A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) (17 page)

Malyah was glad her sisters had opted for the pitchers of mimosas offered as part of the Sunday brunch special. Between that and the view and the conversation distracting them, Malyah knew she had a good chance of skating through breakfast without either of her sisters suspecting something was different about her.

Unfortunately, Dewi didn’t imbibe anything stronger than coffee, and that left Malyah feeling a little nervous. At least she was sitting across the large, round table from Dewi, and between Nami and Lu’ana. She’d even made sure to grab Lu’ana’s perfume out of her purse and spritz a little on herself on the way over.

It couldn’t hurt.

As Gillian and Asia went over wedding plans with Nami and Lu’ana, Malyah didn’t miss how Dewi had withdrawn from the discussion to the point she was checking her phone every couple of seconds.

Then, it hit Malyah.

Dewi doesn’t want to be here.

Yes, she knew Dewi’s formal wedding was more for Dewi’s brothers’ benefit than hers, and Dewi had fought Nami kicking and screaming through every part of the dress fitting and planning process. Just how much Dewi didn’t want this finally slammed home to Malyah.

Thankfully, Malyah realized the other woman was so caught up in her own irritation over being forced to have a formal wedding that she was too distracted to pick up on the fact that Malyah was now mated to Joaquin.

Whew!

Didn’t mean she didn’t feel badly for Dewi, but Malyah blessed her own luck as a result.

By the time they wrapped up their two-hour meal, Nami had several new pages filled in the spiral notebook she used to keep track of the wedding details, including several more things she’d need to go shopping for in Spokane tomorrow.

Malyah was also relieved to learn her own help wouldn’t be required until Wednesday. That meant alone time with Joaquin tomorrow. Plus, Badger had promised them the horseback ride Tuesday.

Maybe Joaquin can go with us.
It would be time they could spend together, keep Joaquin away from Dewi and Beck, and…

Then again, Joaquin had said something about Badger being one of those special kinds of wolves, too…whatever it was Dewi was.

Maybe that’s not such a good idea after all.

Except she wanted to go horseback riding. She also couldn’t bow out of it at the last minute. Not after Badger had gone through the trouble to set it up, and when compared to the fact that she’d have the rest of her life with Joaquin.

There were so many things she wanted to ask the other women and knew she couldn’t. Not with Lu’ana there, obviously. And, of course, not until the details had been revealed to everyone else first.

So much to learn, about Joaquin, what he was and could do, the pack—everyone. They had done very little…talking. Most of their time spent together had been spent…
not
talking.

In a very fun and sexy way.

She was surprised to realize it didn’t overwhelm her anymore. Not when she thought about how she finally had the large extended family she’d always wished for growing up.

Someone to stand up for them, to take the burden from Nami’s shoulders. They had Beck for that, of course.

Now, Malyah had her own knight in…fur?

Good thing I’m not allergic to dogs.

Chapter Fourteen

By the time Trent and Beck returned from their errand, Joaquin had managed to pull himself together. At least the two Alpha wolves weren’t Primes.

Although there were a couple of times, after Joaquin dodged Badger’s direct stare, that the old Prime wolf suffered from coughing fits that suspiciously sounded like laughter.

It didn’t help that Bebe would start laughing when Badger did, as if tuned in to the old wolf.

Joaquin ached to be with his mate. He couldn’t even text Malyah because he didn’t have a cell phone that would work in the States yet, and he’d left his old one at Dewi’s, anyway.

But at least one issued was settled, by Peyton, when Beck and Trent returned. After they’d all fixed themselves lunch from cold cuts and leftovers and were seated around one end of the huge dining room table, with Bebe bare-handedly destroying her own lunch in a high chair next to Badger, Peyton cut to the chase.

“I’ve gone ahead and made a unilateral decision this morning that I hope—
Beck
—will not be challenged.”

Joaquin risked a glance at Beck and spotted the shifter’s frown.

Peyton continued. “Normally, I would wait and tell Dewi first, since she’s the head of the expanded pack and the Head Enforcer. However, considering the circumstances this week, I’d rather have it settled now so anything that needs to be said can be said and put to rest so there’s a united front.”

Peyton again pointedly stared at Beck, who kept his gaze fixed on his sandwich.

