“Make her stop. Please, just make her stop.” Lane was bawling now; big tears were running down his cheeks almost as quickly as snot was from his nose. “Someone, please, get her off of me. She’s hurting me.”
Caleb was sure that Owen was going to stop her from holding the man up by his balls, but all he did was cross his arms over his chest and watch her. Caleb thought that was the smartest move he could have made. And when she looked at him, as if she had expected him to stop her as well, he only told her that this was her show, to do what she needed to.
“I was only going to get my things back, but he actually made a pass at me again.” Caleb asked her if that was why he’d fired her. “Yes. He thought that since I wanted a raise, or at least a little more time off for all the work I’ve been doing, that I should use that extra on my back, with him right between my legs.”
“Well? Fucking look at her. She’s a beauty.” Lane spoke like that was supposed to justify his actions to the young woman. When Owen stepped forward, his dad stepped in front of him. He didn’t touch Owen, but he did ask him to wait to see what Clare did. “Why not get a little perk while—? Holy mother of God, please don’t hurt me anymore.”
When Clare let him go, just dropping her hand from Lane’s groin, she stood there for several seconds before she turned to them. It was tense for those few minutes. Then when she grabbed Owen’s shirt front and took him along with her to a desk, all of them let out a long-held breath. Lane would live for another day.
It was short lived, he thought, when Owen said nothing but came back and hit Lane in the nose. His mouth was bleeding, and his nose too, when he hit the floor, unconscious. Shaking a little, Owen went back to the desk where Clare was standing. And rather than fighting with him, as Caleb thought she’d do, she continued to clean out her desk and mumble to herself about how she had control and men were pigs.
Caleb looked at the WC when one of them cleared their throat and began speaking. “He’s been scaring the staff with his wolf. Chasing them around the office, keeping them here at work by attacking those that tried to leave.” Caleb told them how Clare was his brother’s mate. They looked in her direction before laughing. “We believe that she just took him to task for whatever he did to her today. Not to say that he doesn’t deserve more, but for today, she has shown that she is capable of taking care of herself. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, but as you said, he deserves worse. He’s been terrorizing people for a long time, you told me. And some of them were humans. And you know as well as I that he doesn’t just do this at his place of business, but his home too. I do hope there is more to this than just having his balls twisted up as well as his nose broken.” They never said their names when working with him. And Caleb didn’t care who they were, as long as what they did was fair and justified. “What is his punishment, may I ask?”
“I believe that is up to young Owen, for his mate’s part in this. But as she has walked away, do you think it’s enough?” It wouldn’t be. Not for him, but he nodded. Owen was going to have his hands full with Clare. He didn’t know why, but she seemed to be a hellion and he would need everything he had to keep up with her. “Thank you, Caleb. We’ll take him from here. He’ll be dealt with posthaste.”
When the six of them disappeared, including Lane, he looked at the others that were working in the large building. It looked as if they didn’t know this was going on, and he thought that was a better way to deal with it. Explaining to humans about what the WC was could be complicated. When Owen was standing next to him with a box with a pitiful amount of art supplies in it, he asked him if that was all. Clare was with her brother. Owen nodded and spoke quietly to him.
“She’s going to be trouble. I don’t have any idea why I think that, but she is, don’t you think?” Caleb asked him how he felt about that, without agreeing or disagreeing with him. “I think it’ll be perfect for keeping me on my toes. I believe that I’ve been a little too...I don’t know, perhaps a little too relaxed lately. She’s going to spice things up.”
“Yes, you might be right about that. But you’ll have to watch out for her, as I’m sure you know.” He said that he did. “I’ll be home soon. I promised Quinn I’d pick up something for dinner, so we can grill out. Would you like to join us?”
“I don’t know. I want to show her the house. And settle Conrad. He’s sure that someone is going to take him back to the home he was in. I want to talk to Dominic about having him help out at the farm too. I think it would be good, not just for him but the others as well.” Caleb asked him if he’d thought about sending him back. “No. Not ever. Would you?”
