by Amanda LeMay
“I wouldn’t have to say shit to you, if you stayed where you were supposed to,” Jessy snapped.
“You ain’t never gonna forgive me, are ya?”
I had no idea what was between Jessy and this male, but his light chocolate brown eyes held a measure of regret.
“No.” Jessy turned back to the counter and finished paying for my new clothing.
The salesgirl’s eyes lit up when she looked at the male, easily forgetting the drama that had just unfolded when presented with the possible attentions of a handsome ‘man’.
“Hey, Seff.” She all but bounced on her tiptoes as she giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“Hey,” Seff replied automatically, then looked back at Jessy. “I tried to apologize. What do you want me to do, come crawling on my belly?”
“Just because you and Dain shook hands doesn’t mean everything’s all hunky-dory.” Jessy shoved the small amount of change into the pocket of her jeans, along with the few bills I managed not to spend. Then she turned and if she were a foot taller, I had no doubt she would’ve gone toe to toe with the dark-haired male. “And yes. You want to apologize to me, you better come crawlin’, Seff Weylan. But as it is right now, I’m not ready to forgive you for breathing the same air.”
Jessy turned her back to him and smiled sweetly to the salesgirl while she grabbed the clothing bags off the counter.
“Yeah, well that’s pretty damn obvious,” Seff mumbled as he took off his big, black hat and roughly dragged his fingers through his thick, shoulder-length hair. Then he turned to me. “Hey, I’m Seff.” He held his hand out and I took it gratefully.
I held on a few seconds to see if the rush I never failed to receive from touching Gunner also happened with Seff. But there was nothing, aside from his warm, calloused hand.
“Simone Mowbray. And thank you.” I released him and smiled to myself. Whatever it was about Gunner, so far it hadn’t occurred with any other male. Maybe it was only an Alpha thing.
“I been following those assholes for a couple of days now.” Seff kept his voice low. “There’s more of ’em and they ain’t the most friendly types, even with each other. They been acting awfully suspicious ever since they crossed over into our territory.”
Jessy handed me one of the bags as she walked past. “Not your territory. You’re exiled,” she whispered as she glared at Seff again.
“Ah, Jess, c’mon. Yeah, I fucked up. I totally admit that and I’m sorry. I’m trying to do the right thing, here.”
“Oh, just so ya know, Simone here,” Jessy nodded her head in my direction, “she’s already spoken for.”
Spoken for? What was that supposed to mean?
Something Jessy could explain on the drive back to Gunner’s house.
“I know what’s going on, Jessy.” His smile was sincere, but sad. He leaned down close to Jessy’s face and whispered, “I may be exiled, but I keep up with my pack.” Seff stepped in front of us and peered outside, around the sides of the entrance. “They must’ve run off. Probably gonna go check in, saying they caught up with you.” He glanced back at me.
“Hey, Seff,” the salesgirl called from behind us, “now that you’re back, why don’t ya give me a call?”
Seff glanced at her. “Sorry, but I don’t think I’m gonna be stickin’ around.”
“Damn straight,” Jessy mumbled.
Once Jessy and I were safe in her truck, Seff stood at her window, his cowboy hat shoved back on his head, shading his face. “I’m gonna follow you back to Gunner’s, keep an eye out for any more trespassing wolves. If I don’t see anything, I’ll head out and leave you to tell Gunner what happened. If I do see something, I’ll be rolling up right behind you. I may be exiled, but fuck if I ain’t gonna try and help.” He leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice. “Y’all are still my family, Jessy, whether you want to be mine or not.” He rapped his knuckles on the roof of the truck as he turned away.
Just a few blocks down the road, Jessy pulled out her phone and pointed it at the window. “Shit. Now there’s five.”
I peered around her to see five black wolves standing between two buildings, watching us with their dark blue eyes as we drove past. Rule’s eyes. The thought made me shudder.
Jessy spoke into her phone. “Dain, hey sweetie, you still at Gunner’s?” She paused. “Let him know we’ve got company and, oh, Seff’s back.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE BLACK WROUGHT IRON gate leading to Gunner’s ranch was just up ahead.
