Imitating Fiction

Chaper 2. Jarek

It had been a rough week. I had travelled north to a meeting that I had hoped would provide answers and opportunities. Instead, I came home with a headache and more questions than when I had left. Seeking release, I sought out Geena. She wasn’t pack, but she was agreeable, and I thought before I confronted what was waiting for me at home, I should let go of some of the tension I was carrying around.

When I pull into the familiar driveway, however, a strange woman I’ve never seen before steps out onto the porch. She smiles at me, and seems pretty, but there’s something about her that feels off. I’m not in the mood to play games. If I wanted games, I would’ve gone to any of the other willing females in my pack. Geena was easy going and didn’t make any demands.

“Who the f**k are you?” I wince at my own rudeness, but can’t help feeling my irritation grow at yet another plan gone awry.

“Ryeka Haddish. Who the f**k are you?” the woman calls back. Normally, speaking to me like that would result in severe bodily harm, but her voice is mesmerizing, lyrical, almost spellbinding.

Trying to swallow my growing unease, I ask, “Where is Geena?”

She shakes her head, her wavy, shoulder-length, sandy-colored hair lifting in a slight breeze. “I don’t know any Geena.”

I believe her. It’s obvious she’s telling the truth, but it doesn’t make any sense. “This is her house. Where is she?”

“Point of fact, this is my house. You must be lost.”

I’ve had enough. Someone has been betraying me, sharing information with rival packs, killing cattle, and now my favorite female is missing? I’m going to get answers one way or another. I start towards the house, but I’ve only gone a few steps when a breeze kicks up and her intoxicating scent hits me. Peaches and cream on a warm summer day sitting in the shade of an oak.

Mate.

My wolf comes to the front and my eyes focus on her. She’s slender with curves that make a man want to spend his life in bed. Pale skin that glows with a healthy peach tone, lightly kissed by the sun. Her pink lips are full and generous, making me think of places on my body I want her to taste. Her eyes, though, hold me in a trance. The clear bright green of the mesquites in early summer when the bees make them hum. I’m frozen in place.

The Goddess loves her little jokes, I just wish I wasn’t the punchline this time. Finding my Luna would normally be a time of celebration. A Luna would lend stability to the pack and our members would finally feel secure. It would also help to quell whatever was happening with a traitor in our midst. But I would need a full wolf Luna who understood her role and felt the mating bond as I did. Not some human that I would need to gently woo and slowly bring into the fold of the pack. I didn’t have the time nor the patience for this.

Her eyes flash a brilliant green for just an instant. F**k. Not a human after all, but a witch. That’s not really an improvement.

But the mate bond is too strong to resist. I leap forward, pinning her to the front door while I r****h her sensual mouth. Her taste transports me to cool spring evenings tumbling through fields of blue bonnets while she gasps and screams my name. The full moon hanging heavy in the sky, illuminating her delicate flesh while I pound into her.

She moans against me and I can’t tell if it was in my imagination or if she really was feeling the bond. Her legs wrap around me and I can smell her arousal. The throbbing in my pants is almost unbearable as she writhes against me. Her hands fist in my hair, dragging me even closer, as my mouth roams her throat, seeking the spot that would be mine. She moans again and the scent of her fills me as I find the sensitive flesh that will someday bear my mark. My canines lengthen, ready to mark her here and now, but I fight the urge and try to satisfy my need with soft nips and licks.

“Wait,” her breathless voice pushes through the fog of my frenzy and I realize what this must feel like to a human. Even if she is a witch.

“I’m sorry,” I pant out, trying to control myself. “I got overwhelmed.”

“That makes two of us,” she smiles and my wolf starts howling. Her br**sts are still pressed against me and I can feel her thundering heart.

“I should go before I…” take you roughly on this porch and mark you as mine before you even know what’s happening. I force myself to take a step back. Her whimper of need and embarrassed blush staining her cheeks pink are at odds with each other. I need to come up with a plan of how to win her over before I make a fool of myself.

I’m nearly to my truck when her voice stops me. “Do I get to know your name?”

I turn back to her, she looks like a vixen, rumpled and ready to be laid out beneath me. I smile at the thought and watch her eyes darken in response. “Jarek. Jarek Barrett.”

As I drive down the road, I grip the steering wheel too tightly. First thing I need is a cold shower. Then I need to speak with my Beta. I dial him on the hands free to let him know I’ll be back sooner than anticipated.

“That was fast,” Chase chuckles as he answers.

“Where the f**k is Geena?” I scowl. I was no longer interested in her for s*x, not knowing my mate was so close. There would never be any woman for me other than Ryeka ever again, which was fine, but I needed to know where the lone wolf had disappeared to and why. Especially after finding out the bad news that I had a traitor in my pack.

“What do you mean? She’s at her house, isn’t she?”

“No, she isn’t. A new woman has moved in. I need everything you can find on Ryeka Haddish.”

“That’s easy,” Chase says curiously. “She’s the one that wrote the book that was a little too close to accurate in her depictions of us. The movie came out last month.”

“That’s her?”

“Yeah. I’m guessing that’s the one that’s moved in to Geena’s place?”

I grunt in response.

“So, what’s the big deal? We did all the research, and she’s clean. Just a lucky guess.”

“She’s a witch.”

“S**t. I didn’t find anything that would suggest that. Are we killing her?”

“No.” I pause wondering how much I can trust anyone now. The thought fills me with shame. Chase is my Beta, closer than a brother. “She’s also my mate.”

A long silence stretches between us. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m f**king sure!” I yell. “You think I don’t know my mate when I find her?”

“Ok, ok, sorry I asked,” he sighs.

“I’m on my way to the packhouse now. Meet me in twenty.” I lick my lips and the remaining taste of Ryeka on my lips makes me grow hard again. “Better make that thirty,” I growl.

“10-4, Alpha,” Chase chuckles. “Don’t rub all the skin off it.”