A Fragile Family

by J. J. Massa

  “I know, Myles,” Jacob’s face was a little red now. “I know what…well, anyhow, just don’t think it’s all better now, okay? Let her get some rest and then you have to bring her back here.”

  “Back where, ducks?” Myles asked, confused.

  “I’m at our parents’ house right now,” Jacob informed him, looking around at the now-riveted audience he’d garnered since he’d begun speaking.

  “Is that my baby?” Tracey demanded, “You let me speak to her,” she growled.

  “No, Mom, it’s not. It’s Myles, and he’ll be bringing Ashley home later,” Jacob explained.

  “Myles!” Tracey spat, her face angry and disgusted.

  “He can bring her to the little house,” Tav informed Jacob, pulling Tracey against his chest and soothing her.

  “She can stay right here!” Tracey insisted, struggling to break free of Tav’s hold.

  “This is where she belongs! Right here in her own room!”

  Tav steered Tracey out of the kitchen and down the hall, leaving Christopher and Jacob exchanging glances. Mik sighed gustily. This was not going to be smooth sailing for anybody. How had he missed noticing all that animosity between Myles and Tracey?

  Chances were, he’d chosen to ignore it. Jacob and Christopher didn’t have that luxury.

  Myles, of course, had heard every word. “You sure that’s a good idea, pet?” he asked Jacob uneasily.

  “It’s what you need to do, Myles,” Jacob insisted.

  “Right,” Myles agreed in acceptance. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, won’t I? Is there anything else?” he asked with obvious reluctance.

  “There is, but you can wait until you get here,” Jacob sighed. He seemed more than a little stressed. “Uh, call Rafe…or Marc. Have Tayler and Rafe head this way, too,” Jacob added.

  “Cor mate! Are you barmy? I’m gonna bring that pup into this mess? Don’t think so, mate,” Myles growled.

  “Myles,” Jacob growled back, his tone threatening.

  “Don’t get shirty, luv…” Myles took a deep breath. “If you say so, I’ll do it,” he gave in. There was no doubt he had reservations, though.

  “It’s important, Myles,” Jacob answered evenly.

  “Cheers, then. I’d better call Marc.” Myles sounded more resigned than anything as he said goodbye. “Give us a bell if anything changes, right?”

  “Okay,” Jacob agreed, “Um, kiss Ashley for us. Maybe warn her a bit about Mom?”

  “Right,” Myles granted evenly, hanging up before Jacob could say anything else.

  Jacob replaced the receiver on the cradle and turned to face Mik and Christopher.

  “Well, she’s back on solid ground.”

  Christopher and Jacob locked eyes. “It’s gonna be a fun few weeks here, huh?”

  Christopher observed.

  Mik couldn’t agree more. “You’re sure he needs to bring Tayler?”

  Jacob nodded sharply. Yes, indeed, it was going to be no end of fun around this house for a little while. Mik didn’t even want to know what it was the brothers weren’t telling him.

  Chapter Seven

  Office of Lilith Landon

  Landon International

  Suite 2A, 5400 Peachtree Street

  Atlanta, Georgia

  Sherman stood in the doorway of his wife’s office, drinking in the beautiful sight of her as she spoke on the phone, long legs propped on the desk, looking inward, seeing nothing but whatever was playing across her mind’s eye.

  “Lilith,” he murmured, hoping, loving, praying she’d missed him and would be glad to see him.

  “Darling!” Lilith pasted a false smile on her face. His heart tightened. There was no doubt she wasn’t genuinely moved. “When did you get in? I was so worried about you!” she lied.

  She skirted around the edge of her desk and took Sherman’s hand, kissing the air beside his cheek and stepping back. The words were right—he wanted to hear her say she was worried. If only her facial expression an her tone bore that out.

  “Were you really worried, Lilith?” Sherman asked frankly. He swallowed heavily, forging ahead, taking a chance. “I’ve missed you. I’d like us to go away together. We need to talk.”

