Craved By The Alpha Wolf (Firefighter Wolves Shifters Book 2) Page 9

  “What is going on? Why not talk to him now?” Josh crosses his arms over his chest. His brother wasn’t usually someone who put off dealing with stuff.

  “I suspect that Tyler’s behavior tonight wasn’t done out of malice. He’s like a wounded animal, and eager to lash out.”

  “Why because his sister is missing and he blames me for it?”

  Ben gave a shake of his head. His face was grave and a finger of dread traced it’s way down his spine.

  “His sister is no longer missing. Derek found Eloise. She’s dead.”

  20

  Harper

  Harper looked up in surprise the following morning when Lana walked into the apartment with an unhappy look on her face. Her eyes went to the suitcase in her friend’s hand and then back to Lana’s face.

  “What’s going on?” After Josh’s revelation last night Harper didn’t think that anything could surprise her, but the last thing she expected to see this morning was Lana in the apartment with a bag in her hand. She thought that she and Ben were happy, were joyful even since they were obviously in love and had a baby on the way.

  “Things aren’t great at Shadowbrook at the moment and I’m going to be staying here for a while. Thankfully there is more than one bedroom in this place.”

  Lana didn’t say anything more as she walked away from the door, and down the hall toward the second bedroom. Harper sat there for a moment, wondering if she should pry into what was going on. Did Lana not know about the true nature of the residents of Shadowbrook?

  It seemed unlikely considering that she was living close to them and surely she would have noticed that the people around her spent part of their time as wolves.

  Unable to leave her friend, who looked unhappy and dejected when she’d left the room to brood on her own, Harper got up and followed the path that her friend had taken only a few moments before. What kind of best friend was she if she was going to ignore something that was obviously upsetting Lana.

  She went to the doorway of the bedroom where Lana was sitting on the edge of the bed with her suitcase by her feet.

  “Is Ben going to be coming here too?” She stepped into the room and took Lana’s coat from her limp hands and draped it over the back of the chair that sat not too far from the bed.

  Lana shook her head. “He is needed there and he assured me that this was only temporary.”

  Lana didn’t look very convinced, and Harper wondered what she could say to help her friend feel better. She was having her difficulties coming to terms with what Josh had told her last night, and didn’t know what she could possibly say to Lana that would help, but she had to try.

  “Can you tell me what the problem is?”

  A look of hesitation crossed Lana’s face. She seemed reluctant to say anything and when she did speak, she chose her words very carefully. “The people who live out there are having difficulty accepting me. Ben thinks it would be best if I stay here for a while.”

  “Is it because you are human?” A look of shock crossed Lana’s face as she looked sharply at her. Apparently, no one had made Lana aware that she knew the big secret the members of Shadowbrook were hiding. “I know what Josh, Ben and all the rest of them out there are. Josh told me last night. So anything you chose to tell me will not come as a shock to me.”

  “Oh, I think there might be a few things that will surprise you.” Lana gave a bitter laugh. “Ben is the leader of the group, the Alpha. The pack is not happy that he has chosen me as his mate, and the fact that we are having a baby together is only making things worse.”

  Harper walked over to the bed and sat down on it. “What do they think is going to happen? That you will try to destroy them somehow?”

  It seemed ridiculous that the wolf pack couldn’t accept Lana when there wasn’t a mean or vicious bone in Lana’s body. And what harm could a baby do?

  “Do you remember asking me about a Canergie family a few weeks ago?”

  “Yes, what about it. You told me you didn’t know anything.” Harper studied Lana’s face, and her friend’s face flushed red for a second.

  “I’m afraid I lied about that. There was an old feud, and some of the members of the family returned a few months ago, demanding to get the estate back. Ben and the pack thought they defeated them, but apparently, there are still more of them out there in hiding. A woman named Eloise volunteered to go and find them.”

  “Josh told me about her.” Although not the full truth apparently. “She’s missing, isn’t she?”

  Lana shook her head. “She’s not missing anymore. She’s dead.”

  Dead? Did Josh know about that too and had failed to tell her just how dangerous the world was for people with his nature? That still didn’t explain what that had to do with Lana.

  “Surely they aren’t stupid enough to think that you had something to do with her death?” If they did, then they were on the wrong track. Lana wouldn’t hurt anyone, and her friend was definitely not the murderous type.

  “They don’t think that. Deep down I’m sure they know that I have no reason to hurt any of them. But they aren’t fans of any humans at the moment. And Ben thinks it would be better if I was here out of harm's way until things settle down. I don’t think they will until they find the people responsible for the killing of Eloise.”

  “Surely that will be a matter for the police, just like the police are looking into the person who shot Josh.”

  Lana looked at her in confusion. “The police aren’t involved in looking for Josh’s shooter. Everyone in town knows what they are, and they are leaving it up to them to deal with it. What’s pack business stays pack business, apparently.”

  So this was another lie that Josh had told her. What else had he lied about? If other wolves were being targeted by this deranged Canergie family, then who was to say they wouldn't come after Josh again.

