Luke: Emerson Wolves (14 page)

As soon as he touched Jack’s arm, she turned to look at him. The wolf was right there. He could see her, almost feel her as she moved along Jack’s body. And he even saw the she-wolf reflected back at him when he looked into his sister’s eyes. When she snarled but backed up, he turned to Granger.

Looking at the man, he could see two things almost at once. Granger was afraid. Terrified beyond what was going on right now, and he was high on something. Allen knew the look better than anyone. Granger was on something, and that alone gave Allen all the strength he needed to do this.

“Drugs slow your ability to make snap decisions, did you know that?” Granger snorted, and Allen saw the drop of blood at his nose. “Coke. Did you know that it was once my choice of drug to forget? Not that I forgot for long, but it did the trick for a time. But like all things, when it came to an end, the memories flooded back. And for some reason, they were worse than they were before. Do you find that to be true as well?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Granger wiped at his nose and looked at the blood. “This? You mean this? I can quit at any time I have to, but I like it too much. Yeah, boy, unlike you, I have willpower. And a lot of it. Then again, why should I give up something that makes me a king?” He pulled out his gun and waved it around.

“That will get you nowhere and fast. Do you want to know why? Because you’re not a king. Not even a prince. All you are is a lowly jester, and not a very good one at that.”

The gun fired, and Allen felt his body being pitched backward. He noticed that Granger was suddenly gone and the gun, still hot looking, lay in the dirt that he was falling into. Allen closed his eyes and decided that if he had to die, he was glad Jack was nearby. And he also wondered at the lack of pain from the shot and was grateful for it.

~~~

Jack watched her brother fall back. As she reached for him, a breath of hot air fell over her cheek and she turned to protect her fallen brother. But there was no one there, not even Granger. As she looked to the dirt and the gun, she leaned over to pick it up, but Luke stopped her.

“Fingerprints.” She nodded and looked at Allen. It was then that she realized not only was he not bleeding, he didn’t seem to be hurt at all. Jack stood up and kicked him in the foot. Allen moaned, but he didn’t move other than to shift his feet away from her.

“Stop being a melodramatic pansy and get up.” He looked up at her, and she smiled. “You’re not hurt. Not even a scratch. I think the bullet went wide.”

“He shot me.” She shook her head. “I heard it. I can’t believe he missed me. I’m…I’m not hurt? Really?”

Allen sat up, and Jack jerked him to her. She’d never been so happy to see him not hurt in her life. But when he moaned, she let him go and stepped back. She’d forgotten that he’d been hurt before. He smiled at her, the loopy grin she remembered from when they were kids, and she hugged him again. She really loved this guy.

Just then Steward seemed to shimmer into view. Allen took a hasty step back, but before she could tell him that this was the man who’d helped, Allen was pulled into his arms and held tightly by Steward. When he let him go, Jack could see that he was just as happy as she was that he was all right.

“You did very well.” This time when he stepped back, Allen looked at the man. It was hard to say if he was pissed or not, but Steward threw back his head and laughed. Jack wondered what the hell was going on between the two of them. Then Steward looked at her.

“He is very smart, your brother. Allen wishes to know if I am marking him and if so, how does he keep his mate from smelling me on him. I have just assured him that she would love the scent.” Jack was confused and said so. “I marked him long ago, as you know, but now he wishes to be converted to wolf. I wish it to be vampire, as I am, but he assures me that he would prefer a wolf. What say you, Hunter? Do you need another pack member? He will be a fine addition.”

“And he’s standing right here.” Allen took another step back as he continued. “I’ve already spoken to Hunter, and he said that he’d do it. I’m sick of being the odd man out. I want to be able to bounce back as the rest of you have.” Hunter, a man now dressed in tear-away pants, came walking toward them, pulling a shirt over his head. He grinned at her when she flushed.

“I would be proud to have him in this pack. We’re going to sit down and talk about it, but I think he’s got it straight in his head what he wants and what is going to have to happen. And he’s right about being able to bounce back with the rest of us. I’ve never been so afraid for a puny human in my life.” Hunter looked at her and winked. “You’ll have to give me permission. I know that he’s not in the same condition you were in when you were converted, but he is your blood and you’re older than him. It’s up to you if he is wolf or not.”

