Careful What You Ask For (19 page)

I gratefully accepted the clothes, and then dug into the chicken he offered, careful of the bones because I was eating much faster than was polite. “Why does
changing
make you so hungry?”

“You come back with no sustenance in your body. Normally, you have food from previous meals still in your intestines, with nutrients still soaking into your bloodstream. When you awaken in the mornings you’re hungry after an eight or so hour fast. When you shift back to human, the chemistry of your bloodstream and organs is that of a human after a seven day fast.
Everything
resets. You eventually learn to deal with it, and I have a theory about your body pulling from fat reserves better after a few months of
changes
. It’ll get easier, but you
must
make arrangements to get plenty of the right kind of calories while you’re still learning control.”

“I’ve never lost weight without trying before in my life. I’m having a hard time getting enough calories.”

“It’ll get a little easier once you’re only
changing
a few times a month, and not daily. You’re always going to need a lot of calories, though.”

I looked out the window to see my parents talking to Patrick, but I couldn’t hear them. Randall must’ve done something to make his kitchen soundproof.

“Should we go outside and make sure they don’t get into it?”

“They’re going to. If not today, then later, and today might be better since I’m here to step in and keep them from killing each other. They aren’t in the same Pack, aren’t fighting for position, so it’s better if they do it here.”

“I think I’m seeing my dad in a new light.”

“I respect your dad, and I was sad to see him go. However, he’s always been quicker to anger and more likely to throw a punch in response to a problem than to use his words… but it’s gotten more pronounced since he moved to the Atlanta Pack.” He sighed. “Being Alpha isn’t easy, and I’m happy Patrick will have you to turn to for counsel.”

“Who do you turn to?”

He shook his head. “My grandfather, at first. Occasionally, my mom offers her opinion, but mostly I rely on my own counsel. I’m Alpha and the buck has to stop with me. I listen to my people, and when it’s practical I get input from those most closely involved.”

“You’ve been single as long as I’ve known you.”

He stood and walked toward the door. “I need to check on the steaks. Finish your chicken and then I’ll have more for you to eat.”

When Randall opened the door, I felt energy being pushed around and realized my dad and Patrick were in a battle without throwing their fists. I walked to the porch with my plate, and stopped to take a breath and sense exactly what was happening.

Patrick was more than holding his own. I wanted to help, though. Patrick was pulling on our small Pack, but not much. Not enough any of them realized. I took a breath, drew in as much energy as I could, and opened myself so Patrick got more from me than he was asking.

My dad must’ve immediately sensed it, because he took a step back and glared at me. He lost the battle and he was blaming it on me — and something inside me snapped
again
. I sensed his thoughts, knew his feelings, and they pissed me off. I didn’t yell, though. I spoke low and deep.

“Maybe if you’d helped your wife grow strong instead of making sure she was weak, she could’ve helped you. Patrick not only appreciates my strength, he’s shown me how to be stronger, so of course I knew how to help him. We’re a team, Dad. Mess with him and you mess with me.”

I’d always thought my dad was good at perceiving who he could beat and who he should leave alone. He’s a badass, so he can beat most people. However, he’s still alive, which means he knew when to stop challenging people as he’s moved up.

He miscalculated with Patrick, though, because Dad jumped him as he shifted into warrior form, and Patrick didn’t even bother
changing
. Patrick grabbed my dad’s arm as it flew at his face, tossed him up and then slammed him into the ground before he landed on him and wrapped his hand around my dad’s throat until Randall stepped in and told them both to back off. Patrick immediately stood, but I could tell by his stance he was prepared for my dad to come up fighting.

My stomach had been in my throat and my knees had gone weak, and now I breathed easier as my dad stood and offered his hand. Patrick graciously shook it, though I could tell he was still on alert.

“You’re worthy of my daughter, but don’t think I won’t come after you if you hurt her.”

“I have no intentions of hurting her, Sir.”

Thankfully, our meal was without incident, and when it was over, Patrick and I took our leave after offering to help with the dishes.

