Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply (8 page)

Waldron had called, Susan told her. “Before you get angry with me for taking the call,” Susan started, “remember that you wouldn't return his calls, answer them, or listen to his voice messages. Anyway, he said he now knows who the wolf he attacked is. At the time, Waldron thought the guy intended to do you harm.”

“Oh, give me a break.” The gall of the man! Did he really think she'd believe him? “By the way, I saw Eric today when I was giving my lecture. He and his brother Sarandon were also talking to the Boy Scouts about nature. We had lunch together. All three of us. Waldron had two teen boys from his pack spying on us. So I'm certain he's upset over that.”

“Seriously? He's a real case and a half. But, wow, you had lunch with Eric? Be still, my pounding heart. So how was it? What did you talk about? Have you set another date?”

“I'm not
courting
the wolf. And I only went with them because I was hungry and it would have seemed rude of me to decline when Eric had helped you out.” Pepper wasn't about to mention running into him at the campsite again. She was still wondering why she had kissed him if she didn't want anything romantic with him. “I thought you were going to call him and thank him, but I got the impression you hadn't.”

“I didn't. Sorry. I slept most of the day. My leg has been killing me.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, Susan. I should have asked.”

“No problem. I know you've had your hands full dealing with Eric.” She laughed. “Okay, so Waldron knows Eric is a park ranger, I guess because of his spies. Waldron wanted you to know the ranger was probably just there on a night run, not there because he intended to bother you.”

“Yeah, like Waldron is doing. Did you ask why
he
was there last night?”

“No, but he told me anyway. I'm sure he wanted the news passed along to you. Anyway, he said he often runs in the park since he doesn't have his own territory, and it's normally safe. Then he saw this other wolf spying on you like he was ready to pounce.”

“Ha! Who's the one doing the spying?”

“I agree. Now this is the real kicker. Waldron said if the other wolf is interested, you'd better let him know you're not, because otherwise he could make it damn hard for the ranger to keep his job.”

“You're kidding.” Pepper didn't want to believe Waldron would do anything that underhanded. But then again, if he thought he had a chance to get her prime land…

“So now, what about Eric?” Susan asked.

“He was running a fever.”

“From Waldron's bite? I will kill the wolf myself.”

“Yeah, and Eric didn't want to disappoint the Scouts by not showing up.”

“He sure sounds like mate material to me. You know, Pauline won't be upset with you if you decide to find another mate, Pepper.”

Pauline was Harold's sister and had five-year-old twins. Pepper did wonder sometimes whether Pauline felt Pepper owed it to her mate's memory to never take another mate. Not that she'd ever found one, but still, Pepper had also pondered if Pauline's presence in her pack had anything to do with Pepper not wanting to change the status quo. She and Pauline didn't get along all that well, but Pauline still needed a pack to help raise her twins.

“Well, what was he like?”

“He's nice. Not pushy like Waldron. And he has a cute brother.”

“Oh, you're interested in both of them?”

“No. Neither. They were just nice.”

“They're too beta? I worried about that when Eric didn't fight Waldron.”

“Eric thought Waldron might be my guard. He didn't want to cause trouble with our pack.”

“Wow, he sounds perfect.”

“He's not. He's one of those all-alpha wolves. He'd take charge and I'd lose the pack.”

“You don't really believe that, do you?”

“Yeah, I do. He wouldn't be able to help himself. Even his brother said Eric stood up to their pack leader, who is a cousin of theirs, and to his dad, the sheriff. So yeah.”

“Well, here I'd hoped he would help us out with Waldron. What's that in your pocket?”

Pepper glanced down at Eric's business card, the edge poking out. She pulled it from her pocket and handed it to Susan. “Eric's card. In case we ever have trouble in the park.”

“Are you going to tell Eric what Waldron said?”

“I don't want to get him involved…but since this could affect his career, I need to warn him.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. On another subject, Pauline wanted me to remind you about the boys' birthday party tomorrow.”

Pepper never forgot the boys' birthday parties. She wondered if Pauline was subtly reminding her that her brother had been Pepper's mate. Pepper realized she was probably making something out of nothing, but the thought of Pauline doing that still bothered her.

