by Marilu Mann
Micah swiftly scented for Talia. Telling her about Olivia had been hard, but they’d settled into some semblance of a routine. Assured she still napped, he hit the front door with an exasperated expulsion of air.
If he’d been in wolf form, his ears would have flattened against his skull. His lips did curl back in a snarl as his nostrils flared-what the hell was Frank LaBec doing in Wisconsin? And what was he doing in Micah’s territory when he was the leader of the Turn Skin Pack in New Orleans?
Micah stood rooted on his front steps, fists clenched as the car stopped. I do not need this now. Missing Olivia for the past two weeks had turned his emotions raw. Hell, he’d even snapped at Talia the night before.
With one hand held out, he rumbled, “Don’t get out of that car, Alpha. I don’t want Turn Skins on my land or near my family.”
The man half in and half out of the car shook his head. His shoulder-length blond hair was tied back and he wore an open black overcoat under which Micah could see a conservative pinstriped tailored suit. Heaving a sigh, he shot back at Micah, “This is Pack business, Alpha. My Pack and yours. If you don’t want fair warning, I’ll leave.”
Micah’s shoulders tensed as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. “Pack business? What business does your Pack have with mine? Speak your words, Alpha. Make it worth my while not to stuff you back in that overpriced rental and kick your ass all the way back to the airport.”
The challenge hung in the air as Frank stared at Micah. His chest moved in steady breaths then he slammed the car door shut and moved to the front of the vehicle. “I am here on behalf of my Pack to discuss the living arrangements of Curtis’ heir, Micah. In case you have any doubt, I’m talking about Talia Genaro, Shelly Genaro’s child.”
Before Micah could speak, Frank continued. “I’m as shocked as you are. But we need to talk, you and I. The Pack wants Talia at the mansion to rear as our own.”
Without thinking, Micah charged Frank. Grabbing Frank by the lapels of his suit, he raised the other man a few inches off the ground so that their faces were level. Nose to nose, he snarled, “You have lost your ever-loving mind, Frank and you could lose your life. Talia is my goddaughter-no, she is my daughter. Shelly gave me custody. Now get off my land and out of my territory.”
Micah bit out the last words in careful pieces as if Frank might misunderstand the importance of what he was saying. Not letting go of the suit, Micah backed Frank up.
“She is mine. Do not even think about pulling anything like kidnapping her or harming her in any way. If any other Turn Skins set foot on my property, I will shoot them dead.”
He knew exactly what affront he’d offered. To shoot another shifter without a fair fight animal to animal was a grave insult but Micah didn’t care. Nothing and no one, especially not those lowlife Turn Skins, will harm my daughter. It shook him to the bone to realize that he considered Talia his as though he’d created her with Shelly.
Surely she hadn’t slept with Curtis-not sweet, gentle Shelly. She’d refused to talk about Talia’s father. Said things would never work out between them so she’d declined the offer to be his mate. It couldn’t be. And the Turn Skins were ultimately responsible for Shelly’s death. The Alpha bitch at the time, Maggie, had truly killed her, but none of the rest of that Pack had tried to stop her.
Micah glared at the shifter in his grip. The fact that Frank had not fought back, only grabbed Micah’s wrists was telling. As if he had too much to lose by letting Micah throw him off the land. He relaxed his grip, eliciting a sigh from Frank.
“Look. You don’t think I’d fly to Minnesota and then drive four hours into the middle-of-fucking-nowhere Wisconsin in the freezing-ass winter just to fuck with you, do you? Do you really think I value my life that little? Let us come in out of this ridiculous cold and sit down to discuss this like civilized beings, Micah.”
Frank pushed himself back from Micah and brushed at the lapels of his suit. “Can’t believe you wrinkled my suit. Do you have any clue how much this cost me? Now can we go in? It’s too cold out here even for my shifter blood.”
“We?” Micah’s nose twitched as two others exited the car. A human male and-Micah took another deep breath-a shifter female stood at the front of the vehicle. His nostrils flared as he took in her scent.
