Jaxson(6)

Why was he—and his wolf—so drawn to her?

Jaxson swiped open her phone for the tenth time… then swiped it off again. He shouldn’t rifle through her information. He should just delete the video, get enough to track down her address, and mail her phone back. As lead alpha of the River pack, and CEO of Riverwise, the private security business he shared with his two brothers, he had bucketloads of responsibilities on a normal day—never mind a failed mission, and the heat he was coming under to find a mate.

He didn’t have time for a mysterious girl.

If only she didn’t taste so damn good.

But that wasn’t really it—he’d had plenty of human girls. They were fun, but their skin had never sizzled his lips with some kind of hot magic when he kissed them. His wolf had never howled like it was being ripped apart when he sent one packing in a cab.

This girl was different. He just didn’t know why.

Jaxson swiped open the phone again and watched the video she took. He had to admit it looked pretty bad from her angle. Which only made him wince… but he had to put in a good performance or there was no way he’d infiltrate the operation going on at the homeless shelter. As bad as the video looked, the girl’s hand was remarkably steady with the camera. A grin stretched his face as her words shouted at him from the phone. I’ve called the police! And I’ve got you on camera. World-class bluffing from a girl with luscious curves and a smart mouth.

Okay, he could understand why the man in him would be attracted—but why had his wolf raged against his skin, demanding that he claim her right then and there in the alley? Jaxson scowled at the video, stopping it, then deleting it. If his wolf thought he had found their mate, then that was just one more reason to toss the phone and never look back. This brave, amazing girl didn’t deserve to get mixed up in his messy life… or his fate.

He dropped the phone in the wastebasket by his desk.

It stayed there for a full ten seconds before he pulled it out again.

Dammit.

He flipped through her pictures. No selfies, unfortunately. Just a bunch of shots of a restaurant and some guy with a professional-grade camera. Was she doing surveillance? Jaxson immediately disliked the cameraman—not least because he was reasonably good-looking and smiling way too hard for her picture. For her. His wolf snarled with a completely unreasonable jealousy. Jaxson was glad there was only the one shot of the guy.

The rest were pictures of the sunset over the bay, a couple seagulls, and an almost artistic shot from the inside of a room with a glass-and-steel-gridded roof. The orange glow of the setting sun had set the panes on fire, making a magical light show splash across the room. It took him a moment to figure it out, but he was pretty sure it was the Seattle Public Library.

The library. So she visits the library, does surveillance on the side, and tries to rescue tortured shifters in alleys.

Who was this girl?

A quick search brought up her name—Olivia Lilyfield—but practically no other personal information. It was almost like this was a burn phone. Her address book was nearly blank, but two of the entries were very illuminating. Cratchton at the Tales. Google said he was the editor. And the second—listed as Mark—had the cameraman picture as his profile. The third was simply listed at Xenon. No picture. Local number.

Cameraman. The Tales. So she’s a reporter. Even more reason to stay away… and yet, his fingers were itching to dial the number at the celebrity rag to see if he could track her down. Just to hear her voice. Make sure she got back okay.

Only he sent her home, not to the office. And there was no record of a home address on the phone. A simple search online would bring it up… he was already tapping out the search request when Jace flung open the door.

His brother let the door bang against the wall, then leaned against the doorjamb with his arms crossed, glaring at him. Jace was younger by two years, but he became an alpha in his own right when he joined the Army as a medic. His time overseas was… mixed. Jace had served his country well, but the scars he brought home were the kind that didn’t show on the outside… and that no one had yet been able to heal. Not that Jaxson hadn’t tried.

“Are you ready to admit what a tremendously bad idea that was?” Jace asked smugly. “Because I’ve got ten dollars riding on this, and it’s time Jared lost a bet.” Their older brother was a notoriously bad loser. Which only meant Jace took it as a personal challenge to have him lose as often as possible.

Jaxson was glad he had already erased the video. He stood and slid the phone into his pocket. “I didn’t get to find out. Got interrupted before I could get in.”