He chuckled as he remembered her eager looking around and bright eyes as she looked over at him from the rusty clunker he was restoring. Their eyes met and he yelled for the staff to clear out. He wasn’t proud that he’d taken her up against a car, but he cherished the memory and every time he saw that car he popped an instant woody thinking of her sweet legs wrapped around him.
Damn, and there was his arousal again. He needed to finish fast so he could be home before the kids; he envisioned a heavy petting session in their near future.
Several minutes after Tinker left for the shop, a scratching sound came from the back porch. It sounded exactly like Tinker when he got home from a meeting at Alpha house; he would shift to get there and then run back as his wolf. At first Bree was upset by this, thinking he sat nude during the meetings, but he assured her that he was provided with sweats and a shirt upon his arrival. Apparently the mated males didn’t want their wives to ogle him any more than she wanted him ogled.
Feeling just a bit frisky, she unbuttoned the top buttons of the flannel Tinker had placed her in before he left, revealing the inner curve of her breasts and allowing her nipples to peek out. She also removed her panties; Tinker really loved it when she did that, making the scent of her arousal more noticeable.
Flinging open the door, she was shocked when a reddish colored wolf leapt on her, sending them both to the ground. The air flew out of her lungs as the heavy body crushed her and the claws dug into the exposed skin of her chest. Crying out in pain, she was silenced when the wolf climbed up her body and smothered her with his weight, cutting off what little air she’d been able to suck in. Her legs began to involuntarily spasm and kick, while her arms tried to shove him off. She was sure this was a male too. In fact, she was sure it was dirty, crazy Reginald Wagner that was smothering her.
Thinking back to her training with Decker, she allowed her arms and legs to relax; feigned passing out, although, she was very close to the real thing. When she went limp, he loped off her and she heard his claws tearing through the house. He was clearly searching for something important.
Sitting up gently, she took in a few gulps of much needed air. Hearing a vicious growl sound from behind her she twisted her upper body, her shoulder was nudged by the wolf’s head. “Just tell me what you want Mr. Wagner, I’m in no mood to play today.”
He growled fiercely, but it was interrupted by the phone ringing. The wolf’s eyes widened and the room filled with the scent of his panic. Thanking Tinker immensely for teaching her to recognize different scents, she remained silent as the wolf watched her. The ringing stopped and the answering machine clicked on. Her mate’s recorded voice was comforting as he asked for the caller to leave their message after the beep.
It was Trevor’s singsong voice, “Hiya Ms. Bree, it’s me-Trevor. I know what you’re doing and I can’t wait to share, you’d be surprised at your strength, it’s beyond compare. Mr. Tinker sure loves you, but it’s your time to shine. Go ahead and make our pack yours by getting rid of that swine. Gotta get back to school now so hear me well, don’t tell my ma I called or…oh look there’s the bell.”
Indeed there was a bell followed by the answering machine clicking off. The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop or the rapid beating of a certain wolf’s heart. Reginald’s fear was tangible.
“Please tell me the big bad most powerful wolf of the New York pack isn’t afraid of a bunny. I never thought I’d see the day.”
She laughed as he lunged with his sharp teeth exposed, spittle flying in her face. “Don’t try and intimidate me, Mr. Wagner. If you tell me what is it you’re looking for, maybe I can help.”
A bright light shone as he shifted back to human. Covering her eyes she took a dish drying towel from the counter and threw it at him. “Cover up. I don’t want to have nightmares.”
“Where are my financial documents? I want them…now.”
“I don’t have them anymore. The Alpha of this pack has the papers you want; you’ll have to go ask Alpha Jake. I’m sure Alpha Holt has a copy as well. I don’t know why you would want them, you’re not going back.”
“I am going back you hick loving miscreant. I plan on changing those papers to indicate Holt. What do you care anyway? In New York, packs have always been run by the smartest most powerful wolf, and that’s me.”
“I beg to differ. Holt is the whole package; a smart, kind, powerful, and most important, compassionate wolf. He’s made some great changes so far and he’s well-liked by all members of the pack. He’s already started forming stronger alliances than you ever had. He’s the true Alpha; he’ll never step down for you.”
“We’ll see. He won’t have a choice when I provide the pack with the evidence. I just have to destroy the real evidence against me. See…I’m smarter.”
“I don’t know that I’d call you smart. More like underhanded, crooked, thieving and a disgusting person. But that’s just my personal opinion.”
Instead of getting upset, Reginald simply laughed smugly. “I honestly couldn’t care less about what you think. Although, I’ve been dying to tell you how you really got fired from your high power lawyer gig. I might have put a bug in a few ears about you.”
“You started those rumors, telling people I was making it with my boss? Why would you even know or care what happened at the law firm?”
Shooting her a sneer he said. “You really aren’t very smart, are you? You turned down several of my cases because you felt ‘there was too much dishonesty involved.’ What lawyer does that anyway? You probably didn’t realize it was me, because I used alternate names associated with a different business every time. I had to get rid of you so I could have unlimited access to the firm. No one else cared that I was lying, or being conniving, or harassing people with bogus lawsuits.”
