Denver Pack Twelve 1/2 (3 page)

It took way to long for every ones liking, getting back into place, and making sure no one was going to trip any of the servers. They may have moved their chairs slightly so that each of them could get a good view on the scene that was playing out.

The owner smiled a little too big and nodded to Shea, who unfroze her workers. “Welcome to the Melting Pot, I am Frederica Molto. I am the owner of this place, and tonight we have a specialty for dessert.

The women watched as the servers set down plates and pans, as the owner explained how it would work for the last part of their meal. Cami could feel the tension coming off her best friend as well as the Enforcer, who was leaning against the wall trying to look uninterested, but failing miserably.

Frederica nodded to her people, and they began to file out one by one. The owner stood rigidly until the last of the workers left. She relaxed a little when the doors shut, and then she looked at Cami.

“Alpha, I am sorry about the deception. I would have announced myself to the Pack if I could have. This is a very long story, but the basics are that I have been told since I was small that I was to hide what and who I was,” the Chef said and looked genuinely apologetic.

Cami felt something inside her shift as she looked at the woman, and then to her best friend.
Dammit
, there are similarities, what the fuck is going on here?

Cloe grabbed a bottle and began to fill the glasses of the women sitting there watching intently. Cami turned to Lacy, who was looking between Marshall and Frederica. Satisfied at her conclusion, Lacy nodded to the Alpha. She could tell if someone was destined to be mated. Apparently, Lacy was giving her the stamp of approval. Which was good?

Cami took a sip of wine and then turned to Kira, who could see shifters and magical people’s auras. For the most part, it meant she could see what type of shifter a person was, and if their aura was darker or lighter. Kira was tilting her head back and forth and looking from both Jo and Frederica.

“What is your heritage?” Kira asked slowly.

“Why?” Jo snapped.

“Jo, I am telling you this as your friend, shut up and calm down. Let us figure this out before we all start freaking. Because as it is, we are all figuring, you’re related somehow. I think we just need to know how,” Cami stated and then looked back at the chef. “Frederica, why don’t you just sit down, I feel like we are grilling you. Have a drink and spill it. None of us are gonna leave here until we have an explanation.”

The smaller woman sighed, and then grabbed an extra glass, sat down, and held it out to Bama, who was waiting. Cami could see the hesitation in the wolf. “Marshall, clear the room. We are locked in with one way in and one way out, I think we need some privacy for a while.”

“I really don’t think that would be wise,” Marshall said, wondering if he was going to have to disobey his Alpha female. He only found his mate, and she was telling him to leave her alone, just not going to happen.

“Marshall, I believe it would be best for now to call the men and ask for their guidance in this situation. For now, Frederica is going to call down and make her excuses, turn the restaurant over to someone else,” Cami announced and then grabbed a bottle of wine and sat down.

“Alpha, I respectfully decline,” Marshall said formally. Cami could see his cat trying to push itself out. It had found its mate, asking him to leave was hard for him accept.

“Well, you don’t get to decline thankfully. Get your ass outside that door right now. We have an issue to talk about before we deal with your mating thing.” Cloe stood up, followed by Skye, and Bama. Apparently, the man overruled the cat because he rolled his eyes and then motioned with his head for the men to leave.

Chapter Three

“I’m sorry. Would you like to repeat that again?” Jaden said into the phone as the other men watched him. The phone rang a few moments ago, and after speaking to a few of the in-laws, they had a plan. One that would shock the women. They were taking a vacation.

The twenty-three men set about making a schedule for each of them to take a vacation sometime in the following year. It was all working out nicely, since there were twelve couples and twelve months, the men thought proudly of the fact they were planning their individual vacations to places they knew their women had talked about some time or another.

They thought of everything, the children, the Council, and even the Pack. Making sure, they checked the schedule against all the others. Of course, it took a while. A few bottles of Jack Daniels, and cases of beer, they finally had all of them booked.

Now they were relaxing and patting each other on the back for their gifts. The women would be surprised and excited, no way were they going to be able to say this year's Christmas was not an amazing one. Reggie even had the idea to arrange for the ladies to get a new wardrobe for their trips, so shopping sessions for each had been arranged.

