by Lauren Dane
Tedious given the presence of two of Dwayne’s cronies sitting on the deck with him and the others inside the house. In any case, Dwayne Pembry didn’t pull his strings.
“And this afternoon a bunch of wolves got into it down at the Stump. There were witches involved though lucky for you, none got hurt. To top it off your son has attempted to harm and intimidate Katie Faith and her family.”
Dwayne’s derisive snort had Damon tensing up at Jace’s side.
“He showed up at the Counter less than an hour ago, directly after that mess at the Stump and claimed to be looking for me. Avery was there and between that and Scarlett’s behavior at the market, his health is jeopardized by all this stress. You must know that as Prime of the Dooley Pack and as Katie Faith’s man, this can’t be tolerated.”
Ah. That Dwayne hadn’t known about Darrell going to the Counter. Jace could tell by the way Dwayne jerked ever so slightly at the mention.
“Scarlett was feeling protective of the girl. She was once like a daughter to us. You can’t fault her for trying to warn Katie Faith about what she was getting into with you and yours,” Dwayne said.
“Revelation of proceedings held by repudiation tribunals is a violation of pack law. Using shifter strength and speed against nonshifters is also forbidden. It’s not like you can claim not to know the law, Dwayne. You have a pack discipline problem and it’s spilling out into my pack and into this town. As Prime, as a cop, I’m here to tell you to fix it or others will do it for you.”
Dwayne stood but Jace didn’t move a muscle. “I don’t take orders from a Dooley.”
“You need to deal with your ego so you can get your house in order. And since I’m here, why doesn’t Darrell come say hello? Since he’s looking for me and all,” Jace said.
“He’s not here. I’ll tell him you came by and I’ll tell you to be going now,” Dwayne had gotten some of his composure back.
“Of course he isn’t. Remember what I said, now. Get your pack in check while you still can and stay the fuck away from Katie Faith and her family.” Without another word, he and Damon walked out the way they’d come in.
Chapter Seventeen
It turned out Jace didn’t need to find Darrell because the dumbass came to find him first as he and his brothers finished up their construction job, loading debris into the dumpster when Darrell came screeching up in his car.
“Well now.” Jace jumped down from the bed of the truck, tossing his gloves on the bench seat. “Look what the cat drug in.”
“I been looking for you,” Darrell said as he tried to look tough. Not tough enough to have come without four of his wolves for back up.
Jace rolled his head on his neck, undoing all the kinks as he widened his stance a little. Taking up more space. Showing his dominance and power. Then he tipped his chin, lip curled to show his teeth for a moment. “And here I am. Brave of you showing up at the Counter. Gold star at being a stupid prick with his head up his ass.”
Jace didn’t take his attention from Darrell. Every single bit of his focus was on the other wolf.
Darrell growled at him, snarling a little. But Jace held his ground, not giving even the slightest flinch. The wolves Darrell had brought with him began to inch back and show physical signs of submission.
No matter how hard they fought it, if Jace was truly a dominant wolf, their physical reaction, their body’s need to submit to his will would show and only the strongest like another Prime could hold out if he truly pushed it.
But Darrell wasn’t Prime material. No matter how much his momma wanted him to be, he wasn’t the son capable of holding the pack together. Jace let that show in his eyes, the utter disdain for Darrell and his weakness.
“I came here to tell you to keep your complaints about my mother to yourself. Loser.” Darrell looked like a big baby right then.
“Your Patron was out of line. Handle it and there’ll be no reason for her to get called out.” Jace kept his gaze on Darrell but knew his brothers had fanned out to be sure they didn’t get flanked.
Tension hung heavy in the air as Jace showed his teeth. But not in a smile. “You done crying at me now? Because I’ve got a few things to let you know.”
Darrell’s eyes widened. “You got a mouth on you.”
By that point, several more wolves from both packs had shown up, gathering around. Though dark was just beginning to settle, none of them needed the outdoor lights that would flicker to life soon.