“Can you see them?” Jessy glanced around quickly, looking to either side of the truck as we flew down the highway faster than I had ever gone before.
“I haven’t seen them for a couple of miles, but Seff is still there, so they must be, too.” I stared out the rear window as I held on to the back of the seat with one hand and the armrest with the other. “This probably isn’t any of my business, but what did Seff do?”
“He set a challenge for me.” Jessy shook her head. “Freakin’ idiot.”
“And a challenge is...?” Another wolf ritual, I was sure.
Jessy glanced at me, confused. “A challenge, you know—he picked a fight—with Dain, for me.” She shook her head again slowly and smiled. “You really don’t know much at all about wolf culture, do you?”
“Apparently not.” I sighed, completely at a loss and hungry for information.
“What the hell is Rule trying to achieve by keeping his pack so secluded from the rest of wolf society?” Jessy reached over and gave my leg a pat. “Let me give you the CliffsNotes version for right now, but you are seriously in need of a crash course in all things wolf-related.”
“Yes, please.” I turned back to watch out the rear window. “I am so totally lost.”
“Don‘t worry about it. We’ll get you up to speed. Hold on.” She grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and cranked it over as we left the highway and skidded onto the dirt road. Jessy gave out a loud “Woohoo!” as the back end of the truck fishtailed from side to side before catching hold and speeding us over the long, long dirt driveway that led through Gunner’s ranch to his house.
There was certainly a wild side to Jessy I had never seen while she lived in San Francisco. I liked it. A lot. I gazed at Jessy’s face, her crazy-messy blond hair, her sparkling amber eyes, her beautiful, infectious smile. She was everything I wanted to be. Happy. Secure. Free.
Loved.
“Okay, a challenge is set when two males want the same female. In the pack I grew up in, the challenge is to the death. Having to fight until you either killed your rival or were killed by him is an excellent deterrent to male idiocy. Makes those damn horny males think twice before fighting over a female who could just as easily walk away with another male in the end, because, yeah, that’s her right as a female. In this pack, since it’s relatively small and can’t afford to lose pack members, the males fight until one is beaten so bad he can’t defend himself anymore. Still, in the end, the female has the final say, anyway. Dain was already hurt when Seff set the challenge. And that’s why I’m still so pissed off. With any other wolf, it would’ve given Seff a huge advantage, even though it was damn cowardly of Seff to challenge in the first place, but the pack wasn’t aware Dain could hold a Breeder form so, even though he was hurt bad already, he kicked the living shit out of Seff.”
Breeder form? I opened my mouth to ask, but Jessy went on.
“See, when a challenge is set, it’s not like they can say, ‘Hey, dude, I want your female, let’s duke it out next Tuesday.’ You either fight when the challenge is set, or you walk away and lose. A male walks away from a challenge and he loses his standing in the pack. That’s a hard thing to come back from. And by picking a fight with an injured wolf, Seff dishonored himself. Soon as Seff healed up—idiot spent over two weeks in an almost full-body cast—Gunner exiled his dumb ass.”
Again, so much I didn’t know about my kind and their culture. “Did Seff really believe you would choose him
over Dain?”
“I have no idea what was going through his thick head. I saw him one time before all that happened. One time! Walking across the parking lot at Gunner’s market. I never even spoke to him before. It was the day of a full moon and all the males were feeling it. Seff was the only one who acted on it.”
“Why was Dain hurt?”
Jessy shifted her hands on the steering wheel and glanced out the side window. “I can’t talk about it,” she said softly.
I guessed the reason was either secret pack business, or it hurt her too much to go there.
We bumped and bounced along the road as I let what Jessy said churn through my brain. Challenges. Breeder forms. Exiled pack members. There was so much I didn’t understand. So much of our culture Rule had hidden from his pack. So much I needed to learn.
“Jessy—”
“Hold on!” She slammed on the brakes and I flew forward, catching myself on the dashboard. “You can drive, right?” She shifted the truck into park and unbuckled her seat belt.
