Diablo Lake: Protected

by Lauren Dane

  “He’s been challenged halfway through his term because he’s doing such a piss-poor job of being this pack’s Patron and the mayor. Your daddy has had a lot of good fortune in his life and he used to know how to make the most of it. When I challenged him, he got lucky and he won and I respected those results. I stood behind him when he took over as Patron. And all these years as he’s been training you to run this pack, he’s done it at your expense over that dumbo brother of yours. And at the expense of the Pembry wolves as he’s gone and let your momma and your brother’s little friends turn the town against us.”

  “We can’t keep on with this uncertainty,” his aunt said.

  A pack needed a real leader or leader couple and it needed a clear line of hierarchy and governance. They were always at risk in a world where their numbers were far lower than humans. If they couldn’t trust one another, they went a little feral. Diablo Lake would get dragged into the whole mess and eventually, the town would lose its magic as people left to seek safety elsewhere.

  Uncertainty was death to a pack.

  Mac sucked in a breath. “I’ll tell you, honestly, what my concern is. If I move on him before the election, I’m messing with the democratic process in this town. For my pack. Aimee’s ahead in the polls by a pretty fair margin. And she’ll continue to widen that lead because this town likes her. Hell, she’s taken care of most of us at one time or another, shifter and witch alike. When he loses it’ll be a natural time for me to take over as Patron and we’ll have respected the election for the rest of the people who live here.”

  “Your daddy’s a terrible loser. And there’s something really deep and personal between your momma and Katie Faith. Neither of your parents is going to let go. And your brother can’t deny you’re going to lead Pembry anymore. Makes him dangerous because he’s so entitled and stupid.”

  “Josiah,” his uncle said to his aunt. “That’s what’s between them.”

  Mac stilled as everyone turned to his uncle.

  “What do you mean? And how could Katie Faith have anything to do with Jace’s dead father?” Mac asked with a wince. They weren’t supposed to even say his name.

  “I don’t know the story. Your momma and I were never close or even part of the same circle. I just know there was some talk back when Josiah was repudiated and her name was part of it.”

  “Why does no one tell me any of this?”

  “Because of the rules. He was repudiated. His name to never be repeated. His story never to be told. That’s the point of the punishment,” his aunt said. “But I’m not a Dooley wolf. I don’t have to put their rules before my need to help you out. This is about our pack. Our wolves.”

  Mac blew out a breath. “Okay. Okay. I’ll ask her directly.” He hoped it wasn’t something like she had an affair with Josiah Dooley. He shuddered at having to have that conversation with his mom.

  “I’m going to discipline Ronnie—again—for shit stirring. He needs to be shunned from the pack. He’s not obeying and we’ve got plenty of disobedience as it is. And then of course, Darrell will cry about it and run to my parents. He better hope he gets to them before I find him. Because he needs to be disciplined too. He’s most assuredly part of this and he’s been warned before. Then, of course I’m going to have to deal with a very pissed-off Patron of Dooley who’s going to want to know why his wife is being spoken about like that by our wolves.”

  “Which is one of the many reasons why I’m doubtful you’ll make it until after the election to deal with pack leadership. I wish I was wrong but I don’t think I am.”

  His uncle was most likely right.

  “We’ve got wolves in place, if you’re right,” Mac told him. They’d been planning this carefully enough over the last few weeks and now that he’d become Prime, he had even more strength to draw on.

  Things were precarious, but he’d steer the pack through the worst of it. No matter what came, in whichever order.

  “Huston, Everett, you’re with me. Let’s go pay Ronnie a visit.”

  With a nod of thanks and a request that he be called or texted if his parents returned or showed their presence, he and his cousins headed out.

  * * *

  “Stop by Darrell’s place,” Mac told Huston.

  His sister-in-law was home, along with their kids, who all came running at the sight of Mac. He may have thought his brother was a dumb asshole, but he loved his nieces and nephews.

