hear that she slept with her last Alpha? Then she bailed to
come here.”

Slater wished Hayden would get to the damned
point. “You know me. I don’t sleep with my wolves.”

Not after he lost his mate over a century
ago. He was a wolf by 28 and mated shortly after. His young wife
nearly died in childbirth, and he infected her to keep her with
him. It was hard on her, especially when their child died from
influenza a few short years later. Within a month she was so
depressed she went into the woods and let a bear maul her. A bear
she could have easily killed. Slater got there in time to watch the
last seconds of her life. He showed up when it was too late to do
anything but kill the bear.

At 156 years old, he kept himself at a
distance from female wolves and human women. It was rare to mate a
second time, but it happened occasionally. After watching the only
woman he ever loved die, he swore off anyone with a remote chance
of becoming a mate. That left him with few options, but he didn’t
need a relationship. Between his wood sculpting and the pack, he
didn’t have time for anything serious.

He just couldn’t figure out why he’d dreamt
about Clara for the first time in ages, or why he had such a
twisted dream about Jess. He wanted to know what the hell it
meant.

Hayden gave him a long look. “I know that,
Slater. I remember that day well.”

“Then why bring it up?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t sound like she wants
much to do with an Alpha either. Sounds like a drunken mistake.
Rumor is that Gregory has been after a piece of her for years, and
now that he had a taste, he doesn’t want to let her go, even though
he didn’t truly value all she did for his bar.”

“And what is your point?” Slater asked
through gritted teeth.

“Just to make sure you know. I saw the way
you watched her when you thought we weren’t paying attention.”

Slater rolled his eyes. “You saw her, right?
She’s a looker. Doesn’t mean I plan to sleep with her, court her,
mate her or anything else. She’s one of my wolves, which
automatically lands her on
my
do-not-touch-list.”

“Okay, just making sure. I know it’s been
awhile since you had a
warm
body under you.” Hayden shook
his head with a sneer as the coffeemaker pinged. The sheriff didn’t
care much for vampires and considered them all cold corpses. That
was only true during the day. However, Hayden didn’t want to hear
it, so he let it slide.

Slater filled both mugs and only put a
dollop of cream in his cup before handing Hayden a cup of black
coffee. “So that was it? You think I have the hots for one of my
wolves?”

“Yeah, I think you do. I don’t think you’re
going to be able to resist her for long either.”

“I’ve gone this long without dating a wolf.
It won’t be a problem.” Slater sank into his chair and looked out
the window, wondering what made him dream what he dreamt. Better
yet, what the hell did it mean?

* * * *

Why did she agree to let Slater drive? Jess
paced her living room, trying to figure out what the hell she had
been thinking. He was a temptation best avoided, and she was going
to ride with him.

Worst thing about it was that she made an
effort to look hot in her favorite combat boots, tight as sin
jeans, and a navy blue tank. It was too warm to wear much else. The
absolutely ridiculous part was that she was a ball of nerves. She
should have taken the time to shift and explore the woods, but she
didn’t want to go far in case he was early.

Like he
’d be early.

There was a knock on the door and she jumped
at the sound. Was he a mind reader?

Like a fool, she rushed for the door, and
then slowed down before opening it. She wanted to kick herself for
being such a damned spaz.

Seriously, Jess, chill the fuck out,
she told herself
.

She opened the door and tried to look
annoyed instead of giddy because he was ten minutes early. “Hey
Slater.”

“Morning,” he smiled warmly and kept eye
contact.

Good. She didn’t want him to be checking her
out, but she was tempted to do a little looking of her own. “I’m
ready if you are.” Hopefully he was. She just wanted to see his ass
in those jeans and the way the denim hugged his thighs.

Wait. Bad idea. No more Alphas
.

“I am.” He stepped back and she stepped out
to lock up.

When she turned around, her shoulder brushed
his chest and she froze. Her eyes went wide as one really hot
steamy skinny dip in the lake played through her head. The vision
starred Slater. She was half in the water, him over her. He stared
into her eyes as he thrust into her.

Oh, holy hell, could she feel that.

That was weird. Normally she only saw the
vision through the eyes of the person she touched skin to skin.
That brief brush of contact was through fabric.

Unless
… oh shit. No.

