Puppy Problems: A Reverse Harem Werewolf Romance (Her Secret Menagerie Book 3)

by Katelyn Beckett

  The twenty minutes came and went. I ran my finger through my contacts again, hesitant and wary of calling Darien while he was driving. Or, hell, maybe Maria had kicked his ass. She was human, but she hadn't been as sheltered from the shifter world as some of them had been. As I was pressing the contact to dial him again, a pair of headlights showed up in the distance. They were moving way too fast for a guy who was night blind and we were going to have to talk about that.

  A massive old Humvee pulled in next to my tiny little car. I sighed at him as he climbed out of the side window and landed on the ground. His dark hair was still military trim and he was built like a goddamned tank compared to me. "Twenty-two, who's counting."

  "I was," I told him. "And I was about to call you to make sure nothing was going on. Maria okay with you sneaking ou-" I coughed as he drew near, the absolute reek of a hot sex party still all over him. "Fuck's sake, I could have waited for you to grab a shower."

  His grin stretched in the darkness and he spread his hands wide. "I just wanted to brag about it."

  "Gross. You're all pigs. That whole damn pride. Bunch of horn d-"

  Darien's eyes sparkled. "Dogs?"

  "Cats."

  "You were going to say dogs. You were going to say fucking dogs. I heard it. You mutts are all the same," he said, slapping me on the shoulder so hard that he nearly knocked me over. "Huds at the hospital yet?"

  I shook my head. "Not yet. I gave them those pills from Yves, but they take a little while to make you human again."

  "Little while, more like a couple hours. Prick's gone cheap on us. I oughta stomp his ass."

  My eyes rolled before I could stop them. "Yeah, you totally need to do more time behind bars."

  "It's where all the best fights are."

  "That's what Masque is for," I snapped. "Not punching idiots in the face at Target because they took the last big side of beef."

  He snorted. "Masque is for getting stomped by a phoenix with a chip on his shoulder. I wanna kick a human in the ass, I'm gonna kick a human in the ass. You wanted to talk to me about an alliance? What're you offering? Scolding me about punching dudes in the face?"

  "I-... god damn it, Darien. You know I'm not after that. Alashia's forcing our hand. We can't just let her do what she's doing and we're going to need sufficient power to stand against her."

  "Led by an omega."

  I glared at him. "Led by an omega who's taken a tiny wing of our enterprise and made it her own. She's done incredible work, she's brilliant, and she's-"

  "You're biased," he said, shrugging. "I get it. If I had a hot piece of ass like her, I'd probably have some kind of bias, too. She's smart. She's pretty. She's good at what she does. But saving puppy dogs and kitty cats from death is a hell of a lot different than leading a preventative war effort. You can't encourage your omegas like that. If someone's going to stand up to an alpha, it needs to be another alpha. Last I knew, you've got two more pack brothers are your back. Why aren't you getting off your ass and doing something about this?"

  "Because-"

  He interrupted, continuing, "Because you're tired of living in the shadows like the rest of us. How great would it be to walk along in your fur somewhere without worrying about a human flipping out? Yeah. I'll support you guys. The rest of Bloodfang will, too, because I'll tell them to. But you need to work out why you aren't backing up your omega publicly. You need to deal with the fact that you want what Alashia wants, too."

  "I don't. I don't want that at all. You don't get it. We've got kids, you don't. You think I want any of the pack's pups all strung up by fucked up humans trying to hunt us for our pelts? I know what our family history says, Darien. You need to look at the werewolf outbreaks in France. It nearly destroyed our kind," I said.

  The big cat shrugged at me again and bumped his shoulder on me as he walked past me, into the veterinary clinic. "I'm just saying, if she was my omega? The world would never stop hearing me roar about it. Your girl's right. Your priorities are fucked. And let me tell you what, if Hudson were up and at'em, he'd be pissed at all of you for letting her go it alone. She should have never had to stare down a dragon on national television."

  I scowled at him as he left me, the door swinging in his wake. Why he'd gone into the clinic, I had no idea. Maybe kitty had a fucking hangnail. He'd given us a pledge of alliance, which was all I'd wanted.

  But he'd given me other things to think about, too. Stuff that I didn't want to consider until Hudson was back on his feet and able to talk about the possibility of a world where we didn't have to hide who we were. I agreed with Sadie, of course. It was safer to hide.

  That didn't make it right.

  Chapter Eleven

  Xavion

  Gabriel was gone, busy checking on Hudson. Sadie had given Jeremiah and I a different task.

  Talk to the Vasalla flock. Get the crows and ravens to work with us. The idea maintained that if we came at Aberdeen and his bears with a group of allies, he would be more likely willing to work with us. He would accept that we could help him, that we could protect his people, and he would turn on the fae.

  I shivered and splashed freezing cold water on my face. I didn't want to deal with Nerida, I didn't want to deal with Socorro. The world knew them in other names, but not me. Never me.

