Haunted Wolves: Green Pines, Book 2 Read online

  “Not my job,” she murmured with a small shake of her head. “You’re not my fixer-upper.”

  “Brat.” He swatted at her. “I’ll see you in the morning, Kaley. Let me know if you and Mae need any help getting stuff packed up for the fair.”

  “It’s under control.” She took the stairs two at a time, and only spoke again once she’d reached the top. “Maybe you could help us out with the booth, though.”

  “Whatever you need.” Whatever any of you need.

  At least Kaley would tell him. With Lorelei… Maybe he’d have to man up, take Shane’s advice and ask.

  Wouldn’t that be fun?

  Chapter Two

  Clover was almost too adorable for words.

  Lorelei knew better than to trust the booths draped with twinkling lights, the makeshift dance floor set up in the town square, or the smiling, pleasant faces. The pack was an unknown quantity, something none of the townspeople understood. Even if every member had been human, their living situation most closely resembled something the good people of Clover would consider deviant. Wrong.

  She smiled because she had to, though more than anything she wanted to bare her teeth—at the men sizing her up as a good time, at the women wondering if she was competition.

  She could be both, but not to or for them. Here, she was neither.

  Next to her, Eden looked even more uncomfortable, though perhaps not to the casual eye. She smiled when people approached them and made small talk with anyone who stopped in front of their booth.

  No, it took a finer understanding of body language than most humans possessed to see the stiff set of her neck, the tension in her shoulders, the way her smile looked more like a snarl. If Eden were in wolf form, she’d be bristling with aggression and challenge.

  A teenage girl skipped away with a newly purchased jar of lotion, and Eden tucked the bills into the cash box, every movement carefully precise. “This night is never going to end, is it?”

  “Not a chance,” Lorelei murmured through a smile as a couple wandered by, eying them curiously. “You should find Jay, do a little dancing. I can handle it here.”

  “Jay’s doing Chief of Police things,” Eden replied with a sigh. “One of us has to stay in the town’s good graces.”

  “And it can’t be you?”

  “I’m a Green,” she replied dryly. “A recently unemployed Green, and unemployed Greens are Clover’s least favorite type. My family’s always been infamous.”

  And Eden had gained some of that notoriety. Lorelei had noticed the supposedly well-meaning old ladies trying to set Jay up with a more appropriate woman. “Hard to believe they used to respect you, and all it took to shatter that was a little alternative lifestyle.”

  Eden made a rude noise. “If only they knew how alternative. I’d rather they think we’re a commune full of sexually perverted hippies than figure out we howl at the moon.”

  “I heard that.” Kaley dropped to a folding chair behind them. “Who wants a break?”

  “Lorelei needs one,” Eden said at once. “She’s been working all afternoon on one thing or another.”

  “A generous exaggeration.” She patted Eden on the shoulder and rose anyway. “But hey, I’ll take it.”

  “Make sure you buy yourself some of Mrs. Richardson’s peach cobbler. I think some of the pa—” Eden choked back the word with a rueful smile. “Some of the group set up camp over in the food court near her table. Her cobbler’s the best.”

  “I’ll check it out.” The path took her past a small clearing near the dance floor, where an inflatable bouncy castle was currently under attack by a group of shrieking children.

  Lorelei turned away out of habit, just in time for a small blond head to ram into her midsection. She caught the boy gently by the shoulders as he rebounded, a smile as automatic as her words curving her lips. “Whoa, watch the wobble, Ro—”

  She caught herself just in time, biting the inside of her cheek until it bled to stop the name from escaping. The tiny face that turned up to hers belonged to a stranger, and in only moments an apologetic woman hurried in to sweep him away.

  Not Robbie, of course. Never again.

  Shane waved to her from a picnic table near the food booths. “Want a funnel cake? I got two extras.”

  Normally, the absurdity of it would have amused her. “What, they were out of deep-fried Snickers?”

  Mae laughed, low and husky, a sound Lorelei hadn’t heard in months. “This is my first fall festival with an awesome metabolism. I’m eating deep-fried everything.”

