Heart of the Pack

by Kristen Banet

  “Just wanted to make sure you knew. It’s not something I plan on doing ever again. No interest in it.”

  They rode in silence for a long time. He was still mildly uncomfortable. He didn’t look down on Finn for his prior line of work; it was just something Tony didn’t know how to handle.

  At the gallery, he parked, and Finn jumped out quickly. The car had been full of the scents of awkwardness and confusion. He felt bad that he’d been so shocked by it. It wasn’t the worst profession in the world.

  “Finn, my man, hold on,” Tony called out as the fox walked ahead of him.

  Finn turned and frowned. The kid frowned too much. “Yeah?”

  “I think you’re cool. The guys and I won’t judge you for anything, all right?” He wanted to make sure Finn knew it.

  “I didn’t think you would. I know it’s not something most people talk about. It’s weird and unusual. I get it.” Finn shrugged. “Let’s just…go to this thing so Abigail doesn’t get mad at you.”

  “Thanks for looking out for me.” Tony chuckled, glad that it seemed the fox understood where Tony was coming from. “Tell her I’m doing a good job.”

  “You’re annoying,” Finn replied. “I’ll tell her that.”

  “She might agree.” He laughed at Finn’s dry tone. “I’m a goof in her mind.”

  “You are a fucking goof,” Finn mumbled. “You aren’t so bad, though. It’s not like being serious is impossible for you.”

  “You like serious?” Tony asked, spreading his arms like he was offering something to Finn, who scoffed.

  “I used to be more of a jokester,” Finn sighed. “Now?” He shrugged. “Nothing seems funny.” Tony threw an arm over his shoulder and pulled the fox into him as they walked, tired of Finn’s dry, serious nature. He wanted to meet light-hearted Finn. The Finn he knew must have existed before the hunting compound.

  “You need a big brother to get you to fucking smile again?” Nothing he’d done yet succeeded, not really.

  “I don’t want one,” Finn grumbled. “Is this how it would be if I join the Pack?”

  “Probably,” Tony admitted. “I’m a tease. I like seeing people smile.”

  “Shit. Here I was thinking I might say yes,” Finn said with a blandness that was faked. Tony stopped walking and looked at Finn again. And saw a smile spreading over the fox’s face for just a moment. Just a second of a real smile.

  Tony felt like if he’d done anything good ever, it was that. Aside from meeting Abigail. That was the top of the list. Finn’s smile could be a close second.

  They met Thomas and James outside the gallery and went in together. Riley did a little speech and Tony clapped with everyone else before wandering around to look at what she had created. He’d seen some of her paintings hanging in the mansion the few times he went over there and knew she did good work.

  What she had hanging in the gallery was fantastic. It didn’t take long for Thomas to elbow him and point at something. Thomas hadn’t said anything all night, looking serious and a little pissed off by something.

  “What?” Tony growled softly. What the hell was his Alpha’s problem? The who’s who of Denver and Colorado shifters were in the damn gallery. Even the Colorado Pack Alpha was going to stop by at some point to pay respects to the Kingson Pride.

  “The doe painting and Abigail,” Thomas growled back. Tony looked to see what he was pointing at and his heart stopped.

  Abigail’s doe form standing in the light of a meadow, pure and untouched, staring into the viewer with those massive dark eyes. Next to it was a portrait of Abigail in her silly black hat and an oversized blue knit sweater, her lips a rosy red, her favorite lipstick color.

  He wished, desperately wished, she was there to see it hanging in the perfect lighting of the gallery.

  “Have you heard from her?” he asked Thomas, who nodded. Tony hadn’t. He’d been successful at putting it out of his mind all day, knowing she was probably just trying to figure out her way home, but now in the gallery, he fucking missed her.

  “She’s flying back tomorrow. The storm should let up for her. She was pretty upset on the phone and just wanted to go back to the hotel and relax. Too much airport for her,” Thomas explained. “I think we should try to buy the doe painting.”

  “I need to ask,” Tony sighed. “What’s eating you, Thomas?”

