by K. S. Martin
“Is he okay?” Tina worried.
“He’s fine, absolutely fine. He’s over at the dessert table cramming cookies in his face.” They both laughed. “Come on, I’d like you to meet him while he isn’t choking or screaming bloody murder.” Beth Anne took her arm and led her to the boy that she’d saved earlier.
“Hey you’re that lady. Thanks lady!” Ronnie cried excitedly when he spotted Tina. “My mom says you saved my life and that I woulda died if you didn’t squeeze me. You’re pretty strong for a girl.” Mac laughed behind her wrapping his arms around her middle.
“I’m glad you’re okay, I’m sorry I had to squish you but you were trying awfully hard to keep that hot dog.” Tina smiled down at him. He came to her, wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her.
“Thanks.” He said against her belly. Tina hugged him back and sniffed back tears. He bolted away, grabbed a handful of cookies, and disappeared into the crowd.
“Thank you again.” Beth Anne said before leaving them.
“See, I told you they liked you.” Mac murmured against her hair. “Now. I want my cake woman.” Tina giggled and went with him to the dessert table to cut the cake.
***
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Ted called. “Time for pack business.” He banged a hand on the cake table to get them focused. “Everyone.” Tina wondered what was going on and if she should leave, she wasn’t pack. “As you all know, we have an outsider among us today.” He waved at Tina who sank down in her seat. She hated attention. “This is Tina for anyone who hasn’t met her or heard of her by now.” There were a few chuckles in the crowd. “Tina is Mac’s mate, his human mate.” She heard murmurs and got more nervous. Mac could feel her anxiety and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He did not want to chase her across town again. “Tina did something this afternoon that most of us would have never expected from a human. Today she saved a werewolf from certain death. Ronnie over there thought it was a good idea to show off for his friends.” Ted looked at each of the other boys that were involved with a stern look. “They thought that shoving an entire hot dog in their mouths was a good idea. I know a few of us may be able to pull that off but not a pup. Anyway, long story short for those who don’t know, he got himself choked and she performed the Heimlich maneuver to get him breathing again. I personally want to thank her for saving my grandson.” Everyone cheered and clapped while Tina turned crimson. Mac squeezed her tighter. “Now, what you don’t know Tina is we took a vote while you were missing and it was decided by unanimous vote that you are accepted into this pack for as long as you’ll have us.” Another round of applause erupted. Ted waved his hands to quiet the crowd again. “Also, Mac by unanimous vote it has been decided that you are confirmed as the new alpha. We expect you two to move into the alpha house as soon as possible. If you need help moving, I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers. Now, I officially hand the reins over to Robert MacEwan and I am going back into mandatory retirement per Miss Ruby.” Everyone laughed then quieted as Ted sat and Mac took his place in front of the group.
“I happily accept.” Mac smiled broadly. “As you all know, I have an open door policy and I will do my best to serve you well. That’s enough business for today. Volleyball in five minutes, Eric and Matt choose teams and no, before you ask you may not be on the same team.” Mac leaned over and kissed her again. “I’m hitting that cake again before it’s all gone. Do you want anything?” Tina nibbled her lip. “A piece of the carrot cake maybe?”
“Please?” His smile was predatory.
“Then we’ll go see our new house, okay?”
“Okay.” Ruth and Grace came to sit beside her. “Mac went for seconds on the cake.”
“Of course he did, he is a man. Are you going to see the house?” Tina nodded. “Good. He needs to be here.” Grace said.
“So what are you going to do with the apartments over the bakery?” Ruth asked. “I was hoping that they would become available.”
“Um yes, I guess they will be available if we are going to move in here.” Tina looked around
“Good, sign me up. I think that Cassie may want the other one.” Grace gasped.
“My baby is moving out?” Ruth nudged her with her shoulder.
“You got to let them grow up sis. She’s nearly twenty one, and I’m sure that she wants to have a life.” Grace pursed her lips.
“Do you think she’ll want to share with J.D.? I need a life too and my god that boy eats a lot.” The women all laughed, and then laughed harder as Mac came to sit beside Tina with three pieces of cake.
