Mastered by Three Panthers [Caves of Correction 4]

by Cara Adams

  Chapter Seven

  They’d stayed up rather late that night emptying old chests of drawers and cabinets, laughing over childish games they found there, and discovering old notebooks of schoolwork that should have fueled a bonfire many years ago. Then they’d slept on a bed even more makeshift than the previous one.

  At least in the dungeon they’d had one giant mattress from the client bed and king-size blankets. Here their bed was three bunk-bed mattresses pushed together and a mixture of blankets and pillows that left a hell of a lot to be desired in the comfort department.

  But Piper had been tucked in the middle, properly centered on a mattress, and Eliot and his brothers had coped with blankets not covering them properly and the mattresses shifting apart when anyone rolled over. Although he had to admit he’d been very tempted to go looking for a staple gun to staple the mattresses together. Only the knowledge that he had no idea where it was, coupled with the likelihood that the staples would pull out of the mattress covers and the mattresses shift apart anyway had stopped Eliot from leaving the warm bedding.

  Consequently, it was rather late when they all woke up and took turns showering and dressing. That was something else they should have done long ago—added a second bathroom. One of them often ended up shaving at the kitchen sink, an activity their mother would never have permitted and a habit he didn’t want Piper to learn about either. There was no sense in repulsing her with their bachelor slovenliness. Adding an extension to the house would be much better, although perhaps the new cave would solve that problem for him. If it extended underneath either the kitchen or the bathroom, the plumbing wouldn’t be too much trouble.

  They ate a simple, thrown-together breakfast of peanut butter and jelly on toast, and then Eliot said, “I’d better take Piper to the big house immediately. It’s already after nine and the Alpha will be expecting her.”

  “We should all go. Likely he’ll want to know our plans and we ought to tell him about the crops and the house extension,” Ryder said.

  “I can do all that while Piper is organizing the extension of her vacation. I know the second story for the crops was Zac’s idea, but the Alpha will only want an outline, and I know all that.”

  Eliot didn’t want to sound like a dog in the manger to his brothers. Everything they did was as a family group, but the crops were his special concern, and the plan to grow strawberries and sell them to the mainland had been his idea. Also he was the one who’d remembered about the draft in the man cave, making the discovery of the new cave principally to his credit. Not that it had been fully discovered yet. But he was sure it was there.

  Besides there was a shitload of work that needed to be done right now, and it would be helpful if some of them were doing it. Not that it was totally fair to leave his brothers working while he had the privilege of escorting Piper to the big house, but there had to be some benefits to being the spoiled-rotten youngest brother, didn’t there?

  “You might as well stop arguing, Ryder. He’s got that poor, pathetic, hard-done-by baby-brother look on his face again.” Zac sighed dramatically.

  “As against the poor, ignored, middle-child look?” Eliot asked.

  Piper starting laughing and they all turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, but I missed all that growing up as the only child.”

  Eliot stared at her. “The only child? How awesome. No one to bully you ever?”

  “No one apart from all the neighborhood kids and all the kids in school and no brothers or sisters to join me and fight back at them,” she replied.

  Eliot was about to say something and then stopped. Now was not the time to ask a million questions about her childhood. “Let’s go,” he said to her.

  She glanced at Ryder, who nodded, and followed Eliot between the lines of plant boxes and outside. The trails were only one person wide, so he led the way but constantly glanced back over his shoulder to check she was following him. He also needed to watch the ground as the trails were only partially cleared, but the kids were doing an amazing job. The main debris was gone, and most of the potholes had been filled on the important tracks. The little side paths to people’s houses would be done by the homeowners themselves. That was just one more task on their to-do list.

  When the last hurricane had hit and he’d been one of the children deemed too young to help with the main repair work, cleaning up the trails had seemed like a minor tasks compared to important work like helping replace a roof. But now he was an adult who needed to walk all over the island, and he realized it was just as important in its own way. People carrying loads or pushing wheelbarrows full of equipment from place to place wouldn’t want to be constantly stopping to pull branches off the track or to dig their wheelbarrow out of a bog or a hole. If he saw the kids at work he needed to tell them that. Their work was valuable, and he appreciated them.

  Two of the older men were sitting on the stoop of the big house, the whiteboard beside them and notepads, Post-It notes, and piles of paperwork on a table in front of them.

  As soon as he and Piper appeared, Bob said, “Ah, there you are Eliot. Take Ms. Boyle into the CEO please, and then come here and I’ll check through the reports with you.”

  “Sure. This way, Piper.”

  He didn’t even know how Bob knew this was Piper, unless the other three women had already checked in. Or maybe it was simply because she was with him. The Alpha was in his office, as usual, talking a mile a minute on his cell phone. Oops. They hadn’t told Piper about that either. Oh well, it was a tricky matter and better for the Alpha to deal with it, although likely they should have mentioned the telecommunications blackout to her. At least they’d had the panther conversation. It would have been too bad if Bob had said “Alpha” instead of “CEO.”

  The Alpha tucked his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder, typed madly on his computer for a few minutes, while saying “Yes,” “Uh-huh,” “What was that again?” and, finally, “Got, it, thanks.” Only then did he look up at the doorway. He put his cell phone down.