  Even as the thought struck her, a wave of fear swept over her. It had not occurred to her last night when he revealed what he was that his life would constantly be in danger. But what if it was? Could she be with someone who might die at any moment? Did she really want to go through what she’d gone through with Jack all over again?

  Lana looked tired and Harper was sure that her separation from Ben was taking its toll on her.

  “Why don’t you lay down and get some rest. I’m sure this will all be over soon.”

  Lana looked at her with a weak smile as she kicked off her boots and settled back on the bed. “I hope so.”

  Harper pulled the knitted blanket that was placed at the foot of the bed and covered Lana with her. Lana smiled with gratitude as she closed her eyes. Harper moved away and went out of the bedroom and walked into the living room.

  Once there she picked up her phone and sent Josh a text. I’m at the apartment. We need to talk.

  She didn’t know exactly what she was going to say to him, but she knew that she couldn't go through what she’d gone through when Jack died, not again. And she was going to ask Josh for the truth about what was going on and if he answered her the way she feared that he would, then she would have no choice but to end things with him now before she got in any deeper.

  21

  Josh

  Josh tried not to get his hopes up as he approached the apartment. When he’d first seen the text from Harper he’d been glad that at least she was willing to talk to him after what she’d learned about him last night.

  He went up the stairs and knocked softly on the apartment door. It opened in seconds and any hope that this was going to be an easy conversation was dashed by the look on her face. She looked troubled and he knew that this was going to be the most important conversation of his life.

  “Come in. Lana is asleep in the second bedroom and I don’t want to disturb her. I’m sure you know that she is upset by the latest turn of events out at Shadowbrook.”

  Josh knew all too well how unhappy Lana had been to leave. Ben wasn’t too pleased about it either. The last thing he wanted was to be separ
ated from his mate, but he didn’t have a choice. Her safety was more important than his reluctance to be separated from her, and with the mood that the pack was in now that it had learned of Eloise’s death, he couldn't guarantee that one of them wouldn’t lash out at the nearest human. The question was, how much had Lana shared with Harper?

  He walked into the apartment and shed his coat as he scrambled to think of how he should play this. He wanted to be honest with Harper, but he didn’t want to frighten her either.

  “I’m sure you have questions.” He licked his lips as she moved over to the sofa and sat down. He noticed that she didn’t invite him to sit beside her.

  “I do. And I would appreciate if you would be honest with me?” The look she gave him told him that she didn't think he’d been completely honest with her thus far. He frowned. He’d told her about his true nature, but did she think he was trying to hide from her?

  “When haven’t I been honest with you?”

  “When you told me the reason that Eloise left, for one.” She raised an eyebrow at him and Josh rubbed the back of his neck. He should have known Lana would have filled her in on that, and that his lie about Eloise’s departure would come back to bite him in the ass. But what did she expect? He couldn’t very well have told her the truth when the subject of Eloise had come up considering that she didn't know that werewolves existed then.

  “Now that you know what I am, I will tell you the truth. What do you want to know?”

  “Why were shot?”

  She would lead with that. He knew that his shooting had made her skittish of seeing him and it wasn’t what he wanted to talk about with her. He wanted to talk about how they could move forward together.

  “A hundred years ago a family by the name of Canergie took over Shadowbrook and nearly slaughtered everyone in the pack in the process. The pack manage to gather their remaining strength and get them out. And since then we’ve lived in peace, up until a few months ago. A woman by the name of Rebecca Canergie came into town, demanding that the pack leave Shadowbrook. She gave Ben an ultimatum with a deadline of when we were supposed to vacate the premises. We decided that we weren't going to leave our home without a fight.”

  She nodded slowly. “And you were targeted because your brother is the Alpha?”

  “I don’t know. It might be why. Or it could be that I was unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. You knew what happened to me that night, and as you can see I’m fine. It really has nothing to do with us now.”

  She shook her head. “It has everything to do with us. It could happen again.”

  “If I thought for one moment that being with me would bring danger to you I would have stayed away from you.” He wasn’t entirely sure that was the truth. He’d been drawn to Harper from the moment he’d met her. And he wasn’t sure if he could have stayed away from her even if there was an obvious threat against her.

  “But it’s not a danger to me that I’m worried about.” She took a deep breath and a look of resignation settled over her face. “I was engaged once. To a man named Jack. He was a police officer and one night he left the home we shared and didn’t come back. He was shot, killed in the line of duty. It hurt so much when he died that I didn’t want to go on without him. It took a long time but I finally managed to dig myself out of the big, dark hole his death put me in. I can't go through that again.”

  A wave of cold washed over him. He didn’t like seeing the pain and resolve in her eyes and certainly didn’t like the direction this conversation was going.

  “I’m sorry that you had to go through that. But I don’t see what that has to do with us.” But he could see where she was going, and felt powerless to stop her from saying it.

