by Terry Spear
“CJ and Trevor Osgood, the other deputy sheriff, found a six-pack of empty beer bottles in the teens’ truck. They’d both been drinking. Seventeen, underage. Driving under the influence. Yeah, we’ve got them. Plus the stalking business, once the deputies realized these were the two kids who followed us yesterday.”
“Were they really DUI?”
“Yes. We needed to get them off the road and send a message home to Waldron. If the boys do illegal stuff while stalking you, they’ll have to pay the price. Not to mention that following you like that is another offense we take seriously around here.”
“What if their parents come to pick them up and don’t let Waldron know the trouble they were in? I can imagine he’d be angry with them.”
Eric set the table and Pepper brought the food over. “Darien will insist that he speak to Waldron about the kids stalking you twice now. He’ll do it with a pack leader perspective, from one to another. I assume Darien’s position will have more weight than mine.”
She didn’t know why Eric’s comment touched her so, but it did. He didn’t seem upset over it, just resigned to the fact that this was his lot in life. Yet she could tell he was a real alpha leader. “Why don’t you start your own pack?”
“My brothers followed me once. But this is home for them. Silver Town. Our heritage. This is where we belong.”
She didn’t think he meant it. Not as far as he was concerned. But for his brothers, yes. He’d brought them home, giving up his own dreams. That said something good about his character. “How does Darien want to handle the situation between you and Waldron?”
“We want to learn more about Waldron’s background. Where he and his pack were staying before. Was he part of a larger pack, or did he cause trouble with another pack in the area that ran him off? Darien wants to use Waldron’s past against him, if we can learn anything.”
“What if he has no past to mention?”
“As long as we’ve lived, everyone has a past of some kind or another.”
“Even you?”
Eric fixed glasses of ice water for them. “Even me.”
That made her really curious.
“So have you always run the pack on your own?” Eric asked. “Or did you have a mate?”
She hadn’t really planned to share that much about herself. The more she shared, the more trouble she could have. On the other hand, Eric had only helped her cousin out and had earned Waldron’s wrath because of it. Though it wasn’t Pepper’s fault, she felt somewhat responsible and hated that Eric and his pack had been dragged into this. “I lost Harold seven years ago. We had been mated for less than two years.”
“Was Grayling his name or yours?”
“Mine. The pack was mine. We decided it should stay in my parents’ name since they’d started the pack.”
Eric nodded. “That’s the hardest part for us. Letting go. Losing a mate we vowed to stay with forever.”
She didn’t think he could really understand how it felt to lose a mate. She would always love Harold. But her real concern was that she didn’t want to have to break in another leader. Once she’d known she could manage on her own just fine, she didn’t feel the need to add a new mate into the equation. She had to think of not only herself, but her people. What if a new mate was good to her, but not to her pack members? They’d have to either move away or silently suffer, because once she mated again, she would be with that wolf for life.
At least everyone had known Harold, and he’d been beta enough that she was able to mold him into the leader she needed him to be. With Eric or others like him? Waldron, for one? They were alphas to the max, and that made her take a few steps back.
Not all betas would be able to become alpha enough to lead a pack either. Pauline was lots more alpha than Harold had been. Pepper had had to take her sister-in-law to task a few times over the years because of it. Pepper adored Pauline’s twin boys though. When Pauline lost her own mate, Pepper thought she might move on, find another mate, and join his pack. Pepper would miss the boys terribly if that happened though.
“Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you hadn’t inherited your parents’ pack and become the pack leader? Would you have started your own?” Eric asked.
“Starting your own pack can be really tough. You offer for others to join. They may not care for your style of leadership and move on. You have to make sure that you set up in a territory that’s not run by another pack. Sometimes you don’t know that until it’s too late. My great-grandfather died over a confrontation with another pack in a territory,” Pepper said.
“None of them knew there were others in the area, so he didn’t know they ruled there until they made it abundantly clear. My great-grandmother had to move the pack to the area north of the park. Originally our pack was from New Mexico. There were only ten pack members at the time, including my great-grandmother’s triplet sons, one being my grandfather, who took over when she died.”
“She had run the pack alone until then?”
“Yes.” Which was another reason Pepper knew she could do it. “All this time, we never knew you lived south of the park or that Silver Town was wolf-run. I’m sure we might have run across one of your people at some time or another, but it was just a brief encounter, nothing any of us recall.”
“So you’ve mentioned us to your pack?”
“Sure. I wanted to let everyone know that if they need medical aid, you have a wolf doctor in town who can take care of them.”
“And a vet.”
She smiled.
“Just saying.”
“I’ll have to mention that too. In any event, they were glad to hear about the doctor.”
“I take it you have land that’s safe to run on.”
“We do. Thanks.”
“Well, we do too, and we use the ski resort for wolf runs at night when the resort is closed. Feel free to join us anytime. Also, Darien and Lelandi would like to meet you. We have ties to a number of packs. Lelandi’s brother runs a red wolf pack in Portland, Oregon. Her uncle runs the pack her father used to run. We’re friends with another gray pack in a city close to here. My brother’s mate has an aunt with the pack, and we have close ties to the woman who mated the pack leader. Her human family still lives here,” Eric said.
