Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) (37 page)

Evan’s cough brought reality back to the forefront. I shook my
head and asked “Any other hints?”

The blond elf didn’t respond. He too seemed captivated by the
fire. His eyes closed and there was a soft glow from behind the lids.
I watched him slip slowly forward, then finally tip as if he couldn’t
hold himself upright. By the time I reached him, he was snoring on
the ground.

Perhaps I could push the issue by calling upon whatever bond he
thought we had, but I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer. I wasn’t
sure he’d survive me pushing at it. Not if he was passed out in
exhaustion after he managed to tell me nothing useful.

“Jay!” Julianne shouted while running up to the small
fire. I intercepted the tiny woman and pulled us away from Evan’s
resting place.

“What’s up?” I asked once we were further away.

“Problem. Daniel and a huge number of his men have started up
the road.” Julianne broke away from my grip and started pacing.
She didn’t even appear upset that I had basically herded her.

“What? How?” I paused and started over. “What?”

“Seems Thomas told them we had Arnold, and told them he was
dead. Judging by the convoy rolling up here your friend didn’t
believe it.” Julianne bit her lip and looked off towards the
city far to the south.

“Hell,” I said. One arm raised to run through my
shortened hair.

“No joke. They’re armed too.” Julianne put one hand
into her pocket. She was likely holding on to the small firearm from
before.

“Daniel carrying a lot of silver?” I licked my lips and
stared at the short woman.

“He’s headed into pack woods, against both law and orders
from his superiors.” Julianne stared up at me and nodded. “So
yeah, I’d bet heavily on him carrying enough to put down
everyone.”

“And they’re trained.” I clenched both my fists and
contemplated hitting something hard.

“Yep.”

What the hell was he doing bringing an army up here? Was he going to
take over and root around trying to find Arnold? Daniel knew Arnold
was dead.

“Your pack’s response?” I asked. Daniel heading
into pack lands could be minimized if no one got in his way. At worst
it would be me, Evan, and his grandfather. Julianne could easily hide
somewhere or be escorted out with her brother.

“Pack’s not going to let anyone march into their lands.
Western Sector or not. This has been our-” she shook her head
“-their, territory for generations.”

“Of course not.” I understood the need to protect one’s
things.

“They’re running in full bore, but I don’t know if
they’ll be in any condition to help. Plus they waited to tell
me.” Julianne ground her teeth for a moment and displayed a
wolfish impersonation of annoyance. She may not be pack, but the
woman had fooled me for a long time.

“It’s okay.” I tried to sound reassuring.

“My grandfather is almost here already. He’s getting up
there in age, but the old guy can cover some ground.” Julianne
looked fidgety. She wasn’t making eye contact, which was not an
action I expected from her.

Shifting eyes around, refusing to meet a stare, both were signs of
submissive pack members. Julianne had always given me the exact
opposite impression. There was something happening that I would like
even less.

“What?” I asked with a sharp tone.

“Um. My brother’s an idiot?” Julianne’s
accent sounded sheepish.

“I figured.” My response was dry. The guy was too damned
cheery when he talked, a smart ass cheery. “Anything else?”

Her eyes went wide, and I watched her look past me and wince. My body
turned just in time to be bulldozed by a fuzzy battering ram. Soft
fur and a quiet snarl coupled with very sharp teeth dug into my
muscles.

Hell.

From my angle, there was only one eye visible that was glaring
directly into mine. The teeth on my collarbone and the message in the
glaring orb were begging for an excuse to rend flesh.

“Stacy?” I guessed.

The bundle of fur and angry teeth clamped down upon my neck,
grumbling. Her teeth dug in, but the jaws didn’t shake back and
forth. I could be extremely violent and take the damage, but there
was no need. If Stacy wanted to harm me she would have already.

“If you want to talk, then shift.” I had to remain calm.
It was like I was bouncing at the door. Momentary eye contact, just
enough to give a solid connection that pierced through the haze.

Stacy, if it was Stacy, huffed in my face. Teeth pulled back from my
neck and the wolf backed up. A moment later I had a frowning and
startlingly naked woman yelling at me. There was a sign of something
strapped to her shoulders, a travel pack?

