when it came to mating. Just show up somewhere and be attracted to someone and boom, magic would happen. Nothing like the schemes and pack machinations of werewolves.
Still, pack machinations had brought me Jackson, so I couldn’t be entirely ungrateful. I stole a look at the sexy man at my side and felt a bit of possessive pride of my own.
Bathsheba looked up as we approached the table…and paled. Her gaze went to my face. “Alice?”
Oh no. I didn’t want to get the tenth degree from her. I smiled tightly and thumped into my seat. “Hiya. How’s it going?”
“Great,” she said in a slow voice, putting her menu down. Her wide-eyed gaze flicked from my face and then to Jackson’s as he sat across from her husband. “I want you both to meet my husband, Beau Russell. He’s the head of the Alliance.”
Beau offered his hand across the table to Jackson, and then to me, and we shook. His manner seemed brusque and cool. Not exactly the reception I’d been expecting from someone that wanted to court wolf packs into their little club. “Nice to meet you both,” Beau said, tone clipped. “How are things going?”
“As well as can be expected,” I said lightly. “A few kinks here and there to be worked out.”
“Kinks,” Bathsheba repeated, blinking her eyes rapidly. She looked over at Beau. “I see.”
“Typical wolf pack dominance issues,” Jackson said, glancing over at me affectionately. He reached out and caressed my cheek. “Give us another week and we’ll be right as rain.”
I blushed at his affectionate gesture.
To my surprise, Bathsheba threw down her napkin and gave her husband a significant look. “I need to use the little girl’s room. Alice, do you want to come with me?”
Uh, why would I want to come with her?
I started to shake my head, but she stood there, waiting. Jackson gave my elbow a nudge. “I…guess so?”
I followed her through the restaurant into the bathroom, noticing that as she walked, her back was as stiff as could be. Something was up.
As soon as the bathroom door shut behind me, Bath moved to the door and leaned against it, effectively blocking the way for anyone else to enter.
“Er…everything okay?” I gave her an odd look. Were all humans this weird?
“Alice, I am so, so sorry,” she told me, her voice a breathless rush. “I didn’t know he was going to be like that. If I would have known, I would have never let him set up a profile.”
“Huh?” She didn’t approve of Jackson? I thought back to the handshake, the way he affectionately touched my face. What had Jackson done wrong?
“If you want to escape him, I swear we’ll help you,” she told me. “You don’t have to be afraid of him. We’re here to help you.”
Afraid…of Jackson? I stared at her a moment longer…and then realized she thought he’d beaten me up.
She looked skeptical. “You’re not defending him, are you? You don’t have to. I realize wolves have their own system, but the Alliance is set up specifically to help those in need—“
I waved a hand idly. “Jackson saved me from the guy that did this to me. The guy that did this is why I needed a new alpha so bad. He’s determined to take over my pack. Jackson being here stopped him.”
The dubious look on her face remained. “You’re…sure? My sister had issues with wolf packs recently and I know a lot of them are not…” she hesitated, clearly trying to figure out the right words without offending me. “A lot of them have their own set of rules that they play by.”
Yeah, I could guess. “Jackson’s perfect,” I assured her. “You don’t have to worry.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I am.”
Relief made her shoulders sag, and she put a hand to her brow. “Oh, thank god. I thought I’d somehow hooked you up with a monster.” Panic crossed her face. “We’d better get back to the table before Beau attacks him.”
Aw, that was cute. She thought her were-kitty could beat up on my alpha mate. My lips twitched. “All right.”
We returned to the table a moment later to find the men engaged in a stare-down.
“Everything’s okay,” she blurted as we moved back to the table.
Both men turned and looked at me.
“This,” I said, waving a hand at my face and neck, “was not Jackson, but another alpha that thought he could come in and take over. I promise you that Jackson’s harmless.”
“Harmless?” Jackson cocked an eyebrow at me, a grin playing on his face. “You’re determined to ruin my street cred, aren’t you?”
I sat down, patting his knee. “You’re a plumber. You have no street cred.”
He snorted and his hand moved to the back of my chair, pulling me closer automatically.
Beau and Bathsheba exchanged another meaningful look, and Bath sat down again, still looking utterly deflated with relief. “Sorry if we had a moment of panic,” she explained. “My sister’s werewolf and, well, we recently had a not-so-great run in with another pack. You’ll forgive us if we jump to conclusions.”
“Easy enough to do,” Jackson said mildly. “Your sister’s Sara, right? She’s with the big were-bear guy? I did a job for them a few weeks ago.”
“That’s her,” Bathsheba said, brightening. “You know them?”
He nodded. “She’s a sweet little thing.”
I scowled, feeling an edge of possessiveness. My hand went to his thigh and I dug my nails in. “Is she, now?”
Jackson looked over at me and wiggled his eyebrows. “Don’t you worry none, Alice. I like my girls with a bit of attitude.”
“Good,” I snapped. “Because you’re mine.”
“Am I?” The hint of pleasure in his voice made it sound like foreplay.
I blushed, and stole a look over at Beau and Bathsheba.
“Well,” Bathsheba said, and her voice had a prim tone to it that made her husband grin. “Now that I know you’re not a monster, how about we talk about what it would take to get the Savage-Wilder pack to join the Alliance?”
Chapter Ten
Two hours and one dinner later, I wasn’t convinced. Beau preached unity and working together to make life better for all shifters, but I was a skeptic. Why did a wolf pack need an Alliance? We were our own island. We banded together because we had each other. We looked out for each other. Between Jackson and I, there was nothing that our pack would need that we couldn’t provide.
To make matters worse, Jackson was clearly enthusiastic about joining the Alliance. He listened to all of Beau’s plans with interest, and even offered suggestions of his own that would help bring in more wolves and make them feel at ease.
So now I was being the downer and the party pooper. Figured.
Jackson had deferred to me, though. He’d told Bathsheba and Beau that we wouldn’t move forward with the Alliance unless we were both firmly on board. They’d been disappointed but understanding. I got the sense that Jackson was a bit disappointed, too, but he’d said nothing of the sort.
And now we were driving back to the Savage house, an uncomfortable silence in the truck as I drove. I glanced over at him. “You think I’m making a mistake, don’t you? Saying no to the Alliance?”
He regarded me. “I would never tell you that you’re making a mistake, Alice. The pack has been yours for a lot longer than it’s been mine. But I do think it’d be good for all of us.”
“Why? We don’t need outsiders.” It was what my father - and Cash - had firmly believed. I’d grown up with
