"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.
"This is a bed and breakfast," Granny Dee said, scolding the men. "You can't come waltzing in here and make a commotion. You'll wake people up!"
"We're here to look at the house," the younger man said.
"It's not for sale," Dee said.
"Granny Dee—" Julia said.
"That's not what the sign out front says," the dark-haired man said, pointing behind him with his thumb.
"Whatever that sign says," Dee spat, "It's my house, and it's not for sale."
"I just spoke with the bank representative," the dark-haired man said. "He told me that open hours were eight to noon on Saturdays."
"They must be wrong," Dee said, crossing her arms.
"Granny Dee," Julia said, pulling her by her arm back towards the screen door. "We'll get in trouble if we don't keep open hours. We agreed."
"I agreed to nothing," Dee said, but Julia could see her shoulders slumping.
"It's alright," Julia said. "I'll show them around and get them out of here before anyone wakes up. Okay?"
In response, Dee simply opened the door and went inside.
"Granny Dee—"
"I'll be waiting in my bathroom until they're done," Dee said, waving one hand in the air dismissively. "Don't let them come in, unless the bank says they're allowed to see my wrinkled rear end."
Julia sighed and turned back to the men.
"Charming place," the dark-haired man said with a smirk.
"Follow me," Julia said. She led them through the kitchen and living room, pointing out the fireplace and guest apartments.
"Is this wall insulated?" the young man asked, rapping his knuckles on the wall of one of the guest rooms. Julia cringed.
"No," she whispered, hoping that they would get the hint. "None of the walls are. This house was built in 1923, and it's never been updated except for the electrical stuff. Air conditioning costs are horribly expensive. You'd probably have to install central air. And the toilets run to a septic tank." She waved them through to the back porch. At least there they could speak loudly without waking up the guests.
"How about the beams here?" the blonde man asked, pointing to the porch supports.
"Yes, any reinforcements?" the older man asked.
"No, it's all wood and brick," Julia said. "Insurance is more expensive, too, because the foundation is unapproved slab. Is there anything else I can show you?" She wanted them gone. She hoped that her answers had been enough to drive them away. The longer it took the bank to find a buyer, the longer they could stay.
"That's all we need, really," the older man said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Julia said curtly.
They both followed Julia down the stairs and back out to the front yard, where she didn't bother to offer any goodbyes, simply opening the gate for them.
"It's really perfect," the young man said.
"Perfect?" Julia asked, spinning back around. That was the last word she'd use to describe the house.
"Sure," the blond man said. "It would be easy to tear down, no asbestos in the walls or anything. And the septic would be good to run to multiple cabins when we build them out." He nodded towards the older man. "What do you think, Jordan?"
"Looks good," the man said, glancing at Julia. Her face was burning hot, and she was pretty sure her normally fair skin was as red as a summer tomato. "We'll need to check out the other places first, though."
"But it's on such good land—"
"Just so you know," Julia said, her hands in fists at her side. "This is my grandmother's house, and we don't want to leave. We'll fight the eviction. Squat if we have to. It won't be an easy sale." Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"You're messing with the wrong people," the younger man snarled. "What kind of threat are you making?"
"Easy, Kyle," the older man said, putting a hand on his shoulder. The young man relaxed his posture. The old man adjusted his glasses, looking up at the house.
"It's a beautiful place," he said. "I understand why you'd hate to lose it. But if you're in dire straits..." He held out his hands in a gesture of supplication. "It might be better for you to take a good deal than to fight with every possible buyer. Just so you know."
Julia's breath hissed between her teeth, but she did not say another word until they had left the front yard and driven away.
'They're gone?" Granny's Dee voice called from across the living room.
"They're gone," Julia said, looking back out to where their black luxury sedan was speeding over the hill away from the house. "Here, let me help you with breakfast."
The morning passed quickly, and soon Julia was back to work and avoiding her boss. It was late in the day when she finally finished shelving all of the new books. Her break was way overdue, and she stretched her arms as she walked back to the break room, eager to sit down and rest her feet for a moment. Just as she rounded the corner, she felt something very strange come over her, a sense that somebody was watching her.
"Julia?"
Julia spun around, startled by the voice. It was the man from the day before. Damien. He held his cane in both hands in front of him loosely, leaning slightly onto it. His dark glasses made him look casual, even though she knew that wasn't the reason he wore them.
"Oh my god, you startled me!" she said, her breath catching in her throat.
"Sorry," Damien said, his smile betraying his amusement. "It must be terrifying for a blind man to sneak up on you like that."
Julia laughed.
"I was off in my own world, I guess," she said. Then a thought struck her.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked.
"Your shoes," he said, after just a second's hesitation. "The way they click on the floor."
"Are you serious?" Julia asked, arching one eyebrow in suspicion. "What are you, Sherlock Holmes?" She couldn't help but feel attracted to him, but there was something that didn't add up. The weird hesitation, the way he'd called her name like he knew she was right there—
"I'm just used to telling people apart by their footsteps," Damien said. "How's your day going?"
"Long. Busy. Just like normal." Julia said, feeling awkward just standing there, though Damien seemed entirely at ease.
"Are you heading out right now?"
"I'm just on my break," she said.
"How long do they give you?"
"Fifteen minutes," Julia said.
"Wonderful," he said. "Let me buy you a cup of coffee. There's a cafe just down the street, if I'm not mistaken."
"I—uh—" Julia stammered, not sure how to take his offer.
"Unless you don't want to have coffee with a strange man," Damien said, shrugging in a joking way. "I know I can seem kind of intimidating."
Julia thought that he was intimidating—at least the idea of having coffee with him. He made her crave something she'd never craved before, and she was scared to death of messing it up. He waited for her answer calmly, and she gulped down her objections. Except for one.
"It's not that," she said.
"Then what?"
"The girl you were with yesterday," Julia said. She coughed. God, she felt stupid. But she had been hit on by too many attractive men who turned out to be married and just looking for a fling. "Is she..."