Craved By The Alpha Wolf (Firefighter Wolves Shifters Book 2) Read online

  “Why don’t we go sit on the sofa and then we can talk about Harper.” She stepped away a little and must have seen the surprised look on his face. “That is why you’re here, isn’t it? You know Harper is in town and want to talk about it?”

  “How did you know?” Was his interest in Harper that obvious? He came and joined her on the sofa and she turned her body so that she was facing him.

  “What else would you want to speak with me in private about if not about her? Anything else you would want to talk about you could say in front of your brother. But Harper would be a subject you’d be reluctant to share in front of him because of how he might react.”

  Lana certainly knew how the dynamic between his brother and him worked. Or maybe she just knew Ben well enough to know that he might not approve of his brother’s interest in Harper. It seemed a little hypocritical that he might do so, considering he had a human as a mate. But then Josh knew how much his brother had fought his attraction to Lana, and with what they were going through now with the pack, it might not be that strange that his brother might want to spare him the same struggle.

  “Does Harper know what Ben is? What I am?” He wasn’t sure if it was a bad thing that she knew. At least the truth would be out in the open and it was something he could work with to show her that he would never hurt her. If the reason for her rejecting him was not because he was a werewolf, then that meant that there was something else about him that she didn’t like. He didn’t even want to think about that.

  “I haven’t told her about any of that. Harper is only in town for a little while, to help me out and she really doesn’t need to know the truth about the residents of Shadowbrook.” So she didn’t know the truth about him, which meant that wasn’t why she had rejected him. “What’s this all about, Josh?”

  “I saw Harper in town early, and talked with her. I offered to show her around town and suggested we could go for a meal after.”

  “And it didn't the way you expected it to?”

  That was certainly true. He had expected her to at least be open to the possibility of spending time getting to know him. “She brushed me off.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Lana sighed and sank back against the sofa. “To be perfectly honest, I would have been more shocked if she’d agreed.”

  What did that mean? A thought occurred to him, one that he hadn’t considered before. “Does Harper have a man in Boston?”

  Could that be why she’d brushed him off? She seemed genuinely interested in getting to know him when she’d been in town before, that he didn’t think that was the case. But then a lot could have happened between when she’d been in town before and now.

  “No, she isn’t seeing anyone.” Lana looked at him for a moment, as if she was choosing her words carefully. “Something happened to Harper in the past. It is not my story to tell, and if she ever wants you to know about it, she will have to be the one to tell you. All I can tell you is that if you are interested in her, you will have to go slow with her.”

  Slow he could do as long as he knew that she wouldn’t shut him out completely. It would take some restraint on his part because his attraction to her made him want to spend as much time with her as he could. But if he couldn't slow himself down, he wouldn’t be spending any time with her at all. “Do you have any advice on how I should do that?”

  “Be very casual when you see her. Don’t push her too hard to go out with you. Just be yourself and I’m sure she will see that you are a great guy. You’ll have to get past her defenses and the only way to do that is to act like you don’t have an agenda.”

  It wasn’t exactly a blueprint for how to woo Harper, but Josh figured that it was the best he was going to get. “Okay, I’ll go as slow as she needs me to go. Thanks for talking to me about her.”

  “You’re welcome.” Lana smiled at him. “I am incredibly happy with your brother and I would like the same thing for Harper. Just don’t hurt her, or you will answer to me.”

  Josh chuckled at the thought of what a small human woman like Lana could do to him, but since he had no intention of hurting Harper, he didn’t think he needed to worry about it.

  “Don’t worry, the last thing I want to do is hurt her.” Josh stood up and went toward the door.

  “Josh.” He turned and looked back at her. She gave him a thumbs-up sign. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” He opened the door and walked out of the apartment. At least he didn’t have Lana working against him with Harper. It was going to be an uphill battle to get her to let him into her life without him having to take on her best friend too.

  5

  Josh

  As he closed the door behind him, Josh looked up to see his brother leaning against the wall.

  “Had enough girl talk?” Ben straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Yes, thanks.” Josh nodded his head and moved to make his way down the hall.

  “Josh.” His brother’s voice halted him, and Josh sighed. It looked like Ben was not going to let him go on his way until he had his say. Josh turned around and looked at him.

  “I’m not going to ask what it was that you talk about with her, since I have a pretty good idea that it was about Harper. All I’m going to say is be careful.”

  “Are you trying to say that Harper is some kind of threat to us? I would have thought that you of all people would have learned that being interested in a human woman is not the end of the world as we know it.”

  “I know and I’m not telling you not to seek her out.” His brother gave a rueful laugh. “I’ve been trying for most of your life to tell you to stay away from the humans, so I doubt that this would finally be the time that you would listen to me. Just make sure that this is a road you want to go down. And that it is one you want to take Harper down.”