“I'll be there.”

After dinner, Susan went to bed and Pepper considered Eric's business card, his wolf eyes gazing into hers. She didn't want to wake him if he was sleeping because he needed the rest. On the other hand, she didn't want to delay telling him in case Waldron and his pack planned some shenanigans tomorrow that could endanger Eric's job.

She called him, and when she heard his groggy voice on the other end of the line, she felt bad she had woken him. “Eric? It's me, Pepper. I needed to tell you something important.”

Eric was almost asleep when he got the call from Pepper. A million thoughts raced through his mind: she wanted to see him again; she wanted to check how he was feeling; she was having trouble with Waldron. If so, Eric was ready to shift and take the wolf on. What he hadn't expected was
this
kind of call.

“Eric, I hated to wake you but I wanted to warn you about this. My cousin took a message from Waldron concerning you.”

“Don't tell me. He's going to show me what else he can do with his bite, if I don't back off from seeing you. I guess the boys at the deli must have told him we had lunch together.”

“They did, but it's worse. He's threatening to get you fired.”

“Oh, really.”

“That's what he said. And I wouldn't put it past him either. I don't believe he's bluffing.”

“Probably not.”

“Well, what are you going to do about it? I was afraid to tell you in case you'd do something rash.”

“I don't understand why he'd tell you this. I would think your reaction would be to dislike him even further.”

“I think he's more worried about you than how I'll react to his threats against you.”

“All right. I'll talk to Darien about it.”

“Will he get the whole pack involved in this? I didn't want to upset your people.”

“No. But we'll discuss the best way to handle it.” Eric always took the lead in doing things his way when something had to do with him. So this was really a first for him: reaching out to Darien and Lelandi and asking how they'd want to proceed. He wasn't a lone wolf, after all. Ultimately his actions with another pack could have consequences that would affect everyone.

“Let me know what you're going to do, will you?”

Eric smiled a little. “You didn't give me your phone number or any way to contact you.”

“Oh, sorry.” She gave him her cell number.

Waldron was really going about this the wrong way, Eric thought. His actions had only made Pepper want to protect Eric.

Eric wrote her number down on a pad of paper on his bedside table. Not that this changed a whole lot between them, but he realized she cared enough about him to try to save him from Waldron's underhandedness.

“How are you feeling?”

“I've felt better. I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be as good as new.”

She sighed. “Sorry I had to wake you with this news. I'll let you get some rest.”

“Pepper?” Eric wanted to make sure she didn't take any guff from Waldron on his account. “If he threatens you any more, give me a call. From the sound of it, he wants to escalate matters. I know there's nothing going on between us, but Waldron might think that if you aren't interested in me, you might meet other bachelor males in my pack. Even my brother Sarandon, because he had lunch with us. Waldron might worry you're going to find a mate elsewhere before he can convince you that you need him instead.”

“I'm not interested in finding a mate, for one thing. But beyond that, I'm
really
not interested in him.”

“What if he thinks he can chase you out of your territory?”

“That's not going to happen either.”

“All right. Just trying to come up with some scenarios so we can be prepared if he tries something underhanded regarding you and your pack. I'll let you know what my pack decides to do about his issue with me.”

“Thanks, Eric. I appreciate it. Have a good night's sleep.”

“You too.” He ended the call feeling he really had made some progress with Pepper.

He'd had an awful time getting to sleep anyway because of his concern about having smelled a wolf who had been at one of the marijuana sites at her campsite. He had to learn the truth for himself before he confronted Pepper with it. Especially since the wolf could have been with Waldron's pack and snooping on Pepper for Waldron. Maybe none of the wolves involved with the marijuana were members of Waldron's or Pepper's packs, but Eric thought the likelihood of another wolf pack roaming the park was close to nil. Wanting to take Waldron to task, Eric called Darien. “Hey, we might have a problem.”

* * *

Darien put the call on speaker so Lelandi could hear while she was tucked in his arms in bed. He was certain Eric's call had to do with the wolf who had bitten him near the cabins. Darien had suspected it wouldn't end with that.

