Whisper Pride Pack (3 page)

Her heart slumped. She nodded and walked to the front door.
“Thanks for dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, eight AM sharp,” she said,
bright and airy, not feeling it in the slightest.

Following her, he bent down toward her, and she felt his hot
breath on her neck as he whispered in her ear. “When you make yourself come
tonight, think only of me, ’cause baby, when I have my hand on my cock tonight
I’ll be thinking of you.”

She turned her heated face to look up into his sparkling
eyes. “You’re bad!”

She could hear his laughter as she walked to his car with
Henry.

Fuck it! Conan was mad as hell. He had to go sort out a
problem instead of screwing his mate into next week, and he had been so bloody
close. When Henry had knocked at the door and panted out ‘Alpha’, Conan had
shown the other shifter just how disgruntled he was. He should have scented the
area before knocking.

Conan was Alpha of the Whisper Pride Pack. It only had about
twenty or so wolves in it, more male than female. They had to be careful;
wolves didn’t roam free in Britain. His great-grandparents had moved from
America a long time ago, buying a large plot of land, bringing a few of their
pack along, and there they were now. The numbers hadn’t grown much as their
birth rate was low.

His father had been Alpha up until a few years ago when he
was killed by a lorry of all things. He had rushed after a pup running across a
road, and he had managed to shove the small pup out of the way, but alas, his
father didn’t succeed in missing the lorry. The driver didn’t even stop.
Thankfully, that meant not only was their secret still safe but the pack had
been able to bury their Alpha in peace. Conan was the eldest son and next one
to lead.

His mother was a very strong and prominent person within the
pack. Conan took her advice on most things, but at times he had to take her
down a peg or two as she had a tendency to meddle. His younger brother Randale
was his beta. Although he could be a pain in their mother’s backside with his
constant pranks, Conan trusted him most. He had served in the army for a few
years and had come home after being medically discharged. Conan didn’t know the
whole story, just something to do with a suicide bomber that left him with a
scar that ran down the side of his face.

Each pack member had their own small space in which to build
their cabin because they liked to stay close to each other. Plus, within the
wooded area they were free to roam in their shifter forms. The pack members who
didn’t have or want their own places stayed in the big house located in the
center of the land, the pack house. It had something like eight bedrooms, and
there was a barn behind it that had been converted into several small
apartments. It was the pack house Conan had to go to tonight. A fight had
broken out and he was needed to sort the shit out. Sending Josie home was the
wisest of moves, because it was going to take a while.

Standing on his porch, he drew in the surrounding area scents.
Identifying it was clear, he shifted into his wolf and ran through the woods
toward the pack house.

Once he reached it, Conan shifted back into his human form
and took a spare pair of jeans out of the weatherproof wooden box on the porch.
He could already hear the raised voices and growls from inside.

“Fuck you! Daisy is too young to mate.”

“She’s twenty-one and old enough, and I am her true mate, so
stay out of it, old man!”

“She’s my daughter. I will have a say, and no pimple-faced,
snot-nosed pup like you will have a chance!”

Conan stood at the door listening to the argument, shaking
his head. He had halted his evening of nonstop fucking with his gorgeous mate
for this? When he let out a roar, all conversation ceased and the small group
turned their heads toward their Alpha. All of them offering their necks in
subservience.

“Would someone like to explain—calmly—what’s going on?”
Conan asked.

He looked toward the elder of the group. Mike was the father
of two twin girls who had just reached mating age. Conan knew the man was
pretty protective of them, and in the last few weeks he had become more
aggressive to the male suitors. Daisy was his elder daughter by a few minutes,
and she was currently missing from the room. Conan inhaled deeply, taking in all
the scents, and discovered she was in fact not even in the house. But Mike’s
other daughter Paige was sitting in a chair in the corner with a book in her
lap.

“This...pup...” Mike paused and sneered at Raff, a young male
who had reached his mating age last year. He was a strapping lad with a good head
on his shoulders, although at times he was a little hot-headed. Conan had been
leaning toward getting him under Randale and training him as an enforcer. “He
said Daisy was his mate! He has no decent job, no cabin of his own, he has barely
anything, and he wants to mate her now? Can’t he wait a year or two?”

