Out of the Cage: When a wolf shifter lawyer is called in to help a young human with a new identity, he gets more than he ever bargained for.
After being woken by a phone call in the middle of the night by his alpha, Leopold Caldwell heads to San Francisco. Alpha Declan requests his services in creating an identity for a rescued human whore. What Leo finds when he gets there is a scared young human who is completely overwhelmed by his new reality. Oh, and he happens to be Leo’s mate. Even as he’s ecstatic to meet Jerry, the other half of his soul, Leo recognizes the hurdles they’re facing. Not only is Jerry struggling to accept the existence of shifters, but there are also still people after him…people who seem bent on establishing possession of Jerry. After a close call where Jerry is nearly kidnapped, Leo decides it’s time for a change of scenery. He takes him back to Stone Ridge and a secluded cabin owned by his family line. Unfortunately, trouble follows. Can Leo use his quick wit swiftly enough to save not only Jerry but his own future as well?
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With a Wolf’s Support
Copyright © 2019 Charlie Richards
ISBN: 978-1-4874-2432-9
Cover art by Angela Waters
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With a Wolf’s Support
Wolves of Stone Ridge Book 47
By
Charlie Richards
Dedication
Minds are like flowers, they only open when the time is right.
~Unknown
Chapter One
Leopold Caldwell didn’t know when he’d managed to fall into an uneasy sleep. When the trill of his cell phone yanked him back to wakefulness, he hissed as pain spiked through his neck. He really shouldn’t have fallen asleep in that chair.
“Ow,” he grumbled under his breath as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Then the sound of his phone caught his attention again, and he recalled why he’d been sitting in the uncomfortable chair to begin with. His cousin’s daughter, Stephani, had been kidnapped, along with his alpha’s daughter, Sara. His cousin and his partner—Luther and Deke—had traveled to San Francisco with Alpha Declan and a myriad of others from the pack in order to track them down and rescue them.
Leo had wanted to go, but there hadn’t been room in the helicopter. Instead, he’d been left behind, his wolf chuffing with annoyance in the back of his mind, while he waited impatiently for information. Hence falling asleep on the uncomfortable piece of furniture as he’d been waiting for word.
“This is Leo,” he barked into the phone as soon as he connected the call, not even bothering to check the caller ID.
“I’ve sent Manon to get you,” Alpha Declan stated, the alpha wolf shifter’s voice coming through the line. “I have a young man here who needs a new identity once he’s rational enough to decide on what he wants... and that shifters exist.”
“He knows about shifters?” The words were out of Leo’s mouth before he could stop himself. While he was curious, it wasn’t the most pressing issue. “How are Stephani and Sara? Are they okay?”
Alpha Declan’s deep, tired sigh came through the line loud and clear. The simple action betrayed that their pack leader wasn’t invincible after all. The man had to be exhausted after everything he must have gone through—not only had it been his daughter kidnapped, but he would have had to console his mate while keeping it together enough to plan the rescue.
So glad I’m not in his shoes.
“Sara is a little banged up, but she’ll be fine, in time”—a growl entered Declan’s tone as he added—”as long as her mate gets his head out of his ass, anyway.”
Leo’s jaw sagged open, and he knew his eyes widened. Before he could question the alpha on that statement, however, his alpha continued.
“I’m sorry to say that Stephani came out a little worse for wear. She was injured protecting Sara, and she’s still unconscious.”
Upon hearing that, Leo felt his heart rate spike.
His sweet, feisty, dominant cousin was injured.
Leo guessed he must have made some noise betraying his distress, for Alpha Declan rumbled, “Take a few slow deep breaths, Leopold. Lark is with her and feels that she’ll wake up soon. She may even be mostly well by the time ye get here.”
Doing as he’d been bidden, Leo took a few slow, deep breaths. The spots that he hadn’t even realized had been dancing before his eyes disappeared.
Yeah, breathing is a good thing.
“Right, right,” Leo mumbled when he had the breath. He cleared his throat before adding, “So, when should I be at Manon’s private helipad?”
Leo figured some of the documents for the wolf enforcer to build a private landing pad at his place in the woods had probably been forged, but he wasn’t one to judge. As one of the pack’s lawyers, he helped by forging personal documents all the time. Since paranormals lived for centuries and needed to hide from the general human populace, coupled with the advancement of technology, shifters had to have their identities reinvented every few decades.
Having always been technologically inclined, Leo helped with that.
“Ye have three hours,” Alpha Declan told him. “That’ll give ye time to pull any information ye can find on Jerry De Mara’s past. Family, friends, as much as ye can. He claims not to have anyone looking for him. Jerry doesn’t smell as if he’s lying, but after the scare Luther put in him, well... I’d like to be sure.”
