Rebuilding the Wolf

by Erin R Flynn

  “I don’t…” I glanced at Axel and then back to Harris. “Did someone ask if I knew the Alpha?”

  “Yeah, you killed the Alpha,” Axel muttered, his eyes full of worry. “You didn’t mean to kill the Alpha?”

  I opened my mouth and closed it a few times. “Let me handle this and process.” I started with the wolf team from the council, not even enjoying my kiss with Eugene, as I was still shaking.

  “What did you do to us?” Eugene growled, trying to kiss me again.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I whispered, turning my head away.

  “You’re still afraid.”

  I saw no reason to deny it, so I nodded. He let me go, and I continued to pull my power off the other wolves. It might have been smart to keep them under my influence, but I’d gone overboard and they were mindless with no other goal than jumping me, and I couldn’t stand I did that. It was too much power to pull back fully and swallow, so I gave as much as I could to Harris and Axel.

  Granted it was my power, but sometimes it was like water and ice and it expanded so I couldn’t fit it all back in. Or maybe there was a folding and vacuum sealing fluffy comforters analogy, but whatever, it didn’t fit all back in, and I had to share it.

  And it took a while to do.

  When it was over and my ancients were controlling everyone who was sort of shaking off the rest of my power, I sat in one of the SUVs that had the back open. Harris had made someone go on a coffee and food run because he came over to me with food. I thanked him and held the cup in my still shaking hands, glad for the warmth when I felt cold inside and not from the weather.

  “Boss, we need to know what happened,” Harris said gently. “We’re missing huge gaps here, and people are scared you snapped.”

  I gave a watery chuckle. “I did. I fully fucking snapped. I’m sorry.”

  “Hey, I’ve never seen it before, so it had to be for a good reason. We just need to know it.” He squatted in front of me, giving me his normal kind, Harris smile, and I took in a shaky breath, knowing I could tell him and ignore the others.

  “He was Alpha Hugo?” I checked, taking another breath when he nodded. “I knew him as Thomas Spelling, and he was my foster dad for a while.” Harris winced, and I bobbed my head. “Yeah, he wasn’t one of the mild ones who ignored me and just wanted the check for having me or made me clean like a free maid. He was a whole other kind of animal.” I snorted, getting the wolf pun. “He used to call me ‘princess.’

  “In front of people it was always ‘how’s my princess’ or ‘did you have a good day at school, princess?’ But before bath time he’d bring me to the basement and list everything I’d done wrong that day. Everything that went against his ‘rules,’ but the rules changed. The game was rigged. I found that out within the first few days. One day I’d get in trouble for not speaking loud enough, and then I’d be in trouble for talking too loudly.”

  “Wh-what was the trouble, Sera?” he asked gently when I stopped talking.

  “He’d take off his belt and tell me he was disappointed I didn’t act like a princess. Then he’d beat me with it while taunting me to admit I wasn’t a princess. I didn’t want to be one, so I’d say it, but then he’d get mad I was weak and not fight to be a princess. I couldn’t ever win the game. If I told him I was one, he’d hit harder, saying I didn’t deserve to be one. I couldn’t stay silent because that was disrespecting him.”

  “When—how long did you stay there?” Axel asked. “How old?”

  I shrugged. “Almost a year. I was nine. Finally he got caught when a cop saw us at the grocery store and my welts had bled through one of the fucking sundresses he’d always make me wear so I was pretty like a princess. I was taken away from him and put back in the group home, but they didn’t process me fast enough to make the charges stick as I healed, so the evidence wasn’t clear it was him but old welts.

  “He got marked as not being able to be a foster parent anymore, and that was all I ever heard. When I was older, I tried to track him down like I did with all the bad foster parents I knew, and I couldn’t find him. There’s no report his wife was dead either. She was just as bad even if not as physically abusive. She treated me like I was his mistress. I didn’t get that until I was older, but she acted like I was stealing her damn husband.”

