by RJ Blain
“I don’t. Really, I don’t.” Richard scowled, but I could detect the sour scent of his lie partnered with the sweetness of his amusement.
In short order, I had an assembly line of scrambled eggs and pancakes in the works, and after teasing Elliot with feeding the puppies first, I even gave my mate a plate. “You are such brats.”
Emily grinned at me around a mouthful of pancakes. Her brother saluted.
Richard slid by me, reached up and grabbed a plate, and filled it before shoving it into my hands. “Go eat, Vicky. And don’t even think of trying to pretend a single plate is enough.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“You would,” Elliot corrected me, patting the counter beside him. “I’ve seen you eat. It’s completely insufficient for a Fenerec’s metabolism. Sit, sit. I’ll feed you properly tomorrow.”
“It was my turn to cook,” Richard informed me.
“Won’t let us cook,” Emily grumbled.
“You’ll let them cook, Richard,” I informed the Alpha. “And you get chores starting with loading and running the dishwasher when everyone is finished breakfast.”
“Hah!” Alex pointed at Richard. “Told you.”
“That’s so wrong, Vicky. They’re still sick.”
I sighed, stared at the ceiling, and prayed for patience before turning to my puppies. “Are you dying?”
“Nope!” Emily reported, thumping her chest with her fist. “Fit as a fiddle, Mom.”
I twitched, sliding my gaze to Alex. “You?”
“I’m limping a lot,” he mumbled.
“Then your chores will involve work you can do while sitting.” I reached over and tapped Alex’s plate with my fork. “If you tell me if it hurts too much to do your assigned chores, I’ll make Richard do them for you. I’ll even let you get away with faking it under the assumption you don’t pawn off your work to your sister.”
“Score!”
“You’re really a dictator,” Richard complained. “They’re sick.”
I stared at my puppies. “Are you dying?”
“No,” the chorused.
“Do you want to do your chores?”
“Yes.”
Emily wrinkled her nose and sniffed. “We’re bored, Mom. They won’t even let us swim in the pool without freaking out if I toss Alex in. It’s not fair.”
“Oh, if only I had a penny for the number of times I’ve heard those three words.” I reached out and flicked Emily’s nose. “Abuse the other Alex. He’s dominant enough he has no chance against you. Finish eating, walk off breakfast for half an hour, and go swimming. You’re in charge of your brother, so keep a close watch on his leg. I expect you both to be prunes by the time you get out. If Richard requires an adult to be in the pool room with you, kidnap someone. Between the two of you, I’m sure you can figure something out.”
Emily yipped, hopped off the stool, and bounced, shifting her weight foot to foot. “Can we tie our victim up?”
If my puppies wanted to romp, I’d unleash them and make certain they were able to work out their predatory instincts in a safe environment. I could kill two birds with one stone and make certain Richard wouldn’t get underfoot. Planning how to deal with Basin would go a lot faster if the Alpha was out of the way for the majority of the discussion. “If they resist, you may do anything you want to your intended victim as long as you do not maim or kill them. Keep injuries to a minimum, please. If you wreck anything in Richard’s house, you will be paying for the repairs in chores. Finish your breakfast, get the dishwasher loaded, and go play.”
I made a show of considered the potential victims for them to kidnap, narrowing my eyes as I stared at Richard. “I recommend you take Richard as your hostage.”
Both of my puppies straightened, their gazes snapping to Yellowknife’s Alpha.
With my sweetest smile, I pointed my fork at Richard. “You will entertain my puppies and serve as suitable and challenging prey for them. If you return them to me with enough energy to want to do chores, you’re doing it wrong. I’ll consider you as a suitable candidate for their Alpha if you do a good job of making them happy today.”
“Wow, Vicky. You’re evil,” Amber muttered, shaking her head. “Will you be my friend?”
The fire witch’s question startled me into staring at her. “I guess?”
Elliot nudged me with his elbow. “Don’t go mothering our puppies and neglect yourself in the process. Of course, I’m more than willing to feed you if you can’t do it yourself.”
