Running a finger across his lip, he saw there was nothing much, other than her pack details, her school achievements, and a few little tests about herself that she’d made.
One of her biggest fears, in her own words, was being lonely.
That was one downfall to being a wolf. Being lonely was one of the worst feelings in the world.
“Here you go,” Jessica said, coming into his office. She carried a tray with his coffee, just the way he liked it, along with a couple of cookies.
They were, of course, store-bought ones. He had yet to find a wolf who’d make him cookies just the way he liked.
His mother used to bake all the time before she died. She’d been the one to help him split from the pack along with his father, but it had been more difficult for his dad than his mother.
When he’d been pushed aside because he couldn’t bring himself to submit, his parents had gone with him, and together, they had formed a bond for a pack. They’d been by his side for so long. His mother had passed away two years ago. It had been a hard time for him.
She’d asked that when the right woman came along, that he didn’t push her away, and that he tried to love.
Once again, he pushed those thoughts aside, and looked at Jessica.
All he had to do was snap his fingers, and this woman would be on the floor, legs spread, willing to take his cock.
She was a beautiful woman. He found her eyes beautiful, but then, he’d come to see beauty in all of his pack’s flaws.
Jessica held no appeal to him whatsoever.
Beneath her willing exterior, she was a woman who wasn’t ideal to be by his side. She wanted to be the woman to win his heart. She never abused her position within the pack, but there was no way she’d ever be able to take him, as he’d ruin her. He and Jessica were not compatible. Their wolves didn’t even like each other, and he certainly didn’t find her attractive.
She was too weak, and he’d break her with a good, hard fucking.
“Thank you, Jessica,” he said.
“How do you find Cassie?” she asked, her smile bright.
“She seems to fit in, doesn’t she?”
“She doesn’t say a whole lot, and I have a horrible feeling she was hurt, but I said that you’re difficult but fair.”
He raised a brow, and she tutted. “You are difficult, and you tell us to inform all new pack members of that.”
He hated small talk more than anything. Dealing with new recruits was not something he enjoyed doing.
“So, I was wondering…”
“No.” He picked up his coffee and took a sip.
“No?”
“Jessica, you’ve been asking for some time now, and the answer is no.”
“You need a woman.”
“I do not.”
“You have needs that have to be met.”
“When I find the woman I need, I will let you know.”
She pouted, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. “I can be what you need.”
“You cannot.”
“If you take me to your dungeon, I can—”
“I said no, is that understood? You think you’d be able to handle me, but you’re wrong. Jessica, I value you as part of my pack. You should never have gone looking for my room. I don’t advertise it for anyone. Please, value my decision and accept it. Do not give me a reason to cast you out. Listen to me clearly. You are not the woman I want. I think you’re very beautiful, and I know several men who’d like to be with you, who’d find pleasure in you. I’m not one of them.”
She nodded her head.
This was not the first time they’d had this conversation, or even the second. Most of the time after a full moon, she would always come to him, smelling like another male.
Jessica didn’t save herself for him, so even though she looked sad, that was not his concern.
He wasn’t there to make her feel better. She kept offering herself to him, and he wasn’t interested, not in the slightest. She held no appeal to him.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you, my alpha.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. Leave.”
Jessica didn’t need asking twice, and he watched her leave his office. Sipping at his coffee, he took one of the rancid cookies and bit into it. They were too dry and had absolutely no love in them. His mother had been an amazing cook and baker. She’d spoiled him for choice.
His meals always varied with the pack taking care of meal times. He’d tasted some awful things in his life, and Jessica was a nasty cook. She burned everything.
For Thanksgiving, she’d served a turkey so dry even his dogs had turned their noses up at it.
Dunking the cookie into his hot coffee, he stared at Cassie’s picture and wondered what she was like beneath the layers of clothing.