  "You comin' outta there any time soon or do I gotta come in there for you?" Jeremiah drawled outside the door.

  I had to move. We had to get it done. Yet I suspected the Vasalla flock had been closely connected with the fae in the past. It made my skin crawl and a bead of sweat rolled down my back, despite the chill of the water in my hands. No, I'd kept myself together when I'd spoken with old friends at Ioane's vet clinic. I could do the same for Sadie's sake. "Comin' in a minute. You just have to give me a little while."

  "I already gave you twenty minutes. You don't hurry up and the birds will be unconscious."

  Maybe more like blackout drunk. Masque was always busy this time of night and I doubted Basile and the others would be anywhere else. I slid out of the bathroom, rubbed my face with my sleeve, and nodded at Jeremiah. Together, the two of us went from the men's room and back into the madness that was the only shifter bar in the area.

  Blaring out of the speakers came a roaring lionness's voice. She was in a half-shifted form, still up on two legs but mostly in her fur, screaming metal music into a microphone. To our foreright was a fighting pit, where someone's teeth came from and shot in our direction. I moved to the side, letting a canine tooth smack the floor where I'd been. I didn't want to be involved, and it looked like one of the local big cats.

  Four men, feathers in their long hair, sat at the bar. I knew them by sight, if not by name. They were nearly identical, all of them sipping different neon-colored drinks as they chattered in a language I couldn't follow. Jeremiah got there first. I sat down to the far side of him, tapping the bar's hardwood top. I was well enough known that the bartender gave no pause in pouring a couple of whiskeys for the unicorn and I.

  I couldn't hear what Jeremiah was saying, but he was in deep talks with the crow or raven; I was never clear as to which they were or if there were really big differences, closest to us. The human-shaped bird nodded his head, listening, but he never stopped with his drink.

  That wasn't great. If a man wants to give you his attention, he gives it. Doesn't matter what species you are or what your beliefs happen to be. You drop the drink or the sandwich and you listen to whoever is talking if you respect them. The Vasalla flock was new, bold, and secretive about what they did in their normal day-to-day lives. Even I wasn't sure what they were cooking up, other than they were performers.

  I sipped my drink and tried to listen, but I couldn't hear a damned thing over all the cat screaming. No real surprise there and not a big deal, exactly. The bird grinned at Jeremiah and shook his head, downing his drink and then stealing Jeremiah's too. The unicorn stared at him as the bird swallowed down that amber liquid, then hauled off and drew back for a punch that
would end everything.

  I snatched Jere's arm and yanked it back, keeping him from plowing the bird under. At the other end of the group, brows lifted. Fully facing me, I saw the scar across Basile's chin. It was the only thing that really differed among them. He jerked that chin at me and I let go of Jeremiah, got up, and walked over to sit next to the leader of the flock.

  "Why keep him from slapping down my flock mate?" Basile asked, his voice touched with California.

  At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to walk back and grab my own drink. Maybe I could down it before I had to continue the conversation. "It's not right to bust someone in the mouth for being honest with you, even if you disagree with them."

  "Faewolf, you act nothing like I would expect."

  My vision blurred and my shoulders tightened. "Don't call me that."

  "Faewolf? It is an honor to escape the queens, and you have clearly made it."

  It took all of my self-control not to backhand him. "It was a long time ago. I made a stupid mistake and I've got no interest in repeating it. Are you going to join us against her and that idiotic dragon flight or not?"

  "A flight brother against a flight sister. You think we beings of the air should deserve each other, don't you? You believe that just because we all have wings; we will band together?" Basile smiled. "I enjoy your omega. She is a stubborn one. Furious. She will win this if she is supported correctly."

  That got him a scowl. "So, are you supporting her or not?"

  "It depends."

  "On?"

  Basile swirled his drink around in his cup, then tipped it back and finished it. He tapped the bar for another. "What you have brought me as a gift. You do not seem to understand our culture. Well enough, few do. Though I would expect better of a fa-"

  "Call me that again and I'll bring your head as a present to someone less friendly than I am."

  The smile on his face made me want to chew nails. "Wolf. Cur. Beast. You were her mount and you betrayed her. I find it endlessly entertaining that she knew nothing of it until the last moment. What did you bring me? And what will we debate on? The terms? The policies of our agreement?"

  Over came the bartender with a trio of glasses; two whiskeys for me and another bright green apple-something-or-other for him. I knocked back the first one and wrapped my fingers around the second. I'd been called worse things than beast in my day, or cur, and I was willing to overlook it. When I didn't respond, I saw something sour in Basile's eyes. He'd been expecting me to snap back at him or attack him. I'd thrown him off his groove.

  "Why not just work with me like a normal guy?" I asked, scooting his drink toward him. "There's nothing wrong with just giving in and doing a deal or two with a friendly fella like me."

  He sniffed and picked up his neon drink, wiggling it around. "You aren't."

  "I'm not?"

  Down went the drink. "You aren't, not in the slightest. You hide it well, but anyone with fae background history knows how to manipulate and hide what they truly are. What were you to her?"

