Pack Enforcer

by Lauren Dane

  “We should start planning. How are you going to arrange this meet-up?” She sat up and he pushed her back to the mattress.

  “We are not talking about any of this until tomorrow. Tonight you are going to rest. We’ll get dinner and I’ll get you moved into our room while you take a long hot bath. Cade will call the family together to accept you into the Pack as my mate, and my mother will be thrilled of course. She’s always on me to give her grandchildren. Heh, Cade is next! The pressure is off me now...”

  She put her hands over his mouth. “God, you seemed so stoic before you got your super semen into me. Let’s back up, shall we? First of all, moving in together?”

  “Nina, where else would you be?”

  “Shouldn’t we date for a while or something?”

  He sighed and rolled on top of her. His weight anchored her as she smoothed her hands up the muscles of his back.

  “Beautiful, you’re my mate. Where else would you be but with me? Human mates live together, why wouldn’t we?”

  “Well, people date and then they sometimes live together and then they get married. They don’t set up house after having sex once.”

  “I think we are having some basic problems with definition here. You are my mate. I am your mate. In human terms then—you are my wife. In werewolf culture, once a mate is claimed that’s a declaration, a marriage. You carry my scent, Nina. A wolf will be able to tell that you’re my mate by scent. I carry yours as well. There’s no courtship, although you’ve certainly been a pain in my ass over the last weeks as I watched you, that’s probably close to a courtship for a prickly woman like you.” He said this last bit with that naughty grin.

  “Married?” she asked faintly as she thought it over, giving his ear a halfhearted twist for the prickly comment. “Well, I’ll agree to the moving in to the same room part, after all we’re sleeping together and I don’t have a house anymore, so my being in here is silly. But it’s going to take me some time to deal with the marriage idea. Plus, uh, this mate thingy is fine for you in your culture and all, but humans don’t recognize it, do they?”

  He frowned. She was so contrary. “I don’t care what others recognize. It is. You are mine, period.”

  “Yeah, okay, He-Man. So now you want me to meet your mother? ’Cause you see, I’m not exceptionally good with mothers. They never seem to be very excited when they meet me.”

  “Well, of course! Nina, do you need to go to the doctor? Are you having hearing problems? You. Are. My. Mate. My mother and father and sisters are all going to want to meet you. And they’ll love you. In fact, they have to meet you before anyone else in the Pack does or my mother will never let me hear the end of it.” He rolled off her and reached for the phone and she grabbed his arm with a squeak.

  “You’re calling them now?”

  He laughed. “No, Cade, as the Alpha, will call them. I have to call one of the Pack who is a jeweler, have him design rings for us.”

  She groaned, fell back to the mattress and pulled the sheet up over her face. “You know, Rushy McRushter, you don’t have to go all wild right now. We can, oh I don’t know, take things slowly!”

  He leaned over and pulled the sheet back and peeked into her face. “Rushy McRushter?”

  She gave a wave. “It was off the cuff, I’m better if I have time and I’m not being pushed into marriage by a fuck-drunk werewolf.”

  He laughed. “Fuck-drunk? Good one. But there’s no point in not moving forward. It’s a done deal.” He shrugged. He dialed the numbers and she groaned and rolled out of bed in search of her panties. With a growl he pulled her back to the bed with an arm around her waist. “I have plans for you, don’t rush off.”

  He held her there while he spoke to the jeweler and had him start on some design ideas for rings but swore the man to absolute secrecy under pain of death. He sounded so serious about the last part that Nina shivered. He was so big and bad and scary but she didn’t feel threatened in any way by him. That was really sexy.

  When he hung up he turned back to her and his lips moved toward hers. She gave a soft sigh until she heard Cade bellow up the stairs that dinner was ready.

  Lex cursed under his breath and sighed.

  “Let’s ignore him,” Nina murmured and pulled him back toward her.

