Love Found [Pack Law 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Becca Van

  “She needs to decide,” Rylan said firmly.

  Alyson looked him straight in the eye. Could I bear to leave them?

  “What’s it going to be?” Chevy asked.

  All three of them looked tense as they awaited her answer. Their body language told her that they cared about her just as much as their words did. Nowhere else had she felt such a sense of belonging as she had with them.

  So trust them when they say they’ll protect you.

  Alyson let out a sigh. It wasn’t going to be easy to learn to lean on them, but she’d try. “I’ll stay. For now.”

  Chevy and Tarkyn both smiled, but Rylan’s expression stayed serious. Alyson found herself looking away from him as she got into bed.

  If Virgil comes for me, I won’t let him hurt anyone here. Even if it means leaving.

  * * * *

  Alyson came out of the bedroom and stopped. The three Friess brothers sat on the couch in the living room, dressed and looking as sexy as ever. She had woken up alone in bed, wondering if last night could really have happened.

  Rylan stood up, enfolded her into his arms, and gave her a smoldering kiss.

  That answers my question.

  “Sleep well, baby?” he asked.

  “Yeah. You guys should have woken me up. I didn’t mean to sleep so late.”

  “It was kind of a long night,” Tarkyn said with a grin.

  “Breakfast is still being served downstairs.” Chevy stood. “Let’s go.”

  Alyson moved to follow him, but Rylan stopped her with a hand around her arm. “Baby, the whole pack will be at breakfast.”

  “Um, is that bad?”

  “No. We want you to meet them. They’re our family, and we’d like them to be your family, too.”

  That idea warmed Alyson’s heart, but she read hesitance in Rylan’s eyes. “So what’s the problem?”

  “You met Jonah and his brothers last night, and you saw what happened when you challenged one of us in front of them. Challenging the Alphas isn’t a good idea either,” Rylan said. “Jonah’s word is Pack Law.”

  “I won’t challenge anybody,” Alyson promised.

  “Then let’s go. I’m hungry,” Chevy said.

  Tarkyn opened the suite door. Following him down the hall with the others behind her, Alyson asked, “Not that I’m going to do anything to get you in trouble, but what happens if you challenge the Alphas?”

  “Our Alphas are pretty lenient, actually,” Tarkyn said, “especially with newcomers. But because he is our most dominant and oldest Alpha, Jonah can use his voice to compel the pack to obey him. He doesn’t use it often, but when he does, everyone has to submit to his will and follow whatever directive he has given.”

  “Huh, that must come in handy.”

  “Only when necessary. We can use our voices, too, if we want, but only on our mate, and only after we’ve claimed you. All the mated wolves have the power to compel their mate to do their will.”

  Alyson stopped dead in her tracks. “That means you could make me—”

  Tarkyn turned and looked at her. “I haven’t finished yet, Alyson. Hear me out before you get too riled up.”

  I’m an independent woman. They can’t make me do anything with their voices if I don’t—

  Tarkyn swept her up in his arms, making her squeak with surprise. He smiled. “If you won’t walk, I’ll just have to carry you.”

  “I can walk. I’m not an invalid.”

  “We know you aren’t, baby. But we want to take care of you. You are our mate,” Rylan said from behind them as they walked down the hall.

  Tarkyn continued his explanation as if there had been no interruption. “The only time a wolf uses his voice on his mate is if her life is in danger. At no other time will we use that power over you.”

  That was good to know, but all this talk about claiming made her realize how much she still didn’t know about the Friess brothers and their pack. “Will I turn into a werewolf once you claim me?”

  “No, darlin’,” Chevy said. “You have to be born with the Lycan gene to be able to shift, or you have to be turned, and there is no way in hell we would do that to you.”

  “Why?”

  “It is a horrific experience for a human to be changed. A wolf has to bite deeply enough to get the werewolf DNA into the human’s body. It’s the only way for the gene to be activated. Keira, who you’ll meet downstairs, and Rochelle both had to be changed. Those two women are damn lucky to be alive.”

