“What do you have in mind, Imogen,” Seann asked as she paced up and down the floor thinking her plan through.
“I want you to train me to fight, Kandis,” she said simply.
“No!” Seann yelled, “Not happening Imogen, have you lost your mind! This woman tried to kill you and you are opening yourself up to letting her attack you again?”
“You can’t train me yourself because you will be too gentle, she won’t have any such reservations. If she attacks me outside the parameters of training me, then you can kill her with my blessing Seann.”
Turning her back to him she looked at the prone form still kneeling on the floor, “What do you say, Kandis?”
She lifted her head and her eyes pierced Imogen, “You have balls, I'll say that for you,” she smirked, “How long do I have to train you for?”
“Until I’m as good as you.”
“You’ll never be as good as me.”
“We’ll see.”
Seann heaved a sigh of defeat, there was never any doubt that Imogen would get her own way, but he still needed to get control of the situation.
“You will spend a week in the cells, thinking about all of the ways you will make it up to Imogen, India and your father. When you are released you will begin training her only in your human form and never without a chaperone. After she has transitioned fully and feeling stronger you can train in wolf form but again only with a chaperone until Imogen feels that she no longer needs you.”
Kandis opened her mouth to speak but decided against it and just nodded instead.
“India, you are welcome to join in the training too, every wolf needs basic training. How much more is up to you and the role you will play in the pack,” Seann offered.
“I have no interest in being a fighter, Garrett will teach me what I need to know,” she scowled at Kandis and Seann knew she would be a tougher nut to crack than Imogen.
“Very well, in one weeks’ time you will start training for an hour each morning and then more if you wish after your transition Imogen. Garrett tell Liam to make sure Kandis has a cot to sleep on and a heater, the basement can be damp at this time of year.”
Liam came into the Den and he and the others escorted Kandis back to her cell. Lachlan didn’t speak to his daughter, but he shook Seann’s hand and then came to Imogen and thanked her for her kindness. Eventually, they were left alone and Seann pulled her toward him and nuzzled her neck.
“I hope you know what the hell you are doing Imogen. I wouldn’t trust that she-wolf as far as I could throw her!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Imogen
Three days of her confinement had passed since Kandis was escorted back to her cell and she was going out of her mind with boredom. Imogen could feel the emotions rolling off of her as she stood outside her cell after persuading Liam to let her visit.
“What the hell do you want?” she sniped as Imogen approached the cell.
“I brought you some magazines to read and a few snacks but I can go outside and throw them on the firepit if you prefer.”
“Suit yourself,” she said and folded her arms defensively across her body.
Imogen put them on the floor by the cell door and walked back outside, she didn’t expect a warm welcome but she needed to crack that hard shell she had built around her, something bad had happened to her and she needed to get to the bottom of it.
Changing her mind she picked up one of the folding chairs from the meeting hut and went back downstairs and put it down in front of the cell door and picked up one of the magazines that were still lying there.
“Oh, back already?”
Imogen ignored her sarcasm and began to read one of the articles aloud. It was mind-numbing stuff and after a full fifteen minutes of it Kandis yelled at her, “Enough, what do I need to do to get you to shut the fuck up and stay away from me!”
“Easy, you answer my questions each morning and I will leave you alone for the rest of the day.”
She watched her through narrowed eyes, “How many questions?”
“Three. If you answer honestly, I will leave you alone until tomorrow morning,”
“One, I will give you one question each day.”
“Sorry, not good enough, going from three to one is not good negotiating, especially when you are not in a position of strength.”
“Two then, my final offer.”
“I accept.”
“Fire away, so that I can get rid of you and get back to what I was doing.”
Imogen glanced around the dingy jail cell and laughed, “Did you really try to kill me?”
“No, it was just a knee jerk reaction, I am guilty of acting without thinking it through,”
Imogen was taken aback by her honesty, there was no scent at all of deception in her answer. She wanted to ask her more about Seann but she didn’t want to waste a question just to pad her ego so she thought carefully about the wording of her next one, remembering everything that Bree had told her this morning about Kandis.
“When you were fourteen, you went out West to stay with your father’s cousin’s pack for the summer. Something happened to you when you were there, Bree and Hope said you were a changed person when you came back, what happened?”
She had expected her to be angry at the invasion of her privacy, but she hadn’t expected the venomous reaction she got from the other woman. Kandis jumped off the bed and charged for the door and Imogen had a moment of panic that the metal bars wouldn’t hold her, she was so furious.
“Who the fuck have you been talking to, my mother!” She screamed, “This is none of your damn business. Get out, get the fuck out!” She was screaming now and Liam came running in to see what had happened.
“I will be back tomorrow, Kandis,” she said calmly as she walked to the door, “Same time.” The plastic drinking cup flew passed her head and hit the wall with such a force it split in two.
“Trying to kill me again is not going to get you out of here any sooner,” she called over her shoulder and was surprised when she heard her laughter coming back.
“I wouldn’t have missed if I wanted to kill you,” she knew she was telling the truth.
