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Benny looked up the hill when someone pointed. Ryder was running, carrying Jessie. Benny took off at a run. “What happened?” he asked as they met a dozen yards from the camp. Jessie was mumbling something that Benny couldn’t quite catch.
“I screwed up,” Ryder said. “I let her fall asleep. I didn’t think. We were so relaxed....”
Benny frowned, not quite catching his point.
“Her barrier fell,” Ryder amplified. “She’s arguing with the Alpha. He knows. We just ran out of time.”
Benny blew out a long breath. “Give her to me,” he said. “I’ll work with her to get those barriers back up. You get the men organized. We’ll need to head into town tonight. Figure out how to find the bastard.”
Titus had come up behind him. “Tonight’s Tuesday?” he asked. “He has pinochle night at his club. I got very attuned to that bastard’s schedule. And Tuesday nights, I had some peace and quiet. It’s almost mandatory for the top echelon of the pack.”
Benny considered that. “I think I went by it,” he said slowly. “The Social Club? More club than a bar like Last Chance? Wood shingles, dark green trim, small porch over the front door?”
Titus nodded. “I think so,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in there. Shifters used to be welcome. No humans, just a bar where you could relax and be a shifter. Have a drink.”
“Let’s get supper going then,” Benny said, looking at his brother. “We need to eat first. And then we’re going in to town.”
“And what are we going to do when we get there?” Ryder asked. He was still holding Jessie, cradling her close.
“We introduce the Alpha to his new Second,” Benny said. “And then you’re going to kill him.”
Ryder started to argue, but Jessie mumbled something. His face hardened. “It would be a pleasure,” Ryder said. “It’s what comes after that, that worries me, Benny. I’m not cut out to settle in to Penticton and be the family patriarch. I need to roam. It’s not just a hobby. It drives me. I get restless, and I need to take off.”
Benny nodded. He got that. “McKenzie is an old shifter. You think he’s running things on a day-to-day basis? Going into the store, 9-5? Hell no. He’s got people for that. Just like you do in Horse Creek. You need to take off for a bit? Those managers will be grateful you’re not looking over their shoulders.”
Ryder snorted. “And plot an insurrection the minute my back is turned.”
Benny shrugged. “You’ve put down insurrections before.” And Ryder had. It had been brutal. But Ryder was still running Ryder Wolves, and the challengers were dead and buried somewhere in unmarked graves.
“You going to hang around and help with the re-organization?” Ryder asked. Benny reached out for Jessie, and he handed her over reluctantly.
“As long as you need me,” Benny said simply.
“And what about the Okanogan?” Ryder went on. “You going to take up the reins?”
“Not me,” Benny said. He glanced at Titus, then back to Ryder. “You are. Make that expanded pack a reality.” He grinned at his dumfounded brother. “Then you’ve got reason to roam — a trilateral pack. Penticton, Okanogan, and Horse Creek.”
“When did you come up with that preposterous idea?” Ryder demanded to know. “That won’t work!”
Benny looked at Titus. “It would, wouldn’t it?” he asked. “Three Seconds, Jessie in Penticton, you in Okanogan, and Diego in Horse Creek?”
Titus nodded his agreement. “Your Dad said whichever one of you showed up first to throw you the bonds,” he said. “I was to judge which one of you was the best to be Alpha. I’ve never heard of such a thing. But your Dad....”
Yeah, his Dad. Benny had figured there was something planned. Knowing his Dad, there were probably backup plans, and decision trees for more plans. Benny looked at Ryder. “Go on,” he ordered, and he put some dominance behind it to get him moving. “I need some solitude here to get Jessie back with us.”
Ryder was reluctant to go. Benny sympathized. In the best cases, mates holed up for a week or two and fucked like bunnies. He wasn’t sure Pete and Maria were ever going to get past that stage. But Ryder and Jessie would have to wait on that.
Benny sat down on the ground, still holding Jessie. “Hey,” he said. “Jessie. Wake up now. Focus on me.”