  Alyson shuddered, snuggling into Tarkyn. She rested her cheek against his hard chest and breathed in his wonderfully unique, masculine scent. “It’s not something you have to worry about,” Tarkyn said as he descended the stairs.

  “Right, I just have to worry about meeting a bunch of werewolves and not challenging any of them,” she grumbled.

  At the bottom, he finally set her down. Thinking about meeting the pack made her realize another question. When Tarkyn tugged on her hand, she stayed put. “What is it, sweetie?”

  She looked between the three of them, her gaze coming to rest on Rylan. “Why aren’t you guys the Alphas?”

  Chevy was the one who answered. “Jonah and his brothers earned the title. We hope to someday be their Betas and help them run the pack.”

  “Someday,” Rylan repeated. There was a sour note in his voice, but before Alyson could ask, he took her hand and tugged her toward the dining room. “Let’s eat.”

  She could hear voices and the sounds of cutlery on plates from the dining room, and it sounded like a lot of people were in there. Nerves made her stomach flutter. Alyson wanted to make a good first impression on the Friess brothers’ pack, the people who might someday be her family.

  Girl, don’t mess this up.

  Taking a deep breath, she followed her men into the dining room.

  Chapter Eleven

  Alyson sat down in her chair at the dining room table with a sigh. After being introduced to the whole pack, she was ready to eat. She was amazed by the number of people filling the room, and her mind was spinning from learning so many new names. She hoped she wouldn’t offend anyone by calling them the wrong name.

  As she and the Friess brothers had made the rounds, she had noticed that there were far more men than women in the dining room. Initially, that unnerved her, but she’d already seen many examples of how the men treated their women. Watching the Alphas playing with Stefan at the head of the table warmed her heart and body. Never had she seen such love and devotion. Not only that, but all of their mates had backbone. Even if the women were few, they clearly weren’t afraid of the huge specimens of masculinity that surrounded them.

  Jarrod and his brothers were sitting across the table from her and her men with Rochelle. Alyson noticed that Rochelle was the only person not eating meat for breakfast besides herself.

  “I’m glad to see I’m not the only one averse to eating meat.” Rochelle smiled at her.

  “Oh, I don’t mind eating it, just not for breakfast.”

  “Huh, and here I thought I finally had someone on my side for a change.” Rochelle glared at Jarrod. “These big lugs can’t understand all my little idiosyncrasies.”

  “Hey.” Jarrod tapped Rochelle on the nose. “You know damn well that’s not true. We’ve done everything we can to see you have the food you need and want.”

  “I know.” Rochelle gave a giggle. “I was just teasing you.”

  Alyson gave Rochelle another smile and watched as the woman got to her feet. She was still talking to her mate as she walked and didn’t seem to see Angela and Cindy carrying large platters of food toward the table. Rochelle was headed right for them.

  “Look out!” Alyson sprang from her seat ready to help, but she wasn’t needed. Jarrod moved so fast he was a blur. He swept Rochelle up into his arms and stepped back.

  “God, baby. What am I going to do with you? You could have been hurt. Again!”

  “I know.” Rochelle sighed. “Lucky for me I have three big, brawn
y men to keep me safe.”

  Jarrod put his mate down carefully. “Let me run upstairs and get your purse, and then we can go to work.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

  Rochelle turned back to Alyson with a slightly sheepish smile. “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

  Alyson tried to smile back, but she was fighting a strange new sense of envy. What would it be like to have that kind of bond with a man—or three? “You work with him?”

  “I’m the dispatcher for the sheriff’s department.” Rochelle suddenly grew solemn, and she leaned closer and placed a reassuring hand over Alyson’s. “Don’t worry, Alyson. We’ll find him.”

  Last night had been so amazing that all thought of Virgil Minogue had been swept from her mind when she woke this morning. The danger she was in, the danger she’d put all of them in, came crashing back down on her. “Thanks,” she managed to squeak.