“We should go,” she stammered, stepping away
from him and pressing her mouth tightly shut before she did
something stupid like lick her lips.

“All right,” he said slowly. One corner of
his mouth turned up as he turned to go to the truck.

Well, hell. She watched him walk away and
attempted to erase that image. The way his jeans molded to his
perfect ass didn’t help her at all.

With a heavy sigh, she marched to his truck
and climbed in, only to slam the door.

“So, the bar is close?” She asked, a little
too bitchy, but she refused to backpedal.

One corner of his mouth tipped up. “Yeah,
but I’m warning you, you’ll have your work cut out. It doesn’t look
much like a bar right now.” His eyes slid over to her for a second
before backing up to turn his truck around.

“What do you mean? It was a bar, right?”

“Well, yeah.” He chuckled. “Just wait until
you see it. Rhonda had some crazy ideas, and convinced her man to
let her decorate. They moved on a few months back, and no one did
anything with it. So it’s all up to you. Frankly, I hope you do
change it.”

“Okay.” She had no clue what he could
possibly mean. It was a bar. How could it not look like a bar?

He drove for a couple minutes, neither of
them saying anything. The silence was awkward, but she didn’t dare
break it.

It was a relief when he pulled into a
parking lot. The building had an awful lot of windows and was
painted sky blue. That was a weird choice, but easily remedied. She
walked up to the building and Slater hurried to catch up.

He unlocked the door and swung his arm
inside. She walked past him and froze. Was this a joke? “This was a
bar?”

The booths were all covered in Red vinyl,
and so were the stools along the white Formica counter. Of course
the tabletops matched. She cringed when she saw the freaking pie
case next to the old fashioned cash register. There was even a pick
up window, giving a view back into the kitchen that had stainless
steel appliances. God, she hoped it wasn’t all old shitty equipment
back there.

“This was a bar?” she asked again,
incredulous. “It looks like a cheesy 50’s diner.”

“Afraid so.” He chuckled. She turned to see
his gray eyes dancing with amusement. “I warned you.”

“Well damn. I have my work cut out. It’s
going to take a couple of weeks to fix this mess.” She shook her
head, and tucked her hair behind her ears before walking around the
large space. There was enough room to put pool tables in on one
side. Some dart boards. Maybe a dance floor, and devote the other
side to eating and drinking.

She checked the bathrooms. Thankfully, they
weren’t too gaudy. She could easily make them a bit more
rustic.

When she headed into the kitchen, she was
surprised to find brand new modern equipment. She turned to find
Slater leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets as he
watched her.

“So the front was just a gimmick?”

“Rhonda is a riot. She had this idea that
this should be a family bar. Not that you can bring kids in a bar,
nor do many of the wolves have kids, but that was her dream. There
are plenty of Others, and a few humans who always came in.” He
shrugged. “No one complained about the decor, but I doubt anyone
will miss it. So by all means, change it to suit you. It’s
yours.”

“Thank you. And I already have some ideas. I
just need to draw them up, and then get to work on it.” She took
another look around. “If I can get a hand with it, I can pay a few
of the wolves to help and have it ready in two to three weeks. as
long as they don’t mind some manual labor.”

“Well, here you are.” He handed her the
keys, making sure not to touch her. “All yours now, feel free to
start when you want. I’m sure Brody will help when he’s not at his
shop. I’m more than happy to help. And there are others who will in
a heartbeat.”

“Good to know. We can discuss the details
later. I should probably get back.”

“All right. I’ll get you home. Just remember
tonight is the meet and greet. I already sent out an email,
explaining you aren’t a touchy person, and you don’t shake hands. I
hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. In fact, I appreciate that. It
should make it easier in the beginning. Once I get used to someone,
it’s not so bad.” Wolves liked to touch. It was ingrained into
them, even her. She fought the urge because of her gift. Ha, try
pain in the ass.

* * * *

Slater stood the middle of the forest, a
good three miles from where everyone had parked. They were gathered
in the field for Jess’ meet and greet. He stood off to the side
with two of his five enforcers.

Clint was shorter than most wolves and had a
wiry build. He was full of contradictions. He was a huge gossip but
would keep a secret until his dying breath. It wasn’t often that he
was serious, he had a few weird kinks, and he could be mean as a
snake when he needed to be. Still, he was a good guy, and a better
enforcer.