“Yup, I know, but I don’t wanna make Alpha Jake so mad he don’t let me stay. I made Alpha Wagner real mad. Do you think Alpha Jake will send me back? I never been a part of a real pack afore.”
“I think he’ll demand that you stay. He likes everybody. He doesn’t care if you’re different. It doesn’t matter the color of your fur, the speed of your change, if you can see the future, or if you have no special power at all. That’s why I love it here. I can’t wait to start a family so I can teach them the same values and beliefs. You tell Jake about your wolf and let him show you.”
After that big speech, her response was a nod followed by, “Can I have a cookie? Or a chocolate? Or a doda?”
Tinker became confused asking, “Doda?”
Blue spoke again. “Soda.”
Ahh, “Later, Cookie Monster, let’s get you back to the pack.”
Stripping in the yard wasn’t a problem for Blue, Tinker or Candy, who had shredded her clothes when she shifted and had been naked for a while. Bree chose to shift in the house and hop out on her own terms. Tinker would have to get her over that self-consciousness. In a pack of wolves, chances were she would see at least one naked person a day.
Running the forest behind his house was one of his favorite past-times. He’d run the path from his home to pack house numerous times and he smiled as he stay behind Bree, watching as she scented their trail from last night and followed it. She was astonishingly fast for being so small. Unlike yesterday they didn’t linger and play, simply heading to pack house.
Meeting them in the yard, Jake had a genuine smile on his face when he saw them walking up naked, except for Bree who was plastered to Tinker’s back. “Thank you so much for finding them. We were all very worried, you could even say panicked.”
Jake’s pregnant mate Shana came out of the house raging. “I cannot believe you, Candy, you were supposed to braid my hair and then, poof, you were gone. Totally not cool.”
Eyes downcast Candy rubbed her toes through the dirt. “Sorry, Alpha Mate.”
“Don’t you go being all cute and naked and apologetic.”
That same clicking sound came from Bree and Tinker realized she was becoming annoyed. “She’s really sorry, Shana, she was afraid.”
The little booger went against him. “Nuh uh, I wasn’t scared. I don’t wanna scare Alpha Jake, or any other friends. Tinker likes me just like I is. I know he ain’t scared of nothin’.”
Tinker and Jake laughed as Shana prompted the question that was probably on the tip of Jake’s tongue too. “Why would Jake be scared? He’s the Alpha, the big cheese, the top dog.”
Whispering to Tinker, Candy said seriously, “He don’t smell like cheese or dog.”
“It’s a figure of speech. Let’s tell Jake how your wolf is different and then he won’t be afraid. Go ahead.”
“But-“
“No buts, Candy Cane, he’s your Alpha. He needs to see your wolf so he can recognize it during the moon run and protect you.”
“You can protect me.”
“I can, but you’ll never know if he’ll accept you if you don’t try.”
Heaving a resigned sigh, Candy asked, “Alpha Jake, if I show you my wolf and you don’t like it, will ya kick me out? ‘Cuz Tinker said I can be with him, you don’t even haveta see me.”
Going down on one knee, Jake’s response warmed Tinker’s heart. “I haven’t ever met a wolf I don’t like. And young lady, I think you have spunk and if you haven’t noticed by meeting my wife, I admire spunk.”
Jumping up and down, Candy clapped and shifted. In her wolf form she ran in a circle and chased her tail briefly before sitting on her haunches with her tongue lolling out.
“No fucking way.”
Jake’s voice was firm and held reprimand, “Shana, watch your mouth. She’s a child.”
“My bad, but do you see her. I love it, devil dog is amazing. She is the most innocent looking girl, but she shifts into a demon beast. Heck yeah, sister, you’re cool.”
Shifting back Candy’s amazed voice held disbelief. “You really think so? You ain’t scared?”
Blowing out an exaggerated breath Shana responded, “Please girl, I work in the emergency room, not much scares me. Except constipation with rectal prolapse,” she shivered, “That’s scary.”