“I won’t be his assassin,” she said. “And I won’t be his toy. I’ll die first.”
“Focus on me,” Benny said, ignoring the words, although they broke his heart. “Who am I?”
Jessie blinked, and then squinted at him. “Benny? Make him go away!”
“I’m going to help you do just that,” he promised. “Did the barrier fall? We need to put that sound-proof glass back up. Can you find it?”
She scowled, but obediently looked inward. “There it is,” she said. “Back up you go.”
Benny hid a grin. She sounded drunk.
“But Benny, they are really upset,” Jessie said. “The pack. I don’t care about that asshole, and he’s not upset — just really, really angry. But everyone else feels....” She trailed off. “They feel needy,” she said finally. “It’s like they’ve got their faces pressed against the wall, and they look like The Scream — you know the Munch painting? Except there’s a lot of them. Can’t I do something for them?”
The girl had heart, Benny thought, the image of the painting flashing in his mind. He winced. That she could care, after all she’d been through? Tough chick. “Yes,” he said. “You need to give them a trickle of reassurance. Just a bit that says, mama loves you.”
She laughed at that. “How?”
Benny studied her for a moment. She was a city girl. Again the water weir imagery wasn’t going to work for her. “Do you garden?” he asked. “Ever used a garden hose? Let it run at a trickle to a plant?”
She shrugged. “The kitchen garden. But we used soaker hoses.”
Benny wasn’t completely sure what a soaker hose was. Yui and Okami would know. But they weren’t here, and really, it didn’t matter. Jessie knew. “OK,” he said agreeably. “I want you to raise the plexiglass barrier. Put down that hose, and then tighten the barrier so that nothing can get through to you — the water goes from you to them, right?”
She closed her eyes partway, and then she nodded.
“Good, now turn the water on,” he instructed. “It’s a flow of soothing goodwill and protection. Let them know you’ll take care of it. But just a little bit. You don’t want to make them drunk!”
She giggled, and then finally her shoulders relaxed. “That’s better,” she said with relief. “What about the Alpha?”
“Is he getting your soaker hose?”
“No, he’s over in his own corner, sulking because I blocked him,” she said, still laughing.
“Leave him there,” Benny advised. “Later we’ll talk about what you might want to do about the Alpha. And you’ll eventually want to make the plexiglass a bit porous so that the pack can feed you information and energy. But we’ve got things to do before that.”
“Are you going to challenge the Alpha?” Jessie asked in a small voice. “Because I don’t want to be his Second. He....” She shook her head.
“Not me,” Benny said. He grinned at her. “Ryder is.”
She stared at him. “Does Ryder know that?”
Benny laughed. “Yes,” he said. “He’s still arguing with me about it — or arguing with himself really. But when the time comes, your Alpha and your mate will be the same man. Won’t that be fun?” He leered at her playfully.
She smiled but looked troubled. “Does he want to be Alpha? Or is he doing it because I screwed things up and got myself stuck in this position?”
“My intent all along was for him to become the Alpha,” Benny said. “But I thought I would have to beat the snot out of him first to get him to do it. You saved me the trouble. But he’s a natural at it, Jessie. Alpha isn’t just about dominance. You have to like taking care of groups of people, too. Ryder does it without thinking about it. I hate it. I’m actually much more of a loner than he is. So think of it as he will have two MCs to manage.”
Jessie looked at him skeptically, and he shrugged. Actually, if he had his way, there would be three MCs, but one step at a time.
Dinner was more venison and roasted vegetables —potatoes, carrots, onions — done in foil packets in the coals. Someone had been busy this afternoon. Benny focused on eating and making sure that Ryder and Jessie ate all they could. Ryder knew. As he said, this wasn’t his first rodeo. Fighting burned calories, and if you had to shift, and then shift back, it could burn a lot of calories. Jessie, on the other hand, was new to this. Benny was practically shoving the food down her throat over her protests.
Titus was supervising the closing down of the camp. “We might not be back out here tonight,” Ryder explained. “Probably check back into the motel by the Last Chance.”
