Force of Temptation
Page 57

Besides, it wouldn’t be as simple as that. Jesse had already lost one mate; he wouldn’t let go of Harley so easily. They’d have the argument of all arguments. Harley wasn’t a fan of drama. But she could only stay if he understood that he couldn’t stonewall her, that he’d only have everything from her if he gave her everything back.
So, she reasoned, she’d have to make him understand. Yes, she could lay it all out and give him the chance to fix it. And if he couldn’t give her what she needed, she’d just have to wish him well and then leave. Her cat didn’t fight the idea of leaving him, still hurt by his actions.
“Come down and—” Jesse cut off at the sounds of voices. Dammit. “Give me a sec, baby.” Returning inside the lodge, he strode to the front door and opened it wide. A grim and enraged Derren, Ally, Bracken, Eli, and Roni were fast approaching. “What?”
“Don’t freak out,” said Derren.
So, of course, Jesse began to freak out. “Is this about Hector?”
“No. Although Donovan says he’s close to tracking the guy’s parents.”
“Then why are you here?” Jesse frowned as Derren held up a folded newspaper. Taking it, he stepped back to allow the wolves to enter.
At that moment, Harley walked into the living area, arms folded. “Everything okay?”
“I don’t know yet,” said Jesse. He wanted to go to her, hold her, but she had a warning “everyone keep your distance” vibe going on right then.
“Check out page four,” Derren told him. So Jesse did, and then swore.
Harley glanced from person to person. “What’s going on?”
“Looks like a reporter managed to get some photos of you and Jesse when you visited your aunt,” said Roni.
Harley’s face went slack. “You’re kidding me.”
Roni shook her head. “There are pictures of you both inside the SUV; one is of him kissing you, and another is of him stroking your claiming bite.”
“The reporter writes that you’ve ‘switched sides,’” Jesse growled. “That by mating into a pack and quitting your job, you’ve turned your back on humans.” Crunching the paper in his hands, he looked at her. “As if that’s not bad enough, the extremists will now know where you are.”
Harley’s cat hissed. “Let me guess . . . the author of the article is Gabrielle Rowan.”
Jesse’s brow creased. “Yes.”
Her cat went insane, raking Harley’s stomach—wanting freedom so she could hunt down this person who had endangered her. “Let me see.” Harley held her hand out for the newspaper, and Jesse reluctantly handed it over. As she looked at the photos and skimmed over the article, she growled. “That bitch!”
“I take it you know her,” said Ally.
“Gabrielle Rowan has been on my case since I moved to California, asking for information on Clive—what he’s like, if he’s part of The Movement, if he created The Movement.”
Eli folded his arms. “The way she talks about you is almost . . .”
“Bitchy,” supplied Ally.
The Head Enforcer nodded. “She really doesn’t like you, Harley.”
The feeling was mutual. “Yeah, well, I was pretty rude to her.”
“Hector has to be behind this,” said Eli. “He talked of going to reporters with the testimonies. Maybe this is his way of letting us know he has no problem causing trouble for us. Maybe he even thinks trouble will drive us out of here.”
“I agree,” said Jesse, a muscle in his cheek ticking. “He could even be hoping to cause trouble within the pack. The reporter’s claiming that ‘sources’ from my old pack and this pack say that Harley was instrumental in my deceased sister’s addiction and they feel upset and angry at me for taking her as my mate. That’s a load of shit. No one from this pack would do anything like that.” He couldn’t say the same for his old pack, though.
Roni looked at Harley. “You know, although that’s only a local newspaper and unlikely to be seen by either side of your family, the news of your mating will travel fast. It won’t be long until they find out. How do you think Clive will react?”
She sighed. “I have no idea. But he won’t like finding out this way.”
“Is the reporter right about him being a raging psychopath?” Bracken asked. At Jesse’s hard look, the enforcer raised his hands. “It was just a question.”
“Your family will lose their minds over this,” Harley warned Jesse.
“Probably,” said Jesse, “but I always knew that.” He just refused to let it be a factor in his decision to claim her.
“You have to stop this bitch from writing a follow-up article that could further stir up the extremists,” said Roni.
“A reporter isn’t going to back off a story like this easy,” said Harley. “Especially not this reporter. She’s like a fucking bulldog.”
Bracken nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s ballsy enough to demand something in return for ceasing to write stuff about you.”
Yeah, she’d want information on Clive. Harley wasn’t giving that heifer anything.
“Before we came here, we had Donovan find out some things about this little reporter,” said Derren. “She’s twenty-seven, unmated, and lives in an apartment outside of her territory but remains an official member of her pack.” He rattled off the address before continuing. “She likes covering news related to extremists and The Movement and is currently sleeping with her human boss—a guy with a pregnant wife and two kids.”