E.A. Price - Valentine's Wolf (Grey Wolf Pack #11) Read online

  She wrapped her arms around his waist; one hand cupped his ass. Okay, so she probably wasn’t embarrassed. Now he was.

  “I’m pleased to see you, too,” she cooed.

  He ignored the snickers of the people around him, and the deep belly laughs of Cain, and returned the sentiment.

  “Are you okay?” he murmured into her hair.

  “Mostly,” she admitted. “I just had to fire three of my company’s construction workers.”

  No great loss, he thought contemptuously. The more of them that were sent packing from his town, the better. “What happened?”

  Val grimaced. “I caught them a few minutes ago hassling one of your pack mates.”

  Jake went deadly still as his eyes flashed. “Which one?”

  “Carly.” Val nodded in the direction of the she-wolf, who was now being smothered in a bone-crushing embrace by the enormous Cain.

  “Carly,” groaned Jake.

  Shit. He didn’t want any of his female pack mates being pestered, but she was Cain’s mate and if Cain found out… he really didn’t want to have to arrest his deputy for murder.

  “She’s okay,” Valentine reassured him. “She said she didn’t want me to say anything. Said her mate would kill them. She was exaggerating, right?”

  Jake gave her a searching look. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  “Are all shifters so possessive of their… mates?”

  “Yes,” he replied simply. “Most can handle it, and control themselves though.”

  He was thinking of his Alpha, and Don, the pack tracker. Both were strong wolves, but they were both capable of controlling their jealousies where their mates were concerned. Others, like Cain, Hans – the pack lunatic - and even his Beta couldn’t boast that.

  “But not Cain?” she asked in interest.

  “No, I wouldn’t put him in that category.”

  “Gee, sounds like the perfect guy to be a deputy,” Valentine muttered sarcastically.

  Jake knit his brows together, feeling solidarity to his deputy and pack mate. “Don’t judge him too harshly. All males shifters can be pretty brutal when it comes to protecting their females.” Although even he did think that Cain took it to extreme lengths now and again.

  “Even you?”

  His wolf howled out a yes. “I wouldn’t have thought so before…”

  “Before?”

  He answered her with a smile. She didn’t need to know about plan B. “You wanted to talk to me?”

  Valentine let out a long breath. “Yeah, can we talk in private?”

  Jake laced his fingers with hers. “Sure, let’s go out to my car.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  A few hours later Val was sitting in Jake’s car, bored out of her mind. She grabbed the radio. “What’s happening?”

  She could almost hear Jake’s eye roll. “Nothing, keep quiet.”

  Val told him about her work concerns and Jake decided the best thing to do would be to catch some of the vandals in the act, interrogate them and prove that Glenn or maybe even Conrad hired them to tank the hotel project. Jake suspected that Glenn/Conrad had hired the disreputable construction workers purposefully to ruin the project, so they could blame it on the local pack and run off with the money. Jake was pissed about them trying to push the blame onto the pack, but his main concern was making sure that Val didn’t get arrested for attempted fraud.

  So, now Jake and various pack mates were hidden around the construction site waiting hopefully to catch the vandals in the act. Val had wanted to be out there too, but Jake put his foot down. He had relented and allowed her to remain in his car, parked far enough away to allow him to feel comfortable but close enough that she didn’t feel completely out of the loop, and he had made the mistake of giving her a radio.

  “I’m so bored,” she complained.

  “I know but keep quiet; the radio’s for emergency only,” murmured Jake.

  Val huffed and puffed. “Well, when can I use it?”

  “If you think you’re in danger. Don’t hesitate to use it then. I don’t like you being out here alone.”

  “I could come out there and wait with you, and then I wouldn’t want to talk,” she said, hopefully.

  The radio was silent for a few beats before she heard him use a curse word, which if she were more of a lady would make her blush. “Okay, fine, talk,” he grunted.

  Goody, she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. “Tell me something no one knows about you.”

  “No one?”

  Val smirked. “Okay, something no one but maybe your mother knows.”

