Marcus POV
The smell of antiseptic and blood assaults my senses as soon as I enter the small single-story hospital located just outside Grey Ridge. The truck driver from a crash I was at yesterday was kept overnight for observation after getting a nasty bang on the head, so this is my first chance to interview him about what happened. I walk up to the nurse’s station to sign in, showing my credentials and getting an update on how he is before I make my way to his room. They took blood samples when he arrived, and my bet is that he was full as a tick with alcohol when he got behind the wheel. If that was the case, I was going to take great pleasure in throwing the book at him, there was little I hated more than drink-driving.
As I fill in the visitor’s log, I hear two of the nurses in the office speaking in hushed voices.
“Can you believe it? Poor Rex,” the blonde-haired one whispers, shaking her head sadly.
“I heard…,” the redhead glances quickly over her shoulder to make sure nobody is coming in before leaning close, and her friend copies her movements, bringing their heads together to hear the juicy gossip she is about to spill. “I heard that she just wanted to be Luna, and when she realized that wasn’t going to happen, she hightailed it back to her filthy rich boyfriend in San Francisco.”
“What a bitch,” the blonde one hisses. “God, what I wouldn’t do for a man like that, and she just rejects him and bolts?”
“Right? I mean, he’s in bits. He’s locked himself away, barely eating, one of the kitchen staff said nothing they send up is ever touched, and that he looks like a ghost.” Ginger shakes her head and looks genuinely worried. Rex. Rex. I’ve heard that name. “And Leila is beside herself. I’m surprised she’s even here, but we’ve been so busy. They’re all worried he’s going to do something stupid,” she frowns, and sighs.
“Shit,” I mutter as understanding slams into me. Rex, Leila’s brother. She mentioned him at the bar. He was the oldest brother though, why wasn’t he going to be Alpha? This is what she meant about having enough to deal with. They must be going through hell.
Both nurses’ heads whip up to look at me when I curse, and I make a show of pretending that the pen wasn’t working, rather than letting on I was eavesdropping on their conversation.
Poor Leila. Poor Rex. I know how much wolves treasure the mate-bond, and how painful rejection can be. It’s been known to kill wolves, or if not kill them, have a long-lasting impact mentally. I’d seen one rejected wolf before, he completely lost it and went on a rampage, ended up having to be put down by his pack. She has all this going on at home and I feel awful for being so difficult the last time we spoke.
As if I conjured her with my thoughts, her delicate scent reaches me just before I hear her gentle voice carrying closer as she travels down the corridor, file in hand, chatting away to a colleague beside her, before closing the chart and handing it to him. As she reaches the doorway, her eyes lift to meet mine instantly and she freezes. The two nurses look at her in confusion as they come out from behind the counter, and glance between the two of us curiously. Leila shakes her head gently before fixing a polite smile on her face and moving slightly closer to me.
“Marcus, I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she says, totally professional and civil, with no trace of the flirtatiousness from the bar, or the anger that I got at the roadside a couple of weeks ago.
“I’m just here to speak to one of your patients, a truck hit the bridge and he knocked himself out…” I begin to explain, and she nods, but her lips are set in a tight line, disapproval clear on her face.
“Ah yes, Mr. Abberly, lovely man,” the slight edge of sarcasm in her voice makes me almost smile, “puked all over one of the nurses and then tried to punch the security guard when he wouldn’t let him out of the ward to buy whiskey.” She rolls her eyes and gestures for me to follow her as she leads the way to his room. She points at the door, and hesitates for a second, as if she is about to say something, but instead she just sighs softly before turning to leave. My hand shoots out of its own accord and grabs her hand. The skin-on-skin contact sends my heart racing and our eyes lock as she stops, body still half turned away from me.
“Leila, I …” I don’t even know where to start with all the things I want to say to her, and the things I don’t want to say but probably should. She raises her eyebrows and I finally see how exhausted she looks, not just physically tired but emotionally drained, and for a split second, I think I see her lip wobble. My chest aches at the sight of it, at seeing how vulnerable she looks. I release her wrist and scrub a hand down over my beard, shifting from one foot to the other, unable to get the words out.
“Thank you. Can we, um, talk? I feel like we need to clear the air and…,” I mutter, and I curse my surly ways for not helping me in this situation. At times like these, I wish I had the gift of the gab. I see Leila’s shoulder droop slightly and I long to just reach out and pull her to me for a hug, but it’s not the time or the place. “Just a coffee, Leila, five minutes, please?” I ask. She bites her lower lips as she considers it and eventually, she gives a tiny nod.
“I’ll meet you in the canteen in twenty minutes,” she says, before walking away quickly. Relief floods me but then I realize I don’t even really know what I want to say, just that I hate how things were left. She’s angry with me, and I don’t blame her. I am angry that I can’t just do what I want to do. The least I can do is apologize properly and try to ease the tension between us. I convince myself that that is all that I’m doing, not just trying to spend time with her, as I turn to head into Mr. Abberly’s room to give him a grilling.
