by Tate James
I hadn’t thought about what it meant to stay. I loved my parents, but I couldn’t literally move home. “I was thinking of working for Emily, filling her bartender position, and getting a cheap apartment in town.”
“Still…”
“Yeah, it is nice to have a bed to crash on while I figure stuff out.”
“Sounds to me like you have.”
I waved at Kate as she ducked her head in. “There y’all are.”
“You guys really aren’t leaving because you hate me, right?”
Kate scoffed. “No. But that weird guy with the beard yesterday and I dunno, the feeling of the place out there, it gave me the willies. Suddenly I remember why I moved to the big city and left all my family in Arkansas.”
I hugged them both and walked them down to the car. “I’ll let you know when my flight gets in, if I decide to move it, one way or the other.”
“Hey,” Kate called out the window as they pulled away. “Now you can spend your time choosing between those two hotties, instead of trying to keep us occupied.”
My face went crimson and I flipped her off as she belly-laughed. I watched the car until it rounded the corner in the distance and drove out of view. She wasn’t wrong though. Something had happened between the men when I’d kissed Cash, and again when Adam had taken me in the woods. As unimportant as I knew I was, I still had to consider the point that friends sometimes compete, and I might be a point of contention between them unless I figured out what I was trying to accomplish.
And decide if what I’d seen in my vision and in the woods, was a truth I was willing to, or ready to know.
13
My chance came sooner than I was ready for, when Carter, Devon and Cash screeched to a stop in front of the house as I was turning to go inside.
“Did I miss them? Is she gone?” Carter panted, grabbing my hands as Cash slid out the driver’s side, an amused look on his face. He looked around, then lifted his chin and breathed in, like he could smell her if he tried. “Shit, I don’t see the car.”
“Yes, they’re gone. I didn’t know you wanted to say goodbye.”
Carter rubbed his neck, a sheepish look on his face. “Kate and I, we’ve been talking a bunch on the phone, I thought maybe…”
“Oh good. You have her number. So, text her, tell her you missed her, and facetime when she gets home. It’s just a few states away, you could see her next weekend.”
He nodded and walked back toward the car, looking a little lost. I tried and failed to hide my grin. Kate had that effect on men, but Carter, at least, seemed to do the same for her. For a moment I saw her, smiling up at him as they danced close, a crown of pale cream silk flowers on her head. The image made me smile so hard me cheeks hurt, but at least I knew Carter wouldn’t be forlorn for long.
“What did you see that’s got you looking like a jack o’ lantern?” Cash whispered as he walked with me into the garden.
“He and Kate might just work something out, believe it or not,” I breathed. “They’re so opposite to each other, though.”
Cash shook his head. “Not so much. You keep seeing Carter after he’s finished helping out at his brother’s place. Don’t forget he’s also the principal of the high school and getting his doctorate.”
“Oh God. I never even asked. Damn. Carter’s got some good grey matter, huh.” I wished I could’ve seen more, a backdrop to tell me if Kate ended up in the south, or if Carter was drawn to the big city for love. Then again, it could’ve been my imagination. It had run away with me before. Once I’d fooled myself long enough to get engaged to a man who loved his inheritance more than the ‘mixed blood’ girlfriend he’d asked to marry him.
“You’re quiet.” Cash brushed my hair behind my shoulder. “Come out with us later. We’re meeting up with Adam to talk about some family stuff, but I promise we won’t be a total drag.”
“I guess I could do that. I need to spend more time with my mom first, though.” He kissed my cheek, an unexpected gesture that made my chest feel tight. We walked back to where Carter and my brown-eyed fantasy were waiting in the car and I waved as they slowly backed out and pulled away.
The truth was, my mom was handling the loss of her friend with the same quiet acceptance she’d shown at every hardship. She didn’t know I was staying home, and she was back at the shop, probably sharing stories of Blue’s life with her friends as she sold items from her home to help Blue’s sisters with the funeral costs.