A look of confusion crossed Candy’s face. “What’s that?”
Shana looked taken aback at the question. “Uh…I’ll tell you when you’re older. Now, come on inside so we can have a snack.” She rubbed her huge pregnant belly, “I need to eat all the time.”
Sitting at the table with her new pack surrounding her, Bree was unexpectedly delighted to have found Tinker. Who would have expected the series of events that brought them together? She knew they’d have struggles, but figured if they could overcome the whole different species thing, they were probably on the right track.
Katie’s voice interrupted Bree’s inner dialogue. “So what do you do?”
“I’m a lawyer. Well, I was a lawyer. I was fired like a lot of female attorneys in a primarily male field. They don’t like that you’re better, and then you get fired. They don’t like that you tell their wife they’re cheating, so you’re fired. They really don’t like when you win a major case against them. You’re definitely getting fired for that.”
“Word, sister, I understand your pain. Although I don’t work right now, I think every woman understands a man doesn’t like to be wrong. Even worse, he doesn’t like to be proven wrong by a chick.”
“Do you think there are any jobs here for me?”
“There’s only one lawyer around here and not a big need for another one to be honest, sorry.”
“No worries, I expected that. Honestly, I thought my life revolved around being the best professionally, but I’m finding there is so much more to life. What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a cop. I quit when my old boss got a complex and became a stalker. He got into drugs, wrapped up into some really nasty stuff. There’s a spot for me on the force, but it’s hard to work when,” she raised her voice, “You’re husband keeps you knocked up and then expects you to take care of them while he goes off and plays second to a pack of overbearing dominant wolves.”
Her heart in her throat, Bree sent a small wave over to the huge man who was currently staring daggers at Katie. Her palpitations increased as he began to walk their way and Bree suddenly felt like she was going to pass out.
Katie whispered, “Watch this. I love it when he gets all heavy-handed. Don’t tell him I said that though.”
Shaking her head jerkily Bree couldn’t speak.
He stopped behind a disinterested Katie and placed his arms around her, blocking her in-between himself and the counter. “Did I hear someone is unhappy? It seems to me that you’ve been quite pleased lately, with me in particular.”
Shrugging, Katie simply rolled her eyes as her mate, Conner, dropped his head to nuzzle her neck. “I love the way you smell.”
“I told you to stop with the smelling thing, it’s creepy.” Katie turned to Bree, “Isn’t it creepy?”
Bree shook her head and she was extremely disappointed to note that she scented of fear. Beginning to stand so she could flee and find Tinker, she suddenly felt a sharp pain to her right leg.
Looking down, she was sure she was seeing things. Nope there was a partially shifted small wolf attached to her leg. Was that a blindfold he was wearing?
There was blood seeping down her leg and into her sock. She did the only thing she could think of and yelled loudly for her mate, “Tinker.”
The large blond man that had just molested Katie reached down plucking the child from her leg. He smacked the kid on the nose. “Bad boy, what did your mother tell you about biting people?”
“But she’s not a people, she’s a bunny. I chase a bunny and eat ‘em.”
Conner reached over removing the blindfold from the boy, “Son, does she look like a bunny? What do you think Tinker is going to s
ay about you chomping on his mate?”
The boy began to cry just as Tinker came running up, scenting her blood Tinker growled. “What happened? Are you okay, Bree?”
“I’m fine, just a bit of a fright.”
He asked through gritted teeth, “Why are you bleeding?”
Her nerves gave her away, she could smell her own fear causing her to look around the room at all the predators and become more upset. “Just a bit of a misunderstanding I think.”
She was backing away when Connor’s other hand gripped her upper arm. “You better tell him or he’s about to flip his wolf shit. Just be honest. You’re going to have to learn to control your fear around us. You have nothing to worry about, you’re safe.”
“Tell that to my leg that was just used as a chew toy. My rabbit doesn’t appreciate my blood pooling in my shoe as a bunch of animals are all eyeing me. Not something I can really control, it’s called instinct.”
