Stanley (Red Wolf Book 2)

by Dawn, Crystal

  “Tell Rachel when you arrive so she can get you help to unload and come straight back. No goofing off.” They were two of the older guys so I had hope they would be alright. They took off squealing the tires and I wasn’t impressed.

  I smelled smoke and checked and things seemed to be going well in the yard. I sent two more guys to help with picking up the yard and we started moving stuff from the back of the shed to the front for easy loading. Some empty boxes were added to the fire and the guys made it back and we finished up. The widow wasn’t home so I put the keys under the welcome mat as she’d asked.

  All in all not a bad day although it had been a tough day on my nerves. We’d pushed through and saved lunch for when we got back. While the others sat down to eat at the tables outside the pack house, I went in search of my mate. She was with Garth and they both seemed excited about the furniture and other items from the shed we’d just brought back.

  “We can make some money on these but we need to put some back into the business if we want to expand.” Garth observed.

  “Make a list and we’ll buy something every time we make money.” Rachel said.

  “I see you two are planning a shopping trip.”

  “Garth has done an amazing job with limited tools and supplies. It’s time to make things easier on him.”

  “It will also help us restore items instead of repurposing everything. Restored antiques bring more money than repurposed ones.”

  “What’s this?” I asked looking at a hutch.

  “That was a china cabinet we turned into an armoire because I have no tools or supplies to work with glass.” Garth explained.

  “It looks great. It would be more valuable as a china cabinet?” I asked.

  “Yes, because it’s as old as this country and came over from England. It’s a rare find, worth a fortune properly restored. Instead Garth had to rework it without glass.” Rachel explained.

  “I know antiques are old and valuable, but that’s all I know.” I admitted.

  “That’s okay. You don’t have to know everything and do everything. That’s what you have the rest of us for. We all do our part and things work.” Rachel explained. When she said things like that, the weight on my shoulders eased a little.

  Looking around at some of the pieces that had just came in and looked like junk and then some of the pieces he had finished, I had to admit the male had talent. I couldn’t wait to see what his cabinets looked like. Not that I wanted to mention that around Rachel.

  I wanted to take my mate for a run, but I knew it was too dangerous. We would never be completely free of danger. We left Garth to continue his work and we went to the kitchen where we sat at the table and spent some time talking.

  “How did the day go? I know you were concerned about all the new workers you had.” Rachel admitted.

  It amazed me she had known because I hadn’t wanted to worry her. “They did alright but they have much to learn. At least the boys are good at burning things.”

  “That’s a questionable skill.” Rachel teased me.

  “We seem to use it more than most. Remember when we had the fires burning here while we cleaned out the place?”

  “I’ll never forget that as long as I live. Looking around, you can’t tell it was so bad then.”

  “It will just keep getting better.”

  “Don’t you have to go get Maisy now?”

  “No, March is picking her up at the end of her shift. It’s amazing how she’s adjusted to all this.”

  “Once the sewing room is empty, she’ll have her daughter with her again. We’ve managed to get most of the kids back to school, but we need to get them all with families or find a place for them in the pack house.”

  “I know. In a perfect world, we’d have the manpower and the money to build apartments for those in need. We just don’t have the resources yet. I hate that the kids are out in those tents, but at least they have clothes, food, and beds now. We have to take baby steps, but we’ll get there.”

  “Eventually I hope we can set up a restaurant style buffet where we can serve all the meals like some packs have.”

  “Wolves like to eat so I’m sure everyone would be on board. I know it’s hard feeding so many out of such a small kitchen. It’s big enough for a family, not a pack. It seems overwhelming when we look at the big picture, but look at how far we’ve come.”

  “We have made it far both in our personal lives and with the pack. Everything is headed in the right direction so don’t worry so much.”

  “I’ve never been able to turn it off. Some people can say to themselves, I can’t do anything about it so I’m not going to think about it. My mind doesn’t work that way. It worries until it finds a solution or the problem is resolved, good or bad.”

  “You’ll get gray hair and wrinkles, and then you won’t be a pretty boy anymore.”

  “Pretty boy? I think I’m insulted. First because I’m no boy, Baby. Second because you make it sound like you just love me for my looks.”

  “You are good looking.” Rachel teased.

  I leaned over and gave her a kiss. “Let’s go to bed early tonight.” I helped her up and we went back to our bedroom.

  Chapter 8

  Closing the Door

  We were ready to start finishing up projects and closing the door on some of the problems we had as a pack. I was just as thrilled as my mate, the alpha of our pack. While females and children were mainly my domain and males his, the lines blurred sometimes and we both took responsibility for the pack as a whole.

  Right now, Stan was at the stores that were being finished up with most of his crew. March and a small crew were in Howlinton finishing up a big job. I was here with Garth who had become a father figure to me even though he looked more like an older brother. We were finishing up some furniture and I was learning techniques I’d never heard of before.

