Peyton again pointedly stared at Beck, who kept his gaze fixed on his sandwich.
“I’ve decided Joaquin will be assigned to Tampa,” Peyton continued. “We’d already talked about assigning a new Enforcer to the area in addition to Martin. The area is large and growing, and I don’t want Dewi using any bullshit excuses about not having enough help to keep her from having a life. Ditto you, too, Beck,” he added. “You and Nami deserve a chance to have some happiness. Joaquin and Martin can help Badger pick up the slack.
“Also,” Peyton continued, “I think it’s a waste of Joaquin’s skills to leave him stuck here in Idaho. If the Seguras do come looking for him, he’ll stand out more here than he will in a major metropolitan area with a large Hispanic population. Once we have his new ID set up, it’ll be even easier for him to blend in. Anything you wish to say about this, Beck? Last chance. Get it out of your system, now, and be done with it. Free pass to speak your mind.”
Beck slowly shook his head.
Joaquin spoke up. “I’d like to say something.”
Peyton nodded at him.
Joaquin took a deep breath, fully realizing Beck would still probably want to kill him later. “Like I told Dewi yesterday, I owe you an apology for what happened a few years back. I did not handle myself in an honorable way. My issues were with Sadie and the fact that I had a problem with her. I never should have acted the way I did. I wanted to try being exclusive, and she didn’t, and then…well, I shouldn’t have acted like I did.”
Boy, howdy, he knew shouldn’t have.
Especially now that he knew what a true mate bond felt like.
In retrospect, it was a damn good thing he hadn’t settled down with Sadie. “I shouldn’t have goaded you,” Joaquin said. “I also shouldn’t have disrespected Dewi or you by hitting on her later on. I respect you, you’re damn good at your job, and I hope that I can repair our relationship going forward.”
Beck looked up at him, then swiveled his head toward Peyton.
Peyton held up his hands. “I didn’t tell him to say it, I swear. No Prime, either. That was all him.”
“I was going to say it anyway,” Joaquin said. “You can ask Dewi and Ken. I’ve already apologized to her. I did that yesterday.”
Beck sat back in his chair and met Joaquin’s gaze. Joaquin wasn’t sure at first if Beck was going to say anything or not when the wolf finally spoke.
“You knew what you were getting into with Sadie when you started dating her,” Beck said. “You knew she wasn’t going to settle down yet. You knew neither of you pinged on each other as mates. Then you had to go and act like a jackass when she pretty much did what you and everyone else in the whole damn pack knew she was going to do anyway.”
Joaquin didn’t interrupt him.
“And then, what, you thought you were going to spite me by making a pass at Dewi of all people? Yeah, I get it. My sister lied to you about what she’d been doing. She admitted that much to me. But you took a bad situation and made it infinitely worse. And you ended up shipped to Mexico for your troubles. Apology accepted, and no, I won’t protest the assignment.”
Beck leaned forward again and picked up his sandwich. “But I also won’t deal with Sadie for you. You get to own that shi—”
Trent cleared his throat and tipped his head toward the toddler.
Beck paused. “You get to own that stuff yourself. If you pull any stuff like that again, I reserve the right to warn you now that I’ll likely beat your as-butt myself.”
Joaquin released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, well, we all do stupid sh-stuff when we’re younger. Yes, I admit, Sadie was older than you. You think I don’t know the games she was playing? She’s my little sister. I was dang well aware of it. But as her big brother, I have to take a side, and it’s always going to be her side I take against some other guy.”
“I get it.”
“No, I don’t think you did. Not back then. I could tell from your tone of voice when you were telling us what happened in Mexico that you’ve matured. You’ve changed. You’ve seen stuff you wish you could unsee, and you feel like you failed when you didn’t. Been there, done that, believe me. Not a single Enforcer who’s been on the job any length of time who doesn’t understand that. But I’ll also tell you if you thought Dewi was a tough boss long-distance, you ain’t seen nothing yet, having to deal with her every day.”