“No. But then, I’m a nice sort of guy.”
They were still laughing when they were standing by Clare. She was upset, and he could tell that it might be regret for what she’d done to her former boss. Caleb asked her if she was all right and she nodded, then shook her head. “Yes, feelings that I can understand. He’s going to pay for what he’s done to all of you. And for the time being, I’ll make sure that everyone here is paid while we wait for somebody to come run the place. You won’t be unemployed if you don’t want to be. If you want to work here, then your job will be secure. But in the meantime, you have all your things?”
“I’ve never wanted to hurt anyone like that before. It’s not something that I do.” Caleb looked at Owen when she did. “I’m not going to blame you, but I will say for some reason I felt like I could do this and not be hurt. Or even arrested. Why is that?”
“I don’t know, Clare. You trusted me, maybe? I’m glad that you did.” She asked Owen why. “Because if it had been me who would have gotten to him first, he’d be dead, not just hurt. Are you ready to go?”
She wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not; Caleb could see that on her face. Had she asked him, Caleb would have told her that Owen would have killed Lane, no problem whatsoever. But she only shivered a little when Owen took the other box of things, then they were on their way out the door. It was going to be fun watching these two, he thought.
The limo was still waiting for them when they came out of the building. The window sliding down had him looking inside, to see if his parents had gotten in or not. Owen walked around to the other side, but only stood there while Clare spoke to him. Caleb smiled at them both as Conrad reached out and took Owen’s hand in his.
“My brother wants to come to your house for the dinner. Is that all right? We can eat something later if you don’t think this is a good idea. I’ve not exactly shown myself in the best light so far, but Conrad has had a rough day, and I’m going to make you the heavy if you’d rather we didn’t come tonight.” Caleb told him that he would be delighted for them to come over. “Good. Just you guys and us, that’ll be fine, right?”
He was going to invite them all, and he was sure that Owen knew that. When he told her that Quinn would be happy as well, he let them go but looked at his brother. With a short nod, Owen slid into the limo and it drove off. Reaching out to Quinn to tell her what he’d done, he hoped that she didn’t have big plans for the night.
No, just a grill out with my dad and brother. I’m glad that you invited them. What about the rest of them, they’re coming too? He said if she didn’t mind. I don’t, but you’re more than likely going to overwhelm Clare. Oh, and there are a couple of things you should be aware of in the pack right now. I’ve set up a fund to help out with some of the others getting fuel. Did you know that they could sign up for free fuel, but had to wait in long lines to get it? I think that shit is for the birds. Anyway, this’ll be easier for a lot of them. I’m going to look into seeing if it’s because they’re wolves, or just because there is a long line.
Good job, honey. I like that anyway. I want to warn you, she has a brother, Conrad, who is slightly handicapped. He’s slow, she told us, but verbal. And he’s a nice person. Anyway, he must have an agreement with his sister about cursing. When she does, she has to pay a buck to this jar they have. Quinn laughed, telling him that she’d owe i
t a lot on a daily basis. Yes, I would too, but just letting you know. I don’t know if he’ll hold us all to it, but it might be fun to do. At least until we’re broke, and the jar is stuffed.
He was still laughing when she told him to get enough steaks, as well as a few dozen potatoes. They were going to have a feast and welcome two new family members into their pack. Going to the grocery store, one that he wasn’t able to frequent much, he went right to the butcher. Ordering enough steaks for them all, he headed to the vegetable area. While he was standing there, trying to decide what he could get, Owen touched his mind.
She mentioned that she is related to Michael Macintosh, the fourth. Does that ring a bell with you? He said other than the name, nope. Yeah, me either. But she said it as if I should know him. Like he was this underworld kind of person that should be arrested. I have no idea why my head went there, but that’s all I could think about.
