Belle
At last! I almost whooped with relief as I drove through the gates leading to the camp. I’d never been so happy to see the little sign that said “Grey Paw Pack.” Home. Certain that all I had to do was hand off this broodily sexy Scotsman to my Alpha. How wrong I was.
The journey had been torture with my beast constantly whimpering in my head and my body doing things it definitely shouldn’t be doing in public. All right, it wasn’t exactly public, there was just me and Sandy, but it was rebelling against me in ways that was downright embarrassing.
The blush that crept up my neck to cover my face every time he said my name, well, that definitely wasn’t a good look. Nope. The way my core clenched when his brogue broke through, what can I say, that wasn’t what I wanted happening in the confines of the cab of my truck. I could scent my own arousal so he damn well could too. Did I say I was embarrassed? If not, then let me remind you, I was mortified and just wanted to escape to try and forget how humiliated I felt.
I’ll give him credit though. He never commented on any of it. No, he’d occasionally reach over and touch my shoulder, telling me to relax. Yeah, like that worked, ever. All it did was make me feel even more uncomfortable and praying I didn’t need to see him ever again.
“Are you all right?” he asked in that oh so sexy voice.
“Sure,” I nodded, refusing to turn to look at him. Reason for my rudeness? I knew I’d lean toward him if I looked into those damn emerald eyes.
“I’m sure Wyatt is expecting you, better not keep him waiting.” I turned the engine off and jumped out, noting my vehicle looked as if it’d been parked by a drunk. Too bad. I needed this to be over so I could slink away and eat a tub of Ben and Jerry’s by myself. Definitely no sharing today and hell if I care that I probably wouldn’t get my damn jeans on tomorrow.
So what, it’s not as if I was going on a hot date or anything.
I stopped at the stairs leading up to the Alpha cabin. It’s much larger than any other building in our camp, which meant we could have meetings, both official and for fun. I’d had some good times at parties held here and I usually felt good, a sense of peace and belonging whenever I visited. Not today.
Today, I was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers and I just wanted to get away.
Then he had to go and touch me, again, his hand resting on the small of my back. My body thrummed with need and I had no control over it at all, which merely added to my increasingly bad mood. His breath was like a caress against my skin as he whispered in my ear, his mouth so close I could feel his lips move and my thighs clenched, again, with need.
“Belle, I dinnae want to upset you, but I think we need to talk.”
I shook my head, not quite sure if I could force words out. “No, I’m busy.” Was all I managed.
“Aye, all right, but we will need to talk, and soon, my beautiful Belle.”
My name on his lips made me shiver then his words broke through and I stepped away, whirling around and hissing, “I’m not your beautiful anything.”
“We’ll see.” He smirked, a small dimple appearing at the side of his mouth.
It was . . . no, Belle, don’t go there. I chastised myself and ran up the stairs.
The door opened as I got to it, Wyatt looking all Alpha as he stood, arms crossed. “Belle, what’s wrong? I could feel your distress, has something happened?”
My face blushed scarlet. I felt the heat rising and knew I must look a right sight. “I’m fine,” I blustered as Sandy joined us. “This is Sandy. I’ve gotten him here in one piece, Alpha, can I leave now?”
Wyatt looked between us for a moment then shook his head. “No, come in, Belle.”
I almost groaned aloud before remembering it was my Alpha that stood before me so I walked in, hearing Wyatt welcome Sandy.
“Welcome to Grey Paw Pack, Sandy, I’m Wyatt Wolfstrom, Alpha of the Pack.”
“Thanks,” Sandy replied, his brogue not nearly as strong. “I’m not quite sure why I’ve been sent, but I’m honored to have your hospitality.”
“Come in.” Wyatt stepped back into the cabin, Sandy following. “Sadie has food ready and after we eat I’ll have Belle show you around.”
“I’m starving,” Sandy chuckled. “Damn flight had portions that a wean could eat and still be hungry.”