My wolf adored Elliot’s claim over our puppies and willingness to provide, and she refused to entertain any protest on my part, leaving me to blush and turn my attention to my plate so he wouldn’t live up to his threat.
I scrutinized Alex’s every movement, careful to avoid grimacing each time he limped. His determination to contribute despite his pain filled me with pride and anguish, and unable to do anything about it, I watched.
Helping would only hurt, and I wouldn’t undermine his efforts no matter how much I wanted to take up his work to ease his strained, pained expression. Richard whined, and rising from my stool, I strolled over to him, grabbed hold of his ear, and twisted, pulling his head towards me. I was relieved Alex and Lisa had gone downstairs; Richard’s brother would have interfered to keep violence to a minimum.
While I had no intentions of hurting anyone, I wanted Richard to believe I’d tear into him. I ducked my head to whisper in his ear, “If you even think about interfering with his hard work, I will hang your exsanguinated corpse from your waterfall as a reminder to others. You will lower yourself and become prey, you will run when they chase you, and you will keep my puppies entertained until they’re all played out. Have I made myself clear?”
“Crystal,” my Alpha replied in a strained voice. “I surrender. I’ll make sure they get exercise. Don’t exsanguinate me, please.”
“You will provide them with a challenge, Murphy. When you return them to me, they will be quivering from head to toe, hungry enough to eat a horse each. Not once will they believe you are holding back for them. Make them earn their victory.” I released his ear. “When will you return them to me?”
“In time for lunch?”
I clapped, favoring him with my sweetest smile. “And to think I was worried you couldn’t be taught.”
“You are such a bitch.”
My wolf preened at the pleasure in Richard’s voice and scent. Careful to keep my voice soft enough my puppies couldn’t overhear me, I replied, “If you do an acceptable job of being their prey, I’ll permit you to bring them into the pack tonight.”
Richard’s eyes gleamed yellow. “I will hold you to that.”
“I will be the judge of your performance. Remember that.”
“Understood.”
“Good.” I turned on a heel and headed for my stool, hopping up so I could sit with Elliot and resume my careful watch. While my puppies worked slower than they would have at home, they rushed through their tasks with enough enthusiasm I was confident of their desire to play.
After I had a chance to discuss Basin with Elliot and Amber, I’d make the time to run my puppies through their paces after lunch, wearing them both out again so when Richard brought them into the pack, they’d be so tired the transition wouldn’t bother them as much.
Elliot leaned towards me and whispered, “You have no idea how much of a turn on it is watching you browbeat Richard.”
A single sniff informed me Elliot wasn’t lying. Fortunately, my wolf’s attention was still fixated on the puppies and Richard, which made it a lot easier to ignore my mate. “Do you need to cool off in the pool?”
“I’ll behave.”
I grinned and leaned in Elliot’s direction. “Once Richard is out of the way, I want to talk with you and Amber about Basin.”
“Oh, you wonderfully clever bitch.”
My wolf savored the admiration in Elliot’s voice.
It took another ten minutes for the puppies to finish their chore
s. Richard saluted me before herding them down the hallway. “I’ll bring them back in a few hours.”
“I’m expecting you to beat him within an inch of his life, puppies. No maiming and no death—and try to limit his injuries to ones that will heal overnight, please.” I waved to my puppies. “Make him suffer for his misdeeds.”
Emily flashed a smile at me, waved back, and bounced in circles around her limping brother. “This is going to be so much fun.”
Two puppies and an Alpha on a mission would like result in a lot of damaged property. “Want to make bets on how much my repair bill will be?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Amber said, taking a seat across from me. “That was cleverly done. What are you aiming to do that doesn’t involve his Alphaness around being nosy?”
“Basin. I want brought up to speed, I want to know what is being planned, and I want in on it. Richard would get in the way of that.”
“That was pretty wise of you,” the witch admitted. “Evelyn’s been handling Dante’s affairs, and honestly, she’s the closest we have to a mastermind. With your puppies sick, Richard hasn’t been able to focus on anything other than them. Alex has been handling the pack’s general business. Evelyn’s already in Dante’s network, so she’s been fishing for information on Basin. That said, you’re probably our best resource right now.”
