Overwhelmingly Precious [Werewolves of Hanson Mall 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

“I’ve been speaking with the Supreme Alpha of North America. He spoke to me, personally. Under his guidance there’ll be changes in this pack. As yet, I haven’t decided on which direction we’ll take, but it might well be into some kind of business. He’s given me some avenues to research first before I make my decision. But it’s time to bring this pack into the modern era.”

There was dead silence in the room as the Alpha cut the cheesecake with mathematical precision into the exact number of pieces as there were people at the table. Good. That meant other people would get the second cheesecake. Wynn would be pleased about that, especially if the children were given some.

The ice cream was passed around so people could add a scoop to their cake if they wanted to, and the Alpha turned to Wynn.

“That minicomputer thing you used, it collects Internet out of the air doesn’t it?

Quintana kept her gaze on her food. There was no way she’d laugh at his genuine attempt to understand technology. Wynn answered well, explaining about the connectivity of iPads, tablets, and cell phones. Quintana wondered if the Alpha knew her mother had a cell phone with which she accessed e-mail. Actually, she suspected some of the young adults probably did as well. But it was important that the Alpha was taking the step of investigating the matter for himself. It showed he was genuine about changing things here at the farm. With his help everyone in the pack would benefit.

But mostly she was glad the pressure was off her again. There were people here who would never let her forget she was female and human, therefore even lower than a second-class citizen, whereas in the Hanson Mall pack she was just another member, expected to contribute as she saw fit.

But she’d really like to know why the pack hadn’t progressed. It couldn’t just be people like Samson not wanting things to change, surely. After all, presumably he’d want the best possible future for his sons and grandsons. Quintana knew part of her father’s problems were his own attitude and temper. Her father’s abilities and characteristics were the only reasons his business had failed. That had nothing to do with the pack and everything to do with not doing the math properly and not treating customers well. Now certainly, she could see that just as some people were rude to her, likely they’d been rude to her father. But if he’d structured his business better, and had listened to advice, he could have made a success of it, and sneered right back at those who’d been mean to him.

That wasn’t the problem. There had to be some other underlying issue why the pack was struggling to survive, unlike the Hanson Mall pack and so many other packs she’d heard about from her friends there and through the work Wynn and Georgia were doing.

* * * *

Keelan felt a bit of a fraud. He really appreciated that Wynn and Quintana both wanted him to be here with them, but he hadn’t been able to add anything to the discussions and the only help he’d been was to carry one of the cool packs in from the car. That was hardly worth commenting on. Mostly he’d sat back and observed, trying to pinpoint and remember any details that might be of help to the family history project.

Quintana’s mother said very little, yet the few comments she did make were appreciated. He wondered if that was because she was considered less important being a human who only married into the pack. Or maybe she was just a more quiet and contemplative kind of person.

Why had she named her child Quintana? That confused him. It was her husband who was the fifth born, not her child. Was it meant as a reminder of their place in the family hierarchy, or just that she liked the name? Personally he thought it was a pretty name, and a good fit for the woman he loved. She had forged a different path and needed a different name to highlight her personality and individuality. But he still wanted to know her mother’s reasoning.

At least the Alpha was going to do something to improve the pack’s lives. That was some good they’d managed to do. Well, again, it wasn’t him. It was Wynn and Quintana’s work.

He’d assumed Quintana didn’t know the names of the two younger women who were in the kitchen when they arrived, and who now sat at the foot of the table with two other younger women, constantly jumping up and down to wait on everyone else. He’d thought they must have been her playmates when she was a child, so surely she’d recognize them, even if they were a few years younger than her. But now he’d decided they must have come from other packs and married into this one. Unless they were human. That was another possibility. He would have liked to ask, but since the Alpha had been chary about using people’s names, he didn’t see how he could do that without possibly causing offence.

When the time came to leave, and he picked up one of the empty coolers to carry it back out to the car, one of the younger women stopped Wynn and said, “Thank you so much for bringing the food. The family history project sounds very exciting for the future.”