  He breathed into the radio. “My middle name is Merlin, although I doubt my mother knows that.”

  “Merlin?” she repeated incredulously.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, Merlin. My dad was in a band when he was in high school called Merlin.”

  “Aww, that’s kind of sweet.”

  Jake snorted. “I think it was more like it was a constant reminder that he had to give up doing things like that when he had me. He lost his freedom when I was born. I think he always had dreams of being a rock star.”

  She felt a strangle hold on her heart as well as a flare of fury. Her poor wolf, feeling guilty over a parent’s pathetic sense of unfulfilled dreams. “Jake I…”

  “Tell me something no one knows about you,” he interrupted gently.

  She wanted to probe him more, but maybe a radio conversation in the middle of the night wasn’t the way to go. “Okay, but I’m not sure I can top Merlin.”

  “Yeah, it is a doozy,” he admitted in an amused voice.

  “Well, I’m not afraid of a challenge. Okay, so a secret, hmmm…”

  She tapped her chin, rejecting numerous things that were more than a little shameful. No one needed to know about the time one of the girls at school poured apple juice in her backpack, so it dripped onto the ground and made it look like she was peeing herself.

  She snapped her fingers. “Got it, it’s not exactly a secret, but no one ever realizes it because I cover it well, but I have big ears. They’re just always hidden by my hair.”

  “Sweetheart, that’s a pitiful secret, I’ve seen your ears and they are fine.”

  Val tut-tutted. “Oh, you poor, deluded, lust-filled fool. My ears put Dumbo’s to shame.”

  He chuckled. “Stop saying that and stop making me laugh, I’m trying to be quiet. I am going to take you back to my house tonight, and I am going to kiss every inch of your ears and show you how gorgeous they are.”

  Oh, yes, as much as she hated her ears that really did sound nice. “Well, if you’re kissing every inch of my ears it is going to take you all night, so perhaps we ought to give up and leave now.”

  “I thought you wanted to make sure you weren’t on the hook for this fraud,” he said reprovingly.

  “Well, maybe it would be worth it,” she murmured as she traced her ear with her finger. Maybe they weren’t so bad, after all.

  “Yeah, I suppose I could visit you in prison, they probably have conjugal visits.”

  There was that. She pouted and leaned back in her seat. “Fair point, I’m far too pretty for prison.”

  “Too pretty by far… I think someone’s coming.”

  She felt a buzz of excitement. “Really, I’ll…”

  “Stay in the car,” he growled.

  “But Jake… Jake?”

  Val was met by silence. Oh lord, what was happening? She couldn’t hear or see anything; she was too far away from all the action.

  She tried to take her mind off what was happening – or at least what she assumed was happening. She checked her phone, checked her make-up, counted all the change in her purse, reorganized all her credit and store cards into alphabetical order… and it took all of two minutes.

  She tried to get hold of Jake on the radio again. Oh, why wouldn’t he reply? Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe he was injured! Her chest tightened. What if he was lying on the ground bleeding to death? Oh, no, no, no, no, no! She h
ad to go to him. Right that very second!

  Val tore out of the car and started running toward the site. Wisely, or perhaps unwisely, Jake hadn’t left her the keys. It wasn’t certain as to whether that was a good thing or not. Jake himself had agonized over the decision, realizing there were pros and cons on both sides of the arguments. She had promised not to leave the car… guess that was a promise she had now broken. Well, screw it, making sure the man she loved was safe was worth it!

  Progress was slow in her three and a half inch heels. Dang, why had she worn them? Sure they made her slightly chubby legs look good… oh yeah, that was why. Well, when she dressed that morning if she had known she was going to spend the night running around the woods she would have worn sneakers!

  She heard yells, crashes and the howls of wolves. Jake!

  She sped up as quickly as she could and careened into a hard body running in the opposite direction. With a yelp, she hurtled to the ground. Ouch! At least she landed on her padded ass.

  “You fucking bitch!” hollered the guy she ran into.