  “Just hold that there and I’ll screw these together.” Garth directed. I did as he asked happy to help get this stuff done. Some of this was for Kristen, some for Liza, but the biggest piece was to sell and we already had a ridiculously high offer for it.

  He joined the pieces easily using the new, or at least new to us, equipment we had bought from a retiring furniture maker in Howlington. Reese had told us about him and the price had been good. The man was human and arthritis had made it hard for him to keep working. The money from his equipment helped him move to Arizona. He’d heard the dry climate would ease his symptoms.

  The new equipment had made Garth the happiest guy in the pack. I wish they were all as easy to please. It also more than doubled the output of the furniture restoration and fixing to the point I thought he needed a store somewhere. He didn’t like the idea, but we could set up a store and let one of the ladies run it. Money was starting to come in and Ezra, who had turned out to be a blessing, had found more hidden accounts. James and his favored ones had been bleeding the pack dry. Those guys had been an example of everything pack leaders should not be.

  “You’re a hell of an alpha bitch.”

  “Alpha bitch? I think I like it.”

  “You like what?” Stan appeared behind me almost causing me to drop the piece of wood I was holding.”

  “Garth says I’m a good alpha bitch.”

  “That’s an old term not used anymore because some find it offensive.” Stan glared at Garth.

  “I kinda like it. Makes me sound badass.”

  “Well you are badass. I guess it’s okay if you like it. The pack members were asking what they should call you.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “Rachel or alpha’s mate.”

  “Yeah? I think I like alpha bitch better and it gives me something to live up to.”

  “Ha ha. You don’t have a mean bone in your body.”

  “You’ve never seen me fight.”

  “True and I probably never will. No one wants to be turned into a frog.”

  Garth had been silent all this time. “Can you re
ally do that?”

  I giggled. “Fraid so.” I admitted.

  “Good to know.” Garth said.

  “It takes more energy than just making someone explode.” I explained.

  “Good to know you can do that too.” Garth said.

  “It’s very messy so I don’t usually do it.”

  “If you’re done scaring Garth, it’s lunch time and I’d like to escort you inside.” Stan offered.

  “I’d love to go to lunch with you.” We’d recently started having one of the ladies serve a sandwich lunch. Just easy stuff like bologna, tuna, or grilled cheese sandwiches. Those were the choices today. It was served with a choice of chips and a piece of pie. Today we had applesauce pie, I’d made those as they were easy to make or cherry, those were bought. They were pre-sliced and someone was at the counter to dish out the selections. “Too bad we don’t do soup yet. Nothing like tomato soup with grilled cheese.”

  “Soon. Remember baby steps. We’ve come so far already. If we overreach, it’ll all come down on us.” Stan explained and I knew he was right but patience was not my thing.

  We sat down with our food and in spite of it not having all the choices I wanted, it was good. It was a cheap way to feed a bunch of hungry wolves. We bought in bulk directly from restaurant suppliers and got a good deal.

  “Why don’t we catch up on the projects while we eat?” I suggested.

  Stan smiled. He’d been waiting for this and he must have good news. “Kristen’s shop is done and she’s opening tomorrow. Liza will open the next day but she already had some beautiful things in her window and a number to call for appointments. That’s what she’s going with so the shop will not be open all the time. It gives them time to sew too. Oh, and the apartment has been done for a few days now.”

  “I knew the apartment was done, but I’m worried about Kristen and Grover.”

  “I am too. Ever since Grover discovered we were fated mates and how I felt when I met you, he’s distanced himself from her.” Stan admitted. “I even told him it didn’t always show right away but it didn’t seem to matter. He’s going to break up with her, I’m sure of it.”

  “It’s a good thing Kristen is thinking of letting one of the girl’s that will work with her soon move into the spare room. I don’t like her alone since she lives away from the pack.”

  “I agree, but I don’t know where to put Grover when he comes back except a tent.”

  “You know that back room addition to the pack house that isn’t being utilized? Why don’t we remodel it, shore it up, and add a second story? We’re going to need a place for kids and the bottom could be made for them and the top for single male wolves. I know it will be a hard job, but remodeling is almost always cheaper and easier than building new.”

  “You’re right. I forget it’s there half the time. It has been cleaned out already so we can get in there and get to work right away. I’ll need Garth to take a look at it.”

  “Don’t think I’m not aware you are looking for a chance to steal Garth away from the furniture business. For the good of the pack, I’ll ask him to take a look and make suggestions for you.”

  Stan looked surprised. He thought he was so sneaky, but I knew him too well for him to get by with that shit. Once Garth trained a few of the helpers to do professional level work, I might share him with Stan if Garth was agreeable.

  “I wasn’t going to steal him.” Stan said but he flushed and looked guilty so I didn’t believe him.

  My work with Garth was more important right now since Stan didn’t have his company established. He needed a lot more gear before he took on big remodeling jobs or tried to build anything. Like he said, baby steps. Right now they were doing yard work, guttering, roofing, and clean up jobs. He put March’s crew on the roofing, then the guttering. Right now that kept them busy and paid well. The other two crews, one that worked under Grover and the other under him, took on anything else that came up. Now that we had a better idea of who belonged to the pack, he had over a hundred guys hungry for work. Only a dozen were teenagers.