  “Chris,” Thomas said shortly. “I got a call from the Alpha in Virginia. Apparently, there was a recent attempt at a coup over there.”

  “No fucking way,” he snapped. “He didn’t.”

  “I don’t know yet,” Thomas whispered. “I got the call yesterday. I haven’t…there’s too much shit going on. This, Abigail’s trip, him. Shit, I even, on a fucking whim, invited Finn into the Pack. Did he tell you? I told James on the way here.”

  “Yeah, and good thinking. I like Finn. More than I thought I would.” Tony sighed. “Want to talk more on it tomorrow? All of it?”

  “Yeah,” Thomas sighed. “I want Abigail back. I need to deal with Chris and figure out what his shit is. Tomorrow sounds good.”

  “Are we about to get James and bug Riley’s poor coyote to buy the painting?” Tony asked, crossing his arms.

  “Damn right we are,” Thomas said, grinning. “I won’t order her though. I’m just going to see if I can get special treatment.”

  “Riley is going to get pissed,” Tony mumbled.

  “I’ll take the blame.” Thomas laughed. “Come on and let me try.”

  “I’m coming,” Tony groaned. “You know, I’m all down for a little troublemaking, but I like owning a bar.”

  “I’m…seventy-five percent sure that Riley won’t be that angry,” Thomas replied.

  Riley did end up stepping in and letting them buy the painting. She didn’t even seem angry, but Tony hadn’t liked the knowing look in her eye as she saw what painting they were trying to buy. James ended up convincing them to buy a group shot of them as well.

  “You know she’s giving up the portraits, right? We don’t need the wolf group shot too.” Tony chuckled as they walked out.

  “Yeah, we do,” James grunted. “I want to hang it up in the living room.”

  “She gave me this,” Finn whispered, showing Tony before he slid it back into its protective wrapping. It was a painting of two red foxes playing together. “I told her that Huck was a red fox like me.”

  “That’s awesome man,” Tony told him. It was. He’d noticed that Finn didn’t have any pictures of him and his brother up in the apartment, and now he would have the ultimate work of them.

  “Yeah,” Finn agreed.

  As they loaded into their trucks, Tony was happy to see Finn jump in with him again. He might not have had Abigail all day, but he thought he had a new friend in the fox. Abigail would be happy to hear it, he knew it. At least something productive came from that damn storm in DC.

  17

  Abigail

  Abigail nearly ran off the plane, excited to be back with her guys. They were waiting on her, like they promised to be, and she practically jumped at them. James caught her and spun.

  “Oh, let’s never travel,” Abigail groaned as he let her go. “I want to go home.”

  “Let’s get you there, love,” James chuckled, kissing her cheek. Her heart loved the new term he’d decided to use. Love. She kissed him back then turned to her other men. Antonio wrapped his arms around her and got cute, leaving a trail of kisses all over her face before claiming her mouth.

  “I fucking missed you, little doe,” he growled. “I’ve been resisting the urge to send you more pictures.”

  Abigail laughed at that. “People can get ahold of those, you know,” she told him, patting his chest. “And I like to think that is for my eyes only.”

  “I like to live dangerously,” he chuckled, kissing her again. In a lower, husky voice, he continued with a hot whisper in her ear, “Did you think about it?”

  Oh, she did. To set her mind at ease the night before, she’d th
ought very hard about the picture he sent. Judging by his chuckle at her blush, she gave herself away.

  “Good,” he crooned.

  “Naughty,” she whispered.

  “I’m not the one who looked at a picture of a dick and masturbated to it,” he teased, keeping his voice very quiet.

  “Oh, you!” She swatted his chest and glared at him. “You set me up.”

  “I did,” he admitted, chuckling.

  “Do I get a welcome back?” Thomas cut in, grinning with James at Antonio and her.

  “Of course,” she answered, reaching out to him. He took her hands and guided them around his waist. He took her face gently and kissed her. It was slow and sweet. She was glad that what she had said didn’t seem to have him running scared yet. Maybe he was pretending it didn’t happen still.

