Entwined (Vukodlak Brew Book 1)

by Christine M. Butler

  “I’m sure you’re pretty busy, but I do expect you to at least contact your mom and me once in a while and let us know how you’re doing.”

  “I will do better, I promise.”

  “I thought maybe you’d started taking after your sister with all her dating nonsense or something.” He sounded more like he was fishing for news that I’d met someone who was keeping me busy.

  “Not even close. It’s weird though, because the first night I went out all these guys were hitting on me, and now, I can’t even get a man to say hello back to me without trying to run away. It’s like I’ve developed some kind of heinous disfiguring disease that only men can see.”

  My dad cursed under his breath as if he understood what was going on more than I did. He didn’t comment on it to me, instead he changed the subject again. “I was actually calling to let you know that your mom and I will be coming out there in two days. Make sure you don’t have plans, because when we get there we’ll be taking you out to dinner, okay?”

  “Sure thing. I’m glad you guys are coming out for a visit. Nana will be thrilled to know she gets to see mom. Plus, Liz just broke my heart.”

  It was time for my dad to huff out another of his my-daughter-is-making-my-life-miserable sighs. “Yeah, second summer session. We hashed all that out last night, when she told me I’d have to pay for a class again.”

  “Go easy on her. I don’t think this is her fault. She’s having a hard time with one of her professors.”

  “I know, Iz, you don’t have to take up for your sister. She already explained. If I didn’t think she was being honest, she wouldn’t be attending a second session.”

  ~*~ DRE ~*~

  “Why haven’t we heard back from Jackson yet?” I asked as the managing members of the pack sat around our weekly meeting.

  “I heard from him yesterday,” Gage spoke up. “He’ll be here at the end of the week.”

  “Why am I just now hearing about this?”

  “Because when I saw you yesterday, we had company lounging about, and didn’t think that company was privy to that information, or that you’d want them to know we know even more of their family. Both girls seem pretty clueless as to what we are. I don’t think Jackson ever told them. Not sure if his own wife knows. How the hell you keep that from a woman you’ve been with that many years is beyond me.”

  “Okay, do we have a meeting set with him yet? I’m about to rock his daughter’s world with a lot of knowledge he never trusted her with. I’d like to know why he kept his girls in the dark, and why he thought he could keep Iz from me.”

  “I don’t think he knew it was you he was keeping her from.” Gage offered.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure. It sounded to me like the girls talked about some picture of Garrett and myself, that one of them had taken at some point three years ago, quite often. At least often enough to have nicknames for us.”

  Granger piped up then, “do tell. What were those names?”

  Garrett’s smile sparkled with pride. “I was Sexy Beast, and he was just Green-eyes.”

  “Actually, they called you Grizzly Adams. That was during your beard phase.” Everyone in the room laughed loudly at Garrett’s expense for once.

  “Yeah, we kept telling you that beard was ridiculous. So glad you finally got your shit together and tamed that beast.” Granger laughed as he said it.

  “Let’s discuss who will be running shit at Vukodlak this week then.” I moved on to the next topic.

  Running the bar side of the brewery usually fell on Hank’s shoulders. It wasn’t an assignment per se, just something he enjoyed doing and he happened to be good at it. “I’ve already posted the staffing schedule for the next two weeks. Everything is well stocked, and running smooth. We did have a guy sniffing around trying to sell us a new brand of whiskey. You might want to check into that, because he brought samples and that shit is smooth.” Hank wound down his speech there. It was one of the few times anyone got more than a gruff grunt or a quick line of words from him. If Gage behaved like a caveman with the ladies, Hank spoke like one on the regular unless it was about the brewery.

  “Okay, then how are we sitting for the production side?”

  Granger fidgeted in his seat. “We have a few more mass orders starting to come in, brother. I think it’s time we seriously consider expansion and stepping up the production scale.”

