Alpha Beast (The Alpha Shifter Collection Book 10)(26)
Author: Sam Crescent

 

“I was only joking,” Ben said, taking a seat opposite the desk.

 

Liam frowned. “You’re invited. Jenny is a fantastic cook.”

 

“Again, I’ll pass.”

 

Picking up his pen, he stared across the desk at his brother. “If you’re not here for pleasantries, then why are you here?”

 

Ben snorted. “I came out of brotherly concern. You know me, I’m all about my responsibilities.”

 

He stared at his brother. His father had been more direct on the phone and asked him if he was happy. His father knew of her gift, but he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with that kind of information.

 

It wasn’t like she was any different.

 

The other day, they’d decided to take a stroll in the park and he’d felt Jenny tense. He looked at her and she plainly told him they weren’t alone.

 

Arm-in-arm, he’d listened to a one-sided conversation. Later that night, Jenny had told him it was a dog walker who’d come to visit. They were looking for their dog and didn’t know where the old mutt had gotten to. She’d been visited by a spirit who was a hundred years old, or at least his dress sense had given her that impression.

 

He wasn’t afraid of his wife. There were times he wished he could see what she did. He had an idea the world through her eyes was a magical place, at times dark, but for the most part, he’d only seen the good times so far.

 

“You can leave,” he said.

 

“Liam? What the hell?”

 

“You insult me and you insult my wife. Jenny would love to have you over. We haven’t had any guests since we got married.” He shouldn’t complain because he had her all to himself and he didn’t have a single issue with that. Sharing her was a big problem for him, but he wanted her to feel like part of the family. “Yes, Jenny sees ghosts, spirits, dead people. She’s not cursed, damn it. She has to put up with people visiting her, talking to her that are not there.”

 

He paced behind his desk. “Did you know the way she found out about her brother? He visited her. Yeah, she was seeing her dead niece, and he appeared to take her away. How fucked up is that? Lewis told her about me.” He laughed. “It’s how she knew where I was and when. She got you all to the hospital. Jenny is a good fucking person, and if you’re here because you think she’s messed me up in some way, well, you’re right, she has. She has messed me up because against all the fucking odds, I’m in love with her.”

 

The words hung between them.

 

He stared at his brother, a little taken aback himself. From the look on Ben’s eyes, he was the same way.

 

“Wow,” he said.

 

“Yeah, wow.” He lowered himself into his seat.

 

“I guess this is the first time you’ve been aware of your feelings?”

 

“I knew they were getting stronger. I had no idea they were … like this.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I haven’t told anyone how I feel. I haven’t told Jenny.”

 

“You love her.”

 

He glared at Ben. “If you gave her even a little chance, you’d see she’s amazing.”

 

“Doesn’t the way she talks to herself scare you?”

 

Liam sighed. “No. It doesn’t. She always tells me when someone is around. She even tells me what they’re saying. If it’s fun or not.” He didn’t want to talk to his brother. “You got what you came here for. I’m fine and healthy.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere. If the invitation is still available, I’d like to come to dinner.”

 

Now that he’d expressed his feelings, all he wanted was for the bastard to fucking leave so he could go and be with his wife.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Look, Liam, I don’t know her. I know of her and what I saw. You know what she was like at the last dinner we were at. The way she threw stuff.”

 

Liam laughed. “That wasn’t her.”

 

“What?”

 

“It wasn’t her, and you know it. She helped us when she didn’t need to.” He glanced down at his desk. “I’ve got a few things to clear away here and then I can take you home with me.”

 

“I look forward to it.”

 

He didn’t. Having Ben around would be nice for Jenny’s sake, but he wanted to be back inside his woman. The honeymoon hadn’t been long enough. Work called. His father had told him he wished he could give him more time, but they didn’t have that. They had yet to find out what was going on at the warehouse that burned down and what truly caused the fire, and the only way to do that was to have someone with a keen sense of smell.

 

Liam paused.

 

“Oh, no, what did I do now? You look like you’ve just had the greatest idea in the world,” Ben said.

 

“I have.” He laughed. “Fuck. I think the city has messed up with my senses. The warehouse. The burned one.”

 

“What about it?”

 

“We don’t know how to find out what set the fire in the first place,” he said. “They can’t ascertain what it was, but we’ve got a good sense of smell, if you know what I mean.”

 

“Ah, so you’re thinking of going all wolf down there?” Ben asked. “It’s a built-up area, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes. We can’t go this evening. I don’t want to leave Jenny alone.” There had been strange things happening in their apartment. Even Jenny didn’t understand them as she couldn’t see anyone there. Someone was there, though, watching them. There were times Liam felt that tickling on the back of his neck, sending him on high alert that something was wrong. He didn’t like it.

 

“Okay, so how about we go tomorrow?” Ben asked. “I can be your lookout.”

 

“We need to make sure the area is completely abandoned. No one can know.”

 

“If we go late at night, there won’t be a single chance of anyone seeing us.”

 

“You’re right.” Liam got to his feet. “Come on, I’ll take you to go and meet Jenny.”

 

The drive back toward his apartment was a slow one. He felt the tension in his brother, but rather than be pissed at him, he stayed focused on getting home. He wanted to see his wife. To feel her against him.