"Summer, you need to come down. It's urgent." She called through the door.
"Coming!" I called. "I'm late for work." I looked over at the clock. I've worked for Shirley for less than a week and I'm already late. I can't even blame traffic.
"Like hell." Jackson trapped me beneath him. "You are not leaving this room until I've marked you." Jackson growled. His eyes went amber and his nose twitched. "Your father is here Summer." He jumped from the bed and pulled his jeans on. Jeez, his mood changes faster than the weather.
Chapter 5
I scent the air. I scent family but not my father. I pull my clothes on quickly and shove my feet into my shoes. "Come down and meet my boss. Her husband was the alpha before he passed and it was her idea to call you." Jackson nodded and pulled his tee shirt on. "She's still a pack member I think." I hurry down the stairs apologizing to Shirley before I see her. I am hit full force with a full body hug and I hear Jackson laugh. My sister is here. "Kelly!" I squeal. "Oh my God! Kelly!" I squeeze the life out of her until she pushes out of my arms. "Sissy, let me look at you. What are you doing here? Did you escape?"
"Let her talk Summer." Jackson is beside me pulling Kelly into his arms and hugging her. Jackson and Kelly always got along, if he weren't mine, I think Kelly might have been interested in him. She kissed his cheek then dropped her blushing face to the floor. "Don't hide." Jackson tipped her face up with a finger and I was instantly jealous. What was wrong with me anyway?
"We're passing through East View. Frank and I went to see his brother. He just had his first um … baby." She glanced at Shirley. "He's at the diner and he only gave me ten minutes to look around the bookstore. I'm not allowed to buy anything though." Her mouth twitched and I saw the desperation in her eyes, the loneliness. I swallowed hard. I wanted to kill Frank. Jackson rested his hand on my shoulder and squeezed the mating muscle. It was soothing and calmed me. It was also a reminder that she belongs to that asshole and what he says, goes.
"Summer if your sister is unhappy with her current mate, it is allowed that she rejects him and leaves. She would be more than welcome in our pack, I'm sure." Kelly's eyes flashed and she whirled to look at Shirley.
"It's okay Kel, Shirley was the old alpha's mate, she is recently widowed. Jackson might be the new alpha here soon and she's right, you would be welcomed." Kelly dropped her head.
"I have to go, he'll be looking for me, and I don't want any trouble." Kelly hugged me quickly and ran down the street. I exhaled loudly and Jackson wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"She'll be okay." Jackson murmured in my ear. "I really hope she will be okay."
"I hope she doesn't tell Frank that she saw us. He'll tell Dad." Jackson squeezed me harder.
"You're father wants to use you as leverage, is that right?" Shirley sipped from her tea cup and perched on the counter. It smelled like vanilla and pomegranate. I nodded. "If you're mated, he loses that leverage. You two look like you're in love to me, am I wrong?"
"We're still negotiating." I felt Jackson smile against my temple. It was nice having him so close. I felt safe and protected, not as smothered as I always thought I would if a man clung to me. "Summer thinks that I'm not interested in her, just in your alpha position."
"Oh Summer for heaven's sake. If he didn't want to claim you, he wouldn't be able to. I was married to a wolf for a long time and if I learned anything it was this, when he wants you, it's damned obvious to everyone. It seems damned obvious to me right now. Anyway, you said that your dad wanted to use you to gain an alliance with another pack. If you were mated to the alpha of the East View pack and offered an alliance, wouldn't that eliminate the threat of him dragging you back home?" Why didn't I think of that? And why am I fighting Jackson? We've been best friends our whole lives. He has never lied to me. He has never given me a reason not to trust him. If Jackson says that he's always wanted me, maybe he has, maybe I am creating problems when there don't need to be any. "Summer?" Shirley is waving a hand in front of my face.
"Sorry. You're right. You are so right." I turn in Jackson's arms and hug him. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I doubted you. You know that I'm stupid sometimes." He smirked.