  “Well, we’re going to need to sit down and figure up the particulars concerning that. Let’s get this Jackson business out of the way this week, and then we’ll dive into that first thing next week. Ballpark it for me now so I know what we’ll need to consider.” I tossed a glance back his way.

  “It wouldn’t hurt to find someone who has worked with larger scale production. We’re going to need more help anyway as we increase volume. A larger facility for the production side, whether we want to experiment with seasonal blends, and new flavors, as well as what new supplies we’ll need to bring in for all that.”

  “Local grown, if we can, as per usual. The community here doesn’t ask questions when our freaky shit slips out into the public eye once in a while, and they do that because we keep things running here,” I reminded everyone before trying to bring it all to conclusion. “That it for now?”

  “One more thing,” Gage spoke up. “After getting kicked in the shin pretty hard last night, it came to my attention that we might not all be on the same page about what’s going down with that Izzy chick. Let’s get that in the open before anyone else gets hurt.”

  I chuckled at his wounded pride knowing my kick to his shin didn’t hurt him, or at least not for long. “Izzy is my Kindred. I felt her here three years ago, as you’re all well aware. She got away before we could meet. I fucked up by hooking up with what turned out to be her aunt a few times too many, and now it’s a mess. Add that to the fact that she has no clue what we are, what her own dad really is, or anything else that would be helpful to me right about now.

  “Word is out with both wolves and humans in the area that she’s off limits. Be nice, but keep your distance. If you see someone being too friendly, don’t hesitate to step in, because if I see it…” I rubbed a hand across the stubble on my jaw. “Yeah, just nip that shit in the bud quick-like.” They all understood. There were a few things that would trigger our change outside of our control. Jealous rages where mates were concerned was definitely one of them. Hell, it wasn’t even really about being jealous, it was more so about being protective. “After we meet with Jackson it shouldn’t be an issue, because I plan on laying everything out for her with the help of her father.”

  “You’re assuming he’ll help you,” Gage added quietly. “Didn’t he haul ass with her real quick-like last time they were here?”

  “I’m not giving him much of a choice this time. He’ll cooperate. Besides, she’s already here, and she’s felt the pull too.” I reminded myself of her little escape with her aunt last night, and how she’d protected me from Lana’s wrath. It put a smile back on my face. “Anything else?”

  “Just a head’s up, Dre…” Gage started and managed to duck his head guiltily. “I’m not playing distraction anymore. I like Lana, but I don’t want anything misconstrued, and if I spend more time with her signals are going to get crossed. I’m sure you get that, considering.”

  I simply nodded. I couldn’t ask Gage to stick around her any longer, for both his sake and Lana’s. She might be giving me a hard time, but it’s one I earned. Even though she wasn’t the one for me, I still respected her enough not to put her through that shit again. “You’re choice if you ever go there again, man.”

  Gage nodded and the rest of us started packing up our shit. “I think we need to do a pack run after this shit with Jackson too. He’ll probably need to blow off some steam with us, so be prepared. Most of you either haven’t seen Jackson since you were kids, or not at all. I’ll introduce his wolf to all of you before we run.”

  Chapter Seven

  ~*~ IZZY ~*~


  Boredom set in around mid-afternoon, and I decided to go hang out at my nana’s shop with Lana. Once I was there I got roped into helping restock some of the inventory. I didn’t really mind one bit though. Nana, Elizabeth-Beth for short- who my twin sister Liz was named after, sold wine, homemade soaps, herbs, and other stuff that she had her hand in making. The wine was the only thing she didn’t make, but she did take pride in stocking only the stuff she found, and thought was good enough to pass along to the rest of the public.

  I’d been at the shop two hours when I glanced up as the bell over the front door tinkled a visitor. My jaw dropped as I saw who was standing there. “Momma?” I called out from across the store.

  “Hey baby!” My mom’s sweet southern draw called back to me as she ran over with her arms thrown wide open.

  “I thought you guys weren’t getting in until some time tomorrow?”

  “We came early.” My momma smiled at me then before adding a rather belated, “surprise!”

