I rolled my eyes at my twin. “Oh lord!”
~*~ DRE ~*~
My heart bottomed out somewhere in my lower stomach as I watched Izzy walk out of Lana’s apartment with her sister. Every time we interacted with one another I was torn in two all over again. I’d feel that connection, and then watch as some new piece of news or comment from Lana would push Izzy further away from me again. It was driving me insane, and I wasn’t a man who likes to be pushed to the brink for any reason. I didn’t react well to it as evidenced by the fact that the minute she took off in her Jeep with her sister I was in my wolf form, following them, keeping up with the scent trails they were leaving behind unknowingly. Thankfully, she kept to the back roads and never hopped on the interstate. They were hiking in the damn woods, so close to where my pack would go for runs anyway. It’s like she instinctually knew where home was. I couldn’t help smiling on the inside when thinking about that.
‘Dre,’ I felt Garrett trying call to me. We could get in each other’s heads when we were in wolf form, but I could close them out if I chose to. It was one of the many perks of being Alpha. I could let them in, hear them out, or I could ignore them. It was my prerogative which of those options I chose.
‘Go away,’ I answered back abruptly as I continued following along just far enough off the trail from the girls to go unnoticed. I knew every time I took one step too close, because the damn gut-clenching feeling that came with being near my Kindred hit me, and I would back off immediately, not wanting to tip off Izzy that I was close by. I listened to Izzy talk to her sister about all the questions she had and how everyone else’s need to get their own shit out kept halting the question and answer session she needed. I took note, and swore that I would rectify that as soon as possible.
A tan and gray wolf padded up beside where I was sitting and listening to the twins talking. He nudged me quickly with his nose, forcing me to acknowledge his presence. I bared my teeth at him briefly, and I swear I heard a strangled laugh come from him, even in his wolf form. I would never understand how that man could take anything and everything and turn it lighthearted. I wish I had that affliction. Then again, if I did, I probably wouldn’t be Alpha. The level of seriousness I carried on my shoulders was in direct proportion to the amount of responsibility I always had hanging on my shoulders as the pack leader.
When it was clear that the girls weren’t really going to say anything new or more revealing than they already had, I backed off and silently communicated that Garrett should continue following them until they were safely out of the woods. I turned back and went to go deal with pack business that couldn’t be put off any longer. Despite all the other things I wanted to be doing I had a business to run too, and with our pack looking forward to more expansion soon, it was my job to make sure we could afford an expansion without ending up living in squalor for our attempts.
It didn’t take long to get back to the brewery. The girls really weren’t that far out as the wolf runs. It probably seemed a lot further away to them since they were stuck taking the roadways. The guys, with exception of Garrett who I’d left on babysitting duty, were all waiting for me when I got back.
“What’s up, boss man?” Granger called out as I yanked the front door open and all but tossed myself inside.
“We need to get this expansion started sooner rather than later,” I called out without hesitation.
“Oh,” Granger sighed out loudly. “I thought we were going to talk about pack introductions with the sister. You know, just in case she’s a match for one of us.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down on his face, reminding me more of Garrett in that moment than anyone else.
I pushed my hand through my hair in frustration. “Jesus, can’t I get through one drama with that family before adding to it?” In looking around, I could tell none of them were willing to let this drop.
“Honestly, Dre? I don’t think anyone here wants to be in your shoes six months or three years from now. It’s probably better to give them what they want now,” Gage piped up. “I’d appreciate if we could hash this shit out quickly, because I’m officially volunteering to go on this expeditionary outing you’re about to suggest.”
I nodded at Gage. He was always very astute in business dealings. He knew what we needed to get things pushing in the right direction. Basically, experienced brewers were necessary, beyond necessary. We needed men who knew their shit when it came to the larger scale brewers and distributors. The attitude he chose to deliver his speech with left a little to be desired. I knew he was still pissed about the Lana situation, but hopefully sending him out on this little mission would get him over that shit. He was about to get his wish.
“Wish granted, Gage. I’ll bring the girl by the bar later this week. I’ll send a text out ahead of time first so you all know to be there. Gage you’ll head out for a little headhunting as soon as you’re ready to go.”
“Already packed, boss.” Gage stood and prepared to leave, which shocked me. Apparently, I’d pissed him off worse than I originally thought.
“You don’t want to stick around for introductions?”
“Nah, let these guys have their fun. I’m really not interested in anything that family has to offer.” He was trying to keep himself under wraps, but I could hear a little bit of the venom he was spewing beneath the surface. If this trip didn’t nip the attitude in the bud, Gage and I were going to have problems when he finished up his job.
“All right, get gone then. Keep me up to date. I want regular communication about progress, and if by some miracle you find a wolf working in the business, you don’t take no for an answer. Do what’s necessary to get him here for a meeting with me.”
“Aye, aye captain.” Gage lifted two of his fingers to his forehead in a mock solute before taking off out the door.
“What’s his problem?”
“He didn’t like his last babysitting gig,” one of the other guys responded to Granger while tossing a knowing look my way.
“You have a problem there, Sammy?” I questioned without any authority lacing my voice. Some things needed an Alpha’s commanding influence behind it, others just needed a man-to-man talking to.
