Big Bad Bite (28 page)

The cab stopped in the circle driveway of a
hotel, and Jenna got out of the car. A second cab pulled up behind
theirs and she watched the men depart from their vehicle, as well.
It took exactly two seconds for her brother to become a pain in her
ass again.

“Look at that, Sleeping Beauty woke up. Did
Prince Charming give you a kiss?”

“It was Prince Phillip dumbass, and no, I
didn’t get a kiss. But if you continue to annoy me, I’ll give you a
kick in the head and you’ll be dreaming about your own kiss from
Phillip.”

“Who the hell is Phillip? What are you
talking about, you crazy woman?”

“Prince Phillip was Sleeping Beauty’s prince;
Prince Charming was Snow White’s prince. Get your fairy tales
straight.”

The four men stared at her as if she had
morphed into a giant pink elephant doped up on speed, presumably
broken out of its circus and currently walking down the street
without a care in the world. They didn’t know whether to take
pictures and laugh at her, or run for safety.

“What?”

Alec answered her, “You do know that it’s
disturbing that you know all that, right? We thought you were some
go hard, take no prisoners,
don’t-look-at-me-or-I’ll-bust-a-cap-in-your-ass, warrior.”

She balled her hands up by her hips and
barked in annoyance, “Well I wasn’t raised on G.I. Joes you know!
Mama raised me on princesses and fairy tales, and I just happened
to end up liking the swords better than the shoes in the stories.
Okay?”

Jenna was met with more confused staring.
Throwing her hands in the air in a show of womanly frustration, she
marched away from the four large idiots and into the hotel. They
were going to have to take care of this little mission fast, or she
was going to end up in some god forsaken German prison for a
quadruple homicide. That would sincerely suck since she didn’t know
a lick of German.

Jenna sat on the couch in the sitting area of
the hotel room her Uncle and brother would be staying in, across
the hall from her own smaller suite, and watched as Owen walked out
the door, followed by a fidgety Alec and a decidedly confused
looking Adam. She couldn’t help but feel a little shitty at the
lingering glance Adam gave her before he closed the door and left
her alone with her brother. The way she’d given him the cold
shoulder in the cab had the alpha trying to figure out her rapid
change of mood, but she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with answers
about it. How could she tell him all of her doubts without
inadvertently piling more on? If she explained to Adam that she was
scared he was putting on some elaborate act to woo her into being
his mate, one of two things would happen. Either his feelings would
get hurt that she would think that poorly of him, or he would add
onto the production she feared he was playing to reassure her that
he had only the purest of intentions about them. Jenna wasn’t sure
which outcome would hurt her more. Realizing it was all an act, or
the look he would get on his face if she did, in fact, hurt his
feelings.

Her brother walked out of the bathroom into
the sitting area, and plopped down into a chair that was
catty-cornered to the couch she sat on. Oblivious to his sister’s
foul mood, he turned on the television and scrolled through the
premium cable channels until he found a music station that played
American rock music. The pumping chords of Halestorm’s Mz Hyde
filtered through the speakers before he set the remote back on the
table. Leaning forward in his chair so that his arms were resting
on his thighs, he shot her a quizzical look.

“What crawled up your ass and died?”

Jenna sputtered, “What the fuck are you
talking about?”

“You’re giving Adam the cold shoulder. I
seriously doubt he did anything to earn the frigid bitch act since
he’s been following you around like a lost little puppy. So what’s
your problem? You on the rag or something?”

“You’re an asshole!”

“No, I’m real and right now you’re a bitch.
Which isn’t what I’ve learned to expect from you, so what
gives?”

“Is this you trying to be all loving brother?
Cause if it is, you suck at it.”

“Get your panties out of a wad and tell me
what’s bugging you, Sis. On the plane, you two were all cuddled up
like some sickening display of Mr. and Mrs. Perfect. Next time I
see you, you’re awake and treating Adam like he cleaned out your
bank account and took off for Jamaica. So I’ll ask again, what
gives? Did he do something? Do I need to handle him?”