  "Nothing worth bringing up," I told him. "What, can you smell it on me or something?"

  "I can sense it on you," he said. "And it feels like fire."

  Was the little birdie scared of burning to death if we got too deep into it? I glanced back at Jeremiah, who was busy talking to the second in the line of the birds; the other two were already on the ground, one nursing a broken nose and the other completely knocked out. I sighed. So much for negotiations. "You can feel whatever you want, but I was a member of the cold, not the fire. And you know that."

  "Frostbite burns just as much as flame," he told me, tapping the bar again.

  By the Moon, we were going to be wasted before we got a serious conversation going. I grabbed his hand, my own gentle, and stopped him from tapping more than once. I shook my head at the barkeep. "You don't need that much while we're working on a treaty."

  "You don't tell me what I do and do not need," Basile snapped, tearing his hand away from me.

  Up it went. I heard a gasp from behind me and looked back in time to see Liska, Doctor Ioane’s assistant, wide-eyed. The slap struck me across the back of the head and I let out a yelp, my vision blurring for the moment. I spun, teeth sharpening in my mouth as Basile held up both hands in surrender.

  I came within an inch of ripping his stupid head off, then snarled and spit on him. "If you want an alliance, you know where to find me. I won't put up with that bullshit from a birdbrain like you."

  Furious, I stormed out of Masque without paying. They'd bill my on-file credit card later. Mostly, I was just thankful that Jeremiah and I had decided to drive separately to the bar. Yes, I know it's unsafe to drink and drive, but I didn't much care at the moment. And, it takes a hell of a lot more than a few shots of whiskey to down a werewolf.

  The house was absolutely silent when I got home, though Gabe obviously hadn't gotten home yet. The car was still missing. I stalked up the steps, closed the door behind myself, and went off to the work room to sit down in the dark and think things through.

  I'd probably blown any possible alliance with the birds. Even if I hadn't, what did it matter? How did newcomers like them know who and what I was? I rubbed my forehead with the heel of my hand, realized I was mimicking my mate, and sighed. All I wanted was a peaceful life with a good woman who loved me. It didn't matter that I had to share with the rest of the pack. Hell, sometimes that made it even more fun than if I'd just had her to myself.

  Yet as I sat there, I couldn't help but beat myself up. Sadie was relying on us to forge those alliances. It was the only chance we had of restoring the usual order. If Alashia had a bunch of us up against her, I doubted that she'd do much of anything, either. She'd probably strike out for the Blackstalk lands and leave those of us under the Pact alone.

  We'd have the quiet we desired once again. Life would be sweet. I could focus on the business and raising the kids, and after a while? Hudson would be home. The pack would be reunited once again and we'd have everything we could want. One day, the kids would go off to school; and who knew how many else besides the ones we already had. Lillian would probably find a pack of her own one day, though we certainly needed all the help we could get from her until she did.

  Maybe I'd ruined that by telling the bird where to fuck off, and maybe I hadn't. But the word faewolf had gotten under my skin so much. How was I going to explain that to Sadie?

  "What's wrong?" she crooned from the doorway in exactly the same voice she used for hurt, stray animals.

  I looked up at her and watched as she came toward me, practically floating in a pale blue nightdress that set me ablaze. I stood up from the chair and wrapped my arms around her, pulling that cool satin against me and wishing I wasn't wearing the clothing I had on. I wanted that material to evaporate between us so I could bury myself-

  She put both palms on my chest and gently leaned away from me. "You smell like booze and upset. Are you okay?"

  "I was at Masque," I rumbled. "You can't go to Masque without a drink."

  Sadie snorted at me. "A drink is something, but if I can smell it on your breath it's heavier than that. What's wrong? What happened? Did the birds say no?"

  "One question at a time," I said, sitting back down and drawing her with me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I continued. "Jeremiah's still working on them. I had to leave."

  "You had to leave? Xav? You?"

  I sighed and pressed my face into her neck. She smelled like frosted berries, a new favorite shampoo type that she'd fallen in love with last winter. We'd bought up plenty for her so she could use the seasonal stuff whenever she wanted it. "It's difficult to explain."

  "We have all night."

  My eyes narrowed. "You aren't going to give up, are you?"

  "Not in the slightest," she said, looking up at me. "Nothing rattles you. Absolutely nothing. You're the strongest guy I know. And to smell you almost fearful?"

  I rocked her a little bit before I decided whe
ther or not I was going to give in. You can take a wild guess what the answer was to that. "When I was younger and stupider, I made a deal with the fae."

  "With this Nerida or the other one?" Sadie asked, her voice frank.

  My heart leapt in my chest at the sound of my former mistress's name on my lover's lips. "Don't say that word here. You say it three times too fast together and she'll come. I don't know what she'd do to you or me, or anyone else I care about. Only that it wouldn't be good or safe for any of us. She's a monster. And she had me do monstrous things."