It’s just that I’m crazy about you.”
“Well, you should be. I’m amazing. Tell me more about your Alpha,” Holly said. “Are you sure he’ll be okay with me joining your pack?”
Zeke started to relax. She wouldn’t be talking about joining their pack if she wasn’t interested in moving on to the next level in their relationship. They hadn’t gotten quite that far, but Zeke’s plan was to someday place a Mate Mark on top of her old one.
“He’ll be fine with it,” he said. “Like I told you, he’s generally too busy chasing tail and working ’til he drops to pay much attention to anything else.” He paused. “Although that might change soon—the part about him chasing tail, I mean.”
He felt her tense up beside him.
“What do you mean? What’s going to change?”
Zeke kissed the top of her head. “Nothing that will affect you. He just met some woman that he seems interested in. The local sheriff, actually. It’s funny as hell, because she keeps trying to arrest him. But I can tell there’s something there. When he’s with her, when he talks about her, he acts different than I’ve ever seen.”
“Maybe she won’t like me. Maybe she won’t want another female in the pack. She’s probably the jealous type.”
Zeke wrapped his arms around her. “Sweetheart, if it comes down to it, you and I could just stay here together,” he said.
She sighed and relaxed in his arms. “That’s sweet of you to say. And now, it’s been ten minutes since you last made me come, you lazy bastard. Why are you talking so much? I want you to fuck me now, big boy.”
* * * * *
Chelsea had an odd feeling as she pulled up in front of Joyce’s house, but she couldn’t have said why. Something had been bothering Joyce the night before at work, but Joyce had brushed off all Chelsea’s attempts to find out what was wrong.
She’d also been downright curt to Paul, who’d looked crestfallen and finally left.
Did that mean Roman’s pack was somehow behind the sheep thefts? Was that what was bothering her? Either way, it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it at work, but maybe she’d feel more comfortable discussing it at home.
Or not.
When Chelsea approached the house, the front door opened right away. Joyce walked out and quickly shut the door behind her.
She had circles under her eyes and she looked tired and stressed out.
“Hey Joyce, is everything okay?” Chelsea asked. “I could tell something was bothering you. Is it anything I can help you with?”
Joyce ran her hands over her face, and nodded with a grimace.
“Everything’s fine,” Joyce said. “I’m just tired. I’ve been working a lot of shifts, and you know those boys and my grandmother. They wear me out.”
It seemed like more than that, though. Joyce was nervous about something. She was shifting from one foot to the other, and acted as if she wanted to glance back at the house but was restraining herself.
“Are you sure that’s it?” Chelsea asked.
“Positive,” Joyce said.
“Okay. And there haven’t been any more sheep killings? So far, it looks as if a regular wolf, not a shifter, killed those sheep. The police chief is stepping up patrols and putting traps out.”
“That’s great. I’m glad to hear it,” Joyce said. “There haven’t been any more sheep killings that I’ve heard of. I knew it wasn’t Roman’s pack. Everything’s been quiet here, nothing to worry about.”
She was fidgeting, anxious, clearly wanting Chelsea to leave. She did seem sincere when she said that she knew it wasn’t Roman’s pack, though.
“All right. Well.” Chelsea wished she knew what was wrong, but it was clear she wouldn’t get anywhere by sticking around.
She hesitated a moment, then shrugged. “If you need anything, you know where to find me,” Chelsea said, and she turned and headed back to her truck.
Joyce quickly stepped back inside. She stood peering out the window past the small lace curtain and
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