Unraveling Midnight

by Stephanie Beck

  UNRAVELING MIDNIGHT

  Creating Home, Book Two

  STEPHANIE BECK

  LYRICAL PRESS

  http://lyricalpress.com/

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/

  For Pam and Kelly, my clicking sisters

  Chapter 1

  Scott’s boys were going to be the death of him. He looked at the two young males rolling around the grass in a tangle of arms and legs. At least they were outside this time. He’d thought dealing with twins when they were infants was difficult. It turned out he’d only gotten a taste of hell in those years of bottles and diapers.

  “All right, boys, get up. I want you running down to the trees and back a dozen times.”

  They groaned, but got to their feet. Ross and Greg were twelve and so near to puberty they reeked of the horrid promise. Mood swings, temper flares, and the almighty shifting time approached at a breakneck speed without apology. Their scents pledged within the next two years there were going to be major changes in his household dynamics. Scott wasn’t ready.

  “I bet I can run it twenty times,” Greg said, kicking his shoes off.

  “I can run it twenty-five,” Ross challenged.

  “Then do it,” Scott ordered and watched them take off.

  He blew out a sigh of relief. Maybe the monsters would get to sleep at a decent hour. If he wore them out, they were good little pups after dinner. If they were full of energy, things in the house started to get broken from all the roughhousing.

  But that’s the way things were when there were two adolescent werewolves under one roof. He now understood why his mother had gotten rid of all the furniture in the basement and had given him and his brothers mattresses. Even those had gotten torn up on occasion during wolf play or even screwing around as humans. Things had to be different in his house though, because it wasn’t only him and the boys.

  Scott turned and found the sweetness in his life. Jessie. Completely innocent and only six years old, she didn’t deserve to live in an older-brother-proofed house. Scott did his best to wear them all out so she could have at least a little peace at home.

  He frowned when he realized she was sitting on a bench with an adult. Usually his daughter was very reserved with other people, so he didn’t worry about her talking to strangers. Being a werewolf led to a certain amount of caution in the young ones. They were taught early to hide their secret from strangers and to also be wary of outsiders. Scott found the scent of the adult. A female human, nonthreatening, but then no one seemed threatening until they did something horrible.

  Like his former mate. Just the thought of what Tiffany had done to the kids put Scott’s feet in motion. No one was going to get a chance to hurt his little girl and even if the human was innocent, it was up to him to decide, not Jessie.

  * * * *

  “What are you doing?”

  Lucy turned and smiled when she found a pretty little girl had snuck up on her. She was dirty, her pigtails were crooked and she was missing three teeth. She looked exactly how a happy, healthy child in the summer should.

  “I’m knitting,” Lucy replied. “What are you doing?”

  The child scratched at a scab on her elbow. “Playing. My daddy is running the boys and I was building a sand castle, but the sand in the sandbox isn’t wet enough and I didn’t bring my water bottle.”

  “Oh.” Lucy pulled out a bottle of water from her lunch bag. “Here you go, honey. You can use this if you’d like.”

  “My name isn’t honey,” she said, accepting the water bottle. “I’m Jessie.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Jessie. I’m Lucy.”

  Jessie wrinkled her nose. “That’s a grandma name.”

  She laughed. “Oh? Says who?”

  “My daddy. My mom wanted to name me Lucy but Dad says that’s an old fuddy duddy name like Martha.”

  Lucy laughed again. “Well, I guess it does have a certain old-school flare to it. Jessie does too. I had a grandma named Jessie.”

  “Really? I had a grandma Sophie but she died and my other grandma June kicked us out ’cause she thinks we’re all evil.” Immediately the little girl locked her lips shut and blushed. “I’m not supposed to talk about that.”

  Lucy smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Jessie. I’ve already forgotten.”

  She’d gotten the chance to have her niece and nephew for a month while her sister concentrated on school, so she’d learned all about oversharing information and dealing with it. There was no use in making the child feel self-conscious. Sometimes they needed to say things and move on.

