Sunday family dinner at the West pack house was crazy on a typical Sunday, but throw in the fact that the women in the house were in full-on wedding mode, and that Joey was with them, and things got a lot crazier.“You’re grilling?” Knight asked his grandpa as he came out onto the porch with a couple of bottles of beer in his hand. It wasn’t unusual for his grandpa to fire up the grill, but usually Sundays meant a roast of some kind from his grandma.“I needed an excuse to get out of the house, and your grandma’s busy,” Lenard explained. He held his hand out for the beer that Evan had brought him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Jared, I just don’t want to have to give my opinion on napkins and chair covers.”Knight smiled at that and perched himself on the railing. “I don’t think Jared does, either.”“Oh, really? You’d be surprised,” Lenard told him with an amused twinkle in his eye. “I heard him arguing with a florist the other day on the phone, saying that if the peonies weren’t
The drive to Joey’s dad’s new apartment was kind of out of the way, and given what they were going to talk to him about, it made for a tense car ride.“We could just wait a little longer,” Joey said from the backseat. He had seemed so carefree and happy at Knight's grandparents’ house. All the wolves had taken to him quickly and treated him like pack. Sue was glad that Knight hadn’t told most of them why Joey was with them. He really just wanted to handle this quietly.Sue turned in her seat to look at Joey. “I tried calling Mom a bunch of times. She isn’t answering.”“Maybe something happened,” Joey said, his voice tinged with panic. “Maybe she’s hurt. We should go and see her.”“I already called Mrs. Daniels from next door and asked her to go check on her. She said that she was there but wouldn’t answer the door.”Joey’s face fell. “I shouldn’t have left. It’s just going to make her worse, being all alone.”Sue felt some measure of sympathy for her mom—she wasn’t a monster, after al
Knight wasn’t someone who was used to waiting. As the boss of his own company, people waited for him, not the other way around. He supposed it was good for him, every now and then, to get a lesson in patience.While he waited in the car, he tried to train his hearing, to find Sue and listen in, but the apartment must have been at the back. All he could hear was a baby crying with a woman singing to it and a lot of different TV sets blaring different things.He tried not to think about his real dad, but it was hard. He had the name in his head now, and he felt as though he at least needed a face to go along with it. He pulled out his phone and pulled up his browser app before typing in the name, Charles Garcia. He felt a swell of nerves go through him as he waited for the page to load but it soon turned to dread as a thousand or so different Charles Garcias showed up.Thankfully, he was spared having to think on it any further. Sue and, surprisingly, Joey came out of the apartment bloc
After a late second dinner, Joey went straight to bed, the emotional turmoil of the last few days no doubt finally catching up with him. Sue went out onto the balcony that was accessible from the living room and the main bedroom. It had a great view of the city but neither she nor Knight spent much time out there.It had been the gentle sound of the rain falling, hitting the awning above and running off over the side, that had drawn Sue out.“What are you doing out here?” Knight asked as he came out. The werewolf closed the door behind him.“Just getting some air.”“Are you okay?” Knight asked as he circled his arms around Sue from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder.“Yeah, are you?” Sue asked. “What did you and your mom talk about?”Knight sighed and placed a kiss on Sue’s neck. “She told me who my real dad is.”Cold turned sharply in her arms. “Are you serious? That’s huge.”“I’m trying to pretend like it’s not.”“Right,” Sue said with a nod. “The typical West way of doing
Over the days that followed the revelation about Knight’s real dad, Sue had seen the internal struggle going on inside him. Knight had told her about the conversation he’d had with his mom and the fact that he had even looked him up to no avail. However, when Sue had offered to help search for him, having far superior Internet skills, Knight hadn’t been sure and told Sue that he needed some time to think about it.Of course, Sue wasn’t one to wait, or to do as she was told, so she had been looking for this Charles Garcia ever since. She told herself that she was just going to find him in case Knight wanted to meet him, that way he wouldn’t have to wait around. She also wouldn’t have time to change his mind.Her article about the bombing had gone over well, and she had decided to write a follow-up. She had been busy leaving messages all over the Internet looking to interview someone who had either been a part of a humans-first movement in their past or were close to someone who was.S
The drive out to his dad’s place wasn’t nearly long enough. The sun was low in the sky, making everything look more golden and beautiful than it actually was. Beside him, Sue chatted away as usual, no doubt wanting to distract Knight from what he was about to do.“So I found these erotic cookies online,” Sue told him. “They’re in the shapes of two people getting it on in different positions. I thought I’d get some for Jared and Sarah for the wedding.”Knight looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “You want to give them erotic cookies for their wedding gift?”Sue shrugged. “I mean, they’re rich, like you, so I thought rather than get them the usual crap that they’ll get three of, we could make them up little gift bags filled with things they like.”Knight gave a little smile at that. “That’s a nice thought, but I don’t really know what Jared likes.”“Sure you do. Food, booze, and football,” Sue said. “I already found him a few Seahawks things. We throw in some bottles of scotch o
