by Tl Reeve
“We do have manners, Kalkin,” Poppa stated.
“Good. Fuckin’ remember to use them and we’ll get along famously.”
Rapier chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about that when you’re at my house. My mate could give a shit about what you say, or who hears you. Matter of fact, Jasmine is more likely to join along than reprimand.”
Black Jack laughed.
“You’re invited too,” Kalkin addressed Jerome.
“I’m going to take a rain check.” Kalkin’s face scrunched up, and before he could order otherwise, Jerome added, “Got shit to do, Kal. Raymond Quincy is going to fuck up at some point. I wanna be the one to catch him when he does. I’ll tell Annabelle though. She’ll be there.”
Kalkin nodded, apparently pleased that one of them would be represented. “Tell her to bring Phoenix as well.”
“When?” Poppa asked.
Kalkin glanced down at his watch. “Now?” Like everyone should or could drop what they were doing and run to his house. Poppa, Black Jack, and Hombre would all learn about the great and mighty Kalkin Raferty when he made cut and dry decisions.
Seeing the look of confusion on the older, male biker, Rapier stepped in to explain what Kalkin meant. “It’s all good. You’ll learn to realize this is Kalkin’s world and we’re just puppets sitting around waiting to do his bidding. What he means is seven tonight. Nothing good happens at his place until then. Unless someone decides to go for a run naked.” Rapier gave Kalkin a pointed look.
“Fuck you, Rapier,” Kalkin growled without any of his normal anger.
Rapier shrugged. “Need I remind you, you’re not exactly my type, Kal, or would you rather I just call you an asshole and leave it at that?”
“Yeah, maybe. I’m used to being called an asshole,” Kalkin admitted.
“Yeah,” Caden chuckled. “Keeley refers to him as such a minimum of three times a day.”
It was of no surprise when Kalkin smacked the back of Caden’s head. Going by Caden’s wince, it must’ve been a helluva swat. “Fucker.”
“What the ever-loving fuck, Kal?” Caden growled, his body tensing as he glared at his twin. Caden gave Kalkin a hearty shove. Of course, Kalkin being Kalkin, he didn’t even move. “That hurt.”
“Was supposed to hurt, dumbass. Otherwise what is the point?” Kalkin snapped.
“Fuck, there is something wrong with you two,” Osirus muttered.
“That’s an understatement,” Kalkin declared.
“It’s a stress release for them.” Rapier wondered if there would be a day when he and Osirus would be like that with each other. “It’s either take it out on each other, or some innocent bystander.” Rapier grinned at Osirus. “Like you or me.”
“Fuck that shit. Let them beat the shit out of each other then,” Osirus said before he made his way to the office door. “I’m out.”
“I think I should be offended,” Kalkin said.
Rapier snorted. Everyone knew those in their inner circles had a hard time offending either Alpha.
“He realizes him, Utah, and Jenna are invited to dinner tonight too, right?” Kalkin said.
“Yeah, he does.” Rapier paused. “I mean, I’m sure Osirus understands he should be there tonight. Maybe. Shit. I’ll text him later.”
“Are you fucking with me? You better not be. I’m in a bad fuckin’ mood and could end up wiping the floor with your feline ass,” Kalkin growled.
“Pull the stick out of your ass, Kal. Anyone can see he’s just fucking with you,” Caden said.
“Fuck me, if you two become friends and team up against me, I’m totally fucked,” the surly wolf Alpha muttered.
“Caden and I friends?” Rapier snorted. “Perish that thought, right freakin’ now. It’s never going to happen. He’s too much of a stuck-up, self-righteous asshole for my tastes.” No matter how hard he tried, Caden didn’t rise to the bait. The pack Beta simply cocked a brow and smirked. Asshole.
* * * *
At seven-fifteen, Rapier pulled into the Raferty Homestead. How could he fuck with Kalkin if he wasn’t late? Although Jasmine would probably have his ass for pulling the little stunt, he didn’t care; he’d fuck it out of her later. Speaking of which, there she sat, at one of the picnic tables while their cubs milled around. Rapier eased his truck into the open slot near the side of the house and threw the vehicle into park before shutting it off.