  “Well, I would have smashed his face and body into the ground too,” one of the council wolves muttered.

  Harris reached out and rubbed my knee. “I’ll get into everything and figure out who he really is and the wife is gone.”

  “And the guns,” I mumbled, trying to get my head back in the game. “That was some heavy artillery for one Alpha from Grand Rapids.”

  “Yeah, it was, but he was gunning for all you had and apparently more.” He nodded when I gave him a look of horror as his meaning sank in. “One of the pack confessed he wasn’t going to kill you but ‘keep’ you, so apparently his human wife wasn’t completely wrong as how he—”

  I turned and puked my guts out, not even able to hear the rest. I had been nine, and that sick fuck had been training me to be his future wife or something? Oh god, I didn’t ever need to know that or have more nightmares where he was concerned.

  Axel was fast enough to catch my coffee cup and hold back my hair so I didn’t make a huge mess.

  “Dain is calling and panicked, as he can feel what happened,” Orson told me when I was done emptying my stomach of everything that might ever have been in it.

  “Tell him,” I muttered, rubbing my temples. “Have Harris fill him in, whatever, it’s over.”

  One of the council guys snorted. “The Alpha is dead, but this mess is far from over.”

  I lifted my head and gave him a scathing look. “No shit, asshole. I know it’s not, and I’m going to be the one cleaning it up along with my people once again because the council can’t handle much of anything most days besides being the punishers and have allowed too much to spiral out. And then someone will probably get pissed I have too much power and whatever again and try to take me out. So yeah, I get it, and that wasn’t what I meant.”

  “Fair enough,” he muttered, his jaw ticking at my less than flattering picture of the council.

  Yeah, but it wasn’t really an unfair one.

  But it did help me snap out of my meltdown and back on mission. I inhaled what Harris had brought to me then went to the first group my vampires were handling and put my influence back on them but in the right way to make them compliant. Since they were part of the greeting party with the guns, they were going directly to the council for interrogation.

  They wanted me to handle it, and they were going to fucking help, as my office was stretched to thin already. I ordered a few of Axel’s team to take them to the landing strip and onto the council jet that had landed about five minutes after mine.

  “How did you guys know it was a trap?” Eugene asked as he was filled in on what we’d had up our sleeves.

  I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m blonde, not stupid. We can’t get five people to agree to the same thing when they were standing right there. Certainly not willing to come forward when we know what was going on. But yet five wolves who didn’t know me or what I would really do were just together, calling at the same time, all giving their names and numbers and anything we could need to check they were on the up and up?”

  “Oh, and with no criminal records or anything more than a parking ticket?” Harris added with a smirk. “Yeah, five of the cleanest members of the pack just call together when only two or three are needed? When she already had cause given he sent people to help the Milwaukee attempt? No, that doesn’t scream it’s a setup.”

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked him quietly.

  He gave me a wink. “I’m good, really. You pulled it all off. If I feel a bit wonky, I’ll let you know. Most everyone should be fine. A few of the younger pups might try to hump your leg but mostly from the shock of experiencing your power.”

  “Okay, good.”
r />   “You’ve not used it like that before?” Eugene asked, studying me carefully.

  “No, she doesn’t like to influence people and make the puppets,” Axel answered, sharing a look with the wolf that clearly said to drop it.

  Eugene still gave me a look like he wanted to hear it from me.

  I shrugged. “I’ve played with it a bit for fun just so I get a better grasp on it. I’ve worked with a few others who can do it to make sure I’ve got my shit together just like I would shifting, but it’s only really come out when I’m seriously threatened. It’s a bit too ‘world domination’ of a power for me to default to.”

  His lips twitched slightly, and his eyes danced with a lot more emotion as he took in my response. “No plans for world domination then?”

  I snorted. “Not today. I’ve been kicking and screaming this whole time I didn’t want to be Alpha or Alpha of more with an umbrella. I have a full time job already, thanks.”

