She Wolf

10.

During warmup, I lead the pack through the forest on my favorite trail. As we past the spring, I try very hard not to think about last night, all while focusing on avoiding Marcus' smirking face. Then also trying to avoid Tall guy's burning gaze.

How bad did I mess-up here?

No! He deserved it. Calling me little wolf. I feel the fire creeping up on me again.

Save it for physical training Jo. Save it. I keep saying the mantra as we run the last stretch.

At physical training, it seems that someone caught the vibe between me and Tall guy, as we are not paired together, but instead stationed at completely different posts.

I can, however, still feel him watching me the whole time. A few times I catch him looking my way. He does not look away. What is his problem? I can’t read his expression.

After training, Marcus, Daniel, my dad and Alpha disappeared without a word and with no further interaction between me and Tall guy, I decide to go home and freshen up to spend the day by the pool with Jen.

As I walk in, I find Jen and my mom in the kitchen. My mom is on the phone. "Another party?" I mouth to Jen.

"Hi mama, we'll be by the pool today if you are looking for us" I whisper as I walk past her.

"That’s fine dear, just be ready by 6 for the dinner party we are hosting for our guests." she says before continuing her call.

Urg... I sigh, looking at Jen.

"And I expect you to wear a dress, Joanna White." mom shouts all Stepford wife like as we walk upstairs. "I’ll make sure of it aunty!" Jen says, rolling her eyes. "You just stay away from him. You don’t want to make another scene."

When Jen and I enter the formal hall, it is already full of people. "I have to give it to my aunt, she can organize a party - it looks beautiful," Jen exclaims.

"Okay, here’s the plan, I’ll walk you to your parents, you do your duties and I’ll go mingle.” Jen says while taking a sip of wine she took from the server’s tray. She loves a good party. She’ll never admit it but, just like my mom, she does not need an excuse for soiree.

“Come find me when you are done okay."

“Sure love," I say sarcastically.

"Hi daddy, I haven’t seen you since you disappeared after training this morning. Are you avoiding me?" I greet my dad with a kiss on the cheek.

"Not at all darling, we have been busy." he gestures to the new crowd around us. "I've noticed." I say, very politically.

"I also heard of your great first impression from Daniel. We will talk about that later." he continues gritting his teeth.

"Can’t wait – you know, I do have a few questions myself."

"Now now, you two, we are in company." my mom cuts us off with her best Stepford voice.

"You look beautiful darling, this midnight blue colour suits you."

"Thanks mama." I say, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Hi." I hear a whisper from behind.

Tall Guy's POV

The formal dining hall is packed with Stone Hill pack members, yet my team stands out from the crowd - we are a loud, social bunch.

"Time for duties brah." my friend nudges me and points to Beta White and his wife standing across the room. As I look up, I see little wolf walk up to them and standing next to them greeting some of the guests.

I have to admit, she cleans up well. Her long brown hair cascades past her shoulders, down her exposed back. The blue dress makes her skin glow.

I smirk at the thought of what happened this morning. She’s a fiery little wolf.

"The Alpha family have arrived too."

"Let's take one for the road," John says, pushing a shot glass in my hand.

"Yeah, let's," I boulder before I pour the drink down.

As I turn to make my way, I spot the young Alpha coming up behind little wolf, He grazes his hand over her back and folds his arm around her waist.

An unexpected low growl emerges from my chest.

"Urg, yeah, that was a good one, let’s uhm go."

I try to disguise the sound that escaped. She turns her head and looks over her shoulder. Our eyes meet. s**t, did she hear me.

Fuck.

Jo POV

"Hi" Marcus whispers in my ear while gently snaking his arm around my waist.

"You look beautiful. Come meet me after, on the terrace."

And just like that, he leaves me and walks away.

In that same moment, I look over my shoulder discreetly as I thought I heard a feint growl from somewhere in the room. My eyes are met by Tall guy's crisp blue eyes. s**t. I quickly look away.

My heart skipped a beat for some reason.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I sneak a look in his direction again. He is standing at the bar and throws down a shot of something.

Now he is making his way over here.

I move to excuse myself from the conversation my parents are having with a pack member, but my mom locks her arm into mine, making me unable to sneak away.

"Ah, Commander Hunt," I hear my father say and I cringe, "let me introduce you to my wife, Helena."

"Good evening Mrs White, I would like to thank you and the Alpha family for having this in our honor this evening," Tall guy says while gesturing to the hall. “I have heard of your and the Luna’s generous parties.” Urg, what a suck up.

"And I heard you have already met my daughter, Joanna." my dad introduces. Tall guy turns to me with a cheeky smirk plastered on his face.

"Ah, yes, we have met. How could I forget such a memorable first impression?"

"Yes well,"

"I would like to apologize for the misunderstanding this morning, Miss White.” He interrupts, slightly bending down to me. “It is a mistake I will not dare make again." He is clearly mocking me with his devilish smile.

I take a deep breath and simply smile politely. "Okay."

The crowd goes silent as a dance song fills the hall.

"Ah, look, the Alpha's are opening the dance floor, how lovely."

My mom turns back to me and Tall guy. "And the timing is perfect. Cmdr. Hunt, why don’t you let Joanna show you she can dance just as well as throw a punch." she says with a wink.