  I laughed at that. “Where’s daddy?”

  “Visiting with some friends.” My mom looked nervous when she mentioned it, and quickly changed the subject. “Where’s Nana?”

  “Lori?” I heard Lana’s voice squeak as she noticed my mom standing there beside me. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Lana ran over and wrapped her arms around my mom in a huge hug. It was weird to think they were sisters. I felt more like Lana was my other sister or cousin because of our ages. It took a minute once in a while to think about the fact that Lana and my mom were sisters just like Liz and I were. Well, maybe not just like us thanks to the age difference, but close.

  “Hey sweetheart, how have you been?” My mom called out from under the over-exuberant embrace. Lana mumbled something back to her making my momma laugh. “How’s momma?”

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” My nana called from the door to the back storage area. “If you’d visit more often you wouldn’t have to ask your sister how I am. You would know for yourself.” She didn’t say it to be mean. It was just the truth. In the 22 years since my momma ran off with daddy they’d only come back three times. Nana used to come visit us before my paw, her husband, died of an aneurism seven years ago.

  “Momma, we’re here now. Let’s keep the peace so we don’t end up having to leave early, okay?”

  “Fine, come give us a hug, sugar!” My mom did just that, and nana didn’t bother to hide the tears that were running down her face. “I’ve missed you something fierce, baby.”

  “I know, me too, momma.”

  It was weird to see my mom in a “daughter’s” role, but also sweet. I wondered how my parents would feel if I stole away with a man in the middle of the night and only came to visit them three times in more than 20 years? Well, it wouldn’t happen, because I think my daddy would shoot a man who tried to take his little girls from him in that capacity. Besides, there’s no way I could manage it. I’d miss my family too much. I know family meant just as much to my momma, so I could never understand why she stayed away.

  Nana had Lana close up the store early since family was visiting. She obviously knew how rare the visits were and didn’t want to waste the time she was blessed with her eldest daughter at home. We spent a couple hours just sitting around the closed up shop catching up and telling stories. It was good to see Nana and my momma laughing and enjoying time together. The entire mood of our little girl gathering changed the minute there was a knock on the store door. Nana’s expression shifted to one of contempt, and I immediately knew who was here. My dad.

  “Jackson,” my grandmother greeted him coolly as she slid the door open.

  “Beth,” he greeted her with a nod.

  “How long will my daughter be able to stay this time before I don’t get to see her for years?” Nana was going to pull no punches. “More importantly, how long will you keep her away after that? I only have so many years left in me, Jackson.”

  I’m pretty sure we all held a collective breath as we waited for my dad to answer. He had the good sense to look somewhat ashamed of himself. “I know it hasn’t been fair to anyone, Beth, but I am working on rectifying that now. Can we all go out to dinner before we get into the heavy discussion? Some big changes are coming soon, and I’d like for us to enjoy the evening as a family first.”

  Now I was worried. “Maybe Liz should be around for this discussion?” I hesitantly offered.

  “My dad nodded. She should, but the things we need to discuss can’t wait long enough for her to get here. We’ll hash it all out after dinner, including how to tell Liz everything.”

  We ended up at my favorite Italian place for food and extremely awkward silence. Everyone sat quietly eating his or her food. It seemed like the restaurant was holding its breath with the rest of us waiting for some huge ball to drop. Tension was building in my shoulders and neck, bringing on the early signs of a stress headache. My appetite waned, and I just ended up getting my meal boxed up.

  “We’ll go talk at Nana’s.” My dad stood, and went to pay the bill while the rest of us absorbed his edict. I loved my dad. He was the sweetest man in the world, but he was also very direct and on occasions such as this, his word brokered no argument. I think we were all stunned into agreement just because we knew something big was on the horizon.