She didn’t exactly answer the question but she gave her enough to go on, for now, that was one troubled woman back there and Imogen wanted to cry as the other woman's emotions engulfed her, she had always had the ability to feel empathy for others but since she had started her transition the feelings were sometimes overwhelming. Kandis was in a lot of emotional pain and she was going to make it her mission to help her. India thought she was crazy and would have sent her off to another pack without a backward glance but she felt in her gut that this was the right thing to do.
She hurried back to the Den, she wasn’t going to hide that she visited Kandis but it would be better if Seann found out about it later rather than sooner. Roisen had gone into town for supplies and she and India were at the kitchen table with her laptop and a sketchpad making plans for their clothing business when Seann and Garrett finally emerged from the office. His face softened when his eyes fell on her and she knew she had a reprieve for now.
“What’s this?” he asked coming around to plant a kiss on her head.
Showing them all the sketches and notes, India outlined all of their plans for easily removable clothing for the pack teens that were still fresh and fashionable. When he didn’t look immediately bored, Imogen showed him the spreadsheet she was working on and her business plan and projections.
“I think this could be a viable business, especially if we could open it up to the other packs too, I am guessing they have the same supply issues that we have here, one of the mothers I spoke to yesterday said her son had ruined four pairs of pants and as many shirts in two days. Other than going around naked all the time, which wouldn’t work as winter is just around the corner, they need another options,” she smiled.
“Let me know if I can do anything to help,” he said, “It’s a great idea, I remember how frust
rated my mother was when my sisters and I would get through a wardrobe full of clothes in no time. Sometimes the urge to change would be so strong we didn’t have time to strip off, it happens to most youngsters and newly transitioned wolves. You and India should model these, put your money where your mouth is, so to speak.”
Using his enthusiasm to get what she needed for her other project she asked if they had a map with all of the cabins and who lived where so that she could target the teenagers who were ready to transition or had just done so.
“We have maps of the compound and the cabins, but they don’t have names on them, my sisters could help with that.”
“We could help with what?” Hope came bouncing into the room and Imogen told her what they were discussing.
Seann came back with a large printout of the compound and put it on the table.
“Don’t go out wandering alone, take Hope and Bree with you at least and don’t leave the inner compound, there is still a mutt out there. Garrett and I need to go to town this afternoon with Lachlan but we should be back in time for dinner.”
Imogen smiled and tried to keep her heartbeat even, she would use the clothing business as an excuse to go see Kandis’s mom when her father was out of the way. Lachlan was the manager of one of the construction sites the pack owned. She wasn’t sure how to shake off Hope and Bree but she would figure it out. She would confide in her sister to help her.
Roisin had made them chicken pie for lunch with roast potatoes and Imogen was fascinated as she watched Seann and Garrett eat a whole pie between them. Her own appetite was increasing day by day too and she cleaned her plate and poured a cup of coffee as Bree marked the names of the pack members next to the cabins they occupied. She saw her write Lachlan and Faye Scott on a cabin not too far from their daughter’s home and there were two more houses on this street with teenagers, she would take this one and sneak a visit to the mother. She waited patiently on the men leaving so that she could put her plan into action.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Seann
If he didn’t know better he would have sworn that Imogen and India were trying to get rid of them. She was fired up about this business venture and Seann was all for it. When his father was alpha his mother had been a stay at home Mom and she was happy taking care of her family but he suspected it wasn’t a path Imogen would choose. Besides his mother had three kids to take care of and he admitted they were a real handful when they were young.
He pulled the truck into the industrial estate and was pleased to see how much progress his team had made since he was last here. Lachlan was in charge of this team and was without a doubt the best of his managers. It was unfortunate that his daughter had proved to be such a wicked pain in the ass.
They got out of the truck and he went into the unit closest to him, it was completed, just waiting on a coat of paint and some landscaping outside. There would be eighteen of these units, this was one of the larger ones and already the owner had leased eleven of them. He would have liked to secure one for Imogen and India’s new business but his gut told him that the strange nature of the clothes they would produce necessitated that they build something in the compound for them. The problem with that was that the workers would all have to be shifters as no humans would be allowed in the compound. A problem for another day.
Satisfied with the progress they moved onto the next site and then the next but Seann’s mind kept wandering back to his mate. She was definitely keeping something from him and it was bugging him. They were sleeping together every night but he had taken to wearing shorts in bed as it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his hands to himself. He wanted to be able to give her pleasure even though he knew he had to refrain, but after that first time, he wasn’t sure he could refuse her again if she asked. Just the memory of how sweet she tasted had him hold a clipboard on his lap to hide his arousal as Garrett drove them from place to place.
He wanted to ask him if he and India were sleeping together but first, it was none of his business and second, India wasn’t yet his mate so Garrett would be in full control of himself with her. The full moon was getting closer and closer and he was torn between worry that her transition would go smoothly and anticipation of what would come afterward. A young wolf’s sex drive was always on high alert but more so after a pack run, his father once told him it was the adrenaline or something but whatever it was he was finding it difficult to think of anything else.