Jenna suddenly saw past her brother’s insults
to the underlying reason he was being so dickish. He undoubtedly
was playing the brother card. He somehow thought Adam had done
something to piss her off or hurt her, and he was ready to defend
his older sister as if she were some weak thing who couldn’t beat
the shit out of, or put a bullet in, anyone who crossed her. It was
kind of sweet, in an extremely annoying way.

“I don’t know that he’s done anything wrong,
Logan.”

“Then what the hell is your problem?”

She shrugged her shoulders and adverted her
face so Logan could no longer see it. “I don’t know what to say. He
didn’t do anything that I know of. I’m just not use to this,” she
circled her hand in the air. “You know this… couple stuff.
Relationship crap. I’ve never had one, and everything seems to be
moving so fast with Adam, but on the other hand, I know it’s not
moving nearly as fast as he would like it too. I don’t know how to
trust any of it.”

She abruptly stopped there, remembering that
the only person who knew that she was aware of the severity of
Adam’s obsession was his sister, Amy. Jenna had to be careful not
to give away that she understood more than she’d been letting on.
In another two seconds, she might have blurted out all of her fears
about Adam possibly faking his affection or interest in her to save
his own life. She didn’t think Logan was observant enough to fill
in the blank spaces she’d left in her explanation to him though.
She cut her eyes in her brother’s direction to see he was regarding
her with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. She could practically see
the wheels turning in his head as he processed what she said. But
was he putting together what she hadn’t said? He was only twenty,
so he couldn’t possibly be all that perceptive, could he?

“So what’s really your problem? Are you
scared to have a relationship with Adam? If that’s the case, you’re
worrying for nothing. I’ve known Adam for years since I’m always
with Uncle Owen. He’s one of the most standup guys I’ve ever met,
and Uncle Owen is always bragging about him being one of his best
Alphas despite what he’s had to overcome growing up. So that
shouldn’t be what’s bothering you. Is it that you’re scared this is
moving too fast between the two of you? That I could understand if
I were in your shoes. You haven’t exactly been raised around a
pack, and you have no idea how male shifters can be. Which on a
good day, are obnoxiously determined to obtain whatever it is they
want, and crazy possessive of it once they have it. Most of the
time they don’t care what they have to do to get it, just as long
as the outcome is in their favor.”

He stopped talking when he saw her flinch at
his last comment. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re afraid he’ll do
anything he needs to get you. Why would that bother you that he’s
so driven to have you?”

Jenna didn’t answer. She’d already given too
much away and she hadn’t even opened her mouth to do it. So she sat
there on the couch in silence, looking straight ahead at nothing
particular, and listened to the music switch to a new band she’d
never heard of as the singer started growling through the speakers
about putting his favorite girl on her back. That image didn’t
exactly help her state of mind.

Logan’s voice cut through her distracted
thoughts, “I guess if I were you, living such a sheltered life as
you have, I might not understand Adam’s intentions. So maybe it
wouldn’t make sense to me how he is pursuing this relationship as
if he’s in a race, and I’m the ultimate trophy. I might question
his motives. Does he honestly want me for me? How can he when he
barely knows me? Or does he only want me because of something he
can gain from me, like say, Pack Master Davies approval. Maybe a
rise in status since he would be mated to the Pack Master’s
niece.”

Damn. Jenna hadn’t even thought of that.
Suddenly her already heavy shoulders, weighed down by her confusion
and doubts, felt so heavy that she wondered if her back could break
from the imaginary strain. Not to mention, it sucked that her
little brother was possibly a hell of a lot more perceptive than
she’d thought.

“You’d be wrong.” Logan’s statement brought
her attention back to him. “He wouldn’t use you Jenna. It’s not in
his character. He’d never hurt someone else to gain anything,
especially something like status.”

Without thinking she blurted, “How do you
know? How do you know he wouldn’t use me, do what he had to do to
save himself?”

The second the words were out, and Logan’s
face flashed in surprise, she could have kicked herself. So much
for keeping her knowledge under wraps.