“It’s a wolf thing, not a man thing. We have a high metabolism.” He crammed one piece of carrot cake in his mouth and handed Tina the other.
Mac and Tina finished their cake, it was nearing dark outside, and people began to leave each stopping by to thank the alpha for a great picnic. It was time to put pups into bathtubs and then into bed. Mac took her hand and led her away from the picnic area to the parking lot after telling the others goodnight. He tucked her safely into the car and drove up to the alpha house then parked in the driveway. “This is it sweetheart, the big reveal. I haven’t been inside since Owen left so I have no idea what they left or took. There are four bedrooms upstairs and two in the basement, there is a meeting room down there where pack meetings are held. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, just say.” Tina nodded and took a deep breath. What if she hated it? Tina got out, followed him inside the double front doors, and fell in love with the house. The light oak floors buffed to a high gloss, homey big leather couches, a huge flat screen mounted on a grey stone wall dominated the living room. The kitchen was just past that. It was large with rich wood cabinets and shared the stone wall. There was a long dining table and granite counters. Tina sighed happily. “Sometimes the pack will eat here which is why there are commercial appliances. There are four ovens and walk-in fridge and freezers. Do you like it?” Mac murmured into her hair.
“I love it.” She turned and buried her face in his chest. “Oh Mac, it’s everything that I ever hoped for a house to be.”
“Good, let’s see the rest.” He led her down a hall that had two bathrooms, three decent sized bedrooms and finally at the back of the house was the master bedroom. Owen left a massive four post bed, polished furniture and a cheerful rag rug in the middle of the floor. Mac picked her up and carried her to the made bed. “The pack has been here and cleaned it up I suspect. I’m pretty sure that Shari took the linens.” He placed her gently down on the duvet then covered her with his body. “I can’t wait to have you in this bed.” Tina sighed wiggling against him. “But not today.” She whimpered and lifted her hips to his. Mac sucked in a hissing breath. “Not today.” He admonished her. “When we move in permanently, I want to christen every surface in this house and we will start right here.” He growled against her neck. Tina giggled. “That is a lovely sound, much better than the sniffling and sobbing.” Mac pressed his lips to hers then pulled her up and off the bed with him. “Let’s go home. I’m exhausted. It’s been a long day.” Tina nodded and followed him to the car.
Tina felt like she was floating then woke when he jostled her. They were at the apartment doors. “Oh Mac you should’ve woke me, you’re going to hurt your back.” He growled and she giggled as he set her on her feet. Mac unlocked the door then relocked it behind them. They undressed quickly, climbed into bed, and cuddled together. Both were asleep almost instantly.
***
Mac stayed late at work on Monday to lead the pack’s full moon run. Tina was working late on a last minute order for two full sheets that another bakery backed out of. In all the years of her bakery being in business, they had never cancelled a customer’s order at the last moment. It was bad business. If you took the order, you had better damn well fill the order. No matter what you had to do to get it done even if that meant buying it from a competitor, you never let a customer down like that especially for something as important as a class reunion. Tin
a finished frosting and put the last sheet in the walk-in. It would get words first thing in the morning when Brett arrived, he had the best handwriting. Tina bagged the trash and carried it outside. She looked around for Mr. Unfriendly raccoon then opened the dumpster cautiously, nothing. Good, she didn’t want nature chasing her like it had Brett. She giggled. Now that there was no danger, it was funny. Tina started to turn but was grabbed by someone tall, lithe, and familiar. It was Luca, she realized when she felt the pinch in her neck, and the world went black.
Chapter 13
Tina slouched over in Luca’s truck and her head was resting on the passenger window. The truck wasn’t moving. She knew this was Luca’s truck because she’d been in it a thousand times. She knew the feel of the seat, the smell of the cabin and recognized his breathing. “You shouldn’t hang around with that guy T. He’s dangerous, he’s not even human, and after what he did to you when you were a kid, well, you should stick with your own kind is all.” His voice was soft, no drama, and no show. This was the Luca that sat with her in that white tiled bathroom in college, the Luca that talked her out of taking her own life, the Luca she’d fallen in love with. Her eyes misted. Why had it all gone so wrong?