  We also had six guys and two ladies in a training program paid for by a rural recovery project. Its goal was to help poor areas like ours get back on their feet and turn the unemployed into tax payers that could support their families. Two males were going to be welders, one was taking computer science, two were in carpentry, and one in business. The females, one was Maisy, were nursing and counseling.

  We had more people interested but it was a program being tested and the continuation of the program depended on the success of the first batch of people. All those in the program were taking accelerated classes and working in the field part time for credit toward their degree or license. The males would get to work for us, except the one taking computer science. Maisy would just stay at the hospital and the counselor would be working in state offices under close supervision.

  “I talked to Marissa today.” I shared.

  “What’s going on now?”

  “She explained our situation to some of her cousins and we may get some volunteer help. A cousin named Mal is coming in two days to set up three online businesses for us. One will be for the special furniture Garth does, one will be clothing that Liza makes, and the other one will be witch stuff.”

  “Witch stuff?” He asked raising his brow.

  “You know, charms, spells, and potions.”

  “How will you sell spells?”

  “They’ll have a choice of items for me to spell and a choice of benign spells to choose from.”

  “Is there really such a thing as benign spells?”

  “Certainly. A finder spell for a lost item or items, a fated mate spell that helps you find your true love, a general good luck spell, or a more powerful one for one event like a job interview.”

  “You sound excited about it.”

  “Well, I did have a business doing that before Abs started hounding me. I worked out of my house and did alright. Now I have the chance to help more people. It will be my business but the pack will get the ten percent tithe all members that can should pay. I checked with Ezra and James did have the pack registered as a religious organization.”

  “I never even thought of that, but the Howlington pack does that too, since their money goes to supporting the members that need help and other charitable things.”

  “Well now you don’t have to worry about it. Ezra is on it. We’ve been keeping precise records of what comes in and goes out anyway.”

  “I’m so lucky to have you.”

  “Just don’t forget it!” I winked at him. It felt good to be appreciated. “You can show me more appreciation later.”

  “It will be my pleasure.”

  “And mine.”

  “I guess I need to get back to the stores and help finish things up.” I was glad he seemed as reluctant to leave as I was to let him go.

  We stood up and kissed goodbye. “I can’t wait till you come back.” I whispered in his ear before he gave me a soft tender kiss. Wow! I knew I would never get enough of him. I watched him leave the house and get in his truck and take off.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t have a lot to do myself. I needed a place for Mal and Judah to stay, but I came up empty. It was too late to build or buy anything, wasn’t it? I got online and checked out the local real estate offices and places that might have trailers. I found a trailer that had been previously used by FHA to house victims of a catastrophe although the salesman didn’t know which one.

  I left to go to Greyville and look it over. It was a two bedroom trailer and basically sound but needed a lot of work cosmetically. He said the asking price was five grand and he would move it to anywhere within ten miles. I laughed and started to walk off.

  “Look lady, what will you give me for it?”

  “Two is more than it’s worth but I have a friend needs a place to stay.”

  “You’re killing me here. I could go to four, but the boss will be mad.”

  “I can see you guys are opti
mists. Good luck with that.” He walked behind me as I walked away.

  “Okay, my lowest number is three and a half. You know delivery is worth a thousand bucks.”

  “That’s too much too.” I kept walking. It didn’t look like I was going to get anywhere with this guy.

  “Will you pay three?” He said as I got to my car and opened my door.

  “My highest is two and a half.” I said as I slid into my seat ready to go.

  “I can do that without delivery.”

  “Nice try.”

  “Okay, but you have to get a lead vehicle and someone to follow when I deliver. When do you need it?”

  “Today.”

  “Damn, lady. You don’t expect much. Can you get me the money, cash only and the lead and follow cars right now?”

  “I’ll go to the bank right now and have the guys here in no time.”

  “You’ve got a deal. Are you looking for a job? I can always use someone with your talents.”

  “I’ll think about it.” I took off to drop by the job site to tell Stan the good news.

  As soon as I arrived I hurried inside. “Hey, Baby. What are you doing here?” He asked.

  I explained what I’d been up to and he called one of the males over. “Hadley, can you drive?”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  I looked at the male suspiciously. “When was the last time you drove?"

  “A few weeks ago when I was still dating a female in Howlington who had a car. She let me drive all the time.”

  I sighed heavily. “Okay. I need to get some money at the bank and then we’ll go to McSmiley’s car lot.”

  “You didn’t buy something from him did you?” Hadley asked.

  “Yup.”

  “He’s crooked as a snake.” Hadley added.

  “I got it for a fair price but he wants cash so I’d better go.”

  I left and had no trouble at the bank since I’d opened an account with them. They did look at me funny but they counted the hundreds out anyway. “Thank you.”