Being a shifter meant fantastic hearing and vision. Enough that everyone standing around heard and saw the whole thing. Jace could have been diplomatic, but that wasn’t what this situation called for. Darrell had been pushing and pushing and now that they had an audience, a public lesson had to be doled out which would handle a lot of other business at the same time.
He’d be Patron soon. He’d be married as soon as he could convince his witch to do it. There was no way he’d live the next stage of his life dealing with petty bullshit like this, much less anyone harassing Katie Faith or making her unhappy.
Jace tipped his chin to look down his nose at Darrell. “What’s so important that you’ve made your pack look bad? Again.”
“Don’t worry about what Pembrys do. Know your betters. Y’all can barely manage being Dooleys.” Darrell sneered.
Damon snickered because the big dumb asshole was more funny than ferocious. And because part of what made his brother so scary was that he could be joking one moment and breaking bones the next if he got pushed too far.
It was mocking and provocative and the perfect response.
Darrell’s face darkened as his normally handsome features turned vicious. He rounded on Damon. “What are you laughing at? Your momma got around and your daddy shamed your entire family. Your brother’s new lay is my leftovers.”
All of which had been a miscalculation on Dwayne’s part. One he might have realized right as Jace leaped at him, fist connecting with his nose to a chorus of ooohhhhhh from the bystanders on both sides.
The man let the wolf fuel his strength, but kept back.
That was control.
Newly disgusted, Jace let himself use the force of the punch to let his body connect with Darrell after his fist had. They hit the ground in a tangle of limbs as Jace kneed him in the side, getting astride his opponent’s chest, Jace’s knees impeding the fists flying in his direction as he punched Darrell’s face again, and twice more.
Bone crunched. Blood spilled hot and slick, the sticky-sweet scent of it rising on the air. Inciting.
“Piece of garbage!” Darrell finally got himself together to launch a counterattack, landing a fist to Jace’s gut.
Jace didn’t bother with words as Darrell threw him off and he landed in a crouch before standing slowly. Astonished dismay stamped itself all over Darrell’s face as Jace so easily got his balance again, ready for more.
“Son of a whore.”
The angry shouts of reaction from the bystanders turned, sharpened back in Darrell’s direction as Jace plowed into him at high speed, his shoulder to Darrell’s gut as he straightened his legs and heaved the other man up and over his back to the pavement.
Moments later the heavy thud followed by all the breath exhaling from Darrell’s body as he hit the ground.
Jace watched Darrell try to stand on shaky legs. “You didn’t know a Prime could move like that, did you? Because you aren’t one and you never will be. Just you know it was a Dooley who bested you just now. And who always will.”
It was then Jace noticed that his grandfather stood, his arms braced across his chest as he’d been watching the fight. He’d shown up with Uncle Tab at his side. The crowd had grown to about two dozen. If Jace wasn’t careful—no matter how much he wanted to grind Darrell into dust—a full blown riot might break out.
“You’re trash. The whole
lot of you barely fit to do more than clean up after the rest of us. Pump the gas and do the yard work. Lazy and shiftless. Your daddy done got hisself killed because—”
“Shut the hell up!” Dwayne came into the circle of shifters, aiming his command at his son. “Get your ass in that truck right now, boy.” He pointed to the running Ford not too far away with a Pembry cousin at the wheel.
Jace turned to Dwayne, pointing. “This isn’t over. You can’t just run in here and intervene. He bought himself every single blow. You can’t pay his bill.”
“He’s upset.”
“After decades of making excuses for Darrell that’s all you have left?” JJ demanded. “You heard what he said. He’s out of line. Now he’s going around starting fights, inciting witches—who’re pissed at us anyway case you haven’t noticed—and you’re going to step in because of this mysterious upset?”
“You made your point, Jace,” Dwayne said, avoiding JJ’s questions. “No call in putting him in the clinic.”