Then the phone rang, just when they figured they had things under control. Quin was resting his head on the back of the chair he sat in. “I knew it was too good to be true, all the notifications we put into place, and none of them worked, the girls were probably wasted and in jail.” Lev was holding his phone, ready to call the local police in whatever town they were in and arrange for bail.

“Okay, now just a little slower, and with not so much cussing, I think I have it figured out, but man, you are like not making any sense,” Jaden said.

“Just turn the damn thing on speaker, better to hear it all at once than to wait,” Devon ordered.

Jaden rolled his eyes and set the phone down on the table and pressed the speaker key, “Okay Marshall, we have you on speaker, go ahead and tell us it, but SLOWER!”

They could all hear the cat take a deep impatient breath and blow it out. “The women are locked in a room at the top of the restaurant, with six cases of wine, and the owner, who is a wolf, and my mate. Is that clear enough?”

Levi laughed and said, “Your mate is a man, and locked in with our women? What did you do, scare the poor guy away?”

That was the good thing about shifters and other magical beings, they were not judgmental at all, their mate, was just that, the one that was chosen for them. They did not argue, or disagree with fate; it was what it was.

“NO,” Marshall ground out. “The owner of the restaurant is a female wolf. She walked in the room and everyone like freaked. Shea froze all the humans, and Jo kept saying she could smell her dad. I knew she was my mate, but they wanted to talk to her before she and I talked, which is bullshit, by the way. Quin, and Jaden, Cami needs another lesson in protocol, and not sticking her nose into other people's relationships.”

“What the fuck?” Tey asked and looked at his friends. “She hasn’t talked about Oliver in about six months, unless it is to say she missed him. No more crying. Cami and the others made that photo album for the kids and that was about it. Why would she suddenly think she was scenting him?”

“I have no idea, sir, but that’s what she said. Cami felt something too, because she insisted that Jo needed time to figure this out, like I said, she refused to let me stay with them when they were talking about my mate,” Marshall snapped.

Jaden snorted and slapped his best friend and mate on the back, “Your turn, I did it last time, and she wouldn’t speak to me for a week.”

Quin glared at him, “Have you knocked on the door?”

“Several times, do you really think I would be calling if I didn’t need some help? I can hear them inside, they are singing Christmas carols, and it sounds like, for some reason or another, my mate has joined in. For the first two hours, they were crying and shit, I tried to get in, but apparently, this room is shifter safe. They have wards on it, which my mate is controlling,” Marshall said loudly.

“So what you are telling me is the female members of the Council, are locked in a room, with a strange wolf, and they are drunk and singing,” Dalton announced.

Sevi and Shawn, the twin bears, began laughing and making bets on when the girls were going to come out, and who was the drunkest. Jacob and Shane held the money as the men began throwing it on the table.

Argus held up his hand and said, “Whoever wins gets to have four more days when they get home from their trip to relax.”

Griff laughed and said, “You are on.”

Quin rolled his eyes and then looked at his mate, who was looking a bit more concerned than he would have expected. Their wife was an Alpha through and through, she would never put herself in a situation intentionally, if she did not feel comfortable getting out of it.

“I am going to call her now. Hang on Marshall,” Quinn said and pulled his phone off the desk and sighed. The last time he called his wife when she was having time with her friends he had gotten a strip torn off him for interfering.

Cami snorted and held out the bottle she was drinking from. The rest of the girls finally just stopped with the glasses; it became a pain in the ass to open a bottle every two seconds. Now they all had their own, and everyone was happy. Fredi seemed finally to be ready to tell them what the hell was going on.

Jo leaned forward and said softly, “I know you smell like him. I’m not crazy.”

Fredi paused from raising the bottle to her mouth and nodded slowly, and then looked around the room and sighed. She finished taking a drink and looked Jo in the eye, “Oliver Tand was my father. I’m so sorry to have hidden this from you. I was so angry with our father when he refused to allow me to contact you.”

“Why?” Jo whispered.

Fredi grimaced and said, “My full name is Federica Sophia Jenelle Tand. I was named after the two women our father loved and lost. When he lost your mother, Oliver was devastated obviously; he turned to the one person who would understand. I’m sure you will not recognize her name; Jenelle Pinot was your mother’s best friend. They mourned together, became close, unfortunately having an affair that led to my mother’s death. Her husband was a jealous evil brute, they had two children already, and Oliver knew when my mother became pregnant, that her husband would be outraged. Therefore, she went into hiding until I was born, and then I was whisked away to live with a couple who hid me for years. Jenelle was married to a human man, and since they were not true mates, their children were not born shifters. However, later they were bitten by two different magical people, one wolf, and one Vampire.”