  He scrambled to his feet, and Val saw that it was Trip, the foreman. The one Jake had questioned for hassling one of his female pack mates. Although, with disheveled hair, torn clothes, and a nasty looking scratch on his arm, he was looking even worse for wear than usual.

  “You! This is your fault. Everything was fine until you arrived and started fucking that stupid wolf!” He viciously spat in her direction.

  Val watched him warily, as she stood up. That seemed a bit excessive. She really hadn’t done that much.

  Trip pulled out a knife and Val scowled at him. Dickhead. Oh, if only she had her spatula!

  She thought about trying to say something soothing, trying to talk him down, but a bigger part of her just wanted to pounce on him and rip his throat out. No mercy!

  “Let’s see how much your boyfriend likes you when I cut your face up,” he sneered.

  “Good job he likes me for my personality,” she quipped flippantly.

  His eyes bulged. “Stupid whore!”

  He made a clumsy lunge and her and Val, heels and all, dodged him and kicked him in the butt. He howled in fury and turned back only to run right into her fist.

  His jaw made a disturbing cracking and squelching noise. A look of disbelief shot through his eyes before they rolled into the back of his head, and he crumpled to the ground.

  Val stood over him; her breaths came out in short stabs. What the frick just happened? It had all been so fast. One minute she was all worried about Jake and the next she was tussling with a guy almost twice her size. Yeesh, she could have been killed!

  Her mind babbled incoherently. How had she done this? This was so unlike her. She wasn’t the type of woman to taunt a knife-wielding crazy man. Maybe she really was getting a Wonder Woman complex. Well, clearly those college self-defense classes had been well worth it.

  Gingerly, she toed Trip. He was out cold. Jeez. Should she kick him while she had the chance?

  “Valentine? Valentine!”

  “Jake! Over here.”

  Seconds later her wolf came crashing toward her; his eyes blazed amber and his body trembled as he took in the sight before him. He stilled for a second, unbelievable rage passing over his hard face. Val actually did quiver a little at his expression. He strode toward her and grasped her arms.

  “Are you okay? Why did you get out of the car? What happened to him? Did he hurt you? Did he fucking touch you?”

  She reached up her hand and smoothed it over his cheek. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and groaned. “I’m fine. I was worried about you, so I came to find you and that’s when I ran into this dreamboat.”

  Val looked down and kicked Trip, eliciting a small grunt.

  Jake huffed. “Some of the construction workers turned up at the site; they were planning on burning down the whole site. We had to stop them, and when I finally tried to get you on the radio… you wouldn’t answer.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He gave her an almost pained expression. “Sometimes you make me feel so… helpless.”

  Her fingers traced his frown lines. “No, I don’t mean to.”

  “If anything happened to you… I don’t…” his voice cracked.

  Val stepped closer to him and rubbed herself against his chest. Hers, all hers.

  “I feel the same, that’s why I left the car.”

  He looked down at the unconscious body of Trip and gave him a hard kick. “You really knocked him out?” Was that a hint of admiration in his voice?

  She let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I didn’t know I had it in me. I mean, I took some self-defense classes, but mostly they focused on kicking men in the crotch.”

  Jake sniffed the air. “You’re hurt.”

  He clasped her hand – her punching hand – and inspected it. Actually, come to think of it, it did hurt. A few drops of blood seeped around her ring. Aww, her mother’s ring! That fool crushed it when he ran into her fist. It was now misshapen and the sapphire stone had cut into her skin.

  Val felt a tear slip down her cheek. “It was my mom’s ring,” she sniffled.

  She didn’t want to break down; she didn’t want him to see her cry, but she couldn’t help herself. The rush of adrenaline was wearing off, and she was left with confusion and lingering fear over her confrontation with Trip. Cripes, he really could have hurt her!

  Jake kissed her knuckles. “I’m sorry, tiger, but I think it will have to be cut off your finger.”

  “Oh.” The tears really started falling. She felt a disdainful grunt inside her, but she could care less. It had been a long day!

  “Perhaps the setting of the ring can be saved and made into a new one. I think one of my pack mates, Jimmy could help you. I’m told he makes jewelry.”

