The Wolf's Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence (7 page)

"Are you okay?" He picked up her hand and
kissed the top of it.

"I don't know. Have you ever felt like
everyone was keeping something from you, but they expected you to
figure it out without any help whatsoever?"

"No. Sorry." He laughed and it made her laugh
and she had to brush away the tears that fell when her guard was
let down. He pulled her against him in a hug with one arm and
kissed the top of her head. "Sweetheart, there's not some enormous
conspiracy about you. If you think about it, the single males are
treating you the way that they're supposed to, and the females are,
too, because they see you as a romantic rival."

"But I'm not pack, you said so yourself."

"No, but you're as close as possible. Didn't
you have fun tonight?"

"Of course."

"Doesn't the Garra pack treat you better than
the Tressel pack?"

"Yeah." Why was that, anyhow?

As if he could read her mind he said, "It's
because the alpha is married, honey. I mean the females in my pack
aren't crazy about you, they're not crazy about any single females,
but the coveted position isn't available so they aren't fighting.
Couldn't you feel the difference between the two packs?"

"I just thought it was because your dad has
always watched out for me."

"Well, so has the other pack, but it's not
quite the same. Watching your back for trouble is not the same as
dealing with the females when they want to shag the single
alpha."

"He's not single anymore, though, he's got
Callie."

"Nothing is official until its official, so
until things are final the pack will be at each other's throats.
You don't have to worry about that with my pack, though."

"Oh
, your
pack?"

He laughed. He had a great laugh. Why hadn't
she noticed that before? "Yeah, it will be eventually."

He followed her up the front porch and waited
while she unlocked the door. He towered over her, he always had,
but now he seemed even more imposing, and perhaps it was because he
was slowly closing the distance between them. His hand tilted her
face up to meet his, and she closed her eyes and their lips met,
just the barest brush of his skin against hers while her heart
pounded in her ears.

Pulling back suddenly she let out a small
gasp and he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. "You're
very special, Cadence. If I rushed you, I'm sorry. I'd like to call
you tomorrow, if that's cool?"

She nodded, biting her bottom lip to stop
from crying suddenly, even as she was unsure where the well of
emotions was coming from. She went in the house, shutting and
locking the door and leaning against it. When she heard his truck
pull away, she let herself cry and then she screamed a nice, primal
scream at the unfairness of the situation. Chris was great,
everything a girl could want, except he wasn't Jason. Chris
wouldn't want her in the long run, because she wasn't sure that she
could give him more than half of her heart, and what man in his
right mind would settle for that?

The next day, she was putting her favorite
Winnie the Pooh watch on when there was a knock at the front door.
She wasn't expecting company; she was supposed to meet Renee and
the girls at Lonestar's. Michael was standing in the doorway when
she pulled the front door open. He looked tired and unhappy.
"What's up?" She said, leaving the door open and reaching for her
keys.

He followed her down the porch steps once she
locked up. "What was the deal last night?"

"About what are you referring to
specifically?" She leaned against the car door.

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't bullshit a
bullshitter, Cadence. All of it. You showed up with Chris like you
two are together now. Are you?"

"What do you care?"

"I care," he ground out, "because Chris is
next in line for alpha of their pack."

"And?" Annoyance dripped from the word.

"And, fuck it, Cadence." He growled. "You're
my friend. My best girl friend and I think you need to rethink your
choices."

Growling, she threw up her hands, "Choices,
choices. Everyone's talking about choices, but so far there's only
one choice that's had the balls to make himself known to me and I
couldn't be more surprised that it's Chris, but it's nice. Their
pack, Michael, their pack doesn't treat me like some runt trying to
get to the food dish. And I can't help it if the females in your
pack don't like me, but it doesn't mean I have to tolerate it. And
it won't matter eventually anyhow."

He grabbed her arm to stop her from getting
into the car. "What do you mean it won't matter eventually?"

"I mean, when Jason and Callie declare
themselves as mates or however the hell that happens."