Leila POVOh god, why did I agree to this?I know exactly why I agreed to it, because the second he touched me, any willpower I had about staying away from him for my own sanity crumbled. My wolf was thrilled, all perky for the first time in a fortnight, just happy to get to spend some time in his presence and listening to his deep voice. Nervousness creeps in at the edges of my mind and I’m struggling to stay calm. Maybe he’s worked out that he’s my mate and he’s going to reject me. I’ve sworn not to tell my family about meeting my
Marcus POVSince the day Leila and I had our little walk and talk at the hospital, I’ve felt like a new man. The idea that she thought badly of me had been weighing heavily on my mind. Normally, I didn’t care whether people liked me or not, but Leila was different. I am finally able to get some sleep now that we have everything sorted out. Even though being her friend isn’t even close to what I want, it will have to do. I’ve bumped into her in town a couple of times, and again at the hospital. If it’s possible, she looks even better every time I see her. And every time we speak, I’m reminded of how clever and funny she is. My bear is even more enamored with her, and he’s
Leila POV All the kids from the pack are gathered out in the backyard, sitting in a semi-circle on the lush green grass, staring up at the big hulking man perched on a stool in front of them. I can tell he’s uncomfortable, and his gaze flits up and around the adults sitting at the edges, watching. My eyes drift around my pack members, and my hackles go up when I see three women, who I know don’t have any kids, giggling as they check out my mate. His thick beard and dark hair are longer now, and it suits him. He rests his elbows on his thighs as he leans forward to speak to the children, who are hanging onto his every word. His forearms are bare, and I can see his taut muscles flexing under his tanned ski
One year later Marcus POV The glimmering light flashing between the tree trunks tells me I have a visitor long before I hear the rumble of the engine. The familiar red pickup creeps up the long driveway to my cabin and music blares from inside even though it’s well past midnight. “You’re trespassing,” I call out as the driver’s door swings open and the tall wolf steps out. Ethan leans one arm on the roof of his truck and raises an eyebrow at me. “Good to see you too, neighbor,” he laughs, completely unfazed by my surly mood. I growl quietly and fix him with my most unwelcoming stare, hoping he’ll get the message and just leave. “You’re not my neighbor and I saw you in Taaffe’s a couple of hours ago. Whatever it is, it can wait till the morning.” I make no move to stand as he climbs my porch stairs and eyes the chair beside me pointedly, his way currently blocked by my feet perched on the porch railing. He smirks and raises a six-pack of beer at me as a peace offering. I would lik
Leila POV The packhouse is normally a hive of activity, but today it is eerily quiet. As well as my entire family, there are anywhere between 30 to 40 wolves living there at any one time. Instead of just the Alpha’s family living there as if the norm in a lot of packs, my parents dedicated the first floor to single bedrooms for the unmated members of our pack to live in, if they want. Wolves are social animals, so we want to live in close proximity to others. The fact that our pack’s principal businesses are construction and hospitality has allowed us to pass the arrangement off to the local human population as accommodation for seasonal workers, or construction crews working away from home on projects. I creep downstairs from my apartment on the top floor and into the kitchen, raiding the fridge for leftover dessert, before heading into the communal living area. Still nobody. It doesn’t make any sense, but I’m not complaining. I fling myself onto the large sectional sofa, snag the r
Marcus POVI am out at the scene of a car crash when I get a call from old Jack Miller, Grey Ridge's oldest resident, and the friendly local neighborhood watch.As soon as he tells me he's heard a commotion near Hayley's house, I realize that her ex has come for her.When he mentions a gunshot, my blood runs cold. Hayley came to me when she first arrived in town, telling me the story of her abusive ex-boyfriend who had been stalking her and her family since she left him. She is lying low and trying to rebuild her life but feels that inevitably, he will find her. She needed someone in her corner who would take her seriously if and when that happened.He sounded like a nasty piece of work and my protective bear immediately took her under our wing. She didn't have anyone to look after her until she found Cooper, that is.Cooper and his brothers will do everything they can to get to her before something bad happens.I tear down the road,
Marcus POVI pick her up easily, and she automatically wraps her legs around my waist, fitting her slim body against mine perfectly. Her core is pressed up against the raging hard-on I've been trying to ignore since we got into the truck feels insanely good, and she must agree because she rocks her hips slowly against me, enjoying the pressure and the friction. I sit her on the tailgate and press my cock hard against her, and she gasps, the sexiest little noise right into my ear, sending shivers of delight down my spine."Jesus Christ Leila."I squeeze her breast gently through her black top, rubbing my thumb over her nipple before pinching it lightly. They're the perfect size, filling my large hands as if made for my touch. She arches into me, silently begging for more as our tongues tangle and her grip on my hair tightens, sending tingles dancing across my scalp. I haul her forward so that her feet hit the floor without breaking our kiss. I flick open the butt
Leila POVI can still see in my mind the exact moment when Marcus finally cracked and gave in to the unbearable sexual tension between us. His brown eyes flashed to black in an instant and his bear was in the driver's seat when he shoved me against the side of the truck and kissed me senseless. And I loved every second.Despite being an alpha female, there is something incredibly powerful about knowing your mate was so turned on that he couldn't hold back for a second longer. I've never felt so desirable. When I bared my neck to him in submission, handing over control, it hadn't felt like weakness; it was empowering.And I know his bear loved it. I could feel the rumbles of approval vibrating through Marcus's chest into mine.His brown eyes were black with lust as he used those big, rugged hands to make me come. That we were outdoors, in the dark, in nature, had made it even hotter. Just thinking about it is enough to get me all worked up again, but