When they ended the call with Eric, Lelandi said to Darien, “Oh…my…God, that is the first time Eric has ever consulted us about something that could cause him trouble.”

“He knew the pack would go after this Waldron, which would cause them trouble too.”

“Yes, but, Mate of Mine, don't you see the significance?”

Darien loved Lelandi, knowing she was using her extensive psychology training to consider Eric's actions. Darien was thinking more about how they were going to safeguard Eric and the pack from this lunatic wolf and his pack. Which proved how important having two points of view was in leading the pack.

“He's behaving like a pack member should.” Darien was glad about it.

“Yes, but why?”

“Because of the woman!” Darien really hadn't been thinking along those lines at first.

Lelandi sighed. “Right. Who would have ever thought a woman would make a difference?”

“Yeah, but she's not interested in a mate.”

Lelandi stroked Darien's naked chest, and he contemplated tabling the discussion until after he made love to his mate.

“Right. But people can change their minds,” she said.

“Yeah, look at how you changed your mind about me.”

“Ha. With us, it was the other way around.”

“Mutual, really.” He let out a breath.

“I can't believe Eric has found a she-wolf he's interested in after all these years,” Lelandi said, sounding hopeful.

“He's found a she-wolf who's trouble. At least for him. Well, and the pack, because we're not going to let this alpha male attack Eric, either on the job or off.”

“I think you said the same about me—as far as being trouble.”

He smiled. “Only the best kind of trouble.”

“It's unusual to find a she-wolf who runs a pack on her own. She must be a natural-born leader and have some good sub-leaders to help her out.”

“Exactly. And Eric is a born leader, which is why we butt heads so often. I don't want to see Eric get hurt over this. Also, I'm sure something happened a few years ago—before you were part of the pack—that had to do with a woman. He was gone for a while, then came back, stayed in seclusion, and wouldn't speak to his father or any of us, just Sarandon. I suspect he finally told Sarandon what was going on, since he's Eric's closest brother.”

“He fell in love and lost the woman?”

“Possibly. He wouldn't discuss it with me. I've asked CJ, but he said he doesn't know what happened and Eric would never tell him. I didn't ask Sarandon because I was sure he knew and surer still that he wouldn't tell me.”

“Hmmm.”

“No trying to wheedle it out of him. If he wants to talk about it, he will.”

Lelandi sighed. “Yes, but it sounds like he really needs to deal with the issue concerning the woman, if that's what has made him reluctant to get involved with another.”

“I agree.” Darien let out his breath. “If he bosses Pepper Grayling around like he did the MacTyre sisters when they were renovating the Silver Town Hotel, I can see her being downright annoyed and chasing him off.”

“Well, I hope they find some common interests and much more. Besides, I don't think he felt any attraction to the sisters. He was more interested in the prospect of the hotel being renovated to show off its former glory. With Pepper, something more might come of it. Maybe we could help them along.”

“No.” Darien wasn't in the matchmaking business, and he didn't want Lelandi pushing Eric.

“Well, maybe you don't want to do anything, but…”

Darien smiled and shook his head. “Eric doesn't need our help
or
interference. And he wouldn't appreciate it. Just let him be. If it is meant to be, it will be.”

Lelandi sighed. “Sometimes a little planning can make all the difference in the world. What about the wolf who bit Eric?”

“What do you think we should do?”

“Beyond killing Waldron?”

Smiling a little, Darien raised his brows as he considered Lelandi's serious expression. He'd thought she would offer a more analytical approach, based on a psychological analysis of the wolf and his pack dynamics. Although, Darien agreed that some of what she said had merit. Even if Waldron didn't go any further, his threat was forcing them all to watch their backs. Not only did they have to worry about Eric losing his job, but Waldron might decide to have some of the bigger males in his pack help attack Eric while he was out running alone as a wolf at night. If that happened, Darien and his pack would have to take more drastic measures.

As determined as they all were to locate the wolves growing the cannabis, Darien was sure Eric would continue to do his night searches. Darien had hoped Eric would be able to tie Waldron into that operation, but Eric had assured him the wolf he had fought hadn't been at any of the sites they'd located.

