Moonlight Kin 2: Aidan's Mate (Mid-Length Novel) (3 page)

Aidan pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. “I’m sure that a pack of werewolves can handle one human female. Don’t you?”

“Yes, sir. Of course, but it can’t hurt to keep an eye on her.” Robert left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Aidan shook his head. He had no doubt Robert would keep watch, waiting for the unsuspecting human to cross the line, so he could invoke Lycan law.

Robert would use any excuse to kill one of them. Luckily, he needed permission to do so and Aidan wasn’t likely to grant it.

He glanced at the phone on his desk. He should’ve called the authorities to have the woman removed for trespassing. That was the prudent thing to do, but Aidan couldn’t shake his curiosity.

What type of woman growled at a wolf?

The same type who was foolish enough to come here on their own.

Aidan stepped in front of the antique mirror on the wall to inspect his appearance. His unfashionably long black hair fell past his shoulders in desperate need of a cut. He checked his teeth to make sure there wasn’t raw meat stuck in them.

The move stretched and twisted the jagged white scar that ran across his chin, cutting into his otherwise polished appearance. He ran his finger over the thin line, admiring the memento he’d gotten the night he became Alpha.

Sharp amber eyes stared back from the mirror. In a few more days, they’d begin to glow and the façade he presented to the human world would disappear. His beast would rise and Aidan would be more instinct than man.

He smiled in anticipation of the full moon and the freedom it brought him. A knock sounded on the door as he turned away from the mirror. “Enter.”

Robert poked his head in. “I’ve put her in the parlor.”

Aidan gave him a curt nod, then walked out of the library across the marbled entry hall to the closed door on the opposite side. Aidan raised his hand to knock, stopping short in surprise, unsure why he found the need to do so in his own home.

He frowned and turned the knob. This was his house. He damn well didn’t need to announce himself. Aidan entered the parlor, his footsteps silent on the hardwood floor.

The woman’s back was to him, her slender frame partially obscured by the cascade of strawberry blond ringlets flowing over her narrow shoulders and down her back. A worn camouflage bag lay at her feet.

Aidan’s gaze locked onto her heart-shaped bottom as it swayed to some internal beat. Her long legs were bare where her brown walking shorts left off. Strong thighs, made for grasping a man’s waist, flexed with each side-to-side motion.

A wisp of bare abdomen peeked out beneath a short white cotton shirt. Aidan couldn’t see her breasts or her face, but it didn’t matter. She already had his undivided attention.

He inhaled to get a read on her before she had a chance to open her mouth and lie. The scent of lilacs in the spring slammed into him.

Aidan scanned the parlor to ensure that Robert hadn’t placed a bouquet in the room. He hadn’t.
She
was the source of the delicious aroma.

She bent over to get a better look at the photos in the curio cabinet. The move caused the material of her shorts to pull tight and cup her bottom. Aidan’s mouth watered and a rumble came from his chest.

The woman gasped and spun around, knocking the lamp off the end table in the process. She fumbled to catch the base, but missed.

Aidan rushed forward, using his preternatural speed, and caught the lamp before it shattered on the ground. When he looked up, their eyes met and the breath froze in his lungs.

The woman had the face of a road-weary angel, who’d taken flight one too many times. Wide ice-green eyes, the color of pale peridot, watched him in shocked silence. A strong chin supported full lips that dipped and swelled, all but begging to be kissed.

Those same luscious lips parted, breaking into a lopsided grin. That silly smile drew attention to the freckles dotting her high cheekbones and pert little nose. That same nose crinkled, as he continued his undisguised perusal.

“I’m Jenna.” She scrubbed her hand on the side of her shorts, then held it out for him to shake.

“Aidan.” For a second or two, he simply stared at her, unable to move, then ever so gently he clasped his big hand around her smaller one.

The jolt hit like a shock from a wet plug.

Aidan’s jaw clenched, as part of his body inconveniently stirred to life. He forced himself to release her, then pulled his shirt down to hide his perplexing condition. Aidan opened and closed his hand to dispel the remaining tingles.

A single curl dropped onto her forehead. Jenna tucked the stray behind her ear, exposing an angry purple slash that bisected part of her eyebrow. Although he could see no blood, the wound smelled fresh.

