The Librarian and the Wolf: (5 page)

Terri fiddled nervously with the plastic tablecloth.  “
I enjoy being with him but I'm at an age where I'm ready to settle down now.”

Liv
paused slightly.  “And Mal doesn't want that?”

Terri exhaled sadly.  “
He's 19 of course he doesn't.”

The two women exchanged troubled looks
. Rosalee cleared her throat.  “Have you asked him?”

“
We'll not directly no, but I can tell...”

“
How?”  Demanded Rosalee.

Terri threw up her hands.  “
All we do is have sex,” she said in exasperation, “we're not really dating. There's no future in that.”

Liv
pursed her lips.  “It doesn’t look that way from here, he's practically been panting after you like a love sick pup all night.”

Rosalee
raised an eyebrow and gestured to her right.  “Still is in fact.”

Terri surreptitiously looked over her shoulder to see Mal stood wit
h his friends, Casey, James or Jimmy perhaps, Hunter and a few others she didn't know. The young wolves were talking and joking raucously.

A pretty young wolf
called Felicity walked by and the men leered at her and made suggestive comments.  She gave them a one fingered salute and carried on walking.  They roared with laughter.  Mal sipped at a soda and half-heartedly laughed with them, but his face was serious and was fixed in her direction. He lit up when he saw her looking and winked.

She spun her attention back to
Rosalee and Liv.  “That... that doesn't mean anything, men are always nice when they're after sex” she said bitterly.  “And there’s the age difference... it’s too much.  A couple of years would be okay, but nine is too much.”

Rosalee
pouted.  “Terri, it’s smaller than the difference between Liv and Alec.”

Liv
said nothing, smiling serenely.

Terri stammered out an apology.  “I... I’m sorry
Liv, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“
It’s fine, I don’t take offence.  If it bothers other people that’s their problem because it doesn’t bother me.”

“It doesn’t bother me I just think it’s different for me and Mal.  Did you... umm, ever
have a problem with the age difference?”

Liv
shrugged.  “Not really, neither of us really minded the age difference the problem was we worried that each other minded.  Once we actually talked to each other and realised the truth it wasn’t an issue.”

“I just think people are laughing at us, that they think I’m a cradle robber.”

“Who says that?”  Demanded Rosalee sternly.  “Whoever it is you leave them to me!”

“Well... no one has said it out loud.” 
Rosalee looked at her in disbelief.  “But I know that’s what they’re thinking.”

At that moment they were joined by a disgruntled Mac
who was staring daggers at a wolf called Luke.  After a few seconds he huffed and marched away.

Rosalee
continued as if Mac hadn’t interrupted them.  “If it is just about sex between you two why did he introduce you to his parents? I'm assuming you didn't ask to be introduced.”

“
No it was a complete shock, he gave me no warning.”

“Well
if he wasn't serious he wouldn't have done that.”  Mac warmed up to the topic quickly. “He's never been serious about a girl.  Ellie had to practically beg and bribe him to meet his last girlfriend, and god how she wished she hadn't.  Darcy was just enough to put anyone off...”

A wave of jealously washed through
Terri. Tall, blonde, young Darcy. She forced herself to ignore it.

“
Look I can't see that it matters, there's no future anyway. One day Mal will want to find his true mate. One day he'll leave me so it's better we end it now before it does get serious.”

The women exchanged worried looks
. 
Why did they care so much?
  Thankfully before the women could say anything else the Alpha Adam called for hush.

*

Adam welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming.   He informed the gathering of his wedding date, set to take place a couple of days before Christmas.  Everyone cheered and clapped, Rosalee beamed.

He went on to thank everyone for the food, help setting up the tables,
yada yada yada.  Mal wasn’t listening.  Terri looked troubled.  What had those women said to upset her?  He wanted to storm over there and demand answers.  He couldn’t imagine that would go over well with his Alpha, or his Beta.

He tried to catch her gaze
but she was fixated on her hands, which twisted nervously in her lap.  She’d seemed fine earlier but now he could sense the unease rolling off her.  Maybe she really was just unwell.  She looked even paler than she had earlier.  He noticed her curves were a little less full, she’d lost a bit of weight since he’d left town for his trip.

He should make an appointment for her to visit the doctor.  Despite what she said
she wasn’t her usual vibrant self and he couldn’t stand her to be in any pain.

There was
more clapping and a few cheers.  The speech must be over.  Tables were being moved to make room for dancing, and torches were being lit as the sky darkened.  He went to help.  Once done the band fired up and the boldest of the pack dragged reluctant partners onto the makeshift dance floor as the band threw themselves into a country rock song.

Where was Terri?
   He looked round wildly. 
Fuck!
 