“Yes, but I’ve never driven a truck before.” My voice pitched high with surprise.
“Just like driving a car.” She grinned at me, slipped her wedding ring from her finger, dropped it into a little compartment on the dashboard, and slammed it shut. She pulled her blouse up over her head, unhooked her bra, threw them both on the seat as she opened the door and jumped out.
“What are you doing?” Shocked, I shrieked and grabbed the steering wheel as I scooted over to the driver’s side. Jessy kicked off her sneakers, dropped her jeans and panties right there on the side of the road, and threw them into the truck right past my face.
“Goin’ huntin’!” She slammed the truck door and ran, shifting into a beautiful, golden wheat-colored wolf.
Wolves suddenly appeared out of the trees that lined both sides of the dirt road. The three wolves in front were huge and muscular, one black as night, and the other two dark brown at the shoulders blending into light brown and gold. The largest wolf I had no problem recognizing, with his bright green eyes and silver muzzle. I’d seen him before, at my bedside.
Once Jessy reached them, she bounded up and over the black wolf, landing on his other side only to roll in the grass as he chased after her, caught her, and clamped his teeth on the back of her neck. Even though I gasped, Jessy seemed to enjoy it. Gunner let out a small, warning bark and all playing around ceased immediately. He nodded and more than half the wolves ran for the trees, spreading out as they disappeared from sight. The other wolves ran past me toward the highway.
Gunner motioned me forward then ran beside the truck as we headed toward the house. It was difficult keeping my eyes on the road ahead of me. I couldn’t stop stealing glances at Gunner as he raced alongside. His long legs and muscular body moved with a grace I could never have imagined. He urged me to go faster, to keep up with him as he ran. The speedometer hit fifty.
That’s amazing. He isn’t even running full-out, yet.
I didn’t slow down until I pulled up to the house, skidding and spraying dirt and gravel as I slammed on the brakes. The second I opened the truck door, Gunner was all over me, jumping up, pawing at me, licking my hands, arms and neck until I stumbled and ended up on the ground with Gunner looming over me, his brows scrunched down over his eyes, looking down at me and asking silent a question.
“Gun, I’m okay. I’m okay.” I smoothed my hands over his face and watched as the green softened and his pupils dilated. His tongue flicked out and licked my neck, my cheeks, and my lips before he bounded away down the road, leaving me lying on my back in the dirt, giggling.
“Well, that was a hell of a welcome-back-home-I-missed-you-while-you-were-gone, wasn’t it?” Derry’s hand came down and I grabbed it, pulling myself up off the ground.
“Yes, it was.” I laughed as I brushed the dirt off my butt and reached in to grab the two bags of new clothing from the truck.
“Don’t be surprised, but I doubt he’ll let you off the ranch or out of his sight again until this whole tribunal is over. Not only because of the sanctuary-protection thing, but also because, ya know...” Her dark eyebrows went up as if I understood exactly what she was talking about.
“What?”
Derry smiled and opened her mouth to speak but stopped as her eyes shifted down the road at something only she could hear or see.
“What is it? Is someone coming?”
She nodded slowly. “Seff.”
“Oh, yes. Seff is the one who chased the wolves away when they came into the store.”
Derry laughed, but tears rolled down her face. A small, black truck came out of the trees and Seff pulled up right behind Jessy’s truck. Derry ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him like a long-lost son.
“Hey, Ma, how ya doin’?”
Ma? Of course. Even though he was more than a foot taller, the resemblance was unmistakable—the same shade of dark brown hair, same light chocolate brown eyes that curved into crescents when he smiled.
Derry stepped back and wiped her eyes as she looked up at Seff. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“I had to come, Ma.”
“Does Gunner know you’re here? Did you come across him out there on the road?”
“Yeah. I turned around to head out when I saw him. I thought he was gonna bite my head off, but he motioned me back here. Even if he hadn’t, I was gonna have to call him, fill him in on what I’ve seen and heard.” Seff chuckled as he looked over at me. “I guess he’s got something else on his mind that’s been taken the edge off of being pissed at me, huh?”
