This Weakness For You (Entangled Select Otherworld) (Taming the Pack)

by Wendy Sparrow

  “If I’d told him about the prints, he would have sent someone, and then maybe you’d track them down, and then the whole throat-being-ripped-out thing.”

  “Christa, I’m not completely unreasonable,” he said.

  Vanessa started laughing inside the house.

  “Shut up!” he said.

  Christa jumped again. “Yeah, because that wasn’t at all unreasonable.”

  “No, I was talking to Vanessa again.”

  Christa’s eyes narrowed for a moment before she turned to look out the window. “I’m trying to talk about something with you, and you’re having a discussion with Vanessa?”

  “Crap, pack slower again, Dane…pack very, very slow,” Vanessa said.

  “I wasn’t having a discussion with her. She keeps interrupting, and I couldn’t concentrate on what you were saying.”

  “Ohhhh, dude, that wasn’t much better,” Vanessa said.

  Sure enough, Christa’s mouth dropped open.

  “You should Hail Mary and say something outrageously romantic,” Vanessa said.

  “Are you giving Jordan advice about his love life?” Dane asked.

  “Yes,” his wife said.

  “Okay, good, I just want to remember this moment.”

  “Christa, I was listening. When we get home, I’m going to go check on the prints, and if they’re from our pack, I promise I won’t rip their throats out.”

  “You promise? You won’t change your mind if you find out it’s someone you don’t like very much?”

  “Yes! Christa, honor is second, remember? Besides, I’ve put up with your brother for two years—you’ll notice he’s not lying in a pool of blood. I don’t go around ripping people’s throats out for things like checking on my mate while I’m not around.”

  “I know, but…”

  “No, you don’t know, and that’s okay—you’ve known about Lycans less than a week, and it sounds like your best sources for learning our ways have been Dane and Vanessa—whom I tend to ignore at meetings because neither of them knows a thing about deference.”

  “Hey!” Vanessa said. Then a moment later, she added, “No, you’re right…go ahead.”

  “Also, you haven’t seen me acting as Alpha outside of a crisis. It’s not usually this intense.”

  “That’s true,” Christa said, wrinkling up her nose.

  “So we’ll go back, and I’ll check on those prints. Then if we’re still waiting on those in the pack to arrive, I’ll show you how to shoot a rifle.”

  Vanessa burst out laughing.

  “What?” Dane asked.

  “He just told her he’d show her how to shoot a rifle.”

  Dane laughed too. “Okay, pack fast. I want to be there when this happens, not out doing surveillance or something.”

  Jordan looked over Christa’s shoulder at the house they were in front of. Why were they both laughing? It was a reasonable thing to show her. She might need to defend herself in the very near future. Not that he was ever planning on leaving her defenseless, but it was still good for her to know. Maybe they were concerned she was too small or not strong enough to hold a rifle.

  “What?” Christa asked, looking behind her…and she was smiling slightly also. She wouldn’t be smiling if she didn’t think she could hold a rifle.

  “They both started laughing.”

  “Hmm,” Christa said.

  …

  Jordan had insisted she stay inside while he checked out the backyard. He had given her a warning glare when she’d gone to open the window.

  She’d folded her arms and glared right back, which had made him smile—which ruined both their efforts. Especially since his gaze had then slid down her like she was there naked and for his entertainment.

  Then Dane had joined him, and it’d gotten serious real fast…even without Dane’s narrowed gaze flicking between them.

  His windows were apparently extra thick, because she couldn’t hear a word they’d said, but she wasn’t half bad at reading lips. She used to spy on Dane and his dates—and he had dated some real winners. She had fond memories of mimicking back the brainless things they’d said. Every younger sister in the world had mastered lipreading.

  When Jordan crouched beneath the window, with his jaw clenched, she’d seen his mouth move in some pretty foul profanity. If this were a silent movie, it would have been rated R several times over.

  Dane gestured at the ground and then at her, and he clearly said, “She never told me about this.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Dane had always ratted her out.