Mom could talk anyone into anything. I was sure by the time she was finished selling off knickknacks and furniture, the funeral and any other family needs would be met, just as Blue would’ve wanted.
I had to ask one of the guys about the wolf that had peered out at me from the cypress grove. It was impossible that it was connected to them. Except that it was also impossible to see the future. All their talk of pack and alphas made sense in a very dangerous, nonsensical way. Worse, asking them meant I believed my visions were literal. If that was true, I couldn’t hide from them anymore. How many people might have been hurt while I ignored the chance to help them? If my visions were real, how much harm did that make me responsible for?
14
The guys picked me up in Adam’s shiny white escalade, a world of difference from the rundown pickups and muscle cars I’d seen before. They were dressed differently too. Button down shirts replaced their graphic tees, and dockers instead of jeans. If it had been only one of them climbing down to retrieve me, I would’ve thought it was a date.
But I’d dressed for it too, in a strappy floral sundress and low-heeled sandals with ribbons that wrapped around my ankles like ballet slippers. I’d like it when Cash touched my hair, so I wore it bone straight down my back, and when I opened the door, I grabbed a white sweater to stave off the cool of the evening.
“My God you look good, Cher,” Cash gave a low whistle and flinched when my dad cleared his throat loudly. “Evening, sir.”
“Evening, Mr. LeBlanc. I don’t have to remind y’all to make sure my daughter doesn’t come home caked with mud again, right?”
I felt every muscle in Cash’s body tense, and behind him, Devon shook, one long-fingered hand over his mouth to hide his laughter. “No sir, Mr. Bonhomme, you do not.”
My father craned his neck and pointed a finger at Adam, who held his right hand up like a boy scout. “You should probably stay away from these ones.”
“I bet someone said that to Mom, once upon a time, about you.”
“Course they did. They were right, too.” His scowl deepened. “I hope you’re more of a gentleman than your father was.” The wan smile Cash had forced to his face fell off, and Dad laughed at him. “C’mon, son. I know she’ll be fine. I gave her a knife.”
He had, but not because I was going out. Dolan had paid him and Mom a visit at the shop and spoken about how I’d turned out. It made him uncomfortable enough that he’d sat me down and told me not to stray from ‘those Cormier boys’ and to be wary of anyone dressed in Sheriff’s brown.
But I dutifully pulled out the bowie knife and showed my three dates, the Cash swallowing hard and looking at me like I’d grown horns, Adam and Devon laughing so hard they leaned against each other so neither fell into the honeysuckle trellis.
“Goodnight, Dad.” I pushed past him and shoved him back and shut the door on him. We could hear him guffaw from behind the door, and Adam was thrown into a new fit of laughter. “You’re no help at all, you know.” I glared at him and he wiped his eyes and bent over, trying to catch his breath.
“Did you see Cash jump? Oh, my God.” Devon was panting as he slapped Adam on the back. “Sometimes, it’s good not to be the guy in charge.”
“Let’s go before he starts flickering the porch light to remind us he’s watching.” He hadn’t done it since I was sixteen, but something about him reminded me of the days when I’d see his glasses glinting in the moonlight as a boy walked me up the path.
“Well, we look damn fine tonight, where are w
e going?” Cash assisted me into the front seat and I slid over to make room for him.
“I’d like to go to my ex’s sometime tonight, but other than that, I have no preference.”
“The two best looking men in Breaux Bridge are escorting you tonight, and you want to go to the dive bar?” Adam sighed. “You and Cash are more alike than you think.”
I glanced up at Cash and he shrugged. “I’m good with beer and a little music, but for Adam’s refined palate, we’ll go into town for supper.”
Adam kept shooting me looks, until I finally admitted I was thinking of staying, and knew Emily needed a bartender. Immediately, he pulled a U-turn in the middle of the old highway, skidding as he wrenched the wheel. “We’ll talk to Em first. I know Sally Bishop was going to talk to her about the job tonight.”