“Human?”
“Long story. We never planned it that way, but because of it, we have a lot of pack allies while other packs remain isolated and have to fend for themselves, both against other lupus garou packs and with humans. We share resources, like our doctor, with other packs close by that might need one.”
Pepper felt a bit of panic. She assumed Eric was offering her something they probably didn’t offer to everyone—like to Waldron and his pack. And she had to remind herself she should talk to Darien and Lelandi before her people came here to use their doctor, just as a courtesy. But she couldn’t help feeling more was going on here than met the eye—like this was a way for Eric to get to know her better. Still, if her people availed themselves of the Silvers’ generosity, she’d be helping them out, not showing any interest in Eric.
“That would be nice.”
“Splendid. When would be a good time for you to meet Darien and Lelandi?”
“I have nothing scheduled for this afternoon. I might as well do it while I’m already here, if they have the time and can meet with me.”
“I’ll give them a call and ask.”
Eric called while Lelandi was putting the dishes in the dishwasher, so Darien answered the phone.
“Hey, Darien,” Eric said. “I know you have babysitting duty while Lelandi has a couple of sessions with patients, but if you have time, could you meet with Pepper Grayling?” He glanced at her and asked Pepper, “Would half an hour from now be okay?” He quickly added, “Do you mind if the kids are about?”
She smiled. “I love kids.” And their meeting would see
m a lot less pack leader official if Darien was busy with the triplets. “And a half hour works for me.” She figured that would give her enough time to drive around town and see the sights.
“Great,” Eric said to Darien. “That works for her. I’ll give her directions.” He paused. “I’ll tell her. Thanks. Later.” He pocketed his phone. “He’s calling CJ to have him give you a deputy sheriff’s escort to his place so you don’t have any further trouble—at least in our pack territory.”
“Waldron is going to be so furious when he learns what happened to the Fairhaven boys.”
Eric shook his head. “It’s his fault for causing trouble with my pack.”
“He won’t see it that way.”
“That’s his problem.”
Yeah, but it was now her problem too.
Chapter 8
As soon as Darien told Lelandi that Pepper was coming to see him, Lelandi rescheduled her patients’ sessions for later in the afternoon. Everyone was excited that another pack might become their ally. And her patients knew that if anyone could put the she-wolf leader at ease, it would be Lelandi.
She surprised Darien when she returned to the house from the office where she conducted her practice.
“I thought you had two more sessions this afternoon.” Darien pulled her into a hug as if he’d missed her for the hour she’d been away.
She hugged him back. “My patients are eager for us to have another wolf pack ally. We’re good.”
“Should we get someone to watch the triplets?”
“Nah. If Pepper knows you’re going to be watching them, she’ll probably be more at ease and see this as a social call, rather than business.”
“You know best about these things.”
“Not when it comes to a she-wolf who’s been leading a pack on her own. I’ve never known one before. How long has she run the pack by herself?”
“I’m not sure. We’ll have to ask her. I hear her driving up now.”
Lelandi headed for the door and walked out to greet Pepper. She was dying to meet the woman who had intrigued Eric so.
Pepper was a pretty brunette who was wearing an aqua blouse and blue jeans. Her dark eyes were smiling, though she seemed a little wary. Which was understandable. She didn’t know them, and the Silver Town pack was large enough to cause real trouble for smaller lupus garou packs.
“I’m Lelandi Silver,” Lelandi said, stretching out her hand. “We’re so eager to meet you. I had to see you for myself after you had such a positive effect on Eric.”
“How so?” Pepper asked, sounding surprised.
“Well, truth be told, he rarely asks Darien and me to intervene when he’s having difficulty. I just had to meet you to learn how you ever accomplished such a feat.”
“I’m not looking for a mate,” Pepper quickly said.
“Oh, heavens no. Of course not. Which is a good thing. Eric isn’t either.” At least that’s the way he’d always talked. Lelandi suspected it had to do with the way his father had fallen apart after his mother’s death. But she sensed there was more to it than that. As soon as Darien told her about Eric leaving the pack before his father had died and coming back devastated, she’d asked Eric’s brothers if any of them wanted to talk about it.
CJ and Brett suspected something had happened to deeply upset Eric. He’d been restless, needing something, yet no one knew for certain what. Eric had gone off several times after his brothers were grown. From what she’d learned, she thought he’d been looking to start a pack of his own, although nothing had come of it. But that last time he left before their father had died, something had changed, the brothers said. CJ and Brett didn’t know what, and Sarandon wouldn’t say.
After talking to Sarandon about what had gone on with Pepper at the Boy Scout camps and then over lunch, Lelandi suspected that Eric was really interested in Pepper but didn’t want to push her away like Waldron was doing. Then again, maybe Eric really wasn’t interested in a mate. He hadn’t shown any interest in the MacTyre sisters. Since Eric had wanted to learn where Pepper’s pack was living, Lelandi suspected the former. He was trying his darnedest to be circumspect about it, which was a real change for him.