“Did you have an accident?” he asked. “My assistant was under the impression that your car broke down.”

“It did,” she said.
Truth. Lie.
No wonder his wolves were having such a difficult time reading her.

“The wound on your eyebrow says differently.” His voice chilled the air around them.

Jenna’s hand flew up to cover the area. Her smile faded. Her clear bright eyes dimmed, overshadowed by wariness.

Aidan sniffed, scenting her again.

Underneath the sweet aroma of lilacs a faint odor of a man’s cheap cologne lingered on her clothes. His thoughts took a dark turn. Was he the one who’d struck her?

A growl came from his throat. Aidan coughed twice to cover up the unbidden noise. The urge to shake her until she told him everything about this man besieged him. He clenched his fists at his sides to keep from acting on the impulse.

She’s human. A stranger. And most definitely not his responsibility.

Aidan fought to regain control of his turbulent emotions. His mind flashed to the hearing he’d attended on Damon’s behalf. His cousin had professed his love for the human woman, his bondmate. He’d said there was no denying the wolf once it made up its mind.

A buzzing noise sounded in Aidan’s head, before being drowned out by his own heart beat thundering in his chest.

Well it wasn’t going to happen to him, damn it
.
He was a Lycanian Elder. He had responsibilities. He didn’t think with his dick.

Aidan ignored the strange feelings of possession that had momentarily overwhelmed him. It was just the pull of the full moon and his instinctual need to protect everything in his territory. It had to be.

The fact the woman was human was coincidental.

* * * * *

Jenna had sensed his presence a moment before he’d cleared his throat. She’d turned too quickly and lost her balance, knocking an expensive looking lamp off the end table.

He’d moved with incredible speed, catching the fixture before it hit the floor.

When Jenna had looked up, an unusual pair of amber eyes had immediately captured her. The warm honey hue had heated and cooled as the man assessed her. His eye color was made all the more striking due to the contrast to his ebony hair. Jenna normally didn’t like guys with long hair, but for some reason the style suited him.

She’d actually felt her heart skip a beat. Jenna thought that kind of thing only happened in fiction, not real life. Of course, men that looked like him didn’t exist in real life either. Yet here he was, standing in front of her.

Never in all her years had she ever seen a man so devastatingly handsome. Nothing, not even the scar on his chin, could detract from his perfectly chiseled features. It was the one blemish that stood between him and the definition of pretty.

Her heart tripped again. Once could be dismissed as coincidence, but twice pointed to attraction.

Jenna had given up on being attracted to any man after her ex-boyfriend, Ethan Manning’s betrayal three months ago, so to find herself drawn to this man, this stranger was disconcerting.

Muscles rippled beneath his form-fitting shirt, as he lifted the lamp and gently set it back onto the table. Power oozed from his pores. Not the kind of power that Ethan flaunted, but a more subtle strength that he wielded like it was his birthright. At no point did he look away.

The room shrank around them, cocooning them in a fragile bubble that one wrong word would pop.

As he straightened to his full height, Jenna had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact. She’d murmured her name or at least she hoped that she had. He’d responded in kind.

Aidan…

It was the kind of name that swirled on your tongue and beared repeating. She swayed toward him, sucked in by the odd gravitational pull happening between them. The second Jenna noticed that she’d moved closer, her face flamed and she stepped back.

What was wrong with her? Had she learned nothing in the last few months?

Jenna swallowed hard. “Sorry about the lamp.”

He remained silent.

She fidgeted. “Thank you for letting me in to use your phone.”

Amusement lit his amber eyes. “You didn’t give me much choice.” He watched her closely.

Oops! She hadn’t, had she?

Jenna had already apologized. What else was there to say or do? “Sooner I use your phone, the sooner I’ll be out of your hair.”

Aidan pointed to the phone on the desk. “What about your car?” he asked.

Jenna tensed. No way could she afford a tow truck. It would cost a fortune to get the Bug to Breakbend. If she had her garage handy, this wouldn’t be a problem. But thanks to her conniving ex, she didn’t.