“Nah, boss. Just stating what’s up.” Sammy had the good sense to hunch in on himself and look down at the floor again when he spoke. Body language spoke volumes even if he still hadn’t gotten his tongue in on the program.
“Good, now that Gage is gone on our head hunting mission, and we’ve discussed the potential Kindred in town, is there anything else going on I need to be concerned with?”
I looked directly to Granger, because when Garrett and Gage weren’t here he was the next in line of responsibility, and he helped run the brewery side of the business. I also looked for Hank among the pack members who were here today. “Grange? Anything with the brewery?”
“Nah, man. I have some new hooch I’m brewing in the back room though, so all of you mangy dogs need to keep your mitts off. It won’t be ready in normal time, it takes a little longer to brew the special stuff.” Everyone chuckled, because the special stuff usually meant you were knocked on your ass if you took more than one shot of the stuff. With werewolf metabolism, that was saying something. I wouldn’t even give a normal human a drop of the crap Granger brewed up.
“Alrighty, you guys heard it, lay off the special stuff till its done brewing.” I smiled out at everyone before turning my attention back to Hank. “Anything of interest with the bar, Hank?”
“We need to start scouring for some more entertainment soon. The boys from The Wild Cards are about to move on to greener pastures.”
I laughed then. “Is that so?” Hank nodded once in affirmation. “And where are they headed this time?”
“Something about Nashville, and a hookup from Brian’s cousin who works at a bar there.” Hank shrugged his shoulders.
“So, they’ll probably be back again in a few months?” I chuckled out. The boys from the band now known as The Wild Cards were always chasin
g the dream every few months or so. When their chase didn’t amount to anything more than they had back home, they’d come back, change the band name, and say they were just looking for a fresh start. “Maybe we can put in requests for their new name ahead of time so it sits with them a while, and they think it’s their idea by the time they get back?”
Laughter rang out all around us, because we all knew it would happen. “Anything else going on?”
“When are we getting the introduction to this new mate of yours?”
“Allen, when I know something, I’ll clue you in.” The little bit of a good mood I had managed to grasp hold of fled just like that. “Those girls just had a lot of bombs dropped on them the past couple days. That’s why I said it would be later in the week before we bother with introductions with the sister. We’ll play it by ear and see how they’re both feeling. Besides, she hasn’t accepted it yet.” The last line came out quietly. They all heard it just the same.
“I hope if I ever find my kindred mate we both know it right away.” I snapped my head back up at Sammy’s comment. His outburst wasn’t about attitude now. I’m sure he was just saying what everyone else was feeling. As much as I wish I could have a little bit of privacy where it concerned anything to do with Izzy, I knew that would never be the case.
“I hope so too, for all of your sakes.” I offered up softly. “This shit is for the birds, and I’m a fucking wolf.” With that sentiment loose, we finished up our little meeting of the minds and went about the day-to-day business of Vukodlak, whether that was brewery or pack business that we had on our separate agendas didn’t mater. Everyone scattered immediately except Hank and Granger.
“Where’s Garrett?” Granger finally asked.
“I left him to watch the girls. They went hiking in the woods and I didn’t want anything to happen to them out there, or more to the point for the wrong person to happen upon them and be bothersome.”
“Yeah, I get that. They on pack lands?”
“National Forest, but they’re close enough to pack lands that one of these knuckleheads might try having a well-meaning conversation that just pushes them further away. Hell, the sister mentioned taking Izzy and running with her several times.”
“And you didn’t lock them up somewhere right then?”
I shrugged. “Thought about it, but she redeemed herself. I think she’s pushing for Izzy to give me a chance first, and to run as a last resort.”
“What if she takes the second option?”
I tucked my head into my hands with my shoulders bowed over the table I was sitting at. “Then I let her go. I’m not going to force the bond. Those situations never turn out well. We already have enough ugly in this situation thanks to how Jackson chose to handle his shit, and me giving up once already. We don’t need anything else causing resentment down the road, you know? It would poison things, Kindred mates or not.”
“This is why you’re Alpha. Once in a while you use your damn head where the rest of us might not be inclined to do so.” Hank didn’t speak much, but when he did, it was usually poignant. He clapped his big hand on my shoulder. “You know your brothers are here for you no matter how this goes. Don’t worry about those young pups like Sammy. They haven’t been out of puberty long enough to really get how this shit works. I’m sure she’ll come around. From what I’ve heard that Kindred pull is a hard thing to resist even for the human side of the equation.”
“Let’s hope so,” I offered. “You have some new beer that needs tested back there?” I finally asked Granger. We brewed two types of beer at the brewery. On a larger scale, we brewed the human stuff, because there were a hell of a lot more humans drinking the shit than werewolves. Our metabolism burned off the miniscule amount of alcohol from beer as we drank it. In other words, there was no effect on us. That’s why Granger always had some special hooch brewing, we added it to the werewolf brew, and we were actually able to get drunk like a human. The effects didn’t last as long as we’d like, about half the life of a good drunk for humans. The lucky thing for us was we came out on the other side sans-hangover.