  “Oh, Sherman, I would love to do that,” Lilith’s face was a study in artful disappointment. “This is just such a bad time for me. I wish you had called, Sherman. It would have been nice to know you were alive. When did you get back? That nice Bernadette Fiavel—or whatever—said you were lost in the Philippines.”

  “I got back to Tampa yesterday,” Sherman answered, keeping his face free of any telling expression. Yes, to put it mildly, he was disappointed that she was handling things this way. He supposed it was too much to ask that she really had missed him. But maybe it was a shock—maybe if he really impressed on her how he felt. “I’d like us to spend some time together, Lilith,” Sherman repeated. “We’ve grown apart. I’ve missed you and I want us to act like we’re married again.” He knew he sounded desperate and he hated himself for it. The thing was, this was his wife, his soul-mate—or so he’d thought. “Let’s go away for awhile. I really want to…”

  “Darling, you know we don’t have the same kind of syrupy relationship as you see on television. Please don’t tell me that you buy into all that. Now, you’re overwrought. You need to be home…” Her tone was sharp, no nonsense, as if he were a silly child, asking for a ridiculous toy.

  “Lilith, do you hear yourself?” Sherman’s temper was rising with his hurt and desperation. How could she just ignore what he’d been through? Bernadette had told him that she’d been notified at the return briefing. She’d told him that his wife was worried about him.

  The door behind him burst open and a dark-haired man strode in talking. “Lilith, you won’t believe what I…”

  “Not now, Jack,” Lilith waved one elegant hand, brushing him off. “Sherman, how is little Ashley? Her family was quite worried about her, weren’t they?”

  Sherman looked at the man backing out of his wife’s office with a knowing look on his face and then back at Lilith. “She’s as well as can be expected,” he answered carefully. “I didn’t realize you knew her name?” That she did raised his suspicions a bit.

  Lilith wasn’t jealous—she’d have to care about him for that he reminded himself ruthlessly. She was self-absorbed, however, and to take note of Ashley could only mean negative things for his dear friend. “I didn’t know you had any interest in Ashley.”

  “Well of course, darling, she was lost with you,” Lilith cooed, patting his cheek as she turned back to her desk.

  “Who was that man, Lilith?” Sherman asked, glancing toward the empty doorway. The man made him uneasy. Among other things, he seemed far too familiar with his wife.

  “Nobody, darling, just my new assistant. Shouldn’t you be resting somewhere?” she asked belatedly. “I mean, weren’t you hurt?”

  “No,” Sherman answered, his heart frozen and cracking.

  “But I’m sure you’re upset, depressed. You needn’t be working just yet, Sherman. You should go home and just stay there, think about your experiences. I’m sure I know a good head doctor that could talk to you.” Suddenly Lilith was all over him, grabbing his arm, patting his back, steering him toward the door. “Jack, do drive Sherman home! You shouldn’t drive yourself, darling, and please don’t go near the guns. Jack!”

  The other man materialized inside Lilith’s office, once again. The short hairs at the back of Sherman’s neck were beginning to rise.

  “Thank you, no, Lilith. I’ll be fine. I certainly don’t need your little minion to drive me. Atlanta has plenty of taxis if I don’t choose to drive.” The last thing Sherman wanted was to spend time around anyone who reminded him of Lilith right now.

  “Why don’t you take my car, Sherman? Jack will go down and make sure it’s in operating order.” She looked at the man called Jack who’d reappeared in the office. A raised brow answered whatever question passed between them.
Sherman wanted no part of it.

  Something about her behavior—everything about it—turned him off. She didn’t want him, he acknowledged, that hadn’t changed. He loved her, or at least he had. He’d married her with so much hope for the future, so much love in his heart for the children they could have, the life they could lead.

  Her family had never really accepted him, but he’d been so sure that would change. They’d see how well he treated her, how important she was to him. How could they not appreciate a man who worshiped their daughter as much as he did?

  Right after the ceremony, however, Lilith had changed. In truth, within minutes of the ceremony, she had changed. Once she had that nouveau platinum band on her finger, Sherman had become superfluous. Even their wedding night had seemed stilted, unreal.

