Heart of the Pack Read online

  In December, it had been showing its age and its theme had been older rock. Gorgeous and fitting, but outdated. When they closed in February, Thomas had started a full renovation. They had kept some things, like the contrast of dark and light; the light wood flooring had been redone to look newer, and the dark walls were now a grey so dark it was nearly black instead of maroon. They kept the black marble bar as well. Gone were the booths, leaving only small tables with high stools and an area for pool. They raised the stage a bit for the local band that played, which added a bit more majesty to the young men practicing on the stage.

  “I still love this bar,” Abigail sighed happily.

  “You hate rock music,” Antonio said with a knowing huff as he stood beside her.

  “Yeah,” she admitted, “but I still love the look of this place. I can handle the music just to hang out here on a Friday night.”

  “We’ll start doing a country night for you,” Thomas called out, having heard her from his spot at the bar.

  Abigail laughed and walked over. She kissed his cheek, not caring about the band. They knew about her ongoing relationship with their bosses, and had promised to keep it to themselves if they could practice on the stage and not in their garage. One of them wolf-whistled as Thomas turned to claim her mouth in a deeper kiss. She giggled when he pulled back, smiling.

  “Go play pool with James and Antonio. I’m almost done, Miss Late,” he whispered on her lips.

  “Blame Antonio,” she told him.

  “Oh, I know,” he laughed, nodding. “Can’t say I blame him though.”

  “I have no regrets,” Antonio called out from the pool tables. “You would have if you could have!”

  “He’s right,” Thomas chuckled softly.

  “Oh, I know,” Abigail laughed, jumping away from him as he grinned, trying to grab her. She walked over to the pool tables where James was finishing a game he was playing against himself. She was terrible at pool, so she just sat down at one of the small tables and watched.

  “All right. Start a new game with me,” Antonio commanded, stopping James from taking another shot. “I’ll even make you a bet.”

  “You have no money that I want,” James groaned. “What could we be betting on?”

  Antonio turned to her and smiled. “A boon for the winner?” he asked, and she nodded.

  “I can do that,” she giggled. “A kiss for the winner. None until then.”

  “That’s cruel,” James mumbled, narrowing his eyes at her. “Can I have one for luck?”

  “Only if I get one,” Antonio huffed, crossing his arms.

  “I’m pretty sure you got more than a kiss this morning.” James chuckled, walking over to her.

  She kissed both his cheeks then his lips. “There. Go play.” She waved a hand back at James, and he growled softly.

  “I would rather play upstairs.” He leaned into her further, nuzzling her neck as she tried to push him away.

  “You are all ridiculous this morning,” she laughed. They normally weren’t quite this flirty and sexual. It promised to be a good day for her. “Completely ridiculous.”

  “It might be the spring air,” Antonio informed her. “We tend to get a bit randy when winter is over.”

  “Excuses,” she teased, making him laugh.

  Antonio lost; James destroyed him before Thomas was done with his paperwork and the payroll checks.

  James collected his kiss as the winner, taking his time. “Strike up something slow, guys,” James called to the band, pulling her off the stool.

  She blushed and laughed as he pulled her to his chest and spun her around to the slow jam that the young men began to play. “Time to dance a little,” he chuckled. “We’re closed today so the entire place is just ours.”

  “Look at you guys.” Abigail poked his chest. “With your own clubhouse and everything.”

  They continued to dance as Thomas, his phone ringing, went to the back, and most likely to the office upstairs. She was still dancing with James as he came down with a trash bag and went out the back of the bar.

  They all heard him stomp inside. James stopped dancing her around and held her close as Antonio stopping hitting balls around the pool table.

  “Come out and see this, guys,” Thomas called to them, looking frustrated. “It’s fucking happened again.”

  “What?” Abigail asked, looking between them.

  “We think a stray dog has figured out how to get into the trash out back, but the damn things are bear proof, so we don’t know how,” James sighed. “Come see.”