  He extricated himself from her. “As much as I’d like that, he’ll never quit. He’s an Alpha, used to being obeyed. It’s damned annoying sometimes but that’s the way things go. He’s mellow, but when he’s spent hours cooking he’ll be pouty if we don’t go down there and ooh and aah over everything.”

  “God, you two are fragile for supposed big strong werewolves,” she mumbled and got up. Failing to find her panties she put her jeans back on without them.

  “You’re awfully mouthy for such a beautiful woman,” he said, catching her at the door and pulling her into an embrace.

  “Yeah? Too late to complain, you bought the cow, even though I’d have let you milk me at least five more times.”

  He laughed and swatted her bottom as they walked out into the hallway. “You’re going to keep my life interesting, I think.”

  * * *

  Cade was putting the opened bottle of wine on the table when they walked into the room. He spun, nostrils flaring, and rushed over and pulled them both into an embrace. “Congratulations!” He kissed Nina’s cheek. Lex growled at him and Cade gave him a raised brow and a smirk as he whisked Nina to the table.

  “I’d better call them before we get started. If mom finds out we had dinner before I told her you’d claimed your mate she’ll never let any of us hear the end of it,” Cade said and grabbed the phone.

  Nina snorted and grabbed a piece of garlic bread. Lex poured her a glass of wine and then one for himself and Cade.

  The conversation was short and he returned to the table.

  “Well?” Lex asked, a fork at the ready to spear a steak.

  “They’re on their way over. Let’s go ahead and eat, it’ll take them a while to get here.”

  “You know, maybe I’ll just shower and change,” Nina said, getting up.

  “No. Nina, you need to eat. You’ve had a really rough few days,” Lex said, putting his hand on her arm to stay her.

  “Lex, I am not meeting your family in jeans and no makeup. God. I’ll be back down in a few minutes.” She narrowed her eyes at his hand and he removed it with a sigh. She caught Cade’s pout and snorted. “Look, blossom, I’ll be back in a few minutes, don’t cry.”

  Lex gave a surprised bark of laughter and Cade sputtered as she jogged out of the room and headed upstairs.

  Rifling through the clothes she’d bought earlier, she decided on a pale peach-colored pair of clam diggers and the cream tank that went with them. She took a quick shower, put her hair back in a long braid and dashed on some makeup. She examined the results in the mirror and shrugged, that was as good as she could get on short notice. She shook her head. She was meeting her boyfriend’s, no, husband’s family in a bit and she had no idea what they’d think of her. In the past, parents had never been overly thrilled with her. The class thing had been an issue and the race thing too. Sometimes blonde mothers were not happy to see their sons bring home a Latina. And when Gabriel got into trouble all the time, that was another factor.

  She hadn’t met anyone’s parents in at least seven years though, so maybe it would be different. She was a business owner and used to be a homeowner. Respectable. She snorted at herself in the mirror and headed downstairs.

  “Finally,” Cade mumbled and went into the kitchen, bringing back a tray of food he’d been keeping warm for her in the oven.

  “You look beautiful, Nina. But it’s not necessary to dress up. My family is going to love you.” Lex kissed her hand.

  She snorted and began to eat, despite her nervous stomach. She hadn’t eaten since b
reakfast and was starving. The last thing she wanted to do was faint when she met his parents.

  “This is delicious, Cade,” she said, meaning every word.

  He smiled proudly. “Thanks. The marinade is something I’ve developed over the last ten years. I’m going to sell it to some of the smaller gourmet food shops in Seattle and Bellevue later this year.”

  She finished the delicious steak and veggies and limited herself to one glass of wine. Lex cleared the plates and refused to let her help so she sat with Cade in the large living room and looked out the wall of windows toward the city.

  “Wow, you can see Bellevue and Seattle too.”

  “Welcome to our family, Nina. Truly,” Cade said as he took her hand and sat next to her on the couch. “Lex deserves someone like you. You’re strong, you’ll stand up to him and anchor him too.”