  “Okay. What are you making?” Jessie asked, back to smiling.

  “Today it’s socks.” She reached in her knitting tote. “Here is the first one and I’m half done with the second.”

  “No way.” Jessie’s eyes widened as she looked at the sock. “You actually made this with just string?”

  “Well, yarn and four needles.”

  “Jessie.”

  The sharp tone made Lucy wince, but Jessie didn’t seem to notice she’d done something wrong.

  “Hi, Daddy. This is Lucy. She made a sock!”

  Jessie’s daddy didn’t look too happy and Lucy tried to put on a friendly face. However besides unhappy, he also looked threatening. Deep scars on his cheeks spoke of past violence and his shortly buzzed hair didn’t provide any relief from the harshness of his features. Every part of him said he was not only willing, but happy, to kick ass if needed. If Jessie hadn’t called him ‘daddy’, Lucy wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to get past his huge size to even offer a smile.

  “Are you supposed to bother strangers, Jessie?” her father asked.

  “She’s not a stranger. She’s Lucy and she makes stuff. Can you teach me to make this, Daddy?”

  Lucy bit back a smile when the big, threatening man simply pinched the bridge of his nose. She couldn’t hear him, but his lips moved as if he were counting to ten. Scary or not, this man was doing his best to live up to the ‘daddy’ title and, to Lucy, that made him more approachable.

  “We’ve been visiting.” Lucy offered her hand, hoping to cross the stranger-and-acquaintance gap. “I’m Lucy Jamieson. I own the yarn shop across the park over there.”

  He tentatively accepted her hand, eyeing it first like it was unexpected and maybe it was. For sure she’d bet his size and threatening features made for few random introductions. She’d also noticed over the month with the kids that adults at parks didn’t interact much. They weren’t out to make friends like the kids were. Lucy didn’t see why they couldn’t at least be friendly.

  “Scott Terwolf. Thanks for entertaining her but, Jessie, you need to go play while we’re here.”

  “Oh.” The smile on Jessie’s face fell and, though Lucy knew her dad wasn’t intentionally being abrupt or mean, he’d popped her friendly balloon. “Okay. Thanks for talking to me, Lucy.”

  “You’re welcome, honey. Have fun with your sandcastle. Don’t forget the bottle.”

  Jessie’s shy smile was a comfort after the abrupt change in plans, and when she grabbed the water bottle before running to the sandbox, Lucy knew the little one wasn’t too upset. Beside her, Scott remained. She didn’t have to look up because his large shadow made him known.

  “The bottle was a fresh one, unopened, if you’re worried,” Lucy said, tucking the green sock Jessie had left on the bench back in her bag. “Not that I think she’s going to drink it. I believe it’s going to be more of a glue for the sand.”

  She looked out at Jessie instead of turning to Scott, expecting him to walk away like so many other parents did. They might visit for a moment, but during the spring when they’d found out she was aunt to kids who we
re leaving soon, making a connection didn’t make sense for them. And now she was some childless lady sitting in the park with her knitting. Oh well, it was a beautiful day. She’d wanted to be outside for a while and she adored listening to the happy kids.

  “I’m sorry for being rude.”

  She turned and found Scott sitting on the far side of the bench. But not too far. He wasn’t a small man and took a good portion of the space, yet managed not to be too invading.

  “You weren’t rude,” Lucy said and added a smile. “Just a daddy watching out for his daughter and I do understand the stranger issue needs to be reinforced often, especially at Jessie’s age. Are those your sons over there?”

  He turned and a grin came to his face. She’d been watching the boys play and roughhouse.

  “Yep. I’m hoping if they get some energy out we might actually be able to watch a movie or something quiet tonight.”

  He sounded exhausted and Lucy laughed. “That sounds like a nice way to spend the evening. Though, well, good luck.”

  She winced when one of the boys tripped the other and they started tussling again. Scott’s head whipped around and he let out a long, low whistle. The boys immediately perked up and got back to running.

  “Great trick,” she said, impressed. “They must have fantastic hearing.”