Bebe, sitting in her high chair next to Badger, let out a laugh. When all the men looked at her, smiling at her adorable expression, she threw back her head and let out a cheerful little howl…which eerily sounded like a wolf pup’s howl and made the men freeze. Then she grinned at them before cutting loose with a long burp five sizes too large for her, followed immediately by a sleepy yawn.
Trent’s eyes widened. “Um, wow. I know some of the youngsters were running close to the houses last night, but I didn’t think she could hear them.” He looked at Badger. “I’d swear she sounds like my kids sounded at that age.”
Badger shrugged. “Don’t ask me, lad. She’s a special little one, all right.” He reached out and she grabbed his hand, holding on.
“Gampa Bada!” she happily exclaimed.
“What’d she say?” Peyton asked.
“That’s what she calls me,” Badger said. “She can’t quite say ‘Grandpa Badger’ yet.”
“Grandpa, huh?”
“Believe me, lad, I don’t mind. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to havin’ me own grandpups.”
Joaquin couldn’t stop the unbidden thought that bubbled up in his mind, of his and Malyah’s pups one day calling the grizzled wolf “Gampa Bada.”
Joaquin also realized that was just fine by him.
* * * *
Badger loaded Bebe in the SUV to drive Joaquin back to Jack and Moraine’s house.
“Thanks for not telling Beck what happened,” Joaquin said.
He dreaded the reveal but knew Peyton was right. It had to happen eventually, and in a controlled manner, not accidentally.
Say, in the middle of final wedding preparations minutes before Dewi’s ceremony.
“Oh, don’t thank me, lad. Lucky thing Peyton has a soft spot in his soul and isn’t makin’ ye present her front and center tonight at dinner. And ye never know what might have happened at brunch with the women.”
Joaquin groaned. He’d tried not to think about that. “Why do I get the feeling I might need my mate to protect me from Beck?”
“Heh. Because ye just might need yer mate to protect ye. But it wouldn’t be Beck I’d be worryin’ about, now. It’d be Nami. She’s as fierce as any wolf I’ve ever seen about her siblings. Beck might be yer new best friend in terms of protectin’ yer hide.”
“I never expected this to happen,” Joaquin said. “Not in a million years, and especially not like this. What are the odds that Nami’s sister is my mate?”
“It’s not unheard of for wolves to ping on two non-shifting siblings as mates. Although I’ve never heard of it happening with human siblings before. Then again, the cases I’ve heard about were all at Musters or other big events, so it’s no surprise they met mates when so many wolves and extended family were together in one place. A lot of mating bonds crop up at Musters. I expect we’ll have quite a few this week. Peyton will likely have his paws full doing recognitions on Sunday, before people leave. Who knows how often it might happen, but the person was already taken, and the wolf had to walk away?”
Joaquin shuddered, remembering his fear that perhaps he’d scented on Lu’ana, and his joy to realize it was Malyah.
“That would suck.”
“Yep.”
They rode the rest of the way in silence, except for Bebe jabbering away in the backseat and pointing out the windows as they drove. When Badger pulled into Jack and Moraine’s driveway, Joaquin was relieved to see neither of their vehicles parked there.
“Deep breaths,” Badger counseled. “Ye’ll be stayin’ with he
r at the guest cottages as soon as Peyton breaks the news. He’s not cruel. He won’t keep two newly mated lovebirds separated like that.”
“How do I keep her safe?” he quietly asked. “What if the Seguras come after me in the States?”
Badger reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “We’ll all help keep her safe, lad. Even if ye have to live here with her for a while, until we can properly suss out what’s going on.”
“No word from Ramirez yet?”
“No. Not since yesterday. Last he reported, he evacuated the family out of the area…” Badger cleared his throat. “Now that they had the funeral and all. He might simply be out of cell range. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s good at what he does. Just like you are.”