  She followed behind, James holding her hand. They moved through the kitchen and went out the back door to the dumpster and the two large black anti-bear trash cans they used for compost waste, uneaten food, and the like. They took it out to a compost pile on their property they had gotten started.

  Her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. The cans were tipped over and the bags inside had been dragged out and torn open, leaving food scraps everywhere.

  “Well, that is a problem,” Abigail mumbled.

  “Third time this week,” Antonio groaned, shaking his head. “We can’t smell what’s doing it, either - the trash is too strong.”

  “I bet,” she said thoughtfully. “Got a camera out here?”

  “It’s due to show up in another couple of days. Then I need to install the damn thing. It’s one thing we didn’t get done during the renovation. The new security cameras.” Thomas growled. He was angry, and she felt for him. He turned to her and pointed to the back door. “Go back inside while we clean this up?”

  “I can help,” Abigail told him, smiling. “It’s no problem.”

  “I don’t want you digging through trash,” Thomas grumbled. “Please.”

  “We got it, Abby-girl,” James whispered, kissing her cheek. “Let Thomas be pissed for a moment without you watching. He’s pretty frustrated with this dog.”

  “All right,” she sighed. She stepped back and went towards the building. As she got inside, she could hear the trail of curses Thomas fired off and tried to hold back the smile. She shouldn’t be smiling at their misfortune, but it was funny that she’d been sent inside to save her ‘delicate’ sensibilities. She wanted to help, but their insistence meant she didn’t need to spend the morning clearing up old food, and that was fine with her as well.

  She didn’t go back to the main area, instead climbing up the stairs to the large office on the second floor. When she got there, she sat down at the desk in the luxuriously comfy chair Antonio had put there, sighing in pleasure.

  Destroyed trash bags aside, this was a fine start to her spring.

  2

  Thomas

  “I’m so fucking tired of this,” Thomas snarled, looking around at the trash. “I don’t care if I need to have a fucking stakeout, I’m going to catch this dog.”

  “It could…not be a dog,” James offered, shrugging. “It could be a smart bear.”

  “The entire town would be talking if there was a fucking bear roaming around,” Thomas growled. “No one would miss that. We’d have people out here trying to catch it already.”

  “Let’s just get it cleaned up,” James sighed.

  Thomas ran a hand through his hair, aggravated. He needed to do something to stop this. It was eating their time and energy to clean it up. He could be inside dancing with Abigail right now, and instead he was going to need to clean this up, go home, shower, and change clothes. It would be another hour before he got to relax at all. He wanted the time with her and his guys, not the damn trash.

  Antonio walked back out with brooms, dustpans, and new trash bags. “What if we just feed the damn thing?” he snapped, tossing brooms to them.

  Thomas caught his and frowned. “Feed it?”

  “Yeah. Leave out a bowl of food and water permanently.” Antonio pointed to the side of the building. “Close to the trash cans so it can see the offering and stay away from the good stuff.”

  “That’s how you get a
hundred strays sticking around,” James mumbled. “I’m not sure we want that. Sure, there aren’t many here, but I would rather they didn’t all hang out behind the bar.”

  “It’s an idea!” Antonio growled at him. Thomas raised his eyebrows. “We would just do it until we catch it or get someone else to. Then it can go to a good home and never need to eat out of the trash again.”

  “Do it,” Thomas told him. He could see this was important to Antonio, who nodded. “Sometime today, hit up the pet store in town and get what you need.”

  Antonio didn’t say anything back, just started sweeping. Thomas got to work as well.

  It was a disgusting process, as a lot of the food was moldy and old. They dumped it into their compost pile once both cans were full, so nearly once a week. It was something wolves did, composting. It was easy, good for the area they lived in, and they would use it for gardens. Thomas didn’t think any of them were going to start a vegetable garden anytime soon, but it was a nice habit and one that reminded them of their home.

