by Pixie Unger
That caused Earl some pause. “You want me to hijack an Ulfurinn,” he said flatly.
“No. She wants to be transported. We just want you to take your time and stall for as long as you can.”
“Newly turned? Must be if she doesn’t have a pack.” Earl perked up at that. He could think of all kinds of ways to spend time with an unattached female.
“Still no. She has been separated from her pack and wants to get back to them. They are busy doing something dangerous and we don’t want her returning to their territory until it is safe. Normally, I would tell you to go the long way, but it’s only a two hour trip, under normal circumstances.”
Earl thought about this. “I can stall for 10 hours, easily. Rest breaks are required.”
“I’ll leave that up to you then.”
“Where do I meet her? Who am I looking for?”
“Uh… she’s about 5’5, 140 lbs, medium length dark brown hair. Brown eyes. Wearing a jean jacket with “Marv’s Garage” on the pocket. Her name is -”
“Wait - You mean Sarah?!”
There was a long pause.
“How do you know Sarah of Bellmont?”
“I met her at a truck stop yesterday. She was traveling with her pack.”
“They got called away.”
“And she’s stuck somewhere all alone? Where is she?”
“In the parking lot outside of the border station, about half a mile from you.”
Earl hung up, jumped up and started running.
The parking lot wasn’t that far away. Sarah was still on the phone, just standing there, like nothing bad was going to happen to a cute girl in a dark parking lot with no witnesses around. Fuck. Did this woman have no sense of self preservation at all?
As he jogged toward her, he heard her say, “Wait! Someone is coming.”
He could also hear Michael swearing on the other end of the phone. His pocket started to ring. He ignored it. “Sarah! It’s me!”
She peered into the darkness, squinting slightly. Ulfurinns don’t have eye shine, he remembered. “Earl? What are you doing here?”
“Head office sent me to guard you.”
“Great. I don’t need a guard. I need a ride home.” She hadn’t hung up the phone yet.
“I can do that too. You just have to wait until I’m legal to drive again, OK? Then I’ll take you right back home safe and hand you over to your viking, OK? Just… You aren’t safe out here. Can we please just find you some place to sleep tonight and I’ll take you home in the morning.”
Sarah kept her eyes locked on him as she brought the phone back to her ear. “Describe the Luper you sent me.”
Michael cleared his throat. “Let me just pull up his file. Ok 6 '5, 200 lbs, salt and pepper hair and beard, full torso and sleeve tattoos.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “He’s wearing a coat, I can’t exactly judge -” Earl took off his coat and pulled off his t-shirt. “How is it that every Luper I meet has the body of a Marvel superhero?”
“Extra testosterone.” Michael replied. “Plus we don’t get male pattern baldness. Of course staying ahead of the body hair is a whole other challenge. Earl has a rosary tattoo around his neck and a compass rose tattoo over his heart, among other things.”
Sarah noticed it wasn’t so much over his heart as centred over his left nipple. She wondered how much that had hurt. “Wait. I don’t see any bite marks.”
Earl ducked his head, embarrassed. “Um… they are on my hip. I’ll show them to you if you want, but I don’t think it’s the best idea for me to completely strip in the parking lot of a federal building.”
Sarah mumbled into the phone, “Yeah, ok, it’s him.”
“Are you going to let him help?” Michael asked.
“Fine.” Sarah said and hung up. “Put your shirt back on, please.”
Chapter 30
Earl picked up his shirt and tried to be subtle as he turned it inside out before putting it on. He was pretty sure the “A Gentleman is Simply a Patient Wolf” logo that always made him laugh was not the most tactful slogan just now. He offered Sarah his coat. She hesitated, but she put it on and wrinkled her nose. “Yeah,” he said, “I don’t smell like one of yours. You boys will have all kinds of fun reclaiming you when you get home.”
“You know, in zoos, they call that ‘environmental enrichment,’ right? Have creatures able to smell the other animals.” Sarah said with a wry grin. Earl chuckled. “So… are you part of Jerry’s pack?”
