"Yeah, and she isn't giving us much to go on. What the hell do we do now?"
Adjusting himself, Reese turned toward the bathroom. "Damned if I know."
"Sure, you go first. Don't mind me. I'll just soothe the little doe's feelings and try to drag something out of her while you hide in the shower." The snarky tone of Charles' voice made Reese smile, but it didn't stop him from dashing from the room as fast as his legs could carry him.
Behind the closed door, he let the image of a very hurt Alyssa slip away while he stripped his clothes in record time, turned the shower on to a tepid temperature, and climbed in before it was even warm. Closing his eyes against reality, Reese thought of his mate sprawled out beneath him on the couch. The scent of her pussy, the feel of her warmth pressed against his palm, the sight of her mouth hanging open and her stomach rising and falling as she gasped for breath. All these things drove him to take his dick in his hand and pump himself. He leaned his forehead against the cool tile of the shower wall. It took about five strokes before his orgasm rushed through him, sending hot spurts of cum in juts that joined the water, rinsing the evidence down the drain.
* * * *
"What?" Fredrick Wells slammed the book he was enjoying on the coffee table and flipped his glasses off. "Tell me you are fucking kidding." He was shouting, and he didn't give a damn.
"No. I wish I was." Carol Franklin muttered the words as demurely as humanly possible, her head ducked low.
Fredrick didn't frankly give a fuck right now that the woman felt bad. Or even that tears streaked her face. What the hell was the matter with the woman? Couldn't anyone in his pack do a goddamn thing right? Couldn't he at least trust parents to keep track of their kids? Shit.
That's all he needed today: a new headache.
"Well, where is she?"
"We don't know … sir." She swallowed before she continued in the same low voice, not making eye contact. "When we woke, she was gone."
"Did she take anything? Is anything missing from the house? Money? Credit cards?"
"No … sir." It pissed him off that she hesitated for so long before she addressed him appropriately.
"Where's your husband?"
"Marvin is looking for her, sir. He's been going door to door, asking all her friends what they know for two days now."
"Two days? She's been gone two days, and this is the first I've heard of it?"
The mousy woman flinched and stepped back.
"We thought she was just at a friend's house, sir. We assumed we'd find her."
"And? Do any of her friends know anything?"
"No, sir. At least not so far." She took another step back.
Fredrick wanted to grab the woman by the arm and yank her into the room before she slipped out the door. Damn it.
"Tell Marvin I want to see him as soon as possible. Fuck." He stood and stomped across the room toward the window. His ire was at an all-time high. Damn women.
He needed that girl found. Now.
Chapter 6
A rap at the window of Jessica's Civic startled her. She whipped her head to the side and stared into Justin's smiling face. How long had she been sitting there, staring at the house, pondering how she would survive the day? Coming up with a series of excuses that would get her out of this mess?
A deep breath told her it'd been a while, because her exhale came out in a plume of vapor, visible in the freezing temperature of the inside of her car.
Justin chuckled and opened the door for her. "Wanna come in? Or just sit there all day staring at the house?" His smile was warm.
"Shit. Sorry. I … " You what? Jess scrambled to exit the car, only to be brought up short and strangled by the seat belt as it snapped her back into the seat.
"Let me help you with that." Justin didn't tease. He didn't even give any indication he was amused by her slapstick.
"Is everyone-?"
"No one saw you. I just happened to glance outside and notice your car. Your secret hesitance is safe with me." He took her arm and helped her stand.
Jessica's legs were stiff. How long had she sat there?
"What time is it?"
"About three thirty. Kara was growing anxious. She was afraid you'd chickened out." Justin stared at her, concern etched on his face. "What are you doing out here?"
"Avoiding the truth?" She was avoiding more truths than Justin could possibly imagine.
He chuckled and helped her toward the front of the house, not releasing his grip on her arm. Thank God, because the ground was slippery and hard as a rock, covered with ice from the mixture of sleet that had fallen steadily the entire day.
"I'm not going to harp on you, but I do think you'd feel much better if you just told them."
Jessica jerked in his arm and turned her face toward his, her mouth hanging open as she sucked cold air into her lungs, making them burn. It took her a full two seconds before she realized he was talking about Kara and Lindsey, not the truths she was keeping from Charles and Reese. Justin knew nothing about her connection to his brother yet. His quizzical expression affirmed it.
She shook the thought from her head and wiped the shock off her face. Lordy, she was losing her mind. It seemed to be seeping out of her ears when she slept or something.
"You okay?"
"Yes."
"I didn't mean today. Just sometime. Sooner than later would be better. Don't panic." Thank goodness he'd misinterpreted her startled reaction.
Oh, if he only knew the shit that was surely going to hit the fan.
As they reached the steps, the front door flew open, and a visibly huge Kara waddled out onto the porch. Justin grabbed her, trying in vain to hold both women at once. "Hon, please." His brow furrowed. "I told you how slippery it is out here. You're going to break your neck."
Luckily, as he helped his mate back into the house once again, Jessica got her shaky self inside without incident.
And then the wolves descended. Literally.
There were so many of them in the house. A glance around the room showed Nancy, mother to the majority of the people in the room, coming toward her with outstretched arms. "Jessica, darling, so glad you came. It wouldn't be the same without you." The warm, friendly woman hugged her tight, knowingly.
After all, everyone in the house was keeping the enormous secret of her identity to themselves, sparing her from having to out herself to her girlfriends, who remained completely oblivious thus far.
The elephant climbing around, squishing into the tightest imaginable corners of the room, was palpable.
No one had ever come right out and confronted her; well, except for Justin at the baby shower. But the air was thick when she was around. Thick with concern for her and unanswered questions.
The moment Charles entered the room Jessica froze. She'd been pulling her arm from the sleeve of her jacket, simultaneously trying to extricate herself and hand the bulky coat to Charles' dad, Richard.
The thick air grew even denser at Charles' presence, and then Reese's also, behind her. They'd also planted themselves in the spot where they'd first noticed her. A fact she knew without looking, as her sensitive nose had already aligned itself with their particular brand of sexy and could somehow differentiate every other person in the room, and even erase them from her brain as if no one else stood between her and the men who so desperately wanted to mate with her.
Hmm. No one had mentioned to them she was coming. Either that, or they just couldn't contain the shock of her arrival even with the knowledge. As she turned back toward the room, she found them both standing rooted to their spots, staring openmouthed in her direction with no discretion whatsoever.
Great. Why the hell had she failed to mention this visit last night? Because there was no blood flow to your brain, smarty pants.
For a moment, everyone froze, a second of silence. Then everyone spoke at once, greeting her and welcoming her into the fold of the family. Apropos, but uncomfortable.
Nancy, as astute as ever, glanced from Jessica to Charles and then back. If she were the only one in the room to realize there was something fishy, Jessica would count herself lucky. Bless the woman. She immediately took Jess by the arm and led her from the room, angling for the kitchen. "You must be thirsty, dear."
Jessica wanted to cry. Tears welled in her eyes, not from the discomfort of having Charles and Reese staring down her back as she progressed through the room, but from the sensitivity of the gracious woman who'd raised half these people and still cared so much she could bundle Jessica into her embrace and soothe her as if she were her own daughter. Jess hadn't been mothered like this since she was ten years old.
Memories of her own mother smiling at her in this same way flooded her with feelings she'd stuffed deep inside-feelings she'd not experienced for so many years she couldn't even count them. All this blubbery craziness rose to the surface, threatening to overwhelm her in her obviously hormonal state of distress.