Rebuilding the Wolf

by Erin R Flynn

  “Yeah, we didn’t get to talk about last night,” I sighed, annoyed there was always so much going on.

  He frowned. “Do we need to? I thought you had fun?”

  “I did, I mean, it was different, but yeah, I had fun,” I admitted, clearing my throat nervously. “It was sort of hard to figure out who was feeling what and you were furthest from me. I wasn’t really sure if you—”

  “Yes, Sera, I enjoyed it. Hell, I almost blew watching.”

  “Yeah? Because you didn’t say anything,” I worried.

  He snorted. “You weren’t the only one whose brain short circuited. I couldn’t get my mouth to work very well. It was seriously fucking hot. I never, not ever thought about watching that and for real.”

  “Okay, good.” I cleared my throat again. “I think I’d be okay if we, um, with Beth. She wants to, and it was fun as long as I don’t have to get too involved.”

  “Jesus, Sera, you really are trying to see if you can kill me from blue balls,” he whispered, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “Are you saying you want to play with Beth while I have sex with her?”

  I shrugged, not sure if he could even see it. “I’d try it. It sounded like too much before, but I was okay last night. I don’t know that I’ll want it a lot or like Alena has women in her group, but I trust Beth. She’s right, I don’t think I could deal with another Alpha. As much as I love Simone—”

  “She’s also a rival as an Alpha no matter what species or how powerful you are,” Axel filled in, and I nodded. “You really would give your lovers anything and everything they need and want, wouldn’t you?”

  I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Shouldn’t I? They put up with me having multiple men. Shouldn’t I do everything I can to make them happy too?”

  “His point is most wouldn’t,” Brian explained, kissing my hand again. “And yeah, that sounds amazing, but we’re going slow, so I think threesomes with friends are at least a twentieth date sort of thing.”

  “Oh yeah? Is that how it works?” I teased him. “On date twenty you bring another woman in?”

  “Maybe date forty,” he admitted, shooting me a smirk, but then gave me a serious look. “I couldn’t even tell you what she was wearing before you took it off of her. Or the other woman. I only was focused on you. You know that, right? You’re not doing this because you think I want Beth?”

  “No, I get it,” I promised. “It’s just you both immediately thought of the other, and it’s a fine line to cross. And it’s weird we both have certain lines like you don’t want me with other humans and I don’t want you with anyone FBI.” He was quiet as his heart fluttered, and I dropped his hand. “Have you been with anyone FBI?”

  “What? No,” he answered, giving me a look. “Why would you think that?”

  “You didn’t say anything and your heart fluttered. What was that?”

  He sighed heavily. “You weren’t the only naked picture I got for Valentine’s Day. My mind went to how I should handle the other one I got.”

  “Who?” I snarled, holding out my hand for his phone. “Who, Bri?”

  “Promise you won’t gut her,” he muttered, slowly taking out his phone.

  “Depends on who and what she sent.”

  “I think you know who,” he warned.

  “Jenkins again?” I started cussing up a storm when he nodded, not even taking the phone because I was worried what I would do if I saw or what would happen to his phone. “Does she have a mother fucking death wish?”

  “Apparently,” he sighed.

  I took a few slow breaths. “Were you going to tell me?”

  “Yes,” he immediately answered, making me feel calmer about the whole thing. “It came in late Saturday, and I didn’t even see it until Dain called about setting up the meeting this morning. It wasn’t the time to bring it up.”

  “Well, I know I was an ass on the bust that you could play with her, but then I clearly said I’d hurt her if she touched you, but that was between us. Have you told her anything?”

  He bobbed his head. “Yeah, I told her that I was spoken for, and while I was flattered, I wasn’t interested.”

  “Then you need to report her to HR.” I chuckled when he gave me a shocked look. “Sexual harassment works both ways, Bri. She is making unwanted sexual advances for an against regs relationship. Drag her hoe ass down to HR.” He didn’t look convinced, so I pushed. “You are division chief of the office. You need to protect yourself. What was the picture?”