  Jarrod returned then with Rochelle’s purse, and they headed out of the dining room.

  Alyson watched her go. Virgil was upsetting her life in more ways than one. Last night, Jerry had made it clear that Alyson was out of a job until she was safe. Her blood boiled thinking about the job she was no longer “allowed” to do, but the Friess brothers seemed determined to hold her to it, and she had to agree that driving a truck all over New Mexico might put her in harm’s way. Yet she hated being idle.

  She shifted in her seat as her men worked their way through the pile of food on their plates. Alyson couldn’t believe how much food they put away, but it seemed a werewolf’s metabolism was much faster than a human’s, so they needed more fuel to sustain their bodies. She gripped her hands tightly around her mug of coffee and sighed.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” Rylan turned to her and scrutinized her face.

  “What am I going to do now that you and Jerry won’t let me work? I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that.” Tarkyn placed his silverware on his plate and gently rubbed her back. “We have to be at the club in a couple of hours. If you’d like, you can come and help out behind the bar.”

  “Well, I guess I could do that. It would be better than sitting around here, idle.”

  “Good.” Rylan pushed his empty plate away. “But you have to stay inside. We don’t want you going anywhere without one of us with you.”

  “Sure.” Alyson sighed again. She wasn’t used to having her freedom curtailed, but until they knew where Virgil was and what he was up to, it was better to be safe than sorry.

  * * * *

  Alyson grabbed an empty tub and walked about clearing dirty glasses, plates, and pitchers from tables. The lunch rush hour was over, thank goodness, and her feet were aching from moving so quickly. She’d been helping Rylan and Tarkyn behind the bar while Chevy dealt with orders and invoices. Moving the full tub of dirty dishes aside, she sprayed the tables with disinfectant and cleaned them off. She was about to take the dishes into the kitchen when she caught a glimpse of a man walking past the window in the mirror on the far wall. Turning quickly, she tried to see if it was who she thought, but it was too late. The man had already passed the window.

  Dumping the tub onto another table, she rushed over to the window and peered out, but she didn’t see anyone who even resembled Virgil. It probably wasn’t him to begin with. He was a pretty nondescript guy, and she’d only glimpsed him for a second. Telling herself not to be so paranoid, she took the dirty dishes into the kitchen and began to load the dishwasher.

  Chevy was sitting at a table off to the side of the room near the entrance to the hall, eating and going over some more papers. He glanced over to her, frowned, and opened his mouth to speak. Then he snapped it closed again when he noticed the kitchen staff looking at her curiously through the kitchen door. What’s up with them?

  “Aly, when you’ve finished with the dishes I’d like to see you in my office,” Chevy called out as he picked up his papers and moved down the hallway. He waited for her answer.

  “Okay.” Alyson wondered for a moment what Chevy wanted but then figured he was probably going to question her about rushing over to peer out the window. There was no way she was creating an opening for gossip about her. She was having enough trouble fitting in with the kitchen staff and trying to win over Cherry, who had seemed to take an instant dislike to her. Ever since Cherry had arrived that morning, she had been giving Alyson venomous looks. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the waitress had had her sights set on her mates. Once finished, she headed out to see Chevy. Just as she turned the corner into the hallway, Cherry’s voice carried to her hearing.

  “God, I hope that bitch gets the sack.”

  “Cherry, sheathe your claws, girl,” Joanne, the cook, said. “You don’t stand a chance. Haven’t you noticed the way our three bosses watch every move she makes?”

  “She can’t have them all.” Cherry’s voice faded away.

  That’s what you think, bitch. Alyson sniggered to herself. They were her mates and hadn’t looked at Cherry twice even when she’d tried to flirt with her men, but she wasn’t about to rub her relationship in the other woman’s face. On the other hand, Alyson wasn’t going to hold back if Cherry wanted to pick a fight with her. She’d heard more snide remarks from the redhead in the last couple of hours than she’d heard in the past year. Cherry wore her jealousy on her sleeve, but she was too clueless to be a real threat. Earlier today Alyson had overheard Rylan chewing her out for leaving food on one of the counters overnight and spoiling it. Cherry had tried to flirt her way out of the mistake, but Rylan had been having none of it.