  Plenty of time for plenty of firsts. Lorelei rubbed Mae’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it. I was just passing through, anyway.”

  Passing through on her way to blessed, peaceful quiet.

  But that wasn’t what she got. As she rounded the drugstore, intent on cutting through the alley on her way to Olsen’s Diner, she drew up short. Her legs stopped instinctively, her muscles freezing, before she realized what sound had drifted to her ears.

  Fight. Fists on flesh, boots and curses. No, too still. Fights were dynamic, they moved and careened off every surface.

  Beatings, on the other hand, stayed in one place.

  Lorelei stomped around the dumpster obscuring most of the alley and stumbled to a halt again.

  Zack stood at the center of a knot of drunks, enduring their frequent blows with a stone-faced stoicism that only seemed to be enraging his attackers. One, a bulky man in faded red flannel, snarled and buried his balled fist in Zack’s unprotected side. “You’re a fucking freak, Green.”

  He was standing there, taking every hit. He didn’t have to fight—with his strength, that would be so, so dangerous—but all he had to do was walk away. They couldn’t chase him into the middle of the street.

  But he just stood there.

  Lorelei pushed down her rage, dug her phone out of her pocket and stepped forward. “Can one of you assholes tell me whether it’d be faster to call the cops or run down to the station?”

  Protective anger flared in Zack’s eyes, and his hands curled into fists as one of the drunks whirled on her. The man’s bleary gaze raked over her, an obvious cataloging of her body that curled his lips into a mean, hungry smile. “You must be one of Green’s bitches. Ever had a real man between your—”

  The sentence cut off in a shriek as the hick’s face smashed against the wall. Zack moved so fast none of the humans had a chance, and Lorelei was caught off guard by the sheer speed of the attack. But Zack did nothing else, only crushed the man’s cheek into the brick and drawled one too-calm word. “Apologize.”

  “Let him go, Zack.” Lorelei didn’t utter the words as a suggestion, or even a gentle command. Permission. “He can’t hurt me, not with words or anything else.”

  One of the drunk’s friends took a swing at Zack’s unprotected back. Zack let the blow land without so much as a wince and kept the struggling man pinned to the wall. “Pete here thinks he’s a big man because he was a football star so long ago no one remembers or gives a shit. We were just catching up on old times—weren’t we, Pete?”

  “Zack.” Time to play dirty. “Kaley needs you.”

  His entire body tensed.

  Pete’s friends milled uncertainly, drunk enough to be belligerent but too sober—or cowardly—to jump to their friend’s aid. One puffed out his chest, a gesture full of bluster and bluff. “Take your groupie and beat it,” he told Zack.

  It’d serve the bastard right if Zack pounded him into the dirt, but fighting was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Hell, they couldn’t even stand their ground, not if it meant risking exposure. Lorelei held out her hand. “Let’s go.”

  “Lucky bastard,” Zack grated out. He jerked away, and Pete staggered toward his friends. Zack wiped his hand on his shirt, as if touching Pete had made it dirty, and reached carefully for Lorelei’s outstretched fingers.

  She grasped his hand, turned and almost ran into a solid chest. “Colin.”

  Colin steadied h
er with a gentle touch on her shoulder, but his gaze fixed on the men behind her. “Everything all right?”

  The look in his eyes could have frozen lava, and Lorelei muttered a curse under her breath. “Come on, not you too.”

  “I’m only checking, honey.” His tone was mild, but the childhood memories that made Zack an attractive target didn’t extend to Colin. The drunks gathered their fallen comrade with a string of mutters and vanished in the opposite direction.

  Zack grunted and released Lorelei’s hand. His own shook as he dragged it across his mouth, wiping blood away from cuts that had already begun to heal. “Bunch of bastards stuck in their glory days. All downhill after high school for them.”

  And a situation from which Zack could have easily extricated himself. But Lorelei held her tongue and attempted a smile. “No harm done.”

  “Thanks for rescuing me.” Zack’s smile was just as awkward, and she’d known him long enough—and well enough—to see he was still desperately trying to fulfill his duty. He’d been her alpha, and even if he’d officially relinquished that role to Jay and Eden, he would never stop trying to protect her.

