Wyatt knew that they probably shouldn’t have said that, not on the air, but it sure brought home the fact that no one but himself had voted for Bush.
Wyatt and his dad walked with Jules to where the people were waiting for counts to be finished up. Bush was there, standing there waiting in the sidelines when they arrived. He wasn’t looking like a man that had lost the mayoral race, more like a man that had lost everything in a scam of a deal.
When Bush drew back to no doubt hit Jules, Wyatt grabbed his hand. “You might want to rethink this decision, Bush. First of all, there are cameras everywhere. Secondly, you’d be hitting the mayor. That is serious shit if you do it.” Bush just glared at him. “You hit me, and I have to tell you, you’re going to be in bigger shit.”
“You don’t scare me, Wyatt. You and your family, you more than likely bought all the votes.” Wyatt said he’d not do anything to him. “Oh, no? Well, what was the threat for? Hum? Are you thinking of getting me when I least expect it?”
“No, he won’t hurt you, because I will.” Sid kissed Wyatt on the cheek as she stepped in front of him. “Back off now, Bush, and I won’t have to show these good people here what a pussy you are. Back up, or I will back you into a hole so deep that your prison cell will look good.”
Bush ran off—not walked, but ran. Turning Sid to look at him, Dad asked her what Bush had done that she thought that he’d be going to prison. Shrugging, she looked at him again.
“I was just poking the bear. But the look on his face tells me that someone should be looking into things. Don’t you think?”
Kissing her again, Wyatt and the others stood there and watched as Jules went out to announce that he had a son. The crowd went wild for that.
A new Stanton to add to the table. A tradition that he and his brothers had decided to do from now on. Jules would put James’s name on his table, and when Wyatt and Sid had their child, they’d add it to their own. It was something that Wyatt had no trouble believing would take up several tables if they were to put every birth in their family in one place.
~*~
Brayden put down the phone and looked at Dane. She’d been at his side since they’d heard about the death of the pack leader an hour ago. Jeremy had been a good friend to Brayden’s family since he’d been a little boy and had been as much a part of his childhood as his brothers had been.
“They’re going to give him a full pack funeral. Then they’re going to speak to the council to make sure that they’re all right with any decisions that have to be taken care of.” Dane asked him what they had wanted him for. “I don’t know, but I’m supposed to go to the meeting with them to answer any questions about Jeremy that they might have. Dane, I didn’t realize that he was in his nineties, did you?”
“No. I knew that he was getting up there, but not how old he might be.” She came and sat on his lap, something that he noticed all the women did when they were with their other halves. “Does he leave a wife or any children? I would imagine that his children would be about your parents’ age by now.”
“He had a son, but he was killed some years ago. He and his wife had been on vacation when they were hit by another car going the wrong way on the road they were on. It took them years to prove that he’d not been on the wrong side, what with him being an out of towner.” Dane nodded. “I don’t believe there is anyone else. But what worries me is that now that the pack is without a leader, someone that won’t do as good a job will take over, and we’ll lose all the perks we have now. Even for as old as he was, Jeremy was open to all sorts of things a man half his age might now be.”
“We’ll just hope for the best and be there if they need us.”
Brayden was still at his desk later when his dad showed up. He and Jeremy had been pretty close, and he was taking it pretty hard.
“He just went to sleep and didn’t wake up. Broke my heart to see him lying there like that.” Brayden said that he’d been talking to Meggie earlier. “Yes, she called the house a bit ago. I went over there to pronounce him gone so that they could file the proper paperwork. I guess they’re going to keep it out of the howl, the wolves’ way of spreading news, for as long as they can. Meggie said they were worried about the sort of people that it might bring in.”
“That’s what Dane and I were talking about earlier. I was just sitting here thinking about who in the pack might be a good person to take it over. I don’t know who they’d ask. There is no one that can fill his shoes and keep them safe.” Dad nodded. “I heard from Wyatt. I told him what had happened, and he said that he and Sid would be back out here tomorrow. They’re getting an inventory done of the land and house. Did you notice that there were tractors in the barn? I guess no one wanted to fool with them, and they didn’t sell. Wyatt doesn’t know if he wants to work on them or simply sell them. I told him that I’d come out there soon and have a look at them.”
“Good for you. Sid is making her way around things too. She and your mom were talking last night about the other bedrooms. For now, they’re leaving the bedroom suites that they got for near nothing in the rooms they were in.” Brayden thought that was an excellent idea. “I guess when they ripped out the carpet in the living room, there was knotty pine under it. Sid told your mom that it was too beautiful to cover up.”
They talked about Wyatt’s house off and on for a while. Dad told him the agreement that he and Wyatt had about patients, and Brayden thought that was a good thing. He had to admit, his dad was looking a little lost a few days ago. Now he seemed perked up.
When his phone rang again, he picked it up when he saw it was from Meggie. Meggie was about the oldest wolf shifter alive, he thought. Brayden was almost positive that she had written the rules regarding the pack that Jeremy had taken over when he’d been in his thirties. He didn’t know why she didn’t just run the pack.