Emily was thrilled to have me offer and asked me to start the next day. Suddenly I found myself obligated to stay, having not quite my current job, or told my parents I might need to stay with them while I look for a place of my own.
“What have I done?”
Adam pushed a beer across the table to me. “Looks to me like you faced your responsibilities and stepped up to them.”
Cash groaned and took a long pull from his bottle, refusing to meet Adam’s pointed stare.
“Were you even talking to me?” I asked.
Adam winked and sipped his whiskey. “Cash has a similar opportunity, to take up his father’s legacy and let me and my dad off the hook.”
“So what’s the hold up?”
“It’s a lot of responsibility, some of which is over people who don’t want to listen to anyone. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not actually much of a fighter.” Cash sighed. “At least, I’ve been trying not to be.”
“Someone had to be the diplomat, Cash, I’m glad it’s you.”
I picked at the label on my longneck, full of questions I was too scared to ask. Finally, carefully, I managed one question. “Would you be in charge of those guys I saw you talking to in the alley? I thought they might be old school mates or something, talking about the pack and loyalty, sounded like the greeks.”
“I did belong to a fraternity, but no. They didn’t go to any school I did.”
Devon made a rude sound at the mention of the ‘others’ going to school. “That seems to be the crux of everything. Damned fools think trying to better yourself is betrayal of tradition.” Adam gave him a thoughtful look, and Cash nodded.
“Kid’s got some wisdom in there…sometimes,” he ended with a quick grin and a wink across the table at Devon. Both he and Adam seemed protective of him, even though he was almost as old as they were…my age, if I had to guess. Then again, they seemed protective of everyone around them.
“I know it’s none of my business, we hardly even know each other. But I do hope it’s not about this vigilante justice you take so much pride in, Cash. Adam could ruin his life, and as insulated as you are in this community, I’m pretty sure it would still ruin yours too.”
Adam had the good sense to look chagrined. “You’re right. I’ve been acting like I had nothing to lose, because we really didn’t. But if Cash takes over his birthright, I’ll go back to being the sexy-but-cool, mild mannered lawyer for the poor and dispossessed.”
“Shit.” Cash shot me a dirty look. “Literally handed him the ammunition, didn’t you?” But I saw relief in his eyes. In a town where the Sheriff makes his judgments on the first look, a black man couldn’t afford to be too rough with the good ol’ boys. “Fine. You take your place at my side, and I’ll take the vow.”
“Of celibacy?” I asked without thinking, laughing at my joke.
But Cash moved faster than I could track and suddenly his face was almost touching mine. “Not on your life, Cher. You and I have unfinished business.”
I gasped and looked at Adam quickly, but he just raised his glass in a salute and sipped again. He’d said he didn’t mind sharing, but until that moment, I hadn’t dared to even imagine it could be real. My dream came to mind, our bodies intertwining, and my head felt so light I steadied myself, hiding my face in my hands.
“Is it a vision?” Adam asked, his voice tight.
“No, just too much beer on an empty stomach. What say you we go into town?”
Cash agreed. “We have an errand to run there anyway.”
No one would say what it was, leaving me with a sense of foreboding as I rode between them into town. It was obvious they had reputations for being the best kind of men. But that didn’t mean they weren’t involved in something dangerous.
So, when Cash opened the door for me and I stepped into the flickering light of the voodoo shop, and Adam asked for the tattooist, I almost laughed aloud in relief. Tattoos. More frat boy stuff. That, I could handle.
Right up until the old woman shoved a brand into her fireplace to heat up, baring Cash’s forearm. “You can’t abdicate once you’ve taken the mark, do you understand?”
Cash nodded, then cleared his throat and answered. “Yes. I accept the mantle and the mark freely and promise to serve my family to the death.”
Not so frat boy… at least not outside movies.