If they got any sleep at all. Benny just nodded. Let planners plan. He’d wing it as needed around them. The big issue was really how did Jessie get back to town, and what played best to the shifters who would be watching? She couldn’t ride her own bike, which was too bad. But she didn’t have time to learn, and probably didn’t have the upper body strength to pull it off. He considered that for a moment, and then shook his head. So, she could ride behind Ryder, and that had some advantages. But it made her look like she was his puppet in this, and that wouldn’t do. That she had his back? Yes, but riding pillion didn’t convey that....
Or she could ride in the pickup with Titus. Maybe? He brought up the options to the other three leaders of this coup — Ryder, Jessie and Titus. “I want her behind me,” Ryder said gruffly. Of course he did, Benny thought, rolling his eyes. New mates? Probably hard to not be touching 24/7. They were holding hands right now, and he bet they weren’t even aware that they were doing it. He went over his reasoning. “And she can grill Titus about being a pack Second,” Benny added as persuasively as he knew how. “We’ve got one of the longest-serving Seconds in the region right here. What better mentor?”
Now it was Titus who rolled his eyes. “The notion that their kidnap victim is returning with the new pack Second has some value,” he agreed. “Doesn’t make no matter to me.”
Ryder reluctantly let go of Jessie’s hand. “Go with Titus,” he said. “I’ll see you there.”
Jessie walked away with Titus, and Benny turned to his brother. “Now, find the mate bond in your mind,” he said quietly. “Send her warmth and love through it. Emotions are the easiest. But words are possible too.”
Ryder frowned at him. “Seriously?” he demanded. But he got that inward look to his face that told Benny he was following instructions.
Jessie stopped, turned back and grinned. She waved and then went on to the pickup.
“You never need to feel like you’re apart,” Benny said. “She’s right there.” Then he grinned too. “Just don’t run the bike off into the ditch doing that, or I will never let you live it down.”
Ryder snorted. “Please. I’ve never ditched a bike.” He started toward his. “You riding at my back?”
Benny sauntered along behind him. “Always,” he promised.
“Good.”
Benny followed Ryder down the dirt trail carefully. He was out of practice on a bike, he acknowledged, and he wouldn’t live down ditching a bike either. Once on the road, however, he considered how to stage their upcoming confrontation. Maybe he should have studied theater, along with psychology. He frowned. Had he ever gone to see a live play? Not since high school. And somehow, he didn’t think a high school performance of Oklahoma was all that useful. He grimaced. Maybe he should make cultural events a higher priority — someday.
But he had done more than his fair share of mediation among pack factions. Or inciting fights among pack factions — depending on the goals of the Council when he was sent in. He sighed. He should have figured out the Council wasn’t prioritizing the well-being of shifters long before he had.
It shouldn’t have taken the brutal death of one of his informants.
And damn, he wished that had been one of the memories overwritten by his wolf in their race across the steppes of Russia. It would haunt him forever. And not a damn thing he could do to make it right.
Sin-stained soul. He wondered where he’d picked up that phrase? But it resonated. He had a lot of sins that stained his soul.
Enough, he told himself. Stage this next thing. Forget about the last thing. He pictured the building he’d seen the other night. Nice building, actually. But it had just a small landing in front of the single-width door. Jessie had to go in first. Then? He went next, as the Council’s intelligencer? Was he that again?
He guessed he was. Albeit unpaid, and informally deputized. Behind him, Titus, as the person wronged, and Ryder, the would-be challenger, there to get revenge on his pack’s Second who had been kidnapped and beaten.
Ooooh, he liked that.
And then the other six bikers who would fan out to form half of the challenge circle.
Benny considered whether Ryder should be second in, but he really didn’t want anyone to notice that the two of them were mated until after the challenge. He wasn’t sure why, except that Jessie shouldn’t be perceived as Ryder’s puppet. That woman was no puppet — maybe the puppet master? He grinned.