  “Ah, Ms. Boyle, are you well?”

  “I’m perfectly fine, thank you, sir, but the cottage roof is less than fine. We’ve collected all the shingles we could find and put them in piles, but some of them were smashed, and a lot of them have completely disappeared.”

  “I expect the cleanup crews will find more of them. Thank you, Eliot,” the Alpha said.

  That was dismissal. Eliot cast a long look at Piper, but the Alpha was already waving her to a chair, so he went back outside to Bob. He had the feeling that this was going to be a long, arduous session. Maybe he should have stayed home and let one of his brothers escort Piper after all. No. Every minute with her was precious. He loved her. He truly did.

  * * * *

  “I hope the Wade family has treated you well?”

  It was absolutely a question. The Alpha’s raised eyebrow would have told her even if his intonation hadn’t risen on the final word.

  “Yes, sir, they’ve been kindness itself and very helpful. No one could have looked after me better.”

  “That’s good to know. Did they mention that we at Caves of Correction are offering all four of you, our guests, an extra week’s stay free of charge to make up for the inconvenience the hurricane has caused you? Do you have your cell phone with you to call your workplace and your travel agent?”

  “Yes, they did tell me, thank you so much, and yes, I do have my phone. I’ve been using it as a camera mostly. I didn’t realize your telecommunications worked here. We were told it’s too far from the mainland.”

  “That’s true. Internet and telecommunications can be patchy, but in these offices right here they’re generally functioning, except in the middle of a hurricane, of course.”

  He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. He was an older man, perhaps fifty, with thinning graying black hair and a high-domed forehead. But his dark eyes were full of intelligence, and she was certain he could see right inside her mind and would instantly
know all her secrets.

  “You’ll need to stay inside the building to make your calls. Should the people you speak to not wish to extend your vacation time come back to me and I’ll convince them to change their minds.”

  “Yes, sir.” She could imagine him convincing people. She was sure he could be very convincing indeed. The power rolling off him was almost visible, as if he kept it leashed just under his skin.

  What she wasn’t so sure of was Milo’s response to her request for another week off work. It might well be he wouldn’t be prepared to make a fuss because of the hurricane, but he relied on her to present all the paperwork he needed in a clear format. Actually, likely he’d have much preferred her to lie and cheat for him as well, because he constantly asked her to, although she never had. She handed in accurate reports. He massaged them to make himself look good. While she was away he had to work a hell of a lot harder and do the actual work, instead of just prancing around the office in an expensive suit, trying to look efficient and worthwhile.

  Piper left the Alpha’s office and walked back down the hallway the way Eliot had brought her. To her right and left were offices full of people using computers and cell phones. Some appeared to be workers in their own offices, but others sat at tables with laptops and cell phones. She wondered if they were island residents who came here to use the Internet, or if maybe they were hot desks shared by people who only worked part-time.

  She shrugged. It didn’t matter. All she needed was a wall to lean against and cell phone reception. At the end of the hallway was an area like a living room with comfortable chairs and small side tables. Some people here were using iPads and laptops, maybe checking their e-mails. A couple of others were talking on their smart phones.

  Piper took a chair a little apart from everyone else and punched in her manager’s work number. It was almost eleven on a weekday so he should be in the office, not yet out to lunch especially as she wasn’t there to answer his calls for him if he took an extended lunch break.

  “Hi, Milo, it’s Piper. I’m ringing to tell you that despite Hurricane Nathan hitting the island, I’m perfectly safe. I knew you and our colleagues would be worried about me so I made it a priority to let you know I’m okay.”

  Likely he didn’t give a fuck if she was safe or not, but she’d given him the opportunity to make himself look good and she knew he’d take it.

  “Everyone here has been so worried about you. Claire even lit a candle for your safety and has it burning on her desk. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

  “That’s so nice of you. Please thank Claire for her good wishes. I’ll be staying here an extra week. The management here want everyone on the island to have the opportunity to properly enjoy the facilities, and it’ll take a day or two for everything to be up and running properly again. So I’ll see you not next Monday, but the one after.”

  “Another week?” Milo’s voice rose in a girlish shriek.

  “I know you want me to come back completely refreshed and ready to catch up on all the work I will have missed,” she said to soothe him.

  She could almost hear his brain whirring as he said, “Of course, of course. Your continued good health matters to me.”

  Like hell it does. I’m sure you complained about Claire lighting that candle at work for me. “Thank you, Milo. I’ll see you then.”

  Piper disconnected the call and wondered about calling anyone else. But her work friends would find out from Milo almost immediately. They’d all be wondering what made him shriek. And her best friends were all here on the island. Not that she’d seen Aria, Maddy, or Kenz since she’d arrived, but she felt sure the Alpha would have told her if they weren’t safe. Still it’d be good to talk to them. She slid her cell phone back into her pocket and wandered out of the building.

  Eliot was standing on the stoop, talking to the men behind a table there. He looked up and gave her a huge grin. “Is everything sorted?”

  “I’m not sure my boss is very pleased, but there’s really nothing he can do about it, and we both know that.”