A huge grin split her face. “Ironic. You got me fired and I got you kicked out of your pack. I’d say we were even. You should go.”
“Even? I don’t think so.” He began to walk towards her and she didn’t like the anger she smelled coming off him.
Still she wasn’t able to hold her tongue. “Honestly, I should thank you. If I’d have been with the firm I would have never met Tinker and I probably wouldn’t have realized what life I was missing out on and I definitely wouldn’t have been a part of your takedown. I’m most proud of that last part.”
Reaching his hand out, Reggie slapped her across the face and that was all she’d been waiting for. Thus far, he’d been relatively non-violent so she wasn’t sure if she should take this as a threat or a clumsy attempt at retrieving information.
His voice was relatively calm, but his scent was shifting quickly; so quickly she couldn’t follow it. “If you value the life of your mate and the lives of your newly acquired children you will retrieve every bit of evidence against me or I will make sure they meet a most unpleasant fate.”
“Like the parents of your pack mates? I haven’t found any hard evidence that you killed their parents, but I will. I found all of your financial records before Holt forwarded your fixed documents to compare. Did you know that I was the one to take you down? Sure Jake suspected, and is the one who alerted me to the problem, but I did all of the evidence collection, tied all the evidence together and provided it to the Alpha, and it was my mate who found your replacement and set you up. I couldn’t be more proud.”
He clapped. If a clap could be sarcastic, then his clap was sarcastic. “Aww, you should be proud. After all, I’ve killed people for a lesser slight to my power, but, we’re not talking about that. I made sure the accidents that befell my pack-mates were untraceable to me, and I will do it again with your accident if you don’t do exactly what I say. I should have taken care of you permanently when you were only a pesky lawyer. My mistake. A mistake I will fix shortly, unless you do as I ask.”
Now it was her turn to smile smugly. “Well, Reggie, I guess now isn’t the time to tell you that I think you’re a smug prick with no manners and stinky breath.”
She went into the hall closet and retrieved a few pairs of handcuffs and smiled as she positioned him face down on the floor and cuffed his hands and legs. “It would seem, Mr. Wagner, that you’re not as smart as you’ve always thought; a shame because I was expecting more of a challenge from a big Alpha wolf like you. You should have moved on when you had the chance. Now you’ll forever be immortalized as the wolf that was caught by the bunny.”
At that exact moment Officer Decker walked in the back door. “Thanks, Bree, We’ve got all the evidence we need to have him locked up for a very long time.” He touched her cheek gently, “Tinker’s not going to be too happy about this.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Nah, just some redness, you may get a bruise.” He leaned over Reggie and kicked him in the side. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to hit girls?”
When Reggie released an oomph and attempted to get some air in because the wind was knocked out of him, Bree placed a hand on Decker’s back for comfort. “It’s over, I’m fine, and we can all get on with our lives. Did Trevor call you?”
“Yeah, poor kid was getting yelled at by the school nurse because he said his stomach hurt and he was calling his ma. Shana’s gonna be pissed.”
“I’ll talk to her. In the meantime, will you take him away from me? He’s kinda creepy.”
“Sure, you have a visitor outside. He’s been there the whole time.”
Bree smiled at Decker as she thanked him for coming and went out the back door. Halting when she saw Blue standing there silently with tears running down his face, she said. “I’m so sorry, Blue, I hope you’re comforted knowing that he can never hurt anyone again.”
Nodding his head he walked right up to her, picking her up in his arms and burying his head in the crook of her neck to sob. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to help so badly, but Trevor said you needed to do this alone. I’m so sorry I let him hurt you.”
Pulling back she cupped his face in her hands. “You’re my son now and I know you would do anything to see me happy and healthy because I feel the same about you. I did need to do this on my own and I know that if I was in over my head, you would have intervened.”
Nodding his head, he wiped his face on his shirtsleeve. “Tinker’s gonna be mad.”
“Don’t you worry about your father; I’ll take care of him.”
Looking over Bree noticed a rustling in the bushes. She shoved Blue behind her and took a defensive stance in front of him.
Blue simply laughed, “You can come out now, Candy Cane.”
Relaxing her stance Bree asked, “You brought your sister?”
He shook his head vigorously as Candy stepped out of the woods in wolf form. Decker was carrying out a pleading Reggie when she yipped. Reggie’s head came around and he let out a high pitched scream before asking, “What the bloody hell is that?”
Looping over to the pair, Candy placed her paws on Decker’s leg, placing her red eyes in front of a now terrified Reggie, growling. He began screaming again, causing Decker to drop him and cover his ears. Candy must not have liked the sound either, because she leaned over a squirming Reggie and bit him in the ankle. After shaking a bit, she pulled back, gagged a few times, and then trotted over to Bree and Blue.
Unable to hold in a giggle, Bree leaned over and rubbed Candy’s head. “I bet you’re very proud of yourself, aren’t you, Good Girl?”
Blue joined in her rub down. “Her brother is very proud of her too.” He leaned down to whisper, “You got his Achilles, Princess, good work.”
Certainly fate was messing with her, because at that precise moment Tinker strode out the back door and asked. “What happened in the house? It smells like burned flesh and piss.”