Keelan, who was standing behind Wynn, smiled at her. “Were you born into the pack or did you marry into it?”

“My mate brought me here. But…” Her voice trailed off and she looked around for the Alpha. He was standing outside, on the stoop, instead of returning to the front room as he had the previous time. That was interesting. Did he not trust the women to keep the pack’s secrets?

“You can tell them, Jeanie.”

Ah, so he was listening in to the conversation as well.

“I’m only half-wolf. My mother is human and my father’s a werewolf. But I can transform, and so can my son.”

“Sir, may we return at another time to interview Jeanie, and any other of the young women from different packs that we haven’t already made contact with?” Wynn was speaking to the Alpha, and Keelan was watching the man’s face. It was completely noncommittal, but from the slight release of tension in the man’s shoulders Keelan got the impression the leader had been hoping they might come back again.

He needs our help but he’ll never ask for it. Okay, we can work around that now we’ve guessed the rules he’s playing by.

“The only other one is Elsie. If you come back again next Sunday you can talk to them then. I will be there, too.”

“Thank you, sir. May I bring a small gift to thank the women for their time?”

“You can bring another cheesecake. It’s been a long time since we’ve eaten anything that decadent.” The Alpha walked back into the house and Keelan looked at the floor to hide the laughter he was sure would show in his eyes. So the old man liked rich desserts did he? They could work with that, too.

“Thank you, Jeanie. Have you a favorite flavor you’d prefer?” asked Wynn.

Keelan looked up just in time to catch Jeanie blushing again. “Elsie’s expecting her first baby and she’s been craving chocolate. If you bought a chocolate one I know she’d like that.”

“No worries. I’ll see you next week with a chocolate cheesecake, then.”

Keelan followed everyone out to the SUV where Georgia and Quintana were already waiting in the backseat. He loaded both coolers into the trunk while Wynn climbed into the driver’s seat, but didn’t put on his seat belt until after he’d opened and closed the gate.

“I wonder what pack Jeanie is from, and if Elsie is from the same one or a different one?” he said.

“I’m glad they were from another pack. I was really worried that I just didn’t recognize them and they’d think I was ignoring them or something, but they truly didn’t look like anyone I remembered,” said Quintana.

“They’re from different packs? Well damn. I wish we could have talked to them as well,” said Georgia.

“Oh, we are, we are. Next Sunday,” said Wynn.

“We’re coming back again?” Quintana sounded incredulous.

Keelan laughed out loud. “And we’re bringing chocolate cheesecake.”

* * * *

Keelan had booked a room in a city hotel for the night. Wynn drove Georgia home first, and then turned back into the city and took them to the hotel.

“Why are we here?” asked Quintana.

“Because I thought it might be a stressful day for you and decided we deserved a little bit of luxury tonight.”

“Luxury is always nice, but it seems like I never get time to do any chores anymore.”

“Nonsense. You hardly ever let us take you anywhere. You need to rest and relax. Come on.”

Keelan held out his hand to her and she stepped out of the car. She and Wynn waited in huge soft chairs in the hotel foyer while he registered and collected the room key. The floor was marble, and the pillars holding up the roof many stories overhead had gilding on them. Hanging in the center of the foyer was the largest chandelier Keelan had ever seen. He wasn’t even going to try to count how many lights were in it.

The elevator zoomed them up to the tenth floor silently and so fast they didn’t have time to talk. Keelan hadn’t booked a suite as they had no luggage. But he had booked a large room with a hot tub. Since shower sex had gone well, he rather thought hot tub sex should be even better. And he’d made certain he had condoms and lube in his pocket. As long as Quintana was happy with that plan, of course.

Keelan opened the door to their room and put the keycard in the slot so the lights came on. Holding the door open with one hand, he indicated to Quintana to enter with the other. Wynn followed her inside and he brought up the rear. “Nice,” said Quintana appreciatively.