  Fifteen minutes later we were all seated in my nana’s living room as my dad paced between the fireplace and us. “I think I’ll lead in with a little good news to help ease some tension here…” he looked over at my mom, an apology written on his face. Apparently, she wasn’t privy to the “good news” before the rest of us. “The girls are getting ready to move on with their lives now, and I’ve lived with a lot of regrets about how I’ve handled our family for too many years now. It’s time to rectify some of that. So, Lori and I will be moving back here as soon as we put our affairs in order back home.”

  My jaw fell to the floor. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I was under the impression that my dad hated it here for some reason. I took a moment to glance around and realized immediately that I wasn’t the only one in complete shock. My nana was the only one who seemed pleased with the news. I wasn’t sure if I was happy about it or not, I just knew it was completely out of the blue, and I wondered why the sudden change.

  “I know, I can see it in your faces, you’re wondering why? Why now, in specific?” My dad sighed as he ran his hands through his hair, something he often did when he was stressed out. “Lori, you know why. There’s no…” He swallowed hard. “I can’t stop things from happening.”

  “What does that mean for those of us completely in the dark here?” I managed to ask. My dad’s eyes came up to meet mine, and what I saw there was genuine pain, for me. I just didn’t understand why.

  “First, I need to apologize to you, and you’re not going to understand this until I get to the explanation.” He growled out in frustration as I sat on the edge of my seat trying to breathe around my rapidly closing throat. “Three years ago, we came to visit, and something happened.”

  “Yeah, Liz hurt her foot and we left. That was about the gist of it.”

  “Do you remember telling us that you didn’t want to get on the train? You said you had a weird feeling in your stomach, remember?” I nodded my head. Of course I remembered. “Then you accidentally took a picture of those guys, and you couldn’t stop obsessing about one of them?”

  Okay, now I was embarrassed, cheeks going red as all eyes turned to me. Lana was tossing a huge grin my way. “Oh, do tell? Were you crushing on one of the locals three years ago?” She started to laugh, and then the sound cut off, and I saw the minute she realized this wasn’t going somewhere she would like. “Tell me it wasn’t him,” Lana all but whispered. I just looked away from her. “He said he knew you were here three years ago, and that you disappeared before he got the chance to find out who you were or even speak to you.”

  This was news to me, and now it was Lana’s turn to look guilty as I questioned h
er. “What?”

  Her nervousness was evident, but she didn’t get a chance to tell me what that was all about, because my dad cut her off. “I’m told you’ve since been introduced to that man?” My dad asked me. I didn’t answer verbally, hell, I didn’t think I could. Instead I once again nodded. “And did you feel that same twist in your gut when you were near him?”

  My eyes widened, and I just hissed out a quick, “how?” How the hell did he know? I hadn’t even told anyone, besides my sister about having that reaction and I didn’t even tell her it always happened when he was close by.

  My dad’s shoulders slumped as if holding up a great weight, and then he slipped down to sit on the edge of the stone fireplace. “Iz, you had that reaction for a reason, but before I get to that reason you need to know a bigger truth.” My mom gulped audibly, and I turned to see her worried eyes watching me. “I’m not… Hell, this is just, difficult.”

  “I think what your father is trying to tell you is that he isn’t exactly human,” my nana supplied. My head snapped in her direction.

  “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” I snapped out quickly.

  “Language, dear.” Nana smiled at my dad’s shocked gasp. “You think Jasper and I lived as long as we did in this community without knowing? Most of the old families here know, we accept it and ignore the howling on crazy nights.” My dad smiled then and shook his head.

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” My mom asked my nana as Lana and I just sat there completely at a loss as to what they were talking about.

  “Um? Hello? Some of us are still clueless here.”

  My dad was the first to speak up again after taking a cue from the other two women. “I know this is going to sound like some bullshit straight out of a storybook, and I will prove it to you before the night is over, but just bear with me until then, okay?” What was I going to say to that cryptic mess? I shrugged my shoulders at my father. That was the best he was going to get. “I’m a what you might call a werewolf.” I just stared blankly, waiting for the punch line. None came. No one said a word. It wasn’t until Lana started giggling that I turned my attention from my dad.