“You know what he will go through if he doesn’t mate her. You
can’t ask that of him. And what does Daisy say about all this?” Conan asked.

“Daisy is at my aunt’s cabin waiting for me to return,” Raff
said. “She knew her father would get annoyed or angry at me. She knows we’re
mates and is willing to stay at my aunt and uncle’s with me until I can find another
good paying job. I’ve waited a year, Alpha.”

Turning toward Paige, Conan asked her to go get Daisy.

“Mike, you knew this would happen one day. Daisy is a good girl
and knows her way. You have brought her and Paige up well. If Raff is her true
mate, then you can’t stop their mating. The next full moon is in two weeks, you
have this time if she says it’s true to start letting her go, to help them both
as a pair.” Conan turned to face Raff. “As for you, I’ve been watching you for
a while, go see the beta in the morning and start your training as one of our
enforcers. A small cabin comes with the job.”

A huge grin appeared on the young man’s face. He nodded and
stood back.

“No fucking way!” Mike shouted.

“Are you questioning your Alpha?” Conan boomed, taking a
couple of steps toward the old man.

“No...no, Alpha, no.” He looked down and again offered his
neck.

Conan put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I don’t know what
it’s like to have pups, but I hope I’m as good a father as you are. You have to
let them go someday, and it looks like you have a few weeks to make it happen.”

The man before him looked like his world had come to a
standstill and exploded. Conan felt bad for him, but when mates found each
other... Well, it was hell on earth to be kept apart.

Daisy came running into the house, tying a white robe that
the pack also kept in the clothes box outside. She ran straight into Raff’s
arms.

“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I
knew how you would take it.” She looked at her father with green eyes that
sparkled with tears.

Mike stared at her, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault,
honey.” He opened his arms and Daisy ran into them, hugging her father tightly.
“I just wanted what’s best for you, and letting you go hurts an old man’s
heart.” Looking at Raff, he nodded. “I know you’re not a bad lad, but when you
have pups of your own you will see just how protective a man can be.”

“I’m sorry too, sir, for being a bit of a hot-head. I
shouldn’t have said the things I did,” the young man apologized.

“Well then, looks like there is going to be a mating to sort
out in a couple of weeks,” Conan announced. He smiled and thought of his own mate—maybe
there would be two matings.

“Well, this morning is going better so far,” Josie murmured
to herself as she stood by her window overlooking the small town. It had in
fact gone much better. Her alarm clock had gone off, thanks to it having power
all night. She hadn’t fallen over the sofa, and she hadn’t spilled her coffee. However,
she was dreading going to work. Would they continue like nothing happened last
night? Nothing
had
happened but a few heated kisses and coming pretty
damn close to having sex. But all in all it was still embarrassing for her; she
had never been in a situation like this.

She had one sexual partner in college for a month or so, but
it had never rocked her boots, let alone given her wet panties just looking at
him like when she saw Conan. Even now her body heated when she thought of his
deep, penetrating kisses last night.

“I can’t put it off any longer,” she muttered. Putting her
empty coffee cup down and grabbing her bag, she walked out the door and to the office,
swallowing down the little fear, excitement, and dread.

“Morning, Cassie.” Josie smiled at the blonde receptionist, refusing
to let the woman’s downright distasteful attitude yesterday get her down.

Cassie ignored her, not even looking up from what she was
doing. Shrugging her shoulders, Josie carried on through to the back. Her heart
was thumping in her chest so hard she was sure if she looked down it would be a
visible thing.

Not seeing Conan on the way to his office, she hung her
jacket and bag up in her locker, ready to check on the overnight stays. Two
hands grabbed her waist, pulling her back against a very hot, hard body,
causing her to let out a small squeak. Conan’s scent swept around her like a
comfort blanket.

“What did you get off with last night? Fingers...a tiny
vibrator?” he asked in a deep, husky voice, his breath flowing over her ear.

“You know I could sue you for sexual harassment in the
workplace, right? And, umm, what makes you think my vibrator is small?” She
turned in his arms, looking up at his sparkling blue eyes.

“It won’t be as big as my dick, so it’s small, and as for
sexual harassment, prove it.” And with that his lips pressed against hers.
“Good morning,” he said with a smirk on his face.

“Here I was so worried that today would be filled with some
kind of tension.”