“Wean?” Wyatt asked as he led us through to the huge kitchen where Sadie was laying out the table with an array of food, mostly meat.
“Child,” Sandy enlightened us all as we took our seats.
“Aah, I see.” Wyatt’s tone telling us all he didn’t see at all. “So, Sandy, I’ve been in contact with Cam these past few months. We’ve been working together on a problem we’ve been having with rogues. You know him, don’t you?”
Sandy laughed, a good old belly laugh, before he answered. “Aye, Cam and I go way back, we grew up together but he left the Pack years ago and damn if he didn’t make himself one of those fancy billionaires. He’s a good man, strong, loyal, and has a strong heart for what’s right.”
I loitered near the door, hoping to slip away but Wyatt spied me and raised an eyebrow telling me that wasn’t on the cards. So, I made sure to sit as far away from the Scot as possible but I could feel his eyes on me.
“Yes, Cam and his Wolves have proved very helpful, that man has a unique ability when it comes to tracking. Never seen anything like it in my life.”
“Och, aye, oor Cameron has a few tricks up his sleeve,” Sandy replied non-committedly, telling me there was far more to this Cam than he was saying.
“He does that, but we’re all grateful here for his help.” Wyatt let Sandy off the hook.
However, when Sandy’d spoken with his Highland accent my body started misbehaving again. My heart sped up and my beast started that damn whimpering again. I looked down at my hands, wringing in my lap, and prayed everyone was too distracted to notice.
“Are we far away?” Sandy asked, his eyes flitting between Wyatt and me. “If not, then I might go for a visit, some of those boys I’ve not seen in a while and it’d be nice to catch up.”
“Quicker cross-country,” Wyatt replied. “I’ll make sure you’re shown the way in a few days.”
“Alpha.” Sandy tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. “Can you tell me why I’ve been sent? I’m afraid my own Alpha was a little light on the details of that.”
Wyatt nodded. “Sure. Cam has been interested in some of our older customs and he obviously spoke to his brother, that’s right isn’t it? His brother is your Alpha?”
“Aye, Grant’s his younger brother.” Sandy frowned for a moment, thinking. “There were some . . . issues, between Cam and his father and he refused to become Alpha so Grant took over.”
“I see,” Wyatt said, though his tone told us all that he didn’t. It was unheard of in our Pack for a father and son to be at odds in such a way. “Anyway, we have a scenting ceremony where our unmated Wolves attempt to find their mates. You’re as aware as any of us that scents have a lot to do with knowing if someone is for us, or not. It’s a tradition that’s gone back hundreds of years and we still have a couple of them a year.”
“Sounds interesting,” Sandy said slowly and I knew, without looking, his eyes were now on me. “But what happens if two Wolves find their mate outside of these ceremonies? Do they have to wait to be joined?”
Wyatt chuckled. “Not at all. It happens quite often and when it does, there’s a private ceremony for them to confirm, before the Pack, that they have truly found their mate. We wouldn’t stop a couple from joining just because they found each other outside of our bi-annual ceremonies.”
“Good to know,” Sandy nodded. “It’d be a right scunner if you had to wait.”
“What?” Wyatt asked, confused. “Scunner?”
Sandy laughed again, the sound causing my stomach to do freaking somersaults. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Fed up, pissed off, it has a few meanings depending on what we’re trying to say.”
“Some colorful words.” Wyatt smirked.
“Aye, we have some crackers.” Sandy smirked back.
“Welcome.” Sadie patted Sandy’s shoulder as she placed a piled high plate before him.
“Thank you,” he replied, turning that dazzling smile on her.
That’s when I did it. Something that I’d be mortified about for years to come and which could have both Sadie and Wyatt at my throat, literally.
I growled. Not a little simpering noise, nope, a full on snarl rushed out of me so quickly I couldn’t stop it!
Yeah, I know! It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, and let me tell you, I’ve done some stupid stuff in my time.
As soon as the sound left me, I slid down in my seat, trying my best not to be attacked by my own Alpha.