It took hours for them to get the images of all the faces of the rogues. Sure enough, they had Elmwood’s lover within the group along with several of her friends. The leaders of the rogues all had known ties to Elmwood, but it was confusing to find out what brought so many rogues together. Before this gatherings of rogues, like this would surely end in infighting and murdering each other. Which forced them to break up a few incidents before they had them all contained. The thing with owning a club like this, was they had the stables? Once they filled the main stables, most were there waiting for the Ruling Council to decide what to do with each one. The second private stables were half full before they ran out of rogues for the cages. Cal couldn’t help but feel a little joy in putting the she-wolf who put the sandwich beside Tara’s cage into that very cage. He felt it was fitting in some way. With her friend in the cage right beside it. The two spitting at e
It was hours later, with tired and scared pups in a confined space, it was difficult for all the adult wolves. Tempers were flaring, and Tara was feeling it quite keenly. The she-wolves that hauled her down there basically lectured her for mostly when they weren’t trying to keep the pups amused. Tara couldn’t help but feel so out of place. What did she know about pups? Beyond keeping Eddie alive from one day to another and out of one scrape after another. She didn’t have a clue what to do with them. But she wouldn’t let these wolves see her cave or cry. No, she’d done far more difficult things like lie to the faces of her very human bosses, when she’d been injured on the job one day and returned to work free of injury a few days later. Something about being sliced with a box cutter shouldn’t have healed so quickly. Well, it did if you were a wolf shifter. Three days later, that neat palm sized gash was all but a scar that was fading fast. Now Tara stood at t
Tara entered the observation room with Jaxon on her heels. Inside were three alphas who she’d met at the fundraiser the other night. She nodded in acknowledgement of them and one of them gave up his seat for her. Now she sat again among some of the most powerful wolf shifters in the city, and it scared her to make a sound. She wondered where Cal was when he entered the room on the other side of the window. The two she-wolves Tara hated most in the world, Lynn, Alpha Elmwood’s lover and her best friend, Debra, sat chained to chairs in the interrogation room. They pushed the table under the one-way mirror, revealing the drain and stains from past interrogations in that room. The women looked angry until Cal strolled in with Guy, which meant there were now four male wolves in the room with the two she-wolves. Lynn wasn’t phased but Debra appeared to worry a little. “Get the instruments ready. I don’t want to wait for you to find anything. This shouldn’
This was all too real and yet unreal at the same time to Tara. The male wolf shifters were the most powerful in the city and Cal was in the next room torturing information from the she-wolves who’d made her life miserable for so many years. Tara didn’t know if she should be cheering him on, yelling at him to stop, or running away in fear. One look at the door showed there was no way out. Jaxon barred it with his body as he watched the four wolves torture answers out of the two she-wolves. Tara wanted to beg them just to answer the questions promptly because each time one of them hesitated, they were both cut a little more in punishment. He didn’t put them in chains or make them kneel. He just cut them or bruised them. At one point Guy picked up a crowbar and broke Debra’s shin bone when she mouthed off to Cal. Guy gave no warning. He just swung at her. Blood was slowly dripping from the various cuts. It would take them days or weeks to heal from these
This side of Cal was something Tara was not prepared for. In her mind, he was demanding and possessive. He could be jealous and even hurtful if someone didn’t respond the way he expected. Recently, she’d seen him as a provider, giving people what they needed, not necessarily what they wanted. That, she’d realized, was what linked some of his more negative traits to his positive ones. He wasn’t selfish; it was how he presented how he saw people in his world. He’d never actually hurt anyone before this. This was a side of Cal Tara was worried about. How often did this side of him come out? Was it often? Or rarely? The other alpha’s attitude was it was the darker side of the job. Was it? She’d not seen him take pleasure in hurting Lynn and Debra, but they were so broken in just an hour. There to be told he’d made them drink wolfsbane. He’d not told someone else to do it. He’d done it himself as a sentence. Both women knew what it was, and they’d barely proteste
Rachel found Tara and Jaxon at the bar with a half finished bottle of liqueur between them. She’d heard what went on and hadn’t approved of it. But it was too late now. “I’m afraid I need to interrupt this little gathering because right now there’s a lineup of people outside your office that’s interrupting the flow of people in and out of the kitchen, Tara. Can you come and see what you can do for them? Several people are becoming upset at the sudden wait to see you.” Rachel’s hands were full. The line up of people outside Tara’s office was interrupting the flow of traffic to and from the kitchen. The pack finally understood that she’s not just the alpha’s latest flavour of the week, so to speak. She’s here and wants to do her job. They needed this badly. Especially now after the shocking surprise attack. Rachel prayed no one would blame Tara as the cause for the attack. Because the truth is that they were being attacked long before Tara or Eddie entered the