“Does this get any easier?”
“Which part?”
“Being an Enforcer. I realize I was awfully cocky in the beginning, but…” He knew the memory of finding the dead girl’s body would never leave his mind.
The way she’d been discarded like garbage, instead of someone who’d been loved and cherished by her family.
Which was one of the reasons Joaquin had no problems offing the fucker in front of his own family.
Admittedly, Joaquin recognized his own lack of self-control was one of the reasons he was now in this mess to begin with, because he wasn’t able to push back his anger enough to think rationally once he knew he’d had the fucker in front of him. Had he waited and taken the man after the wedding—meaning hours later, at the very least—he could have gotten away clean without anyone having any idea who the hell he was.
Then again, he wouldn’t be here now, and he wouldn’t have met Malyah.
Badger stared at him. “I don’t need to be a Prime to know the way your mind’s turnin’. All you can do is move forward. There’s no room in this life for could’ves. You did what you did, and what happened, happened. It’s horrible what happened to that girl. She didn’t deserve to die like that, no. But the Goddess has a funny feckin’ way of payin’ us back for the bad times, sometimes. And don’t lie to me and tell me that didn’t flit through yer mind already.”
“It did,” Joaquin quietly admitted. “It doesn’t seem right, either. Because a girl died, I fucked up, I ran, I ended up here, and I met Malyah.”
“Exactly. So maybe give thanks instead of beatin’ yerself up. Likely, that girl would have died anyway, sad to say. There are horrible two-legged monsters out there who don’t care about the carnage they leave in their wake. Our job is to do the best we can and take ’em out when we can. Ye did that.”
Badger patted the steering wheel. “Now, I know I can tell ye ’til I turn blue in the face to let it go, but I know that’s silly. Ye can’t. Ye have a kind and carin’ heart, which is another reason you’re a good Enforcer. Ye can’t be a cold and ruthless bastard without a balance to it. We want good people doin’ what we do. And yer good people, lad. Real good. Now go on and try to take a nap, because I know ye won’t get much sleep later. I’ll come by and pick ye up around five, so ye don’t have to walk.”
Joaquin’s heart ached at that. “I want to see her.”
“I know ye do. But ye need to play it calm.” He pulled out his cell phone and handed it to him. “I have Malyah’s number programmed in there. We’ll get ye a phone by dinner time. Feel free to text her. Just do me a favor.”
“Yeah?”
“Erase yer texts. No offense, I don’t want to be seein’ yer private thoughts there.”
“I appreciate this.”
“Well, makes sense. If anyone else texts or calls me, don’t answer it. Call or text Peyton and tell him for me.”
“Thanks again.” Joaquin got out, found the spare key Jack had hidden for him, and let himself inside.
Yes, the house was blessedly empty, calm, quiet.
He headed for the shower and stood under the spray, his head pressed against the wall. He wanted Malyah there, with him, in his arms.
He wanted his mate.
He ached for her.
This is going to be a looong afternoon.
Chapter Fifteen
Malyah stared out the window as they drove back to what she now knew was the pack compound. She couldn’t wait to talk to Joaquin again. To see him.
Who am I kidding? I want to hop into bed with him right now and screw his brains out.
The memory of the feel of his hands on her had been branded into her soul.
She could barely remember what it felt like to not have him in her life. Waiting until they could reveal the truth would be borderline painful.
Just a few days. I can get through that.
But how to extend her stay in Idaho? No way in hell did she want to go back to Tampa. Not without him.
Then again, once Nami and Lu’ana found out about him, they might want to kill him. Staying in Idaho might be the safest option for both her and Joaquin. At least until it was safe to go back to Florida.
No telling how long that will take.
Also now floating through her mind, her recovered memories of what had happened that day at the Ybor City crackhouse. How she’d gotten there in the first place.
How her father and his scumbag friends had abducted her from the apartment.
How Jarome had planned on letting the bastards rape her.
