Joy to the Wolves

by Terry Spear

  “Hmm, anything is good for me. You’re my Christmas present too. I really couldn’t ask for more.” Brooke said to Josh. “No Christmas presents for us.”

  “Wait, I’m getting one of the cars, right?”

  Brooke and Maverick laughed. “Yes. What about for Maverick? I’ll give you guys the truck for the ranch, but you can have the other vintage car.”

  “Hot damn. I’m thrilled. You are definitely my favorite sister-in-law.”

  “I’m your only sister-in-law.”

  “And the best one ever. I’ll take the Ferrari if it’s all right by you,” Josh said to Brooke, letting her sit in the car next. He supposed he should have allowed her to try it out first.

  She smiled at him. “It’s yours.”

  “Then I get the Corvette,” Maverick said, looking like he was a kid in a toy store.

  She left the Ferrari, and Josh gave her a hug and a kiss. Then he had to try out the Corvette.

  “Somebody—in the pack, probably—is maintaining the cars and the truck. Would the pack leaders know?” she asked.

  “They might. I don’t think word has spread yet that you’ve taken over the shop. When I told Leidolf and Cassie we were mated, the pack members might have gotten word. We can ask at the Christmas party,” Josh said, hands on the steering wheel in the Corvette, envisioning driving with his mate down Route 66, top down, wind in their hair.

  Maverick went over and gave her a hug, tears in his eyes. “This is the best Christmas ever, since you came into our lives. And not just because of the cars and the pickup.”

  * * *

  Brooke hugged Maverick back. “You and your brother made it the same for me.”

  The guys moved on to check out the truck. She sat in the driver’s seat of the Corvette and reached up for the visor. She didn’t expect to find anything, but all the movies showed people putting car keys up on their visors, so why not try it? As soon as she pulled the visor down, the keys dropped onto her lap.

  Well, that was a surprise. She wondered if the car would even start. Most likely not. But when she tried the keys in the ignition, it started. She pressed the gas pedal, and it vroomed. “Ohmigod, it runs.”

  Both the brothers hurried back to her and the car. They opened the hood and checked the engine. She smiled. She could imagine walking naked in front of them and they wouldn’t see a thing but the beautiful vintage car they were drooling over.

  “They’re all gassed up, engines clean,” Josh said, checking out the Ferrari. He found keys on the visor for it too.

  Maverick went to check the truck and found the keys on the visor for it. “Well, hot damn.”

  “I bet whoever has been maintaining the vehicles has been driving them around on the property,” Josh said.

  “On the newer paved part of the road.” Brooke took pictures of each of the vehicles to show Adam when they returned home.

  “We can haul them out of here with the truck. I just need to get a trailer so they’ll be more secure,” Maverick said. “We have a double-car garage attached to the house and another garage that we use for storage and work vehicles. But we’ll have room for the vehicles. We shouldn’t drive them any distance until we have a mechanic look them over and make sure they’re safe.”

  “We can check out the house in the meantime while you get the trailer,” Brooke said.

  “See you in a bit.” Maverick drove off in his pickup, and Josh used his lockpick to unlock the house.

  The door creaked when he opened it, and the first thing Brooke thought of was oiling the hinges. Inside, the house was dusty and cobwebby, but there was no furniture. She was glad for that because she figured it might need to be replaced anyway.

  “It’s in good shape,” Josh said, checking the windows, his voice echoing off the walls. “We need to get some new locks for the house.”

  “Right. It looks like it mostly just needs lots of cleaning. It could probably use a fresh coat of paint. Floors look good.” They walked into the kitchen. “Hmm, it could use some updating.” She thought the same of the bathrooms. After checking out the four-bedroom, three-bath home, they sat on a window seat and were doing a Google search for cabin styles they could put up on the property when they heard a pickup arrive. Only it wasn’t Maverick’s pickup. It was somebody else’s.

  “It’s Randy Winters,” Josh said. “I bet you anything he’s the one who’s been taking care of the cars.”

  Josh and Brooke headed outside, and a redheaded guy with a beard and a big smile greeted them. “So this is the little lady who’s got the whole pack in an uproar, slipping into Ivy’s place, and you’ve been spending all this time with her and never let the rest of the pack know.”

  Josh laughed and shook his hand.

  Randy looked old enough to be Brooke’s father. He gave her a hug. “Welcome to the pack. And congratulations, you two. I’ve been taking care of the vintage cars and truck since William passed away. Ms. Ivy hired me to look after them since I was always up here tinkering on them with William.”

  “Brooke has given the vehicles to me and my brother, but we’ll want to keep you on as our mechanic.”

  “That sounds good to me.”

  Maverick drove up, pulling the trailer, and the men all helped to load up the Ferrari.

  “I’ll go with you to help you park that baby in her new home,” Randy said and went with Maverick to drop off the car.

  After they finished moving the vehicles, Brooke and Josh arrived home in time to relieve Adam of his duty so he could go to the pack Christmas party too. Before Adam left the house, Brooke handed him her phone to show him the pictures of the Corvette, the Ferrari, and the truck.

  “Those are real treasures.” Adam finished a cup of coffee he’d been drinking. “Did we get through all the items on Ivy’s list then?”

