Alyssa's Wolves (Wolf Masters, Book 4) (24 page)

Alyssa spoke. “I still don’t understand why Fredrick would go to the trouble to send you to get either of us?”

Alfred glared at her, his eyes shooting daggers, the only daggers he currently had at his disposal. “To save face you fool. He doesn’t like people to make a mockery out of him. He promised you to Dwight Wells and then had to tell the man you’d disappeared. He had big plans to use Tyler for his right-hand finance man. He didn’t want to let that expertise slip away.”

Tyler spoke up. “Plans? What plans? If Wells planned to hire me for something, why not just do it? Why the theatrics? I paid for my own education with scholarships and loans. Hell, he knows I’ve been interviewing for jobs for a while now.”

Alfred twisted his arms in the ropes. Charles nudged him. “Answer the question, asshole. You aren’t really in a position to piss me off right now. Perhaps the council will be more lenient with you if you do more talking and less sniveling.”

Alfred looked up. His eyes widened as though it just occurred to him he was in hot water. He wasn’t the sharpest tack. Sharper than Judas apparently. The man had barely uttered a syllable. “It was all a ruse. Wells just wanted you to believe you were making your own decisions. He never intended to permit you to leave the pack. He was testing you. If he made it all seem perfectly natural, you wouldn’t question his motives.”

Pity that
. Alyssa smiled. “Guess he’s not going to be too pleased when his hired killers don’t come back either then, huh?”

A car drove up, and Alyssa turned to watch as Ryan pulled closer.

Justin grabbed Alfred and nodded at Charles to do the same with Judas. “Our ride’s here.”

Ryan stepped out of the car. “Nice. Not only did they leave the car nearby, but they left the keys in the ignition.”

Michael’s brothers stuffed Judas and Alfred into the backseat of their own car.

Justin shook hands with Michael and Tyler. “We’ll stop by the house and then head to Seattle. Think you two can pick up some of the slack for a few days?” Justin lifted only one side of his mouth in a half-grin.

“I think we can handle it.” Michael backed up and took Alyssa’s hand as Justin climbed into the car right behind his other brothers and drove away.

Alyssa began to shake. As if she had a chill, she couldn’t stop the shivering. Even when Tyler wrapped his arms around her, her teeth still chattered.

“Let’s get you inside.” Tyler pulled her in close and turned to the cabin.

“It’s the adrenaline. Why don’t you lie down for a bit, babe?” Michael reached for the door and held it open.

Alyssa shook her head. “Can we just get out of here? I don’t feel safe anymore. I couldn’t sleep here anyway. After the last two days, I just want to be back at home in my own bed, nice and warm, where I know I’m safe with all you Masters surrounding me.”

“One condition.” Michael smiled. “We switch to
my
bed. I’ve got the only king-sized bed, and I don’t know about you two, but I need more space.”

“That’s for sure.” Tyler slapped Michael’s arm. “You do take up a lot of space. Can’t you lie still?”

“You want to argue bedroom habits?” Michael’s grin warned he was full of information about Tyler he was just dying to share with the group. “Are your feet always that cold? Do you have to hog the blankets like that? Do you always sigh so loud just before you go to sleep?”

Tears filled Alyssa’s eyes. When Michael stopped his litany, both men turned to look at her.

Michael reached for her first. “What’s the matter, babe? You know we’re just kidding, don’t you?”

Alyssa nodded and then shook her head.

Tyler took her chin and tipped her face up. “Yes? No? What is it?”

She coughed to clear her throat. “I’m just so happy. This is going to work, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is.” Michael wrapped his arms around her. “It’s going to be perfect. You can spend half the year in Denver with Ty and the other half in Corvallis with me. What more could you want?”

She gasped and looked up into his eyes. They were filled with mirth.

“Kidding.” He kissed her briefly and laughed. “Neither of us will ever be separated from you. We’re a group package. Something will work out, and all the cards will just fall into place.”

Chapter 17

It was early the next morning when a ringing phone woke Alyssa with a start. She sat upright in confusion and looked around the room. Tyler and Michael were gone from the bed. Her memory flooded back. They were working today, helping out around the farm since Justin, Charles, and Ryan had taken Alfred and Judas to Seattle.