Leo’s brows shot up. “Luther scared him? How?” His cousin was usually a fairly relaxed wolf. Of course, finding his daughter injured could most certainly change that.
“Jerry led us to the room where our girls were, and we rushed inside. Jerry followed, but he was closest to the door.” Declan scoffed softly, and Leo imagined his wry smile. “We were checking the girls when Jerry squeaked, drawing our attention. A gorilla of a man was standing in the doorway pointing a gun at Stephani, maybe because she was already injured. When the asshole stated, lie on the floor, or I’ll finish what my buddy started, Luther understandably lost it. He shifted faster than I’d ever seen him and tore the man apart.”
Wincing, Leo nodded absently. He could totally see his cousin doing that. Hell, if Leo had been there instead, he would have done the same.
“So...” Leo drew the word out. “How did he take it?”
“Well, Jerry didn’t piss himself, so I’ll give him props for that,” Declan replied dryly. “He seemed a bit catatonic after that, though. Lark hasn’t been able to see to him, yet, but I’m sure I’ll have more for ye by the time ye arrive.”
Checking his watch, Leo nodded absently. “Yes, Alpha. I’ll see wh
at I can find out about Jerry, then be at Manon’s at quarter after midnight.”
“Good. I’ll see ye soon, then.”
When Alpha Declan disconnected the call without another word, Leo didn’t feel offended. He knew his alpha had to have a lot on his plate right about then. Instead, Leo shoved to his feet, strode out of the living area, and headed to his bedroom.
Within ten minutes, Leo had his duffel bag packed as well as a garment bag containing a suit. He liked to be prepared. After a quick shower to clear the last of the sleep from his mind, Leo dressed in comfortable blue jeans, a dark-green polo shirt, and worn, dark-brown cowboy boots.
Seeing he still had almost two hours before he needed to hop in his truck, Leo made a detour to his kitchen for a bottle of water before he headed to his office. He booted up his laptop. After completing the obvious search—typing Jerry De Mara into the Google search engine—Leo stared at the single entry that popped up. It was an announcement for the winner of a spelling bee.
Leo clicked on the link and swiftly skimmed the article.
He won a spelling bee when he was eleven years old. Huh.
Taking a look at the picture, Leo couldn’t help but smile. The wide grin stretched the boy’s face, and even in the black and white picture, he could see the joy lighting his eyes. To his surprise, he even felt a whine of interest from his wolf.
So weird.
It almost felt as if his animal wanted to lick the boy all over and protect the human from all the dangers of the world.
Leo could think of only a few people that had roused that reaction, and they had all been family.
Pushing the reaction to the back of his mind for later perusal, Leo continued his search. He pulled the school’s records, which was located two hours north of San Francisco. After careful review, he noticed that Jerry made top grades and appeared to be a model student.
Jerry had extra-curricular activities that ranged from soccer to 4-H. In eighth grade, there was a picture of him resting his hand on the back of a hog while holding a blue ribbon with his other. The following year, Jerry sat on the back of a horse, decked out for roping, and the caption read—Jerry De Mara, second place county high school rodeo champion.
Everything Leo found pointed to the fact that Jerry dedicated his energy one hundred percent to everything he set his mind to.
So why did he suddenly drop out of school at age fifteen?
Leo’s gut clenched, and he sucked in a harsh breath.
Fifteen. Tenth grade. Hormones. Body changes. Where he ended up...
All the possibilities swirled through Leo’s mind, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions. He moved his search to information on Jerry’s family. The human had a brother, younger by three years, and according to property records, their parents still resided in the same house. With a deep sigh, Leo used a few tricks to get into tax records... and he grimaced at what he found.
Not only did the parents stop claiming two dependents that same year, but their charitable donation deductions were listed to an organization some considered more cult than church.
“Well, hell,” Leo muttered. “That’s a damn shame.”
Did Jerry leave on his own because he knew he was different? Or was he forced out?
Leo had every intention of finding out. A glance toward his watch told him he still had twenty minutes before he needed to leave. His grumbling stomach told him how he should spend that time.
Leo tightened his leather trench coat around himself, shoving his hands into his pockets. He squinted against the wind as he watched the helicopter land on the pad which was situated over a hundred yards behind Manon’s home. Hunching his shoulders, he did his best to ignore the chill.
A few seconds after the whirly-bird had landed, the whine of the engine softened, and the rotors began to slow. He watched the door open, and Manon slipped out, ducking under the still-churning blades. The wolf shifter enforcer jogged toward him, nodding in greeting.
“Give me ten minutes. I gotta run in and piss, then grab a sandwich and water. Stow your stuff and strap it down, will ya?” Then he winked and added, “Also gonna kiss my man and tell him how much I miss him.”
Leo was still nodding when Manon disappeared down the trail.
“Stow my stuff,” Leo muttered under his breath. He’d never been in a helicopter but still. “How hard could it be?”