  Alyson entered the office to see Chevy waiting for her. She stood in front of his desk.

  “What’s the problem?”

  Chevy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his wide chest. His biceps bulged beneath the seams on his T-shirt sleeves. “I was hoping you could tell me that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The relaxed pose gone, Chevy leaned forward and studied her intently. “Your face was as pale as a ghost when you walked toward the kitchen with the dirty dishes and your hands were shaking. I could feel and smell the fear emanating from you.”

  Shit! “Why do you have to be able to see things like that? I won’t ever have any privacy if you can all smell my emotions.”

  “Get used to it, baby. Now answer the question,” he demanded.

  “You are such an ass.”

  “That may be, baby, but I’m your ass now. So deal. I’m still waiting.” Chevy pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. The way his muscles rippled as he moved made her blood sing with desire. She would never get tired of being near them.

  “I thought I saw Virgil pass by the window.” Alyson sighed with resignation and nervously rubbed her palms down the sides of her jeans-clad thighs. “I had my back to the window but I thought I caught a glimpse of him in the mirror on the back wall. But when I turned, he was gone. I even went and looked out, but he was nowhere to be seen. I guess after talking about him last night with your cousins, it got me a bit paranoid and jumpy.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Chevy asked in a cool voice.

  Alyson flung her hands up and then wrapped her arms around her waist. “Because I wasn’t even sure it was him.”

  Rylan hurried into the office with Tarkyn close behind. He walked right up to her until the toes of his boots were touching the tips of her shoes, making her tilt her head back so she could see his face. She wished she hadn’t when she saw how angry he looked. Will I ever get used to them being able to hear me even when they’re not in the same room?

  “The next time you think you see Virgil, you let one of us know. You are in danger, for fuck’s sake, Alyson. When are you going to let that independence go and let us help you?”

  “I need more time. God, I’ve only known you a few days and I already want you—” She stopped herself. They didn’t need to know she was considering letting them claim her and m
ake her theirs. Changing tack, she went on, “I can’t just let habits of a lifetime go. I’m not used to relying on anyone else but myself. It probably wasn’t even Virgil Minogue that I saw walking past. It was probably just a man with similar height and hair color.”

  “What does he look like?” Chevy asked. “What was he wearing?”

  “Um, dress slacks, I think.” She racked her memory. “Navy-blue shirt. Oh, he had a black jacket slung over his shoulder. He looks like any other executive type.”

  “What’s his build like?” Chevy asked.

  “He’s about six feet, maybe a hundred and eighty pounds. Black hair with gray at the temples, about collar length.” She sighed. “Of course, that was a year ago, when I saw him last. He could look totally different by now. And that probably wasn’t him.”

  “Whether or not it was him, Alyson, you should have said something,” Rylan said in a hard voice. “You will come to one of us the next time. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal!” Alyson snapped and glared at him. When he just continued to hold her gaze, she knew she wasn’t going to be the winner of this showdown. She lowered her head and moved around him then out the office door and rounded the corner into the hall. Her body bumped into another and she gripped the other woman’s arms to stop her from falling.

  “Sorry, Cherry, I didn’t mean to smack into you. Are you okay?”

  “Fine,” Cherry ground out from between clenched teeth.

  “Were you looking for me?”

  “No. Why would I want to find you?” Cherry looked her up and down as if Alyson was something she had stepped in. “I need to speak to the managers.”

  Alyson kept her face blank and made her way back to the bar, but inside she cursed Cherry with every step. She slid in behind the bar on the opposite end from Carter, one of the younger pack members who worked there through the week, and began to fill orders. She worked her way down and gave Carter a smile when they met in the middle. Lucky for her mates she’d spent some time working in a restaurant and knew what she was doing. It was Friday, and things were really beginning to hop as it got closer to dinnertime.