Page 26 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

The air seems to go cold as Jordan glares at the wolf. A tick in his jaw is the only indication of any rage or irritation in him at the wolf’s words. When he speaks next, though, you can tell he’s pissed.

“Yourterritory?!”

“Yeah, mine.”

“What pack are you part of?”

“Like I told the bitch over there, none of your damn business. I don’t answer to you or anyone else. I’m top dog here and an alpha. So, fuck off.”

“If you have to say you are top dog and an alpha, then you aren’t an alpha pup. And it is my business considering this ismycity. You’re trying to claim something is yours when it isn’t, and I got a real fucking problem with that. I know you didn’t just detach from your mother’s breast this morning to knowthatright there is big fucking no, no and gives me the right to dole out whatever punishment I want.” With each passing word, a growl begins to mix with his voice. If I had to guess, his wolf is pissed as well and wanting to come out.

The wolf in front of us seems to stumble for words for a second as his skin pales and drains of all color. I can see the eyes of the wolves in the alleys to our sides shift to look at each other and uncertainty begins to claw its way through their ranks.

“Not only that, you idiotically didn’t think to ask why she was asking if you knew who she was. But let me enlighten you. She belongs to the most powerful coven in this city. If I hadn’tstepped in and let you continue making a damn fool of yourself, you could start a war with the vampires in the city. All because some dumbass punk is trying to prove he’s some badass when in fact he’s just plain fucking stupid.”

How does he know that about you?Danny asks mentally. I choose to ignore him, too focused on Jordan and the other wolf facing off.

The wolf glances at me, but after a split second, he sneers at me before turning back to Jordan and growls. Compared to the growls I’ve heard from Jordan, it’s pathetic and an obvious sign that he is not an alpha of any type. “It doesn’t matter. A few less bloodsuckers will do this city good. Now, get out of my way before I take you out as well.”

With that statement, the alleys all around us vibrate with the rumble of deep and angry growls, distinctly different from the ones we heard from the group set on killing us. Looking for the source, I see two wolves coming up behind each group of wolves in the alleys to our left and right, and then a lone grey wolf behind the man in front of us. I recognize the grey one and realize these are Jordan’s wolves. All of them are almost twice the size of the wolves harassing us tonight. The smaller wolves look like nothing but a pack of scrawny strays compared to Jordan’s wolves.

“Your next idiotic move of the night was not asking who the hellIwas after I informed you this is my territory before you threatened me.”

Jordan walks towards the man, and the grey wolf—who is no doubt Eric—behind the man mirrors him. The light reflects off Eric’s smokey grey coat and reveals the fearsome snarl contorting his muzzle. Jordan stands a good foot and half taller than the wannabe alpha and looks down his nose at the man as he growls in his face. “This ismycity andmyterritory pup. You just earned yourself a front-row seat as to what a real alpha isand what he does with those who try to swagger around claiming credit for what is not there’s.” He leans closer and whispers to the wolf, but I can’t hear what it is. Whatever he says, it makes the man turn even more pale, which I didn’t think was possible. He’s paler than any vampire I have seen, and I swear a tinge of green is mixed in with it.

“I—I’m sorry, man,” his voice trembles. “I didn’t mean any harm and was just trying to help us wolves out in taking care of a few vampires. I won’t do it again. Promise. Just let me walk out of here, and you can deal with them yourself. Take all the credit.”

“A little too late for that,” Jordan snaps. He jerks his head towards the wolf behind the man and all of Jordan’s wolves pounce, taking out the other wolves easily. They don’t kill them but help them take a little nap before slowly dragging them off. Two wolves remain lying unconscious in the alleys to our sides as Jordan’s wolves can’t take two at a time. Eric moves to drag them into a pile by the now unconscious and bleeding wolf who was talking to me before Jordan showed up.

Jordan turns to me, and we stare at each other in silence. Tension vibrates in the air between us. Not hostile tension but…. yeah, that type of tension. Although he helped and took care of things, it doesn’t change the fact that we are better off in keeping our distance from each other and not interacting with each other no matter if I have found myself thinking about him almost daily and secretly harboring a wish to catch a glimpse of him whenever I’m at Depraved.