How long before someone in Oklahoma caught wind of this situation, and what would they do?

“You okay, babe? I can feel your anxiety from the barn.”
Michael spoke into her mind.

“Yeah, a phone was ringing. It startled me.”

Tyler jumped into the conversation.
“A phone? Oh, shit. It’s probably mine. The only person with that number is in Denver. I’ll be right there.”

Alyssa lay back down and pulled the covers over her naked body. She’d never slept naked before, and now it seemed to be a new habit.

Two minutes later Tyler entered with Michael right behind him.

Tyler smiled at Alyssa and then glanced back at Michael. “I guess it’s a group call?”

“Seems like whatever decision is made affects all of us.” Michael frowned, his brow furrowed, as he sat on the side of the bed and laid a hand on Alyssa’s leg.

Why did his touch through the blankets warm her entire body as though he’d lain across her? His firm hand rubbed her leg, climbing up her body in slow circles.

“Before I check that call, we need to talk to you.” Tyler sat on the other side of the bed and glanced at Michael, who nodded.

“What’s the matter?” Alyssa let her gaze roam back and forth between the men, gauging their expressions and coming up with nothing. She sat up, pulling the covers over her chest.

“Nothing,” continued Tyler, “we just want to fill you in on what happened in Seattle.”

“Oh, right. With Alfred and Judas. Did your brothers get there safely?” She looked at Michael. Tension filled the room.

“They sure did. And man was that trip informative.” Michael turned to Tyler.

“It seems both the Northwest Area Pack Council and the Southwest APC have had our fine pack in Oklahoma under surveillance for several years. It’s very time-consuming trying to infiltrate that pack since they don’t take outsiders into their community. Nevertheless, the authorities have known for a long time that Fredrick was involved in something illegal. They just didn’t know what. His inner circle is very small and tight. Even Alfred and Judas are probably oblivious to the extent of their leader’s devious nature.

“Now that those two have been caught and turned in, however, they should be able to shed some light on the circumstances. Even though they are largely ignorant, they may know some things they didn’t even realize when questioned.”

Alyssa gasped. “My God.” She clutched the sheets around her with both hands. Her reality seemed to change in an instant.

Tyler sighed and then continued. “More than likely, the entire business of polygamy is just a ruse on the part of Fredrick to eliminate extra men and boys and keep a lower profile. The women of the pack don’t pose much of a threat since they are kept so subservient and docile, but the men… He perhaps thought he could keep a better rein on things if he just kept the numbers down.”

“Lord. What do you suppose this illegal activity is?” Alyssa wracked her brain to remember if she’d ever in her life been aware of all this.

“Could be anything from drugs to gambling to money laundering. Whatever it is, it involves large sums of cash, and it seems Fredrick intended to somehow use my skills in finance to keep his books. Apparently in the last decade he’s gotten in over his head with the number of accounts he has.”

Alyssa couldn’t even blink. Her eyes felt larger than saucers the way she had them pinned open listening to Tyler. “What happens now?”

Michael rubbed her leg and gripped her thigh. “Unfortunately, nothing yet. The authorities don’t have enough to go on yet. They need more evidence before they can bust Fredrick for anything. Meanwhile, we have no choice but to sit tight and wait.”

“What if they come after Tyler again? After six years of school, they wouldn’t just let him slip away.” New fear made her temples start to pound.

“Hon, nothing is going to happen to any of us,” Tyler continued. “We are just going to have to be diligent and patient. And … I’m going to have to take that job in Denver or find something similar to make myself unavailable to Fredrick. He can’t very well waltz into a large financial firm and just kidnap me. The sooner I’m gainfully employed, the more difficult it will be for Fredrick to make me
disappear
.”

“What makes you think he won’t send more goons here to kidnap you?”

Tyler glanced at Michael and then continued, “We can’t be sure. All we can do is stay alert. His two main idiots are now safely out of our hair. And there are a lot of people around here to keep everyone safe. Besides, the jig is up now. The idea was to hire me and use me without my ever being aware of his devious plan. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’m no good to him. It’s not like I would be a willing accomplice to his crimes.”

Alyssa still felt unease climbing up her neck.

Tyler stood and paced the room, running his hands through his hair. “Let’s see what the phone call was.”