The memories almost made her physically ill. The only comfort was the fact that Dewi had cared enough about her to make her forget what had happened. To make the trauma go away as best she could.
All Malyah wanted to do was crawl into the safety of Joaquin’s arms and let him love every other thought but him out of her mind.
When Asia pulled into Gillian and Peyton’s driveway and parked, Malyah fought the urge to claw her way out of the minivan and run in search of Joaquin. The plan was for him to join her after dinner tonight.
She needed a nap.
Well, no, what she needed was time in bed in Joaquin’s arms, but a nap would have to suffice. Especially since they would probably be spending most of the night awake in bed together.
In her back pocket, her cell phone vibrated. She almost wanted to ignore it, but then she pulled it out to glance at the screen.
There was a text from Badger’s phone.
This isn’t Badger. ;)
Her heart raced and she had to fight the urge to let out a loud squee of delight. She knew exactly who that would be.
You have his phone?
Her head snapped up when Nami cleared her throat. “You gonna sit in there all day?”
Malyah realized everyone else had climbed out. She scrambled out, too.
“Sorry. Do you mind if I go back to my cabin until dinner? I want to lie down for a while. I ate way too much, and I’m already sleepy again.”
Gillian and Asia were going to take Nami and Lu’ana to scope out the wedding site, as well as to look at the great hall as a backup in case weather interfered with the outdoor plans.
They really didn’t need her there.
Nami slowly shook her head. “I guess that’s okay. We’re just going to finalize the layout and decorations. You can see that later this week.”
“We’ll be eating dinner at six,” Gillian said.
Malyah started past Nami, but her sister was too fast and grabbed her wrist.
“There is something going on with you. What is it?” Everyone else had headed toward Gillian’s house.
“I’m really tired,” Malyah said, “and I think I had too many mimosas.” Not exactly the whole truth, because she’d only had one during their two hours at the restaurant, but she hoped Nami had been too busy talking with Gillian, Asia, and Lu’ana to notice that. “I’d like to be feeling okay before dinner.” Nami knew she wasn’t a big drinker.
It must have worked. Nami released her, her expression relaxing. “Go on, then.” She patted Malyah’s shoulder. “We’ve got a long week ahead of us.”
“Badger is supposed to take me and Da’von out horseback riding on Tuesday.”
Nami nodde
d. “I know that. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin your vacation. But this is my wedding, and Dewi’s. I’m only doing this once—well, one last time—and so is she. I know you don’t want to spend all day, every day, stuck inside doing wedding stuff. We’ll be going to Spokane on Wednesday for some more shopping, a whole girls’ day of it, with Gillian and Asia. Some sightseeing while we’re there. Okay?”
Malyah nodded. “Okay.”
Her heart racing, she headed around the house and toward her cottage. Her phone had vibrated again with another incoming text, and she wanted locked doors between her and Nami before she read it.
He loaned his phone to me until they get me another one.
Can I call you? she texted back.
Seconds later, the phone rang, startling her and nearly making her drop it. “Hello?”
“It’s me, sweetheart.” The sound of Joaquin’s voice immediately soothed her and made her long for him even more.
“Can you come over?”
“Not right now. There’s been a change in plans. First, how did brunch go?”
“What change?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. Did you make it through brunch all right?”
“Dewi was so miserable about it that she didn’t even notice. Nami was the only one I had to worry about. So what happened?”
“Peyton and Badger know about us. Which is why I have Badger’s phone.” He quickly explained, and relief—as well as a renewed wave of anxiety—rushed through her.
“Is he sure this is the right thing? To tell them all now?”
“He is, and I have to agree with him. Keeping this a secret for too long won’t help anything when it finally comes out. It would be worse to have it come out right before the weddings.”
Her stomach rolled. “Nami’s going to want us to get married.”
“That is the plan.” His tone changed. “Are you all right?”
A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) Page 14