Jericho (The Strong Pack) Read online

  I woke up wrapped in a blanket of warmth. It wasn’t a real blanket but a hot sexy wolf was wrapped around my body. I checked the clock and it was almost five in the morning. It was time to go so there wouldn’t be any awkward morning after situations. I was raw and sore all over. It was great. We had screwed off and on all night in several positions and all manner of ways and he had finally gotten soft. He seemed surprised, like that had never happened before. It was early morning now and he was still soft. I started moving by just shifting away from him a little at a time so he wouldn’t wake. It was a good thing he had crashed so hard and was sleeping so deep that he didn’t wake. I finally separated myself from him which wasn’t easy as tight as he was hanging on to me. It made me think about some of the things we had done last night and I felt heat come to my face. The man was an unbelievable lover and I was sure no one else would ever come close. I hoped he had enjoyed it even half as much as I had so he wouldn’t regret staying the night with me. I grabbed my clothes and slipped them on. I carried out my heels. I left him a note: Thanks for a lovely night and please lock the door when you go. T.J. Short and sweet it said it all. There would be no call me or see ya later for us.

  I hurried home to eat breakfast. I deserved a big one today because I had had a lot of exercise or sexercise as Sandy called it. That girl was a real laugh riot. I was barely through the door when she called. “Well, how did it go?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on! I saw you leave with Jericho. Was he any good? Did you just get home? Did you talk to him before you left?”

  “Hold on girl. You’re making my head spin. One question at a time. Not that I intend to answer you. Don’t you have a sex life of your own to see to?”

  “So you did have sex! Not that there was any doubt. I saw the way that you looked at each other. I thought you two would catch fire.”

  I suppose in a way we did, but that wasn’t for Sandy to know. She would never get off my back about him if she knew how incredible last night had been. “Still not telling you.” I said with a smile. She couldn’t stand not knowing and that made me smile. She was fun to torture.

  *****

  Jericho

  I woke up still feeling exhausted but my inner alarm must have told me it was time to get up. Usually it would be but since I had planned to get drunk to see to the needs of what I thought was Sandy’s less than desirable friend, I picked the evening before a day off to do it. I felt a sense of loss that surprised me when I realized she had done what I normally did and snuck out before I woke up. I pulled her pillow to my nose taking a deep breath to pull her scent into my nose. Oh. shit. I was in trouble deep. I came to a conclusion that would change my life but I refused to even think it through right now. I needed to get home to shower and change. After that I would take time to think so I could reason out what had just happened to me.

  I pulled into the driveway, parking in my usual spot. Instead of going in the front, I snuck in the back door like a naughty kid. I didn’t want to see anyone until I was cleaned up and my mind was calm. The hot shower helped my aching muscles. I had never had a woman out pace me in sex before. Of course she had done without for longer than I had so maybe she didn’t always have such an insatiable sexual appetite. Thinking about last night actually made me hard and it hurt. Not just the ache of desire, but the pain of an overused appendage combined with need. That was a first. Down boy. You need to rest so you’ll be fully operational next time we see her. Doesn’t every man talk to body parts? Especially those body parts? I dried off, dressed, and headed downstairs to face whoever might be hanging around.

  Kaleb, my best bud, sat at the table finishing his breakfast. “Jer, you look like you were rode hard and put up wet.” He laughed enjoying my morning after misery. “What the hell did your little pity fuck do to you?” I winced remembering that I had told him that Sandy had a friend she wanted me to go out with that couldn’t get a date. When Sandy wanted me to date her friend I had refused. She said I owed her a favor and she was calling it in. She was right, I owed her lots of favors. I figured her friend must not be able to get a date on her own. It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption under the circumstances.

  “She turned out not to be what I expected. Now I have a really big problem. I want to keep seeing her but I had to agree to just one night or she wouldn’t see me at all. She was gorgeous and incredible.”

  “She sounds like someone I want to meet.”

  I growled at him. I just couldn’t help myself. He looked at me shocked and a little unnerved. “No one had better go near her. I realized this morning that she is my mate.”