Tyler searched for his phone and found it in his discarded jeans from last night. He glanced at both his mates and then sat in the chair by the desk. “Guess you want to hear the conversation,” he muttered. He looked back down at the cell. “Yep, it was Denver. Let me listen to the message.”

Alyssa held her breath while Tyler kept the phone to his ear. Finally, he pulled it back and shook his head. “He didn’t say anything other than to call him back.”

After dialing, Tyler waited again. Seconds ticked by. “Yes, hello. This is Tyler Evans returning Mr. Diamond’s call… Yes, of course… No, I’ll hold.” He glanced up with a forced smile.

Alyssa squeezed Michael’s hand on her leg. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. It really didn’t matter one way or the other whether he got that particular job. The three of them had agreed to work this out together. All that mattered was knowing the outcome of the interview and factoring that information into their decision.

Secretly, she hoped Tyler did get the job. Even if he turned it down, she knew it would be good for his ego. Taking the job and getting the job were two entirely different animals. Surely there were plenty of other places he could interview in the area with his credentials.

“Mr. Diamond, hello. This is Tyler Evans. Sorry I missed your call… Yes… Oh… Wow… I didn’t realize… Okay… I’m in Corvallis, Oregon, right now, sir… Probably… Let me talk that over with my, um, girlfriend. Can I get back to you? … Yes, I’ll do that. Thank you, sir… Right… Yes, goodbye then.”

Alyssa leaned against Michael and squeezed his arm with her fingers while she waited for the verdict.

Tyler set the phone on the desk and turned his attention to the bed. A smile spread across his face. “Well, that was unexpected.”

“What?” Alyssa leaned farther forward. The sheet fell to her lap.

Tyler glanced below her face. “It’s hard to talk to you with your breasts exposed like that. It makes me think of more entertaining activities than conversation.” He chuckled, and Alyssa clutched the blanket to pull it up over her chest again.

Her face flushed hot with ridiculous unnecessary embarrassment. “Tell us.”

“They want to offer me a job…”—he paused with a grin on his face—“…as the Northwest area financial coordinator. They are so very sorry, but I was over qualified for the job in Denver, and would I be willing to work in the Northwest instead?” Now he beamed.

Michael gripped her leg tighter.

Alyssa gasped. “Seriously? Where would you need to live?”

“That’s the best part. Anywhere is fine. It would require some travel to the surrounding area, but I’d be able to live basically wherever I wanted. Of course I need to meet with some people in Portland to firm up the details … oh and talk it over with my
girlfriend,
”—he glanced at both of them—“but other than that, it’s almost a done deal.

“This couldn’t have worked out better. It allows me to be close to you two most of the time, and as long as the authorities keep a tight level of surveillance on the Oklahoma pack, we should be okay. The last thing I want to do is endanger either of you or anyone in this family though. If at any point I feel the risk it too high, I will make myself scarce.” Tyler stared at both of them pointedly.

Alyssa shook her head. “I can’t stand the idea of you not being with us.”

“Don’t worry.” Michael reached for her chin and lifted her face to his gaze. “We’ll make this work to the best of our ability. Now … the only thing that needs to be scarce right now is that sheet you’re clutching.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

Alyssa toppled over under his shove. The sheet fell to her waist again, but it didn’t stay there. It was swept away until she lay bare beneath the gazes of the two sexiest men alive. She was one very lucky woman.

Epilogue

Three years later…

“Nelson, stop hitting your sister. Come here.” Nelson stuck his thumb in his mouth and waddled over to his mother. Alyssa couldn’t help but grin. He looked just like his father, and there was no doubt who that was. His chubby face, dark eyes, and tan skin screamed Masters.

His sister, LeeAnn, on the other hand, favored Tyler. Her strawberry curls made a halo around her little face. Alyssa glanced at LeeAnn now peacefully left alone on her blanket in the adjoining living room.

“Let me wipe your face. You’re covered with chocolate milk. Why do I let you drink that stuff?” Alyssa spoke mainly to herself. The toddler was barely over two and hardly cared whether or not he was clean.

The back door swung open, and Nelson jerked from his mother’s clutches. “Hey, little man.” Michael squatted down and waited with open arms for their son to run into his grasp.