  Jordan gestured at the ground and then at her and said something very sarcastic if his body language was anything to go by, but he was facing Dane so she couldn’t see his mouth.

  Dane pointed at her several times and then threw up his hands in aggravation. It looked like he said, “You try dealing with her when…” And then he’d turned to the side.

  She hadn’t been able to read Jordan’s lips most of the time because he’d been at an angle, but he turned to face her and said, “I know!” and nodded in agreement.

  Yeah, this wasn’t going well. It’d almost been better when they’d been disagreeing. She crossed her arms again and glared at both of them—hard.

  Dane caught her look and tried to ask Jordan through clenched teeth, “She can’t hear us, right?” He sucked at talking without his lips moving. He always had.

  “No,” Jordan mouthed. Then he turned and waved at her with a fake-cheerful smile.

  “I think she can,” Dane said, still through clenched teeth.

  “There’s no way. That room has extra-thick windows—that’s my bedroom,” Jordan said. He wasn’t even doing her the courtesy of trying to disguise what he was saying like Dane was.

  Dane laughed. “Yeah, the room you are never having sex in. She can totally hear us.”

  Jordan looked at her speculatively and then said, “You look beautiful, Christa.”

  She kept glaring at him.

  “See, she couldn’t hear me,” Jordan said to Dane.

  Dane kept laughing. “She could…and you are never having sex with my sister. I couldn’t have planned this better if I’d tried.”

  Jordan’s gaze dropped back to the ground and his face sobered. “What are we going to do about this? He knows about your sister, and he’s been watching her.” Wow, hopefully little Nathanial didn’t have awesome Lycan hearing yet, because Jordan said some really foul stuff before adding, “And he wiretapped my damn phone—so he heard our conversations.”

  “I don’t know. I feel like there are all these targets between him and us now.”

  Jordan went back to swearing. Dane turned away and dragged both hands through his hair.

  Maybe there were worse things than your brother and mate agreeing—especially when they were agreeing everyone was in danger. They both looked nervous right now, and it made her want to hurl. Lucifer rubbed up against her legs while staring out at Jordan. Christa crouched beside him and scratched between his ears. “It looks like you’re not the only devil in town now, Lucifer.” When she glanced up, she met Jordan’s eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t just hear that.”

  He nodded.

  Her stomach felt sour—like the acid was burning a hole straight through. She yanked the curtain back into place. No. Oh no. Oh no. She hadn’t really realized how well Lycans could hear at that point. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

  A moment later, Jordan stormed in. “Why?”

  “Why what?” she asked, swallowing.

  “Why did you want to know if I could hear you?”

  Crap. He had noticed her freaking out.

  She cleared her throat and shifted from foot to foot. “Because I was talking to Lucifer when I went to investigate, and I can’t remember all that I said, but I didn’t think anyone was listening.” She’d been talking to Lucifer all night, in fact. At least Lucifer was alive—he was no Muffin—and the house was too quiet with no one in it. She had to talk to someone. She spent her whole d
ay talking to people. So she talked to her cat if no one else was available…and most of it was nonsense. Most of it. The stuff just before the window was pretty damning, though.

  “It probably wasn’t a big deal,” he said.

  “I think I said that if I was murdered in my bed, at least that would make you come back home,” she said.

  Jordan tilted his head and nodded. “Okay, that might have been a big deal, but since he wanted me to stay at Rainier maybe that actually worked in your favor.”

  “I think I also mentioned it was like being in a horror film where there was only a landline and no cell reception.”

  Jordan frowned but tried not to look worried. He was failing, but he put up a good effort. “Probably not the best thing for you to have said. Do you remember anything else you said?”

  “I don’t know. I was talking about horror movie clichés, I think…about how they always cut the power and the phone lines and everything. I was nervous. I talk when I’m nervous. At least I didn’t mention how they always run out of ammunition in horror movies.”

  Jordan dragged a hand down his face—probably to cover his expression of how the hell could I be mated to someone who handed out detailed instructions to murderers on how to kill them?