  Colin’s hand rested under her shoulder blade, a heavy warmth she liked just enough to disconcert her. “Shane has funnel cake,” she blurted.

  “You should go have some.” Zack eased back, matching the emotional gulf between them with physical distance. Pulling away, like he had been since their arrival in Clover. But not entirely, and not enough to walk away before he jabbed a finger in Colin’s direction. “Stay with her until she’s with the others.”

  “She’ll be fine,” Colin promised quietly.

  She waited until Zack disappeared around the corner to poke Colin in the arm. “You should be staying with him, not me.”

  Colin slipped his cell phone from his pocket. “I’ll put Fletcher on it. Zack tolerates him a lot better than he does the rest of us.”

  He did no such thing. Fletcher’s supervision was just like everything else to Zack these days, acceptable because the alternative—fighting—was just too damn exhausting. “Have you ever dealt with a broken alpha before?”

  “Yes.” Colin’s phone slid open to reveal a keypad, though his thumbs seemed too big for the tiny keys. He glared at the thing as he slowly typed out a message, but his voice remained level. “This country has more broken alphas than healthy ones. The only thing that makes Zack different is that he still gives a shit about what’s right and wrong.”

  Lorelei didn’t realize she was digging her nails into her palms until pain slithered up her arm. She unclenched her fists and wrapped her fingers around Colin’s wrist. “What happens to them? Can they get better?”

  Power ghosted over her, a soothing rush of warmth whispering of safety and pack, urging her to close her eyes and melt into the protection of a dominant wolf. Colin might have stepped comfortably into a beta position, but there was no questioning the strength seething under his human skin.

  After sending the message, he closed his phone and curled a hand around hers. “Anyone can get better if they’ve got a safe place and people who love them,” he said. “Zack has both. A whole lot of the latter.”

  In a perfect world, that would be enough. “You don’t have to lie,” she whispered. “It doesn’t make me feel better. The opposite, actually.”

  Colin lifted her face to his with his warm, strong fingers under her chin. “I’m not lying, Lorelei. If you don’t believe me, ask Stella. She lived in Red Rock for years, and that’s what they do there. Take broken wolves and make them safe. Whole.”

  It didn’t change the lack of conviction in his eyes, but she nodded anyway. “Whatever you say.”

  Sighing, he let go of her. “I’m no good at this.”

  “Which part?”

  “Making people feel better.” His phone vibrated, and he glanced at it before tucking it back in his pocket. “Fletcher will take care of Zack. He’s seen a lot of broken wolves, and he knows how to handle them.”

  What about you? She wasn’t sure what the question meant, but she wanted to ask it so much that the base of her neck prickled.

  When she didn’t say anything else, Colin touched her shoulder again. “Were you going somewhere? I can walk you if you want.”

  Lorelei shivered. “I wanted to get away from the crowds for a while.”

  “Do you mind some company?”

  Dealing with him at the farm was hard enough. And now, when she was feeling a little shaky anyway, it would be torture. But she shrugged. “It’s up to you.”

  Colin frowned. “You’re lying. You don’t need to. I’m not going to insist on following you to protect you from drunk humans. I know you can handle them.”

  “The thought never occurred to me, Colin.”

  “Then why did you—” The furrow between his brows deepened. “No, I suppose you didn’t really answer me, did you?”

  “Smart man.”

  “Almost never when it comes to women.” Colin sighed and pushed his fingers through his hair. “We’re pack, Lorelei. Like family. Don’t be polite, and don’t be obedient. If you’re tired of my face, tell me. It’ll make me feel a hell of a lot better than not realizing you’re gritting your teeth trying to tolerate me, okay?”

  “You’re paranoid.” Never mind that the words held a ring of truth. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say. It’s a little awkward, isn’t it?”

  “Why?”

  “I made a pass at you and you shot me down.” She kept the words breezy and light. “I think etiquette dictates a bit of awkwardness now.”