  “I know that you can’t help being what you are. But with the situation your pack is in, you can't deny that it could happen again. They could come after you. Could kill you. I can't go through what I went through with Jack again. I won’t.”

  He stood there stunned for a moment and felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “Do I have anything to say about this or have you made up your mind?”

  She looked away from him and he had his answer. He wanted to yell at her to not do this. they were good together, and he wasn’t prepared to walk away. But he did have some pride, and if she couldn’t accept what he was, which was what this all boiled down to, then he wasn’t going to beg.

  But he wasn't going to let her think that it was the situation that the pack was in now that was causing her to do this.

  “I’m not going to force you to be with me if that isn’t what you want. But you need to take a long hard look at your reasons for doing this. You’ve been pushing me away from the beginning, and it has nothing to do with what I am. We could have been happy together, but unfortunately, you can't see past the fear that something bad might happen.” He raked his hand through his hair. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he thought she loved him too. But he didn't think it would do any good since she was afraid to love him. “There are no guarantees in life. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Neither of us know what the future would hold. All we have is the here and now. And I know that we made each other happy.”

  Her lower lips trembled as she refused to look at him. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I think you should go now.”

  With his heart feeling like it was being squeezed in a vice, he turned and went to the door. Once he got there he looked at her one last time. “We could have been good together. But as long as you’re going to keep living in the past, you will never let yourself be happy. Goodbye, Harper.”

  And with those words hanging in the air, he walked out of the apartment and out of her life.

  22

  Harper

  “Really it’s no trouble for me to come back to Boston for the meeting. I’ll leave right away.” Out of the corner of her eye, Harper saw Lana walk into the living room and judging by the look on her friend’s face, she wasn’t going to be able to slip away as easily as she thought. She spent a few more moments exchanging pleasantries with her boss, and afterward ended the call.

  “You’re not leaving, are you?” Lana walked further into the living room with a concerned frown on her face. She’d slept for most of the afternoon, and Harper had let her sleep as she was sure the need to escape the current situation out at Shadowbrook was what caused her to sleep so long.

  “I’m afraid I have to. There is an important meeting tomorrow that I can't miss, but don’t worry I’ll be back in a few days.” Harper looked away from Lana as she said it. She would find a way to fob her friend off with an excuse so she wouldn't have to come back to town in the near future. Once the baby was getting close to being born, maybe she would come back to help out. But right now all she knew was that shoving Josh out of her life was a lot more painful than she had anticipated. And being in this apartment where she’d done it only served to make it worse.

  The meeting had been a conveniently timed excuse, but if it hadn’t cropped up she would have come up with another one. She had to get out of Lenox, at least for a little while. There were too many memories of Josh in this apartment and around town, and she needed to grieve the end of their relationship before she could face being back here again.

  “Why do I get the feeling that I won’t be seeing you for quite a while.” There was a sharp look in Lana’s eyes, as if she could see through her and deep into the heart of the problem. “Did something happen while I was asleep?”

  Harper looked away for a moment and debated on what she should tell her. Although she was certain that she’d made the right decision in the long term, right now the pain of ending things with Josh was a lot more painful than she expected. She wasn’t sure she wanted to get into it with Lana so soon after it had happened. But Lana was bound to find out that she’d broken off things with Josh, considering she was in a loving, committed relationship with Josh’s brother.

  “I asked Josh to come and see me.” Lana moved to s
it on the sofa and looked at her expectantly.

  “And?” Lana raised a brow at her and Harper was reluctant to tell her what had happened. By saying it out loud it would make it more real for her.

  “I don’t think I’ll have time to get into it. I have to get ready to go back to Boston.” Harper moved to leave the living room when Lana’s voice stopped her.

  “I think I can fill in the blanks on what happened. I’m sure you did what you always do.” There was a note of censure in Lana’s voice and Harper spun around to face her.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I honestly thought that time you might behave differently but I can see that I’m wrong. You dumped Josh, didn’t you?”

  A flush crept up Harper’s cheeks. She didn’t like the idea that her behavior was so predictable. It had been an agonizing decision to end things with Josh and to have Lana reduce it to her modus operandi seemed to make a farce out of the whole thing. “You make it sound so heartless when you put it like that. I didn’t ‘dump’ him, I ended a relationship that was not going to be good for either of us.”

  “Oh and was Josh in agreement with you about that? Did he think that your relationship wasn’t good for him?”

  “He’ll come around to my way of thinking. He needs to find someone who is better suited to his situation.”

  Lana’s mouth tightened. “I hope you didn’t tell him that you couldn't be with him because his being different was somehow beneath you.”

  Harper’s mouth dropped open at Lana’s words. Was her friend implying somehow that she was prejudiced against Josh because he was a werewolf? She would admit that her nature had played a part in her decision but only insofar as it affected the level of danger it presented to him.

  “I resent you implying that I would dump him over something that he cannot help. I will admit that finding out that werewolves are real was a shock. But can you say that you reacted any better when you found out what Ben was?”