Sue had asked the mysterious F to meet him at the café across the street from the Fang and Claw building. The oversized clock on the wall behind the counter said that it was coming up to three thirty. She was sitting at a table by the window, watching the people walk by, wondering if any of them were F. She had gotten there a little early, wanting to make sure they had a table to themselves so that they wouldn’t be disturbed. On her phone was a list of questions she wanted to ask F about life inside the humans-first group and what had happened to make him, or her, get out.Sue sat nursing her coffee, her eyes darting to the clock every few seconds. She had her book bag with her with a rough draft for the article she planned on writing. She was about to get it out to read over what she had so far when she heard someone approach her table.“Sue Andrew?” a man not much older than Sue said as he stopped at the table.Sue looked the stranger up and down. He was in his late twenties with a
Frankie had led Sue over to his car, an old piece of crap that had trouble starting at first. Once they were on their way, Sue tried to think of every piece of advice she had ever learned from movies. Unfortunately, she mostly liked movies that involved superheroes.Her brain whirred like a supercomputer—or at least, she liked to think that it did as she tried to think her way out of this. She was sure she had heard somewhere that if a person was ever kidnapped, they should try to bond with their captors, to make them sympathize so that it was harder for them to kill the person they abducted.Oh, God, Sue thought as she looked over at Frankie. I’m going to die.No, there would be no dying, not while Joey was depending on her. She had to do something. She had to reverse Stockholm syndrome this guy.“So, how long have you had this car?” she asked, because it was the first thing that came to mind.Frankie looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “What?”“Your car. I only ask because I
Christmas had never been a time Sue looked forward to. While most people were with their families, having fun and enjoying each other’s company, Sue was with her mother, making small talk and feeling like she didn’t belong. She would try and get to her house as late as was acceptable and leave as early as she could. Her mom certainly never tried to talk her into staying any longer.It wasn’t until the year before, her first Christmas with Knight, that she had actually started to look forward to it. Christmas Day was spent with the family, but Christmas Eve meant another pack party. Although Eden and Julia had taken care of most of the planning, as usual, Sue had asked them to give her one thing to do. She didn’t care what it was, she just felt like she should make a start on being a better alpha mate.This year she had been put in charge of Christmas-themed cupcakes and cookies. It was easy enough. She had found a good bakery and all she had to do was pick them up on the day. As she m
By the time Sue and Joey got back to the apartment, Sue was feeling a lot better about things. Spending time with her little brother tended to have that effect on her. It was funny, considering that Sue used to hate him when he was a spoiled little brat of a toddler messing up Sue’s room.“Knight’s not here,” Joey said disappointedly. Sue followed Joey into the kitchen when Joey found a note and held it out to Sue.I have some things I need to take care of. I’ll explain it all later. Meet you at the hotel.I love you.Knight.XxxSue sighed and folded the piece of paper up. “I guess he had to work.”Joey frowned at her and sat down at the breakfast bar. “Things are okay between you, right?”Sue watched her little brother grab a banana from the fruit bowl and unpeel it. Knowing Joey as she did, Sue knew he was probably just eating it because it was there, rather than the fact that he was actually hungry. She didn’t really know how much to tell Joey about what had been going on between
Knight hadn’t been to see his grandpa’s grave since the funeral. He hadn’t thought it was something he would take solace in. Yet, there he was, on his own, in the dark.It took a little while to find the grave. He remembered his grandma saying that they had to wait for the ground to settle before his tombstone could be placed. Instead, there was a wooden cross with a plaque glued to it. It simply read his name.In life, Lenard West had been such a big character, to see his grave like this, with no more than a measly wooden cross on it was like a stab in the gut. Everything in life died, logically Knight knew this. Still, to him, it didn’t make any sense that his grandpa, once the strongest man he knew, was now no more than ashes in the cold ground.He dropped to his knees in the slightly damp grass and felt a wave of nausea in the pit of his stomach. He might not be able to hear his grandpa talk back to him, but Knight could still talk to him, and he could probably guess what he would
