Chapter 2
What About Braden?
When the calls and text messages started six months earlier, Eve Taylor had found herself the center of attention for a psychotic stalker. She’d had to give up her cell phone and close all of her social network accounts. Eventually, she dropped her internet plan all together and had the phone company put in an unlisted landline. Still, the stalker managed to contact her by leaving threatening notes, dead flowers, and scariest of all, dead animals at her home and work. Every message he left for her ended with the scary and creepy line:You will always need me.Because of him, she lost her job and her apartment. It hadn’t taken long for the bank to have her car repossessed for non-payment.
She’d been an only child—her father and mother both farmers. And when they died in a car accident, she’d been nineteen and didn’t have the maturity to keep the farm going. She’d defaulted on the payments and the bank auctioned off the land. With her options limited, Eve had moved to Springdale, Arkansas to attend community college. She’d never spent any time in the city before, and while Springdale might not have been New York, the number of streets and buildings and people had overwhelmed her. The stalking had driven home how truly alone she was in this big, massive world.
Tom Ellis had been the officer working her case. He’d helped her as much as he could, but until the stalker actually did something physical to her, there had been nothing legal Tom could do to stop the harassment. Tom had been kind and sweet, like a big brother. When he invited her to become part of the tribe, she didn’t hesitate to say “yes.” A new life and a new start was exactly what she needed. Now, running free, surrounded by a collection of werewolves, a strong werewolf herself, Eve finally felt safe.
She trotted onto a path in the wood that led down to a rushing creek. She lapped at the cool water, amazed at the efficiency of her wolf to take what it needed and no more. She sniffed the air, catching the scents of squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and other woodland creatures, but Braden’s scent mesmerized her the most. The warm musk of him had clung to her, even after transformation.
Today hadn’t been the first time she’d noticed Braden, but it had been the first time he’d noticed her. She’d seen the handsome young man the day Tom had brought her to the camp, before the change. He looked like a poor kid at Disney World, so full of light and excitement. Had he been invited too? His short hair, thick and dark brown, framed his narrow face and deep set, green eyes. He had a long, lanky frame with hard, wiry muscles.
God! He made her heart race. She thought it would leap right out of her chest when she took his hand. She’d asked her mother once what it felt like to be in love. Her mom had told her, “When I met your dad, the whole world disappeared around us. It was as if we were the only two people alive. It might not have been love-love, but in that moment, I knew he’d be the man of my life.” When Braden took her hand, the noise from the camp fell away, all the smells, and the vividness surrounding the two of them dulled. In that second, she felt her mother near.
He’d scared her a little when he’d grabbed her arm, the weight of his possession reminding her of the man who’d spent the last half-year destroying her human life. He hadn’t tried to hold on when she’d pulled away, and he’d sounded more lost than angry when he’d asked her about being mated Tom.As if!
She understood that Tom’s feelings for her were more than platonic, but he’d never tried anything, and he had to know she didn’t feel anything more than friendship and gratitude. He was a police officer—used to helping people. It was in his nature. Eve respected Tom for his service and in her own way—loved him for being the only light in a very dark time. He was an attractive man, but she’d never been a fan of bulky, muscles.
He’d invited her to his tribe’s culling and, in that invitation, took responsibility for her training. No more. The way Braden’s heart-shaped mouth under his beautifully straight, aquiline nose pursed when he’d ask “As in AA?” had made her want to kiss the smirk right off his lips. She’d never been bold or brave, but when she’d walked over to Braden, she’d been both. Eve had rarely dated, always waiting for the feeling her mother described. Could Braden be the one—the man of her life?
Lost in thought, she smelled Tom’s scent before she actually saw him. When the gray wolf sat beside her, he rubbed his muzzle into her fur. Eve gently withdrew from his touch. He’d rubbed against her before when they’d been out, and his presence had comforted Eve. Being in this new form had been scary at first—but now the contact of his head against her body felt weirdly intrusive.
He turned—his gray eyes bearing down on her.
Her skin prickled beneath the dense fur and she fought the urge to run away.What is wrong with me?Tom was her friend. For some time, he’d been her only friend. Her agitation grew as his presence made her wolf anxious. She shifted to human, the transition easy and fluid, and waited for Tom to do the same.
When he transformed back into a man, he stared at her—his eyes heavy with questions. “Are you okay?” His voice held a slight tremor that could have been nerves or the edge of a growl.
Eve wrapped her arms around her breasts and drew up her knees. “I don’t know,” she said. She lowered her eyes to avoid meeting his gaze. “I wish I did.”
Tom raised his brow. “Did I do something to upset you?” His hand hovered near her knee, but he didn’t touch her. “I don’t want you to be troubled or afraid, Eve. I never want that for you again.”
His words softened her anxiety, but her she-wolf still backed away from him. The wolf wanted Eve as far from Tom as possible. Her stomach ached at the hurt expression on his face. “I’m sorry. I’m not afraid of you.” Her wolf snarled in her brain. “I think I just need a little time. I’m feeling strange today. Off kilter.”
“It’s Braden Jackson.”
“What?” The mere mention of Braden’s name made her pulse quicken. This time she did meet his gaze. “What about Braden?”
“I can smell him on you. All you did was touch his hands and it’s like he’s everywhere around us.” Tom tucked a strange of hair behind her ear. “Between us.”
Eve leaned back until his hand fell away. “Please, Tom. Don’t.”
“It’s all right, Eve. I’ll give you the time you need.” He smiled, but no real joy reached his eyes. “I’m okay with waiting.” In a quick roll sideways, he changed back into the wolf and took off in a run back toward the encampment.
Only when she stopped hearing his footfalls, did Eve let go of the breath she’d been holding. Tom had never acted so strangely, but what he’d said about Braden… Eve could smell him as well. Stronger now than when she’d first reached the creek. She tracked her surroundings, peering through the dense copse of trees. His scent had faded a bit, not as strong as it had been before Tom left.
Had Braden been watching them? The idea brought back her fear of the stalker. The smart thing would have been to run, and run fast, right back to the camp. Back to Safety. Back to Tom. But her heart and her wolf—her instinct—wouldn’t let her.
She didn’t know why Braden had followed her, and while it should have creeped her out, the idea actually excited her. So, instead of running back to the dens—back to Tom—with her tail tucked between her legs, Eve changed again to wolf and, at a hundred yards out, picked up Braden’s trail and began hunting him down.
