New Beginnings (3 page)

Slater’s gaze cut over to the earth fae,
silently warning him to back off. “She’s five foot four,” He said.
“Blond, blue eyed, and looks like a little doll from what I hear. I
already know she can swear like a sailor.” He heard the truck
pulling in and the sound of a trailer.

Perfect timing
.

Slater moved to the driveway where she
parked her big red truck and a U-Haul trailer. She killed the
engine, and jumped out with an arched brow as she looked up at the
three of them. They all towered over her but Jess didn’t seem the
least bit intimidated by all of the testosterone. If anything, she
was annoyed, which amused him.

She was short but stacked, with white blond
hair that fell to her shoulders in tousled waves, and her big blue
eyes made her appear innocent until you got to the twist of her
full lips. Boy, was she pretty, even in camo pants, a tank top, and
combat boots.

“Which one of you is Slater?” Her voice was
brimming with attitude. Her eyes swept over each of them without
lingering.

“I am.” He stepped forward, taming his smile
into a pleasant one as he held out his hand.

She dipped her head in submission as was
expected when addressing one’s Alpha. He was willing to bet she
wasn’t going to offer the same to anyone else, and wouldn’t be
surprised if she only offered the minimal amount when required,
which suited him just fine.

Werewolf etiquette seemed so archaic and
ridiculous, and he thought that long before he was an Alpha.

Gabriel told him that she wasn’t one to back
down. Gregory confirmed that when he reluctantly agreed to let her
move on. Not that her old Alpha had much of a choice.

“Pleasure to meet you, Slater.” She smiled
as she slid her hands into her back pockets and shook her head. “I
don’t shake hands. Not until I get to know you all better.”

“Ah, I think I understand, but I haven’t
told anyone about it. I wasn’t sure if you wanted it to be general
knowledge.”

“Oh, I’m sure it will be soon enough. It
never takes long for everyone to figure it out.” She looked to
Brody and Hayden. “I’m psychic. You’ll have to forgive me. I don’t
touch anyone until I get used to them, and then usually only if I
have to.”

“No problem, ma’am.” Brody dipped his head.
“I’m Brody.

“Aw, a country boy,” she snorted, “but it’s
just Jess.”

Hayden narrowed his eyes and stared her
down. “Psychic?” She just stared back which impressed Slater.

“Don’t mind Hayden. Sheriff Hunter is
suspicious by nature, but happens to be a good guy.” Slater raised
a brow at him.

She nodded. “Yup. Psychic. It sucks too.
Tell people they’re making a bad choice too many times, and they
won’t let you tell them anything again.” She smirked at the
Sheriff, “So what do I call you?”

“Hayden is fine.”

“Alright.” She turned her gaze back to
Slater and her expression brightened slightly. “Are you all just
finishing up? Or were you planning to stick around to help? If not,
I’m fine on my own. No sense standing around like a bunch of
buffoons in the heat either way.”

She didn’t even wait for an answer, she just
moved to the trailer to open it up.

Brody glanced at Slater, and shrugged before
following her.

“Let me open the door,” Slater said before
jogging to the porch.

* * * *

In less than ten minutes, Jess stood just
inside the door directing traffic in the roomy two bedroom cabin as
Brody and Hayden brought the last few boxes in. The furniture was
simple, the appliances new, and there wasn’t a trace of dust. She
was impressed.

When she first saw the three ginormous men
in her yard, she had been nervous. She expected Slater, but not the
other two. Talk about your daily dose of eye-candy.

Hayden was the biggest and fell into the
tall, dark and handsome category with rich brown hair and dark
eyes. He was some sort of fae but she didn’t have enough experience
with any of them to guess what flavor.

Brody looked like a big brawny surfer with
his golden blond hair that hadn’t been cut in a while. He had a
slight southern drawl and was one of the enforcers for the
pack.

Then there was Slater with his light brown
hair pulled back in a ponytail. He wore a neatly trimmed beard and
had pale gray eyes that she wanted to fall into. There was just
something about him, something she had every intention of
ignoring.

