Sharon's Wolves (Wolf Masters Book 10) (4 page)

He was never this messy. He couldn’t explain it, either.

Laurie set her hands on her hips. “It isn’t that you’re staying with someone else. It’s that you haven’t left this office since you arrived on Tuesday.”

She wasn’t asking. She was stating a fact. One he couldn’t deny.

With a sheepish grin, he shrugged. “Been busy.”

“What do you plan to do? Predict the next tremor and then collect your Nobel prize?” She tried to sound teasing, but her eyes were narrowed. He was about to get lectured.

“Yep.”

“Cooper, you can’t live here. There aren’t even showers.”

“There are. Downstairs…” He cut himself off when he realized how stupid he sounded.

“Is this because of Sharon?” She narrowed her gaze further and stepped closer. “Because that would be insane. You know that, right?”

“What? No. Of course not.” He stood upright, stretching his spine out while keeping one eye on his computer screen as if he’d been intently observing something when she interrupted. The reality was he’d been staring at nothing and thinking about what an idiot he was when she yanked him from his self-pity. He hadn’t been alone for more than a few minutes at a time in days. It was just his luck that half his team was out checking the equipment at one of the seismic stations and the other half had run out to get some lunch.

She wandered farther into the room and picked up a pencil from his desk to twirl it around her fingers while she eyed him closer. “She found someone else, Coop. You can’t be shocked by that. You waited too long.”

“Is that what you think? That I influenced Fate?” It was exactly what he thought, but he wasn’t sure others would agree.

“Maybe… Or maybe she wasn’t ever meant to be yours. We’ll never know now, will we?”

He swallowed, the pain of her words almost more than he could bear.

She flipped the pencil around her fingers again and continued. “She’s having him over for dinner tonight. Hoping to seal the deal.”

He didn’t move. All he heard was that she hadn’t consummated the claiming. Why not?

Laurie leaned on the edge of his desk and let her gaze roam up and down his frame. “You look like shit.”

He chuckled and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “I’m working.” As if that explained things.

“Uh-huh. Is that code for wallowing?”

He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “Laurie, I’m fine. It’s over. I’m relieved, actually. Now I can stop avoiding the woman. You’ve been hounding me to come visit forever. I’m here now.” He stretched out his arms as if to encompass not just himself but all his seismic equipment.

Laurie glanced around. “Yeah. You are. So stop working twenty-four/seven and come to the house. I have a lovely guest room set up for you that’s far enough away from Miriam I promise she won’t keep you up. Besides, she’s been sleeping through the night for a few months now.”

His niece was a handful. He knew that every time he spoke to Laurie on the phone and heard her shrill cries in the background. At only seven months, she packed a punch in the volume department. He’d only met her once, at Christmas when he’d met up with his family for one night in their hometown about two hours from Cambridge. It was as close as he’d been willing to get to the county Sharon resided in. So they’d compromised.

Laurie glanced at her watch. “Gotta go. Be at the house by six, Coop. If you aren’t there, I’ll send Corbin and Zach to get you.”

He grinned. “I’ll be there.”

She sauntered toward the door. As she was leaving, she grabbed the frame and leaned back in. “It’s going to be okay, you know. There’s a woman out there for you. It just isn’t Sharon. Fate has Her plan.”

“I know.”

Did he? He wasn’t so sure anymore.

»»•««

Cooper parked his car outside the liquor store and hauled himself out of the driver’s seat. He’d taken a shower at the college and changed into a presentable outfit, hoping he looked more human than he had when Laurie stepped into his office a few hours ago.

She’d said to be there at six. It was quarter to seven now. He had a dozen texts from her, all of which he’d ignored. As long as he was late, he might as well stop and grab a bottle of wine so he wouldn’t show up empty handed.

As he wandered into the liquor store, he smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt. At least it was clean and relatively forgiving. It was the best black T-shirt he owned, designer even with some sort of emblem in the upper corner. He couldn’t remember the brand, but the saleslady he’d bought it from months ago had assured him it was in style. And it had cost enough for him to believe her.

Now he couldn’t remember why he’d purchased it in the first place. It wasn’t as though he’d been on any dates in the recent past.