He looked like she'd hit him with something
heavy. "You think Jason and Callie are together? Mates?"

"They are. I saw them in his office."

He gave her wide eyes and then burst out
laughing. "Holy shit. You really do think that, don't you? Callie's
been frantic trying to talk to you, but I had no idea that's what
you were pissed about. You ran out of the shop so fast I thought
that my brother was just being his usual dick-self and pissed you
off. But that's it, isn't it? You're jealous."

"Fuck you, I'm not jealous." She seethed.

"You should be green." He snickered and she
threw a punch at him, which he narrowly dodged. "See? You just
proved my point. Get your head out of your ass and go talk to
Jason. You need to talk to him, Cadence. It's important."

"Even if he's not with Callie, he's an
asshole." Her heart was shouting for joy at the news that she'd
misread the situation between him and Callie, but that didn't
change how much he'd hurt her before that. "I need to go." She
pushed him away from the door and sat down, shutting it and turning
on the car. He leaned in the open window, resting his chin on his
arms. "Cadence, please do me a favor. Talk to Callie. She is really
hurting because she thinks you hate her. There's nothing going on
between them, I swear. You're her best friend, her only ally in the
pack. She's like completely lost without you. And you really should
come into the shop, I think you've spent enough time around Jake's
pack, you need to hang with us."

Without another word, she pushed him away
from the window and took off for the restaurant. She cranked up the
stereo so she didn't have the ability to think about anything
except the lyrics to Foxy Lady.

For a Monday at lunchtime, Lonestar’s was
pretty deserted. She parked next to Renee’s navy blue Taurus and
turned the volume down and then turned off the engine. For a long
moment, she sat in the car and just breathed. She let herself
rejoice in her head that Callie and Jason weren’t together even
though she wasn’t sure it really changed anything.

She was wearing a soft sweater dress that hit
about mid-thigh and was slouchy and very adorable, if she did say
so herself, with black suede over the knee boots and a headband
pushing her hair back. Renee had gathered a group of females
Cadence's age from their pack, of which there were only five, but
she knew them from school. They all seemed genuinely happy to see
her, happy to talk to her, and included her in their plans for the
weekend which involved going to the next town up to a club and
hanging out. "Jake said you should go, honey. Take Friday off, I'll
even make him pay you. You deserve a fun night out." Renee said and
she agreed. She did need a fun night out.

Grey came over and kissed Renee on the cheek
when he brought back her change from paying for the meal. He
glanced at Cadence and said, "I got a call from the garage,
Cadence. Jason has asked if you would stop by and see him."

"I'm busy. But thanks for the message."

They were standing to leave and all the girls
looked at her in shock. When she asked what the problem was, Renee
said, "Whether you like him or not, honey, he is alpha of the other
pack and that carries weight with it. I know you guys have a,
strained relationship, but that doesn't mean you should be outright
rude or disrespectful to him."

She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't
make anyone happy, can I? It fucking boggles the mind." Cadence
gave Renee a hug and thanked her for lunch, and said goodbye the
other girls.

She debated going to the garage. She could
hear him out, play nice, but she didn't want to. She didn't want
him to see that she was relieved that he wasn't with Callie. There
was no doubt in her mind that Michael had told him everything and
she'd look like a twittering teenager again, chasing after him,
desperate for a kind word or touch. She'd cried over him so much
when she was young, had shed so many tears that her pillow had
saltwater stains all over it. Grinding her teeth together, she told
her heart in no uncertain terms that she was not going to show
Jason a bit of emotion. She could not let herself get built up to
such ridiculous heights over him again. She would not spend the
nights staring at the phone, praying for it to ring.

She. Just. Would. Not.

With a sigh, she turned out of the parking
lot towards the garage.