  His speed when he turned was a little disconcerting. “Yes, they do. It’s a family thing. So you own the knitting shop? Do you have classes or anything?”

  Surprised by the quick change in subject, Lucy paused a moment to collect her thoughts. “Ah, yes. I host weekly beginner classes as well as more advanced ones.” She grinned, remembering Jessie’s request. “Should I keep an eye out for you in the next few weeks?”

  He laughed a little, but she knew when men thought knitting was ridiculous, and Scott was a long way from scoffing. “Actually, it’s not very often Jessie finds something to light up about. We end up doing a lot of boy stuff and sports, so if she wants to try this, I wouldn’t mind picking up the sticks.”

  “Needles,” she corrected, more automatic than anything, but really she was charmed by his confession and willingness to make his daughter smile. “You know what? If you two come for class, I’ll teach you all the important terms. We probably won’t start with socks, but I think we could have you two knitting scarves by Christmastime.”

  “Lucy? Is that you sitting over there?”

  Lucy shot Scott an apologetic smile before turning to the new voice. “Hi, Mrs. Kimmes. You look nice today.”

  The older woman always looked interesting. Lucy hoped she could pull off ‘interesting’ when she was older. Mrs. Kimmes wore a green skirt, purple knit top and bright pink lipstick. It all did kind of go all together with the mop of white curls on her head. A regular at the shop, the kind woman had gone out of her way to make Lucy’s day often since she’d learned Lucy had lost her grandmother.

  “Thank you, dear.” Mrs. Kimmes stopped her powder pink scooter beside the bench. “And who is this handsome fellow sitting beside you like a giant lump of yummy?”

  Ah, to be so free with words. Luckily, Lucy had known the older woman for three years and Mrs. Kimmes’s mouth no longer surprised her. “This is Scott. We were discussing knitting lessons for him and his daughter.”

  “Both of them, huh?” The older woman’s drawn-on eyebrows rose high. “Well, that’s a newfangled thing. You don’t look like one of those glittery men knitters, so I suppose you’re just being nice. I like that. You won’t find a better teacher than Lucy here. She’s a good one. Why, she even took on an old hooker like me and made a full conversion.”

  Lucy was proud Scott didn’t even wince at the old girl’s announcement. He was a good sport and she supposed with all the kids, off the wall announcements weren’t new.

  “Oh, well I need to go. I’m meeting Wanda Fisher for lunch. Take care, Lucy, and you, young man, I know we’ve just met, but if you’ve got a mind to make eyes at this fine young woman, I suggest you not forget the roses. Too many young men these days go straight for the—”

  “Mrs. Kimmes!”

  The older woman smirked. “Oh, she’s a bit of a prude too, but a nicer woman you’ll never meet. I’m off. You two behave.”

  And like she hadn’t come from nowhere to embarrass the heck out of Lucy, Mrs. Kimmes scooted away. Left once more with Scott, Lucy wasn’t sure if she hoped he would walk away or if she wanted to have a chance to explain at least some of what the crazy woman had said.

  “Hookers, huh?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d miss that one,” Lucy said and tried not to blush. “She meant she used to only crochet. It’s a kind of yarn work done with a single hook—which leads to those who enjoy crocheting being referred to as—”

  “Hookers.” He grinned. “I bet the old girl likes that. And the other? If I do sign up for class, do I need to bring roses?”

  She’d bet hundreds of women had thrown themselves at him over his smile alone. Jessie hadn’t mentioned a mother and Scott didn’t wear a ring, so she assumed he was single. She couldn’t be sure though.

  “Hmm, no roses necessary for the first class,” she said, indulging in a slightly flirty tone and hoping he would come to class so she could learn more about him. If nothing else, he was interesting to talk with and his daughter was adorable. She’d bet they’d both be pleasant company.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve got a card or something?”

  “I can do you one better,” she said and dug around the pocket of her knitting tote. “Here’s a flyer with the beginners classes listed and you can come whenever. I have all the supplies and the starter kit I put together is really inexpensive, so if it doesn’t click for you two, you won’t be out more than ten dollars and a little time.”

