Blind Wolf (A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance #1)(7)

"It does, doesn't it?" Jordan said, sipping his drink. "Peaceful town. A good place to settle and start raising a family."

Damien winced.

"Don't remind me," he said.

"What, you don't want to have kids?"

Damien paused before answering, taking another sip of scotch. The liquid burned the back of his throat, but the fire was welcome. He wanted kids, sure. He wanted a family. But first of all, he wanted a mate who was right for him. And Katherine, for all her youth and beauty, was not right for him.

"I'll do whatever's best for the pack," Damien said.

"She's almost ready to mate," Jordan said thoughtfully.

"She is ready," Damien said. He took another gulp of scotch. "She told me last night."

Jordan's inhale was audible.

"So that's why you want this to be the town," he said.

"I want every town to be the town," Damien said, finishing his scotch and setting the empty glass back on the table. He felt the cool glass under his fingers, the slight moisture of the liquor evaporating from the rim. "We've been saving up and searching for a territory for two years. That's longer than any pack should be on the move. Even if we only have one female."

"The kid will be jealous," Jordan said.

"He'll get over it."

"I'll be jealous."

"You're always jealous," Damien said, smiling. Jordan had never been interested in any females, of mating age or otherwise. Ever since they were pups together, Damien and Jordan had been best friends, and when they grew older Jordan had admitted that he felt more attracted to Damien than any other wolf in the pack.

"So the high and mighty Damien will finally take a mate," Jordan said. "I can't decide if I should congratulate you or pity you. Katherine is a handful."

"I felt something strange today," Damien said. "I thought that it might be the Calling."

"Makes sense," Jordan said, pouring another glass of scotch. "If she's just now old enough to mate."

"Not with Katherine."

"Oh? You found another wolf in town?" Jordan asked. "Who?" Damien could hear the intense curiosity in his voice.

"I thought I had," Damien said. "I could have sworn that I felt the connection between us. But when I approached her—" He stopped talking, remembering the intensity of the feeling when he had touched her arm. She had felt it too, or had he just imagined it?

"What?" Jordan asked.

"She was human," Damien said, forcing out a chuckle. "Not a wolf at all. Didn't scent. Didn't respond when I joked about werewolves. Pure human."

Jordan laughed.

"You're going bonkers," he said, clapping Damien on the shoulder. "It's impossible to feel the Calling for a human."

"Is that your professional opinion?" Damien asked.

"What, that you're going bonkers? That's been my opinion for a long time."

"That it's impossible to have a human as a mate." Damien said the sentence quietly, and Jordan caught the seriousness in his tone.

"From everything I know about our anatomy and theirs," Jordan said, "there's no way. They don't have the glandular structure to allow it."

"Maybe I felt something else," Damien said, trying to lighten the mood. As much as they joked, he didn't want Jordan to think that he was actually losing his mind.

"Hope so," Jordan said. "We don't have a chance in hell of saving the pack if our alpha goes off and falls in love with a human."

"Like I said, I'll do whatever is best for the pack," Damien said.

"Katherine's a good girl," Jordan said. He stood up and clasped Damien on the shoulder. "She'll make a strong mate. Even if you're not Called to her."

"I know."

"You have a chance to make something good here," Jordan said. "To start a new pack, in a new territory."

"I know," Damien repeated.

"I'm going to bed," Jordan said. "Tomorrow's a long day. I'll have to do a medical exam on Katherine, too, to make sure everything's alright with her before you two start trying for kids."

"That sounds fine," Damien said. His heart sank as he thought about starting a family with Katherine. He was the alpha, and it was expected, and before today he wouldn't have thought twice about settling down with her and having babies. It was for the pack, after all. But now...

Now he realized what it felt like to fall in love. To feel the Calling.

And he had to ignore it.

CHAPTER FIVE

Julia

Julia woke in the morning to a pounding noise coming from downstairs. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and rolled out of bed, pulling a robe over her bare shoulders. Who would be knocking at the door at eight in the morning? Today was the one day she could sleep in—the library didn't open until ten—and of course it was being ruined by someone.

By the time she got downstairs, her grandmother was already on the front porch, shushing the intruders. Julia pushed the screen door open slowly. One of the men was thin, with a dark complexion, a curly beard, and glasses. The other one, the blond one, was much younger. Maybe even still a teenager, but with a more muscular build than the older man. They couldn't possibly be related. And yet the way they stood reminded her of a father and son.