Where had she gone?
  He pushed past several dancing couples, ignoring their loud protests.  His wolf howled at him, he had lost their mate. 
Find her, find her, find her! 
He ran past several people, almost knocking over Mrs Martin.  His heart pounded wildly.

He caught a whiff of her scent and...
yes found her!  She was talking to Alec and Jake Foreman, Alec was the town Sheriff and Jake, like Mac, was one of his Deputies.  Jake was dressed in uniform. 
What were those males doing surrounding his mate?

Mal rushed over and
pulled her back against, his arms round her waist. 
Mine!
  She squeaked at his sudden embrace.  “What’s going on?”  Demanded Mal.

Alec w
as unfazed by his behaviour but Jake scowled at him.  Terri fought to disentangle herself from him.  He didn’t budge.

Adam nodded at Jake who coughed and explained that a neighbour of Terri’s had
reported seeing someone hanging around her front door but had run away when the neighbour turned on their porch light.  Gabe North, another Deputy, had stopped by to check it out.  “He found three dead crows nailed to the front door.  There was cow blood smeared all over the door.”

Terri paled
.  “Who would do that?”

“Gabe’s taken prints but there were no obvious ones in the blood so th
e guy probably wore gloves.  We couldn’t make out any scents, the blood masked everything.”

Alec looked between Mal and Terri.  “It might just be kids playing a prank
.  Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against you?”

Terri laughed flatly.  “People generally
don’t get that upset over overdue book fines.”

None of the men laughed with her.

“I’ll step up the patrols round your area.  But it’s probably best that you stay with someone or someone stays with you.”  Alec looked at Mal, much to Terri’s annoyance.

“Did this guy get in the house?”  She asked peevishly.

“No but...”

“Then I’m not worried, you’re right it’s probably just kids being silly.
  Am I okay to go home?”

Jake answered.  “
Sure.  Gabe took the birds away and tried to clean the blood, but it’s still a mess. You probably need to repaint the whole door.”

“We’ll let you know if anything turns up
, just take care.”  Again Alec gave Mal a significant look. 
What is with the looks?

“You need a ride home ma’am?” 
Asked Jake.

“No she doesn’t” said Mal vehemently.

Jake was going to argue but Alec shook his head.  The Sheriff nodded to Mal and wordlessly led his Deputy away.

Mal kissed the top of her head
.  “I’m sorry baby, you sure you’re okay?”

Truth
be told she didn’t know.  It was an odd thing to have happened.  She felt a little scared that someone had targeted her but also a little disconnected by the fact that it was probably just random.  “I guess so, I kind of just want to see how bad the damage is.”

“Okay baby.”  He turned her round and hugged her closely.
  She let the tension and worry seep from her body and snuggled into his embrace

*

The door looked like a crime scene.  A blood bath of a crime scene.  The amount of blood smeared over her door was astounding.  A sob caught in her throat.  She could barely tell it had once been green.

Mal dragged her into her cottage gingerly avoiding touching the blood.  The strong coppery smell assaulted his nose.
  He shut the door behind them and firmly locked it.

“I need to...”

“No.”

“No?”  She pulled her hand out of his
and put her hands on her hips, frowning up at him.

“You’re tired, you’re already not feeling well
and it’s dark.  Tomorrow I will repaint your door.  But for now you need to rest.”

She opened her mouth to argue but stopped when he took her face in his hands, he stroked his thumbs over her cheeks.
  “Please, let’s go to bed.”

She nodded
and didn’t even say a word as he lifted her and carried her upstairs.  He tenderly undressed her and lay her in bed naked, pulling the covers over her.  He quickly followed suit, sliding in behind her.  His flesh was warm and soothing and she felt a small jerk of excitement.  He put his arm around her, his hand resting lightly on her stomach.

He kissed her neck.  “
Go to sleep baby, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She closed her eyes and was dead to the world.

Chapter Four

15
th
October

Terri blinked awake.
  She licked her lips.  She felt completely rested.  She’d slept better than... well better than she could ever remember.

She remembered the previous night and groaned. 
Her door! 
Someone had defiled her door.  Then Mal had spent the night.  Speaking of which...  Holding her breath she cautiously spread her leg out across the bed searching for him.  She was hit by acute disappointment.  He wasn’t there.  He said he would be and he wasn’t.

She
shook her head.  No time to wallow in self pity about Mal.  Instead she would wallow in self pity about some thoughtless a-hole ruining her door.  She needed to buy some paint and sort out her door. 
Pronto
. 

Why me?  She thought glumly.
  She turned over and pulling the pillow over her head.

“
That bad baby?”  She sat up in a flash.  He was stood at her bedroom door carrying a tray.  He was only wearing his jeans, the top button was undone.  His blonde chest hair practically formed an arrow on his stomach pointing directly down to an already prominent bulge.  Heat flooded her.