I’m getting dinner for us all right now. But if you’re going to your house first then to ours, I’ll look into it when I get home. I think I’ll be home before you. If not, then I’ll look when you guys leave. You think she’s in trouble with him? He told him he was dead. Okay, she did mention that too and I forgot. Then what do you think this is about?
I don’t know. But I would like to look into it. Just in case I have to defend her from something from his life. Caleb thought that was a good idea too. We’re going to my house, like you said, but we won’t be there long. I don’t want her to think I’m trying to trick her into anything. She has a knowledge about us, but she’s very prickly.
Yes, I noticed that as well.
He picked up the steaks after getting the potatoes and reached out to Dominic. Dominic had access to doing background checks on people, and he might find something faster than he could. Telling him who he was looking into, he also told him who he might be related to. If you find anything, let me know. Owen said he’d get it from us later. But if it’s bad, we’ll let him know as soon as we can.
Caleb was glad now that Mom and Dad had gone on home in their own car. While Mom would have been helpful, Dad would have wanted desserts and pies, along with rolls and other things to finish off a meal. Dad thought that every meal had to have at least two desserts, as well as several side dishes. He thought it was because of all the times as children there hadn’t been that much on the table. Or that Dad simply had a sweet tooth.
I can do that for you. I’m about finished with the stack of names I have here anyway. And I guess we’re all going to your house to meet the new family member too, and her brother. Caleb told him about Conrad. Yes, I’ve been reading up on him as well. He’s had a bad time of it, poor guy. His parents were not the nicest people in the world. Hell, Caleb, I don’t think that there are many that are worse than they were to him. Talk about abusive. Well, they were that times ten.
Tell me about them when I get there. Not with Clare around, however. She’s prickly, Owen said. But you should have seen her dealing with her old boss. That, I will never forget. Dominic told him that Mom and Dad had told him when they got home. I tell you, I’d not mess with her. She might fall apart afterwards, but she’s hell on wheels, as Dad says.
He was headed home a few minutes later. The larger town wasn’t that far away, not really, but it was at least a thirty-minute drive to go there. He loved his little town and the things that were going on. However, it was nice to go to a big grocery store once in a while. As soon as he pulled in the drive, he was met at the door by Quinn. The family was there except for Owen and his new family. Caleb was excited to have them all together once again.
~~~
The house felt much bigger than he’d realized while showing her and Conrad around. He wondered what she was thinking, him having such a huge house and only being a single man. When he thought about explaining it to her, he shut up when she was in the living room by the fireplace. It was his favorite part of the house too.
“You’ve done really well here.” He said that he had taken it from a foreclosure, and the furniture was his. “I meant, the size of the house. And it is a beautiful home you have here.”
“I like it a great deal. And you’d not believe the price I got it for. I think the bank just wanted it off their books. I know what houses in this neighborhood are worth, and I was able to make a very good offer on it.” She nodded and walked along the fireplace, touching the things there. “Did you know that your grandmother collected tea cups? She had a lot.”
“I know nothing about her, I’m afraid. I only knew my father. He told me that his grandfather was adopted, but I never took much stock in it. He was forever lying about one thing or another.” Before he could ask her what that meant, Conrad came into the room with them. He was excited for them to go with him. “All right, we can go. Just let me finish here with Owen.”
“We can go with you, Conrad. Your sister and I are going to talk too, all right?” They headed in the direction of the back of the house. Owen knew what was back there; equipment from the new floors that were being put in the dining room. When they entered the enlarged room, he watched as Conrad looked out the back window to the fountain that was being cleaned and restored. “It wasn’t working when I got the house. It was just a few hoses that needed to be replaced. If you flip that switch that’s by the door there, Conrad, it’ll start up. They’re taking the water out of it next week.”
The fountain was a large pedestal that had a bowl on the top of it. Hanging down from the sides of it were large hooks to put hanging baskets on in the summer months. They would be watered by the fountain all the time, along with the garden under them, so they’d never be dry. Someone long ago, he supposed, had put in a little gnome garden and a faerie garden. Owen wondered if the faeries that he’d seen around here ever used it. He couldn’t wait to see the thing in full bloom when spring rolled around again.