“Thank you,” I finally blurt out, breaking the silence between us.

He simply nods in acknowledgment. What else did I expect?

Without another word, I turn to the left and walk off into the darkness and away from Jordan.

Chapter 13

Jordan

Anger boils in me as, yet again, I watch Talia leave me. No backward glance as she leaves and nothing but a simple thank you before she leaves. My fists clench and unclench at my sides. I don’t know what else I expect her to say. Nothing can be said with everyone around us. Still, the urge to go after her and ask to talk with her crawls under my skin like an itch demanding attention.

I haven’t seen her since the night Lance made a scene at Depraved regarding me and the others hanging out too closely with Talia and her group of vampires. I know I was cold and distant when I left, which with some hindsight I realize wasn’t the best way to handle it, but I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to bring any more attention on her, especially other wolves, but I also had never dealt with a situation like that. I told myself I needed to think and keep her safe, even if I hated every step away from her. As the two weeks since progressed, I realized I couldn’t stay away from her and remembered that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. She also deserved the opportunity to make the choice herself regarding her safety. Lord knows she would have no issue chewing into my ass again about trying to protect her when she didn’t need it. Besides, who gives a shit who I spend my time with? Some wolves need to get over their aversion to all vampires. Not everygroup is filled with nothing but bad apples. All he managed to do was give us all a fine example of the animosity between the two species and how, in my mind, it is unprovoked and uncalled for.

With all the chaos going on with wolves being attacked in one area of the city by vampires for no reason, other packs needing help with various things, and then taking care of my own pack, I haven’t had a minute to take a breath let alone find time for myself to try to get away from the pack and interact with Talia more. To check in with her after the incident at Depraved and apologize for my behavior. For the past two weeks, I’ve been going over in my head what has happened in the few interactions we have had alone or with our respective groups and what more I want to know about her. The unanswered question of if she is interested in exploring the pull between us has been on my mind as well. At times, like when she ran away from me before almost kissing, it seems she is resistant, but other times, like when we were spending time at Depraved with her group of vampires and my group of werewolves around us, it seemed like there was potential. The look on her face though before I left that night was stoney and hard with a touch of sadness barely seen in her eyes that made me anxious. Lance that night had not only shown the animosity between the two species but had also provided an example of what could happen in just being seen together, let alone if we were to be legitimate friends or possibly more. Maybe the look on her face and in her eyes was because she didn’t like the situation she was put in and decided it wasn’t worth it to try to be friends.

I feel a nudge at my side and look over to find Eric. He nods his head towards the idiot wolf and his two companions who are unconscious in front of me on the ground. We need to move. Yet again, I was lost in a never-ending circle of questions, concerns, and thoughts in my head regarding Talia that I lost focus on the present. Not good out on the streets of the citywhere vampires or wolves could attack while I’m not focused. Thank God Eric has my back. We can’t idle here, and we need to move the idiots before they wake up.

“I’ll toss one on your back and grab the other two,” I throw at Eric as I move to bend down and pick one up. “I want to know what pack these idiots belong to and have a chat with their alpha. Or if they don’t belong to one, they need a lesson in who actually runs this city and how they are expected to behave. Otherwise, they aren’t welcome here.”

Eric nods his head in agreement. He knows all this and doesn’t need an explanation, but I feel the need to talk or else my mind will wander towards a certain vampire that just left here.

I toss one of the unconscious wolves on his back. He could take two, but I need the burn and effort it takes in carrying too much weight. With Eric being in his wolf form, he has increased strength, but being alpha has its perks even in human form. I won’t break a sweat carrying them, and it provides an excuse for not having to lift any weights today.

I pick up the two remaining wolves, including the pup who thought it wouldn’t be an issue to claim this as his territory when it wasn’t. I grunt with the dead weight over my shoulders and then start walking in the direction that will lead towards the pack house.

***

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