  She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Cade. I don’t quite know what to say other than that. I don’t even know what to think about all of this.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine it’s a bit overwhelming just now. And there’s some more stuff that we need to talk about...”

  “Not now, Cade,” Lex said shortly as he came into the room and sat down on Nina’s other side.

  Cade sighed and got up to look out the windows. “It’s too late anyway. Their cars are coming up the road.”

  “Too late for what?”

  “We’ll talk about it all later,” Lex said, cutting off any further discussion.

  “Cars? Plural? How many of them are there?” Nina’s heart began to pound.

  Lex put an arm around her shoulder. “My parents, my grandmother, two of my sisters, one brother-in-law and their two children. Megan and Tegan are here already, they’re in Cade’s guard.”

  “What? Jeez, that’s a baseball team! And Megan and Tegan?”

  “They’re twins. They’ll come up when everyone else does. You’ll like them.”

  “Wow, your mom is a fertile Myrtle!” Nina placed her palms flat over her stomach, almost protectively.

  Cade and Lex laughed and she went to the windows and watched three cars pull into the large drive and park. The cars spit out person after person, all beautiful or handsome and very well dressed. The children looked to be about seven and nine and they waved toward the windows and headed into the large yard while the adults headed inside.

  A tall, lithe, silver-haired woman walked in first, followed by a burly man with dark brown hair and big green eyes, and at his side a petite redhead. Another couple followed and then two younger women who appeared to be around Nina’s age.

  “Grandmother,” Cade said with a grin. He embraced the silver-haired woman and turned toward Nina and Lex. “This is Nina Reyes.”

  The woman narrowed her eyes and looked Nina up and down to the point that she wanted to run, but instead she squared her shoulders and stood tall. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

  The woman saw it and a smile broke out over her face. “Fortune has blessed you, Alexander my boy.” She walked to Nina and took her hands. “Welcome to the Pack, Nina. Welcome to our family, I’m pleased to meet you.”

  Relief rushed through Nina and she smiled back. “Thank you, I’m pleased to meet you as well.”

  Lex turned her to face his parents. Cade motioned to her and spoke to his mother and father. “This is Nina, as you can scent, he’s formed the bond and claimed her. Do you accept her into the Pack?”

  The man stood forward and cocked his head. “Lex, you smell content.”

  Lex nodded. “I am.”

  The woman moved beside him. “She’s strong? Can she be the mate to the Enforcer of this Pack?”

  Cade spoke this time instead of Lex and Nina was beginning to get exasperated, feeling like they’d start looking at her teeth any minute. “I watched her deliver a roundhouse kick to a full-grown werewolf two nights ago. Surrounded, facing the death of her brother, she continued to fight, never showing any sign of giving up. She stood up to Lex as he kept her under surveillance for weeks. She even managed to elude him while he was tailing her.”

  The man raised an eyebrow at that and Lex made a growling sound but didn’t contradict the story.

  “Will she accept her wolf?” Lex’s mother asked Lex.

  “She and I will discuss that later. Right now there are bigger issues,” Lex said solemnly. He could feel Nina beginning to get impatient with everyone talking around her.

  “And she knows and accepts all aspects of our culture, then? The tri-bond included?” his father asked.

  “We were just about to discuss that when you pulled up,” Lex said this quickly and Nina turned and narrowed an eye at him.

  His father sighed. “Lex...”

  “I said we’ll talk about it later.” Lex’s tone brooked no further discussion. “She is my mate, you can clearly see that. She’s beautiful and intelligent and strong. She’s mine and that’s all there is to it.”

  His mother smiled at that. “Nina, I’m Beth Warden, this is my husband Henri. Welcome to our family. The next weeks will be very confusing as you become immersed in our world. Please don’t hesitate to come to me or to my mother or your sisters-in-law for help. You’re one of ours now.” She kissed Nina’s cheeks and stood back.