Jack could only stare at Allen and wonder. This was her brother. The boy she’d left behind seemed to have grown up. It was stupid. Of course, he would grow up, but she was surprised at it all the same. But she had already decided, if it was possible. And if Allen wanted it, she’d agree. With a nod to them all from Jack, Hunter nodded and moved away with her brother, talking about all that had to be done. Jack stood there for several seconds before what was going to happen to him sunk in. Her brother would be just fine.

When Luke wrapped his arms around her, she leaned into him and asked Steward what had happened to Granger. She wasn’t sure he was going to answer her, but when he did, he seemed to be slightly sad about his answer.

“He will no longer be an issue. None of the men at the stationhouse that were here today will be a concern for any of the good citizens of this town. I have taken care of their remains as well.” Jack noticed a small drop of blood on his lip, and he licked at it. “I would hate to have a meal go to waste.” Steward only grinned at her, and she nodded.

Jack shivered, and Luke tightened his hold on her. She had no idea why she thought that she didn’t want any more details, but she was reasonably sure that if she got them, she’d have nightmares for the rest of her life. He nodded once to her before turning to talk to the rest of the Emerson men. Jack looked at Luke when he turned her in his arms.

“You have a meeting in an hour.” She’d hoped that he’d forgotten about it. “And I have one with the Feds at my office. She’s the woman that Towers said was investigating Osborne and his company. They have what they need to arrest Osborne, and they want me there in the event I can answer any questions she might have. Plenty, I’m sure, but I said I’d be there.”

“I’ll be fine. We’re meeting at my building. And Audra and her son are going to be there as well.” He asked her about the young man. “I hired him. With stipulations. He has to finish his last year of school, and if I can swing it, I’m going to help him with his college.”

“There’s a fund that Slone has set up that he will more than likely qualify for. It’s an outreach program for underprivileged wolves to continue their education. You can ask Slone, but I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes.” Jack nodded and decided to talk to her as soon as this meeting was over. “Also, you should know that she and Hunter have ordered you a few supplies. Since you wouldn’t take money for the art you did for them, they decided to help you out in other ways. You’re going to have a fit about it and they know it. But I wanted you to have a heads up so it wouldn’t freak you out before the meeting.”

Jack tried to think why she’d be pissed but didn’t comment. Luke led her to the car and was driving down the lane when she finally asked. It had cost her nothing but a few seconds of her time. What the hell could they have gotten her? He laughed before answering her. And that alone made her leery of going to her building.

“I don’t know for sure. I do know that the truck arrived this morning and that three of the pack had to work all day to set it up.” Jack felt her belly lurch up. “Calm down, honey. I’m sure it’s not that much. Just a desk or two, I’m sure.” But she had a feeling that it was more than that, a great deal more than that.

“It wasn’t worth even one desk blotter, much less a single desk.” As they pulled up in front of her building, she looked at him again. “What if he gets in there and Sweet starts realizing that I haven’t a clue what I’m doing? What if the first thing he asks me, I puke all over him and he tells every living person he knows? I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can. You’re very talented.” He pulled her to him and kissed her. Everything but them and what his mouth was doing to her faded out. When he lifted his head, she was panting and he was smiling. “You don’t puke on him and get the deal, I’ll take you in the woods tonight, strip you down, and fuck you until you scream out my name.”

“I do that anyway whenever you simply touch me.” He laughed and kissed her again. “You’re not giving me much of a goal. What I need is more of an incentive.” Luke let her slip out of the car before he answered her.

“Your old boss called. Anderson. He wants you to come back to work for him. Begged me to tell you to call him as soon as possible. I said I’d think about it.” She watched his face to see if he was kidding. “It seems that he’s lost a great deal of business since you left him and is losing a lot more almost daily. Did you know that my father was one of his clients?”