  She blinked at him through tears. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, we’ll talk to him tomorrow. For now, let’s get you out of here and try to get this ring off. It looks painful.”

  “Only slightly,” she admitted shyly.

  Hmmm, he was so sexy when he was all concerned and mad. She rubbed her hands up and down his chest as she felt warmth flooding her core. Maybe they should go back to his car, or maybe just over to that tree…

  Ugh, her emotions were all over the place. Brave, angry, scared, happy and now horny? She was like the seven dwarfs rolled into one!

  She needed to take her mind off her very inconvenient sexual urges. “What happened back at the site?”

  Jake pursed his lips like he was bothered by the fact that she wanted to focus on that instead of her perceived injuries. Honestly, physically, she was fine. A tiny cut on her finger was nothing, and even though she scraped her knees after being knocked down, she didn’t even have any cuts down there. She’d always been proud of the fact that she was quite a fast healer.

  She looked at him expectantly until he finally caved.

  “Like I said, a number of your workers turned up with cans of gasoline. As soon as we saw what they were trying to do, we grabbed them. Some, like this fuckwit,” Jake sneered at and kicked the man on the ground, “made a run for it, and we had to round them up. I wouldn’t have been quite so relaxed about the whole thing if I knew you were running around. I thought you were safe.”

  Ugh, it didn’t appear like he was going to let go of this anytime soon.

  “I was worried about you,” she muttered.

  Jake grunted. “I’m pissed that you might have gotten hurt, but part of me is actually pleased that you were worried about me.”

  Val giggled. “You’re a complicated little wolf, aren’t you?”

  “Less of the little,” he rumbled running his hands up and down her back and gently massaging her ass.

  He looked up sharply and snarled. Val stiffened as she heard people approaching. She tried to turn around to see who it was, but Jake just snuggled her closer against his chest.

  “Do we have them all?” demanded Jake, roughly.

  “Yeah, he’s th
e last of them. Step aside, Mal and I will get him to my truck.”

  Jake nodded and maneuvered her to the side. She caught sight of the two men – or rather, wolf shifters – hefting Trip to his feet.

  One was very young, but so tall, even taller than Jake, and had a mop of blonde hair. The other was a bit smaller but, like Jake, he exuded power, and although his face was a little more boyish than Jake’s, he was all business.

  The tall blonde mop grinned at Val and Jake groaned.

  “Valentine, this is Mal,” he ground out nodding at the mop, “and this is Acksel.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she murmured.

  They both returned the sentiment. Acksel looked between Jake and Val. “We’re taking them back to the station. You coming?”

  “Yeah, I’m coming,” replied Jake.

  “We both are,” corrected Val.

  Jake scowled at her for a moment. She raised her eyebrows at him. Hey, she had a right to know what was happening. After all, it was her future that was at stake. She needed to know whether or not she needed to practice her shiv making skills.

  Finally, he relented. “Yeah, we both are.”

  *

  A few hours later, Val was tired and ready for bed. She sank back into Jake’s desk chair and curled her legs under her.

  She rubbed her finger and fought back the sob that wanted to escape. It was just a ring; it didn’t matter really. Jake had found some bolt cutters and managed to cut the ring off. Her finger hurt like a bitch now. It was all itchy, red and swollen. In fact, her whole body ached. She just wanted to get to a bed and fall asleep.

  Jake and his deputies had interviewed all the men caught trying to burn down the hotel – or at least what little progress they had made on the hotel. Altogether there were ten men and they were all from the construction crew. Apparently they didn’t hold up well under interrogation. Yes, it seems that Glenn hired them ostensibly to build the hotel – even though very few of them had ever done construction in their lives – but their main purpose was to cause damage to the property so that the project would be shut down. Jake liaised with the Ursa PD, and they were going to investigate what was happening on their end. Starting with trying to track down Glenn. As for the men they caught, they would be dealt with by Alexandria PD. A few of them were wanted for skipping bail anyway.