Leo took his time figuring it out.
To Leo’s surprise, he enjoyed his first helicopter ride. With his superior shifter eyesight, even though it was night, he could make out quite a bit of what was below them. The sensation of soaring through the air was almost as enjoyable as running through the forest in wolf form—almost.
“I see why you learned how to fly one of these,” Leo called over the rumble of the engine. “This is fun.”
Manon glanced his way for an instant before returning his focus to the controls. “Yep. Did Alpha Declan fill you in?”
Leo nodded. “For the most part.”
“Good.” Manon chuckled darkly. “That way we don’t have to shout back and forth the whole ride.”
Laughing, Leo returned his focus to the darkness outside.
They reached the airport a little after three in the morning. As Leo relaxed in the passenger seat of the SUV that Manon drove—he’d offered, but the enforcer had told him it would be easier for him to drive since he knew the way—he noticed the illuminated bank sign reading two-twelve AM.
Right. We gained an hour.
They drove through surprisingly still-crowded streets. Cars honked, tires squealed, and the music from other vehicles thumped as they passed them. That was something Leo sure didn’t miss. Living in the country offered a much quieter, sedate lifestyle that, as a wolf shifter, Leo craved.
And a mate.
Leo had been watching all his friends, and even his family, find their mates for years. At almost two hundred years old, he would love to finally find someone to call his own. His patience was wearing thin, so he sure hoped Fate hurried the fuck up.
“Wow, nice houses,” Leo commented, staring out the window and admiring the mansions, hoping to distract himself from his wayward thoughts.
“Well, as it turns out, Jared refuses to stay in anything but the finest.” Manon smiled wryly as he glanced Leo’s way. “And of course Carson isn’t going to do a damn thing to counter his mate.”
Laughing softly, Leo murmured, “Yeah.”
Leo didn’t spend a lot of time with most of the wolves of the inner circle. With his duties of monitoring the length of time the adults in their pack had lived as a certain identity, he spent a lot of time with everyone else in the pack. In the past, Leo had sent his reports, which contained his recommendations of who should soon consider a change, to Beta Shane Alvaro.
Since Beta Shane had moved on to take a position on the Shifter Council, Leo had begun sending the reports to Alpha Declan himself. Even though they’d held a challenge—which was won by a big, dominant, blond wolf shifter named Dixon Holsteen—so a new beta had been assigned, Leo hadn’t yet been given the word to send the reports to him. From what Leo had heard, Alpha Declan was still easing him into his myriad of duties.
One of those would eventually be working with Leo to coordinate with the shifters in their pack to change their identities. In order to do that, however, Dixon had to know everyone in the pack. He had to meet them, learn about who they were, how long they’d been in the pack, and absorb the complexity of their relationships around them.
Seeing as Leo already knew the information, he didn’t envy Dixon the process.
It was a lot to take in.
The same as nearly everyone in the pack who could get the day off of work, Leo had been at the Right for Position challenge. He’d seen the dominant shifters fight. It’d been damn impressive, and Leo had been glad he would never be pitted against any of them—gods willing. While his wolf was fairly dominant, it took a certain aggressiveness to wa
nt to fight for a top position.
Leo just didn’t have it.
“This is it.” Manon’s voice cut into Leo’s thoughts. “You awake over there?”
Jerking his focus back to the wolf enforcer, Leo took in the lines of tension etched on Manon’s face. “I’m awake. Was just lost in thought,” he admitted, turning his attention to the house—mansion—they were approaching. “Took a nap earlier,” he admitted. “Now I’m ready to check on my family before finding a bed. I bet you’re ready to crash, though.”
“You know it.”
The gate opened before them, and Manon steered the vehicle down the long driveway and past gorgeous landscaping. Leo spotted the house and found himself smirking. When Carson’s mate said he wanted nice digs to rescue people and take out some drug gangs, he wasn’t kidding. Of course, Leo had to admit that since they were within a fenced estate, it had to help with safety, too.
As their vehicle approached, the garage door on the far-left side opened. Manon parked them inside the cavernous space. Once the other shifter turned off the engine, Leo pushed out of the vehicle, closing the door behind him. He opened the back door and grabbed his bags. After slinging his suit bag over his shoulder, Leo used his hip to close the door, then he followed Manon across the garage toward a door on the far end.
Manon used a key to unlock it, then opened it and led the way inside.
Leo stepped into a large foyer and waited as Manon closed and locked the door behind him. Following the other shifter once more, he was led through a back hallway. He pointed toward the far end, explaining that it led to a back foyer.
“Here’s the main hall,” Manon murmured softly, opening a door and stepping through. He pointed toward the stairs to the right, saying, “I’m supposed to take you to Alpha Declan first, though. He said he’d still be up.”
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