“I would like you to come over if you can. Bring your father if you could do that also. We’re making some decisions here, and I think that cooler heads should prevail.” He told her that his dad was there, and they’d be over. “Good. Brayden, this is a good pack—you know that, don’t you? I mean, you know that we won’t ever allow any harm to come to you or your family. No matter what happens after this.”
“I do know that, Meggie. I don’t think there is a better pack than the one that Jeremy had. He was always so calm, and when there was a need, he’d be the first one to roll up his sleeves and give it all he had.” She thanked him. “We’ll be there soon. Can I bring you anything?”
“No. That’s kind of you to ask. Dane is here with that little baby of yours. She’s been making sure that everyone is safe in her own way.” She would do that, Brayden thought. “I heard about the trial that was held for that woman and kid. I’m telling you, I never in my life heard of anyone getting two hundred life sentences before. How many of them do you think she’ll be able to do before some cop shoots her in the head for being just plain stupid? That boy, he’s going to have it bad, him being younger and all. He got, if I remember, as many as she did.”
“He got more for making the judge angry a few times. Six hundred years total. But you’re right, it will be hard on him. But Meadow will not live out as many as she should. The kid, did you hear about him? He was so sure that he’d be able to convince the courts that he’d only been doing it to get himself laid. The judge told him that he should be ashamed of himself, sleeping with a woman old enough to be his grandma. She’s not, but it sure was funny to see the look on his face.” Meggie asked about the family when she was done laughing. “They’re doing a lot better. They’re getting moved into the house. They all ended up living in the big house together. I don’t know how long that will last, but I think for now it’s the best thing they could have done. Getting to know each other again is wonderful. Don’t you agree?”
“I do. I surely do.” She paused just enough for him to know she was going to say something more about Jeremy.
“You come on over here when you can get here, Brayden. I think it’ll help us all out having you here.”
As he was walking over to the packhouse, he and Dad wondered where they’d bury Jeremy. He would have a secluded place somewhere so that no one would be able to tear up his grave if a new pack leader came to them gunning for trouble.
Several of the pack stood up and shook his and his Dad’s hands. Even with all that was going on, Brayden thought that they were calm enough. Dad had told him on the way here that there was a lot of turmoil when a pack leader died like Jeremy had. But they seemed to be calm.
“I have to talk to you before you go into that meeting.” He asked Dane what was going on. “They want you to take over the pack. To run it forever.”
Brayden looked around, then back at Dane. “Surely, you’re kidding. I’m a cat, not a wolf.” She told him he was everything, the same as she was. “And that makes what kind of difference?”
“You can be a wolf. And you know the rules as well as anyone. They know this. I think that your buddy Jeremy told them that before he went to the big gray wolf lodge in the sky.” She cocked a brow at him. “I didn’t come up with that. They said that was where he was going.”
“I can’t be pack leader. I don’t want to.” She told him that he’d better come up with a better reason than that he didn’t want to. “Dane, I don’t want to do this. Maybe Dad will do it.”
“Oh no, you don’t. I have me lots of grandbabies I want to play with. I don’t want to run a pack any more than you do.” He asked his dad what he should do now. “I don’t know, son. Help them out, but tell them they have to find them someone that they trust. That’s what I’d do.”
Brayden liked that idea. Taking the baby from Dane—for comfort, he told himself—he went into the packhouse to find most of the pack there. They started cheering the moment that he walked in the door. Brayden thought that he was in more trouble than he’d first thought.
Two hours later he was pack leader, but with stipulations—that they had to look for a new leader, and that they were patient with him, as he did have a few contracts that he had to uphold. One of them being with Tess. They laughed and asked him if he was afraid of her too.
“Of course, I am. I’m terrified of my own mother when she’s upset.” That brought more laughter. He was sure that every adult male was afraid of either their mother, wife, or sister. Maybe even all of them if they were lucky enough to have them all. Brayden was just willing to admit it.
As he was leaving the packhouse, carrying his sleeping baby with him, he thought it might not be so bad to help them out with this. They had certainly helped his family out on more than just a few occasions. He knew that they’d kept him and his entire family safe. Even when he’d been younger, he knew that they were always there. Looking over at Dane, he saw a ghost of a smile.
“I knew you’d not be able to turn it down.” He said that he’d given them stipulations on him taking the job. “Yes, well, I read their minds. They’re so relieved that this big bad cougar took the position that they’re just going to keep you on as long as they can. As far as I’m concerned, you are the perfect man for the job.”
Brayden wasn’t sure if she was joking with him or not, but he was glad for his son to talk to. His mother, he told Brady, was a pain in the ass. Brayden could only stare at Dane when she told him to watch his language. Holy crap, he thought, someone had traded out his wife for a pod person. There wasn’t any way that his wife told him to watch his language.
When they were home, Brayden sat in the rocker and rocked Brady. It was nice, he thought. Having a baby in his arms made him feel things that he’d never thought of before. Mostly it was what he would be like when he grew up. How he’d change things.
Or more importantly, how would things change around him? While he sat there, rocking back and forth, Brayden told his son about what was going on in the world now. The things that he’d seen, things that he wished he’d seen. Looking at his baby’s face, he had to smile.