Ethan had taken the only thing of value she’d ever owned, the only place she’d ever called home, and the only family she’d ever known. And for what? So he could build a stupid luxury condominium complex? Like the world needed another one of those.

Jenna gritted her teeth. “I’ll get the car when I can.”

* * * * *

Her scent soured at the mention of her vehicle. Aidan watched her dig into her pocket and pull out a crumpled piece of paper with a number scribbled on it. Jenna picked up the phone and punched in the number. She tapped her fingers against the desk as she waited for someone to answer.

He heard a woman come on the line.

“May I please speak with Paul Welling?” Jenna asked.

Sirens went off in his head. Aidan instantly recognized the name of the Gazette editor. Had Robert been right about her all along?

“Hi, Mr. Welling. It’s Jenna Dane.”

“Jenna, where have you been?” he asked. “I expected you here hours ago.”

“I ran into car trouble.”

“Where are you?” he sounded dubious.

“I’m not sure.” Jenna looked at Aidan and mouthed ‘
Where am I
’?

Aidan blinked. She didn’t know? How could she not know? “The Fortier estate,” he said casually, waiting for some sign of recognition to cross her face. None came. Jenna stared blankly at him. She had no idea who he was. Aidan’s tension eased a notch.

“I’m outside of town,” she said.

“If you’re not here in the next two hours, don’t bother coming,” Paul said.

Jenna turned her back to Aidan and whispered into the phone, though she needn’t have bothered. Aidan had been listening to both sides of the conversation and didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about eavesdropping.

“Please Mr. Welling. I need this job.” Her desperation was palpable.

For some reason, Aidan found himself responding to it, to her.

He slipped out of the room and summoned Robert. “Take Nic and go find her car.”

“What do you want us to do with it once we find it?” he asked.

“Bring it to me. Something is off about her and I want to know what it is. In the meantime, have the Range Rover brought around to the front of the house. She needs transportation.”

Robert gaped. “You’re going to give the Rover to a human?”

His hackles rose. “Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

Robert’s gaze dropped. “No, sir.”

“Good.” Aidan strolled back into the room in time to see Jenna wipe moisture from her face. The tears clinging to her eyelashes were the only evidence that remained to prove she’d been crying.

She gave him a strained smile. “Thanks for the use of the phone.”

“Anytime,” Aidan heard himself say.

Jenna hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and walked to the door. Her hand hesitated on the knob. “I know it’s rude of me to ask, but you wouldn’t happen to have any tools I can borrow, would you?”

“Tools?” What in the world did she need with tools?

“Yeah, socket wrenches, pliers, things like that? I’ll give them back. I promise.”

Intrigued by the request, Aidan asked, “What do you need them for?”

“I thought maybe I could fix Stan,” she said.

“Stan?”
Who was Stan? And why was he just hearing about him?
Unexpected anger flared inside of Aidan.

Jenna laughed, oblivious to his mood change. “Stan is my car.”

Aidan’s brow quirked. “You have a name for your car?”

She shrugged. “Don’t you? I thought all guys did.”

His eyes scrolled over the front of her T-shirt, taking in the soft slope of her full breasts. Aidan watched her nipples harden and tore his gaze away. “You are most definitely not a man,” he said in a garbled voice.

Jenna crossed her arms over her chest. “I know, but it doesn’t stop me from naming cars—or fixing them.”

“You’re a mechanic?” He’d assumed she was a reporter.

“I used to be.” She bit her lip and looked away.

His gaze was drawn to her mouth like a lodestone. Oh, the things he could do with those lips. The part of his body he refused to acknowledge, twitched behind his zipper.

Aidan shook his head to clear it. What was wrong with him? He shouldn’t be thinking about her mouth or how her body responded to him. She was human. He shouldn’t be thinking about her at all.

Jenna stared at him. “Do you have the tools or not?”

Robert knocked on the door and stepped into the room. He scowled at Jenna, then handed the keys to Aidan and left.

“You only have two hours to reach town. There’s no time to fix your vehicle.”

“How did you know about--?”

“Take these.” He handed her the keys to the Range Rover, effectively cutting off a question he could not answer. “My
men
will retrieve your car.”