  He sighed, handing me his phone easily now that I was calmer… Except I wasn’t after I saw a picture of her cunt with an offer for him to “come in and come often.” I dropped the phone on my lap before I broke it.

  “Bri, she’s a predator. This is so, so over the line if you’ve turned her down.”

  “I have, I swear it, Sera. You don’t believe me?”

  “No, I do, I can tell when you lie,” I reminded him. “Fine, you’ve turned her down, and this is seriously over the line.” He opened his mouth, and I hurried on. “What if she doesn’t just do it to you next? What if she harasses Corbin? What if she takes you not handling it as you should as a green light for more and you get in trouble at the end of this?”

  “Is HR how you would handle it?” he asked after a moment.

  “I have handled it that way. A few times.” I frowned at him not knowing that, sharing a look with him.

  “Mother—I wasn’t pulled in on anything, and I was your SAiC and then chief. How could I not know?”

  “I thought you did.” I shrugged. “HR took care of it real fast, and it wasn’t this huge blow up. I reported feeling uncomfortable, and they sat us down, making my position clear. I don’t know they even got written up. I just wanted it on the record in case it became a problem later.”

  “Who?” he demanded, and I winced, knowing two still worked for him. “Sera, who?”

  “Frank was one,” I admitted.

  “That explains a lot,” he drawled. “Who else?”

  “I’d prefer not to say.” I waved him off when he shot me a look. “One was really a misunderstanding because of an undercover conflict. The other was over the line, but he cut it out after I talked to HR, which is my point.”

  “What did he do?” Axel asked, chuckling when I shot him a look he wasn’t helping.

  I sighed. “He was all hands when I was getting wired up for busts.”

  “Someone was feeling you up?” Brian seethed.

  “Sure, we’ll go with that,” I drawled. I rolled my eyes when he gave me another look. “He kept doing pat downs to make sure I was clear for when I’d get pat down undercover if it would happen.” I ignored his next look. “But going to HR cleared it up. Do it, Bri, or she could start twisting stuff. This could be some game for blackmail. You can’t trust when people pull such shit. Protect yourself and don’t be alone with her.”

  “Okay, yeah, I guess we’ve got enough crap on our plates. Playing it safe is smart.”

  I sighed. “Thank you. You probably just saved me from prison for having ripped her throat out.”

  “Do I get to have an inmate and prison guard fantasy for being so good?”

  I moved our joined hands back to his thigh, rubbing higher than was nice when others were in the car. “Sure, I’ve always wanted to play a prison guard.”

  I smirked when all three guys laughed at that one, even Eugene who seemed the most amused I’d turned things around knowing full well what Brian had meant. Hey, it was fun and we needed some fun. Honestly, I did, even if I was holding onto the relief that one of the monsters in my nightmares was gone. Wow, I had not seen that one coming when I’d agreed to handle Grand Rapids.

  Apparently neither had the Alpha or he would have been much, much smarter about his trap. Idiot.

  19

  “Let me be clear on a few things,” I told Eugene and his team after we reached the club and were in the parking garage. “I’m giving you guys all access to help just as
if you were my Betas. I don’t care if you poke around. You want to tell the council you’ve seen how the blood drinks work and the reception of them? Fine, no worries. What you won’t be telling is what system we bought and how we process.

  “You won’t tell them our security system and configs or how often and how many we have watching cameras or on the premises. You want to tell them it’s working well for us that a lot of the single members of the pack are in the apartment building where you’ll be staying? Fine. What you won’t give is a layout and map of who lives where. And you’ll sign a NDA, and it’s magically implemented by Nina Jezebel.”

  “So basically anything that someone could use against you or the pack,” Eugene clarified, nodding when I did. “That’s fine. We’re not here to investigate.” I raised an eyebrow at him, and he held up his hands in surrender. “Yeah, that doesn’t mean people won’t ask, but not our mission, not our business.”