“Luca? What are we doing? Where are we? My head’s weird.” Tina’s mind was fuzzy and muddled. Luca had stolen from her and now he wanted to protect her? He hated her, didn’t he? She still didn’t understand why. He said that she was ungrateful, but was that a reason to hate her?
“We’re here because I’ve been watching your boyfriend. I want to show you something. I think it’s worth a big reward either from you or the media and if it’s not then you will be to him. I need that money T, he cleaned my account out. I have plans for that money and one way or another, I will have it back.” He looked over at her now. Luca’s eye was black and his lip was split and puffy.
“What happened to you?” Tina was horrified. “Luca who beat you up?”
“The old man finally figured out that I’m really gay. He hasn’t knocked me around like that since high school. This time he used his monkey wrench. He says as far as he’s concerned, he never had a son.” He laughed. It was hollow and sad sound, not at all the musical tittering that she was used to. “He found out that I’m gay, that I’m a thief, and that I’m not even a good thief.” He laughed that empty sound again. “Now watch. Straight through those trees, do you see all of those wolves? Watch them.” Luca stared straight ahead. Oh God, he knew. He knew about Mac. Wolves started to change into humans, some clothed, and some were nude. Okay, she did not like that, she did not like Mac running around with naked women, wolves or not. That would stop immediately. Jeez, they were so slim, toned, and supermodel like. Nope, no way, nu huh and no how. Alpha or not, no naked girl wolves running around. She was the alpha’s mate, the female alpha, sort of and there would be a new rule immediately, no naked women with tiny asses. “Tina!” He snapped in front of her dazed face. “Do you see?”
“Of course I see. Can you believe they’re just out there in front of everyone naked like that? I’d die.” Tina kept staring out of the windshield looking for Mac.
“Focus T, they were wolves and now they’re…?” He was waiting for an answer.
“People?” Her brows went up looking at Luca. “Yeah so? They’re werewolves. God Luca everyone knows about werewolves.” She tried to play it off like there had been some universal conspiracy. Luca shook his head.
“You knew?” His face was genuine shock and surprise, incredulous. She almost laughed at him but stifled it.
“Hell yeah, it’s not a big secret. It’s just something that people don’t mention like masturbation, but they’re all doing it.” Tina went back to looking for Mac and as soon as she spotted him, she was making a break for it. She must get away from Luca. He wasn’t right in the head, he was nearly insane. His eyes were wild and he kept tightening his grip on the steering wheel. His knuckles were bruised but showed white when he tightened them and his palms were squeaking on the old plastic. What had happened to their friendship? When did he turn against her? Did it matter? Really? It didn’t matter when, not really, just the fact that he had and that he meant her harm.
“Are you serious? You are not fucking serious right now.” Luca pulled at her sleeve. Mac was there, not so far that he wouldn’t hear her scream. He was looking her way. Tina sprang from the truck and started to run toward her mate and screaming bloody murder. The grass was already wet and slick with dew and there was a slight chill in the air. Tina slipped and Luca was on her, holding her down with his body weight. “No you don’t, you little twat. He’s going to give me my money back before you get to run away and then you may not have all of your parts.” Luca pressed a blade against her throat. “Get up and get back in the truck. I’m not done with you yet.” Luca was shoving her toward the passenger side door. She heard the growls, the pounding feet, felt him coming and he was angry. She could taste the anger, the fury, the fear, and the hatred. Tina rolled herself into a ball just before Luca was tackled. He fought and struggled against them but there were too many. Tina tried to crawl under the pickup to get out of the way but Luca pulled her up and in front of him. “Stop or I’ll kill her.” The knife pressed into the delicate skin of her throat and she whimpered and tears pooled in her eyes.