No, that worked. Inside? He frowned. He hadn’t been inside — or didn’t remember it. Titus had said it was set up much like the Last Chance, although upscale. Well, it would be hard to be downscale from the Last Chance. So a bar inside the door so that the bartender controlled the door and the bar. Tables and chairs. Pool table, dart boards. Music? Dancing? He didn’t know and he didn’t see how it would matter one way or the other. This was pinochle night. They’d be around the tables. Four men to a table....
At some point they’d need to clear the floor for the fight. That was always awkward. Benny grimaced. He’d shove the first table out of his way, when he lay down the charges against McKenzie. Titus would be glad to turn over a few tables.
Have Jessie announce herself as the new pack Second, claiming a just fight. He’d back that up. If someone challenged her, she needed to shift fast. He didn’t think she’d dressed since her last shift, so that would be fine. Might even go into the club barefoot? A bit cold, but she wouldn’t have to walk far.
Then the big fight. He didn’t have any worries that Ryder would win. McKenzie was an old wolf and had probably fought dozens of dominance fights. But Ryder had as well — and they’d been against vicious, out-of-control wolves, not disgruntled packmates. He was a dirty fighter, and he exploded.
No, Benny would be more worried about getting him to stop killing after the fight. As long as Jessie was fine, though, Ryder would be fine too. He avoided thinking about what would happen if Jessie took harm. Well that was his job; he had to see to it that she didn’t.
And then? Ryder needed to bond with those wolves. Benny shrugged. Easy enough — buy enough drinks, get drunk together. And they’d be on their way.
Or, well, maybe they should call in the women as well? This was a family pack, not Ryder’s motorcycle club after all. What would Abby do?
No brainer there. She’d get the women involved. Before the fight? He didn’t think he was going to have that option. Jessie said McKenzie was angry. This was going to go up in flames fast. So afterwards. Get the men sloshed while the women showed up, then turn it into a pack meeting.
He pictured the deer-in-the-headlights look on Ryder’s face when he realized he would have to run a pack meeting. Best to announce it after they were on their way — before Ryder had time to think about it.
And like all good plans, it went awry at the first possible moment.
Benny stood with Ryder, waiting for the other bikers and Titus and Jessie in the pickup. He guessed it was Titus’s pickup now. Or maybe it was Jessie’s? Add settling Bjorn Hansen’s estate to the list of things to be done. There was a reason why the only 100 percent shifter-run business sector was making people disappear, get new papers, and reappear. He hoped this pack was large enough to have some fixers like that.
Which reminded him, there were more of Chen’s recruits in town. They too would have to be dealt with. He sighed. And more would be arriving....
“Where are they?” Ryder muttered. He was bouncing in place. Benny glanced at him.
“You tell me,” he countered. “Where is your mate?”
Ryder blinked, and looked inward. He grinned. “They’re stopping at the motel, going to reserve rooms, and she wants a pee stop.”
Benny laughed. “See? The advantages of a mate bond,” he teased, and thought to himself, smart woman. Although nothing conspicuous about a half-dozen bikers standing outside a bar instead of going in. But this was a Monday night, and a quiet street. Benny frowned.
Too quiet. Where were the vehicles of the pack?
“I don’t like this,” Benny muttered. “Ryder? Ask your mate where the Alpha is? Tell her to be careful, but to use her bond just like it works with you.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. “That’s a more complicated question than where are you?” He pulled out his phone and called Jessie. It rang without being picked up.
Ryder frowned, and focused on his mate bond.
“She says there’s trouble,” Ryder said, heading for his bike. “The pack has taken over Last Chance. Titus and Jessie were ambushed when they pulled into the motel parking lot.”
Shit. Were there humans in there too? Benny didn’t wait for Ryder’s leadership on this one. He visualized the route he needed to take and he focused on getting there as quickly as possible. Other side of town, though. And what the hell was Jessie doing in the meantime? Waiting like a good girl?
He doubted it. Actually he had no doubts at all. She’d be in the thick of things by the time they got there.