Looking around, taking in the situation, Tinker growled once before shaking his head. “You alright, Bree, kids?”
Just a little bit fearful over Tinker’s calmness, both kids nodded while Bree stood up, “We’re all fine. Everything is as it should be: Reggie is in custody and you and the kids home safe.”
Staring each other down for a few seconds, Tinker finally spoke. “Decker, will you please call Jake to have someone clean up the stink in our house. Come on kids, let’s go get some ice cream.” He looked over at his mate, “I think Bree has earned it.”
Epilogue
Four months later
“Tinker, get your butt out here. We’re all waiting on you.”
Candy’s small voice announced, “Mama, don’t go yellin’ or he’s gonna come out here and start with the kissin’. We don’t wanna see that again.”
Blue smiled. “Heck, Candy Cane, I hope kissin’ is all they do. Hopefully he doesn’t carry her off again. We really need to get these pictures done.”
Slamming the back door, Tinker came out looking sexy in a pair of well-worn jeans and one of his plaid shirts. “I don’t know why we gotta take pictures at all, we’re livin’ it.”
“Because when I’m all old and grey, I want to remember what these days were like.” Bree stroked Candy’s hair while she nudged Blue in the arm. “And the kids will want to remember what we look like. What if they decide to move away?”
A slight growl emerged from Tinker, “I hope they don’t, or I’ll have to convince them to stay.”
Bree giggled. “I’m glad we’re on the same page regarding the kids. Now hurry up and stop making the poor photographer shake.”
They took several pictures posing in the woods, against the house, and beside the creek. Bree was feeling very good about the pictures when the photographer prompted. “Okay, I have a few chalkboards and I’d like to have you each write what means the most to you on them and I’ll get a picture of your reactions. This is one of my favorite parts because I always get really good pictures to choose from.”
Tinker rolled his eyes as he took the chalkboard. “I could be rebuilding an engine right now, Thumper.”
“Stuff it, predator.”
After taking a few seconds to write on their chalkboards they began with the kids. Blue wrote, ‘love and pack’ while Candy wrote a bit more, ‘pumpkin pie, toilets, food, friends, teachers, food’ and lastly she wrote ‘mom and dad.’ Tinker was a three word kinda man too that day; he wrote simply, “my loving family.’
It was finally time for Bree to share her board. She was so nervous her hands were sweating and she dropped the board twice. When she finally revealed the board it said, ‘I am thankful for my mate, my children and my new pack.’ Everyone had to come closer to read what she wrote at the bottom, ‘and for the special delivery that we will receive in May.’
Tinker smiled as he pulled them all into his arms and began to jump up and down. They all began to laugh and hug.
When they finally pulled apart Candy innocently asked, “What’s in May? Is it my birthday? I like presents?”
They laughed as a family before Blue said, “Oh, don’t worry Candy Cane, you’ll be getting a present.”
The photographer pulled her lens away and said, “I got some really great shots and congratulations. Now’s the time if you want the other photos we discussed.”
Everyone looked confused before Bree shoved Blue toward the house and asked, “Can you please let the dogs out for the next few shots. We’re almost done.”
Poor Candy looked really confused when she uttered, “The dogs? We get dogs?”
Understanding what Bree was trying to say, Blue pulled his sister toward the house. “No problem, we’ll let ‘em out.”
“What? I think this’ll be great as an announcement, don’t you think?”
“If your children allow you to post it I think it’ll be hilarious.”
The two wolves came running out of the house, Blue in the lead as they came to a screeching halt at Bree’s feet. Candy came forward and licked Bree in the stomach indicating that Blue had explained she was expecting. Going down on one knee Bree gave the wolves loving rubs while whispering, “I love you guys. Come on, give Mama some kisses.”
After the last photos were taken they lingered in the woods. It seemed that Blue, Candy and Bree enjoyed being one with nature. Tinker loved to watch them run back and forth chasing each other. It seemed like Blue and Candy had boundless energy, every once in a while Tinker would join in. Now Tinker was sitting in the grass with Bree’s head in his lap. They were discussing Grant, Jake’s brother who’d gone missing a few months ago. Finding him was apparently going to be Bree’s new focus so she spoke of him often, asking about his likes and dislikes.
“Do you think he found his mate?”
Sighing, Tinker revealed. “Honestly, that’s the only thing that I think could keep him away. He loves this pack and his family.”
“Apparently, he’s tried to contact Jake a few times, but the calls always drop. Let’s see…maybe he’s on a ship.”
“Maybe.”
“Are you sure he was happy? Maybe he wanted to be Alpha and he knew it wouldn’t work here so he left.”
“Nah, he’s very dedicated to the pack.”
“But-”
The sounds of the kids suddenly set off their parent radar. The sound of running paws was interrupted by a brief scramble and then silence. The lack of sound caused a brief panic before the kids’ paws sounded again. Their footfalls had changed directions and they were hurrying towards their parents. It appeared the kids had something to show them because there was something hanging out of their mouths; it looked like…rabbits. “Oh crap, Bree, close your eyes.”
Pack Protection Page 13