  I turned to bark out orders at some wolves that were getting restless, reminding them to behave or I would permanently put my boot up their asses. They weren’t happy vampires or cats on pack lands.

  “Too fucking bad,” I snarled. “You weren’t supposed to have guns here either.” I glanced at Shaw to see the progress on that.

  “Bagged and tagged and loaded in the rental to take to the plane back with you.”

  “Serial numbers?”

  She winked at me. “Already sent to Jennings so his team can get started.”

  “Good. I want them dusted too. Let’s see who else was touching them and if we get anything.”

  “Got it, Chief.” She typed furiously on her tablet to get it started.

  I glanced at Harris. “Make sure the order goes in with the council to send the photos to us. And get started on each here.”

  “Already ordered and started, Chief,” he promised. “You want the new training class to run through them?”

  I debated that a moment and shook my head. “No, that could take too long and leave you with problems around you when we don’t have enough support. Get Horton and Barnes on it now. We’ll run the standard training of half of them surveilling and the other half processing. Davenport has agreed to let us run it there in the hopes our presence there will keep people behaving as they should with the pack.”

  “Got it.” He turned and started giving out orders for everyone of the pack to line up and start getting their pictures taken along with their info.

  “You don’t think that’s a bit much?” Eugene asked me quietly, very quietly so it didn’t seem like he was questioning me, simply asking a question.

  I snorted. “Not when they’re under me. I did the same with my pack and Milwaukee. The moment I take over, everything they do, whoever they are, is on me. If they’re going to be under me, they need to be clean. If they’re not, we’ll get into it.” I smiled when he gave me a funny look. “I’m not a hard ass like some of the council. I check my facts. We had some people in Milwaukee with outstanding warrants.

  “They had fled them, and the warrants were bullshit. One was a warrant for rape for a woman who didn’t exist, but someone was trying to make a scene about all werewolves being monsters. Handling all of that, sorting through all the crap of a whole pack or new city takes a lot—a lot—of fucking work behind the scenes people don’t get and I don’t have nearly the personnel for it, but we do it anyways.”

  I dropped the conversation and rushed over when I saw two teenagers on the edge of control. The last thing we needed was people starting to shift.

  “Hey, we’re fine, okay? You guys are fine now,” I told them gently, leaning in and kissing their necks when they immediately bared them to me. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

  “You dragged off our dads,” the guy rasped, a girl about a year older hugging him. “Where do we go now? What happens to us?”

  “For now, you’ll stay with my people and you’ll be safe,” I swore, rubbing my cheek against his, glad when she did the same on my other side. “I won’t let you fall through the cracks, I promise. I’m going to make sure the new Alpha will take care of all of you.”

  “You’re not staying?” he whimpered, moving closer.

  “I have to get back soon, but I’ll visit, or if you don’t want to stay here when the dust settles, you can come to Chicago and we’ll find a place for you. If your dads haven’t done anything, everything—”

  “We don’t want to stay with them,” the girl blurted, tears in her eyes when I looked at her.

  I took her face in my hands and kissed her forehead before doing the same to the guy. “Then you don’t. You won’t ever have to be with them again, okay?” I waited until they both nodded and then pulled out my phone, bringing up a text to Leo. “Text your information to him and he’ll check on you. I adopted some kids who needed me. That’s how we roll. No one gets left behind or alone.”

  “Thank you, Alpha,” they said together, and he took the phone while she kept hugging him.

  I stood and shared a glance with Shaw, knowing she would follow up and get my phone too. She nodded she had it, and I went back to what was next when Axel’s people returned. I spread my influence on the next group to go and then was pretty wiped.

  “You need to feed,” Axel muttered.

  “You offering?” I teased him.

  “Always,” he growled. He moved me up against a tree and lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me fiercely just like he always did, just as he was. I fed and fed some more as we made out, keenly aware of his hands on my ass.

  “Yummy,” I purred, ducking under his arm when he came back for more. “I got enough, thanks.” I licked my lower lip as his eyes watched every move I made, his muscles bunching like his tiger before he pounced, but he didn’t argue or ask for more.