  Josh chuckled. “Have you got the treasure hunting bug?”

  Adam smiled. “Hell yeah, when the treasure is worth this much.”

  Brooke shook her head. “I’m going to get dressed for the party.” She hurried off to her bedroom.

  Adam put the empty coffee mug in the dishwasher. “See you tonight before I start my night-shift guard duty.”

  “See you at the party, Adam,” Josh said.

  When Brooke came out of her bedroom wearing a soft, red sweater dress, Josh looked like he wanted to hug all that softness, but she directed him to the bedroom. “Go get ready.”

  He soon came out of the bedroom wearing a red sweater and jeans, and she smiled. “I love that on you. So nice and Christmassy for the party.”

  “Thanks. Maverick got it for me. I figured he wanted me to look more festive.”

  “Well, we look like a couple.”

  He smiled. “That’s just why I wore it.” He gave her a big hug and a kiss, and the way he groaned with the contact between her body and his, she figured he wanted to take her straight to bed instead of taking her anywhere else.

  She wouldn’t have minded, but she did need to meet the pack, and the Christmas party provided the perfect opportunity. She smiled up at him, her arms around his neck, her body pressed against his. “I need to meet the pack. Heck, I’ve mated you. I need to let the rest of the bachelor males know I’m with you.”

  Josh agreed. “Let’s go.”

  She knew he’d have fun with her there, and this party would be different from all the others he’d attended, now that she was his mate. She couldn’t have been more pleased with the way things had turned out. She was excited about seeing everyone and having some Christmas fun, but she still worried about someone breaking into her shop or house.

  “A couple of patrolmen are going to keep an eye on both your places,” Josh told her. “They’re not wolves, so they won’t be missing the party.”

  “Oh good. You are such an angel.”

  He chuckled. “My brother would whol
ly disagree with that statement.”

  She smiled. “I’ll have to ask him about it then.”

  “I prefer my version of the stories.”

  She laughed and then saw the policeman parking outside her house.

  Josh got out of his car and talked to him for a moment, then returned to the car, and they headed south to the ranch.

  Brooke was eager to meet everyone at the Christmas party and officially be welcomed to the pack.

  She hoped she could remember names. She had brought the Santa suit and Natalie Wood’s coat and hat in garment bags to showcase, and when they arrived at the ranch, Cassie Wildhaven placed them in a special place of honor on a table for display, along with the black-and-white version of the movie and a colorized version.

  Cassie was a redhead with pretty green eyes. Leidolf was also a redhead with green eyes. They made a handsome couple.

  Maverick had brought some reindeer to the party, and everyone was having fun petting them and taking pictures with them.

  Then Cassie and Leidolf welcomed Brooke to the pack and Cassie said, “Besides the classic cars they found hidden in a barn where our very own Randy Winters has been taking care of them all these years, we hear you’ve made another fantastic find, and we’d love it if you’d share what you do with everyone in the pack.”

  Brooke hadn’t thought she’d be put on the spot like that, but with everyone looking on, she told the gathered crowd of partygoers about the Chinese royal-family vases she’d just sold for $40 million each.

  If the wolves hadn’t been interested in what she had to say before this, they were now.

  Everyone congratulated her.

  She offered, “I will be happy to help anyone have their antiques appraised and help to sell them. You might not have anything worth selling—or I should say, that collectors are interested in paying money for—but you never know. You might have something worth a little or a lot collecting dust in your attic. If the items have a sentimental value and you don’t want to part with them or believe that in a few more years, they’ll be worth even more, continue to treasure them. If you want to rehome them and maybe make some money, I’ve got contacts, and I’m happy to help.”

  She realized how much the antique business was part of her life, not just her family’s. It truly was in the genes.

  Josh was standing with his brother, arms folded across his chest, smiling at her from some distance away, letting her have her space for the moment. She appreciated that, because she needed to meet the pack members, and she knew if he was standing beside her, her attention would be divided between him and the others.

  “I could even carry items in my shop on consignment, if anyone would like to do that.”

  Meeting all the pack members was overwhelming. Everyone was thrilled that she and Josh were mated. She was glad to see Maverick and Adam because she knew them. And she was glad to see Sierra and Lucas too. Leidolf and Cassie, the pack leaders, welcomed her to the pack as if she were an old friend returning to the family. If she’d had any reservation about joining the pack, she didn’t now.

  “I’ve got to organize a game.” Cassie smiled and gave her a hug. “Josh was the sneaky one, keeping quiet about you being in town.”

  Brooke laughed. She loved it here.

  Cassie started playing Christmas songs, and everyone had to guess what the song titles were.

  While others were guessing, Lucas came over to talk to Brooke. “I need to set up a way for your customers to buy stuff from your shop without having to actually go to the shop to pay for them. Josh told me how you had it set up.”

  “That would be great. How are you liking it here so far?”

  “I love it.” Lucas beamed. “I’m staying with a family that has a set of twins, a boy and a girl. Jessie showed me how to ride a horse.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’ll have to learn how to ride one of these days.” Though when she visited the ranch in the future, she’d be more interested in running as a wolf.