  His father stood forward and kissed her forehead. “Welcome to Cascadia Pack. You are one of our own now, daughter.” He turned to Lex and pulled him into an embrace. “You’ve been blessed, Lex. She’s going to be good for you.”

  There was a general lessening of tension then and Nina was presented to Lex and Cade’s sisters and brother-in-law, who all seemed quite happy to meet her and eager to welcome her into the Pack.

  While Cade was telling his father about the situation with the laptop and their tentative plans to draw out the killer, Nina leaned over and hissed into Lex’s ear, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you aren’t telling me the whole story.”

  He winced and then kissed her temple. “I’d never dream of it.”

  The family stayed until well after midnight, talking and laughing. Lex refused any talk of how to go about catching the killer, admonishing them all over Nina’s wellbeing. Instead they spoke about Pack business.

  Henri had been Pack Alpha and before him it was his father. He’d stepped down ten years before, and handed the reins to Cade.

  Lex had been in the army and served as a ranger for eight years after that, which had trained him even further. He’d gotten his education as an architect while in the army. He returned to Cascadia when he felt truly ready to take his place as Enforcer, when he was twenty-eight. The same year Cade became Alpha.

  She wanted to hear more about his reputation as the “Big Bad” but Lex got embarrassed and made them stop so Nina whispered to his sisters that she’d talk to them at a later time about it.

  Chapter Four

  After everyone had been seen out, Lex turned to Nina. “Why don’t you go and get ready for bed. Relax a little, read one of those books in that stack you bought today. Now that everyone is gone, I can finally move your things into our room.”

  She smiled. “Twist my arm.”

  As she got to the top of the stairs she looked back down at the two brothers. “Don’t think I don’t know you two are going to talk about whatever the hell you’ve been shushing everyone up about all night, Lex.”

  Cade chuckled and Lex rolled his eyes.

  After she’d gone into their room and the water turned on as she brushed her teeth, Lex motioned with his head and Cade followed into the guestroom, where they began to gather up her meager belongings and then moved them quickly into their suite.

  She was still splashing around in the bathroom when Lex sat down in the living room. He looked over at Cade with a sigh.

  “You have to tell her, Lex. Explain it.”
>
  “She’s human. I’m concerned about how she’ll take it.”

  “Yeah, and you don’t want to share her.” Cade’s perceptive eyes studied his brother.

  “I’m not sharing her! It’s one time and only because it’s necessary. Don’t get any ideas, Cade.” Lex pushed off the couch and began to pace.

  Cade stayed seated. “Do you think I’d try to take your mate from you, Lex? Do you think so little of me after all?”

  Lex shoved a hand through his hair. “No. But she’s gorgeous. Perfect. How could you not want more?”

  “Lex, she’s yours. That right there is enough for me. But the tri-bond must happen. You know it and I know it. And it has to happen soon, as the bond forms. She won’t be able to handle it all if we don’t do it.” Cade wanted Nina, she was attractive and strong, but she belonged to Lex and that was that.

  “Not tonight. It’s late and she’s tired and she’s had a big day. Let me have her to myself for just a bit longer.” Lex leaned his forehead against the window.

  “Tomorrow morning, then. You know it has to happen. Now go to her. Call me when you’re ready in the morning.”

  Lex nodded shortly and went upstairs after her.

  He let himself into the bedroom and stood for a moment, breathing in the smells that she brought with her. Her scent was married with his. Her clothes hung in their large closet. Her presence was there, part of his. He smiled as he saw her propped up in their bed, reading a book.

  “Hi there,” she said with an almost shy smile.

  “Hi yourself, beautiful.” He walked to her, put the book aside and pulled the clip from her hair. It tumbled about her shoulders in a sweet smelling rush. Taking a curl between thumb and forefinger, he rubbed it, delighting in how soft it was.

  Her big brown eyes looked up into his and he pulled the covers back and smiled at the sight of her naked body.