Jaxson (River Pack Wolves 1)(8)

“Earth to Jaxson.” Jace was waving a hand in front of his face.

Christ. He was such a mess.

Jaxson batted his hand away and growled.

Jace just leaned back and frowned. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” he said, taking his hand off the phone and out of his pocket.

“You can’t dodge it forever, Jaxson. You’re almost thirty. If you don’t take a mate, people are going to assume you’re like Jared.”

“I’m not broken, Jace.” Not like that, at least.

“Yeah. I… know that.” His brother frowned even deeper like he hadn’t questioned it before, but now he wondered. And Jaxson couldn’t afford for Jace to get suspicious—because his brother was too smart, and he would figure it out eventually.

Jaxson just glared at him.

Jace let out a frustrated sigh. “Man, I’m the last to push you into this, but you know the situation. The pack needs an alpha—a mated alpha, a leader to bring us all together—and you’re it. We need you, especially now. And the pack needs an alliance if we’re going to accomplish all the things we want. You know we can’t do all of this just with the River pack.”

“I know.” Frustration clipped his words.

“So figure out which of the hot, eligible female wolves out there floats your boat and claim her… now, before not having a mate tears down everything we’ve worked for.”

Jaxson rubbed a hand across his forehead. The pounding was getting steadier. “I just need a little more time, Jace. To figure this out.” He had no solution; he knew that. It was just postponing the inevitable—the day he let down his brothers, his pack, and countless other shifters for good.

“Hey.” Jace strode over to put a hand on Jaxson’s shoulder. His grip was tight, but he looked like he was making an effort to lighten things up. “I don’t want to pressure you, man. If I could take on the burden of mating with the hottest female wolf out there, I would. Maybe I could trial run a few for you.”

Jaxson shoved away his brother’s hand, but he couldn’t help the grin. “Shut up.”

Jace grinned and held his hands up in surrender, backing up. “Just saying… there are worse fates, bro.”

That killed Jaxson’s smile. Because he knew Jace and Jared would trade places with him in a heartbeat, if they could. Each had their own dark reasons for not being able to take a mate. Which only meant that carrying on the line fell to him… not to mention leading the pack and making alliances. All of it was his responsibility, and they would see no reason for him not to uphold it. But that was only because they didn’t know he had already failed them years ago.

“So what’s our new plan?” Jace asked, thankfully circling back to the mission.

“I’ll have one by the time Jared comes in.” Jaxson’s hand slipped into his pocket again without his bidding. The phone was still warm from when he held it before. “I’ll be back for the interviews as well. I’ve got some business to attend to first.”

Jace gave him a knowing smirk, probably thinking he was finally getting busy with finding a mate. But his brother couldn’t be more wrong—Jaxson was going to return the phone and clean up that mess so he could focus on finding a way to clean up all the others.





Olivia really wished she had her phone.

She could use the library’s computers to submit online applications, as well as search for local jobs that might float the rent, but how was she supposed to check email? Or even use the GPS to find these places? If an employer wanted to reach her, it wasn’t like they could call her. She’d applied to ten positions so far—from bank teller to office assistant to donut maker—but all of them wanted a phone number for interviews. Even with email, she couldn’t camp out at the library all day, every day, hoping for a reply.

Shoving all the worries aside, Olivia dove into another fifteen-page application form.

“Looks like hard work,” a deeply sexy voice said from behind her.

She jolted in her seat, pounding the table hard enough to send the cup of tiny pencils tumbling. Masculine hands reached past her to right the cup, then the owner of the voice moved into her field of view and leaned against the computer table, facing her.

It was the shifter.

She scooted her chair back in surprise, and her heart lurched. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I tried your office, but it seems you don’t work there anymore.” He looked a little worried about that. “And the cabbie said he brought you here instead of taking you home.”

“So… you’re stalking me now?” His sudden appearance rattled her. She did not need any more drama in this day.