~*~ IZZY ~*~
We were nearly back to the Jeep before I turned back to look down the trail we’d just come from, and then off into the woods. “Come on out. I need to talk to you anyway.” I didn’t yell the words, but I wasn’t quiet either. Liz turned to look at me like I’d lost my damn mind. Then Garrett’s head and part of his broad shoulders and chest poked around a tree.
His grin was obvious. “I’m not sure you want me to pop out there just now, sweetheart.” At first the reason he wouldn’t come out was lost on me. I was so used to seeing the guys around town without shirts on that it didn’t even faze me that he might be nude from a shift. “I’m standing here in my birthday suit so I can talk to you.”
“Liz, I have a beach towel in the back seat, could you grab that for Garrett?”
“Sure,” she offered, but not before she tried to get a better look at what he might be packing behind cover of the tree.
“Pervert,” Garrett tossed out while my sister just grinned right back at him. She procured the towel and tossed it just shy of the tree so he’d have to lunge for it and be seen. “Really?” He moved slowly from the tree line that had been obscuring his nakedness. “Sweetheart, if you wanted to see the goods all you had to do was ask. I’m not a bashful boy, and as you can see, I have nothing to be a shamed of.”
I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I checked out Garrett too. His eyes were on my sister’s reaction, which gave me a minute to take a peek. He was right, he definitely had nothing to be bashful about. He was packing a sizable tool, even without being hard. Good lord. “Um,” I said as I tossed a hand over my eyes, “maybe you should hurry and cover up before Dre hears about you giving me a show I didn’t ask for.” I laughed.
“Damn,” Garrett was moving faster then. Quicker than a human could have done it, he had himself covered up with the towel. “Sorry, Iz. I didn’t mean any disrespect on your part.”
“Just on mine?” My sister asked incredulously.
“You asked for it,” he winked at her.
“Sweet baby Jesus,” Liz breathed under her breath.
“You do know he can hear you, even when you’re whispering right?” I asked my sister whose eyes went wide with my question.
“Shit, I don’t know when all this freaky stuff is going to start sinking in, but it’s not sticking in my brain just yet.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “No kidding. Just wait until one of them is stalking you, and you think you’re going a little paranoid and may need to seek out the help of a professional, drugs, or something to deal with all of it. Garrett’s bubble of laughter burst free then.
“Aw, come on darlin’, it’s not that bad. So what if the big brute knows what you like to eat for breakfast before you tell him. It shows he cares that he paid attention when he didn’t have to.”
I screeched out a very frustrated sound before turning on my foot and hopping into my waiting Jeep. “I’m assuming you need a ride back to wherever you keep your clothes?”
Garrett said nothing, just grinned and hopped into the back of the Jeep without a word. I think he may have also given my sister a little show as she was climbing into the passenger side if that little hiss of breath she let out was any indication. I shook my head as my thoughts about how things took a turn for the weird filled it. Great, horny werewolves. Who knew that was going to be a thing in our lives?
“Well, at least you can do something about one of the horny werewolves if you are so inclined.” Garrett laughed.
Shit, apparently I’d been thinking out loud. Either that or he could read minds, and that was definitely a dangerous proposition. I glanced over at my sister from the corner of my panicked eye to see her trying to hold in her laughter. “Yeah, that was out loud, Iz.”
My shoulders slumped with her admission. This wasn’t the first time I had issues with speaking my thoughts out loud unconsciously. Lord only knew
how many more times I did it and people just didn’t call me on it. I turned the Jeep’s ignition over, and pulled out of the makeshift parking space and back onto the gravel road headed back to civilization. Well, the weird alternate reality of civilization where men changed into werewolves and certain women were destined to be their mates. A soul-deep sigh escaped me as my new normal settled in under my skin again.
Was that what I wanted? I couldn’t help asking myself again. It wasn’t like it was the first time it had crossed my mind. I honestly didn’t know what the right thing was anymore. If Lana had been anyone else, and not my blood kin, I wouldn’t have hesitated to see where things would go with Dre. I mean, I had been pining after him for years without ever so much as hearing his voice. Even though doing so was weird in itself. Then there was the way Lana was already treating me, as if I’d plunged head first into Dre’s bed while thinking I was screwing over my own aunt while doing it. What would be the difference in me actually attempting something? She was already strung up about the whole thing, and blaming me.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours sis?” Liz was watching me as I drove us back to town. “You’re biting into your lip awful hard. I know what that means, even if no one else does.”
I only sighed as I allowed my lip to slip from the teeth that had tethered it in place as I’d been thinking. “Just wrapping my head around things,” I muttered. “Or at least trying to.”
I’m not sure if they both felt I could use the reprieve or what, but the rest of the ride passed by in silence until Garrett had to direct me to his place. He lived at the edge of town in a cute little cottage house that I was actually envious of and never in a million years would have associated with Garrett. The house just seemed too serious to belong to him, if that makes sense. I didn’t even voice my opinion on the matter as he unfolded himself from my Jeep and took off toward the front door with the towel still wrapped around his waist as if being dropped off at home in a towel was a common occurrence. Hell, maybe it was.
Entwined (Vukodlak Brew Book 1) Page 13