The Reluctant Mate: (Book 13, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (2 page)

Jolene placed a hand on his arm, and he stiffened.  “Reid, please calm down.”  Her wolf whimpered for the young man, wanting to soothe him, wanting to reassure him, needing him to be okay.

He was wearing a tux for the wedding.  “You look very nice, Reid.  The suit looks good on you.”

His face turned red.  “My mom made me wear it.”

For the first time since she’d met him, she considered that Reid was actually more attractive than Beau.  It was an odd thought that took her by surprise.  He’d always been a gawky kid – and kind of still was – but he was growing into his features, which were sharper, more defined than Beau’s – who tended to be fleshy and rounder.  She knew that girls thought of him as being skinny and weird because he tended to avoid people.  But in a few years time, when he was fully grown, they’d think of him as mysterious and brooding.  She considered that he’d be a real heartbreaker soon, and for some reason that didn’t sit right with her wolf at all.

“You always look nice,” he said awkwardly, cheeks virtually on fire.

“Thank you, Reid.”

He gave her a wary look.  “You’re not interested in him are you?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted honestly.  Her wolf huffed, but she shoved the card into her purse.

Jolene felt a sliver of guilt but then tamped it down.  Why should she feel guilty about wanting to spend time with Mark?  Maybe her wolf wasn’t keen on him, but she shouldn’t feel like she was doing anything wrong – Beau had no hold over her now.

Reid scowled and looked like he was about to say something when his mom called him.  He screwed up his face and clasped Jolene’s bare arms.  His skin felt warm against hers, and her wolf groaned at the touch.  “You deserve better,” he growled before stalking away.

She watched him go, frowning.  She wasn’t sure that was true.  She’d just settle for someone who cared about her.

Chapter One

Present day

Jolene tried to make herself as small as possible.  She wasn’t naturally small, but small compared to most of her present company.  At five foot ten, she was about average for a she-wolf.  She was hardly skinny, being one of the curvier females in the pack, but she was still lithe enough to give the males a run for their money. 
Or at least, she used to
.

Huge males wolves milled around the pack clearing, carelessly peeling away items of clothing while waiting for the Alpha to start the pack run.  The females smirked pretending they weren’t watching the males.  Younger wolves, new to shifting, shivered in the cold, January wind.

Her own inner wolf jumped and stretched, eager for the run, uncomprehending as to Jolene’s reticence.  Running had been their favorite thing, once upon a time.  She’d outstripped the males her own age and been the star of the high school track team.  But now, she just wanted to go home and curl up on her couch with a good book and a bottle or wine… or two.  It wasn’t the run that was the problem.  She just wanted to be left alone, away from nosy, prying snouts.  And surrounded by a whole pack of wolves intent on knowing her business? 
Yeah, that wasn’t happening
.

She’d already been caught by her pack mate Jake and his leopard mate, Val.  Jake wasn’t exactly the gushing type, but his mate was blessed with far too much bubbliness, and they had both tried to insist she run with them.  She’d beat a hasty retreat from the lovey-dovey couple, pretending she was meeting up with friends.  That was a total lie.  She’d been so standoffish over the past year that she really only had one friend left, and that was because Kim didn’t take crap.  However, Kim was at home nursing a newborn pup – she wouldn’t be attending the pack runs for a few months yet.

Even worse, Carly the Omega wolf and her huge bear mate, Cain had almost snagged her.  The little she-wolf had been intent on Jolene hunting with them.  Cain had even grunted in agreement.  But spending the evening with a wolf who could sense her shaky emotions was the last thing she wanted.

She wasn’t interested in being a happy couple pity project.  She just wanted to be left alone.

Adam the Alpha roared at everyone for silence.  The usually handsome Alpha looked hard and tense.  No wonder; his own mate was close to giving birth.  Jolene supposed he wanted to get back to his human mate as quickly as possible.

He started barking out a few orders of business, in particular about staying away from the northern edge of the woods where wild wolves had been straying.  A few of the young males scoffed.  They were met by severe glares from the Alpha and slaps to the back of their heads by the Beta.

Jolene shook her head.  Young wolves trying to prove their mettle by fighting real, wild animals was nothing new.  Wolf shifters were naturally aggressive, and male wolf shifters were naturally infantile.  She remembered the arguments she used to have with Beau about this.  He’d been no different.  At least, he always used to come back in one piece after.  A harsh part of her – her wolf included – told her she shouldn’t care about his safety.  She should try to hate him.  But if she couldn’t do so after six years, she doubted she ever would.  No, her soppy, traitorous heart kept yearning for the life they could have had together. 
The life he now had with another she-wolf.