Chapter
4

It wasn't often that Jason waited expectantly
for something, but he'd been waiting for over a baker's dozen of
years for Cadence and he thought he might explode now, finally. He
shifted the old office chair back and forth with his foot absently
while he waited to see if she would show up to see him or not. She
was stubborn enough to not show up at all, or to show up and tell
him to go fuck himself and leave without hearing what he had to
say, but somehow he didn't think she'd show up just to hear him
out.

And just what could he say, anyhow? He had a
plan to get close to her again, to romance her, but he wasn't sure
if a little over three weeks was long enough. Damn it, damn it,
damn it! He heard the sound of her Charger and he suddenly felt
nervous. He could pick out the engine of her car anywhere, just
like he could single out her voice or scent in a crowd. He'd sent
Michael over to talk to her, because he didn't understand what had
happened at the bonfire. She always hung out with the Tressel pack.
Even when she hated him, she never left Callie's side, or Michael's
for that matter. While he hated her friendship with his brother
because he was denied it now by his own hand, he had always loved
that she was there with them, part of their pack. But Chris, this
thing with Chris was a complication. She hadn't been in town four
days, and Chris had practically mounted her in the bar Friday night
and had blatantly suggested it, to which she's teased him. And then
he'd put his hands on her bare skin in front of the whole damn bar
on the stage.

Jason ran his hand down his face. Michael
said she was jealous, that she thought he and Callie were together.
Absurd female. As if he would take Callie over her, his sweet
perfection? Was she on drugs?

"That she's jealous means she still loves me,
right?" He had asked Michael.

"Hell if I know, man. She tried to punch me,
though." Michael grinned at him. "I feel like I don't know her
anymore, man, she's completely torn up inside. I think you drove
her insane."

She stormed through the shop and back to his
office, looking mouth wateringly tempting in a very short dress and
sexy suede boots. He would love to take her with those boots on,
spread her thighs wide and dig his fingers into her calves through
the suede.

"You summoned me?" Her voice was angry,
bitter, and it made him cringe, the sweet vision of her taking him
inside her evaporated.

Don't be a dick
, he told himself. "I
understand you're in need of a job." He tried to sound casual.

She snorted, folding her arms and leaning
against the doorframe. "What do you care?"

She wasn't going to be nice, was she? "I
care," he ground out, snapping the pencil he'd been holding in
frustration, "because you are my friend and I need help."

Her brow furrowed and her whole posture
changed, softened, and he nearly launched himself over the desk at
her. But just as quickly as she had changed, she changed back,
hardening her gaze. "I don't need your charity, Jason. I will find
something on my own, here or somewhere else."

He growled under his breath. "Look, I need a
front manager, okay? The guys have been rotating for, well, years,
and that means that either my customers are waiting around for
someone to come to the front, or they're away from their work to
help. You know bikes and cars enough to hold your own, and you have
a business degree and can do the books and inventory."

"So what, you want someone to take over all
your responsibilities so you can hang out in the back and not do
anything?" He closed his eyes at her jab; she just wasn't going to
make things easy for him at all. Not that he'd expected her to be
compliant. She was a true alpha female, and the only place he'd
want her compliant is the bedroom, and even then he wasn't so sure
about the compliance thing.

"I am so buried under things in here that I
can't even get payroll done on time, and I've got people wanting me
to do custom work on their bikes but I can't get everything done.
I'll give you anything you want, just, hell Cadence, just come work
for me. You need a job, and I need someone I trust, and there's no
one that I trust more than you."

Her phone buzzed and she lifted it and saw
the caller ID and smiled. "I'll let you know." She said off
handedly to him, ignoring the blatant truth he'd shared, turning
and answering the phone as she walked away. He heard very clearly,
"Hey Chris," her voice happy and a practical skip in her step. He
wanted to club her over the head and drag her back into the office
and shut the door, tell her everything. He heard Linus stop her in
the shop on the way out of the station and invite her to a get
together on Friday at his house. Linus had offered to Jason to have
something kind of private for them, just a few wolves and Cadence,
to get her into a controlled situation and try to spend time with
her and thaw her out.