Brady had a full head of hair, which he understood most shifter babies did. Like his mother, Brady’s eyes were green. He’d been born with them that color, which had surprised everyone that saw him.
His lips were pursed up right now, and he looked as if he were dreaming of a big bottle of milk. When he yawned, Brayden fell in love with him more than ever when he opened his eyes and looked right at him.
“Hello, baby.” They stared at each other for several moments. Brady’s eyes were blinking more and more as they did so. Just before he finally closed his eyes in sleep, Brady smiled at him like he’d just realized that he could trust him. Then he pooped so loudly that it startled them both.
Brayden carried him to the changing table in his office. The smell was bad enough to make him regret being the one to hold him when he poop-sploded. But having him changed and smelling so sweet and fresh after he was finished, Brayden thought that there were far worse things in life than a poopie diaper.
Chapter 11
First Thanksgiving at the Homestead Place
Wyatt moved from the kitchen to the new deck that they’d been able to get finished yesterday. The weather had turned unseasonably warm, and he and Dad had moved everything out to the deck to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.
“I thought you were kidding when you said that we’d be able to get everything out here in an hour.” Wyatt told his dad that he never joked about food. “No, I would guess that you wouldn’t. My goodness, Wyatt. A man could get used to a view like this one. It’s almost as if you special ordered it to go with the day.”
The trees surrounding the house had been trimmed a couple of months ago. Now all the leaves had turned so many colors that he was sure that someone had gone out to make sure that all the earth tone colors had been painted on the trees.
They’d gotten a good deal more finished up than they’d thought they would, most of it the outside stuff. Both ponds had been cleaned out. The vet who had come out to check on the two horses they’d been able to bring close to the house said the water was polluted. Taking care of that had been easy, and it brought a good deal more of the free-running horses closer for them to see.
The outbuildings and the barn had new roofs. The barn had been repainted, and all the stalls cleaned out in hopes of the horses being found and brought in for the colder months. However, they were told that the horses had spent more time out in the cold, and would probably hate being cooped up inside. Now they had a clean barn ready for next spring, but they hadn’t decided what they were going to put into it.
“I saw that you got those trees taken down. You do it?” Wyatt told him that he’d started it. “Too much for you? I’m sure it would have been for me, even if I were your age. That was a lot of felled trees.”
“There were. But once they started pulling out the deadfall, they found a great many more trees that were going to be down with the next hard wind. Also, having snow on them would have brought them down anyway.” Dad said he hoped they were careful. “Oh, we are. But the good part of having someone come out and take them down is that we have plenty of firewood to keep us warm should the power go out. I might not care for it when we have no power for a few days, but I’m actually looking forward to having the house all to ourselves for a couple of days.”
He and Sidney figured that they’d get a lot of the work done on the inside while closed up in the house when the snow started blowing.
Dad jumped to help Sid when she came out of the house with a salad in a big bowl. When she kissed him on the forehead, Dad turned the brightest shades of red he’d ever witnessed. Wyatt made sure there was plenty of ice for the drinks that had been put into big tubs with ice covering them. He was as excited about this as he’d ever been.
At noon his brothers and their families started to show up. Dad was showing them around and telling them all the things that Wyatt and Sid had done to the yard and fi
elds. He even explained to them about the barn and the horses. Mom came out to the deck to hug him.
“Not that I mind, but what was that for? You having second thoughts about having Thanksgiving all the way out here?” She just looked up at him. “Can I ask you something? Don’t answer now, but would you and Dad like to live out here with us full time?”
Mom pulled away from him just as Dane came out with Brady. My goodness, Wyatt thought, the kid was going to be a bruiser. Ruby, of course, made herself at home, playing with the blocks and wooden toys that they’d unearthed in one of the bedrooms this week. In fact, they’d been unearthing a lot of things like the blocks. They’d found an old scooter that they decided would look nice next to the fireplace. Sidney had found, in one of the bedrooms, a hand-braided rug that must not have sold so they’d put it aside. They had it cleaned and repaired. It looked beautiful in the room that his parents were now using.
There were lots of kitchen items in a box that they’d been sure someone had bought. It wasn’t until his parents showed up that Mom told him that she’d left it in all the excitement. Most of what had been left behind had been tossed out. There had been a great deal of it too.
Three of the large rollback dumpsters had been used and emptied already. Wyatt knew that as soon as they started in the house, they’d more than likely have more. The barn, however, had been worth every penny it had taken to get the dumpsters emptied. He loved to just go out there and walk around.
“This could not be more perfect, I don’t think.” He thanked Julian. “Tess has spoken to Mom every day since they’ve been up here, and they’re both having such a good time that I don’t think you’re going to get them to leave.”
“I’m all right with that. In fact, I asked Mom if she wanted to stay. Dad has been hinting around about it pretty heavily. It’s not like I’m going to keep them captive or anything. They could be there in no time and spend time with everyone. And I’m there a few days a week too.” Julian asked what Mom had said. “Nothing as yet. I only asked her today. You’re not mad, are you?”
Wyatt: The Stanton Pack—Paranormal Cougar Shifter Romance Page 13