  “Good, you still sign. Axel found it helpful to sign so people also left him the fuck alone, as not just council members but too many of your colleagues think my business is their business, and it isn’t, especially when they’ve dropped the ball on way too much.” I headed towards the elevator without waiting for any comments or snips. We hadn’t stopped for dinner since the food at the club was awesome, but it meant I was starving.

  Dain was waiting for us when we reached the lobby, his worried eyes running over me. I had changed before the flight so I wasn’t wearing the bloody clothes from before, but it was as if he could still see the blood. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, sorry to worry you,” I muttered, ducking my head as he cupped my cheek. He didn’t let go of me, instead pulling me into a hug. “How did it go here?”

  “Good, I handled it. The mayor and police chief will give their full support as long as they’re kept in the loop on certain points that would be contentious. I have a meeting next week with the mayor’s people on getting the right wording of the license and all of that. Alok and I will handle this.”

  “What about training?” They did work for the FBI and were trainers for our new facility after all.

  “We’ll work it around one class and another. This is important too.”

  “Okay, good, thanks.”

  His lips brushed my temple. “I would do anything for you, my love. I’ve already ordered food and will have it sent up to the club level since it’s not open yet and the restaurant is booked up.”

  I felt his tension and leaned away, glancing up. “What’s wrong?”

  “Linus is demanding to speak with you before the meeting tomorrow. I told him it wasn’t going to happen, and he had some very choice and derogatory words about me as a fairy speaking on your behalf.”

  I didn’t curb my shock at that. “He’s a bigot?”

  “I do not think so. I think he’s throwing a fit and it came out. It’s still not acceptable, and I find I’m losing faith in the plan for him to be the Alpha you place when you’re under such scrutiny.”

  “What do you recommend? I have something in play, but I think you have something in mind too.”

  “I do. I think he should see part of the tape of how you punished Leda before sending her ass home.”

  “Fine, first I want to speak to him about disrespecting you.” I shook my head when he went to object. “No, Dain, that’s not okay. You guys handle a lot for me, and you’re mine. If people see me letting that sort of shit fly, people will push. It’s not okay.” I quickly and quietly filled him in on the rest of the plan as we headed upstairs.

  He nodded. “It’s smart. However, I don’t think you can warn Hagan and Reagan. You need their honest reactions to sell it.” He stroked my hair when I winced. “They will understand. They will. They’re with the boys tonight, having some fun before school tomorrow, but I think you need to let them walk into the meeting unaware.”

  “Will they forgive me for playing that sort of game?” I worried.

  “Sera, they’d forgive you anything just like you do them as long as it wasn’t of ill intent.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I glanced at Orson. “Can you get Linus here while Dain has them all sign the NDAs?”

  He nodded and headed out while Dain made his briefcase appear and handled that. I turned when I heard someone coming, hoping it was food, but instead, a blur rushed me.

  And kissed me. Soft lips I knew and hadn’t felt in a while kissed me, and when he stopped, I was staring at the cobalt blue eyes I loved to look into.

  Except I stepped away. “So Vlad told you? Sorry, things have been chaotic.”

  “Things are always chaotic around you, Sera,” Tristan chuckled, reaching for me. He frowned when I moved back. “What’s wrong?”

  “Tristan, I get why you walked, but you walked. Twice. I didn’t trade to get you back to be with you.”

  “You did it because you love me.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe. I did, and I didn’t like you being in the middle of the shit with Vlad, but I traded for you to be in Goran’s coven, not mine like Noah.”

  “Vlad didn’t tell me that part,” he muttered, not sounding happy.

  I shrugged again. “You’re still mine, and I don’t think I was specific. Whatever. You need to speak with him. I haven’t even had a chance to yet, but he knew your situation was getting something to handle.”

  “I get it. When do I start work here?”

  I looked at him then, frowning as he did. “Did you want to work here?”

  He snorted. “Fuck yes. Quitting was part of the beauty of getting away from Vlad. He kept pushing and pushing and wanting more and more of what you have here and—fuck, I couldn’t take anymore. The moment he said I was yours, I quit.”