His eyes were wide
, and quickly turned amber with lust.  When she had sat up the covers pooled at her waist and her breasts were on display.  The large round mounds were slightly flushed and her light brown nipples hardened.  She noticed and covered herself.
Shame he thought
.

He brought over the tray and placed it on the bed
side table.  There was coffee, juice, toast and muffins.  He slipped out of his jeans and joined her in bed.  Her eyes were drawn to his enormous erection, it was practically bobbing and waving at her.  He leaned over and kissed her, his hand tangled with her hair.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when
you woke up,” he tugged on a lock of hair twisting it round his fingers. “I was making us breakfast.  Forgive me?”  He gave her the sad puppy dog eyes and she giggled and kissed him in answer.

“What would you like?”

“Mmmm, juice and a muffin please.”

They ate and drank in silence for a few minutes.
  Again she wasn’t feeling very hungry but the blueberry muffin was
divine. 
She ate the whole thing without realising. 

“
That muffin was lovely, where did you get it?  I know you didn’t find it in my kitchen.”

He finished devouring his third muffin. 
“My mom.  I asked my dad to bring over some paint for your door this morning, my mom sent muffins and juice with him.”

“
That was so nice of her... aww crap!”

“What?!”
  He looked at her anxiously.

“I promised her I’d speak to her before I left the party last night, I completely forgot.”

He relaxed and leaned back against her head board.  “Don’t worry about it, she said she’d catch up with you later.  I uh, hope you don’t mind I gave her your phone number.”

“Of course not, she lovely.”

“Yep, just like me.”

She snickered.  “Yeah of course punk, whatever you say.”

He huffed and she turned his face towards her. 
So pretty
.  She stroked his stubbly chin.  Slowly he placed kisses on her forehead, eyebrows, cheeks and finally lips.

She sighed and he kissed
her soundly.  Desire and need hit her like a tidal wave. Without thinking she reached down and took his shaft in her small hand.  She gripped him tightly and started to stroke him.

A violent shudder racked his body.  Without breaking the kiss she was flat on her back and pinned beneath him. 
He pushed a finger inside her tight channel and began twirling it around.

He frowned.  “I don’t like you calling me punk.  It reminds me of my parents, or even worse Mrs Martin.”

“Is Mrs Martin a bit of a turn off for you?”  She asked evilly between little pants.

“
Please, nothing could turn me off you.”  He reached his mouth down to kiss her breasts.  He tugged on her nipples with his teeth and pushed another finger inside her.  ”But how about we come up with another nickname for you to call me?”

“
Such as?”  Her hips squirmed.

“Stallion, sex machine,
tripod...”

“
Fido, rover, furball...”  She giggled but gasped as quickly he removed his fingers and replaced them with his shaft.

She licked her lips and he groaned as
he twitched inside her.  She loved feeling him inside her.  She loved the sensation of being filled by him completely.  Part of her wanted to stay this way forever.  But the overriding half of her was already seeking release.  She needed him to move, to stroke into her and fill her again.  “Move.”

He pulled out of her
and slid back into her over and over, telling her she was beautiful, telling her she was perfect, calling for her to come, to give herself to him, until she screamed his name and shattered into a million pieces.

*

Mal trotted back to his house. He was a large grey wolf with tawny flecks on his haunches and muzzle.  It had been raining lightly all morning. He hated rain. He leapt up onto the porch and shook out his fur.  He'd patrolled the perimeter all morning and his fur was dripping.

N
ot even the rain was enough to put a dent in his cheerful mood. Things were going well with his mate, the connection he'd shared with her that morning still sent thrills through him. 

He’d been a little unsure about leaving her that morning
but she was adamant that the dead birds were just teenagers playing a prank, and hadn’t seemed concerned at all.  Besides he had spoken to Alec, who had readily agreed that a Deputy would follow her when she drove to and from work.  At work being in a public place wouldn’t be an issue, and at home Mal intended to stay with her.

He shimmered and shifted back to human. He pu
lled his clothes out of his family’s box; just about every wolf household had a dedicated box outside their house to keep their clothes, key and phones in when they shifted. He was thankful his mother had put a towel in there for him today.

He dried off and pulled on
his jeans and t shirt. He wondered what Terri was doing. She was probably at work, he pictured her sat at her desk.  She'd probably be wearing one of her plain skirts that rode up showing an expanse of her luscious legs as she crossed and uncrossed them. She'd be wearing one of her button up shirts that bunched and gaped slightly round her ripe breasts.  He pictured the way she bit her lip when she concentrated... He felt his sex stir. 

He should go see her, see i
f she can take a long lunch...

His phone rang shrilly. He didn't recognise the number, although
he had eight missed calls from it.

He
pushed answer. "Yeah?"

"Mal?"

"Rosalee?" He frowned, why was his Alpha’s mate calling him? Although he knew Terri was fond of her he had barely spoken more than a few words to Rosalee before.

