Jessica's Wolves(28)

"I have to go back to work January third."

Reese inhaled on her other side. Charles could hear him suck in his breath and hold it.

Jess glanced from Charles to Reese and back. "What? No way." She backed  up, shaking herself from Charles' grasp. "I'm not Kara or Lindsey. You  can't keep me out here on the farm under your watchful eye  twenty-four-seven. I won't. I have a job. And I intend to return after  the holidays." She backed up, her fists squeezing at her sides.

"Hon … " Reese reached for her, just out of his grasp.

"Don't look at me like that. All apologetic but still insisting I bend  to your bidding. We talked about this." She glanced at Richard and then  continued in private. "Command my body all you want in the bedroom. Not  out here. Not in my work life."

"Jess … " Charles started to speak but decided now wasn't the time. "Can  we discuss this later?" He hated that look on her face. Firm. Her eyes  wide. Pissed off at what she perceived was a broken agreement. Sure, he  understood, but there was no way in hell he would let anything happen to  her. And if that meant keeping her tied to his bed to avoid danger,  then …

Reese cleared his throat. "Later," he commanded. Then he softened.  "Let's see what we can find out in the next week. We may be creating all  this worry for no reason."

Jess looked away. "Fuck you."

Reese chuckled, but he stood and went to her. "Come sit down." He gently  ushered her back to the table and pulled out a chair. "Please."

Charles was glad Reese had thought to add that one little word that made  all the difference between a request and a command. Man, this woman was  going to kill them with her need to be treated as their equal. It  wasn't really his style.

Not that he was highhanded or demanding. He considered himself a  respectful, gentlemanly-type guy, but it boiled his blood to think about  his woman in harm's way.

"Can you think of anything else that might help?" Richard brought them back to the subject.

"No." She shook her head, her brow furrowed in frustration.

"I'm going to send a few people to Oklahoma to check the situation out.  Let's see what they find and go from there. I agree with your mates here  on this one, though, Jessica. I think you should stay close by. At  least for now. If they show up here and find you too, Lord knows what  those crazy wolves might attempt."

Jessica nodded. "I'll talk to Alyssa. See if she can shed any more  light. Spend some time with her. She's my cousin, after all. I haven't  seen a family member since I was nine." A tear trickled from one eye,  and she reached to wipe it.

Part of Charles' heart ripped when she did. His chest grew tight. She  was his mate, his life, and it pained him to know the secrets she'd kept  for all these years.

* * * *

"Do you think about running free with the Masters, Jess?" Alyssa's tiny voice rang in the morning air.

Jessica leaned against the fence, staring out across the pasture. She  didn't glance at the girl she'd grown so fond of in the past few days.  She didn't have to. "I'm not ready."                       
       
           



       

"Is it that simple?" Alyssa really wanted to know. She wasn't asking to  prod Jessica like everyone else did. She simply spoke out of curiosity.  So pure.

"No." Jessica sighed and turned her gaze to Alyssa. "It's not. You're  very insightful. Now that I've mated with Charles and Reese, my body  wants to shift so bad I can barely control the need. And when they go  for a run, my skin crawls, itching to join them."

Alyssa bit her lip in the same way Jessica imagined she herself was habitually doing. "Why don't you?"

"Fear."

"But you're safe now." She tipped her head. "Your mates would never let anyone harm you."

"Neither would my parents."

The statement hung in the air. Neither spoke again for several minutes.

"Do you think they'll find me?"

"I don't know, but if they do, you'll be safe here." Jessica spoke the  words for Alyssa's sake, though she barely believed them herself. What  if they do find Alyssa? What would that mean for me? Would they  recognize her? Kidnap her too? Jess shivered, and not from the cool  crisp air.

"You girls okay?" The question came from Charles and made Jessica flinch  since he was so far away. He'd gone into town that morning, refusing to  take anyone with him but Reese. It was the first time they'd both left  the Masters' home at the same time, entrusting Jess to the care of the  multitude of people milling around. And everyone took their job  seriously. Alyssa and Jessica hadn't spent a single moment without one  brother or another wandering past them as if they had some urgent task  that needed immediate attention in their vicinity.

If Jessica hadn't been so on edge, she'd have found the scene rather comical.

"For the millionth time, we are fine." Too bad her mates couldn't see her eyes rolling from town.

"My love," Reese added in the sappiest tone imaginable for telepathic  communication, "we don't have to be near you to sense an eye roll."

Jessica sighed. Figured. But, seriously, it was the first time she'd  been separated from them, and she found she missed them being close.  Though she was loathe to admit it. Their heads were so large as it was  it was a wonder they didn't topple over from the added weight.

She wasn't ovulating anymore, and she'd manage to escape getting  pregnant in the last few days also. Without the added stress and worry  of conception, she was free to enjoy herself. And she wanted them all  the time. Now being no exception. "Just get back soon, okay?" She didn't  want to give them the impression she couldn't be away from them, but in  truth, she could barely tolerate the separation and hoped they were  suffering too.

Kara and Lindsey had coached her. It was ironic since Jessica was the  actual wolf of the three. But her best friends knew far more than she  did about the days and weeks immediately following a mating. They'd just  been through it and were extremely sympathetic to her plight. They  didn't hesitate to chuckle at her predicament, but they knew the intense  cravings she was experiencing all too well.

"Jess?" Alyssa set a hand on Jessica's coat sleeve.

Jess looked over to find a confused expression.

"You were a million miles away. You okay?"

"Uh, yes. Charles and Reese were checking on us. I don't quite have the  knack for communicating in my head while still pretending to be in the  moment."

Alyssa laughed. "That's so cool. I can't wait to experience it."

"Oh, hon, you're so young. Believe me. Give it a few years. Enjoy  yourself now because, after you're claimed, you'll feel a bit like  you're having the life squished out of you."

The girl gasped. "That bad? You look so happy."

"Don't get me wrong. I've never been happier, but it's life altering  …   and permanent. I'll never be the carefree woman I was last week again."

"That makes sense." She giggled again. "Don't think we have to worry  about that. Mating is the furthest thing from my mind right now, and it  seems the Masters are going to be so kind as to let me be a  pseudo-member of their family. As long as I stay here at the farm, I'll  be safe from meeting a mate."

Alyssa seemed so sure of herself. She had it all worked out. Too bad  fate had a way of changing course on a person sometimes. Who knew  though? Maybe she could escape that fate for at least a little while if  she stayed here on the farm and took some correspondence classes online.  For her sake, Jessica hoped so.

Alyssa was so young and innocent. She couldn't even imagine her being  married off against her will to an older man with several wives. It made  Jessica cringe when she allowed herself to consider she'd have been in  those exact same shoes if her parents hadn't fled with her all those  years ago. Perhaps she wouldn't have fared as well as Alyssa.

It was a shame they'd had to die to save their daughter, but she had a  new appreciation for the sacrifice they'd made and the resulting woman  she'd become.

"Wanna go back inside? It's cold out here." Alyssa nodded toward the  house. "And we're making the entire family and their employees  freakishly nervous by hanging around outside." Alyssa giggled again and  lowered her voice to a whisper. "Although, I secretly enjoy watching  dozens of people flock around us on pins and needles. I've never felt so   …  loved."

That last word stabbed Jess in the chest. How did a girl live eighteen  years without feeling loved? That was a crime. Didn't her parents love  her? Even though they were misguided, Jessica hoped the couple had  nurtured and cared for their daughter for the last eighteen years. The  opposite was unimaginable. At least Jess had ten fantastic years with  her own parents before they'd been murdered.