“Thanks for the help. If you don’t mind
handing me that key, I can lock up and get the trailer turned in.”
She gave them an open smile, hoping to be rid of them all so she
could relax. Jess didn’t want to be bombarded with visions just
yet. New places were always hectic once any form of touching was
involved.

So far, so good. It would be nice to have a
bit of a break. Once she opened the bar, it would be game over
because you couldn’t bartend without brushing your fingers over
some random person. Thankfully, in a small town, she would get used
to the usual suspects quickly.

“Not a problem. Have a good evening.” Hayden
nodded and stepped out the door.

“Don’t hesitate to call if you need a hand
with anything,” Brody nodded as he followed Hayden, leaving her
alone with the Alpha.

“Like Brody said, don’t hesitate to call any
of us if you need anything.” He smiled as he backed toward the
door. “You have a good night.”

“Thank you.”

“And I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow morning
to show you the bar.”

“You will. I can’t wait to put my touches on
the place.”

“Good, though take your time. The locals
will come back when you do open the doors, but there’s no
rush.”

She smiled, “Good to know.” She already knew
that she would be successful. She may never get rich, but she saw
enough to know that she was meant to be here. Fallon had even
supplied her with the perfect name. In fact, she had already sent a
sketch for a sign.

Slater stepped outside. She followed, but
stopped to lock the door. Her breath caught when she turned around
and locked gazes with him. He stood a foot away and she was tempted
to close that distance.

She shook off her desire. “Where do you
live?”

“Just next door.” He nodded toward his
place, not that she could see it through the acre of woods.

“I need to go that direction. Why don’t I
give you a ride?”

“I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

She rolled her eyes at him as she moved
toward her truck. “You were all working hard when I got here. The
place is immaculate. You even helped to bring my stuff in. The
least I can do is drop you by your place. It’s just next door.”
Though, there was at least an acre, probably two if he walked all
the way to the road and to his place.

His low laugh brushed over her senses in a
strangely familiar way. “All right then. Thank you.”

“Not a problem.” She hopped in and he
climbed in beside her. “So neighbors, huh?” She wasn’t sure what to
think of that, but she was thankful there was some room between the
properties.

“Yup. I own several places on this road. The
others are occupied. You don’t mind, do you?” There was a trace of
concern in his baritone. She glanced over, and found his brow
creased.

“Nope. It’s not like I can look out my
window and see into yours.” Jess laughed, thinking she might not
mind seeing the man through a window. She quickly glanced back at
the road and turned down his driveway.

“Well, Jess, it was a pleasure to meet you
in person. Would you like me to pick you up tomorrow morning? Or
will you be doing something else directly afterward?”

She pulled to a stop and took in his
beautiful wood cabin. Two stories, large open picture windows. Her
breath stuttered and she felt her eyes go wide as she caught a
glimpse of running down the porch toward Brody and Fallon whose
lips were locked in a heated kiss.

Blinking she shook her head. Well, that was
unexpected.

“Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.

She turned to him. “Yeah. Sorry.” Well hell,
why was she coming out of his house in that vision? What did it
mean? “Right, uh…” she looked back at Slater.

His head was cocked to the side, a slight
smile on his full mouth. “Vision?”
Ooh, his voice was
lower.

“Not of what you might think.” She laughed,
remembering that it was Brody and Fallon she saw making out, not
her. There could be any number of reasons she was at his place.
“Don’t worry about it. You can give me a ride in the morning.”

“All right then. You have a good night.”
Slater winked and climbed out of the truck. Once he was on the
porch, she got herself turned around, and drove toward town.

* * * *

Liam couldn’t believe the nerve of Slater,
calling him down to his garage after meeting the new addition to
the pack. Of course he wasn’t invited to help with the repairs and
maintenance at the property.

No, Slater invited Brody and that bastard
fae.

It hurt that the man he once considered
family no longer trusted him. That single fact battered the fragile
resistance he had against the voices. He craved Slater’s trust, the
same trust he once had. There had to be a way to get it back.