"Oh so now that you've figured out that you can escape your dad if you mate me, you want to." His eyebrow quirked up and my chin quivered. "Don't cry stupid, I'm only playing with you." His kiss is soft and not demanding but full of expectation. "Get to work." He slaps my bottom lightly and I'm shocked, he's never done any of this before and it's just … weird. If he'd done that last week I would've … hmm, I would've liked it as much as I did now. I smile and start shelving books.
"Jackson, can I offer you a cup of coffee?" Shirley was already pouring it. She was going to make him her best friend if she kept that up. Jackson was a coffee freak and had been since he was ten. His grandpa gave him some once and Jackson did everything Grandpa did. "When do you go to meet the pack?"
"Larry said this evening around five. We're meeting in a restaurant. I found that a little odd. Usually pack meetings … "
"Are hosted by the alpha, this pack has no alpha, male or female. No one to cook, coddle, direct … " She sighed and sipped her tea. "When my Mark died, I would've been left in charge until a new alpha was found but I'm human so the pack thought it was best if Larry was in charge in the interim. See if a human female were in charge it would leave the pack vulnerable." Jackson was nodding and I was agreeing while I shelved books. I'm starting to wonder how Shirley stays in business. I haven't seen many customers since I started this job. "I'll take you to the meeting, I am still well liked, and these people were my family for a very long time. I can't stay though after the meal because I'm not pack anymore."
"You should go for Larry. You could be back in the pack and you're both widows." I say looking up from the box that I am unloading. Shirley smiled but turned her head so that I couldn't see the emotions there. I'd hit a nerve. Shirley liked Larry. She unconsciously patted her long graying hair and moved around the counter. Jackson was perched on a low side counter.
"You should get a coffee bar in here like they have in the big book stores. They have drinks, pastry and you can munch while you read." Shirley looked to be considering it when the bell jingled over the door. Frank. Kelly had a fresh black eye and a bruised cheek. I couldn't help the rage that swept over me. I couldn't stop what was about to happen and I couldn't see straight because I was suddenly so angry. I sprang from my place on the floor. He didn't see me because he was too busy sizing up Jackson mentally preparing his attack. I shifted to wolf in mid air and I hit him hard. My teeth and claws were in him, in his neck, face, and chest. I ripped at his flesh and tore with my teeth. Frank was a bloody mess by the time his wolf presented to engage me. I kept ripping and tearing, snarling and growling. Frank was whimpering like the weakling he is. What else could he be? All he ever did was prey on women and humans. He was on his back with my teeth in his throat. Jackson snarled in my ear. I let go and backed off. Frank was shifting back into his human self. I did as well. I was coming to my senses now. I'd just challenged an alpha male and won. I knew that it might happen one day that I would rip his throat out. I hadn't of course, but if Jackson hadn't stopped me, I would have done it. Jackson was the last to shift. Kelly stood back. She wanted nothing to do with her mate. I could see in her eyes that she wanted him to die there. Frank was healing. Jackson hovered over him watching.
"Summer, go get towels." I nodded and took the stairs two at a time. I brought them back. "You realize that you've just declared war on his pack. They will avenge his death." Jackson said when I came back.
"No, they won't." Kelly said quietly. "He died in a car accident, he was playing chicken. Luckily, I wasn't in the car. I can't stay in that pack there are too many memories and I am joining the East View pack. Frank was recovering, healing and I struggled to understand what Kelly was saying. She was nearly catatonic, her voice was so soft, and her eyes never left the floor. Frank groaned and started to get up. Kelly reached across Shirley's desk and grabbed the letter opener. She launched herself at her mate and plunged the long silver opener into his heart. Frank's eyes rolled back and his last breath wheezed out with the word ‘Bitch.'
"What the fuck Kel?" Jackson growled.
"He won't hurt me again and he won't hurt my pup." She rested her hand on her belly and a smile broke across my face.