I waited until we’d pulled out of the driveway and were on the state highway before I told him, “You really are a bad-ass. I’m glad you’re
my
bad-ass.”

He grinned at me calling him
mine
, but then shrugged as he said, “I protect people with my skills. A lone wolf in the military isn’t messed with like most lone wolves, and then I went to work for Drake Security and we aren’t bothered by Pack too much either. With my new title, I’m going to need those skills far more often than I’m accustomed to.” He glanced at me as he took my hand, and looked back to the road. “I imagine I’ll want to test the man my daughter falls in love with, should I ever have a daughter. I can’t hold it against him.”

I leaned my head against the headrest and closed my eyes. “When can we work on my warrior form? And can you teach me to fight in it? So many joints are moving the wrong direction — I’m not sure it’ll be intuitive.”

“You went into half-form during the gunfight, before. It was instinct, something that gave you more of the wolf’s strength, but gave you the dexterity of a human. The warrior form is much better suited for fighting, but harder to reach. You’ve gone into it twice when you needed it, so I think you can be assured it’ll be available in a crisis, but we should work on it in the next day or two, while the feel and memory of it’s still fresh.” He made a turn and checked all of his mirrors before asking, “Your dad taught you to fight, right? Before you knew you wouldn’t
change
?”

“Yes, I learned with my brothers.”

“I imagine he taught you moves that translate to both forms. You may know more than you realize.” He tensed, relaxed, and I could tell something was bothering him before he said anything. “Drake needs me tomorrow, but I don’t want to leave you alone and I don’t want to cage you all day. I think we can make it work if you go in with me. I’ll be in the control room a few hours, and you can hang out in the adjacent room. You’ll have to wear noise cancelling headphones, but you can bring a book to read. I know you usually read on your e-reader, so do we need to stop by a bookstore and get you the old fashioned kind?”

“I can’t have my e-reader in there?”

“Not without their tech people spending time to go over it, and I’d rather not put a drain on resources just to bring you in. You’ll have to leave your phone in the car, or hand it over to reception when we arrive, too.”

“Yeah, a bookstore will be good. What are we going to do when you go back to work full time?”

“I’m going back three days after the full moon. If you aren’t okay, I’ll make arrangements for someone to be with you.” He’d let go of my hand to make a sharp turn, and now he wove his fingers back through mine to hold it again. “Aaron isn’t going to send me out of town for long assignments until we have the Pack running smoothly and you’re equipped to handle any issues while I’m gone. There’ll be an occasional overnight job, but I won’t be gone two nights in a row.”

“I’ve seen the large containment cell you have downstairs. I won’t like it, but I won’t object to you putting me in it for the day. There’s a toilet in there, and we can put a cooler in with enough food, and a microwave or hot plate. I have enough control after I’ve turned wolf, I won’t hurt anything. I’ll probably be okay in the house, because if I
change
and run into the woods, I’ll keep my wits enough to stay away from humans.”

“Let’s see where you are after this full moon. Tomorrow, you’ll need to be okay for four or five hours in a room off the control room, and then I’ll get you certified on the Drake range, so you can go in with me to shoot. I’d like to take you to the weight room as well. Drake has equipment meant for wolves to work out on, and we can see exactly how strong you are.”

P
atrick

I
bought cabling meant
to hold bridges up, and triple bolted it to the floor joists under my bed, and then again near the toilet. I attached a length of chain from the cabling to the ankle cuff, and this let Briana walk from the bed to the toilet without giving her a fifteen-yard chain. As I hooked her up to it the first night, I also used a regular leather, padded cuff. She had a point about using the other as a crutch, so I’d use the magicked one every third night.

I wanted her to
know
she was trapped. Wanted her totally at my mercy. We both knew she could get out of the leather one, but I told her she wouldn’t like the consequences if she did.