  He sighed. It was a nice day out, but if he’d been paying attention, he wouldn’t have been caught like this, outside where it could rain. Few knew better than he did how quickly and violently the weather could change.

  ****

  Office of Lilith Landon

  Landon International

  Suite 2A, 5400 Peachtree Street

  Atlanta, Georgia

  Lilith watched Sherman leave. She was angry, disappointed—hell, she was livid.

  She opened her mouth to call Jack, but he hadn’t left. Before she could say anything, his fingers covered her lips, silencing her.

  “He could be back,” Jack hissed.

  Angry, Lilith stomped her foot and turned her back to Jack. A second later, she heard the door close and lock.

  Suddenly, she found herself spun around and bent over her desk, her skirt pushed up, leaving her buttocks exposed and bare.

  “Jack!” she growled, struggling half-heartedly. “You don’t know who you’re playing with!” She didn’t know whether to be aroused or angry. As a werewolf, it wouldn’t take much effort on her part to throw him off.

  The sound of a zipper lowering echoed in the quiet office. Suddenly, she felt the head of Jack’s cock pressing against her nether hole.

  “What I do know, bitch,” he rumbled angrily, “is that you’re not going to ruin everything by doing something stupid.”

  He continued to push inside of her roughly without any preparation to ease the way. It hurt, and yet Lilith had never been so sexually excited.

  “I could kill you right now, Jack,” she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut as he forced himself past the tight muscles protecting her anus.

  “Do it then and shut up,” he grunted.

  And then he was all the way in, his pelvis resting against her cheeks. She felt his hand sneak around in front of her and between her legs, massaging her throbbing clit.

  “Oh, god, move, just move, asshole,” she groaned.

  Jack pulled back and slammed in again, ripping a shriek out of her. “Like that, bitch?” he growled, causing her to cry out once more.

  “Yes, yes!” she urged, rising backward to meet each violent thrust, sobbing at the pleasure-pain of his squeezing, prodding attack between her legs.

  Before she knew it, she was moaning out her climax joined by Jack’s brutal jerky thrusts into her anal channel, his head pressed between her shoulder blades.

  After long panting minutes, she elbowed him in the gut, ordering, “Get off!”

  Jack pulled out of her, reaching around her to snatch a handful of tissue from her desk.

  “Who told you that you could do that to me?” Lilith spat, wiping her rear hole with a handful from the same box of tissue.

  “It’s what you pay me for, isn’t it, Lilith?” he challenged smugly. “You pay me to fuck you hard and clean up this mess that you got yourself into that just happens to include a mess I ended up with…my daughter. Isn’t that right?”

  “Just as long as you remember who is in charge, Jack Aschtholdt, do you understand me?” Lilith warned him.

  “And that would be whichever one of us wasn’t about to blow everything by fucking up, Lilith,” Jack snarled back, grabbing her by her shoulders. “You wanted me to do something to his car, didn’t you? Somehow kill him, am I right?”

  “Maybe,” Lilith glared her answer, her eyes narrow. “It’s my money. I don’t need him and he isn’t using it.”

  “And you don’t think anyone would suspect anything?” he asked, incredulous.

  “Why? He just came back from a terrible situation and he’s depressed. And he probably hasn’t driven a real car in real traffic in…well, forever. I’m not even sure how long he was gone.” Lilith wasn’t sure what Jack was getting at, but she did not need some human criminal telling her what to do, no matter how good he was with his cock.

  “Because the first person they’d look at if there was even the slightest bit of doubt would be you. And after that—me. And I’m not going to be anybody’s fall guy,” he stepped up close to Lilith, grabbing a handful of her well cut, expensive silk blazer. “You got that, Mrs. Landon?”

  Lilith let a little bit of fang and beast show in her face as she grabbed Jack’s wrist and squeezed. “You really don’t know who you’re dealing with, Jack,” she sneered.

  “So what?” he snapped back at her. “So you really are a bitch. I’ve seen the worst this country has to offer, fucked some of ‘em, been fucked by some of ‘em. I didn’t lay down and take it for nothin’—just so you know.”