He walked straight through into the bathroom, heaving a sigh of relief when he saw the hot tub there with a row of little bottles of shampoo and bubble bath along the ledge beside it. Quickly he closed the drain and turned the hot water full on. Such a large tub would take a while to fill. He’d come back later to add some cold water.

Wynn had picked up the hotel folder and was asking Quintana, “Do you want anything? They have just about everything you could imagine here. Massages, laundry services, even an MC if you want to host a party.”

“You two are all the party I need.”

“I feel the same,” said Keelan crossing the room to kiss her nose.

“Would you like to talk about the trip to the pack? You didn’t show it at all, but I sensed that old man’s questions upset you,” said Wynn.

Quintana sat in one of the chairs. “Not upset exactly. More, he reminded me of the reasons why I left and didn’t return after my father died. There I was a second-class citizen, or even lower than that. Female, not an all-powerful male, and not even a shape-shifter. Whereas, out in the world, women still haven’t achieved complete equality, but we aren’t disrespected too much either. Or, at least, perhaps I should say at Hanson Mall we aren’t disrespected.”

“It’s those exact attitudes which are holding the pack back, preventing it from being a success. They need women, which means human women, to mate with their men, or the pack will get weaker and weaker and eventually die out,” said Wynn.

“I think the Alpha knows that. He didn’t believe the Supreme would listen to him or take a call from him at first if you remember. Once he understood he could ask questions and get advice from someone he truly esteemed, he took the first step toward improving the pack’s life and future. I’ve got a lot of respect for him in having the guts to make that move. It must have been very hard for him,” said Keelan.

Keelan tried to understand how the Alpha must have felt. He had to take a stand against the reactionary elements in his own pack, men like Samson who he had probably worked alongside companionably for many years. Taking a new path was always dangerous for a leader because of the risk the pack wouldn’t follow him there.

“Until I began this job I hadn’t realized how many werewolf packs there are. It never occurred to me there could be another one only an hour’s drive away, even though it’s a very small pack,” said Wynn.

“Most packs are very small. I think it was originally that way so they could stay hidden and not let humans know they were around, although a few locals will always either find out or guess.”

Keelan rested his gaze on Quintana. She didn’t seem nervous now, just relaxed and joining in the conversation. If she had been upset she seemed to have gotten over it. And, as always, what she said was correct.

“One of the packs organized a week-long interspecies mating party with the support of the Supreme last year. The information they collected from the participants is what we used to begin this project,” said Wynn.

Keelan nodded. He remembered Wynn telling him about it before.

“A mating party?” asked Quintana. “How did that work?”

“They hired an entire convention center on the outskirts of a city. The people who wanted to go had to pass all sorts of personality tests and be recommended by their Alpha and there was a limit on how many could come from each pack. It sounded like a hell of a lot of work, but it was very successful. There were a lot of matings out of it,” said Wynn.

“But where did they get the women from?” asked Quintana.

“Some were wolves who hadn’t found a mate in their own pack. A lot of them were human women who knew about and accepted shape-shifters. A couple of them were other species shifters. I know one woman was a panther.”

“I think it’s an excellent idea. I believe there’s going to be another one again this year,” said Keelan.

He walked back into the bathroom. The tub was filling nicely and the room was steamy. He dipped a hand in the water and it was a little bit too hot, but not terrible. He turned the faucet down a little and added some cold water. Now the water running into the tub would be still warm, but no longer hot. In a few minutes they’d be able to get in and the fun would begin.

He took the condoms and lube out of his pocket and laid them on the side of the tub with the bubble bath and other supplies then returned to the main room.

Both Quintana and Wynn looked at him. “It’s time to get undressed and move into the bathroom.”

Quintana jumped up. “Is there something you’re not telling us?” She went into the bathroom and Wynn followed her.

“Oh wow. I like, I like, I like,” she said.

“Me, too. Good plan, cuz.”

“In that case it’s time to get undressed,” he said, pulling his shirt off.