“No, ma’am. I work for the Treaty Council. I transport stuff when they need it and help out if a pack needs assistance. I’m currently hauling a load of computer parts from Montreal to New York. They called me a few minutes ago and re-routed me to take you home first.”
“You said you help out when packs need it. What does that involve?”
“Well, now, that is confidential. But,” and here his eyes twinkled, “it is always interesting.”
“Huh.” Sarah grunted. “Where are we going?”
“My truck is parked over there,” he pointed. “Transport regulations say I need to take a rest break before I can get back on the road. You can take the bearth. I’ll just nap in my seat.”
Sarah shook her head. “That doesn’t sound safe.”
Earl shrugged. “It would be awfully cozy back there with the two of us.”
“But you have a truck. Bellmont is only an hour down the road - Why are you shaking your head at me?”
“I’m not legal to drive until I get eight hours of sleep. That’s why I walked to get you. Look, I know the truck is cramped, you would be much more comfortable letting Jerry take you home.”
Sarah shook her head. “He stranded me here! I am not going home with him!”
“OK! OK! We will figure something out. You need some sleep too.”
Sarah fought a yawn and lost. “Fine. You sleep in the bearth, I’ll sleep in the seat and we get back on the road as soon as possible.”
It turned out that Earl’s sleeper berth was about the size of a double bed. Sarah had questions. “What’s with all the straps?”
“That’s so one person can sleep while the other is driving.”
“It’s kinda creepy looking.”
“I get that.” Earl opened a tiny compartment that turned out to be a mini fridge and pulled out a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. “When did you last eat?”
“At the restaurant where I met you.”
“Uh huh.” Earl made two peanut butter sandwiches and pulled out a carton of milk. It only took a little rummaging to find a second travel mug. “Eat, sleep, we’ll hit the road in the morning.”
----
Craig was happy, full, and exhausted. The problem was, they hadn’t run down all the killer bunnies yet. They had cleared off most of them, but that just meant that those remaining were getting harder to find. The fun was wearing off. He was also more worried about Sarah than he should be. He needed to focus on hunting the fluffy bastards so she could come home safely.
As he was thinking about that, he slipped on an ice patch and slid into a tree. ”Ow.” He was going to get up. He just needed a moment. And maybe three new ribs.
He heard the howl go up calling his pack back to the house. It took him a couple of tries to actually get back on his feet and he wasn’t running anywhere for a few hours.
There was a humie shifted Luper standing on the steps of the house. Shaggy red hair and full beard, Craig recognized Dan the Unmarked. All of the Lupers from Nicole’s pack were famous. They had all taken up science based professions. Dan was a medical doctor. His partner, Alex, was an emergency medicine nurse.
Craig forced himself to walk normally, knowing it was pointless since the man would be able to smell his pain.
Dan nodded to him as he climbed the stairs. “You and your pack are being stood down for the next twelve hours. We have every Luper pack in the state either hunting in those woods or on their way here. You need to rest up because you will need to be able to
convince your Ulfurinn to redirect to the Haven where the other Ulfurinns are waiting.”
Craig couldn’t even shift to answer. “She isn’t going to like that.”
“Be persuasive.”
----
Sarah woke up sandwiched between the wall of Earl’s sleeper bunk and the wall of muscle that was a sleeping Luper. She wasn’t quite sure why she had agreed to this. The man was persuasive. And to be fair, he had been a perfect gentleman. He wasn’t spooning her. He wasn’t even touching her. He had his back to her and was facing outward, protecting her against the world outside his truck.
It was kind of cute, in a slightly patronizing kind of way.
She heard a phone ring and realized that was what had woken her. “Wait! Why do you have cell service and I don’t?” Sarah demanded kicking Earl in the kidneys.
Earl groaned and fished out his phone. “Hello?” he mumbled, sleepily. He listened for a moment, then handed Sarah the phone.
“Hello?” she said suspiciously.
“Hi Sarah.” Mac said quietly.