Tinker growled before knocking Connor’s hand off his mate. He pulled her into his arms and turned to the small child. “Brady, we do not harm mate’s. Now go clean the blood off your mouth before I get mad. I’ll take Bree to wash up.”
Tear tracks streaked his little face. “I’m sorry, miss, I didn’t mean to hurt ya.”
“It’s okay, young man, next time you should hunt outside though and with an adult so you don’t accidentally consume raw bunny shifter in human form.”
Alpha Jake came up to Brady and lowered him from Connor’s grasp. Go to your father and tell him what happened. He’ll understand. You do need to wash up too.”
The boy nodded before backing up and running down the hall.
Jake laughed before announcing. “Decker is going to be pissed.”
Tinker sneered. “He should be. Decker knows how protective we are. Brady is lucky I didn’t box his ears.”
“It was a minor accident. I apologize. We need to introduce the new pack members so this doesn’t happen.” Jake turned to Bree, “We’ll have them scent you so they know you’re not just a bunny, but our bunny. You belong to this pack now and I offer our protection, even from the young.”
“Thank you and I accept your protection. Let’s start the smellin’ so I don’t get munched again.”
Chuckling, Jake smiled her way as Tinker picked her up and began walking toward the hall. “I think you’re going to fit in just fine. You might want to stay away from my wife and Katie for a while. They tend to be a bad influence.”
“Noted and observed.”
Sobering, Jake walked with them down the hall. “I know you need to get cleaned up, but I need to talk with you about Mr. Wagner.”
“How can I help?”
Rubbing his neck, Jake looked a bit uncomfortable. “I looked into the financial records of the New York pack and they don’t add up. I think Mr. Wagner was getting money from the children’s estates to care for them, but he was taking it for himself instead. It would be hard to prove.”
Stopping in his tracks Tinker spun. “You’re kidding me?”
“No, I spoke with a few of the kids about their parents and recollections from the past. A few of them were able to give me their former addresses…they were well off. Not just well off; when the parents died the homes sold for millions. When Mr. Wagner called, he said the children came from poor homes and there was no money.” He shot a look at Tinker, “By the way, he was pissed that my hick pack mate assaulted him on his home turf. He means to press charges.”
Giving a chilling smile that could only be described as chilling, Tinker responded. “Let him.”
Pulling out of Tinker’s hold, Bree dropped down in front of Jake and looked up at him, wincing as her leg hit the floor. “Oh no, I think you’re onto something. Blue’s parents were lower working class. They lived paycheck to paycheck the way the court system described it. Mr. Wagner had Blue in his care briefly before dumping him in foster care. I wondered why a wolf Alpha wouldn’t want anything to do with his charge. Blue must have known something was going on too, poor kid.”
Sighing, Jake responded, “It could also be that Mr. Wagner feared Blue and his power. Although I think that’s less than likely because I think Blue was smart enough not to give away his secret to the Alpha.”
Bree brightened. “I know he didn’t tell him because Reggie referred to Blue as mute. He wouldn’t have said that if Blue had told him his secret.”
Clasping his hands Jake appeared relieved. “I was hoping you would say that. It gives us more to go on. I trust that you can be discrete about my suspicions. I’d love for both of you to be a part of this investigation.”
Bree’s excitement began to show when she started to rise up on the balls of her feet and pull her shoulders back. “I can do better. I’ll do a full investigation as one of the pack lawyers, if that’s okay with you, and find out where all the money has gone.”
Smiling, Jake announced, “I’ll be glad to work with you. I have our other lawyer putting out feelers right now and collecting records. The kids say they were basically given a few sets of clothes and two meals a day, sometimes three.”
Tinker growled and Bree’s teeth chattered in annoyance.
Unable to hold in his chuckle, Jake began to walk away. “I’m glad I’ll have you both working on this.”