Tara watched Rachel leave her office. Okay, she could do this. All she needed to do was take her time, listen to what they had to say, and respond in a nice way to what they have to say. People were allowed their opinions, and they never stopped her before this. A woman stepped into the office after some time had passed. “Hi, come in. Our Beta’s been ordered to keep an eye on me while Alpha Nichols is dealing with some things. I hope that won’t affect our meeting.” “Oh, yeah… I mean no, it won’t be an issue.” “Great, come have a seat then and we’ll get started.” Tara awkwardly gestured to the visitor’s chairs before her desk. Jaxon was in the far corner by the electric fireplace, listening and watching the entire meeting in silence. “So, what have you come to say today? How can I help? You know, let’s start with your name and go from there.” “Oh, right, Janet? Janet Hazes. I, uh… came here today because I’m concerned about what’s going on a
With everyone ready for battle, and more than a little warmed up. Cal and the others from the Toronto Council of Alphas agreed time was of the essence. They needed to get Elmwood in custody or dead. Those were the only options for Elmwood and what was left of his pack.The Ruling Council made sure the paperwork was fast tracked. If the humans had a problem with this, then the paper trail was there, and NARC would take the heat rather than the Toronto Council of Alphas. The Alphas were pretty much there to bear witness again to the fact that justice was done properly and no one innocent took the punishment who wasn’t named in the writ.The last part irked Cal to no end. This was personal for him. The scum did some many things that affected Cal’s pack and mate on a personal level he was itching to rip Elmwood apart limb from limb. Just tear into him until there was no way to identify him except by DNA.That’s why the other alphas were there. To rein him in and make sure that he di
One Year Later —Tara sat out on the poach behind the packhouse with a laptop open to a spreadsheet. She and Emily were working out the next year’s budget and the projects they’d tackle.With Emily looking after the club while they were up here. It was interesting, to say the least.Tara gave birth on schedule. It was about the only thing that was on schedule these days, and Cal was sitting on a blanket on the grass with one-year-old Natalie Nichols. The apple of her daddy’s eye. She had him wrapped around her little finger and he’d have it no other way.Eddie and his Lycan girlfriend were now running the kitchens here for Rachel. They’d mated and, well… Tara expected to hear that they’d have pups soon enough.Jaxon, well, he was back in the city. Tara wasn’t sure what was happening with him. Cal wouldn’t speak of it. But Jaxon took a leave of absence from his position for a bit. Tara wasn’t receiving the full story. But as far as she could tell. Jaxon may have two mates. One wasn’t d
Five Months Later —Tara felt like the size of a house. She propped her ankles up on her desk and she had to eat her fries with no salt. It wasn’t the same, nothing tasted the same. The poking from inside was regular now and she couldn’t wait for the last six weeks to go by. She’d been six weeks pregnant when her symptoms started and since then, if it wasn’t one symptom, it was another. Tara would be more than happy for these little monsters to enter the world.Cal was everywhere and nowhere, it seemed. He told her to clear her calendar today because he wanted to show her their new territory. The thought of trudging out there was exhausting to her. But she’d do it because he was just so insistent. He promised they’d stay the night out there and come back the next day at a leisurely pace.“You ready to go?”“Yes, I just don’t understand why we have to do this now. When all I want to do is take a nap.”“You can nap in the vehicle on the way. Don’t worry, I’ve packed everything we need a
Tara could feel the ball of conflicting emotions rolling about in her head and her belly. She had a new life inside her. No matter what, she’d never be alone again. But how did she explain all of this to them when the time came?How should she explain this to Cal? He had to be expecting this. Look at the second floor. She didn’t like it necessarily. Their pups living completely separately from us with someone else looking after them. Why hadn’t they spoken about this before?Tara’s eyes closed as the elevator dinged and opened. She’d not thought that it was important before this because she wasn’t pregnant, and they didn’t have any pups. Now she thought of it.This morning, Cal was gone before she got out of bed. This was a day she didn’t train, because there were other things she needed to get done. Which, of course, didn’t get done? A few steps brought her to Cal’s office over the club.She knocked and entered when she received the okay to enter. Tara lucked out because Cal was alon