Like he promised Kalkin, he made sure Osirus knew he, Jenna, and Utah were expected at the compound. After leaving Osirus at his house, Rapier called Jasmine and let her know the plans for the evening, before heading into the office himself. Houses weren’t going to get built on their own, and he’d taken off enough time as it was.
When he popped open the pickup door, Jasmine lifted her head and turned in his direction. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she saw him. It was as if she fell in love with him all over again. Fuck, how did I get to be such a lucky S.O.B.? Jasmine took off running straight for him then launched herself into the air, knowing full well he’d catch her.
“Hey, kitten,” he purred.
“Daddy,” she muttered, low and for his ears only.
His dick went rock hard at the husky undertones in her voice.
“Goin’ to be a long fuckin’ night, mate,” he said against her soft, lush lips.
Jasmine chuckled. “From what Dani has been telling me, it’s not uncommon for Kal and Keeley to leave, fuck each other’s brains out, and then come back. I’m up for it if you are.”
Hell yeah, he was always up for it with her. To prove it, he moved her down his body so she felt his straining length. “Only problem, this isn’t our home. Kal might take offense to us fuckin’ in one of his rooms.”
“Pfft. Who needs a room when there is a perfectly good little section of woods over there? We could shift and do it in our animal forms.” The saucy wink she gave him had his dick pulsing with need.
She was T-R-O-U-B-L-E, and he loved every damn minute of it.
Little minx.
He growled, low in his chest, before throwing back his head and trying to find the patience he was going to need to get through the next couple hours. “Be a good girl, kitten.” He nipped at her full, lower lip. She tasted like warm sunshine and chocolate chip cookies. “Damn, baby, you taste amazing.”
She snorted, then looked him in the eye. “I’ve got another of set of lips that taste equally amazing. Just sayin’.”
Rapier chuckled.
“Love that sound, mate,” she mewled.
“What sound?” he asked.
“Your laughter,” she replied. “You always had a wicked sense of humor. I missed it.”
The sad, far-away look he detested so damn much rolled across her features. Her pretty eyes filled with pain with the remembrance of their time apart. He saw it less and less, but when he did notice it, it pissed him off. His lion too, apparently. The damn beast roared in his head, pacing and pushing against his skin, wanting to comfort their mate.
You’re not helping, he told the surly creature whom he shared his psyche with. It didn’t work. It just pissed him off, and he re-doubled his efforts. The skin at the back of his neck prickled, and he could feel the claws push through from his nail beds. I got this, asshole, back the fuck off. He growled, hoping to assert his dominance to the beast.
Slowly, the lion retreated. Yet, Rapier felt him lurking. He suspected if he were to look into a mirror at this moment, his eyes would be those of a lion and not a human. Fine, fucker. You can stay right where you are. You attempt to come out, and we’re going to have issues. The lion chuffed before lying down and observing. “Ah, baby, don’t. I thought we were all past this.”
“We were, ‘til I found out Raymond Quincy escaped.” She shook her head. “He’s never going to leave us alone until he’s got what he wants, Rapier.”
Rapier glanced around to make sure no one was within hearing range, human or shifter. “Look at me, kitten.” When her head tipped back, Rapier saw
the tears in her eyes. It pissed him off. “He won’t. I promise you.”
“You can’t make that promise, Rapier. You know it.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I fuckin’ can. Next time I see him, face to face, outside of the jail, one of us isn’t walking away.”
Her eyes widened when she got his meaning. “Rapier, no…you can’t do that. Not now. His case is too high profile. You’ll get caught, and you’ll be taken away from us again. I can’t, baby…I can’t do that again. We can’t do that again.”
“Kitten—”
“No. Don’t you kitten me, Rapier. You promise me, right here, right now, you won’t take the law into your hands and kill him,” she hissed.
“He won’t give that promise, Jasmine. I’ll give it for him though,” Kalkin said as he stepped into his line of vision.
“Jesus Christ, Kalkin. Wear a fuckin’ bell or something,” Rapier snarled, unsure how the other man had gotten so close without him even realizing it. It wasn’t until the lion chuckled in his head that he understood.