Werewolves healed most injuries quickly enough. But they weren’t immune to pain, and the more damage they took, the longer the recovery would be. Darrell would most likely need to shift when he got home and spend the rest of the night as wolf. He’d wake up in the morning just fine, maybe a little sore.
“And what was my point, then? If I made it, that is.” Jace left his hands at his side. The stance still ready to spring at any moment. He let that show to Dwayne too.
“What is it you want out of this?” Dwayne asked, clearly wary.
Jace didn’t bother hiding his sneer. “We already talked about that not even six hours ago. You have discipline problems in your pack that are involving the rest of this town. What are you going to do about it? Because we both know, just like everyone here, that your fuckup of a son isn’t going to listen to you and you’re not going to discipline him hard enough to be sure he won’t go shooting his mouth off. I want Pembry to stop stirring shit up in Diablo Lake and I want you, as Patron, to guarantee that.”
Carl rushed up, bulling his way through the crowd. He took a look at Darrell sitting, still bloody and dazed in the truck and then straight over to Jace with his battered fists. But Jace didn’t care. He couldn’t care about that because right then he was the Prime of the Dooley wolves and this wolf had broken rules and threatened Katie Faith more than once.
“I can promise to do what I can to keep everyone calm but only if Dooley does too.” Dwayne spread his hands out, palms open in some trumped up gesture of goodwill.
“Not what I need from you. We’re past do what I can. They’re your wolves. Be a leader. If not, others are going to handle the things you won’t. You’re going to tell your wife to keep her mouth shut about closed disciplinary hearings. And she’s going to keep her distance from the Gradys. As will your son. You hear me, Dwayne? He gets Katie Faith this upset again and his daddy won’t be able to save him.”
“This is all Katie Faith’s fault,” Dwayne said with a snarl. “We were all doing just fine before she came back.”
If Damon and Major hadn’t been there to grab him as he went for Dwayne’s throat, Jace wasn’t sure what would have stopped him from beating the other man unconscious.
“You keep her name out of your mouth too, Dwayne.”
“Think with your head. She’s the problem.”
“After years of total peace and harmony, a young woman returns to her hometown to plot the demise of your pack? Really now? You’re the problem. You and your lazy, coward of a son. You leave her alone. She don’t want none of y’all.”
“This isn’t over,” Darrell shouted from the car.
Jace looked to Dwayne. “You remember what I said here today. Just so there’s no misunderstanding later when he gets caught out for all the shit spewing from his pie hole.”
“You can’t talk like this,” Dwayne said. “I’m Patron of the Pembry wolves. You have no authority with me and mine. Who do you think you are?”
There it was. That holier-than-thou, shit-don’t-stink attitude. He stood there even after everything that’d been happening and still thought he was better than any Dooley.
Jace moved fast enough that Dwayne couldn’t prevent his step backward and gasp of surprise. He leaned in, owning the other wolf’s space. “I’m Joshua Carron Dooley. Prime. I’m telling you because it’s your job to lead or to get out of the way of someone else who could. So go on and make me prove you wrong, old man,” Jace whispered.
He let his wolf get so close to the surface it showed in his eyes. His wolf didn’t respect Dwayne Pembry at all.
He blew out his breath to be done with Dwayne’s stink.
And then turned his back, walking across the pavement of the parking lot to the truck where he’d been dealing with concrete debris. He put his gloves on and returned to work.
“Unless any of you plan to pay my light bill, get the hell home and let us do our job,” he said as he hopped up into the bed of his truck.
The crowd in the lot began to disperse, get in cars and drive away. Once the scene had calmed down some JJ hobbled over as Major finished tying down the load.
Jace told him about the conversation he’d had with Dwayne at his house earlier and JJ sighed at the end, even as he smiled faintly.