  “I’ve finished answering Bob’s questions. Are you done here?”

  “I’d like to talk to my friends. Is there any way I can contact them, or do we have to walk to their homes or wherever they are right now?” she asked.

  “There’s going to be a barbecue on the beach at five tonight. See where the kids are building the bonfire?” Bob said from behind the table, pointing to a group of young people building a massive bonfire on the sand. “Everyone will be here for that. You can catch up with them then.”

  Piper smiled at him. “A bonfire? That’s awesome. God, it’s been years since I’ve been to a bonfire.”

  “We can bring that pile of old notebooks we found. They’ll burn nicely. I only wish there was as easy a solution for the mattresses,” Eliot said.

  “What do you mean? The mattresses were fine. They’re not wet or spoiled or anything,” she said.

  “No, but they keep wiggling apart. I ended up half in the hole between them a million times last night.”

  “Only a million?” she said, teasing him.

  But he laughed. “Okay, maybe only half a million.”

  “Velcro,” the man sitting beside Bob said.

  “What?” Piper turned to him not even having heard his name.

  “Velcro. You know, that sticky stuff the men going to the moon invented for doing up shoes and such.”

  “I know what Velcro is, although I didn’t know NASA invented it.”

  “Wait here.”

  He disappeared, and Piper stared at Eliot, who shrugged. Only a few minutes later he was back with an elderly woman. “Come with me. I’ve got a packet of Velcro strips. You peel them off and stick them to things to hold them together, and then you can pull them apart again when you need to. It’ll be perfect for your mattress problem.”

  Piper blushed at the thought that now everyone would know she was sleeping with these men, but the seniors didn’t seem to mind. She followed the lady back inside the big old house and up one flight of stairs to an apartment. The woman went to a closet full of fabrics, reels of threads, scissors, tape, and everything imaginable a seamstress could need. She took out a packet of Velcro strips and handed them to Piper.

  “There you go, dear.”

  “Thank you so much.” The woman calling her dear reminded her of her grandma, who’d told her everything would be all right. And so it was. I’m spending another entire week here, Grandma. Nothing could be better than that.

  * * * *

  Zac was as excited about the bonfire as if he was a teenager again. It’d been a hell of a long time since the pack had gathered together like this, everyone in the same place at the same time, talking, laughing, and sharing their stories of their adventures during the hurricane, just as they were sharing in the clean up now. Because, of course, that’s what the bonfire was. It was a mountainous mass of twigs and branches, leaf litter, and assorted detritus from the storm. An excuse for a massive cleanup of unwanted bits of wood as well as an opportunity to join together, roast hot dogs and potatoes, and sit and talk.

  Piper’s eyes were sparkling with fun, and she laughed the whole time she crouched in front of the flames with her hot dog on a long, thin stick. They walked her along the beach here near the big house. This was the island’s main beach, the place where they housed the fishing boat and the trawler that took the teenagers to high school and brought back the week’s shopping from the mainland.

  It was the beach where they’d all learned to swim under the watchful gaze of the adults. It was where they’d learned the rules of beach volleyball and many other games and played on the sand in the breaks from being homeschooled in the big house.

  Piper ran to one of the other guests, threw her arms around the woman, and hugged her. Zac felt a deep shaft of jealousy rip through him. But, of course, she needed her friends. It was much better that she hugged a woman than another man. Meanwhile, he wandered through the crowd learning ever
yone else’s hurricane experiences. One other house had lost its roof and a wall. They planned to pull it down and rebuilt it as a more sturdy construction.

  Other buildings had minor damage. In one home the kitchen light fitting had fallen out of the ceiling, flying across the room and impaling itself in the drywall. No one had any idea how that was possible, but there’d been a steady stream of people going to look at it so they all knew it was true.

  Zac looked back at Piper. She was in a small group now with the other guests—Madeline Sinclair, Aria Taverner, and Mackenzie Weymouth. Madeline was being hosted by Aiden, Carter, and Logan Farmer. Aria was the guest of Cayden, Seb, and Leo Marshall. Mackenzie was with the Langs, Colter, Declan, and Asher.

  Zac looked around for those men. In every case, the brothers were standing together in a tight group, watching their woman.

  Yes, definitely their woman. Every one of his friends was focused only on their woman, just as he refused to turn his gaze from Piper. He knew she didn’t need him. No harm could happen to her here and any one of the community would answer any question she might have. But Zac felt exactly the same as the other men. Piper belonged to him and his brothers. It was more than time to try to explain their need of her to her. Not that he was sure how to do that, he just knew they had to.

  Having her here for another week was wonderful. But that week would be better spent with her as their mate, rather than just a guest to be looked after. They could cater to her needs much better if she was genuinely theirs.

  Zac walked around to find Ryder. Ryder had his hands on his hips and his gaze fixed on Piper. No one else existed for him in the entire huge crowd. That was pretty much how Zac felt as well. He worked his way past all the other people and stood beside Ryder.

  “She’s ours, Ryder. We need to ask her about mating.”

  “It’s too soon. Much too soon,” Ryder replied, not even looking at him.