“Julia? You’ve gone to the Turn Skins?” Turning his head slightly to look at the classy blonde were-leopard, he wondered if he was losing his mind. “Does Tony know you’re here?”
“Tony is the one who suggested I come, Micah. He heard about this situation and asked me to intervene.” Julia came forward to take his hand. He stared into her concerned green eyes. “I’ve looked over the paperwork and it’s not good. Judge Lowery appointed me guardian ad litem at my request and Tony’s. I’ve left several messages on your voicemail. You should have known we were coming and why.”
A fist clenched relentlessly around Micah’s heart. Tony Pantera, his closest friend in New Orleans, knew about this? Why hadn’t he called? Then he remembered Gareth mentioning the messages. Only he’d been too immersed in losing Olivia. Had his losing control cost him his daughter as well? Micah waved a hand toward the lodge then followed the three into the warmth of the kitchen.
Once inside, he signaled a watchful Gareth to go upstairs and keep Talia out of sight. Gareth hadn’t finalized his plans to leave yet, but it was only a matter of time. Micah had asked him to stay until spring. Luckily they’d worked out a few signals in case silence was necessary.
Gareth gave a short nod, lips curling in disgust at the scent of his former Pack as he backed up the staircase. Micah waited until he was out of sight before pointing to the chairs.
“Sit. Get to the point. I have better things to do than listen to the lies of a Turn Skin.”
Frank surged to his feet but Julia placed a well-manicured hand on his arm. “Sit, wolfboy. Let me handle this.”
Micah felt some amusement at the look on Frank’s face at being coolly ordered to heel like he was a pet dog. But the Turn Skin leader sat even as he snarled at Julia. “Then state your piece, kitty-girl, and be thankful I don’t chow down on you.”
“I don’t do interspecies dating, Frank.” Julia flipped her hair over a slim shoulder as she turned to face Micah.
“Micah, this is serious and this is real. It’s an Alpha emergency that you ignored. Now the courts have made their initial decision and Talia is to go back to New Orleans with Frank.”
Micah would have come across the table if it hadn’t been Julia. As it was, his fists clenched until his knuckles cracked. He knew her and trusted her work as a top-notch criminal litigator. Added to that, Tony had asked her to come-that alone made his stomach threaten to rebel. If Tony had become this involved this quickly, he really had done himself no favors by ignoring the phone calls from New Orleans. As Julia continued to speak, her words seemed to reverberate in his brain. Talia. Turn Skins. Compound. Loss. Loss. Loss. How much more did they expect him to endure? His mate was gone, and now they wanted to strip him of his child as well?
Julia finished her statements and waited. The silence in the kitchen jerked him out of his tail-chasing spin. Reading the documents she placed in front of him, Micah tried to find a loophole, an escape clause, anything that wouldn’t result in Talia being taken away from him today. Not today-not ever. He didn’t think he had the strength to watch another love leave. But there were no outs, no places for him to run on this one.
“You are telling me…” Micah heard his voice break and growled. “You say Talia is Curtis’ daughter? That he and Shelly were lovers? And because of some will you just found, the Turn Skins, now called the Compound Pack, have guardianship over her?”
Julia sighed. She spoke slowly, gently, “No, Micah, not exactly. Yes, she is Curtis’ child. We found letters from Shelly confirming that. Wolfboy here is the anal type and has been going through all of the paperwork Slade never worried about. Talia has been remanded by the courts back to the Compound Pack. I’m her
e to make sure she’s properly taken care of. I’ll also help you find a good lawyer.”
Micah blinked rapidly. He hadn’t shed tears since his father’s death, though the pain he felt now tossed him back to that time. “Lawyer? Why do I need a lawyer?”
Frank barked a sharp sound of disgust. “What’s happened to you, Micah? You can’t invoke Pack law on this one. Because you ignored all the overtures we made, this is in the Louisiana court system. If you want to challenge for joint custody, you’re going to need a lawyer.”
He leaned in close. “A very good one. Don’t think I’m here of my own accord. I work for the Pack will. And my Pack wants this child. They think she won’t learn about Pack law with you. They see you as a lone wolf, Micah.”