The first morning, I’d taken it easy on her for her morning paddling. I’d changed it up since, but tomorrow morning I intended to have some fun. I had to be at Drake Security at nine, so I set the alarm for six, and I spent a good fifteen minutes giving her a sound hand spanking. There were plenty of real tears by the time I stopped, but I also smelled her arousal. I pushed her head to my cock and gave her a thorough face-fucking before I turned her around and took her ass. As my thighs hit the heat of her spanked bottom, my cock pulsed inside her, and I drew a breath in as I made my cock wider and shorter. She gasped and jerked, but once again the spicy-sweet scent of her arousal filled the room.

She liked it when I hurt her
just right
.

Usually, I give her orgasm after orgasm, but so far I’d kept her on edge. I leaned in, put my mouth to her ear, and told her, “If you don’t want to run with me this morning, tell me you’re fine without an orgasm. If I give you one, though, then you’ll run the entire five miles without complaining.”

I popped her on the ass when she growled at me, but she’s learned enough in the short time I’ve been training her, she said, “Please, Sir, may I have the orgasm?”

Words can’t describe how good her ass feels pulsing around my cock, so shortly after she lost it, I did, too.

B
y the time
we arrived at Drake Security, we’d had sex three times, ran five miles together, showered together, eaten a breakfast fit for a dozen kings, and then I’d made her drive us. We’ve been working on her relearning to drive with her new reflexes, but she was still a bundle of nerves by the time we arrived.

Aaron had asked me to bring her by his office when we arrived, but Nathan met us in the hallway on the way to Aaron’s office.

I smiled as the two of them hugged. She felt comfortable around the Amakhosi, and that was rare. Nathan doesn’t let many people close to him.

“I just saw Mac in the range,” Nathan told me. “You should put her with him for a bit, see if he can give her some pointers. He had to take all the driving courses again from scratch.”

Briana took a breath and let it out. “How did you know I’m stressed from the drive?”

He grinned and tousled her hair. “It’s a new shifter thing. Every bitten wolf, lion, tiger… whatever. Everyone who knows how to drive before being bitten has to relearn. We’ll need to work with you on the range, too. Your timing will be off, if you’ve ever practiced drawing and shooting. Mac’s the perfect one to walk you through it because it hasn’t been that long since he had to relearn everything.”

I’d expected Briana to sit in the room off the main control center while I talked a team through an op, but between Mac, Nathan, and Aaron, they kept her busy and engaged most of the day. By the time I met up with her again, Aaron had certified her on the range so I could bring her with me to shoot, and Mac had worked with her in one of the driving simulators and given her a ton of awesome advice. Briana already knew Cora, and they’d paired up in the weight room, where Cora had shown her better ways to work out with her new strength.

Briana seemed to have matured by several weeks by the time I saw her again. Somehow, in all of the chaos, I’d forgotten that wolves are in a Pack for a reason. We all help each other. I couldn’t teach her how to be a Pack wolf if it was just the two of us.

But what I truly didn’t expect, was to see Nathan, Cora, and Mac working with her on fighting skills in the old school gymnasium. They had her in warrior form with the three of them coming at her from every direction, challenging her in ways I had no idea she was ready to handle.

I sat with Tyler, Ranger, and a few other coworkers and watched in silence. She’d glanced at me as I came in, I’d given her a brush of energy to let her know I loved her and liked what I was seeing, and she’d gone back to work. So fucking
focused
.

Forty minutes later, Aaron showed up with a huge tub of smoked pork, a barrel of barbeque sauce, a huge bag of buns, and some slaw, potato salad, and baked beans. Everyone in warrior form
changed
to human and got dressed, and we all commenced to making a plate and eating.

Mac and Ranger asked if they could talk to Briana and me later, and two other men did, as well. I nodded and told them we could find a conference room not being used, but Aaron shook his head. “I’d rather you didn’t for this. It might be more appropriate to invite them to your home.”

My heart skipped double-time as I tried to consider what they might want to speak with me about that Aaron preferred we not talk about here. I looked at Briana as she touched my hand and told them, “Of course we can invite you back to Patrick’s place. And I know I’ve already thanked everyone who’s helped me today, but thanks again. I feel like a new… well, not quite. Actually, it’s that I don’t feel as much like a new wolf as I did before.”