“What the hell, Mac?” Sarah said, a lump in her throat. “Seriously, what is going on?”
“You remember that… Thing?”
“OK. Just stop. I don’t care about the Thing. I don’t care if there is currently a plague of Things. I can help. I killed the last one. What is currently bothering me is that Gus and Craig just abandoned me here.” Sarah was fighting tears and losing. “I want to come home.”
On the other end of the phone Mac pinched the bridge of his nose and fell silent. He knew what he was supposed to say. He was supposed to convince her to go to the Haven and wait with the other Ulfurinn. He wanted her safe. There was no question, he wanted her safe, but he wanted her here where he could keep her safe.
Apparently, that wasn’t an option.
Marv took the phone. “Sarah, you can’t come home until we get this mess cleaned up.”
“I don’t like that answer, Marv.”
“Neither do I, but that’s the way it’s got to be. My first priority is keeping you safe. If you are here then I will be distracted and not able to hunt as effectively.”
“I can help. It sounds like the town is full of Lupers. You are going to need support people and -”
Marv interrupted, “Emergency staff are already here. You can help by taking care of yourself. By making sure you are someplace safe.”
Sarah groaned in frustration. “Marv -” She stopped and thought carefully before she said this next bit. “They are my pack too. You are my pack. You aren’t the only one who is worried. You think I’m going to be happy and safe not knowing what is going on with my boys? Not knowing you are safe? How unfair is it that you get the comfort of knowing I’m safe and I am the one who has to be in a strange place with strange people and worry about your safety?”
“Because that’s just the way it’s got to be.”
Sarah growled. “I hate that!”
Marv closed his eyes. At least she didn’t say she hated him. “I love you, Sarah. Be safe.”
Sarah took a breath and blew it out. “I want to come home. You don’t want me to. Can we compromise in the middle?”
“What did you have in mind?”
----
Earl shook his head. He had never been part of a pack, nevermind being part of a pack with an Ulfurinn. The closest he had gotten was crewing a ship with one. It wasn’t quite the same thing. It was a job more than a family. However dedicated to her he was, she saw him as a replaceable worker. He was, however, pretty sure that neither option was how it was supposed to go. Or at least this wasn’t how it normally went.
He was driving Sarah back to Bellmont, despite the Treaty Council and her own alpha telling her not to come home. She had negotiated being allowed back to pick up a suitcase of stuff, her dog and her car.
Seriously, how was that even a thing? Who negotiated with their alpha? And what kind of pack had a pet dog? Earl had never heard of such a thing!
Fuck.
He was trying to concentrate on driving, but by now the whole cab smelled like slightly worried Ulfurinn. It was putting his teeth on edge. He could almost feel his canines lengthening and he was pretty sure it wasn’t a good idea to smile at anyone just now.
He was also pretty sure that he was going to be in trouble when he turned up in Bellmont with her. So would Marv.
He had at least put his foot down and insisted they stop for food on the way.
How did he get himself into these messes?
His rig wasn’t exactly subtle as he pulled into town. He was stopped on the edge of town by a state trooper. The man walked up to the cab of the truck. Earl groaned and crawled down from the cab.
“You can’t come through here. We have a biohazard spill,” the man said.
“Is that what they are calling it?” Earl muttered. He spent a few moments talking with the man and then climbed back into the cab to tell Sarah that he had tried, but they needed to turn around.
Sarah wasn’t in the cab.
Fuck.
That woman was trouble.
God damn that was hot.
----
Dan was surprised to see an Ulfurinn sprint up the street towards the house. She didn’t slow down as she took the steps two at a time and flung the door open. The local pack hurried out to see what the commotion was. She absolutely FLUNG herself at the scarred up one with the buzz cut, kissing his mouth and running her hands over his body.
Dan looked at Marv, “Favourite?” he asked. Marv shrugged. Ulfurinns had favourites. It was just a thing. This Ulfurinn had moved on to the next pack member. Same thing. Hugs. Kisses. Groping.