  She dropped onto the bed and then flopped on her back. “I’m like the worst alpha female in the history of alpha females.”

  “Don’t say that,” he said.

  “Why?” Hopefully he’d say something that would make her feel a lot better. He was reassuringly calm in emergencies. And he was never scared—anxious, but never scared—or at least she never saw it on his face.

  “Because we should have Lycans arriving soon, and now you know how good our hearing is.”

  She thought she heard Vanessa laughing somewhere in the house—somewhere far from Lucifer. Grabbing a nearby pillow, she pulled it over her face and screamed into it.

  “Oh, also because it’s not true,” Jordan said.

  Lifting up the pillow, she yelled, “Stop prompting him, Vanessa!” Then she glared at Jordan. “My brother is right—you are never having sex in this room.”

  And then Jordan did look a little scared. “Aw, hell.”

  …

  His rifle was probably too big for her, but it was all he had.

  Jordan grinned.

  “Why are you smiling while holding a gun?”

  “Nothing…just the big gun thing Vanessa said earlier.” He motioned for her to stand beside him. “Now, I don’t like standing out here in the open, even if you will be holding a gun, so we’re going to make this quick. I just need to know in an emergency you’re not”—wow, he caught himself just before saying “defenseless”—“without a weapon.”

  He could hear Vanessa relaying what he was saying to Dane while they stood at a back window, watching. If they made fun of Christa in any way, there might be some throat-ripping.

  He handed her the rifle and she took it without seeming overwhelmed by the weight. Of course, she had loaded it to go to the window, so she must have some familiarity with guns. The window thing had clearly spooked her, because the rifle had been beside the bed with the ammunition right beside it. So he really only had her word she’d loaded it correctly.

  “Maybe I should have let you load it, but you saw how I did it, so next time.”

  She nodded…almost too eagerly and cheerfully, and he narrowed his eyes. Why did he get the feeling he was about to get his ass handed to him?

  “Let me show you how to hold the gun.”

  “Oh, I think I got that part.” She yanked up the gun and shouldered it like an old pro.

  His mouth dropped open, but he recovered, snapping it closed. “It’s not too heavy?”

  “My arm strength isn’t an issue for me, but I’m out of the flare-up…hopefully. What am I supposed to be aiming at?” she asked.

  “Uhh, that tree.” He pointed at a tree about forty feet away. She’d never hit it, but he didn’t want her aiming at anything any closer.

  “Why not that tree back farther—with the mushrooms growing on it looking like a happy face? That seems like a better target.”

  He looked where she was pointing the barrel. She had to be kidding. She’d picked a target based on mushroom growth—which did actually look like a happy face—but that was insane, and it was too far away.

  “Christa, that’s gotta be two hundred meters away. I know you’re excited, but…”

  He turned back to the house as Vanessa and Dane burst out laughing after Vanessa repeated the two hundred meters bit. They were nearly falling down they were laughing so hard.

  “I think that’s a better target, Jordan,” Christa said, drawing his attention back. “Look, it has that happy face, and it’s a clear shot.”

  “I’m not sure I could even make that shot accurately.”

  “No?” she asked.

  Well, he might be able to. But he didn’t want to discourage her right away. “Probably not accurately.” People defined the word “accurately” differently.

  “Huh.” She took a deep breath as she lined things up in her scope. When she fired, she dropped back, absorbing the recoil like she’d been born with a gun in her hands. “Right between the eyes.” She dropped the rifle to her side—her hand went to her hip as she raised her eyebrows. “I can do one thousand meters with support and the right scope, but that’s not too bad for standing. I’m much better than Dane—which pisses him off.” She handed him the rifle. “My dad was a sniper. Vietnam. It’s why I work with veterans. It’s also why I’m a pacifist—I could kill with a gun in my hands, and I don’t need that on my conscience.” As she walked back toward the house, she called over her shoulder, “Hey, Jordan, thanks for letting me touch your big gun.”