“I wanted to apologize for what happened to Eric,” Pepper said, while Lelandi offered tea. “Thanks, I’d like some tea. Unsweetened, if that’s all right.”
“Yes, I made it before you got here. Neither of us drink sugar in our tea either. As for the situation with Eric, no apology necessary. If you don’t mind, we can sit in the den while the kids watch television. If that’s too much of a distraction, I can have someone come over and watch them.”
“No, that’s quite all right.”
Lelandi poured glasses of tea for everyone, then carried the pitcher and a glass while Pepper grabbed Darien’s and hers. They joined Darien in the den, where he was overseeing the triplets while they watched cartoons, and he seemed to be enjoying them as much as the kids, Pepper thought.
Lelandi made introductions. “These are our three-year-old triplets: our daughter, Lacey; our son, Dashiell, though we call him Dash; and Lucas.”
“Adorable,” Pepper said. “They sure take after the two of you. I bet you had dark curls just like Dash and Lucas when you were little,” she said to Darien.
Lelandi smiled at Darien as she swore he blushed a little.
“And Lacey with her dark-red curls like yours, Lelandi. They’re just the cutest.”
Acting shy, Dash and Lacey clung to their dad’s legs. Lelandi introduced Pepper to them, and then Darien scooped the kids up and set them back on the pillows on the carpeted floor to watch TV while the adults took their seats on the sofas.
Pepper sipped from her glass, then set it down on the coffee table.
“We want you to know we’re here for you if you have any needs we can meet. Medical, vet, home repair, we have a list of services,” Darien said.
Lelandi added, “We don’t want to sound like we’re pushing our wolf services, but it’s nice to know that you can get discounted work done in case you need any, and if someone has to shift while they’re there, no problem.”
Pepper smiled. “No newly turned wolves in the pack, so we’re good. But I do appreciate the offer. I’ll share the list with my pack members if anyone needs work done on their homes or whatever.”
Lelandi nodded. “Sounds good. And if you have any services you can provide, the same goes.”
Pepper handed over a business card. “If you ever need trees—Christmas or just trees for landscaping—we have a tree nursery and a Christmas tree farm.”
“That’s great. I’m sure we can use some, as much as we love the forests. And Christmas will be here before we know it. As to the problem with Waldron and his pack,” Darien said, “we’re going on the offensive now. We would have let sleeping wolves lie, but with Waldron threatening Eric with further mayhem, we can’t permit it.”
Pepper took a deep breath and exhaled. “What do you propose to do?”
“Learn his weaknesses. And his strengths. Build a case against him to counter any he might try to hit Eric with. Already we know two of his weaknesses,” Darien said.
“The Fairhaven teens,” Pepper said with conviction.
“Right. We’ve got them on stalking charges because they’ve followed you twice now and we have enough eyewitnesses to verify it. The boys will probably say they acted on their own, but since they must have reported back to Waldron about your lunch with Eric and Sarandon, I imagine he told them to keep doing a good job. Maybe Waldron thought they could intimidate the two of you.”
“Hardly,” Pepper said.
“They don’t really know about Eric. He ran off when Waldron bit him. He didn’t stick around to fight. He used his uniform to take the boys to task, but Waldron might think that if Eric had to face him in a wolf-to-wolf fight, Eric would run off again, too afraid to fight,
” Lelandi said.
“That would be the day.” Pepper leaned back on her chair, looking like she was glad Eric would stand up to Waldron if there was a next time. That was good, Lelandi thought, because the way things were going, that probably would happen. “You’re right. It would be a fatal mistake on Waldron’s part,” Lelandi agreed. At least she hoped Eric would come out the winner. She hadn’t seen Waldron in his wolf form or otherwise.
“We suspect Waldron would come prepared though, just in case he’s mistaken about Eric.” Darien set his empty glass on the table.
Pepper frowned. “Waldron would have reinforcements, you mean.”
“Precisely.”
“So what exactly does Waldron want from you?” Lelandi refilled their tea glasses.
“He wants to take over the forested land I own, increase his pack size by joining our two packs, and have me.”
The way she listed the items in order of importance was really telling. Lelandi wanted to give Eric and Pepper a chance to see each other without any other wolf or pack intruding. With their pack allying with Pepper’s, what better way would there be to get to know each other than to have a big pack gathering? She hadn’t mentioned it to Darien, because she had wanted to meet with Pepper first. Now that she had, Lelandi could see the she-wolf wasn’t an isolationist wolf—which some of them were, not wanting their packs to have much to do with others.
A get-together would be a great way for Pepper’s people to meet other lupus garous and maybe even have playdates for wolf cubs or teen get-togethers. It was really important for smaller packs to have that socialization. And who knew? Maybe they had some unmated she-wolves other than Pepper who were interested in meeting some bachelor males.
“How about if your pack and ours get together for a barbecue? We’ll have it here on the property, and that will show our solidarity.” Lelandi was ready to throw a big party. It was great for everyone to take a moment out of their busy schedules to socialize. But meeting others from another pack? Even better. She knew her people would be excited. She hoped Pepper’s would be too.