  “Darrell around?” he asked Sharon as he kissed the top of one of his niece’s head before putting her back down on her feet. She skidded off after the rest of her older siblings.

  He sat, pulling James Royce into his lap. The toddler started telling him a very long, involved story about something or other that may or may not have involved a cat of some type.

  Sharon sighed deeply. “Don’t put me in the middle of this.”

  “I have done everything possible to do this in ways no one gets put in the middle of it. But the truth is, I can’t anymore. Darrell is his own worst enemy. Where is he? This is pack business and he’s got some things to explain to me.”

  “He isn’t here. Honest!” Sharon held a hand out a moment. “He left about an hour ago. Didn’t say where he was going. Just that he’d be back in time for the party we’re going to later. We have a babysitter and everything.” She looked at him, her eyes begging him to let her have this moment, not to spoil this fragile fantasy that her life wasn’t about to change.

  He hated that she was going to be hurt because his brother was so weak.

  “Did he go with someone?”

  “Ronnie and, uh, that tall one, buck-teeth, Jay, yeah, that’s him. I don’t know him very well.”

  “Jay’s one of my cousins on my mom’s side.” And easily swayed because he wanted to be liked. “Where do you think he went? If something happened and you needed to find him, where would you look first?” At her hesitation, he added, “It’s way better for him that I find him before a Dooley does.”

  She cursed and James Royce cheerfully repeated it in a singsong voice. Mac laughed and then the baby laughed and sang curse words. He wished it could be like this instead of what he had to do next.

  “I’d look at Ronnie’s place. If he isn’t there, maybe he’s getting a drink? Stop laughing at him or he’s just going to keep saying that,” she scolded Mac.

  Mac stood, handing the foul-mouthed toddler to his mother. “I’m trying to help him before he does something I can’t save him from. I know he doesn’t believe that, but I hope you do.” In this case, help might mean sending his brother’s dumb ass far away to start a new life in another pack.

  “He means well in his own way. He’s just very committed to only seeing his own way sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. But he’s a good dad and mostly he’s not a bad husband,” Sharon said.

  He headed out after more kisses and hugs and hoped he could look them all in the face the next time he saw them after whatever he had to do to their father.

  “Ronnie and Jay came by to get him an hour or so ago,” Mac explained as he returned to the car. They’d already gone by Ronnie’s, but no one was there.

  “Jay Twombley? Your mom’s sister’s boy?” Everett asked.

  “Apparently he’s been hanging out with Darrell and Ronnie a lot. Jay lives out on Marsh.”

  They headed over and he tried his mom’s cell once more. When it came time to leave a voice mail he said, “I’m acting in my position as Prime to handle the pack discipline regarding member wolves who have been causing dissension by spreading gossip about the Patron of the Dooley pack. Gossip I know they got from you. And Dwayne. If you want to save his ass, you better call me back, Momma.”

  Everett cleared his throat. “Ten bucks she calls back in less than three minutes.”

  Mac laughed, relieved that he still could. Grateful for thes
e two dumbasses he could always count on.

  Just as they turned onto Marsh, heading to Jay’s, Mac’s phone rang.

  Huston handed Everett a ten.

  “Where are you, Mom? We need to talk,” Mac said as he answered.

  “Your dad and I are off on a trip for a few days. Going to find us a little hotel that strikes our fancy. We’ll be back by the town hall on Wednesday. We can all talk then, including how to deal with whatever you imagine your brother has done.”

  “That’s not how this is going to work. If Dad’s away from Diablo Lake, I’m in charge as Prime. I’m duly appointed to mete out justice and punishment.” And it had been long enough that his father had neglected his job.

  “You’ll do no such thing,” she told him, her voice sour.

  She was the damned reason he was out there right then!

  “I know you’re the source of those rumors about Katie Faith. And I know Darrell ran off with Ronnie earlier, coincidentally not too long after Nadine Grady nailed Ronnie in the stones with a can of peaches in the grocery store when she overheard him calling her daughter a whore. Imagine that. Now imagine that Darrell is a momma’s boy and he’s awful close with the same wolf who keeps turning up every time there’s a problem. You want to run off because you can’t face what you’ve done? Do it knowing I’m having to deal with the discipline of these wolves because you two are turning tail and leaving them to it.”