  “It took you until this morning to realize that?”

  “I kinda had a few drinks to make the date thing go easier. I didn’t think she’d be my type so I had a few strong drinks before I met her. Well, maybe more than a few. I had Randy drive me so I didn’t have to drive and Flynn drove my truck over there so I’d have it in the morning. I had some moonshine and you know how strong that is but I figured I’d be sober by morning. I was and when her scent hit me, I almost passed out from shock.”

  “Did you tell her?”

  “When I woke up, she was gone. She left a note, Thanks for a lovely night and please lock the door when you go. T.J.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “I wish to hell I was.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Damned if I know. She has something against males in general and wolves in particular. Her last boyfriend was a wolf. It didn’t work out well and Sandy said he stalked her after she broke things off. Sandy says she has the one night or no night rule because she tends to attract aggressive males that won’t believe she means it when she says it’s over. I thought that would work out fine because I rarely wanted to see a female long anyway.” Kaleb started laughing until tears ran down his face. “What the hell is so funny?” I asked, just a little bit annoyed.

  “You are! Here you say you want to be footloose and fancy free. When you finally meet a woman who feels the same way, you want forever cause she turns out to be your mate. Karma’s a bitch.” I had to agree, but I didn’t see any humor in it. I still needed to figure out what to do so I could claim my mate.

  “You never did say exactly who she was. Maybe I know her and could help you get her to like you.”

  “Her name is T.J. and she works part time at Tabby’s.”

  “I do know a little about her. All the guys that go there hit on her but she doesn’t pay any attention to them. Rumor was she must be into girls or something. Are you sure that’s who you were with? That girl is smokin’ hot. She couldn’t possibly need help getting a date.”

  “I think the problem was getting a date dumb enough to agree to one night that would stick to the agreement. Sandy must have thought I’d let T.J. go, but that is so not going to happen.”

  “I wonder what she’ll do when she realizes you’re never going to leave her alone. Do you think she has a clue?”

  “I don’t know. She took off like a gut shot cat. She didn’t even leave her number or any sign that she changed her mind about seeing me again. Except for Sandy or the bar, I have no idea how to get in touch with her. I’m so fucked.” And I was.

  “You certainly are.” I looked up as Julie, one of the girls in my pack, stepped into the room.

  “How long have you been standing there?” With my luck lately, she had heard everything.

  “Long enough.” She replied with cruel satisfaction. Julie and I had dated in our teens. We knew we weren’t fated mates, but Julie got too intense so I broke it off. I was trying to avoid breaking her heart. That’s when I realized I couldn’t date the females from my pack. It was too close to home. Julie had been bitter ever since and never got over it. We were sixteen and neither of us had ever been with anyone else. Now twelve years later and a lot of sexual partners between us, she still hated and resented me.

  I was sure the whole pack would know in an hour or less. The pack a
lpha would probably be mad at her for spreading gossip, but I’d be in trouble for not knowing when to keep my big mouth shut. The fact that he was my father would only make things worse for me. Even if me finding my mate would normally make him happy, the circumstances wouldn’t. My life was usually well ordered and things just didn’t go wrong for me. That was until now. Now nothing seemed to be going right. Just when I thought that, my dad walked in. I noticed Julie had already left, no doubt to spread the word far and wide.

  Dad’s cell phone buzzed and he looked at what must have been a text message. He gave me a disturbing look and asked, “When were you going to share the news with me?”

  I felt a sick ball of dread tighten in my stomach. “What news?”

  “You found your mate.”

  “Does everyone know?”

  He leaned over and pushed his cellphone in my face. Julie had sent out a text to the whole pack. Jericho has found his mate. Ask him about it!

  “Crap.”

  “I guess things aren’t going well?” Dad looked at me waiting for an explanation.

  “You could say that. She’s human with no desire to mate much less to a wolf.”

  “At least she knows about wolves. It could be worse.” Leave it to Dad to oversimplify things.

  “I suppose.”