Chapter 13
A week later
“I won’t ask how you got these records, but I will say that Reggie,” she sneered his name, “is a money hungry scumbag that needs to be knocked off his pedestal.”
Hearing Bree’s irritation made Tinker smile at her fighting spirit and praise all the hard work she’d done. “You are the best for doing this for the pack, Thumper. Now, we’ll be able to bring him down a notch. I’m just glad that these kids have a chance at a better life. Did you get Blue and Candy off to school okay?”
“They’re fine, enjoying their classes so far.” She smiled at his concern for the kids, but noticed he was trying to divert attention from the Reggie subject, yet again. “The deaths of their parents are suspicious but I haven’t linked Reggie with anyone’s death yet. His financial records are damning though. There is literally no money left in any of the estates which were left for the kids.”
Tinker saw the surprise on her face when he said. “I called Reggie’s second in command, Holt. The kids have been worried about him thinking Reggie took care of him. He seems like a decent guy. He had no idea the kids were gone. He would bring them presents, take them on trips. He was more of a foster parent than Reggie ever was. He cared for the kids and was devastated to learn that they were gone. Funny enough, he was sent on a pack related trip a few days before our meeting. When he came back, good ol’ Reggie told him they were sent to a different pack because they didn’t fit.”
“How horrible. Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
“I do.”
“What do you plan on doing?”
“Plan?”
Tinker heard her heart speed up in fear for him, and he wished she could understand why he wanted to keep her out of this. Wolves were dangerous when threatened.
“What have you already done? I swear, one of these days you’re going to be the death of me.”
Reaching over and pulling her close he smiled. “Nah, you’ll get used to it. I’m a man that knows what he wants and doesn’t beat around the bush. I’m pretty laid back and practical.”
“I’ve noticed. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was you who showed me that there was more to life than my job and my monthly apartment shift. Since I’ve been here my bunny and I are in perfect harmony; I can scent, run through the forest, and play with my sexy wolf.” She winked before becoming serious. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Smiling Tinker nodded. “How have your self-defense classes with Decker been going?”
“Pretty good. I feel a lot more confident that I can defend myself. Not that I’ll have to here, but I like being prepared.”
“You lived in the big city all your life and you think now is
the proper time for self-defense classes?”
“There’s a difference. I’ve taken classes before against random acts of city violence, but I’m living with a pack of wolves now. If someone decides to go rogue or has a sudden hankerin’ for shifter bunny, I’ll be ready.”
He pulled her down on his lap and nuzzled her neck. “We’ll be ready. I’ve told you time and again that I’ll protect you.”
Giggling she rubbed her face against the top of his head. “I know you will. So, what’s your big plan?”
“I had Jake call and invite Mr. Wagner and his second here to publically apologize for any slight on them during the meet in New York. They agreed to come, of course we’ll be paying their airfare and housing while they’re in town.”
She laughed out loud, a happy deep belly sounding laugh, “He wouldn’t be able to pass up the public apology by a fellow Alpha.”
“Yeah, it’ll give us a chance to scope out the second to see if he’d be a good leader. No matter what happens, good ol’ Reggie won’t leave as Alpha. We’re all in agreement on that.”
Sighing, Bree asked, “You know you’re mucking with decades of tradition and completely rocking the foundation of the New York Pack. There are some that won’t like it.”
“And yet, for the greater good, they will sacrifice. Reggie was abusing his power. It’s time someone looks out for the needs of the pack. The parents of those children left Mr. Wagner as guardian because it is tradition that the Alpha take care of any children in need. He took their money and left their kids in a warehouse to rot. They had no communication with the pack and no guidance. If he was a member of our pack he’d be facing charges. He’s lucky all we’re doing is demoting him.”
“What gives you the power to demote him?”
“The law. You’ve done the research. We’ll give him a chance to step down and if he refuses we’ll kindly inform him we’ll release the evidence we have to the police. Shifter or not, no one likes a person who steals from kids. We’ll give him a choice.”
Pack Protection Page 11