And if that weren’t bad enough, Reid hadn’t even spoken to her in six years.  Not since his brother’s wedding.  No, he didn’t run away when he saw her on the street.  He left town.  He joined the Army a month after the wedding, and a couple of weeks after that, Jolene married Mark.

Yep, it was a whirlwind romance.  Or more like, she was on the rebound, and he was heavily in debt and needed someone to pay off his debts. 
It was doomed from the start
.  They got along okay for a few years.  Her wolf had been against the match, but once the marriage was sealed even her beast was willing to give it a shot.  It wasn’t the best of marriages.  The sex was a bit… awkward.  Having only been with Beau before, Jolene was hardly an expert.  With Beau, it had been quite nice… or okay… or something that wasn’t awful and he seemed to really enjoy himself, so she let him have sex with her.  Given that her sex talk had been with her grandmother, she’d come to think that sex was a rather one-sided thing anyway and that females only did it to appease their males.  Nana Harper was hardly a female role model.  It was only recently from listening to some of the other female wolves that she realized sex was supposed to be just as enjoyable for the female, too.  If not more so if Kim’s smugness was anything to go by.

But with Mark, sex had just felt so wrong.  She tried her best, but a year into the marriage, their desultory sex life had fizzled, and they started keeping separate bedrooms.  He didn’t seem to mind.  No, the only thing he cared about was gambling.

Their relationship came to a dead stop when money went missing from the pack’s accounts and Mark skipped town.  The Alpha was furious and suspected Jolene of helping Mark steal the money.

It was sorted out soon after.  Mark found a lawyer and argued that he had just made a mistake and put the money in a holding account by accident.  Nobody believed him.  The pack had the money back; that was the thing that really mattered.  Jolene supposed that whatever casino or poker game he ended up at must have paid out big for him to be able to give the money back.  But after that, the Alpha wouldn’t allow him back into the pack, and Jolene wouldn’t allow him back into her life.  In spite of his pathetic pleading, she stood firm and filed for divorce.

So, here she was.  Sad, pathetic and alone.  It had been over a year since Mark left, but rumors still flew around town about her helping him steal the money.  If a pack was supposed to be one big family, she was the black sheep.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Reid hadn’t even written to his mother in six months.  He was so… so…
rude! 
An angry ache filled her stomach.  Okay, so he couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone or type an e-mail or grab a pen and paper to tell Jolene he was doing fine, but at least, he should contact his mother.

Jolene used to visit Norma sporadically, although her visits became more and more infrequent over the years because Mark thought it was weird that she still visited her ex’s mom.  But on those visits, she enjoyed listening to Reid’s stilted letters.  He never knew what to say – he wrote as he spoke.  But hearing them made her happy, and made her remember the happy times they’d spent together.  The fact that he didn’t want to contact Jolene made her heart twinge and her wolf whimper, but she understood.  She was just his brother’s ex; she was nothing to him.  But she couldn’t stop caring for him, and needed to know he was safe. 
Because the thought of anything happening to him…

“Hey!”

Jolene yanked herself away from her thoughts and smiled as Ed bounded over to her.  He was grinning madly – it was the same grin he’d had on his face ever since his pup was born.  It was one of smug pride.

Ed was Kim’s mate.  As well as them getting married, he had adopted Kim’s pup, Jamie, from a previous relationship, and was thrilled that she called him daddy.  Ed was a lawyer now working for the pack and, not that Kim cared, had oodles of money.  He’d given up his old pack and his, frankly awful, family to be with Kim, and he worshiped at her feet.

Jolene wanted to be jealous but she couldn’t.  Kim deserved such a wonderful mate.  Her previous husband had been a nightmare.  Mark was no prize, but at least, he had never been violent towards Jolene.

She forced a smile.  “Hey, how’re Kim and the girls?”

It didn’t seem possible, but his smile widened even further.  His face would crack if he wasn’t careful thought her sour wolf.

“Perfect.”

Jolene rolled her eyes, and Ed chuckled.  “Okay, okay, I’ll tone it down.”

“Thank you.”

“How are you?”

Jolene froze. 
Great
.  He was here to check up on her because Kim was worried about her.  A few of the females were.  It was why Carly and the Beta’s mate, Liv kept turning up at her house with plates of cookies.  Did they not realize how hard it is to eat an entire plate of cookies in a day? 
Not very, but she wasn’t going to admit that.