  He disconnected the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Aimee knocked on Katie Faith’s back door and waited until her friend called out for her to come in. The last thing she wanted was to walk in on kitchen nookie. She’d learned after the first time. Also that Jace had a really great back.

  “Hey, Katie Faith, it’s Aimee.”

  Her friend whipped the door open. “I keep telling you to come on in. You’re not a guest who has to knock.”

  “And I told you that since the last time I came in before knocking I can never see a can of whipped cream again without snickering.”

  Katie Faith waggled her brows. “My husband is very creative. Come on through. We’re in the living room.”

  She’d called over after Mac had left and gotten an earful before she said she’d be over in an hour and that Mac would also be coming by at some point.

  Aimee took her hand, stopping Katie Faith in her tracks. “I’m so sorry about this. I know how hard it was before and I’m sorry you have to endure it again.”

  Katie Faith hugged her tight. “You don’t have to apologize to me for this. This has nothing to do with you or even this campaign. This is all Scarlett and Dwayne.”

  In the living room, her mom waited, along with Nadine. Jace was on the phone out on the back deck, the lines of his back broadcasting anger.

  She hoped Mac wasn’t going to get hurt, or hurt Jace. She knew sometimes wolves would punch each other through a disagreement. So totally weird, in her opinion. But this was all his parents, so if anyone deserved a pop in the nose it was them, not Mac.

  “He’s really mad. To be honest with you I don’t even care what Ronnie has to say. If I had sex with every single person living in the state it still wouldn’t be any of Ronnie’s business. Or Dwayne’s business. But this has Scarlett written all over it. Enough about that. Come on. Eat dip. Momma brought it over.”

  “Oh, eat-my-feelings day, huh?” She insinuated herself between her mom and the food, helping herself, feeling much better now that she knew Katie Faith wasn’t upset with her.

  Aimee felt Mac’s approach before there was a knock on the door.

  “What’s he doing here?” one of Jace’s newer lieutenants asked.

  “He’s with me.” Aimee got up and went to Mac to stand at his side. That’s when she noted the blood on his clothes.

  He didn’t look as if most of it came from him though.

  “He’s here because he’s a friend and I expect he’s going to let us know how he dealt with a wayward wolf,” Katie Faith said.

  Mac tipped his chin at Katie Faith. Jace seemed to materialize out of thin air, so quiet was his approach.

  “Why is it, Pembry, that your wolves have my wife’s name on their lips again?” Jace’s voice was little more than a growling snarl.

  “Pembry seeks pardon for the words spoken by three of its pack members. They’ve all been disciplined by the Prime who made sure they understood their transgressions and would not be repeating them, or idle gossip, again. They have shamed my pack, and for that, they’ve been sent out for a thirty-day suspension.”

  Aimee made a mental note to ask what a suspension was. This werewolf stuff was so intricate.

  “This isn’t the first time, Mac,” Jace said, features less furious, but still concerned.

  “I know. I wasn’t here the other times. But I am now. I’m working on it.”

  “Thing is, none of that is my problem. I’ve got plenty of my own over here in Dooley. But when this stuff happens, it becomes my problem and then I get cranky. And what is my problem in a major way is that my wife is unhappy. I don’t like that. Not at all.”

  Mac looked to Aimee a moment. “I understand. Which is why my discipline was severe and immediate. Ronnie’s already gone from town, along with Jay Twombley, who was the other numbskull with him down at the market. Don’t expect to see either back.”

  “What about Darrell?”

  Mac’s mouth hardened. “He’s hiding. He better hope he’s better at it now than he was as a kid. I found him every time. I will this time too. And when I do, he’ll be disciplined as well.”