  Inside the house, Vanessa was holding her stomach and snorting out laughs unattractively, and Dane kept saying, “Oh, I can’t breathe…stop…stop…I can’t breathe,” while laughing.

  He’d never been shown up like that—not in front of others. He was an Alpha, and he’d been shown up by his runt of a mate. He waited for his pride to kick in—for his honor to demand some sort of challenge. Instead, he was proud that eventually he’d be having offspring with that woman…and she could definitely defend herself.

  The way her hips swayed, with her spine straight and her head held high. Short, sweet, cute—with all the attitude of an Alpha. She could shoot, and she threw punches and shoes. And she was his.

  It surprised him just the same when he started laughing and called back, “Anytime, Christa, anytime.” In the distance, he heard cars pulling up. The pack had arrived.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dinner was pancakes, since it seemed the easiest thing to make for the entire pack, and they ate in shifts so they weren’t all crammed in one room at once. He was relieved no one had opted to spend the weekend in their homes. His house was crowded, but less crowded than he’d expected—and it might really feel empty after being this full.

  After the last of them finished eating, he said, “Glacier pack.”

  The room went immediately still. His eyes had been on the kids playing video games in the large family room to the side, so he’d seen ten-year-old Kevin react at the same time as the adults. Their above-average hearing sometimes came early, and he glanced at Kevin’s parents and said, “Tim and Jenny, looks like you got a four-foot for patrol someday.”

  They both glanced up, smiling. This was their second Lycan offspring, and they had a toddler who kept trying to get to Lucifer in the bedroom. One of the other teens present was human, and chances were that some of the younger group would be, too, so he didn’t congratulate them. That had created the rift between his siblings and him—the big celebration when he’d shifted.

  “Okay, first of all, we’ll dispense with taking turns on speech in this house. This is my domain and I ask that you not show me that deference—I think it’ll impede our ability to work as a pack.

  “Second, Ross has already been on my property. Appa
rently my mate scared him off with a rifle two nights back, not realizing it was Ross. So he knows the weaknesses of our position and the lay of the land. Keep all curtains closed unless you’re guarding the pack. I have surveillance cameras on the roof that I installed at the same time as the office’s, and I have James out there on the ground, too.” He’d never bothered turning on the cameras before, and he’d only installed them in case everything went to hell again—and now it had.

  “Third, I have a single landline and most of you have probably noticed your cell phones don’t work. Ethan pointed out to me that you could all use webcams or call on your computers, and I’ve noticed every available plug in my library has a laptop cord running out of it. Don’t use the landline, as that will be how other packs will get in touch and those we send out will be getting hold of us.” At least it was no longer tapped. Ethan had taken care of that.

  “Finally, lights are going out at eight p.m. for an early bedtime. Turning on a light will make you more visible from the outside. Until we know what we’re dealing with, we’re erring on the side of caution. With the sun down already, I suggest we turn off as many lights as we can. I designed my bathrooms to only have skylights and not outside windows, so that’s an option if you have to do something—but there are only five bathrooms and one of them is mine so no all-night parties in the bathrooms.

  “I need Tim, Ethan, Jeff, Dane, Sue, Kennedy, Reilly, and Brock in the study to go over routes.” Christa moving in his periphery made him add, “And Christa, of course.” It was customary for the alpha female to be part of the decision-making process, and he needed to stop treating her like she wasn’t his equal, because apparently, she could shoot him if she got frustrated.

  Christa grinned—it wasn’t a customary reaction to being asked into a meeting, but he liked it.

  Christa was the last in the study, and she gestured at the door. “Should I close it?”

  The Lycans present smiled at this, but Jordan shrugged. “Sure.” At least they wouldn’t be interrupted—even if every Lycan in the house could hear them if they wanted. He definitely needed to soundproof one of these rooms. He and Dane had cleared the large, flat desk and pulled it to the center of the room. Dane had propped a few clear rolls of plastic beside the large map Jordan had of the area.