  “Do you have a plan?” Alphas were like that, always planning.

  “Not really. I just met her last night.”

  “Doesn’t sound like you made much of an impression.” If only he knew.

  “I haven’t really had a chance to do much.” That wasn’t really true but I hoped he wouldn’t talk to Julie. If he did, I was in even deeper.

  Kaleb said, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll help him.” Kaleb called him Dad cause he was raised as my brother when his mother, a single wolf, abandoned him to our pack after his father had died.

  “I think the two of you working on this together scares me more.”

  “Come on Dad. You know that I know all about being romantic and winning a girl’s attention. I’m not as pretty as he is so I’ve had to work for it.” Kaleb wasn’t pretty. He had sensual features and no trouble getting women. He had black hair and eyes with a strong face. Those dark good looks worked well for him. He looked too manly to ever be considered pretty. He was almost as tall as I was and more muscular. He was ‘bulked up’ and looked like a body builder. When we played around, I had speed but he had crushing strength. I wasn’t sure I wanted him anywhere near my woman, but I was equally certain I wouldn’t be able to keep him away. I had his help whether I wanted it or not.

  I figured she’d be at the bar since it was Friday which was one of their big nights. Kaleb insisted on going with me. I knew she was going to be angry. The questions were how angry and would she get over it any time soon.

  *****

  Sandy

  I knew as soon as he saw her he would make a beeline for T.J.. Tabitha Jane was my best friend. She had been for a very long time. It was only the last couple of years that she had known my true nature. She unwittingly dated a vampire who had revealed the supernatural world to her. He wanted to change her, but she was smart enough to realize he wanted forever. She liked him, but they were more friends with benefits than soul mates. He took it hard for a long time, but about a year and a half ago he found his soul mate. I never knew vampires had those. I thought it was just weres or shifters as some call us that had true mates. I know humans talked about soul mates a lot but legends of those existing in the past was all I had ever heard. I never knew any human who ever found their soul mate unless their soul mate was a were/shifter. That was when she found out I was a wolf. The timing was really funny because a year later, she found out her family had wolf blood. One of her cousins on her dad’s side, mated a wolf and was changed. Not all mates change. You have to have some wolf blood in the family to have any hope. Other supernatural blood strengthens wolf blood but only if it is there to begin with. Certain bloodlines are more likely to undergo the change. T.J.’s family has the strongest of those in their blood. Since then, several of her cousins have mated to wolves and changed.

  Her cousin, Ariel, explained to her family members that this might change their lives. They had to be careful about who they told about it. She said they were white wolves which was a rare bloodline. So rare it was thought lost. That was where T.J.’s ex came in. She was dating him before she found out. She didn’t know he knew all about it and chose her for her blood. He knew she was related to Ariel because someone in Ariel’s pack or the council had told him.

  She was visiting her cousin when this gorgeous guy picked her up at a bar. I was with her and told her he was a wolf and they were exceptional lovers. They have looks and stamina. The girl has a hell of a sex drive so she let him pick her up. Once they connected, he was hooked. Too bad that she wasn’t. She said the sex was good, but it was just sex. She had to come home early to get away from him. Luckily, the wolf giving him the information couldn’t find out any more about her to tell him. That was a year ago. Now I was waiting to find out what had happened between her and Jericho.

  Jericho was hot sex on a stick. I would have loved to fuck him, but he considers me his friend. I could be a male for all that he ever noticed me. I guess we were raised almost like siblings, but I never looked at him as a brother. I knew he would be able to match T.J.’s needs and pull her out of her funk. I thought maybe she would see not all male wolves were the same. Jericho didn’t know what she was, but he wanted her anyway. I’m sure the jerk she was seeing would have wanted her regardless of her blood too. The difference is he would have just fucked her, not wanted to mate her. My friend was beautiful, what male wouldn’t want her? I just hoped my scheming didn’t end up getting me in trouble. T.J. came in the door with a big smile on her face. Yes, score one for the home team. It looked like I was worrying for nothing. She seemed to be in a great mood. I guess Jericho was worth something after all. Usually he just sucked up favors and never did a thing in return. I tried to ask her about their night early this morning on the phone, but she just put me off. Maybe in person I would get more information.