His jeans were clean and newish. His black loafers rounded out the ensemble, hopefully making him look reasonably closer to his age than usual. At twenty-five, he knew he was beyond his years.

He was too serious, and he worked hard. Half the time he looked in the mirror, he found himself frowning. Worry lines caused mostly by the constant stress of evading his destiny had made themselves permanent. He never smiled.

If he didn’t make a few changes soon, he was going to find himself in an early grave.

Taking a deep breath, he rounded the aisle and headed toward the red wine. Laurie liked red wine, right? He couldn’t remember. It was a shot in the dark.

A man stood in the center of the aisle, staring at the selection, tapping his fingers on his chin. He didn’t have any more clue than Cooper what to purchase for whomever he was visiting that night.

Instead of turning his gaze toward the hundreds of bottles of red that would mean little to nothing to Cooper, he found himself staring at the tall man still tapping his chin. The guy had to be six two. Cooper was five ten. He was also older. In his thirties. He probably had a date. He was dressed to impress in newer jeans, a dark blue buttoned shirt, and loafers.

Maybe he did know something about wine and was just trying to make up his mind. It was worth a shot.

Cooper cleared his throat. “You have any suggestions? I’m heading to my sister’s, and I know nothing about wine.”

The guy turned to face him with a chuckle. “Not a clue. I’m going on a sort-of first date with a woman, and I don’t even know if she drinks wine at all, so you’re one step ahead of me.”

Cooper inhaled sharply and blinked. He couldn’t move. His mouth hung open, but he couldn’t form words.

Was it possible?

No way.

The guy tipped his head to one side in confusion. “You okay?”

Cooper nodded, trying to make his brain work. “Sure. Yeah.” He knew. He didn’t need to ask. He knew this was Sharon’s mate. Not because the guy was picking out wine for her. It had nothing to do with the fact that Laurie mentioned their date earlier in the day. It didn’t even have anything to do with Cooper’s wild imagination.

Nope.

He knew this was Sharon’s date, because he also knew this man was his own mate.

Drawing on every ounce of willpower he had, he stretched out a hand. “Cooper Hamilton.”

The guy broke into a smile and lifted his own hand. “Jackson Wolf.”

Cooper almost choked when he heard the guy’s name. A human. And his name was Wolf. How ironic.

Jackson turned back toward the wine selection as he released Cooper’s hand. “So, shall we grab the same thing and see who it works out best for?”

“Sure. But I think you’ll win. Hands down. First date compared to dinner with my sister?”

Jackson chuckled. “True. I mean maybe. I’m not sure about this woman.”

Cooper lifted his brows. He wasn’t sure about her?

Jackson laughed harder. “That didn’t come out right. I’m sure about her. I’m just not sure how
she
feels. Mixed signals. And she’s… Well, she’s…” He shrugged. “I don’t even know what she is, actually. I’m rambling.”

I’ll bet
. No wonder the guy was confused. Cooper would bet his last dollar Jackson Wolf didn’t know Sharon was a shifter.

Jackson grabbed a bottle off the shelf and held it up. “This one?”

Cooper reached for the same variety and tapped Jackson’s with his as if in a toast. “To a fun evening.”

Jackson nodded and turned toward the checkout. “Nice meeting you, Cooper. Have fun with your sister.”

Cooper stood rooted to the aisle long after Jackson paid for his wine and exited the store. In fact, he startled when he heard a woman behind him speak. “Can I help you, sir?”

“No. I’m fine. Thanks,” he muttered as he made his way to the checkout, completely shook up with no idea in the world what to do next.

He didn’t have the foggiest notion where Sharon lived. And besides, he couldn’t show up at her place and hijack her evening.

On the other hand, he knew she intended to consummate her relationship with Jackson. Jackson, who undoubtedly didn’t know she was a wolf shifter. Would she seal the deal without telling him?

Cooper left the store, slid into his white, four-door sedan, and set the wine on the seat next to him. He started the engine but didn’t put the car in reverse. He simply stared out the windshield at the parking lot, seeing nothing.

When his phone rang, he lifted his hip and slid his cell out of his pocket.

Laurie.

Of course.