The last site they visited for the day was the largest and the foreman Pete Adair was Garrett’s uncle. They were building a strip mall for another client they had worked with for years and he was pleased to see that everything was on schedule. He expected to be finished in 10-12 weeks and Pete already had another job lined up for the same client in the next town.
As they drove home he was deep in thought. The pack had never been in such good shape financially and Seann was thinking it was time to expand the inner compound, build some additional cabins and workspaces, one for Imogen and India but the catering business could benefit from their own kitchen too instead of having to use the kitchen in the meeting hut. It was something to think about and he scribbled some notes for their next council meeting.
They also needed to elect a new member since Liam’s grandfather had stepped down. He split his time between the pack and his son’s pack in Colorado. Imogen wouldn’t join just yet, she would need to be a fully-fledged shifter and their mating would need to be bound, she still had to bite him, claim him as her mate, but he was loathing to remind her. This had to be instinctual, she had to want it as much as she wanted to breathe. Seann knew she wanted him but did she want him enough to bind herself to him for eternity.
They pulled into the compound just as the sun was going down and Seann never had such a feeling of relief that he was home again. It was Imogen, he missed her when he was away, even for just a few hours. If the guys could see inside his head he would be the laughing stock of the pack. Unlike the wolves in his sister’s favorite movies a few years ago, his pack couldn’t talk to each other, they could anticipate each other’s moves and they understood his commands as all wolves did with their alpha when in wolf form. He suppressed a chuckle; they would think him such a wuss that this girl had gotten so deep under his skin already.
He could sense her in the kitchen with Roisin and the heavenly smell of chocolate wafted through the whole house. He dumped his folders in the office and went through to see what was cooking. His stomach rumbled in anticipation as Roisin took two large trays of lasagna out of the oven and Hope was chopping tomatoes for the salad.
He came up behind his mate and planted a kiss on her neck and pulled her against him and his sister couldn’t have looked more delighted. Imogen turned in his arms and kissed him and he heard her heartbeat pick up. She was so receptive to him he wished he could just carry her upstairs right now but there was no point in torturing himself over something he couldn’t have.
“You’re back early,” she smiled.
“Everything is running smoothly and on time for a change, didn’t take as long as I thought. Did you get anywhere with talking to the moms?”
“Yes, Hope and Bree came with us and we split up to cover more ground. We spoke to most of them and will reach out to others later in the week. Everyone thought it was a good idea but the teenagers are waiting to see what we produce before they give their opinions,” she laughed, “Some of them think we are too ‘old’ to know what they would like wearing, especially the younger girls.”
“Twenty-two is old?” he said, “They must think I am ancient.”
“How old are you Seann, I never asked,” her face tinged pink.
“Does it matter?”
“No, not to me. You don’t look any older than thirty but I know shifters age at a different rate than humans.”
He hesitated a little too long, “I’m fifty-nine years old,” he said with a sad smile, but in human terms, I am around thirty.”
“Positively ancient,”
she grinned, “Should I call you Grandad?”
He growled and swatted her playfully on the butt, “Not if you know what’s good for you.”
“Dinner’s ready,” Roisin interrupted their playful sparring and India came into the kitchen to see what they were laughing about.
“Wait until you taste Imogen’s chocolate cake Seann. I swear I put on two pounds every time I even sniff it.”
He reached out to steal a piece of the frosting and she swatted his hand away, “After dinner,” she admonished and then blushed, that was something his mother would say, not his mate.
He was fifty-nine years old, she didn’t want it to bother her and she knew it would so she pushed it out of her mind.
The lasagna was polished off in no time and Imogen cut everyone a large slice of her cake. There was fresh whipped cream and ice cream on the table and Sean put a generous dollop of cream on top and spooned some into his mouth. It was rich and decadent and he savored the flavor.
“This is really good Imogen, I should have known you could bake when you worked in a baker’s shop,” he grinned.
“I didn’t bake, I only did the books and sometimes helped out in the shop.”
“Did she know you could bake like this?”
She just smiled at the compliment and cleaned her plate. Roisin stacked the dishwasher and Bree cleaned up the table.
“Go get ready, we can finish up here,” Bree shooed the girls out of the kitchen.
“Wait in the living room, we have a surprise for you,” India promised and she dashed upstairs with Hope and Imogen.
Seann and Garrett took their seats and Roisin and Bree joined them a few minutes later. He was never good at surprises and he was the absolute opposite of patient but he forced himself to wait until he heard them coming back downstairs.
All three of them had changed clothes and they came into the middle of the room and paraded up and down like a fashion show, India stood directly in front of them and slowly turned around. She was wearing a knee-length denim skirt and a white blouse with baggy sleeves, Imogen took her place in the center of the room and he grinned as she turned slowly showing off the wrap-around dress in a deep shade of red. Hope was last and she was dressed like a boy in cargo shorts and a short-sleeved button-down shirt.
The Children of the Moon Page 7