Jo frowned and thought about everything they knew from their past. “Okay, so my father had an affair with my mother’s best friend, and when it was discovered, your mother was killed. Who the hell is the beast that killed her?”

“This is so confusing. You were taken and raised by Frank and Tina, the reason you were kidnapped was because of what the Seer said, and the Prophesy, correct?” Fredi asked.

Everyone in the room nodded. “Frank and Roarke claimed to be siblings, when they were not. They were both wolves, so it was easy to pass off. Roarke had a sister, Tina, who was the wild child. She was turned to a Vampire, and a wolf, Frank, bit Roarke. The only reason they were turned was, so they could get revenge. Their father raised them to think Oliver killed our mother, but he did in a fit of rage the day she returned to tell him she was leaving. My mother and father were not true mates either. However, I am still a wolf. Oliver went to the Seer to have her explain, and she couldn’t, all she could see was that if I was joined with her other children, the Council Prophesy would be challenged. Roarke and Tina’s father discovered all of this when he killed his wife. So he encouraged his children to hang out with shifters to find information, they discovered that I was alive, and when they held the Seer captive, she told them if Roarke could be reunited with me, our blood would be the key. To what I have no clue, but Oliver told me I was supposed to hide in plain sight until you discovered me. When I saw the reservations today I knew this was the time.”

“Fuck a duck, seems like such an inappropriate phrase right now. However, it seems to fit, don’t you think?” Cami said and held up her bottle of wine.

The women all toasted and Jo felt an overwhelming sense of belonging once again. She had a family. She was not alone.

“So, you are a wolf, there is no doubt, Kira, what is her aura?” Shea asked curiously.

“It is not the golden of the Chosen; however, it is silverfish. I have only seen this aura when Dante and his mates were here,” Kira said and shrugged.

“What does your wolf look like?” Jo asked.

Fredi shrugged, and said, “I have no clue. So far, I have not been able to shift. I would guess it is because I am not a full wolf. I can feel her, but it’s like she is hiding in me. This is the strongest I have ever felt her, when I walked into this room with Jo and that man in here, it was as if I walked into my home. I could hear my wolf howl inside of me.” Fredi laughed and felt the tears gathered in her eyes. “Our father showed me pictures of you, and your mate, he is so handsome. I wanted to be there for you when Oliver died. However, unfortunately being on the outside means the news wasn’t delivered to me until it was too late. I regret not being able to be at his wake.”

Of course, this reduced the entire room into tears, and they began to hug each other. Fredi may be Jo’s sister, but she was a kindred spirit according to Kira and Lacy. The real fun began when they tried to figure out how in the hell they were going to keep Fredi safe, now that they knew about her. Their husbands would of course need to know, but later, it was more important for them to get to know her.

So later, when the men talked about how they finally were able to enter the room, all of the women refused to acknowledge or deny what they found. Quin finally gave them permission to break the ward, after Cami ignored the call several times.

The shocking part wasn’t the three women who were making up a Christmas song in the corner, singing loudly and clapping when they’d go down the verse. Nor was it the other two, who were sitting there comparing their tattoos with their clothes partially off. Not even the four laying on the floor laughing hysterically at the woman who was pouring drinks into their mouth. It even could have been their Alpha female. She was standing there screaming at two wolves that were running around the room chasing each other, while she held onto their clothes for obvious purposes. However, it wasn’t.

The shocking part was the two wolves that were chasing each other were both pure white, and the Enforcers couldn’t tell which one was the Chosen, Jo.

“Holy Shit!” one of the Enforcers muttered as he watched the mayhem. Shea sat up and looked at them, her eyes sparkling. “Fuck, hit the panic button!”

All of the Enforcers scrambled for the phones with the tracking device on them and as the entire group of guards hit it, they heard Cami laughing again and saw her pointing at them. It was the last thing any of them remembered until they woke up in the Pack compound in the Enforcers’ Cottage.

Marshall sat up and screamed loudly, “I am gonna fucking quit this job!!”