"Mama!"

"Yeah, sure, it will be my pleasure."

"Joanna..." he holds out his hand, "will you dance with me?"

I take his hand and he gently spin me around, into his arms.

We move across the floor in silence. Not a word spoken by either of us.

"Just to let you know, my face still hurts, you know, it was an impressive shot, little wolf."

"I told you to not call me that again, my name is Jo, and if you do not wish to be on the receiving end of another hit, you will remember that. And wipe the smirk off your face.”

"C'mon, I apologized."

I do not respond any further, I just look ahead and focus on getting the dance over and done with, but I get distracted by his scent. It's so... Calming.

I suppose he noticed my shift because he again gently spins me out and moves around me with a fancy move before pulling me back into him. At this moment, our eyes meet once again. I think it might have been the shock that he can actually dance, but our stare lingers for a while, and I feel my body relax a little more.

I break our gaze and move my eyes over his face. He has a small scar above his eyebrow and another feint one on his chin. He has a slight stubble that matches his wild, wavy brown, shoulder length hair. Moving my eyes further down I take notice of his muscles under the black linen shirt. He does not dress like Marcus; his style is more boho and carefree. He wears some sort of totem necklace. I wonder what it’s for. His sleeves are rolled up and from under it I can see part of a tattoo on his left arm. From my angle, it looks almost tribal. He also wears a bunch of beaded and leather bracelets. One has a small metal disk with what looks like a letter engraved on it.

With another deep breath, I feel more comfortable in his arms. I feel his muscular body move with mine. My hand moves off his shoulder as he does another sneaky dance move around me and I can’t help but smile at his playfulness.

"She smiles" he says softly with his deep voice.

Composing myself, I confess, "I’m surprised that a tall man such as yourself can dance, like this commander." I say, gesturing with my eyes. "Please, call me James." But I don’t respond.

"So, I guess we're even then."

"What?"

"You surprised me this morning, just returning the favor. Lucky for you, mine is much sweeter."

"Arg, don’t flatter yourself."

He just laughs at my clear inability to say something cleverer. Urg, I really suck at this.

"May I cut in?" Out of nowhere, Marcus is standing next to us.

"Yeah sure." he takes a step back. "Thank you little wolf."

Before I could protest, he already turned and started walking away.

Marcus holds me tightly in his arms and we continue to dance to the remainder of the song.

I look over his shoulder and see Tall Guy meeting his friends at the bar. He greets one in a bear hug, his laugh echoes over the hall. Wait, this is a different song than what we started to dance to, I realize. How long have we been dancing then?

"Are you okay, you seem distracted?" Marcus asks.

"Yeah, uhm, I am fine." I reply in a daze.

"I heard about your meeting with the Cmdr. this morning... Well done babe."

"Urg, probably not the best first impression."

He just laughs.

As the song ends, we step outside onto the terrace.

It is a pleasant evening and I welcome the slightly cooler breeze over my face. Cooling me down.

Marcus is standing next to me, so I turn to ask "So when were you going to tell me about our new guests? I gather they are here regarding the latest attacks. Regarding me? Who are they? "

" Wow, Jo, slow down, you... " he is interrupted by a squeal coming from our left. It's Jenna.

" Jen? "

"Jenna, what the, calm down. Are you okay? What happened?" I overlook her body for a problem.

"Joanna, my sweet cousin, don’t be ridiculous. I'm fine. More than fine. It's perfect."

"What?" I ask, still confused.

"I found him," she whispers "We found each other." she continues. It is just now I notice the huge smile on her face.

"Daniel is my mate!" I look up and see Daniel walking towards us.

"Oh babe, I am so happy for you and Dan." I join in her enthusiasm, while giving her a tight hug.

The crowds started to move closer to congratulate the new couple. As I push through to give them some space, I noticed I moved away from Marcus. Actually, I can't see him at all. Strange. I guess my answers will have to wait.

I go back inside and wander through the hall, talking pleasantries with some of the pack members and also meeting other members of the commander’s team. One of the groups included Michael, the security guy from this morning. He also apologizes for the ‘misunderstanding’ as Tall Guy put it earlier, and then continues to tell the group about how I delivered on my promise to make James sorry for underestimating me. Michael seems like a nice guy and the rest of the group shares in the carefree vibe I was getting from James earlier. Maybe their presence here will not be so unnerving after all.

The evening passes quickly after dinner. Dinner and a few speeches by Alpha Stone, a little more dancing and then, slowly, guests start to leave. Marcus eventually turned up some time before dinner, saying he had an important call in his office. Again, I find it strange. He soon walks me home to my porch like always. But instead of a gentle kiss on the hand. He roughly pulls me closer to him and kisses me with passion and I detect a hint of frustration. He releases me and under his breath whispers

"People won’t get a chance to congratulate us for days." his eyes are pitch black with lust. He caught me off guard again, and while trying to catch my breath to say something, the only thing I can think of doing is to gently place a romantic kiss on his lips.

He relaxes and then pulls back. His eyes are back to normal.

"I am sorry. You bewitch me, Jo." he says with a sigh, and he closes his eyes. Letting his head rest on my shoulder, still holding me tightly around my waist. He lets out another sigh.

"Good night, Miss White," he says while walking backwards.

"Good night kind sir." I return.