Conrad was happy when the fountain came on full blast. “It’s like those pictures in my books. The ones that you got me, Clare. All that water. Isn’t it beautiful?” She told him it was, and Owen went to open the tall doors that led out onto the deck nearby. “Oh, I can have a nice breakfast out here when it’s pretty. Wouldn’t that be fun? I wouldn’t want to go out when it’s cold or raining, but it would be so pretty. Oh, I just love it here. Just love, love, love it here.”
“There’s a pool too. On the other side of the hedges, but it’s empty right now. They’re painting it. I thought about having Caleb design something for it, but he’s really busy right now.” He looked at Clare when she stood beside him at the pool. “I’m to understand that this is what you did for Kirby, painted pool bottoms.”
“Yes, among other things. I didn’t do any of the actual painting. I designed the art, and someone came out and did it. It would be on a graph for them that would be transferred to wherever it was going. It worked out well for the company.” He asked her what she’d do for this pool. “I’d bring the woods to you. Not all of it, but enough that it would look like a forest here too. Put trees around the walls, a nice sunset on the bottom. It would be relaxing, I think.”
“This is your home too, I think you know that.” She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t disagree with him either. “I haven’t done much here, other than to enlarge the dining room and dig around in the barn. There are several sheds too that I have to clean out. I want you to see what we have from there.”
“Why?” He asked her what she meant. “Why are you telling this to me? I’m assuming that it’s some sort of worthy thing. You mentioned tea cups, so that might be some of it. It’s not mine. None of it is. And if you knew what we’ve been going through, my brother and I, you’d also know that I can’t be here with you.”
“No, I don’t know that. I told you, I had someone looking for you, and when they found the two of you, I knew right away that you were my mate. Does that bother you?” She didn’t say anything. “You have to explain this to me, Clare. All this dodging around things isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“My fa
ther and mother are supposed to be dead. They were killed in a plane crash about eight months ago. It wasn’t until I got Conrad out of that prison place that I started to see things, little things at first, which had me thinking that they were both alive and kicking. And hiding out.” He asked her from who. “You really need to look them up, Owen. I have an idea that you’ve gotten someone on it already.”
“My brother, Dominic, is looking for me. Tell me why you think they’re still alive.” She looked at Conrad, then back at him. “Are you being threatened? Is he? Because if you are, we can help you. My family isn’t one to mess with.”
“Mom and Dad were into some major shit, but not on their own. They never had the capital to do much more than to be mules for some bigger guys. The last two years, I started noticing that they had more money and that they were spending it stupidly. Instead of keeping up on their house payments or even to help out Conrad, they were buying cars, as well as taking lavish vacations. And I mean lavish. To Paris and Rome. All on my mom’s disability check, they told me. After a time, I’d say about the time they were spending money like it was something they had plenty of, I dropped out of their lives. Both of us were happy with that, and I never contacted them again.”
“You think they were skimming money?” She said that they were, a great deal of it. “Then they got caught and decided to fake their own deaths.”
“Yes. I mean, I’m not positive, but I think so.” He told her that she was more than likely right. “You don’t know them. For all you know, I could be just a nut ball.”
“First of all, never would I think that. And if I ever had the occasion to think that, I’d never say it to you. You’re fucking scary when you’re pissed off.” Conrad said that he owed the jar two dollars. “All right, buddy, but you should take a pencil and paper to my family’s house. You might be able to buy a house or car when we’re done with dinner.”
“Clare said that I’m not allowed to drive. I have no sense of direction, and my feet are messed up.” Owen looked at Conrad’s feet and saw nothing wrong with them. “I have two left ones. And Clare said they’re naughty. I can walk but not drive. She said I’d be a terrible driver. But don’t ride with her. She is a nut ball when she drives.”
Owen Page 3