The words burned into Micah’s brain. He’d said the same to Gareth not so long ago. And a month ago the Compound Pack would have been right. He hadn’t wanted the responsibility of his local Pack. He didn’t have a mate or a child to worry about.
Olivia and Talia had changed all that. For a brief moment he wished the old Turn Skin Pack still ruled. They would have just tried to steal Talia. Then he could have used the rage building in him to destroy them. But with Frank at the helm of the newly named Compound Pack, things had changed.
For them to approach him this way-legally-that took the wind out of him. Numbly he nodded at Julia. “Let me tell her.”
And he turned to Frank with a sneer. “Prepare for the fight of your life, Alpha.”
Micah held on to a post on the porch as the car pulled away. He could still hear Talia crying for him. Even though he’d told her he would come for her, she’d clung like a drowning child to a life raft. Rubbing his arms where her fingers had dug in, he let himself weep.
A hand on his shoulder brought him back to the painful realization that this wasn’t a dream but a true nightmare. He looked at Gareth.
“What are you doing here, Gareth? I thought you would leave too.”
“Not now, Micah. I took some time to clear my head and let you see the truth in my words. I’m sorry for what’s happened. Some of those messages were from Julia. I expected you would get them when you checked the phone.”
Raw with grief, Micah rasped, “I didn’t listen to them. I didn’t want to hear Olivia saying she needed me to return her things.” He looked up at Gareth. “She left some clothes here, you know. And now they’ve taken Talia.”
“I know, Micah. What are you going to do about it? You know you can’t do this alone.” Gareth stared at Micah briefly then looked away. “You have to step up to the plate, Micah. You’re going to have to get help from the Pack on this one.”
“I’m going to go to New Orleans. I will bring Talia home even if I can’t bring Olivia back. I can’t lose them both. And don’t talk to me about this Alpha crap. It’s not important to me at this moment. Getting Talia back is what matters.”
Heedless of the disbelief in Gareth’s face, Micah went inside to make phone calls and start redeeming favors owed. He would do whatever he had to do to get his daughter back where she belonged. With him. Then he would go convince Olivia where she belonged. But first, he had to get Talia.
That day seemed endless but finally he put the phone down, assured that he had the best possible legal team available on such short notice. He still had plenty of friends in New Orleans, some of them members of the Pack trying to steal his daughter. Those he hadn’t called, but he’d reached almost everyone else he knew in the Crescent City and solicited their advice and help. Only one person hadn’t answered his call and he wasn’t a legal aide.
No, that particular wolf was a swamp-dwelling bad boy who Micah intended to use if the courts didn’t see things his way. He clamped down on what was right and what was wrong. Talia was his Pack and he would have her home no matter what.
He went upstairs, knowing that sleep would not come easily. Toying with the idea of a whiskey nightcap, Micah shoved the thought aside. He didn’t need sleep badly enough to self-medicate. He was no weakling to use that crutch.
Morning sun burned against his lids. Micah groaned as he forced himself out of bed. Three hours of sleep would not make him the most intelligent shifter in the world. He vowed to try to sleep on the flight he’d booked that afternoon. Once he was in New Orleans, he could make himself rest so he wouldn’t snap under pressure.
At the kitchen table, hot coffee in hand, Micah jotted down a list for Gareth. Micah grimaced as he shoved his hair back. When a family had booked one of the cabins for the spring, there’d been an affirmative answer for their question about other kids for their daughter to play with. Shaking his head, he clenched his teeth. Talia would be here. There was no other possible outcome.
Micah raised his head, glancing toward the front door. He moved toward the porch and watched as an unfamiliar car pulled up to the front drive. A small smile broke across his face as the driver exited the car. Well, I’ll be damned. Speak of the devil and that swamp wolf shows up on my land. Tall, tan with brown hair falling below his shoulders, the driver stared at the front door for a moment until the passenger door of the car opened.
Micah watched as the small auburn-haired woman got out of the car. She smiled at the man, said something he couldn’t make out and then moved to the back car door. The man shook his head at her, opening the back door on his side of the car. Within moments the couple was heading toward the lodge, the man carrying a child carrier and huge diaper bag, the woman holding two toddlers by the hands.