Laugh it up, asshole. It’ll be cold day in hell before I let you out to fuck our mate again. The lion stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes at Rapier. Yeah, that’s right, motherfucker.
Kalkin stood, his legs apart, massive arms crossed, and glaring at them. “The time for taking that cagey fucker out, outside of the law, has long passed. We both know it. We’ve got to let the courts handle him. We’ll always be in the background, waiting if he should get out. Doubt he will since the case against him is iron tight. Add in this jailbreak, he’ll rot in prison.”
Jasmine wrapped her arm around Rapier, and he tucked her into his side. “He’s a shifter, Kal. No one knows how old he is, or how long we’ll have to deal with his presence on this earth.”
Kalkin sighed.
Rapier couldn’t blame her for worrying; the law had never really been helpful with them where Raymond Quincy had been concerned. “Kitten—”
“Let me ask you something, Jasmine.” Kalkin relaxed his stance like he was trying to be less intimidating. “Do you think, or do I look like the type of guy, who’d spend his entire adult life protecting both humans and shifters alike, and believing in a system to my core, only to have the same system I work so hard for betray me?”
“To be honest, I don’t know you well enough to draw any conclusions on what you believe or don’t believe in,” she said.
“What a bullshit answer,” Kalkin snarled. “You know your mate. You trust him. Do you think he’d align himself, or his Pride, with me if he didn’t have confidence and trust in our pack? Or me?”
“He wouldn’t combine our Pride with your Pack unless he trusted you explicitly.”
“Right and so do you think our judicial system doesn’t have a contingency plan in place for rogue shifters like Raymond Quincy?” Kalkin inquired.
“Kal—”
Kalkin shook his head.
“I understand your concern, Rapier. I really do,” Kalkin said, as if reading his mind. “Your mate hasn’t had an easy time of it the last ten years, thanks to Quincy. Of everyone in this world, I get it. My family, my pack, we all understand.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, Kalkin,” Jasmine said. “But we both have our families to keep safe here.”
Kalkin moved closer and lowered his voice. “Raymond Quincy will spend the rest of his days rotting in a cell. He will be lonely and isolated with little to no contact from either human or shifter. He won’t have a television, a computer, or even a book to pass the time. During the full moon, he will be locked in a concrete and steel room, with no windows. If he should shift while in the room, he won’t be able to run because the room isn’t big enough for any shifter to do so. He’ll never again be able to experience the pleasures of a mate or knotting her during the cycle of the full moon.”
To hear Kalkin tell it, that last one was a fate worse than death for a wolf shifter.
“You just have to catch him again,” Jasmine said.
“Right. Only, remember, I didn’t lose him in the first place,” Kalkin replied.
“No, the system did. A system you trust,” she lobbed back at him.
“A system filled with traitors. Which I’m weeding out. Once they’re all gone, justice can and will be served.”
Rapier had a feeling Kalkin might have said more, but he held back when they all heard the sound of three bikes coming down the drive, red dust kicking up behind them.
“More company.” Kalkin turned on his heel and headed for the house. “Bout fucking time, I’m starving.”
Rapier chuckled as he caught a glimpse of Osirus’ truck behind the bikes.
Poppa, Hombre, and Black Jack parked off to the side before making their way over to where he stood with Jasmine. After reconnecting with them after all those years, he’d told Jasmine about seeing them again and what’d transpired since they were forced to flee. Rapier knew his little mate wasn’t a fan of the three men, thanks in part to their involvement with Raymond Quincy. But, she wept for what they’d lost as well.
“I’m sorry about Alicia,” Jasmine said when she caught Poppa’s attention.
All of his worrying was for nothing. Rapier should’ve known better. Jasmine had a big heart, and although they’d been apart for ten years, he had still been alive as far as she knew. “We both are.”
“She was an amazing woman and will be missed.”
The hard-exterior shell he’d seen around Poppa since he arrived in Window Rock cracked slightly at his mate’s words. Poppa looked off into the distance before turning back to Jasmine and quietly saying, “Thank you.”
Jenna, Utah, and Osirus had joined them by that time, and together they walked up the rest of the way to the massive back yard. Shifters, both wolf and feline, were everywhere, as were kids. Keeley appeared out of thin air, introduced herself to the three bikers, and then welcomed them to her home.