“I can’t believe you brought them out here! What the hell
were you thinking?” Stacy yelled while pointing at my face. At
least she wasn’t violently slapping me.

“Stacy!” Julianne shouted back.

“No, Julie, you could have been shot by that elf. All because
this abusive…” She stuttered as her arms struggled to
get the backpack off. “MALE needs help to clean up his fucking
mess!”

“We put Evan out here!” Julianne leapt to my defense
while I tried to stay out of the way. A female shouting was one of my
weaknesses and it never seemed to end well.

They kept bitching, literally, at each other. Part of me wanted to
defend myself. What could I really say? Sorry my friend Daniel is
screwing it all up for everyone?

Other people trickled in. One was the awkwardly naked older man I had
seen before. The rest were wolves of varying color patterns. Stacy
must have put in the extra energy speeding here in order to knock me
down.

“Girls.” Julianne’s grandfather held an incredible
tone with one word. It was a gift that anyone would steal if they
could. “We’re in mixed company, Stacy. Put something on.”

Stacy narrowed her eyes for a moment before breaking the stare. She
finished pulling the backpack off and dug out lighter clothes. They
were barely a step up from a nightie. The woman grumbled while
pulling a shirt over her head. Stacy’s lips kept moving as she
muttered angrily.

I had to give it to Julianne, Stacy seemed like a keeper in more ways
than one. She had probably started out reserved since wolves
typically were more irritable. One thing I had no desire to run into
was an already aggressive woman being turned into a wolf. They were
bonfires of rage and burned out quickly.

Wolves in the background wore amused grins. There were maybe twenty
total. Each one had a bag harnessed to them somehow. They all
appeared to be resting after a long run.

The only one who didn’t show signs of fatigue was Julianne’s
grandfather. He also showed no rush to get dressed. I kept my gaze
averted. Not because I wanted to seem submissive, but because I was
tired of naked men.

“Grandpa!” Julianne switched her yelling to him.

“Yes, child?” His tone of voice didn’t change, but
his emphasis on the second word was obvious.

“Put on your pants!”

“In time. There are others coming.” He responded.

“I don’t want to see your penis hanging out!” She
shouted while trying not to sound embarrassed.

“What’s wrong with a wolf being naked?” I wasn’t
looking, but the old wolf sounded faintly amused.

“Because you’re human right now, and you’re old!”
Her yelling didn’t let up.

The wolves in the background fought to contain wheezing laughs. Their
amusement seemed to vanish promptly and I risked a glance. Julianne’s
grandfather had given his pack a single glare. The wolves’
amused grins stayed put.

“Very well.” He took a pack from off of his shoulders
that had a pair of shorts and a plain white shirt. Once he was
dressed I felt semi-comfortable looking their direction.

“Where’s Thomas?” Julianne asked.

“Resting. He’ll be here soon, though.” Her
grandfather said.

“How far out is Daniel?” She asked another question. I
let her take charge in prying information out of the old man. Last
time I had dealt with him things were decided against me.

“Hours. They’re moving carefully and slowly.” Her
grandfather said.

“You’d think he would just roll in here.” She
rolled her eyes and waved a hand around.

Those pack members still in wolf form swiveled their ears at once.
Even the human form members looked off into the distance. Julianne
turned her gaze too but seemed perplexed. There must have been
someone or something approaching. I tensed and worried that Daniel
might be here already.

A set of howls echoed in the distance. Julianne’s grandfather
frowned and turned to his little gathering. There was a moment where
I could have sworn he was talking to them. It was hard not to envy a
pack’s ability to connect with each other.

A few members of Stacy and Julianne’s family howled back. There
was a moment when I heard noises filling the growing darkness. My
senses extended upward and I could feel the vibrations shoot through
the clear sky overhead. It was similar to holding an arm out the car
window and feeling the breeze ripple across my skin.

All the ears of the pack members swiveled again and the howling
stopped. Slowly padding through the trees was another smaller set of
wolves. They gave off a skittish vibe. Five in total became apparent.
The group settled to their haunches and watched the rest of us.