“Baby, the only kind of tension in this place today will be
sexual.” He raised an eyebrow, kissed her again, and moved—well, more like
swaggered—toward the kennels. “Let’s get the day started.”

She could hear the grin as he spoke. “Bighead,” she muttered.

“Only on the top of my cock!”

It was at that precise moment Cassie walked in. “Conan,” she
called with a blush on her face, probably from hearing his last comment.

Josie carried on, walking past Conan to the kennels, trying
to stifle the full belly laugh that wanted to let loose. Oh, that was going to
be a conversation for later. She was also sure that it would add to Cassie’s
dislike of her.

A few minutes later Conan strolled into the kennels as she
was seeing to Billy, a small Yorkshire terrier that had come in for dental
treatment.

“Well, that was awkward.” He chuckled. “Maybe it won’t just
be you that sues me for sexual innuendos.”

“I think that woman has a crush on you. She wouldn’t sue
unless she couldn’t get you into bed.” Josie put Billy back in the cage and
locked the door; he was ready to go home today. As she turned to stand she was
yanked up and yet again found herself leaning against Conan’s hard body.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against
him, and he began kissing up from her neck, along her jawline, until finally he
reached her lips. She felt her pussy clench at the feeling he was drawing from
her. She joined him in the kiss, their tongues moving together, entwining in an
age-old dance until he drew back, leaving her weak-kneed and panting.

“Good morning again,” he said with a smug look.

“We’re supposed to be working, sir,” she mocked. “Our clients
do not need to see this kind of nonprofessional behavior.”

“We could take it to my office then.” He wiggled his
eyebrows.

“Is it going to be like this all day?” she asked with an
over-exaggerated sigh, trying desperately to hide a smile at the same time.

“You don’t want it to be?” He suddenly looked all serious,
and then she watched him take a deep breath and smile. He opened his mouth to
speak but was interrupted by Cassie calling out that their first patient had
arrived. He kissed the end of her nose. “Later, Miss White. Definitely later!”

The day progressed very much the same as it had the day
before. She watched his skilled hands stitch and sew lacerations to several of
their patients’ skin, and watched as he cared lovingly for an old dog losing
its fight for life. She saw the sorrow in his face through her own tear-filled
eyes. Some days working as a veterinary nurse hurt the heart. These animals
were loved and cared for, had become old friends or family to the people they
lived with. Some you could say were treated better than the humans looking
after them.

The lunchtime meal was a little subdued. They had just put
old Jeb down, his owner walking out of the office with a broken heart. The
strong emotion the old woman left behind almost seemed to leave a bitter taste
in the air. Conan sat picking at his meal while Cassie jabbered on about her
hair and nails as if she didn’t see the mood he was in. Josie couldn’t take any
more, but instead of rudely telling the annoying woman to shut up, she got up,
leaving her meal, and went to the kennels. Finding a wee animal to cuddle and
letting out a tear here and there would be some kind of comfort. That was
exactly what she was doing when Conan walked in on her a few minutes later.

“It doesn’t get easier.” He sighed.

Looking up into his grief stricken face, she asked, “How
long had you known him?”

“I was there when he was born. He was the runt of the pack
and his mother had a little trouble with him at the end so I was called in.”

It took a few minutes before Josie realized Conan couldn’t
have been there when Jeb was born. Mary, his owner, said she’d had him for almost
seventeen years.

“How long have you been a vet?” Josie asked, puzzled.

“Umm, long enough.” He smiled.

She didn’t like the answer and smelled something fishy.
Deciding the only way to get an honest, truthful answer would be subterfuge, she
stood and walked over to him, winding her arms around his waist, and laid her
head on his chest.

“It’s hard to lose a friend or family member. I bet losing
your father was harsh.”

“Yes. It was harder on my mother—they had been a team for a
long time.”

“How long ago did he die?” She lifted her head off his chest
and looked up into his blue eyes.

“Coming up on three years now.” He sighed.

“How old were you?” She waited with bated breath. Just as he
was about to answer Cassie again interrupted them.

“Conan, you left your meal. Should I put it in the fridge
for you?”

If Josie could stomp her feet or throw something at the damn
woman, she would have, but instead she let go of Conan and headed out of the
room. Brushing past the bitch standing there with a fake grin on her face, Josie
went back to work.