I frowned. “Me?”
“You. While Richard was originally a rogue, he wasn’t an adult; he was a kid on the run with his little brother. He doesn’t have your experience with disappearing. You know how rogues think. I’m thinking we’re approaching finding Basin in the wrong way. We’re treating them like we would the Inquisition, which has a definitive structure. I’m starting to think they’re an organization of loosely connected cells.”
Clenching my teeth, I considered Amber’s words. While I couldn’t fault the woman’s logic, the idea of sharing the methods of how I disappeared so many times went counter to everything I had done to protect myself. Once I confessed how, I’d never be able to escape from the Inquisition again.
Then again, I didn’t want to, not without Elliot and my puppies.
Hiding one person was easy. Hiding four was a challenge. Hiding an entire pack took a great deal of effort, planning, and determination. North Fork’s pack had managed, their efforts fueled by desperation. When I had found them, I’d bolstered their efforts and integrated them into the Inquisition so they wouldn’t have to be like me.
Each and every one of their lives weighed heavily on my shoulders, a burden I wouldn’t be able to lay to rest until Basin no longer threatened those protected by the Inquisition. Maybe then I’d be able to move on.
Maybe after Basin’s defeat, I’d truly be able to start a new life for myself, one where I lived under the sun rather than hid in the shadows.
“I’ll tell you what I know, but I don’t know if it’ll help.”
Elliot took hold of my hand, lifted it to his lips, and kissed my knuckles. “It’ll help. Knowledge always helps. Maybe we won’t find the answers easily or right away, but we’ll find them. Let’s sneak down to the second floor. That’s where Evelyn’s staying. It gives her some peace and quiet from Richard.”
“Better take the fox,” Amber warned.
As though knowing we were talking about him, Snowflake bounded in from the other room carrying a shoe in his mouth.
Elliot laughed. “I think it’s too late, Amber. Is that Richard’s shoe?”
“Yep, it’s one of his dress shoes.”
“How terrible,” I murmured, sliding off my stool and freeing my hand from Elliot’s. Crouching down, I gave my leg a pat. Snowflake dropped Richard’s shoe, made a yipping noise, and jumped, landing on my legs only to tumble off. Catching him, I lifted him up, grimacing as the white and red fox licked my face.
It amazed me such close contact with a canine wasn’t choking off my breath or making my entire body itch.
“Let’s go,” I ordered. “We’ve wasted too much time as it is.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The staircase downstairs led to a pantry. When we emerged, Evelyn was in the kitchen standing at an island with a steaming mug in her hands. According to Elliot, Evelyn was six months pregnant.
She looked ready to burst at the seams to me. Unable to tear my stare aware from the Fenerec’s bulging stomach, I blurted, “Are you expecting an entire litter?”
Snowflake bounded to the Fenerec and rubbed against her legs.
“We’re making bets on twins or triplets. Most are thinking triplets at this point,” she replied, waddling her way over to me. She leaned down to kiss my cheeks. “Welcome home. You’re looking better.”
I frowned, glancing at Elliot out of the corner of my eye. My mate refused to meet my gaze. “Someone took pictures, didn’t he?”
“He’s only guilty of taking a few of them. Richard told me you don’t remember what happened?”
Grief tightened my throat. “I’m sorry.”
“Dante’s alive somewhere. I’d know if he weren’t. If only our bond let me know where.”
The anguish in her voice unsettled my wolf and fed my guilt. “I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Vicky. All that matters now is finding my mate and Nicole and washing the world in Basin’s blood. Basin’s to blame for everything that has happened, and we’ll make them pay.”
“Pregnant Fenerec are bloodthirsty beasts,” Elliot muttered, linking his arm with mine and pulling through the kitchen. “Alex and Lisa are with Jacqueline?”
“They took her to the lodge. The pack puppies are there today. I wasn’t up for the trip, not in that snow and cold.”