  Josh nodded as he turned away. Ben knew from personal experience what it was like to fall in love with someone that the pack thought was the wrong species. At least he had his power as Alpha to overcome the pack's objections. Josh didn’t even have that.

  But he couldn’t seem to stop himself from wanting to seek Harper out. There was something about her that was a siren’s call to him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to fight it.

  He made his way back down the stairs and into the great room. What he would like to do is go back into town and see Harper again, but it was much too soon for that. She was already leary of him, so there was no point in making her think he was some sort of stalker. He would bide his time and find his moment to be with her.

  He’d grab a book from the library and spend the rest of his night quietly.

  Eloise was still in the great room and there was no one else in there with her. She looked up as he walked in, and he smiled and nodded to her as he made his way toward the library.

  “So what did you talk to the human about?” There was a sneer in her voice when she said the word human, and Josh sighed as he stopped and turned to her. It was in a wolf’s nature to want to live close to the pack, but sometimes this house felt claustrophobic despite its size. And it was hard to keep a secret with everyone living so close.

  “I don’t think it’s really any of your business.”

  Her mouth pressed flat and she didn’t look too happy to be told that. Too bad, since he didn’t owe Eloise anything sort of explanation. He’d never once given her any encouragement to think that there was something between them. If something was going on between them, it was all in Eloise’s head.

  “As if I didn’t know already. I saw you in town with her.” Judging by the look on Eloise’s face, Josh didn’t need to ask which ‘her’ she was referring too.

  “I didn’t know my movements were of such interest to you. So you saw me talking to Harper. What’s your point?” He had a feeling that a conversation was coming, one that clearly needed to happen and it was going to happen now.

  “Don’t you think your brother has caused enough trouble in this pack by bringing a human into the mix here?�
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  “I am not my brother and if you have a problem with his mate you’ll have to take that up with him.” And he knew that would never happen. With as much nerve as she had, Eloise wasn’t quite so bold that she would tell her Alpha how she thought he should run his life. At least not without the entire pack standing behind her and even then it wasn’t a sure thing that she would say something. The pack seemed to want to grumble amongst themselves about their current household situation, but none of them quite had the nerve to say something outright to the Alpha.

  “Did you ask her out?”

  “Like I told you before, it’s none of your business.”

  “If you need a woman, you don’t need to go to town to find one.” Before he could move, she came up to him and slid her arms up his chest. Before he could blink, she pressed herself against him and offered her mouth up to his.

  Did she think that all she had to do was press up against him that he’d be so hot to have her that he would forget all about Harper. It would serve her right if he used her to slake the desire that Harper had stirred up inside him, but he wasn’t that kind of man. He may not have been interested in settling down before, but any woman he’d been with had been the one he was interested in at that moment. He’d never used anyone as a placeholder for someone else and he wasn’t going to start now.

  He quickly grasped her wrists and pulled her hands away from his body and took a step back.

  “I’m not interested in you that way, Eloise.” Josh wished there was a way that he could soften his rejection, but he didn’t want to sugar coat things. There could be no misunderstanding between them. “I haven’t done anything to make you think that I think you and I should be a thing.”

  She yanked her hands away and glared at him. “Why? Is a wolf not good enough for you? Do you think there is something you can get from a human that you can’t get from your own kind?”

  “I’m not saying that a wolf isn’t good enough for me. I love being a wolf, and if there was a female who interested me in that way I would go for her. But I’m not attracted to you and it might hurt to hear that. In the long run, you’ll thank me for being honest with you so that you can move on to someone else.” A look of bitterness crossed her face and he could see that it would be a long time before Eloise thanked him for anything. “Maybe you need to have some time away from the pack. Explore the world outside Lenox and see if you can find what you’re looking for. Because I’m telling you that you aren’t going to find it with me.”

  “Only because you won’t even have an open mind to the possibility of us.” Her voice had taken on a shrill tone and he wished that he’d never come into this room and been forced to have this conversation. But he had a feeling that he would have had to have it eventually.

  “Eloise, I can’t help who I am and am not attracted to. It is not a rejection of you as a person. I think you are a great person and you will make someone very happy in the future. But that someone isn’t me.”

  “It’s always been humans with you. For years I’ve watched you run around town, chasing one human after another. They seem to like you well enough for a while, but don’t you think the reason you haven’t settle down with one is because they can never understand you the way I could? You don’t need a human for a mate, you need a wolf. Only a wolf can understand what it is like to live inside your skin.”

  “Listen to what I am telling you. I am not interested in dating a wolf right now. That may change in the future, I can’t see that far ahead.” He had a feeling that regardless of what happened with Harper he would not be drawn to a female of his own kind. there was a vulnerable softness to human females that made the male inside him want to stand strong and protect them. He didn't get the same feeling with a female wolf, since they were more than capable of protecting themselves.