“You handed his ass to him. As for what he said... Your mother was a good woman who had the misfortune of falling in love with my son.” His grandfather’s voice was quiet, but the three brothers heard him just fine. “You’ve done her memory proud. All three of you. As for your dad getting himself killed?” JJ’s pain washed over his face. “You know that’s true. I wish it wasn’t. But if it hadn’t been then, it would have been some other time for the same type of reason. The more you show them how they can push your buttons with talk about him, the more they’re going to use it against you. Don’t.”
Their grandpa mopped his face while Jace and his brothers shared a concerned look. He was pale. Too pale. Too out of breath. Suddenly Jace saw him, not as the hearty and hale man he’d been all of Jace’s life, but as a man who was getting older. A man fighting poor health during a crisis in the pack and in the town.
“We’ve got this handled. There’s nothing to be concerned over.”
“Hey, Grandpa, why don’t I drive you home? You’re on the way,” Damon said.
“I’ll follow along in a few minutes,” Jace told them, knowing he had to face Carl.
“You’re a cop here, you can’t just have battles in the street.” Carl’s stance was less than confident. Jace knew he probably agreed with what’d been done, but he couldn’t have his cops disobeying.
“He came at me. I defended myself, my woman and my pack. I did it in my off time. I’m not wearing a uniform or on duty. I work for you, yes, but I don’t put aside who and what I am. Not totally. I did what had to be done. To prevent even more nonsense. And I’d do it again. I know this puts you in a hard place, but I have to do this.”
“If he complains I’m going to have to put you on paid administrative leave.” Meaning Dwayne. “You’re a public employee.”
“Go ahead on.” Jace shrugged. “Seems to me if Dwayne can be mayor, I can be a cop. But whatever, I have responsibilities and I won’t shirk them. Now. My grandfather’s health is shaky and I want to check on him before I get back to my other job.”
Carl sighed heavily. “Call me before you come in tomorrow. Let’s just keep updated on what’s happening. And off the record? Darrell is a punk for getting Avery so upset. He deserved a punch in the face.” He spun on his heel and headed out.
Chapter Eighteen
A few days later, Katie Faith and Jace worked together to finish up a planter box that ran around the front of the mercantile. She liked working with him, making things pretty. He was big and strong and it was surely a pleasure to watch him at it.
He just did it to keep h
is grandmother happy—which made Katie Faith go all gooey—but no matter the cause, he was shirtless and sweaty and all was right with the world.
He hadn’t said much about the fight he’d gotten into with Darrell and she hadn’t pushed for details. Heaven knew she’d heard all about it before he’d even come to her door that night.
It had been, in part, about her. But she also knew it was bigger than that. So she figured he’d come to her with it when he was ready.
Until then, she’d watch his grumpy ass—shirtless, sweaty, gorgeous—haul stuff around and dig in the dirt.
“How’s Avery?” Damon asked as he dropped off several plants for Katie Faith to place.
“I think I’ve managed to talk them into going to Nashville for a week. He’s got a bunch of doctor’s appointments coming up at Vanderbilt and things are so stressful here for him.” She shrugged, guilt swamping her. “His blood pressure has been high and so he’ll agree, most likely, because he knows Mom’s right about him ending up in the hospital again if he’s not careful.”
Damon knelt as he gently tapped the bottom of one of the containers to free the plant. “This isn’t your fault, you know.”
“It is. But I appreciate your saying that.”
“Goddammit, Katie Faith, stop that right now.” Jace picked her up from her crouch, kissed her hard and set her back to her feet. While she still reeled, he got in her face again. “As much as I think you’re a miracle, you’re not the reason for all this. If it wasn’t you, it’d be someone else. Something else. This is about power and balance. And leadership. I won’t have you beating yourself up over it.”
He was so stern and sweetly concerned at the same time she couldn’t bring herself to argue with him.
His hands on her shoulders anchored her, gave her a safe place.
“Don’t try to change my mind with that face either.”
That made her laugh and throw her arms around him even as he told her how sweaty and dirty he was.