Fur patterns on one of them looked familiar. There were a few ways to
tell the gender of a wolf, but it would be considered rude. I felt
sure that the wolf gazing towards me was Francis Sauter’s wife.
Last time those eyes had been filled with nearly single-minded
annoyance. Now they looked to be a lot calmer and most satisfied.

I blinked and nodded slowly at the other wolf. She blinked gold eyes
back but didn’t nod in exchange.

“Welcome to our woods.” The old man’s voice sounded
formal. There was a bobble of heads in the other grouping of wolves
as if formally bowing while sitting. They started to shift to human.
I winced and stared back at the sky.

“Sissy.” Julianne didn’t bother whispering at me.
Not that it would have made a difference.

“Too much skin.” I wasn’t upset about seeing a
good-looking woman naked. Nor was I homophobic. Wolves took a lot to
get used to.

“You should see some of the places Kahina used to drag me to.
Her eighteenth was a blast.” Julianne sounded giddy at finding
a soft spot of mine to poke.

“No thanks,” I muttered.

“It’s safe to look now.” The tiny bartender said.

“It’s safe, Jay.” The old man’s voice was
calm. On anyone else I would have called it mocking, but it was hard
to tell with him.

I looked down. There was a small gathering around me now. Julianne,
her grandfather, Stacy, and two of the other wolves.

“Ms. Sauter, Malcolm.” Names and dollar signs were part
of my earnings. Thankfully I learned them fast. Different life
lessons took far longer.

“We meet again, Jay.” Malcolm didn’t look any more
distinct against the tree line than he had in the middle of the city.
Something about him was so damned every man.

“In less pleasant times,” I said.

“Well, we owe you one.” The Alpha shrugged. My eyes had a
hard time focusing on him and kept glancing around.

“And Francis?” I asked.

“Has left me a widow, sadly,” Jude’s smile said
quite the opposite. Pack justice was brutal.

“I apologize.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that
statement. Social niceties were not one of the skills a collections
agent such as myself worked on cultivating. Maybe I should be upset
that he was dead, but running out on your family with all their money
firmly marked him as scum.

“It was no fault of yours I assure you.” Jude waved one
arm in my direction and raised both her eyebrows in amusement.

“We’re expecting a few others,” Malcolm said. Who
exactly could he mean? Who else was involved in this? I expected
Daniel, but not in a good way.

“I should have picked up some party favors.” Julianne
looked around waiting for someone to joke back with her. Thomas
wasn’t here so it was on me to give it a try.

“You can give us all a drink when we get done.” I was
happy to suggest alcohol instead.

“Them maybe. You? No.” She waved a hand in my face to
stop me from going any further. Her joking sounded almost
half-hearted. ”You drink like a fish.”

“What I’d give for a sea of booze.” I lamented
quietly. Not that it did much good compared to the wolves’
hearing.

Julianne’s grandfather was glaring at me. Malcolm had the same
sort of serious look, but there was a hint of something else in his
eyes. Like he wanted to laugh, but this was a bad time and place for
it. The little bartender had gotten me into trouble more than once.

“Who else are we waiting on?” Trust her grandfather to
get to the point.

“Give them a few minutes. We’ve got other things to
discuss for now.” Malcolm spoke up again. “What are your
plans about this intrusion?” He clearly was addressing the
other Alpha in our group.

“This is pack lands,” Julianne’s grandfather said.
I still hadn’t learned his name and no one said it yet.

“And you’re okay rumbling with Sector agents?”
Malcolm tilted his head down and looked at me. “Come what may?”

“I will not permit him to run rampant in pack lands.” The
old wolf said.

“I agree.” The younger Alpha responded while nodding.
Neither of them looked happy with their conclusions.

“Wait” I was against the whole idea. “This a
terrible idea. Besides, this probably isn’t a sector
operation.” A war with Daniel? That was like asking for him to
bring in bigger toys. I swear he loved the idea of escalation. It
only worked out well in the past because we were on the same side.

“You have alternatives?” The old man had this detached
air about him like he was looking over a board for war games.
Analyzing pieces then stacking them up against unseen maneuvers.