“So, that’s what you’re worried about? Adam’s
obsession? I didn’t think you understood the ramifications of it.
You certainly haven’t acted as if you’ve known about what he has
been going through. Because to be blunt, knowing that you
comprehended this whole time what’s at stake, and you are still
acting this way towards him, well that means you’re a much shittier
person than I could have ever dreamed of. Kind of makes you a
heartless bitch.”

Ouch. Talk about being put in her place.

Feeling as if she had to defend herself a
little she said, “I don’t think I’m a heartless bitch, Logan. I
think I’m a woman who is trying her best to understand this new
world around her. Maybe I’m not doing the best job of it, but I
would never intentionally hurt anyone either.” Looking down to her
lap, she idly traced circles on the denim encasing her thighs. “I
like Adam. More than I could have ever imagined was possible at
this point. That doesn’t mean I know how to trust someone not to
hurt me when all I’ve ever been taught was that
Others
would
hurt me if they ever knew what I was. It’s hard to pull my mind out
of that self-protective mode. On one hand, it would be stupid to
blindly trust him. On the other hand, part of me wants so badly to
know that I can trust him like that. Can’t you put yourself in my
shoes long enough to see that? I don’t want to hurt Adam, and I
sure as shit don’t want to cause him to go feral. I just want what
every woman wants. I want to be safe, and I want someone to love me
for me. Is that too much to ask?”

Logan got up out of his chair to close the
distance between the two of them, and sat on the couch next to her.
Throwing his arm around her shoulders in a reassuring embrace, he
nodded his head and said, “I get that. No one wants to be hurt.
Everyone wants to feel safe and loved by others. However, I can
promise you that Adam is not trying to lure you into his diabolical
grasp to save his own life. Anyone else, I would tell you to second
guess and triple guess their motives. Adam though,” he stopped
mid-sentence to shake his head, “I don’t think he could harm an
innocent fly. Now, if you crossed him somehow, hell yeah. He’s a
scary motherfucker who wouldn’t blink an eye at retaliating on
someone who wronged him. But with the way he stares at you with
those infatuated puppy dog eyes… I’d say you’re as far as it can
get from being in danger from Adam. Maybe in danger of a good
boning-“

Jenna punched her brother in the arm he
quickly threw up to defend himself with while laughing at her
outrage. She kept playfully pummeling him until he promised never
to mention her and the word ‘boning’ in the same sentence again.
They settled down to listen to the riff of guitar music playing for
a moment before she said, “Tell me about our Dad. I never got to
meet him.”

The subtle scent of Logan’s pain reached her
as he plopped his head backwards to rest on the couch. “Dad was
awesome. When he wasn’t in his role as Pack Master, having to be
all serious, and in charge of everything, he was easy going and fun
to be around. He taught me how to play pool and hunt wild game.
What little free time he had he always spent with me doing
something. Camping, watching movies, trying to teach me how to
fight.” Logan barked a hoarse laugh, “He was one hell of a ladies’
man. Women were always in and out of our house. You and me, we’re
both bastards you know. He never mated. The man had no desire to be
shackled to a woman.”

Jenna smiled indulgently. “So you came by
your man whoring ways honestly then.”

Logan laughed. “Absolutely. Although, unlike
Dad, if I met the right one I would settle down. Every now and
then, I’d sneak up on him, and he’d be so deep in thought he
wouldn’t even notice me standing there. He usually looked so sad
when that happened. Like he had a million regrets. I never got the
courage to ask him what he was thinking about, but after he died,
and Uncle Owen told me about you, I put it together. He was
thinking about you. He must have missed you like crazy. It kind of
makes sense to me now when I look back because he would say shit at
the oddest times to me. Totally off the wall for the moment. We
could be taking a hike on one of our camping trips, or hitting the
balls around the table, and all of a sudden he would look at me and
say, ‘Never forget son, family is everything. Never forget your
family.’ I’d look at him like he was off his fucking rocker
whenever he did that, but now I realize he must have been thinking
of you. Torturing himself for staying away from you when he so
obviously wanted to be wherever you were.” His thoughts seem to
trail off as he said, “I wish you could have met him.”

After a pregnant pause, she whispered, “Me
too.”