All afternoon she was pissed, her anger rising each time the
blonde bimbo poked her head in to talk to Conan. It was like the frigging woman
had some kind of sensor on her. If Josie got within a foot of Conan, she was
there like a shot. But not only was Josie getting more pissed, as the day went
on Conan seemed to as well. She was in the tiny locker room getting her bag
when she heard Conan growl and snap at Cassie.

“For fuck’s sake, Cassie, will you leave it! You have been
on my tail all fucking day, and it’s not only winding me up but my mate too. I
will tell you this once and once only—back it down and now! I have found my
mate. I’m not interested in you. I never have been and I certainly won’t be. If
you continue, I’ll fire you and hire someone else. Understand?”

Josie didn’t hear any reply but a small whimper. A few minutes
later Cassie ran past the locker room and out the back door. Josie could
plainly see tears streaming down her face. She actually felt bad for the woman...for
a brief moment.

“Shit!” she heard Conan curse a few seconds later, then his
head poked around the locker room door. “You heard?”

“Yep. I know I’ve only been here a few days, but I know
something isn’t quite right. Like the fact you have said ‘mate’ twice, and
Henry called you ‘alpha’, which is odd. You also said that you were present at
Jeb’s birth, not as in a boy or man, but as a vet. Now, if I have my numbers
right...you would have started college at eighteen, then university is about seven
years, and if you were there as a vet at Jeb’s birth around seventeen years
ago, that would make you just over forty. But no way on this earth are you forty,
unless, of course, you have bloody good genes. You look no older than twenty-five
or thirty.”

He sighed, looking down at the floor. He had an almost
defeated look, her heart felt it too. Dammit, why had she opened her mouth? He
looked like he had lost something.

* * * *

Fucking hell, were they really going to have this
conversation this soon? Would this be where he lost her forever, never having a
true mate or pups? How could he explain to her that he was a shifter—a human
and animal? His parents had both been pure shifters, so they knew they were
destined to be mates, which made things so much easier than the predicament he
was in now. Sighing again and mentally pulling up his big boy pants, he looked
into the confused eyes of his mate.

“I was waiting to tell you at the right time.”
Preferably
when I’d mated you and it would have been harder for you to leave me.
He
walked toward the back door, opened it, then turned back to Josie. “Come with
me,” he said, holding out his hand.

She stepped forward and placed her small, pale hand in his.

The drive to his place this time was filled again with
tension, but it wasn’t sexual. Parking the car, he hurried around to the
passenger side and opened the door. He held his hand out to Josie, and when she
took it, he helped her out of the vehicle. Leading her to the cabin door, he
stopped while still holding her hand, afraid she would run or disappear. He
breathed in deeply, taking in the scents around him, particularly hers.

“You noticed the door to the cabin the last time we were
here.” He couldn’t help a small grin at her blush. After a tiny cough, she
nodded. “Well, it kinda tells a story.” He crouched down and ran his hand over
the pack of wolves under the moon. “A few hundred years ago my
great-grandparents came from America and settled here in Britain. They bought
this huge plot of land and made it their new home. They brought a few friends
and family with them. There are about a dozen cabins dotted in and around the
area, as we all like to stay close. There is also a huge pack house in the center
of the land, with a barn behind it that’s been converted into several
apartments.”

“Pack, mate, alpha, wolves!” She pointed at the door. “What
are you trying to say?” she asked, her eyes growing huge.

“I’m a wolf shifter, babe, and you’re my mate.”

Josie paled and her knees buckled. He swiftly caught her before
she hit the deck. Curling her into his arms, he carried her to the swing and
sat down, holding her on his lap. He breathed in her lavender, Josie scent
along with...not what he expected...it wasn’t fear but disappointment. But
still he sat there and held on to her for dear life as he explained a few things
about the pack.

He was Alpha to twenty-six members, four of them pups. And
although their land was protected by their enforcers, an odd human here and there
would take a wrong turn. Since wolves hadn’t been seen in Britain since the
late 1800s, the strongest pack law was not to be seen. Once or twice there had
been whispers in the village that a wolf had been spotted, but being the local
vet made it easy for him to explain it away as a large dog. He spent the next
half-hour revealing a bit more, waiting patiently for her to respond.