“Your dad? For what?” Luke laughed and drove off. Jack decided right then that she was going to murder him when she got home. There was no way she was going to be able to think of anything else now but her old boss. Jack turned when someone said her name behind her. It was Josh, the young man she’d hired. He looked as nervous as she felt.

“They’re here.” She nodded and took a step toward him as he continued. “I had Mabel down at the diner bring in some cookies and stuff. She also threw in a big urn of coffee and some pitchers of her famous iced tea. I hope that was okay. I told her you’d settle up tomorrow. She said not to worry.”

She nodded and stopped in front of him. “You look very nice. I guess I should have dressed up too.”

His suit was a little worn, but it looked much better than the jeans and tee-shirt she had on. When she started to fuss with her hair, something she never did, he told her she looked great. She was sure the kid was going to be a heartbreaker when he got old enough to take woman seriously, if he ever did. Taking a deep breath, she moved toward what was going to be her office. She stopped in her moving so quickly that Josh bumped her from behind.

“They just got it set up before Mr. Sweet got here. And the guys put it together while I was still reading the box. Just like they knew how to do it.” Jack was sure they did. Construction workers would simply know that slot
a
fit into hole
b
or whatever to put together a dozen cubicles as they’d done. With or without instructions. “I had them set up your desk near the window in your office. They said they could move it if you want. The rest of it I wasn’t sure what to do with, so I had them just put the things together until you decided.”

“The rest of the things? Just how many other things are there? You know what, I don’t care right now. I have a meeting and I’m nervous enough without thinking about how much money I’m going to owe these people.” She had a feeling she’d be hard pressed to get a total from them, much less be able to make a single payment. It was all she could do not to puke, as she’d told Luke she was going to do. “Is Mr. Sweet in there?”

Josh shook his head and pointed at the stairs. The large open space up there was going to be her employee break room, if she ever had more than just her and Josh. Josh started toward the stairs and she followed him. He was still talking but for the life of her, she couldn’t hear him over the buzzing in her head. When he opened the door to the large room, what looked like a couple of dozen men were standing in the large room. And a huge shiny oak table had at least half that many more sitting at it. There was no way on earth this was just Mr. Sweet’s firm. She was so fucked.

“There you are.” She took Mr. Sweet’s hand when he pulled her into the room. “I hope you don’t mind, but when I said I was meeting with you, a bunch of the other clients you had worked with decided to come along too. We’ve been hashing out details on what we want and how you’re going to give it to us. Not that we’re going to be in charge, but we figured we’d take turns in our demands and let you hash out how to make our dreams come true.”

“I am?” Mr. Sweet nodded and laughed. “I’m a little…I’m a lot overwhelmed right now. I didn’t expect this.”

Mr. Emerson…Cash…took her hand into his when Mr. Sweet walked away. She looked at him like a lifeline. When she felt calmer, he nodded once to her and told her to have at it. Jack watched as the men, her potential clients, all sat around the table. Jack was going to kill Luke as soon as she thanked him.

“Good evening, everyone. Sorry I’m late, but I had some personal things to take care of.” The men and women nodded and smiled. Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I hope you guys aren’t too disappointed in this meeting. I only expected one person and I’m not prepared to…I’m slightly out of my element right now. I just opened my…well, that’s not quite true. I haven’t even opened my doors yet and have three clients more than I thought I would.”

“Four.” She looked at Cash. “Four, honey. Hunter and Slone, Ellis, Luke, and Sweet here, if he behaves himself. He does have a way about him that makes him seem a little bossy.”

As they laughed, she felt Luke’s love. She might want to kill him right now, but he’d given her more than she’d ever dreamed up. Picking up her notes she’d made the night before, she started going over what she hoped were good guidelines and company policies. Christ, she was going to fail big time. She just knew it.