And the next one. This one was the viking with the broken ribs. She pulled off his shirt and inspected the bruises.
“What the hell, Craig?”
Craig shrugged, sheepishly.
The next was the slightly skittish youngest pack member. He got almost the same treatment, but the kiss was much more chaste and the groping more clearly a damage check than the random fondle the first guy had received.
Marv got the hot and heavy treatment, followed by a slap. “What the hell were you thinking! You should have let me come home first. But no, instead you arrange for me to be stranded, alone, in another pack's territory.”
Dan was further surprised that the alpha apologized. It was a simple, “Sorry, Sarah,” but still… What kind of pack was Marv running here? Then he remembered what Nathan had said about the pack dynamics. Shit. Asking her to go had been the wrong call.
Then she turned on him. “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?”
Dan cleared his throat. “I’m Dan. I’m a doctor. I’m helping with the… outbreak.”
“The outbreak of demonic bunnies?” Sarah asked.
“I’m not sure we can call -” Dan broke off and considered the rest of that sentence. He gave up and went with, “Yes.”
“I thought this sort of thing happened all the time around here.” Sarah said carefully.
Marv nodded. “Not usually on this scale, though.”
“OK.” Sarah said carefully. “Are we hunting?”
Dan laughed. “You aren’t doing anything with these things. Your pack has been stood down for the day. If you want to help, you can make them actually sleep instead of pacing the house.”
“I think I can handle that.”
Chapter 31
“C’mon. I need a shower. I have to say, living with this pack, I had no idea how much other Lupers smell. They just smell wrong. And it’s all over me.” Sarah was about a third of the way up the staircase in the foyer when she turned and looked over her shoulder. “So, can I count on my pack to help me clean up?”
Sarah made eye contact with Mac. Mac grinned and herded the pack up the stairs. Sarah toed off her boots at the top of the stairs and stepped out of the garage jacket and jeans before she got to her door. She walked through the double doors with their wrought iron tree grid in her t-shirt and panties. They h
it the floor as soon as she crossed the threshold.
“Now. Who’s going to help me wash my back?”
Marv looked at Mac who made an ‘after you’ gesture.
Marv stripped so fast he almost tripped getting out of his pants. Sarah was waiting in the bathroom for the water to warm up. Marv hesitated in the doorway. “You want me to get Mac?”
Sarah shrugged, looking through bottles of body wash. “Do you want to get Mac?” She thought for a moment and then looked over her shoulder. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. But I think it’s time for this pack to start smelling like a family. Don’t you?”
Marv led Sarah into the shower and ran his hands through her hair under the water. She stood up on her tiptoes for a moment and kissed him. “Help me wash my hair please.”
Marv considered this as she turned her back on him. He rubbed the shampoo between his hands and lathered up Sarah’s hair. Then he used the extra suds as he ghosted his hands down her back, over her hips, around her belly and up to her breasts.
“Marv!” Sarah teased, “I asked you to help me wash my hair.” And with that, she guided his hand between her legs.
Marv groaned and rested his forehead on top of her head. “You need to rinse first.” He mumbled. As Sarah rinsed out her hair, Marv kept running his hands over her body. Her skin was amazing, soft, slippery, wet. Marv groaned. It turned into a growl half way through. “Want you.”
“So, take me.”
“Bad idea, knotting in the shower. Too easy to get hurt. Wanna take you back to bed and get to eat you.”
Sarah ran her hands over Marv’s lightly fuzzed chest. “What big teeth you have,” she purred. Marv scooped her up and carried her dripping to the bed. He set her in Mac’s lap. Sean turned off the shower and brought Mac a towel. As Mac was toweling her hair, Marv pushed her knees up and apart. He leaned forward and kissed her lips, gently stroking her cheek.
Sarah pushed wet hair out of her face. Craig handed Mac a brush. Marv licked her throat. As his kisses trailed down her chest and his tongue found her nipples, Craig interrupted him. “Sarah? What are the rules?”