  No, he’d gotten that wrong. Their prior home. Wild Junction was now home, not South Dakota. He slipped up every once and a while with it, sometimes wanting to go back to the wide-open spaces he’d known. He loved the mountains, though, and Wild Junction had been good to him. Thomas figured he was never going to leave this town or the land that surrounded it. He was surprisingly comfortable with that idea.

  He was throwing bags in the bed of his truck when he saw Antonio begin to leave for the pet store. It made him think about how important this seemed to him and called out.

  “Wait, I’ll go too!” Thomas tossed his keys to James. “Can you handle this?”

  “Yeah, I got it. I told the band to let Abigail know we would be a little while, too,” James told him and slid into the driver’s seat. Thomas ran over to Antonio’s truck and jumped into the passenger side.

  “Why?” Antonio asked, frowning at him. “Why did you want to come with me? Won’t take two of us to get a couple bowls, maybe a leash and shit.”

  “You had a dog,” he pointed out. “When we were kids.”

  “Yeah and that motherfucker was stray like this one.” Antonio chuckled. “I don’t want to see this pup get hurt or something if we can stop it.”

  “I get it,” Thomas replied. “I just wanted to come with you.”

  “You wanted to remind me that you remember these things,” Antonio laughed. “And thanks. Now go help James. He has too much to do on his own.”

  “I’m the Alpha here,” he growled with a grin. Antonio had called him the fuck out. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

  “Thanks, man. Seriously. You know, I haven’t had a dog since. He passed away while you were in the Marines and I was too busy to get another.” Antonio sighed, and Thomas watched him carefully.

  He would remember that too.

  It was two hours later when Thomas walked back in the bar with James, clean and fresh from the trip. They had seen Antonio at the house and Thomas knew everything was set up to catch the mutt. He beelined for the office, where he knew Abigail was probably hiding, and found her curled up in the chair behind his desk, reading a book. He smiled at the sight. She was beautiful: perfectly straight brown hair that passed her shoulders, a petite and feminine face, with luscious lips he loved to nibble on. Her large brown eyes looked up at him and the gentle smile that graced her face made his heartbeat pick up.

  He had a feeling he was head over heels for her. He knew he was, actually. He didn’t know how to stop it.

  “Hey,” she greeted him.

  “Hey,” he replied gruffly, striding over and swooping down to kiss her. His eyes caught a glance of something on her shoulder and he nearly growled. He gently ran his hand over her shoulder and pulled her oversized shirt away from the mark. Teeth. A bruising bite.

  “Antonio,” she told him. “I’m fine with it.”

  “I wish I had done it first,” he admitted softly. He kissed the bite and used it as a starting point to kiss up her shoulder and neck towards her lips again.

  “You could give me a second,” she whispered, and he grinned.

  “I’ll get James up here and you can have one from each of us,” he taunted, leaning over her further in the chair. He braced his hands on the armrests and stayed in front of her where she couldn’t escape. She realized she wasn’t going anywhere, and he enjoyed the scent of her excitement. She loved when they got predatory on her. Her enjoyment of it scared her at first, but they were long past that now. “Maybe we could spread you out over the desk and have a feast.”

  That made her breath come faster. His eyes zeroed in on her lips and he dove in to kiss her again. When he pulled away, he knew that all he had to do now was ask and she would say yes. The smell of her arousal set him off every time. It had been hard to walk away earlier when he’d seen her and Antonio in the kitchen. He loved seeing his close friends, his brothers, please her, and he loved to do it himself. He loved that she was willing to let them, even if it was temporary. Thomas felt a small ache at that thought. She wouldn’t be in Wild Junction with them forever. One day she would go.

  “Someone called for you. I let it go to the answering machine,” she told him, and he chuckled. She seemed a bit distracted, her eyes too bright. “I didn’t know the number and caller ID didn’t show anyone from around here. The area code wasn’t one from close by.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.” He backed away and went to the answering machine. He hit play and frowned when there was no message, just dead air. Strange. He didn’t recognize the number and that also bothered him a little. He didn’t give out the new number for his office line. Only a handful of people had it - people he was okay with bothering him when his cell was off, like her.

