Tara woke up to Rachel standing over the bed, holding an armful of clothing. “Time to get up. We have training in less than an hour. I saw you were still asleep, so I grabbed some clothing suitable to training in from your closet and the shower is hot. Go get ready. Breakfast is light and waiting for when you get out.” “Training? Me? I don’t know a thing about fighting. Or even exercised in my life beyond running once or twice a month in my fur.” “Well, then it’s more than time for you to learn. Seriously, I’m thanking whoever set up fate to make you cross through the door of the club. That pack you belonged to did you a great disservice. Now come on, time is ticking.” She dropped the clothes on the end of the bed. “The personal shopper already dropped off everything you need, and it’s on the counter in the bathroom for you.” Rachel smiled as she left the room and let Tara actually have a moment to herself. It was a fleeting moment. Rachel would be back soon
“He’s what?!” Tara stepped past the trainer to look more closely at the wolves waiting in the enclosed space. The hedge hid them from prying eyes. Sure enough. There was her brother in a corner sulking. How long had he been here? Why was he here? Why hadn’t the alpha told her he’d shown up? “Eddie? Where have you been? What is going on? Why are you testing to train with this pack?” “Tara. Finally, well, funny you should ask that.” “No. I have instructions you aren’t allowed to speak to each other until he met certain criteria.” The trainer stepped between them before they could hug. “I’m sorry Luna. It’s part of his punishment, and hinges on his successful completion of the initial stages of training.” “What?” “He has to learn respect and prove he can follow through with something. The Alpha believes your brother here disrespected you time and again. He also set you up to end up in a position what you could have been killed on multiple occ
Eddie wasn’t any better at fighting than Tara was, and it didn’t give Tara any comfort. She’d consoled herself with the idea that he could. No wonder he ran first and called later. Tara had a lot of questions for the alpha when he returned. She waffled between three ways of getting her questions answered. First, she could get in his way and in his face, then demand he answered every question. Second, beg for the answers. Third and finally, try to leave this place. The thing that made her discount option three was the sudden unrest. People were looking for shifters and other supernatural creatures for many reasons. Most of those reasons weren’t friendly. She was glad Eddie was here and safe from the events happening on the streets. Eddie wasn’t allowed to go with her. Though the head of training promised he’d be safe, but the alpha’s judgement had stipulations on what he must achieve before they could reunite for any length of time. “Rachel, do you h
Rachel watched the poor girl struggling. This wasn’t fair to her. Cal insisted she could handle learning the ropes of the club and pack business. What he failed to do was look at her critically. She told him she couldn’t do it job. It wasn’t because she wasn’t smart enough, but because she lacked the education and confidence to deal with the job. It was the connection between the person and the job. She couldn’t read properly, and it was having an effect on her performance. That would become yet another to work on with her. Rachel never found herself a mate, and she was fine with that. But she hated to watch the matings that weren’t exactly happy-ever-after. She often felt like she’d dodged a bullet not when it came to having a mate. Rachel wasn’t sure if this was just something that happened to the young or happened to everyone that found their mate. It’s part of the reason she took the role of Den Mother and Floor Manager. She was out there fixing this a
Tara wanted to believe Rachel. She really did. But there were enough pack members giving her the evil eye to force her to call the alpha’s decisions about her into question. She’d heard someone behind her at one point say to another. “What makes her so special? She looks so ordinary.” Tara pretended not to hear them. But it was Abby who made her feelings know to anyone that would listen. She was angry because she believed the Alpha was hers to claim. Tara was in the way of Abby’s dreams to be the Luna. She accused Tara of being unfit for the position. Until the male who held the key to her chains put a stop to her tantrum, as he called it. He’d gone so fat as to threaten her with some punishment that Tara didn’t understand, but Abby did, and she’d not be on display until he said otherwise. “You won’t understand. Abby is an attention junkie. That’s why she was with Cal. He would display his sessions with her, and she ate up the eyes on her. Taking that away is like sen
Cal walked up the stairs from the basement behind the others, finally leaving the meeting. It’d been draining down there listening to the speculation versus the facts, the plans they made, and the plans NARC made that would change their lives. He would have to go home and change his reputation and how the public saw him. He’d fought hard and lobbied not to be put on display as an example of an upstanding wolf shifter and happily mated. Cal warned them that his mating was far too new to be stable as yet. The response came back quickly to him. Fix it fast. They had days. They needed to ensure that the Fae really had left the city and the surrounding area for everyone’s ease of mind and safety. The problem they dealt with was that evidence didn’t rule out rogue interference or Fae enslaving rogues to do their dirty work. The effort to bring in the lone packs, lone wolves, and rogues for their safety and survival started months ago. That effort
Tara sat in what everyone called her office. She felt like she was drowning in jobs and duties. There were traditions and etiquette she needed to adhere to when dealing with the pack members and the pack’s needs. Her body was exhausted, and she was developing a headache. Tara lay her head back on the chair and closed her eyes just for a moment. She was very aware of the slim collar around her throat, but she needed a brief rest. Just a little shuteye. A quick nap. “No sleeping on the job, dear. I just got a call. We have a staff meeting in as soon as Cal gets back.” Rachel poked her head into the room and announced this. Tara blinked and frowned. “Okay, but I’m not staff, so what has it got to do with me?” Rachel closed her eyes and touched her forehead with her delicate fingers. “Sorry. Staff meeting means it’s a meeting of the pack’s top level command structure. Alpha, Beta, Gamma.” “And?” “Luna falls under Alpha, dear. Cal will expect you a
Cal caressed Tara’s left arm, making her shiver. The fact is, they sent a report up to them. Alpha Elmwood had sent several demands. It appears he wants his money and his people back. He wants to punish them since you won’t.” “How much is he asking for?” Cal couldn’t believe the nerve of this wolf. That money came from people who Elmwood promised protection from rogue harassment. His victims expected that protection to come from the Crimson Nights. His people had reported for several weeks now this was happening. “I guess I will have to have another talk with him. If that doesn’t work, there’s going to be a physical meeting, and that Elmwood won’t like one bit.” “I will say something at the next meeting. Jaxon field the reports and gets with Guy about previous reports. I’m going to file a report with the Ruling Council. If war breaks out and we take them down, I want them to understand what Elmwood has done. This won’t end well. Wait, add in any report that invol