The garage was really a renovated barn that
became Slater’s wood sculpting sanctuary. Liam helped redesign the
space decades ago, when he still used axes and chisels. Now it was
filled with headache inducing power tools.

“Come in.” Slater called. He set the
chainsaw aside as Liam stepped through the door. Slater pulled off
his shirt to wipe the sweat from his body. “Everything all right,
Liam?”

He shook his head automatically. After all
these years, he still had trouble lying to Slater.

“Well talk. I want to hear your concerns,”
he snapped.

No, Slater really didn’t, but he thought he
did. Liam took a deep breath and shrugged.

“Liam, what’s on your mind? I can’t do much
about anything unless you talk to me.”

Choosing his words carefully, he took
another breath. “Brody is a problem. It appears that he has an
interest in the new wolf. Then there’s the issue of the new wolf
herself. She has a lack of respect for authority.”

“And how would you know this? Have you met
her?” Slater asked casually, but there was an edge to his tone that
Liam had never heard before.

He’d seen enough, but couldn’t exactly admit
that he spent the afternoon spying on Slater and the rest of them
that afternoon. Ideas started to swirl through his head and the
voices started to whisper to him. “No, but I heard Clint talking
about her.”

Slater shrugged. “You know better than to
listen to gossip. Do you have anything solid?” Of course, Slater
always wanted hard facts.

“Unfortunately no, just my gut instinct
which you never listen to. I still think you should euthanize Brody
before he loses his grip and lashes out, maybe at the pretty little
wolf.”

Slater growled low in his voice. “We’ve had
this discussion before. Any man in his position would mourn his
wife as he does. You cannot fault him for having feelings for a
woman he loved.”

Liam stared back. “He never mated with
Sarah. He mourns a worthless human who hated what he became for
protecting another worthless human.”

His normally gray eyes took on the golden
color of his wolf, and even though Slater spoke quietly his voice
vibrated through the room. “We are no better than humans. You
forget that we were once human. In fact, we are only infected by a
virus.”

“One that keeps us forever young, makes us
stronger, and unleashes our beast. We are no more human than
vampires.”

Slater stood there, his whole chest heaving
in great breaths as he stared back. “Bullshit. Not all vampires are
monsters. You would do well to remember that.”

Slater was already pissed off, and Liam
figured he may as well push it further. “As for the new wolf, I
hear she has a real problem with authority. Wouldn’t allow her old
Alpha to use her how he pleased.”

“No pack I’ve ever heard of forces a wolf
into sexual relations they do not desire. She didn’t want anything
to do with Gregory and it was her right to refuse him. Now, is that
all you have to say?”

Liam had the distinct impression he was
being dismissed. He ducked his head and backed toward the door.
“Good night, old friend.”

Slater nodded as Liam slipped into the
night.

Something was different, even more so than
when Brody became a wolf and then enforcer. Something about this
new little wolf threw Slater off balance. There was only one thing
Liam knew that would cause that, but Slater never touched his
wolves. Not since Clara.

* * * *

Jess danced through her new kitchen, loving
the smell of the fresh forest air. All the windows were open to let
in the late evening breeze. She sliced the bell pepper and onions
for her fajitas and slid them into the skillet just in time for her
phone to ring.

“Jamie, how are you, sis?”

“Jesus, Jess, that’s loud.” She laughed, “Is
that Kittie?”

Rolling her eyes, Jess turned down the
music. “Yes, I needed some hard girl rock.”

“Visions already?” Jamie asked
cautiously.

“Yeah, but you’ll never guess about
who.”

“Don’t tell me. Your new Alpha?”

“You are such a nitwit. Of course not.” Then
she squeezed her eyes shut, because she did have his image on her
mind. Like the way his arms bulged when he hefted boxes around.
Then she had to wonder what all that hair would look like down. She
wanted to remove the tie, and shift her fingers through the rich
brown strands.

Jamie squeaked excitedly, “Me? Does some big
studly werewolf out there need a great big helping of me?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes. “Fallon. Isaac
isn’t her man. I met her man today.”