  “I missed you as much as they did,” he whispered like a promise.

  “I missed you as much as I did them,” she replied, holding onto him.

  “We need to have a talk, but first, I want to hear about how this trip went. You weren’t keen to tell me on the phone.” Thomas pulled away slowly but didn’t move very far away. He took one of her hands as Antonio and James got her bags.

  “It went well,” she told them as they walked to the parking area. “A lot of talk about logistics. I can’t say too much since it’s a government agency and we met in the Pentagon.” None of that was a lie. Technically, she had the job and therefore, it went well. She wasn’t ready to tell them about the rest yet. She was practical and needed to make sure her argument against taking the job was firm before she told them her plan - or lack of plans, since she had no idea what she would do when she turned it down.

  She needed to know they were okay with her making this sort of decision. Would they think she was crazy for turning down a job to stay with them? To stay in Wild Junction? This job?

  “That’s good,” Thomas replied softly. “Did you get an offer?”

  “Yeah, Abby! Did they offer you the job?” Antonio grinned at her.

  “I have one week for a final decision,” Abigail whispered, trying to find a way to keep the conversation from going too far. “Really, guys, I’m just glad to be back and want to relax.”

  “All right,” James chuckled. “We’ll bother you about it tomorrow. You just take a nap in the truck and sleep when we get home.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Abigail sighed happily, smiling to him. “Who am I riding back with? None of your trucks fit all of us.”

  “We borrowed a Range Rover from the Pride to get you,” James informed her, wrapping an arm over her shoulder. He kissed her cheek. “None of us wanted to miss you coming home or ride back without you.”

  She loved hearing all of that. She was such a sucker for them. They were so sweet. After the Alpha male types from the SSTF with their heads up their asses, she was so thankful to be back with her wolves.

  When they got to the Range Rover, she slid into the passenger’s seat, to Antonio’s dismay; he begged her to sit in the back with him. Thomas went to the driver’s seat and James ended up in the back with Antonio.

  She was asleep before they left Denver.

  “Abigail,” James whispered. She moaned and tried to roll into him, unsuccessfully thanks to the cutting of the seatbelt. “Abigail, baby, we’re home.”

  “Oh,” she groaned, trying to sit up. The seatbelt stopped her, making him chuckle. She heard the click of it being released, James reaching over her to make it happen. She turned to him and he smiled gently at her.

  “Want to just go crash?” he asked softly.

  “No,” she mumbled. “I can’t completely screw up my sleep schedule.”

  “Okay.” James moved out of her way and took her hand to help her up and out of the Range Rover. “What do you want to do today?”

  “Sleep, but we’ve covered that,” Abigail answered, rubbing her face. “Did Antonio and Thomas already go in?”

  “They got your bags while you continued to sleep. They’re probably unpacking for you. We got everything else done for you to move in while you were gone. Organizing your clothes, setting up your stuff.”

  “I can’t believe I’m moving in,” Abigail giggled, remembering that part.

  “I can,” James growled at her, leaning over. He slammed the Range Rover’s door closed and pinned her to the side of the vehicle. “I’m really excited about it.” Her breath caught at the intensity of his stare, the way he caged her in. Their lips were so close that she could nearly imagine feeling them. “Can’t run now.”

  “No, I can’t,” Abigail replied airily. She didn’t want to.

  “This doesn’t freak you out?” he asked, moving to kiss her cheek and jaw, then down her neck.

  “No,” she sighed pleasantly, leaning her head back on the Range Rover.

  “When we get inside, we can talk about what you’re going to do with the LA condo. And finding you a private space here in Wild Junction.”

  “Inside,” Abigail repeated.

  “Inside,” James growled, kissing back up her neck to her mouth. She moaned against him as his hands roamed down her sides and ended on her ass.

  “Yes, you two,” Thomas chuckled. “Inside. For that, too.”

  “Jealous?” he growled, grinning at Thomas.

  “Should I be?” Thomas asked, crossing his arms with a smile.

  Abigail shook her head. “No,” she said, smiling over to him. She already knew she loved them all equally. They were hers, for now. She hoped they remained that way.

