Page 17 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

I sigh. I need the info though, and she seems like the best source I can get it from at this time. I’m not sure if she would be willing to tell me anything, but I have to try. My wolf seems pleased with the thought of seeing Talia again, if the slight growl of pleasure in my head is any indication. He’s been acting differently since meeting Talia, and it has me anxious with not knowing why. He obviously likes her too, which is also confusing. But I’ve never heard of a werewolf liking a vampire. Then again, why would I? If anyone, werewolf or vampire, were to hear of a werewolf and vampire engaging in any type of relationship not filled with hate towards each other, there would likely be an uproar. That’s something I should keep in mind too.Nothing good can come from a kiss with Talia. Nothing. But as I think that, my stubborn ass and my equally stubborn wolf tense up and growl. We’re not ones to let fear, the unknown, or society’s rules of what is and is not accepted to dictate or stop our actions if it is something we want. We make up our own mind and base our actions on our own morals, values, and ethics. Screw fear or anyone else that wants to fight me on it.Idecide for myself what to do and don’t allow others to dictate my life. So, why should I stop myself from exploring whatever is between Talia and I?

I sit there for a few minutes going in circles in my mind before I huff with frustration. Standing from the bench, I make my way out of the garden following the lingering scent of Talia until it veers off in the opposite direction from the one I need to go. I fight with myself and my wolf who urges me to go after her for a second. I still haven’t made up my mind about what to do with Talia and nothing can be done right now. She likely went back to her coven house.

With a frustrated grunt, I turn away from the direction Talia went and head towards the pack house.

***

The pack house is a large two-story home, three if you count the basement, made up of stone and dark wood that gives it a bit of a wood cabin feel. It is longer than it is taller to be able to house the large pack in residence, and it sits just outside the city where the wolves can easily access the forest and stay connected with nature as our wolves love and thrive on. Several chimneys adorn the top of the house and many windows glow with warm light from inside. A covered front porch accented with spaced out brick columns and a few rocking chairs adorn the front of the house along with two large wooden doors thatlead into the entry hall. The front yard is large and open with a decent size pond off to one side that my pack loves to jump into, especially in the summer. In the backyard there is a garden, half-heartedly tended to and more open yard that some wolves like to lay out in when they aren’t ready to return to their human forms or like to romp around in and chase each other.

I walk up the stairs onto the porch and through the front door, passing the living room area where several wolves call out in greeting, which I greet back. I head to my office with the intention of taking care of paperwork and such in hopes of distracting my mind since it can’t seem to stop hyper focusing on Talia and the conflict I’m struggling with internally on what to do about the pull between us. But after a few minutes, Eric derails that plan.

“I got some reports from a few of our ally packs you may want to hear.”

“Anything emergent?”

“No, but we should keep our eyes and ears on it probably.”

I sit back in my chair and fold my hands across my abdomen. “What’s going on?”

“Brenden reached out saying they had a conflict with the vamps in his area of the city. Said they were antagonizing a few of his pack members, and when one of the vamps threw a punch, it turned into a fight.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“The vampires who attacked them. They were able to do more damage to the vampires than they did to Brendan’s men. The wolves got a few scrapes and bruises, but two of the vampires they fought were injured pretty good before leaving the scene.”

“Good for them.” Eric goes quiet, and I look more closely at him, noticing his lips pressed into a thin line. “What part are you leaving out?”

“The werewolves that were targeted were teenagers.”

“And the vampires weren’t?” I ask with deadly calm.

Eric jerks his head in a quick nod causing anger to surge through me and agitation in my wolf. “A few of Brendan’s men were nearby, saw what was happening, and stepped in. They’re the ones who were able to injure the two vampires.”

“Any intel on the vampires that tried attacking the teenagers and what coven they are associated with?”

“Brendan is trying to figure that out now and figure out why they were trying to start something in the first place. The teenagers and Brendan’s men who stepped in reported nothing happened to warrant the vampires to attack them. The teens were simply walking by. They didn’t say anything and intentionally kept their eyes averted because they recognized the vampires as ones they knew liked to cause trouble, specifically with werewolves since they can’t stand our kind.”

“Jesus, this keeps getting better and better.” I rub my forehead with the statement and a mild headache that I can feel creeping in.

“Yeah. What do you want to do?”

“For now, nothing. Keep in contact with Brendan. I want to know if he finds anything out about the vampires that attacked his pack members though. If it happens again or more issues arise then we can reevaluate if something needs to be done. I don’t like werewolves being attacked, but you know this isn’t uncommon. Hell, sometimes its werewolves going after vampires for no reason.”

“I know. This time it was teenagers though, which really bothers me.”

“Same, but I don’t want to make any rash decisions or moves until we have more info or more instances that may signal it as a pattern we need to be concerned about.”

“Got it. I’ll let Brendan know.”

“What else?”

Eric goes into several reports about our other allies in the city and surrounding area but nothing as bad as what happened to Brendan’s wolves. A squabble here and there between wolves, someone in need of help repairing their pack house, and a new business one pack recently opened that is thriving. Eric also has a few intel pieces about wolfsbane in the city and the movements of the vampires in this area that we have been monitoring. Overall, nothing too concerning.

I listen as he speaks, but my mind still tries to wander back to Talia despite my best efforts.

Eric clears his throat, and I snap my gaze back towards him not realizing I was gazing out the window in my office.

“Everything good with you, boss?”

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