  “Hey, girl. How’s it hangin’?” I asked her as she sat next to me at the bar. She was early so we had time to talk.

  “It’s hangin’ pretty fine. That was one hot puppy dog you sent my way.” She was being frisky. She knew wolves hated to be compared to dogs. I let it slide since she wasn’t talking about me personally.

  “Jer took good care of you, did he? I knew he was bound to be good at something.”

  She laughed. “Not just good but outstanding.” That was high praise from my girl. I’m not sure I’d ever seen her in a better mood.

  “Alright, you’ve got me interested. Hit the highlights.”

  “Let’s just say he knows how to use his mouth for something other than talking. Combine that with magic fingers and an impressive joy stick. My only regret is I think I fed his gigantic ego. It was worth it though. I’ll admit I owe you one.”

  “All you have to do is set me up with one of those fine cousins of yours. All of them are so hot.”

  “You can come with me at Christmas. I’ll have no problem getting one of my horndog cousins to take you out.”

  We were just sitting there chilling waiting for our shift to start, when I felt the air vibrate. I knew without looking that an alpha had entered. I was pretty sure it was Jer. I glanced at T.J. who seemed to realize it too. A glance confirmed that it was Jer accompanied by Kaleb. A couple other wolves followed them in. I wondered if all the unmated males in the pack would be coming by. Jer was standing just inside the door frozen with an expression of concentration aimed at T.J.. She had turned to face him, but turned away quickly. I thought she would ignore him hoping it would prove to be a coincidence that he was here even if that seemed unlikely. We headed behind the bar to start our shift. T.J. was the bartender while I waitressed. It was a job she had gotten for me. She patiently taught me while I was sure no one else would have bothered to try. I
was shy and clumsy then. I had learned a lot from her. She said I was a caterpillar then, but now I had turned into a beautiful butterfly. I hurried over to Jer hoping to prevent him from messing with T.J.. She wasn’t happy he was here.

  He sat at a table with the other wolves so I went to take their order. “I hope you’re not here to see her.”

  He shot me an irritated look. “What if I am?”

  “You know her rules. You agreed to them. You’ll have a hard time getting anywhere with her. You were suppose to be doing me a favor. You agreed to follow the rules.” He motioned to me to come closer.

  He whispered to me. “She’s my mate.” My eyes widened in surprise. You could have knocked me down with a feather.

  “You haven’t told her.” I was guessing. I knew she would have said something if he had. She also wouldn’t have been in such a good mood when she came in had she known.

  “I woke up and she was gone. I didn’t have a chance to tell her.” I took a good look at him. He looked the most serious I had ever seen him. His posture screamed tension and his look was strained. He was my future pack alpha and Kaleb was his future second. The second position was just being held by someone until Kaleb claimed it. My loyalty should be to my pack, but I worried about my friend. I went ahead with their order. I would talk more with him when I brought it back. I knew this was going to turn my life upside down.

  *****

  Kaleb

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when Jer told me he had found his mate. I thought I had found mine a long time ago but she never saw past Jericho to see me. You might guess that it was Sandy, you’d be right. I looked past her at Jer’s mate. She looked like a fucking playboy playmate. Big tits, tiny waist, hold on to me hips, and long tight legs. Her hair was way down to there, wavy, and the darkest brown with hints of red. She turned the other way to grab a glass so I checked out her ass. It was squeezable as hell. Her lips were full, I figured they were still swollen from Jer’s late night kisses. She looked like hot, steamy illicit sex while my Sandy was the girl next door. They were different as night and day. The only thing they had in common as far as looks were concerned was they were both average height for females. I looked toward Jer who had a pissed off look on his face. I guess he noticed me and the rest of our crew checking out his mate. If I was him, I’d keep that one locked up. He was going to be fighting someone off all the time.