  With the way her shoulders slumped it seemed that she had finally gotten the message. But she didn’t appear beaten for long. She straightened her spine and face him fully. There was a look on her face that told him that she wanted to hurt him the way he had hurt her.

  “Just because you are interested in her, doesn’t mean that she will feel the same. She doesn’t know what you are. What makes you think that she will accept you for who you are?”

  Josh turned away and refused to answer. “This conversation is done now, Eloise.”

  She’d hit a nerve because, for all his thoughts of how he wanted to get to know Harper, he knew that she wouldn’t fully know him until he revealed his true nature. And there was no guarantee that even if she liked him, that the knowledge that he wasn’t human wouldn’t drive her away in fear.

  “What’s going on?” Tyler walked into the great room and it was clear by the look on his face that he could sense the tension between his best friend and his sister.

  “Nothing.” Josh turned and walked toward the exit. Screw spending a quiet night in his room. He needed to run, if only for a little while, to get away from the doubt that Eloise had raised inside him. Damn her.

  6

  Harper

  Harper hummed to herself as she tidied up behind the counter near the cash register at the bookshop. Lana was at an appointment, so it was just her running things, and she had to admit that working at the bookstore was a nice, slower change of pace from her corporate job.

  The bell above the door tinkled and she looked up with a welcoming smile on her face. It froze in place when she watched Josh walk into the store. His attractiveness hadn’t diminished in the least since seeing him only yesterday. She wondered if it ever would.

  “If you’re looking for Lana, I’m afraid she’s at an appointment.” She kept the pleasant look on her face as she half expected him to say he was sorry he’d missed her friend and turn around and leave.

  A big grin spread across his face and her mouth went dry when he flashed his white teeth. “Not here to see Lana. I’m here to see you.”

  “Oh, what can I help you with?” She had no idea what he wanted with her. Although with the way he looked at her sometimes she could guess what it was. And a part of her, the least sensible part of herself, wanted the same thing.

  “You can help me by agreeing to go out to lunch with me. I have a day off and would like someone to share it with other than my coworkers.” He came over and leaned against the front counter. He was so close that she could smell his aftershave and she fought to keep from closing her eyes and inhaling. “I see too much of them as it is. So what do you say? Want to have lunch? I promise that I won’t think of it as a date, I’ll just be the Lenox welcoming committee and point out some of the highlights of the town.”

  For a second she wished she could say yes. she could drown in the gray of his eyes and with the way he was looking at her she was tempted to say anything that would keep him looking at her like that.

  “I’m sorry, but I can't go out right now. Lana won’t be back for a few hours and I promised I’d cover the store.” Her stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly and his eyes darted down toward it. God, what was it about being near this man that made her stomach growl?

  He straightened up, flashed her another smile and turned on his heel. Before she could say anything, he was out the door just as quickly as he’d come in.

  “That was weird.” She went back to what she was doing as she wondered why he’d left so quickly. Although after her rejecting his offer to show her around town last night, and his offer of lunch today, she wasn’t surprised that he wanted to leave. She certainly wasn’t being very kind to his ego.

  After serving some customers that had already left, and drummed her fingers on top of the counter. She could only straighten up so many times, and she was regretting that she’d chased Josh away. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to while Lana was out of the shop. Her friend had chosen today for her appointment because it wasn’t a busy day, and she thought that best for Harper’s first day running the shop on her own.

  But she wished it was busier since that would keep her focus of
f Josh.

  As if her thoughts had conjured him, he came back in with a big paper bag in his hand and the smell coming from it made her stomach somersault from hunger. He placed it on the counter and looked at her.

  “Since you can’t go out for lunch, I thought I’d bring lunch to you. It’s from Libby’s Diner down the street. They make the best fried chicken.” He pushed the bag toward her. “I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy.”

  Before she could thank him, he turned and made his way back to the door. Where was he going now?

  “Josh?”

  He stopped with his hand poised on the doorknob but didn’t turn around. “Yeah?”

  She opened the bag and saw there was more food there than she could eat by herself. “I don’t suppose that you’d like to eat this with me?”

  It was the least she could do since he’d gone to the trouble of bringing the meal to her. She expected a triumphant look to cross his face as he turned around, but surprisingly it wasn’t there. There was a seriousness in his eyes and she wondered at it. When he’d first turned around to leave, she had suspected that he was playing a game with her, but now she wondered.

  He came over to the counter slowly.

  “I’ll only stay and eat if it is what you want. I don’t want to push my company on you if that is not something you're interested in. We can chalk the meal up to the least I owe you for being there for me during one of the worst nights of my life.” He gave her a smile that was soft and it melted a little of the ice inside her. She could see that he was sincere about not wanting to push himself on her. And she found that she really did enjoy being around him.

  “Please stay and eat with me.” She smiled at him as she opened up the bag. “This really is too much food for me and I do appreciate the trouble you went to go get it for me.”