“I’ve decided Joaquin will be assigned to Tampa,” Peyton continued. “We’d already talked about assigning a new Enforcer to the area in addition to Martin. The area is large and growing, and I don’t want Dewi using any bullshit excuses about not having enough help to keep her from having a life. Ditto you, too, Beck,” he added. “You and Nami deserve a chance to have some happiness. Joaquin and Martin can help Badger pick up the slack.

“Also,” Peyton continued, “I think it’s a waste of Joaquin’s skills to leave him stuck here in Idaho. If the Seguras do come looking for him, he’ll stand out more here than he will in a major metropolitan area with a large Hispanic population. Once we have his new ID set up, it’ll be even easier for him to blend in. Anything you wish to say about this, Beck? Last chance. Get it out of your system, now, and be done with it. Free pass to speak your mind.”

Beck slowly shook his head.

Joaquin spoke up. “I’d like to say something.”

Peyton nodded at him.

Joaquin took a deep breath, fully realizing Beck would still probably want to kill him later. “Like I told Dewi yesterday, I owe you an apology for what happened a few years back. I did not handle myself in an honorable way. My issues were with Sadie and the fact that I had a problem with her. I never should have acted the way I did. I wanted to try being exclusive, and she didn’t, and then…well, I shouldn’t have acted like I did.”

Boy, howdy, he knew shouldn’t have.

Especially now that he knew what a
true
mate bond felt like.

In retrospect, it was a damn good thing he
hadn’t
settled down with Sadie. “I shouldn’t have goaded you,” Joaquin said. “I also shouldn’t have disrespected Dewi or you by hitting on her later on. I respect you, you’re damn good at your job, and I hope that I can repair our relationship going forward.”

Beck looked up at him, then swiveled his head toward Peyton.

Peyton held up his hands. “I didn’t tell him to say it, I swear. No Prime, either. That was all him.”

“I was going to say it anyway,” Joaquin said. “You can ask Dewi and Ken. I’ve already apologized to her. I did that yesterday.”

Beck sat back in his chair and met Joaquin’s gaze. Joaquin wasn’t sure at first if Beck was going to say anything or not when the wolf finally spoke.

“You knew what you were getting into with Sadie when you started dating her,” Beck said. “You knew she wasn’t going to settle down yet. You knew neither of you pinged on each other as mates. Then you had to go and act like a jackass when she pretty much did what you and everyone else in the whole damn pack knew she was going to do anyway.”

Joaquin didn’t interrupt him.

“And then, what, you thought you were going to spite me by making a pass at Dewi of all people? Yeah, I get it. My sister lied to you about what she’d been doing. She admitted that much to me. But you took a bad situation and made it infinitely worse. And you ended up shipped to Mexico for your troubles. Apology accepted, and no, I won’t protest the assignment.”

Beck leaned forward again and picked up his sandwich. “But I also won’t deal with Sadie for you. You get to own that shi—”

Trent cleared his throat and tipped his head toward the toddler.

Beck paused. “You get to own that
stuff
yourself. If you pull any
stuff
like that again, I reserve the right to warn you now that I’ll likely beat your as-butt myself.”

Joaquin released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, well, we all do stupid sh-stuff when we’re younger. Yes, I admit, Sadie was older than you. You think I don’t know the games she was playing? She’s
my
little sister. I was dang well aware of it. But as her big brother, I have to take a side, and it’s always going to be
her
side I take against some other guy.”

“I get it.”

“No, I don’t think you did. Not back then. I could tell from your tone of voice when you were telling us what happened in Mexico that you’ve matured. You’ve changed. You’ve seen stuff you wish you could unsee, and you feel like you failed when you didn’t. Been there, done that, believe me. Not a single Enforcer who’s been on the job any length of time who doesn’t understand that. But I’ll also tell you if you thought Dewi was a tough boss long-distance, you ain’t seen nothing yet, having to deal with her every day.”

Bebe, sitting in her high chair next to Badger, let out a laugh. When all the men looked at her, smiling at her adorable expression, she threw back her head and let out a cheerful little howl…which eerily sounded like a wolf pup’s howl and made the men freeze. Then she grinned at them before cutting loose with a long burp five sizes too large for her, followed immediately by a sleepy yawn.