David Monroe struggle with the enforcer training. His heart wasn’t in it and his skills lay in other places, but everyone lumped him in with the other male Lycans because he was a Lycan. He’d exhausted almost every avenue trying to explain to them he’d rather be patching people up and treating pups with fevers. While he was moping during a break, his phone rang, and it surprised him to see that Emily’s name came up on his phone. “Hello, Emily. What’s wrong? Why are you calling?” He couldn’t think of a reason she could be calling him for, but any chance he got to speak with her was better than nothing. “I’ll tell you, but you have to be very careful with what you say. No one can know why you’re about to be ordered to the Luna’s office. What we need you to do, is slip out of the packhouse. If anyone asks, you’re running an errand for the Luna. That’s it nothing more. What you need to do is go to the closest pharmacy and pick up a pregnancy kit. Come back here
Again, Tara was up late the next morning. Cal was determined he wouldn’t let her feel like he neglected anything about her. From sympathizing with her, to how her emotions were toward absolutely everything, and he didn’t forget to include planning their future together.Well, he talked, and she mostly listened. What he said wasn’t bad. Tara didn’t have a problem with any of his ideas. She didn’t have much to add or at this time have an emotional connection to any of it.Now, though, Tara needed to get her day going, and she felt like something that had been dredged from a swampy pond. It took only minutes for Emily, her newest staff member, to realize there was something wrong with Tara.“If we had a cat, I’d say you look like the latest thing it dragged home. When will we see you going to a healer?” Emily eagerly asked Tara as she returned from her latest flight to the bathroom. Tara looked at her with an expression of exhaustion.“I’m fine and I’m not planning ongoing to see one.” S
“Stone dear, you know I love you. I’m your mate and partner in life. I have always advised you about everything honestly and in your best interest.” Elaine still quietly sat in the sitting room and calmly spoke to Stone. The others had slowly filtered out to go on with their day or to watch their guests leave. “Of course you are, and you have.” Stone looked out the window and watched the vehicles leave. Elaine could see he was distracted by what was going on and his own thoughts. “Then why are you being an ass and not listening to anything I say now?” She let her irritation slip into her voice and she dryly responded to him. Her annoyance was obvious. Stone’s instincts instantly alerted him to the fact that not all was good between himself and his mate. Over the years, that instinct helped him avoid many different disasters from exploding in his face when it came to their relationship. “I’m listening Ellie. I’ve always listened.” “Then explain to me if you listened to me, then why
No one said much of anything on the way home. The privacy divider between the front of the vehicle and the back raised then never went down. Cal pulled Tara to him and sat her in his lap. He didn’t do anything more but let her soak up his warmth and strength. He buried his head into her neck and hair. The smell of the wool sweater mixed with the natural spice of her scent. He instantly felt his aggressive feelings smooth out and gentle. It’d been difficult watching her get so wound up from it all. Tara sat there, and all but purred. As their vehicle made slow progress through traffic, it’s darkened windows gave them the privacy that Cal didn’t care, Tara turned and straddled his lap instead. She didn’t do anything more than that. But his body felt her skirt hike up and he groaned, knowing how naughty she was instinctively gravitating to for comfort. That wasn’t what their mating would ever be based on. He’d never satisfy his needs while she was seek
Kole wanted to get back to the gathering as quickly as possible. He didn’t want any misunderstandings between anyone, let alone the two packs. There was no way he’d explain to the pack that their beloved elder and ex-alpha alienated his first born grand pup with blind stubbornness, hateful questions, and fear. That wouldn’t be happening today or any day. Kole wouldn’t risk fighting with Cal. How would it look when the Council of Alphas met? His father always forgot about that. Though the council of alphas didn’t exist during his time in control of the pack. He’d been a forward thinker of his time and moved his pack to a territory that was being noticed by the local humans. It meant he could settle their businesses in, and those humans would see those businesses as founding members of the business community. “Let’s go back down now and please be nice to her. She’s so much like Heather and you wouldn’t talk to Heather that way. Just apologize and let mother do
“That’s my third pup there and his mate. Your uncle, Stephen, and his mate, Ariel. Their grown pups, Erin, and Eric. That about covers your living family here, dear. Everyone sit please. Stone has created enough excitement and drama for one day. She has a sweet soul. Stephen, treat her like you would your sister and don’t act like your father if you know what’s good for you. As for the doghouse, it’s an old guard shack that’s been turned into a bunkhouse for single wolves who, for one reason or another, don’t want to make the trip all the way back to their homes to sleep. It’s affectionately called the doghouse because often there’s trouble between the few mated wolves that stay there.” “Oh, good grief. That’s horrible.” “Oh, don’t think your grandfather hasn’t stayed there a time or two. Though these days he’s more likely to use a guest apartment.” Tara looked over the tissue at Elaine with a shocked expression. “You’re joking.” “No, I’m n