Micah opened the door just as they stepped onto the porch. The woman released the children to throw herself against his chest with a huge smile as the man behind her growled softly. Micah knew it was instinctive, knew it wasn’t a challenge, so he ignored it to hug the woman briefly.
“Hello, Joie, Slade. Welcome.”
“Micah, it’s so good to see you!” Joie’s soft Southern accent charmed him, as always. Slade simply nodded, uneasy with the relationship they were still carving out after nearly three years. Besides, he had a hard time with other Alphas and he was out of his element on Micah’s territory.
“How are you? It’s been way too long, you know. Tante Kay asks about you all the time.”
“How is your godmother?” Micah smiled at the memory of the ancient traiteuse who lived deep in the bayou.
“Kay’s fine. She sent you some herbs. They’re in the trunk. Had a hell of a time getting them on the plane. Damn drug-sniffing dogs.” Slade’s gravel-laced voice gave evidence of his discomfort. A soft squawk from the carrier drew Micah’s eye to Slade’s burden and to the twins who stared up at him with matching grins. He moved back, opening the door wider for the family to come inside.
Micah swung one of the toddlers up in his arms as she stepped over the threshold and looked into eyes as green as moss. “Hello, little sister.”
He couldn’t stop his grin as the child’s twin brother tugged at his pants leg. Micah scooped the boy up in his other arm, seeing the same green eyes in this face. “Hello, little brother.”
“They’re twenty-one months old now and growing like weeds. This one has just hit eight months.” Joie reached over to touch each of her children and then looked up at their father. “We wanted to let you see them and share our news.”
The curly redhead looked deeply into his eyes. “Micah? What’s wrong? You’re in pain.”
“You’re pregnant again?” Micah ignored the healer’s insightful words and redirected the conversation.
“I hate it when you do that,” Slade grumbled even as he slipped his arm around Joie. “Yes, she’s pregnant again, just barely, and for whatever reason, she insists that we ask you to be godfather again.”
“I would be honored, thank you.” Micah knew the pain of loss Joie had suffered and knew her joy at being able to carry Slade’s children. Apparently, from the rapid growth of their family, Slade had settled surprisingly well into fatherhood. Either that or he just couldn’t keep his hands off his mate. Micah knew the feeling. He looked at both of them th
en turned to lead the way into the living room. “Come in, make yourselves at home.”
He set the twins down long enough to start removing the snowsuit from his goddaughter. She smiled and waved her arms around, babbling as only a toddler could as he took her snowsuit off.
Slade had stopped just inside the door, his eyes taking in the décor even as he scented the air. Micah waited for the question he knew the other man would ask. As a human, Joie wouldn’t recognize the scent, but Slade would.
Sure enough, a grin started across his face and he turned his gaze to Micah. “Where’s your mate, Micah?”
“Mate? You’re mated? Oh Micah, how wonderful!” Joie rushed across the room but stopped short of hugging him again. Her eyes were thoughtful as Slade took a seat and helped his older son out of his snowsuit before pulling the baby out of the carrier, removing his snowsuit much more deftly than Micah had for their sister.
Slade hugged the infant against his chest as he spread a blanket out on the floor. He set the baby down on his tummy, patting his diapered butt softly. The boy raised his head and shoulders up then started scooting around on his stomach. Micah envied his friend’s ease with the children.
Micah watched the twins toddling around the living room then met both Joie and Slade’s expectant gazes. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?” They spoke together. Joie’s voice held sympathy-Slade’s surprise.
“Yes. She went to New York.” Micah got to his feet and headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll go make sure your room is ready and then I’ll check on dinner. Make yourselves at home, enjoy the fire. There are some toys in the wooden box against the wall.”
He moved swiftly out of the room, not willing or able to talk about Olivia leaving just yet. He knew there would be questions, especially from Slade, but he wasn’t ready to discuss it. He wanted to bring up Talia but didn’t know how.
Despite his reluctance, he sighed when Slade walked into the kitchen. Giving the beef stew another stir, he glanced at Slade.