  “I guess so.” Colin brushed his fingertips over her cheek in a whisper-soft caress and smoothed a strand of hair from her temple. “I didn’t shoot you down, but if you asked again, I’d have to. Doesn’t mean I’d want to, but I made a promise to my alpha.”

  So much for burning, undeniable desire. “Then I’m not sure what to do with you,” she confessed.

  He laughed. “Refreshing honesty. I guess I wouldn’t have much use for me either.”

  She tried for a smile. “I had friends. More than a few of them died in Memphis. I don’t really want any more right now.”

  “I know, honey.” His humor vanished, and he dropped his hand. “I’m sorry. Fletcher’s good with people and Shane’s good with wolves and Jay’s good with everyone. I’m the only one who’s just bad.”

  “So you said.” Lorelei took a step away. She felt like one giant exposed nerve, and being near Colin scraped her raw. “I should get back and help out with the booth.”

  “You said you wanted to get away,” he said quickly. “Take your walk. I’ll go help Eden.”

  “No, can’t you just—” She bit off the rest of her outburst and took a deep breath. “I’ll be fine.”

  He started to say something, but the vibration of his phone stopped him. He pulled it out and checked the message. “Zack’s home. Fletcher says he’s already mostly healed.”

  “Is he?” She turned toward the opposite end of the alley. “Enjoy the festival, Colin.”

  “Take care, Lorelei.”

  The effort just to put one foot in front of the other was exhausting, and she was already so tired. But she kept going because she didn’t know how to stop, or what would happen if she did.

  Colin found Jay barbecuing slabs of ribs in the big brick pit at the edge of the square by the pavilion. He could smell the smoke from two blocks away, but it was the sight of Jay that shook Colin’s barely restored calm. Lording over the barbeque in his police-department polo, Jay didn’t look like the dangerous alpha of a werewolf pack. He looked like a staple of small-town life, the friendly Chief of Police who could switch, easy as breathing, between cowing rebellious teenagers with a glare and laughing at bad jokes.

  It wasn’t that simple. Colin knew that in his mind, but his gut managed only jealousy at how seamlessly Jay had slid into a human community. The townsfolk might not think much of Zack Green and the rest of the newcomers, but they respected Jay. They tru
sted him to fix their problems, big or small.

  No one trusted Colin with much of anything. Or anyone, unless they wanted that person dead.

  Colin waited until a burly man in a hunting vest lumbered away before crossing the square to where Jay was momentarily alone with his work. “Had a little trouble, but it’s taken care of.”

  Jay flipped the ribs with a huge pair of tongs. “What kind of trouble?”

  “Some guys were beating the hell out of Zack, and he was letting them.”

  Jay tensed, his hand clenching on the tongs. “Damn it. Did you break it up?”

  “Lorelei already had.” If he’d actually followed her instead of hanging back, telling himself he wasn’t following her, he might have been able to head that off. “Zack roughed one of them up for talking shit to her, but they bolted.”

  “He can’t pull this stuff, and he knows it.” Jay rubbed his forehead in disgust. “That could have literally been a bloody mess.”

  “I didn’t get the impression he started it,” Colin countered. “The rest of them didn’t have a damn hair out of place, and he looked like they’d been trying to beat him the hell down. He can hold it together unless someone threatens one of the girls.”

  “I wasn’t talking about Zack. What if Kaley had stumbled across that instead of Lorelei?”

  Kaley had torn into Colin over a joke. He had no trouble believing she’d tear literal pieces off anyone who hurt him. For that matter, Eden was a new alpha with protective instincts she didn’t understand and the newly gained capacity to break a human man in half. If she caught someone beating on her family, the chances she’d keep her cool weren’t great. “I see your point.”

  “I’ll talk to him.” Jay dropped the tongs into a steel bowl beside the grate. “How’d Lorelei handle it?”

  Helpless anger rose inside Colin, driven higher by his wolf’s agitation. “Not well. She doesn’t trust me. I try to help and I can’t—there’s nothing to fight.”

  “I didn’t keep you around to fight, Colin. We need you.”