  “We could teach you! Her boyfriend doesn’t like that she’s teaching me.” Lucas smiled again like he was glad he was able to spend more time with her. Then he lost the smile. “Two of the women here are twins, and they just found each other. Do you think I might have a twin?”

  “Not all of us have twins. Sometimes our human genes take over. Other times, the wolf genes do. Besides, your parents were alive until you were seven, right? So you would remember having a twin, and I’m certain they wouldn’t have had any reason to separate the two of you.”

  “Yeah.” Lucas shoved his hands in his pockets. “I guess I wished I had some real family.”

  “You do. In all of us.”

  “Thanks. I’m going to start working on your website tomorrow first thing if it is all right with you. Do you want me to come over in the morning before the shop opens so you can show me the setup? I can begin working on it then.”

  “We’re closed tomorrow, so you can stay at the house and work on it. You should be safe enough. No answering the door to strangers though. Josh and I will be in and out of the house while we are going through the boxes of merchandise.”

  “I could help with that too. I can’t believe a couple of old vases from China sold for that much.”

  “It’s rare art and was owned by an emperor of China. That’s what made them more valuable.”

  “Okay. I want to earn some extra money so I can buy presents for the family I’m living with. I mean, they said not to buy them anything, but they’re going all out to make me feel like part of the family, and I want to do something for them.”

  “That will be great.”

  Lucas glanced around at the others eating and drinking and playing the Christmas song game. “The only job here for me is to muck out the horses’ stalls. I figure I’ll have plenty of that work to do at the reindeer ranch when I do my community service time with Ty. I’d rather work on the computers for you. For Josh too.” He looked beyond her. “Your mate is coming. You should hear all the bachelors grousing about Josh keeping you secret and then mating you before they had a chance to meet you.”

  She smiled. “He’s helping protect me.” And much, much more.

  Josh walked toward her, his expression turning from serious to a smile. “Want to dance?” he asked, taking hold of her hand.

  She realized the musicians had started to play music for dancing. “Yes. I do. Lucas wants to work on my website at the house tomorrow. We’ll be closed and working back and forth between the house and shop, unpacking boxes and pricing the merchandise. Do you think it will be safe enough for him? He wants to earn some Christmas money for gifts for his new family.”

  “If we’re not going to be tied up with the shop being open, sure.”

  “Can I help you solve the mystery of your great-aunt’s list of treasures? Josh said that you were trying to unravel where everything is located and why they’re valuable,” Lucas said.

  “You sure can,” Brooke said.

  Josh pulled her close to dance, and they began the waltz.

  “Before we return home tonight, I want to run as a wolf,” she said.

  “We’ll sure do that.”

  Chapter 23

  Josh had tried not to show how possessive he felt about Brooke at the party, wanting her to meet with the pack members and enjoy herself without him hovering over her the whole time. She didn’t need his protection here, but he couldn’t help that he’d continued to watch her, letting the other bachelor males know that he was observing them. The way they’d been smiling at him, he knew they’d been amused and getting him back for keeping her secret from them.

  Once Josh held her in his arms to dance, everything and everyone else faded away. “How are you liking the pack so far?” he asked, pressing a kiss against her ear, hoping she was happy to be with them, since he wanted her to feel at home here with the pack and with hi
m.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Everyone has been so welcoming, and I’m glad I have a greater value to the pack, other than just being an eligible female for mating. Or needy, requiring pack members to shop at my store to keep me in business.”

  He smiled down at her. “I’m glad. After hearing about some of the finds you’ve made among your great-aunt’s items, they realize you’re financially set, if you weren’t already. It took every ounce of my strength not to chase away the bachelor males speaking to you though.”

  She chuckled. “We’re mated, Josh. I love when you’re being honest with me, particularly when I can see you making sure they’re behaving themselves, yet letting me do this on my own for a while. But you could have joined me sooner.” She danced nice and close to him, her body snug against his. “You don’t have to worry, you know. You’re the one I wanted to keep around, even after the danger has passed.”

  “I couldn’t be gladder for that.” The way Brooke was holding him close stirred his blood and other things, and he was damn glad they had mated already. He kissed her cheek, her jaw, her other cheek, his eyes gazing into hers. “You needed full-time protection and a full-time assistant.” She parted her luscious lips to say something, but he quickly added, “In addition to a mate.”

  She sighed. “I agree.” She kissed his chin. “We’ll work in the most pleasurable mating business anytime we can”—she slipped her hands down to his buttocks and pulled his groin even tighter against her—“but I’m really glad to get a…partner in all things. Still, having a career you love is something to consider. And it’s important for our kind to have police detectives who are wolves who can protect us when we’re in our wolf coats. It’s not about just me. It’s necessary for all of our kind, so I don’t want you to feel you have to retire right after the case is solved.”

  “A mating is forever. A police job is not. I don’t need to be there for everyone. You are the one I need to be there for. Finding the she-wolf for me is more important than any temporary job I might be working. I put my twenty years in. I’ll work as long as it takes to take these men down, and then I’m retiring. You need me, sure, but I need you even more. You said so yourself. I’m the perfect wolf for the job.”