If her Alpha female wasn’t so heavily pregnant, Jolene was sure she would get visits from Rosalee, too.  Instead, she got phone calls from Rosalee telling her she needed to get out more and socialize more with the pack.

Yeah, she knew what she was supposed to do.  She just didn’t
feel
like it.

“I’m fine,” she said carefully.

“You know Kim’s at home with the kids, I’m all alone tonight.”  He gave her a puppy dog pout that she couldn’t help but laugh at.  “Will you run with me tonight?”

She wanted to say no, to politely tell him to get lost, but her wolf took charge.  “If you can keep up.”  She looked away in surprise – playful Jolene had been AWOL for a while now.  She had no idea where
that
came from.

Ed snorted.  “I haven’t got a prayer.  Listen, I know this is delicate but if you need money…”

“The run’s about to start,” she interrupted brusquely.  “Better get moving.”

She quickly stripped and shifted.  Ed gaped at her before doing the same.  She bounded into the woods, not even bothering to see if Ed was following.

Yes, money was another problem she didn’t like to talk about.  Mark had long ago drained what little savings she had and had managed to rack up some phenomenal credit card debts.  But she didn’t want anyone’s pity or charity.  She was fast coming to the conclusion that she was meant to be alone.  Her parents never wanted her, and it was clear she wasn’t meant for love.  She didn’t need anyone; she did just fine on her own.

With that in mind, she gave herself over to the wolf and allowed herself to enjoy the brief feeling of freedom as she ran.

*

A few days later

“Mark, I’m not interested,” said Jolene, flatly.

“C’mon, Jo-Jo,” he whined.

She sighed into the phone while her wolf growled.  “Don’t call me that.”

“Come and be with me.  I still care about you.”

“I don’t want to leave the pack,” she said, although she couldn’t say that was really true.  But she wasn’t about to leave to be with Mark. 

Their limp marriage had wheezed its last breath over a year ago.  She had no idea why he even wanted her.  He must have realized that she didn’t have any money.  And after he abandoned her to the wrath of the Alpha, did he really think she would forgive and forget?  Sure, Adam was sorry now, not that he had actually said it, but he knew she hadn’t done anything wrong. However, she had decided to give up her job with the pack and was now working as the mayor’s assistant.  The mayor wasn’t keen on shifters, but he thought it looked good for him to have a shifter assistant.

“I need you,” he whimpered, and her beast snorted.  “Baby, I don’t like you being on your own.  It’s not safe.”

“It’s too late, Mark.”

She hung up as Mayor George Richards strode through the office.

“Good morning,” she called absently.

He gave her a funny look and mumbled good morning in returned.

Her wolf huffed.  He’d actually been a really decent guy up until ten or eleven months ago, when he started acting erratically and made some very questionable decisions.  Now he looked at shifters like they were the enemy.

Her cell phone rang again – it was Mark. 
Again
.  He wouldn’t dare step foot in Rose again, but that didn’t stop the incessant phone calls.  She’d changed her phone number three times, but he always seemed to manage to get her new one.

Jolene dropped the phone into a drawer and ignored it.  She put her head in her hands and exhaled loudly.

“Ahem.”

Jolene yelped and leaped up from her desk in surprise. Her wolf growled but then stopped and instead started prancing like a puppy.

She’d know that scent anywhere.  “Reid,” she breathed.

The man in front of her opened his mouth to speak, shut it and then his cheeks turned bright red. 
Yep, definitely Reid.

“Oh my god, Reid!”  She squealed, running around her desk and uncharacteristically hurling herself into his arms.

She wasn’t known for being the most touchy-feely of wolves – but she was elated to see him.  Her wolf was even more ecstatic than her.

After a few moments, Reid’s arms snaked around her into a bruising hug.  She buried her head in his chest, inhaling his cinnamon scent.  She had an urge just to stay in these warm protective arms all day.  She was glad he couldn’t see her embarrassed blush at
that
thought.

With gentle pressure, she pushed him away, and he chewed on his lip awkwardly.  But his eyes, those deep, soulful eyes never left her.

“It’s good to see you,” she gushed, feeling almost tearful. 

And it was good.  She couldn’t hide how happy she was.  She didn’t like to admit it, but it hurt her feelings that he never said goodbye to her when he left.  She’d thought about him a lot over the years, and it hurt to think that he never thought about her.  At least, his letters never mentioned her.  She didn’t know what she was expecting, but she was disappointed.  However, reason told her she had no right to expect that he would.  She was just his brother’s ex-girlfriend, after all.