“Patrick’s always there for us,” Tyler said. “If he’s the expert, he’s in front. If he knows someone else can do something better than him, he acts as support. When I’m out of town and need someone to make sure my wife’s safe, I know I can call him and he’s there.” He looked around the room. “Everyone in this room has had my back more times than I can count. I’d step up and do whatever I could to help any of them. I’ve never seen him fall for someone before. You’re special to him, so you’re special to me.”

Briana grinned at Tyler. “You’re the only human in the room. You must be some kinda bad-ass to hold your own with these guys.”

Mac chuckled. “He is. We’ve been friends since college, and always evenly matched. Now that I’m a wolf, I thought I’d have to stop sparring with him. Turns out, I just have to make sure I keep my teeth and claws away from him so I don’t accidently turn him. He has to hurt us to fight us, but that’s okay. We heal.”

B
riana

I
had
no idea what the men wanted to talk to Patrick about, or even whether I’d be invited. Maybe it’s because I’ve been around the MC so long, but when they went out on the porch to talk, I headed the opposite direction.

“Where are you going?” Patrick asked.

“I figured I’d spend some time with Flopsy while ya’ll talk.”

He shook his head. “You’re my mate. We’re a pair. If this is wolf or Pack business then they’d better be able to tell you anything they’d tell me.”

Mac started off the conversation once we’d all sat down.

“Ranger turned me, and I have a little more time before I have to decide whether to go the lone-wolf route or join a Pack. I’ve run with the Chattanooga Pack once, and while I loved the feeling of belonging, I’d decided against it for a variety of reasons.” He shook his head. “I liked Randall — but I don’t really know him and trust is hard for me.”

Patrick relaxed as he realized what Mac was getting at, but he stayed quiet and let Mac finish.

“I know you. I trust you. I don’t live in Ringgold, but if you’ll have me, I’d love to run with your Pack once — just to be sure before I give you my oath.”

“I’d love to have you in the Pack.” Patrick looked around the porch. “The same goes for anyone else interested. I’m sorry I can’t invite you to this full moon, but I need some time to make our new Pack a cohesive unit. This will be the first full moon run with those who’ve already oathed to me. However, we’re having a picnic Saturday, and anyone interested in joining can come eat and hang out with us. If you want to join based on your time at the picnic, we’ll make it happen before the full moon. If not, then you’re welcome to come for our next full moon run.”

Ranger leaned forward, his beer loose in his hand as he propped an elbow on the chair’s arm. “I’ve gone back to Texas for my three full moon runs a year because I trust my old Pack leader, but have never felt comfortable with the power structure in Chattanooga. There are way too many powerhouses, and right now everyone gets along, but should that change…” He shrugged. “It could get ugly. Oathing to you means Randall will have power over me, but it’s still different than personally giving him my word. I’ll hold off for now, but will consider it again in a few months. I support Mac in wanting to join a Pack. You know our situation, you know we’d be bringing a human and a leopard to family events, and you have to know some of the folks in Ringgold aren’t going to approve of our dynamic.”

I set my beer on the table and leaned forward. “If anyone says anything rude to Bethany, or disrespects her in any way, they’ll answer to
me
.” I glanced at Patrick, before looking back to Ranger and Mac. “I don’t think she gives a flying fuck what other people think, but still, no one’s going to put her down because of her relationship with the three of you.” I leaned back and looked to Patrick again. “Randall doesn’t have a problem with other species as long as they’re immediate family, but the Atlanta Alpha only lets wolves and humans come. I’m good with Jonathan coming to picnics, and even helping out with the kids during our runs if he wants to hang out at the house. I think that’ll have to be your call, though.”

He grinned at me, then looked to Ranger. “I’ll ask it to just be you and Mac this Saturday during the day, but we’ll be showing the original
Ghostbusters
on the side of the house once the sun goes down that evening, and you’re more than welcome to bring Bethany and Jonathan for the movie. I’m really hoping to find some camaraderie during the day, so I hope you’ll understand why I’m asking for it to just be the wolves either already in, or considering joining.”