Elliot nodded, slowing down to wait for Dante’s mate. “Works out well in our favor. We’ll work a lot faster with fewer people arguing about everything. We’ll talk, make up an initial plan, and argue about it after we’ve decided what we want to do.”
“They aren’t going to like being excluded,” Evelyn warned.
“It’s times like this I am grateful I can abuse my powers as the Shadow Pope. They’ll complain, they’ll moan, they’ll whine until I want to smack them around to get them to shut up, but at the end of the day, they won’t argue too much with me. If we come up with a solid game plan, they’ll forget they weren’t invited to the planning session. Richard’s going to be busy all afternoon. Vicky has our puppies chasing him around the pool until lunch.”
“I told him if he sufficiently exercised them, he could bring them into the pack.”
Evelyn laughed. “He’s going to have one draped over each shoulder when he’s done with them, the poor babies.”
“I told him he had to serve as their prey.”
“Going to make him earn it? Good for you. They’ll like having someone acting more submissive than they are for a change.”
“I had to motivate him to so he’d stay out of the way for the rest of the afternoon.”
Elliot guided us to a spacious living room littered with couches. Shelves filled with books lined the wall, although most of the titles seemed to be meant for younger audiences. I sank down onto an arm chair, and my mate perched beside me, resting his hand on my shoulder.
Chuckling, Evelyn eased down onto a nearby couch, and Amber sat beside her. “That’s promising. She hasn’t tossed you across the room or run away from you yet.”
“Give me a few minutes, I’ll get there,” I muttered.
Snowflake hopped onto my lap and curled up, covering his muzzle with his tail. Unlike Fenerec, who mostly had coarse fur, the fox had a silkier coat, and I enjoyed running my fingers through it.
“It surprised me when Richard brought home a fox with him. The poor thing did not like when the vet paid us a visit to give him his vaccinations.”
“His name is Snowflake.”
“Cute. He seems to really like you.”
Elliot laughed. “She didn’t eat him. That’s plenty of reason for him to like her.” Reaching over, he gave Snowflake’s back a stroke
. The fox squeaked, squirmed, and stretched out his neck to lick my mate’s hand. “Don’t tell Richard, but I think Snowflake is really Vicky’s fox.”
Propping her feet on the coffee table, Evelyn stretched out and rested her hands on her rounded stomach. “Richard takes his debts seriously, and he’s been giving that little fox a lot of credit. Honestly, I’m of the opinion Snowflake is a therapy fox. When Richard starts getting too anxious, Snowflake finds some trouble to get into. It’s pretty funny. Richard’s not going to have any shoes or shirts left at the rate his new pet is destroying them. He’s already down two couches, an arm chair, and a kitchen stool.”
I grimaced. “I’ll pay for the replacements.”
Evelyn lifted a hand and fluttered her fingers in dismissal. “Nonsense. It keeps Richard busy making arrangements for replacements. He wants to fix what he can. It keeps him busy.”
My mate shifted his hand on my shoulder to the back of my neck and massaged my tense muscles. “I’m letting him replace stuff at our house to keep him busy, too. Seriously, good idea with the puppies this morning. He needs the exercise as much as they do.”
The telltale heat of a blush washed over my cheeks and spread down my neck. “It’s not our house.”
“It will be.”
While I spluttered, Evelyn laughed. “Give up, Vicky. He’s no different from his brother. He simply won’t be happy until he’s satisfied you can’t escape him. Take it from me. It’ll be a lot simpler if you surrender now. Otherwise, you’ll exhaust yourself trying to keep up with him. Cut from the same cloth, those two. You’ll find your way to hold your own, but when it comes to the den? He’s hardwired to provide. Just go with joint ownership. It’ll make him happy. You have your own house, right?”
Uncertain of what anyone expected from me or how to deal with the situation, I jerked my head in a nod.
“You could always suggest your home instead of his. That’s what I did with Dante. Of course, my house was a bit nicer than his hovel.”
“Hovel?” I narrowed my eyes and glanced at Elliot. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he wealthier than you are?”