  I winced. “Your decision, but you have to talk to Simone about that. I don’t handle that part.”

  He gave a slow nod, realizing things weren’t how he’d put it together in his mind. “Okay. Um, the lease is almost up on the house, and Jesse and I were talking about snagging one of your awesome apartments now that I’m free. If that’s cool?”

  “Fine with me. You have to talk to… Carter? I think Carter has been handling that with Christos.”

  “I will, thanks.” He stared at me for a few moments as if not sure where to go with this or what to say next. “Can we have lunch after you get back from New York? That’s being delayed, right?”

  “Um, yeah, a lot has—extra shit went down in Grand Rapids. It’s messed more up, and I might have to reevaluate the New York plan. I don’t know about lunch though.”

  His eyes flashed shock. “You saved me from Vlad but won’t have lunch with me?”

  I shook my head, backing away from him. “I get why you did what you did, but you still bailed. I don’t know that I’m able to move past that. There’s a lot going on you’ve missed and we’re…”

  “Sort of like strangers again,” he admitted, shifting his weight awkwardly. “I miss you. Do you miss me?”

  I opened my mouth but then closed it. “I don’t think I’ve been in the right space to know what I’ve felt about you and a lot of things, but I’m trying. I’m trying really hard to get shit done and done better than how I started. I need people not to push me.”

  “Okay,” he sighed, pushing his hair back with his hands. “Okay, I get it. I won’t push, and I’ll see you around, which was more than last week.”

  “Okay,” I agreed because otherwise it would have been like I was trying to lock him out and I wasn’t. I was however thrilled when Virg came up with a serving cart full of food.

  “I’m going to go talk with Simone then,” Tristan muttered, seeing Virg wanted to speak to me. The moment the vampire was gone, the visiting Alpha kissed me.

  “Are you okay? Dain was freaking out, and he’s not one to freak out unless it’s you and it’s serious.”

  “Trouble from my past in the form of the Grand Rapids Alpha, but he’s dead now,” I admitted, nuzzling his neck and accepting the comfort. I kissed my bite still on his neck and smiled
when he moaned loudly. “Linus is coming and we have something going on.”

  “Yeah, he was throwing a fit that he couldn’t speak to you before the meeting tomorrow. He was seriously being a prick.”

  “Which is stupid before we do this. He’s so close to getting what he wants. What am I missing?”

  “That you never had parents you worried about impressing and not fucking shit up in your life,” he said gently as we went over to the nearest table and started setting out food. “I think this has everything to do with his parents and them being assholes maybe. He seemed almost panicked when he found out they were called and for this meeting.”

  I sat down and gave him a funny look as he loaded my plate up. “Hagan said he spoke with him about our concerns.”

  “Yeah, and Zeno. He received that well. That didn’t include his parents. He didn’t think they would be called in for this.”

  “They can’t be worse than Theon’s dad,” I grumbled, wondering if I’d made things worse by trying to do things right. Again. Funny how I seemed to be screwed no matter which way I stepped sometimes.

  “So the tiger’s here, huh? And wearing your bite I presume?”

  I paused in bringing my fork to my lips, noting the edge to his voice. “Virg, you seem to be getting—”

  “Territorial,” Brian interjected, not sounding happy.

  “Hey, you have a no other humans rule with her, and you’re here all the time. It’s not easy being an Alpha wolf and not here to keep my space near her. There are literally only so many who can stand next to her before there’s no room.”

  “Which you haven’t said you officially want,” I reminded him. “I get you’re going through shit too, and I’m not even mad you’re pushing that boundary. I just need to know you understand you are. That I’m not okay with that line being crossed.” He opened his mouth, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “I think I’ve shown exactly how understanding I am of the spot you’re in, Alpha.”

  He shivered at the reminder of our fun the other morning. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I am more off my game than normal, and I didn’t even realize it. I feel all…”