  Lilith felt a thrill of delicious fear race up her spine. Jack Aschtholdt might be human, but there was a bit of animal in him. Nasty animal. Maybe she’d keep him around a while after she got rid of Sherman. Just maybe.

  Chapter Eight

  Home of Ashley West-Montgomery

  801 Hillsboro Avenue

  Tampa, Florida

  “I don’t want to go outside, Myles!” Ashley resisted, twisting away from him. He opened his mouth to speak and she burst into tears. “I can’t! And you shouldn’t either!” she sobbed, flattening herself against the wall. “What if it rains?” she whispered, sliding down to crouch on the floor, covering her face with her hands.

  “Oh, Princess,” he murmured, leaning down and pulling her into his arms. “I won’t let anything happen to you, okay? I promise. Even if it rains. ” Myles didn’t know what else to say, what else to do. He wrapped his arms around her and crooned into her hair, stroking and holding her until she calmed. “I’ve never let anything happen to you, have I? You’ve always been safe with me, right?”

  Ashley sniffed noisily, clinging to him. “Yes,” she whispered finally.

  “Don’t you want to go see your mum and da?” he coaxed.

  “I do,” she agreed, loosening her hold on him some.

  “Take my hand, Princess, and don’t let go. I’m going to take you down to the car and we’ll get in and drive up to see everyone. You can sleep during the trip and we can take our time. The weather is supposed to be nice and sunny, okay?” Myles wheedled, hoisting both her bag and his onto his shoulder by the straps.

  Jacob hadn’t said one way or another how he was supposed to get Ashley to Georgia and somehow; Myles felt certain driving would be better than flying. He knew that Rafe and Tayler were flying in, and perhaps that was for the best as well. Either way, he got the impression that he should go with his gut. His gut was telling him to get in the car and drive.

  It was still very early in the morning—the sky was only just showing faint purple streaks. The drive usually took seven and a half hours, but Myles knew from experience that he could trim that back by a couple of hours.

  He settled her into the front of his little sports car and eased the seat back so that she could recline. “What kind of car is this, Myles?” she questioned, stroking the supple leather seat as he reached over her to fasten the seatbelt.

  “It’s a Porsche,” he answered with an embarrassed smile. His weakness for sports cars was well known. “Um, it’s called a Cayman S,” he explained, leaning down to kiss her head.

  “Tell me about it,” she invited him with a tiny smile.

  With a mental shrug, he decid
ed it was a reasonably safe topic. “Well, it’s got a five speed Tiptronic transmission…”

  “What’s that?” she frowned, turning her head toward him where it lay on the reclining headrest.

  “It’s a sort of automatic transmission developed by Porsche,” he explained. “It can operate just as the common type of automatic transmission, but it also allows the driver to override the automatic mode by moving the shift lever into a second shift setting. It has two spring-loaded positions: "upshift" and "downshift".”

  She yawned widely and murmured, “And then?” as if he were telling her a fascinating story.

  He grinned to himself. While they weren’t discussing the important aspects of their relationship that they really should sort out, she was with him, depending on him, talking to him and listening.

  He continued to explain. “Once it’s in the manual setting, the driver takes over most of the shifting decisions which are usually performed by the transmission's computer in most cars.” He saw her yawn widely but went on explaining. “When the driver shifts on his own, it lets you delay the downshift which allows for increased acceleration or to increase the braking effect of the engine.” Looking over, he stopped talking.

  Ashley’s eyes drifted closed. With difficulty, Myles managed to keep his hands on the wheel instead of reaching over, touching her and reassuring himself that she was really there with him.

  This was the stuff of his long-denied dreams. Hopes that for so long he couldn’t possibly allow himself. To do so would have been torture. Jacob had been right on when he’d said that Myles had never really belived Ashley could love him. She was far too good for him.

  On the other hand, if Jacob, the pack seer, said that Myles could save Ashley— that he was what she needed—well, who was he to argue with a seer? He chuckled wryly at himself for how quickly he’d changed his outlook. Now he was clinging to Jacob’s directives just as much as Ashley had been clinging to him this morning before he managed to convince her to leave the apartment.