“If you tried to come back any time before last night, Gunner would’ve kicked your ass. But seeing that you were in the right place at the right time, it probably softened him up just enough to let you tell your story in person. Besides that, yeah, he’s been a bit preoccupied today.” Derry gave me a quick glance.
“Yeah, I guess.” Seff looked at me and smiled, his eyes sparkling. “Though Jessy’s still as angry as a wildcat.”
“Well, you only have yourself to blame for that. She’s been through a lot. It might not be so easy for her to let go of her anger. Give her time.”
“Yeah, well, there isn’t one damn day that goes by that I don’t wish I could’a helped put those sick bastards in their graves or turn back the clock and kick my own ass to keep from doing what I did.” He looked at the ground and shoved his hands into his pockets, obviously regretting the challenge he’d offered.
Sick bastards? Who were they, and what did they do?
“I know. If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way, honey.” Derry rubbed his shoulder.
“Listen, Ma, I’m afraid there’s some really bad shit coming and I need to help if I can. There’s five wolves tracking Simone and when they catch up to her, they ain’t plannin’ on taking her out dancing, that’s for damn sure.”
Derry linked her arm with Seff’s and then mine as she led us up to the porch steps. “Yep, but hey, it ain’t nothing the Comfort pack can’t handle.”
Seff’s mouth curved into a big grin. “Damn straight.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“STOP PICKIN’ AT THAT!” Derry playfully smacked Seff’s hand for the third time.
Seff chuckled, reached in quick and grabbed another small piece of roast, then danced out of Derry’s way as he popped what he’d stolen into his mouth.
“Damn, Ma, I miss your cookin’ so much.” Wrapping an arm around his mother’s shoulder and kissing her cheek, he snatched another small piece and handed it to me. “Here, you gotta taste this.”
“Seff!” Derry scolded.
It was so very rare to witness a loving relationship between parents and offspring in the San Francisco pack. I laughed as I took the meat from Seff’s fingers. Salty and rich, the beef melted in my mouth. “Oh, Derry, that is so good.”
“Thanks, honey, I’m glad you like it.” Derry grabbed two huge, four-pronged forks from a drawer and shoved them into e
ach end of the roast, lifting it from the pan and placing it on a large platter. “Now if you two would stop pickin’ at it, we’ll have plenty left for supper.”
“I was told beef and any other kind of red meat fed our base side, our wolf. My mother would never serve a meal that might tempt our wild side. Not that my mother ever cooked. We had servants. I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen. I grew up on fish and, on rare occasions, white meat chicken as a sinful treat.”
Seff snorted and leaned against the granite-topped island, crossing his legs at his ankles as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “To hell with that shit.”
“Seff! You watch your mouth in my kitchen,” Derry warned.
“Oops, my bad.” The smile on his face didn’t look apologetic in the least.
“Don’t give me that ‘my bad’ crap apology, either.” She scowled at her son, pointing one of the huge forks in his direction.
“Okay, sorry. Sheesh, Ma.” Seff stared at his scuffed boots, but the big smile on his face was plain to see.
“So, red meat is not bad?”
“Not at all.” Derry set the empty roasting pan on the island and opened the oven door where another big slab of meat sat roasting in its own juices. “You’re an animal. You eat meat. You need meat. If you’d managed to catch some game every day you were on the run, you wouldn’t have lost so much weight, some of which was muscle mass. I can see it. That’s not a good thing. Wolves can go quite a while between meals, but your human half needs to be fed a lot more fat to keep up with your wolf metabolism burning it off. Otherwise, you burn muscle and, honey, right now, you can’t afford that.”
Seff stepped up behind his mother. “Here, Ma, let me get that for ya.” He grabbed oven mitts and slipped them on like he’d done it a thousand times before.
Derry moved aside and gave his shoulder a loving rub as he lifted the pan and set it on the counter. She reached up and tugged at her son’s hair.
“You should run into town and get this trimmed up some.”