  He accepted the flyer, looked it over and tucked it in his pocket. “I’ll call soon.”

  Across the field, the boys started fighting.

  “Oh, uh oh—”

  “I think it’s time to head home. Thanks again for being kind to Jessie and I’ll be in contact soon.”

  He was up and gone in a flash, his speed shocking, but then, he was a dad and his boys were fighting. Jessie perked up for a second and followed and Lucy wondered if he’d whistled again. The move seemed a bit Von Trapp but it obviously worked. Lucy checked her watch and sighed before tucking her yarn away. Lunch break was over and the yarn shop wasn’t going to run itself, no matter how nice it was outside.

  Chapter 2

  They were sleeping—all three of them. Scott sat at the dining room table and winced when his elbow landed in syrup. It had been Ross and Greg’s turn to clean up after dinner, which usually meant he had to re-clean. If he’d been thinking, he would have grabbed a rag before sitting, but he was tired. Hell, he’d been exhausted for the past six months.

  Ever since he’d been forced to leave the protection of his pack, he’d been on guard. For thirty-five years he’d lived with his packmates always at his back, ready to help, but now he was alone except for his kids.

  It was for the best. His mate had tried to kill Jessie one night. She’d nearly killed the boys too when they interfered. The best they could figure, something inside Tiffany’s head had snapped.

  After the incident, Scott’s alpha had asked him to leave the pack and take the children in case whatever had broken in Tiffany had transferred to them. Obviously she had to be crazy. Weres didn’t turn on their babies, ever, and he didn’t blame the others for being cautious. That didn’t mean his kids had problems, though. He couldn’t believe that and wouldn’t until they showed concrete signs of having issues.

  They weren’t in danger or on the run, but the day-to-day life of parenting three pups alone on top of working security full-time wore him down. It was hard being in a new city as well, but he hoped in a few years they could join the pack in Haven, Pennsylvania. He’d spoken with the alpha and was sure they’d make something work eventually. Good days like today made the other ones bearable. He had at
least fifteen years to go before the kids were on their own.

  “Daddy?”

  And then there was Jessie. She’d been a surprise after the boys. Tiffany had been sure the little one was a male, even though Scott and everyone else had smelled right off the pup was female. Tiffany had never warmed up to the little girl, though Scott had never understood why. She was beautiful, bright and even as a newborn she’d been incredibly engaging. Maybe because Jessie was everything Tiffany wasn’t, the older female had felt threatened.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” he asked, watching as she rubbed her eyes. She was wearing one of his old T-shirts. She had a drawer full of pajamas, but at bedtime, especially after she had baths, she always raided his dresser. It was a scent thing he’d noticed with all the kids, and he’d accepted that he spent more on T-shirts than necessary.

  “Are we going to go knitting together?” She climbed on his lap.

  He fought his wince. The day with the boys had jarred his already-damaged back. The fight with the rogue werewolf Tiffany had aligned herself with had left him in bad shape. He’d had to seek help from a human doctor and he’d been told he was lucky to have use of his legs. They’d reinforced the bones in his back to prevent further injury but the bolts sometimes made him ache.

  “Sorry, Daddy. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” Jessie was so astute, so in tune with the people around her. Scott sometimes worried she felt too deeply. He didn’t want to ever think of his daughter being hurt by others who didn’t respect her feelings.

  “Nope, I’m aching a little bit, but you know the best medicine for that is time with my Jessie.” He wouldn’t be a father again, wouldn’t hold a newborn of his own flesh again, so moments like this, when Jessie was soft and cuddly, were ones he cherished.

  “And a hot bath would help too,” Jessie said, all practicality. “Do you think we’ll be able to knit, Dad? I really liked Lucy and I want to make you socks.”

  “She gave me her class schedule and said she’d teach us. I looked it up on the internet and you might be a little young, but we can sure try it. If the knitting doesn’t quite work, I read about a few other yarn crafts Lucy will probably be able to help with.”