He answered, but before he could say a word, she was on him. “Cooper. Where the hell are you? I said six. I’m not kidding. You can’t sleep at the college again tonight. Get your ass here.”

“She’s mine.”

“What? Who? Coop, what are you talking about? Sharon? She’s not. I told you. She met her mate. His name is Jackson Wolf. He’s a nice guy. Let it go.”

“No. I’m serious. She’s mine too.”

This was met with silence. “Coop? How would you know?”

“I just met him. In the liquor store. I stopped to buy you wine. He was in there. He bought Sharon a bottle of wine. And then he went to her house, wherever that is. And now he’s there, and I’m here in the parking lot unable to move.” His words tumbled out so rapidly he wasn’t sure he made any sense.

“Cooper. Where are you?”

He glanced outside. “No idea. The corner of Main and Third I think. Who cares?”

“You shouldn’t drive.”

“And what would you have me do?”

“I’m thinking. Give me a sec.” He knew she covered the phone when he heard muffled voices in the background. Seconds ticked by. Finally, she came back. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I can tell you it’s unlikely Fate would intend you three to be together and then let it slip away simply because you aren’t currently with Jackson and Sharon.

“If they’re meant to be with you, they won’t consummate the mating until you’re with them.”

“What the hell are you talking about? How could they possibly prevent that?”

“It happens. Shit gets in the way when Fate intends things to be one way. Trust me. When I met Zach, we spent the entire day together waiting to meet Corbin. I don’t think we could have mated without him. Something would have stopped us. The roof would have fallen in or a wild animal would have jumped between us. Anything to keep us from consummating our relationship.”

Cooper wasn’t sure he was buying it. The need to race to Sharon’s house and push through her front door gnawed at him from the inside out. His fingers shook, and he balled them into fists in his lap as Laurie continued to speak. He held the phone precariously between his chin and shoulder before releasing one fist out of necessity and grasping the cell.

“Look, all I’m suggesting is don’t panic.”

A beep chimed in his ear, telling him he had a text.

“I just sent you her address. It’s a condo only a few blocks from where you are, but Cooper…”

“Yeah. I know. The timing sucks. How the hell did this happen?”

“Fate.” She sighed into the receiver. “You want me to call Mom and Dad? Or Mimi? See if they have any ideas?”

He shook his head in the vacant car. “No.” His parents and his grandmother couldn’t fix this one. He just needed to think for a moment. “Let me call you back.”

“Okay, but don’t drive in your current state. I’m worried about you. You’re too distracted.”

“I thought you said the females in the Masters family only mated with one man. What happened to that plan?”

“No idea. In fact, Zach is on the phone with his parents now. He looks like he’s going to pull his hair out in confusion.” She giggled.

Cooper exhaled long and slow. “I’ll call you later.” He ended the call and dropped the phone in his lap. “Shit.”

He thought back on the whirlwind of emotions that had ruled his life for several years. Until six months ago when his brother Sawyer met Logan Masters and Amanda Williams, Cooper hadn’t known if he was destined to mate with Logan or Sharon. Both he and Sawyer had been relatively certain they would each belong to one of the other two, but there was no way to know who would end up with whom.

And then Sawyer had thrown in the towel and moved to Cambridge, putting everyone out of their misery by confirming that indeed he would share a mate with Logan.

The pressure that lifted off Cooper’s shoulders when he found out had been tremendous. Half the reason he’d been hiding from his future was because he didn’t want to share his mate with another man. It made his skin crawl just thinking about it.

Rationally, he’d known it was out of his hands. But that didn’t keep him from bucking the system, so to speak.

For six months he’d known with absolute certainty that the mysterious Sharon was his for the taking as soon as he pulled his head out of his ass. The shock of finding that to be untrue had left him unfocused and distracted for the past four days.

And now this. A new twist. Sharon
was
his. He hadn’t been wrong.

And he had to share her for the rest of his life with a tall, handsome human named Jackson. A man who didn’t know a fucking thing about the existence of shifters.

His chest heaved. He wasn’t sure he would survive this thing. It made him tired thinking about everything that needed to happen in the next few days.

Because if there was one thing he was super clear on, it was that putting off the inevitable would only make things worse. Every one of his siblings had been through this. Fighting Fate was a lost cause.