"Where have you been?
”  She asked crossly.  “I've been calling you all morning.”

"Ou
t on patrol, what's up?"

She breathed in and out.
“Look I don't want to interfere, but I need to tell you something.”

Adam had been adamant that she not get involved, he
said it was up to the two of them to work it out.  He had forbidden her from saying anything. 
Yeah right
.

“
Last night when we were talking to Terri she kind of... well... she said she was thinking of breaking up with you.”

Mal and his wolf froze.
What? Why?
 

She waited a moment b
efore continuing, her words coming out in a rush.  “She kind of said that the age difference was too much, and that she was ready to settle down and you weren't. She thinks you're only interested in sex...”

Why would she think that?

“
I didn't tell you this to be mean, I told you so that you could hurry up and fix it before it's too late... We okay?”

He forced hims
elf to remain calm. His wolf whined.  "Yeah of course."

“
I like Terri a lot so don't screw this up she...” Rosalee bit her lip, she thought of the snippets of her past Terri had revealed. “She really deserves to be happy.” 

"Thank you
Rosalee."

He hung up and stared
at his phone.  He wanted to punch something.
Where were his damn brothers when he needed them?

He'd thought things were going so well.
No he was sure they were. So where was this doubt coming from?

Although
... he hadn't actually told her she was his mate yet. He grudgingly admitted she could be forgiven for not knowing he wanted to be with her long term.  He’d never talked about the future.  But then they’d only been together for six weeks, he hadn’t wanted to scare her away.  Humans generally moved more slowly than shifters.

He needed to make it clear to her what she meant to him.
 
That very moment, he needed to tell her
.

*

Mal strode into the library shaking the rain from his head, just like he would in wolf form.  To his displeasure he found the front desk occupied by the puma shifter Damian.

Damian didn’t like Mal.
  He made no bones about it.  Since he had started seeing Terri Mal had been in the library numerous times.  Damian considered him to be loud, uncouth and not good enough for Terri. 
Mal thought he should mind his own fucking business.

Mal suspected that Damian might have been interested in Terri.
  He’d seen them talking and discussing books a few times.  Charles Dickens did nothing for him so he zoned out the words.  But he couldn’t deny the animated looks that had passed between the two.  He couldn’t sense any signs of arousal though.  And when he casually mentioned Damian’s name Terri never showed any signs of interest. 
They must both really love books is all he could think.

His wolf paced his mind. 
Damian was about Terri’s age, and although smaller than himself Mal could grudgingly admit that a woman would consider Damian to be an attractive man. 
In the right light
.  Although he didn’t really think Terri was interested in the puma, Damian was still an unmated male and therefore a threat. 
Best not to dismiss him too lightly
.

“Where’s Terri?” 
Demanded Mal.

Damian looked him up
and down, focusing on the drips of rain.  “She’s busy.”  He growled.

“I want to speak to her.”

Damian’s jaw ticked.  “She can’t come to the front right now.  She’s busy.”

Mal huffed and tapped his fingers on the desk.
  Damian stared at him with ill concealed irritation.

“Why don’t I tell Terri you stopped by?”  Damian ground out.

Mal folded his arms.  “No, I’ll wait.”

“I don’t suppose you could wait somewhere else?”

Mal glared at him.  The two locked eyes, each refusing to look away.  Finally a customer called for Damian’s attention.  Stiffly and reluctantly Damian left the counter to help the lady find the library’s romance section.

Mal considered searching the library,
or even breaking down the door to the offices at the back, but then again she might not even be here.  On occasion Terri delivered books to older members of the town who had mobility issues.  Mal had seen her car outside but Terri often preferred to walk.

He rang her on his phone. 
The sounds of the ring tone he had programmed into her phone to play when he called reached his ears.  He smiled at the sounds of ‘You are the wilderness’ by Voxhaul Broadcast.  Chosen specifically for the song lyrics ‘there’s a wolf in my heart for you’. 
Enough said.

He reached over the desk and found Terri’s phone under
a sheaf of paper.  He clicked off his own phone and then without hesitation looked at her call history.  It was made up of incoming calls from her mother, sister, Liv, Rosalee and a couple from a red wolf shifter called Ed who Terri was old friends with (and who was besotted with a member of Mal’s own pack). 
Good
.  Although he frowned when he noticed that other than the call he just made there weren’t any from him. 
Did he really never call his mate?

Her phone vibrated
and began ringing in his hand. Mal clicked answer.  “Yeah?”

"Is this Te
rri’s phone?”  A male voice asked hesitantly. 

Mal narrowed his eyes. 
"Yeah, who are you?"

The voice became a little more certain, and somewhat arrogant. 
"Dr Gary Throp, her sister said to call and arrange a time for our date...”