“Mac. Don’t give him anything. He doesn’t deserve anything after the things that he’s done, but don’t hurt him.” She pleaded. Luca’s grip loosened slightly then tightened again. He’d never held her so closely or so tightly before. Mac snarled at him, dozens of wolves were behind him with their hackles raised, their teeth gleaming brightly and all growling ferociously. Tina was frightened. They all looked so mean and if they decided to attack, would they forget who she was? Did they care who she was? A lowly human that was an intruder in their pack would not be as important as another wolf.
“Give my money back MacEwan and I’ll let her go, if not, she dies and I show the world the video of your little shifter group here. More snarls and growls. Tina struggled against him, it was useless, and he was bigger and stronger. What did Sandra Bullock say in that movie about the beauty queens? Tina just saw it a couple of weeks ago. She beat the crap out of that guy on stage when the contestants drank her water glasses. Crap! Tina shouted inside of her head. What the heck did she say to do? Sing! She said sing. Solarplex, instep, nose, groin. Was that it? Thank you Miss Congeniality! Tina smiled as she brought her elbow back hard into Luca’s belly. His breath whooshed out and he let her go. Tina slammed her foot down on Luca’s instep as hard as she could and turned to put her fist into his nose. His hands flew up to his face and he squealed then Tina did the unthinkable, something she would’ve never have done to any man until right now, she kneed him in the groin. Luca dropped to his knees as Ruth pulled Tina out of the line of fire. The wolves closed in on him. Ruth led her away from what would be a massacre. Tina didn’t turn to watch or try to imagine what was happening to Luca. He betrayed her. He stole from her. He broke her trust. He broke her heart. He threatened her husband and her life. Tina no longer cared what happened to Luca or why he did those things. Karma has a funny way of working out the crap in life and Tina hoped that Karma kicked his ass. A big brown wolf loped up beside her and she smiled down at him. He was beautiful, no matter if he was on two legs or four or flat on his back. She loved this man. He shifted back to his human form walking beside her.
“Good job sweetheart.” Tina tucked herself into his side.
“Mac, the pack thinks that you and Tina should sleep in the alpha house from now on so that we can protect her.” Grace said coming up behind them. Mac nodded. “They don’t want anything to happen to this angel. Mac nodded again. “So what are you going to do?” She finally asked when he didn’t answer.
“Me and Tina are going to shower and go to bed after we eat and mate.” She blushed and smacked him, he chuckled. “It’s okay sweetheart, wolves are very active. Grace, this weekend I will expect all hands on deck to move my belongings to the ho
use. Tina and I will have to clean out her house and that will take longer but from now on, we will be at the alpha house. You can tell the others.” Grace nodded and smiled softly as she turned and went back to the group of wolves trailing behind them, Ruth followed her. “So that you never wonder, Luca is gone and he won’t be back. I’m sorry we had to hurt him but he threatened the alpha’s mate and the pack. We tried to make it as quick and painless as possible because you said not to hurt him.” Tina held up a hand.
“I don’t need an explanation. Thank you for coming to help me. I think he really would’ve killed me.” Mac nodded.
“I love you.” Tina smiled.
“Me too.” He kissed her temple and led her to the house.
They went into the eerily quiet house. Mac imagined many times the last few days this house full of rambunctious pups and was looking forward to it. He led her down the hall and helped her out of her clothes and into the shower where he scrubbed all scents of Luca from her silken skin. Tina poured shower gel that smelled like lilac into her palm and giggled. “You’re going to smell like a flower.” She rubbed it into his skin. Mac’s hands kneaded her breasts while she cleaned him. Chewing on her bottom lip as her hands smoothed over the ropey muscles and taut tanned skin. She lathered his front watching with interest as his penis engorged at her touch but she continued and turned him so she could wash his back. “You’re a really big guy, did you know that?”
“I’ve heard that before, yeah.” He chuckled. “Hurry up.”
“Why, you don’t like what I’m doing.” She tried desperately to contain her giggles. Mac whirled on her and pressed her into the granite shower wall. “Oh look, a flat surface.” Tina’s eyes widened and twinkled with mischief. He dipped his head and laved her nipple with his tongue, she trembled and sighed.