“Jesus. It’s like fuckin’ chaos,” Poppa muttered under his breath.
Jasmine snorted. “This isn’t even everyone.”
“This is calm.” Rapier grabbed a beer for all of them after Jasmine scurried off to wrangle up Zoe, who was covered in red dust. “If you considered a passel of kids running around screaming and tagging each other, calling out ‘you’re it’ was calm. It gets rowdier as the night goes on.” Rapier laughed. “You know it’s going to be a good night if one of the Raferty siblings gets into a fistfight before the kids go to sleep.”
Kalkin stood in front of the grill flipping burgers and steaks. Normally the grill was manned by Jace, but a quick scan showed neither Jace, Loraine, or Blake were there. It didn’t surprise Rapier since Loraine was still healing and Jace, who was a lot like Kalkin, was an overprotective ass when it came to having Loraine around others. Even if the others were his siblings. Kalkin laid down the fork and brought his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle. Everyone stopped moving, even the kids, who turned to their Alpha.
“The Raferty Pack is welcoming three new pack members. Poppa, Hombre, and Black Jack have renounced their former pack.” Even with it being a huge deal when a shifter walked away from their Pack, Rapier thought it’d been smart for Kalkin not to mention who their old pack was. “And have now sworn their fidelity to us. They’ll be given all the rights and respect of every other member in our pack/pride.”
Keeley lifted her drink in salute. “Welcome to the pack/pride.”
“Welcome to the pack/pride,” Rapier added, lifting his drink.
“What they said,” Jasmine said with a small laugh. “May you find peace here.”
Chapter Fourteen
Being stuck in the house wasn’t going to work for Jasmine. As much as she appreciated everyone’s concerns, she wouldn’t back down. Besides, Kalkin was right. If they changed anything, deviated one bit on their schedules, Raymond would go to ground, fleeing the area and leaving them to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. Screw that. They’d done it for far too long, and she wouldn’t l
ive the rest of her life in that fear.
Of course, Raymond didn’t have a lot of options when it came to places to hide out. From what she understood, most of his stash houses were raided and confiscated after his arrest. In her estimation, Raymond was the sitting duck. He should be afraid to show his face. However, she knew he didn’t have the good sense given to him to stay gone. He was like a bad penny, always turning up at the most inconvenient times.
Jasmine parked in the only available spot in front of YoJo then got out. The girls filed out behind her from the backseat of their pickup. Both girls enjoyed being in Window Rock, but she knew both were having a hard time adjusting to being with their father and his family. To say the Dryers could be a little overwhelming was an understatement. Rapier and his brothers were intimidating, aggressive, and loud. There wasn’t an ounce of repentance in any of them, and it could lead to some challenging issues for the girls.
“Mommy, why didn’t we bring Daddy with us?” Bell looked up at her with piercing blue eyes that matched her father’s.
“He had to work today. Besides, I thought we could have a girls’ day. Something we haven’t ever been able to do.” Jasmine smiled, taking Bell’s hand. “I thought we could grab a drink, do a little shopping and whatever you girls want to do as well.”
“Home sounds great,” Zoe said. “At least we have a tiger there.”
Jasmine snorted. “He’s not your favorite stuffed animal. Utah needs his time too. You can’t depend on him twenty-four-seven.”
Zoe shrugged. “I’m just saying. We have entertainment there.” She glanced out over the empty expanse past town. “If you haven’t noticed, there’s not much here.”
True. If they wanted the sprawling city, they had to go into New Mexico or drive down to Tucson. “There is plenty to do here if you know where to look. Come on. Let’s get a drink then we can plan.”
They walked down the sidewalk to the side door of YoJo’s. Already, at a little past ten, the place was busy. Keeley had tried to warn her about the traffic, but she hadn’t been too concerned. Window Rock, compared to some places, was small, so how many people could actually go to YoJo? The question was rhetorical now. Because the answer had been, obviously everyone. Jasmine tugged the girls close to her, to keep them where she could see them. Though she might want to live her life, she also knew to be vigilant. She wouldn’t drop her guard.