Borrowed Beauty

Chapter Thirteen: Holy Sh!t

Josiah

Josiah

I don’t believe in fated mates. I believe in pheromones and instant attraction, but not love at first sight. Whether human or werewolf, we all possess free will and love is ultimately a choice. I discounted all the stories of divinely appointed mate bonds as the romantic fairytale of the werewolf world.

But damn if I didn’t feel something peculiar when I locked lips with Olivia Forest. I felt a tingle from the crown of my head down to the base of my spine, like a mild, almost pleasurable, electric shock.

I only intended to take a little taste, but as soon as I sampled those soft sweet lips, I knew a taste would never be enough. My wolf was howling in my consciousness, and I could feel his ecstasy as my own. I’ve kissed plenty of women, but never had my inner animal become so enraptured.

After a moment of surprise, Olivia responded, pushing up on her tiptoes, sliding her hands up my chest, gripping my shoulders, and pressing her soft body into mine. She made a little mewling sound of protest when I finally pulled back and came up for air.

She looked up at me with wide, dazed eyes and lifted a trembling hand to her lips. “Holy s**t,” she mumbled behind her fingers.

I couldn’t help but grin at her succinct commentary on what had just transpired between us. I forced myself to drop my hands from her hair and take a step backward. My self-control was dangling from a very fine, very frayed thread. It was like everything in my being was screaming to take her right then and there. Every inch I put between us felt like an offense to my needy wolf. I raked my hands through my hair and blew a breath.

What should I say? Should I apologize for kissing her?

No, and never.

I wasn’t sorry. I didn’t have even a lick of remorse. I really just wanted to close the gap and kiss her again, but I didn’t think I’d be able to stop again once I started.

As if she read my mind, I watched an intriguing and delightful deep, rosy blush bloom across her cheekbones. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words seemed to choke her. Then she turned, darted around the chair, and fled the office without looking back.

I stood rooted to the spot long after her beautiful backside had disappeared from my sight.

“Holy s**t,” I could only echo her assessment. I wandered back behind my desk, feeling shell-shocked as I dropped into my chair. I stared blankly at my closed laptop and the stack of reports I was supposed to be reviewing. I reached out and lifted the cover of my computer. With a few keystrokes, I logged back in and picked up the stack of papers. I shuffled through them, but my brain was not interested in crunching numbers. I slid them aside and started searching the internet for swing sets.

It was a genius idea, not only for Thomas but for any other kids who might visit the pack in the future. Or maybe, for the day I would have my own little pups running through the house. As soon as I thought of having my own children, my mind went immediately back to Olivia. I hadn’t put too much thought into parenting, but suddenly the idea was so appealing, it made my lips curl in happy anticipation.

We didn’t just need a backyard swing set. We needed a playground, with slides and monkey bars and a sandbox.

This was turning into a major project.

While I was selecting premium playground equipment, my mind was mulling over the problem of Thomas, and his young mother, Shyla. Shyla had brought the drug problem in Prosperity Springs into sharp focus. Before Thomas’s birth, I foolishly believed that addiction was only a human problem. Due to our high metabolism, most illicit substances had little or no effect. But five years ago, right after my parents and my uncle died and I took over as Alpha, something new started showing up on the streets, something the Narcotics Unit had never seen before.

Some asshole had nicknamed the little yellow pill “Howlers,” and as of yet, our best chemists had not been able to identify all the elements. What we knew was that it was highly addictive to werewolves and highly fatal to humans. I’d been trying to keep it out of the media while my people were trying to root out the source, but so far, we had only managed to take down a few minor street dealers.

My thoughts turned to that human actress who was currently laying like a vegetable in my hospital. Her case had made a few ripples in the media, but no one had been too interested in another Hollywood starlet with a drug problem. I felt responsible though, not only for her, but for all of them: the families that were being torn apart, the lives that were being destroyed, and especially the innocent children, like Thomas, who were being hurt before they even had a chance to take their first breath.

They weren’t my drugs, but Prosperity Springs was my city, and it was my duty to protect the citizens, both human and non-human.

The good feelings from kissing Olivia were fading under the heavy mantle of leadership.

I could buy Thomas a playground, but I couldn’t undo the damage that had been done. I was a combat-trained alpha, but how could I fight an enemy that I couldn’t even see?