“I was thinking you could analyze Waldron's personality profile and we could come up with a really good strategy to take care of him.” Darien caressed Lelandi's soft, silky back.

“You mean, beyond killing him?”

Darien chuckled. “Yeah. If he hurts Eric again the way he did this last time, he's a dead wolf, period. But if he doesn't—”

“Oh, all right. Here's what I'm thinking. Why would he leave his old territory?”

“You're brilliant, you know that?”

“Yeah.” She smiled up at him, and he began kissing her and rolled her onto her back. “More talk—later.”

* * *

“Did you tell Eric what Waldron said?” Susan asked Pepper the next morning before the pack leader headed out to a Christmas tree farm. They had both been asked to inspect the trees and suggest planting tips to improve production. Susan always assisted when Pepper went to places like this. Since Susan was manager of their pack's own tree farm, she always had a handle on specifics. But this time Susan was stuck at home, unable to maneuver around a tree farm very well on crutches.

“I did. He said he'd talk it over with his pack leaders.”

“Oh. What
are
they going to do about it?”

“Not sure. Eric said he'd get back to me—” Pepper's phone howled, her favorite ringtone, and she checked to see who was calling. “Speak of the devil.”

Susan raised her brow, but Pepper ignored her. Her outlook on pack leadership wasn't changing, no matter what Susan thought. “Hi, Eric? What did they say?”

“Do you want to have lunch with me?”

Pepper was so taken aback, she hesitated to respond.

“I'm home sick. Doc said I can't go anywhere, and I'd like to talk to you about this.”

“At your place?” Pepper thought he sounded somewhat frustrated. She'd feel the same way.

Grinning, Susan winked at her.

“Yeah, that's where I am. At home. And Doc gave me strict orders to stay here until I kick this fever or else.”

“Is this part of the plan to stop Waldron from hurting your career?”

He laughed. “Well, if I can't go to work, I guess he can't hurt me.”

“What time?”

“Any time that works for you. Just call before you get here so I can get out of bed and fix us something.”

“Could you handle another Reuben? I'll stop at the deli.”

“Hell yeah.”

“I'll bring chips, pickles, the works.”

“I'm already hungry. See you in a couple of hours.”

When Pepper ended the call, Susan said, “Wow.”

“It's nothing. He's still sick from the bite Waldron gave him, and their doctor has restricted him to his house. No going to work today.”

Susan was still smiling.

“We'll be discussing what his pack is going to do about Waldron.”

“At Eric's house.”

“He can't leave the house.”

“Okay, all right. I hope he feels better soon. Waldron must have really torn into Eric. I'm amazed he didn't retaliate.”

Pepper was too. She really admired him for not doing so because he thought the wolf was protecting one of his pack members. Not every alpha wolf would have stood for it.

“He was burning up yesterday. I felt bad for him, but he was really good about it. No acting like he was dying. No looking for sympathy or to be babied.” Pepper remembered how Harold had been when he got sick. She'd thought she suddenly had a kid to take care of.

“Just so he could keep on lecturing the kids? Or because he wanted to stay near you?”

“Oh, come on, Susan. He didn't even know I was going to be there, and yet he was still there.”

“Oh, all right. But I really think you shouldn't…well, dismiss him.” Then Susan's blue eyes widened. “Forget it. Don't pay him no never mind.” Then she smiled. “Maybe you'd like me to go and talk to him. He sounds like he could use some tender, loving care, and you don't want to give any indication you're giving him any. And really, it's probably safer for him if you stay away, so you don't antagonize Waldron.”

“
You
can't leave home or drive right now. And if you're serious, he does have two unmated brothers.” So if she wasn't interested in Eric, why didn't Pepper want Susan to visit him?

“Yeah, but this one sounds so dreamy. Not your type at all.”

Pepper laughed. “If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were using reverse psychology on me.”

“As stubborn as you are, I wouldn't even try such a thing.” Then Susan frowned. “You don't think he's just pretending he's still sick to get on your good side, do you?”