Trent’s eyes widened. “Um, wow. I know some of the youngsters were running close to the houses last night, but I didn’t think she could hear them.” He looked at Badger. “I’d swear she sounds like my kids sounded at that age.”

Badger shrugged. “Don’t ask me, lad. She’s a special little one, all right.” He reached out and she grabbed his hand, holding on.

“Gampa Bada!” she happily exclaimed.

“What’d she say?” Peyton asked.

“That’s what she calls me,” Badger said. “She can’t quite say ‘Grandpa Badger’ yet.”

“Grandpa, huh?”

“Believe me, lad, I don’t mind. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to havin’ me own grandpups.”

Joaquin couldn’t stop the unbidden thought that bubbled up in his mind, of his and Malyah’s pups one day calling the grizzled wolf “Gampa Bada.”

Joaquin also realized that was just fine by him.

* * * *

Badger loaded Bebe in the SUV to drive Joaquin back to Jack and Moraine’s house.

“Thanks for not telling Beck what happened,” Joaquin said.

He dreaded the reveal but knew Peyton was right. It had to happen eventually, and in a controlled manner, not accidentally.

Say, in the middle of final wedding preparations minutes before Dewi’s ceremony.

“Oh, don’t thank
me
, lad. Lucky thing Peyton has a soft spot in his soul and isn’t makin’ ye present her front and center tonight at dinner. And ye never know what might have happened at brunch with the women.”

Joaquin groaned. He’d tried not to think about that. “Why do I get the feeling I might need my mate to protect
me
from Beck?”

“Heh. Because ye just
might
need yer mate to protect ye. But it wouldn’t be Beck I’d be worryin’ about, now. It’d be Nami. She’s as fierce as any wolf I’ve ever seen about her siblings. Beck might be yer new best friend in terms of protectin’ yer hide.”

“I never expected this to happen,” Joaquin said. “Not in a million years, and especially not like this. What are the odds that Nami’s sister is my mate?”

“It’s not unheard of for wolves to ping on two non-shifting siblings as mates. Although I’ve never heard of it happening with human siblings before. Then again, the cases I’ve heard about were all at Musters or other big events, so it’s no surprise they met mates when so many wolves and extended family were together in one place. A lot of mating bonds crop up at Musters. I expect we’ll have quite a few this week. Peyton will likely have his paws full doing recognitions on Sunday, before people leave. Who knows how often it might happen, but the person was already taken, and the wolf had to walk away?”

Joaquin shuddered, remembering his fear that perhaps he’d scented on Lu’ana, and his joy to realize it was Malyah.

“That would suck.”

“Yep.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence, except for Bebe jabbering away in the backseat and pointing out the windows as they drove. When Badger pulled into Jack and Moraine’s driveway, Joaquin was relieved to see neither of their vehicles parked there.

“Deep breaths,” Badger counseled. “Ye’ll be stayin’ with her at the guest cottages as soon as Peyton breaks the news. He’s not cruel. He won’t keep two newly mated lovebirds separated like that.”

“How do I keep her safe?” he quietly asked. “What if the Seguras come after me in the States?”

Badger reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “We’ll all help keep her safe, lad. Even if ye have to live here with her for a while, until we can properly suss out what’s going on.”

“No word from Ramirez yet?”

“No. Not since yesterday. Last he reported, he evacuated the family out of the area…” Badger cleared his throat. “Now that they had the funeral and all. He might simply be out of cell range. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s good at what he does. Just like you are.”

“Does this get any easier?”

“Which part?”

“Being an Enforcer. I realize I was awfully cocky in the beginning, but…” He knew the memory of finding the dead girl’s body would never leave his mind.

The way she’d been discarded like garbage, instead of someone who’d been loved and cherished by her family.

Which was one of the reasons Joaquin had no problems offing the fucker in front of his own family.

Admittedly, Joaquin recognized his own lack of self-control was one of the reasons he was now in this mess to begin with, because he wasn’t able to push back his anger enough to think rationally once he knew he’d had the fucker in front of him. Had he waited and taken the man after the wedding—meaning hours later, at the very least—he could have gotten away clean without anyone having any idea who the hell he was.