  “I didn’t think so.” Thomas uncrossed his arms and waved them to follow. “Come on, let’s get in the house. James, we need to show her the thing.”

  “Oh shit, that’s right.” James’ grin turned from humorous to something softer. “We got you something.”

  “I would love to see it.” Abigail giggled, poking his chest. He was still holding her tightly to the Range Rover and she needed him to release her.

  James let her go from the side of the Range Rover and they all went inside the farmhouse together.

  “So, you missed the gallery opening last night,” Thomas began casually, as he held the front door open for her. “I know it upset you.”

  “I sent Riley a text, but I don’t think she got it. I wanted to congratulate her.” Abigail hated that she missed it thanks to a damn thunderstorm. She had really wanted to go. “You’ll have to tell me everything.”

  “I’m getting there,” Thomas laughed, nodding. “We took Finn. It was fun.”

  “I think I have a new best friend,” Antonio told her brightly in the living room. She didn’t like the trouble dancing in his eyes. “I learned quite a lot about our local fox yesterday.”

  “Oh no.” Abigail sighed. “I was hoping for Finn to get a positive influence like Thomas or James.” She couldn’t stop a grin from spreading over her face as she said it.

  Antonio narrowed his eyes at her and jumped from his spot on the arm of the couch. She squealed and darted behind James, who didn’t save her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her until Antonio got to them. Antonio picked her up as she laughed and dropped on the couch, with her in his lap. She let him rearrange them until she was straddling his legs, looking into his jade green eyes.

  “I just stopped James outside,” Thomas said, trying to hold back laughter. “Let her go so we can give her the thing.”

  “Shit,” Antonio huffed, and moved her again. She was still on his lap, happily, but now could see the rest of the living room.

  “What is this thing?” she asked, looking between them.

  “This,” James whispered, picking up a wrapped, rectangular object. She knew exactly what it was with an easy guess.

  “You bought me one of her paintings?” Abigail moved off Antonio, ignoring his disappointed sound.

  “We did. Also, look behind you on the wall.” Thomas chuckled, pointing above her. She turned and gasped. It was a group painting of them, down to every little detail, in wolf form. It was
stunning. They were in the snow, running like the wind, white powder flying behind them. She had been lucky enough to see something like this in person during their runs in the winter and to see it captured by Riley was majestic.

  “Want to see what we got you?” Antonio posed the question, still staring at the wolves in the snow. “Abigail, you need to turn around.”

  “Yes!” She turned in a whirl, her eyes locking on the painting. “Guys, you didn’t need to do this for me. I really appreciate it, but I didn’t get you anything in DC-”

  “Abigail,” James growled softly. “Stop rambling and let us give you something.”

  “Okay,” she giggled. She stood patiently as James just kept his eyes locked on her.

  Thomas and James unwrapped the painting together as Antonio stood up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The moment the last protective cloth fell away, Abigail’s breath left her in rush.

  It was her. Her as a doe, but her. Her eyes were large, staring back out at her, seeming almost reflective as if the doe was real. She stepped closer to the painting, Antonio letting her go, and leaned in, letting James hold it for her. She had to get very close to see the brush strokes but something else in the doe’s eyes had caught her attention.

  The ‘viewer’ was reflected in the doe’s eyes. A wolf was staring at the doe.

  Abigail didn’t say anything about it, looking over the rest of the painting, silently wondering how Riley was good enough to put the wolf in the doe’s eyes. It was like that girl could see Abigail’s very soul. Abigail had options in her life and yet all she saw was her Pack.

  “It’s beautiful,” Abigail whispered, full of emotion. “Gorgeous.”

  “We thought so, too,” Antonio agreed, staying behind her.

  “I think you can hang it up in your future office,” Thomas whispered. “Or here, anywhere you want.”

  “I like the idea of having it in my office,” she replied. She would never look at it and only see her. It would always remind her that once she’s done with work, she would go back to them. She hoped, anyways. She didn’t even know what her work would be, much less if she would always go home to them.