  “And the source of this here little bit of gossip?” Nadine asked, and Katie Faith made a face.

  “Momma, this is werewolf stuff. Hang on a second.”

  “Don’t you tell me to hang on, child. I’m your mother and I have a right to know what is going on.”

  Jace gave a look to Mac, who nodded very slightly. Aimee knew what was happening there. One of those “see what you’ll have to look forward to soon enough” looks dudes gave one another.

  To their credit, the men waited until Katie Faith soothed her mom enough to get back to speaking.

  Jace and Mac moved away from everyone else to finish talking while Katie Faith shooed all the rest of the wolves from the room, along with mothers and best friends.

  “It was said about me. I don’t know why it has to be all hush-hush now,” Katie Faith said. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Who cares what Ronnie and Darrell think?”

  “This is about way more than you. Not that you aren’t totally awesome to make up rumors about, naturally. But this is flailing. It’s like Dwayne has lost his mind and is panicking and throwing stuff out the window. Like in a cartoon chase. Scarlett did this to protect him in her own weird way. And it served whatever obsession she’s got with you and Jace.”

  “She used to be nice to me! She’s going to be your mother-in-law. Bummer,” Katie Faith stage whispered.

  Aimee flicked her ear. “That’s Mac’s momma. Stop.” Not that Scarlett had some hidden soft and wonderful side. Or if she did, it didn’t matter to Aimee. What mattered was getting things stabilized and she didn’t want to hurt Mac to do it.

  “You love him,” Katie Faith said, and this time her whisper wasn’t so loud. “Oh my goodness. I know, it’s shocking. But it’s too late. Once you love one of these goofy wolves, they won’t go away.”

  Mac was easy to love. It was his family she struggled with, but that happened to other couples too.

  “Can I squeal a little that we both love werewolves and you’ll be Patron of the other pack? It’s sort of like we always planned.” Katie Faith grinned like a loon.

  Mac and Jace turned to take them in, both men looking a little wary.

  “I like it that he’s scared o
f me sometimes. Keeps him on his toes,” Katie Faith murmured.

  Aimee snickered.

  * * *

  After an hour or so, long after the two wolves had worked out whatever it was they’d been whispering about in the corner, Aimee wanted to get Mac home where she could clean him up, snuggle him and figure out what happened to him that morning after the call came in from her mom.

  She grabbed his hand and tugged. “We’re going now. I’ll see y’all later.”

  “I’ll walk out with you,” TeeFaye said.

  At the car, her mom hugged her tight and then, surprising Aimee, she hugged Mac too, holding his cheeks in her palms. “You’re a good boy, Macrae. Do what you know is right.”

  His features softened and he hugged her once more. “Thank you, Mrs. Benton. I’m trying. I’ll keep Aimee safe, I promise you that.”

  TeeFaye’s smile was quick. “Oh, I know you will, boy. Because my friend Nadine is a whiz at throwing cans of fruit at a man’s pecker if he gets out of line. Just remember that and we’ll be okay.” She winked.

  “Uh,” Mac managed, “okay then. Well. Say hello to Carl and send my apologies about the gossip.”

  “He went fishing with Avery today. Ha. They think we don’t know they’re just hanging out in the fishing cabin talking sports and drinking beer. It kept them both out of the fray, so that was good. You two head on home. I love you,” she added to Aimee, stepping back and rapping the top of the car twice for good luck.

  “Are you all right?” she asked as he drove away.

  “Been a long day, baby. A very long day.”

  She took his hand, careful of the knuckles, which were healing but still looked pretty bad. “Want to tell me about it?”

  “Do you mind a drive?”

  “Nope, that sounds nice. As long as you’re okay.”

  “I broke Ronnie’s nose,” he said quietly. “On purpose because, damn it, he won’t fucking listen any other way. Beat him severely enough that he couldn’t stand at the end. And then I sent him away. I banished him.”

  Aimee wanted to soothe and take away his upset. But he needed to get it out, work it through. She could tell the way he spit the words out.