“Devon,” I whispered, pulling him aside. “He’s not going to let her burn his arm with that thing, is he? That’s crazy.”
“Cash can handle it. he heals faster than you’d believe.”
I scoffed and went to forbid him from doing something so painful and horrific in front of me. I was less than five feet away from him when she grasped the handle of the brand and jerked it out of the fire, slamming it into his arm with a grunt.
The odor of burnt skin and hot metal was etched into my nostrils as I stared at him, at the shape that was permanently stamped on his skin. Staring back at me from his arm, was the snarling head of a wolf.
15
I stood outside, gulping air. Wolves, everywhere I looked since I’d met Cash. Wolves and premonitions, and I was finally beginning to believe they might be connected.
There was no way to ask, so I listened as the old woman explained how to care for the brand and keep it from infecting before it could heal right. “One day of good care and you will be good as new, Alpha. One day of bad care, and even a shift might not save your arm.” She flashed him a gummy grin. “A three-legged wolf is not so scary, eh?”
Neither Cash or Adam would look at me, busying themselves with their goodbyes. I trailed them out of the little storefront, laden with first aid items for Cash and a few gifts she’d slipped to me as I walked out.
“A good witch needs supplies, and a pack witch needs more than most. You need help, you come see Fatima. I got evera-ting you need.”
I thanked her and scurried after Devon. “What’s a pack witch?” I demanded. “Hell, what the fuck is this ‘pack’ supposed to be?”
He flinched and glared at Cash. “Who called you that?”
“Fatima, as she handed me all this stuff and told me to come back if it wasn’t enough. She called me a witch…but coming from her at least I felt safe assuming it wasn’t an insult.”
“Shit. Cash, you need to hear this.” Devon took my bundles and shoved them in the backseat of the SUV. “Fatima called Frankie the pack witch. She saw Frankie’s gift. Which means she probably won’t be the only one.”
Cash ran his hands through his hair and paced. “Not two fucking minutes and it begins.” He held up his hands and feigned throttling Adam. “Two minutes man. I haven’t had time to figure out what to do about Aldean and his crew.
“Maybe Dominguez won’t mind.”
I eyed them both. “Won’t mind what?”
“Stepping aside so you can be pack witch. She’s a healer but has no real…preternatural gift.”
“Thank you for stopping before you said magic.”
“Semantics. But I it makes you feel better, we’ll use words that aren’t as scary.”
I curled up my lip at him. “Just so we’re clear. You guys were the wolves in the woods and in my vision.
I’m really…I’m really having visions and werewolves are real and I’m going to pass out.” I leaned against the car as my head swam.
“And this is why I don’t want her involved. She’s too new to this, and more likely to be hurt than anyone, especially after her little stunt the other night.”
“Stunt?” I punched Cash in the shoulder. “It was a stunt to follow my vision and save Adam from being shot? A stunt…you couldn’t come up with a single better word?”
Adam cleared his throat. “Let’s get you back to Cash’s place, so we can speak freely.”
Cash gave me a look that said he’d rather I not speak freely. I barely resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him and clambered into the middle seat without accepting his help. It meant I probably flashed him my panties, but I was too irritated to care.
I climbed in the back with Devon. I wanted nothing to do with Cash for the time being. My head was spinning, and for once, it had nothing to do with my so-called gift. It should’ve been a relief to have something else to think about, but without the pressure of Devon’s hand on my thigh, I felt like I could burst out of my skin.
The drive was short, but my temper was only heating by the second, so every moment spent in the silence of the car was one more too many. Devon offered to do a food run, and I went out with him.
“You always leave or take the backseat to the others. Doesn’t it get old?”
“It may shock you to know, but I’m not always their little shadow,” He growled. I backed up a few steps, until my ass bumped up against his beat-up truck. “I don’t care much for politics,” he chuckled darkly as he pressed himself into me, his mouth deliciously close to mine. “That means I’m not going to the boss of…well, just about anything.”