  “I should have picked up,” she sighed, looking guilty.

  He shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. “I wouldn’t want you picking up calls when you don’t know who it is,” he replied. “I would have been wary to pick it up myself.”

  “Paranoid?” she asked, tilting her head in that adorable fashion.

  “Alpha. Private lines aren’t supposed to get passed around.” He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “This has been a weird day.”

  “Mysterious dog, strange phone call.” She chuckled. “Yeah, it has been for you, hasn’t it?”

  “It has,” Thomas agreed. “Let’s go have some fun and forget about it.” He offered her a hand and she took it. He pulled her up and continued to keep her small hand trapped in his as he led her out of the office. He locked it before heading downstairs with her.

  The band had left while he was upstairs with her. Antonio and James were back to playing pool and he chuckled as James beat Antonio again. No one beat James at a game of pool.

  “Turn some music on?” Thomas asked Abigail. She smiled and pulled out her phone. He headed to the pool tables as she wandered off to put her music through the speakers. James frowned at him as he walked up.

  “Something on your mind?” he asked.

  Antonio threw Thomas his pool cue, so he could play instead. He had a snowball’s chance in hell at beating James, but it would give him something to do.

  “A number I don’t recognize called the upstairs line,” Thomas informed them. “Abigail let it go to the answering machine, but whoever it was didn’t leave a message.”

  “Well, damn,” Antonio huffed out, looking confused.

  “The area code was for Virginia,” Thomas continued. “I don’t know anyone out that way. James? Antonio?”

  “Nope,” James replied, setting up the rack for another game.

  “Not here,” Antonio said, holding both hands up. “If I have, only in passing and no one worth remembering.”

  “All right,” Thomas accepted. He pointed the pool cue at James. “I’m taking a break.”

  “Sure thing.” James chuckled as Abigail walked back over to them. She was even carrying a few beers.

  Thomas narrowed his eyes at them. “You pay
for those, miss?” He raised an eyebrow at her and she giggled.

  “No, sir, I didn’t. I’m sure I can find a way to make it up to you.” She handed him one and kissed his cheek.

  “Hard labor,” he growled “Hours of it.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her roughly into his body, making her gasp. “You’ll have some strenuous guards making sure it gets done, too.”

  “Whoa,” Antonio laughed. “I didn’t think roleplay was your kink, Thomas.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Thomas groaned. Antonio had totally ruined the moment; all of them devolved into uncontrollable laughter, the mutt and strange phone call forgotten.

  Later that evening, his cell started to go off. He didn’t bother looking at the number; he just silenced it so he could continue kissing Abigail, who was nude and perched on his lap. James and Antonio were getting undressed for those hours of strenuous labor she owed them and didn’t bother asking who the call was from. None of them cared.

  3

  Abigail

  A few days later, Abigail found herself in a small two-bedroom house in town, watching the ballooning Jessie growl over some half-built piece of furniture. Riley was snickering beside her as Phoebe gave a pitying sigh.

  “Cribs!” Jessie snarled. “Why are they so fucking complicated?”

  “Why don’t you let us handle it?” Abigail suggested, stepping closer. Jessie’s answering, vicious growl made her step back. She wasn’t scared of the pregnant lioness, but she also didn’t want to stress Jessie out any more than she already was. At nearly five months along, no one was willing to test Jessie’s patience.

  “I can fucking handle it,” Jessie snapped. “I can…”

  Then the tears came, and Abigail walked forward again. She took the lioness’ elbow and pulled her away gently from the crib. Phoebe closed in and began to build it before anyone could tell her not to. Riley flanked Jessie’s other side as Abigail led them all out of the bedroom and into the living room. Jessie wasn’t crying; the tears just rolled down her face. Frustration, anger, sadness, loneliness were filling the air. All things she expected from a woman as fierce as Jessie, but without the support system to help with one of the more trying things she could experience: becoming a mother.