  “Jesus, I would so be willing to fight the damn tiger for a chance to have a taste of her,” Eugene muttered to his team as I walked over to Harris to check on progress.

  “I wouldn’t have a chance of winning like you would, and still I’d do it,” one of the guys agreed.

  I looked at them over my shoulder, blinking at them a moment. Then it hit me. My eyes went wide as I glanced from them to Axel who winced, guessing I’d heard. I went straight over to Eugene even as Axel went to intercept me.

  No way I was going to let this go, it was way too interesting and fun, and right then, I could use some serious fucking fun.

  18

  “Why would you have to fight a tiger for me?” I asked, glancing between the team and shoving Axel aside when he tried to slide in front of them. I focused on Eugene. “You offered during the greeting.”

  “You what?” Axel snarled.

  “You’re in a time out,” I cut in, giving him a look to back down. I could practically see his tiger swatting his tail around in annoyance, but he gave a nod. I looked back to Eugene, waving him to fess up.

  “Axel warned all the teams off of you,” Eugene said, his lips twitching again and almost crossing into a smile but not quite. “He was very clear that you were off limits to any of us.”

  “Did he now?” I purred, giving Axel a smirk. “Did you, my tiger? I thought you didn’t want to be mine?”

  He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You already called me as yours.”

  “I called off one councilwoman so there wouldn’t be a problem later.”

  He cleared his throat. “Two councilwomen and one councilman actually. And probably some other people who work for the council that will hear about it.”

  “Really?”

  He gave a half shrug. “Cats aren’t very—we’re pretty flexible on who we’re attracted to. I prefer women normally, but I’m old, I’ve played with guys too.”

  I hummed happily at the idea of getting to see that. “So you’re saying we’re even?” I waited until he nodded, sauntering over to him. “And when did you call dibs on me, my tiger? You keep acting like I cracked first, but now I’m not so sure.” I glanced at Eugene for the answer, n
oting how amused he and his whole team were.

  “Right after he met you in Memphis.”

  I nodded, turning back to Axel and swearing he was blushing if a man that big could blush. “Did you? Did you tell all the other council teams I was off limits right after you met me?” He opened his mouth to blast me for making this a thing, but I let my power flare, reminding him who I was and where he stood.

  “Yes,” he hissed, his jaw ticking. “I told all the other council teams that I was calling dibs and wanted you, that none of them better touch you if they had to work with you.”

  “Is that why you kept making sure you were the team that came?” I pushed, moving his hands to my ass.

  “Yes, okay? Yes, I didn’t want any of them around you.”

  “Even as you fought me? Made it seem as if I hunted you?”

  “Yes,” he growled as he dug his fingers into my ass. “Yes, I knew I was fighting a losing battle and I was yours, that I didn’t want any of them touching you.”

  “Lift me,” I ordered. He did as my teeth extended, and I sank them into his neck. He snarled as I rocked my body against his and let his flesh go. I licked the bite, smirking when he moaned and shook against me.

  While getting a lot of images from him of exactly what he wanted.

  “Really?” I teased him as he set me back down.

  He swallowed loudly. “I didn’t mean for you to see that.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t. My question is whether that’s what you really want?” I pushed, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

  “Yes, yes I want it,” he breathed as his glazed over eyes filled with more heat. “It’s the ultimate sex for a tiger to mount their lover and take them while biting their shoulder.”

  “Sounds like fun,” I chuckled, smirking when he gave me a shocked look.

  One of the other guys snorted. “No way a seriously powerful Alpha allows tiger sex.”

  I turned around so my back was against Axel, letting his hands roam my body. “I’m confident enough in my power and strength to not worry about petty shit when it comes to sex.” They didn’t seem to believe me, so I overshared a bit. “I’ve let my human lover chain me up in the dungeon of my club to do whatever he wanted to me for hours after spending a good amount of time on my knees first.