After showering, Knight got dressed and went into the kitchen to put the waffle batter in a container in the fridge so that he could use it later. On the counter, Sue’s phone gave a little trill indicating that a message had come through. Knight hadn’t meant to look at it, but the message flashed across the screen. It was from Andrew.Hey. Hope you feel ok after last night. Listen, if you want to talk any more give me a call. I’m sorry Knight’s been working so much lately, and I hope things get better between you two soon. Here’s the number of the couple’s therapist we used, if you want it. Talk soon.Knight read it through quickly before the screen went black again. He felt an instant surge of anger go through him.Couple’s therapy? What the hell had Sue been telling him?He angrily swiped the phone from the counter and marched into the bedroom before tossing the phone onto the bed beside Sue.“If I didn’t like you talking to Leslie, my own cousin, about me, then why the hell would y
Knight had been feeling so bad about the fact he had been working so much the past week that he made sure to get home early. In the week since the fall gathering, Knight had hardly seen Sue. He knew it was his fault, but it couldn’t be helped. Still, he knew he had to make it up to his wife. He had spent the day working nonstop so that he could get home at a reasonable hour.What was early for him was still a full day’s work for anyone else. It was nearly seven when he let himself into the apartment. He had a bag of take out with him and a bottle of wine.“Sue,” he called out as he shrugged off his jacket. He didn’t need to wait for a response. His hearing and sense of smell would have picked up on something by now.He walked into the kitchen and put the bag of food on the counter. As he had been staying late at the office lately, Sue had been driving herself to and from work. Her car was in the underground garage, so Knight knew that his mate had come home after work.Pulling his pho
It was pretty late by the time Sue and Knight got back to the apartment. The car ride had been unusually quiet and tense. Sue had tried to make some effort at conversation, but she was tired and fed up. It was obvious that Knight was still mad at her for spilling the beans to his mom.When they came through the door, she half expected Knight to say something, to finally bring it up, but obviously that wasn’t his way.“Knight, I’ve said I’m sorry,” she said as Knight went to walk past her to go to the bedroom. “Like a hundred times.”That was obviously an exaggeration, but her point remained.“Sue, just let it go, please,” Knight said with a weary sigh. “I just want to go to bed.”“No,” Sue practically shouted. “You can’t. We’re not supposed to go to bed angry.”Knight turned on her with a look of annoyance marring his handsome face. “Where did you read that? The Big Book of Marriage Clichés?”“It’s okay that you’re mad at me.”“I’m not mad at you,” Knight practically barked.Sue found
Since his grandpa’s death, Knight had missed the old man every single day. Being at a pack party without him was a whole new kind of pain. Lenard had been so full of life. He was always at the center of every group, telling stories while everyone else hung on his every word.There was a light missing there today.Knight walked through the throng of people, trying his best to make small talk and act like he was interested in everything they were saying. After deciding he had mingled enough for the time being, he went looking for his cousins. If he was ever tired of people kissing his ass and telling him exactly what he wanted to hear, his cousins soon put it right. Particularly Leslie, who delighted in tormenting Knight.He found them over by the fortune telling machine that his grandma hired every year from a carnival supplier. As a kid, the thing had always given him the creeps. It was a glass booth with a creepy wizard-looking mannequin inside. You held on to a metal rod, and it pum
As they made their way back outside, Sue took the lead, walking faster than the others in an attempt to escape the awkward situation. She spotted Jared and Leslie over by one of the apple bobbing stations, and she made a beeline for them.The two of them were with Jared’s daughter, Marie, but it was the adults who were doing the bobbing.“Having fun?” she asked as she got closer to them. She looked behind her, sparing Knight a glance. She felt a bit bad about abandoning him to his mother and grandmother, but she couldn’t take Julia looking at her like she had taken her baby boy away from her again.“Jared made a joke about me having a big mouth,” Leslie told her. The hair around her face was a little wet, but Jared was absolutely soaking. “So I dunked him in it.”Sue laughed as Jared shook his head like a dog.“Do we win anything if we get an apple?” Marie asked.Sue didn’t know the little girl very well. She had only spoken to her a few times. While she was fine with kids, she wasn’t
The West pack had four official meetings every year, one for each season. The one they had in autumn was during the week of Halloween. A big party was thrown at the estate with games and various other attractions outside. Sue had been to a couple of their parties so far but not the Halloween one. It was going to be the first pack gathering since Lenard’s funeral and the first gathering under their new alpha.As the alpha’s mate, Sue still didn’t really know what her new role was, if any. Knight’s mother and grandmother had organized everything. If she was honest, she was grateful that they hadn’t asked for her input so far.“So, things not to mention to your mom are the fact that we got married and the fact that you’ve not only met your real dad but have also been hanging out with him and his pack,” Sue mused out loud as Knight parked the car outside his grandma’s house.Knight turned and gave her a look. “No, I’m going to tel