Pack Justice (Nature of the Beast Book 1) (26 page)

I considered his words, and after several long minutes of thinking it through, I nodded my agreement. “Okay, I follow. It makes sense.”

“Your behavior confused us quite a bit, but we started figuring things out when we understood you have two sets of instincts to fight instead of our one. Andrea helped explain things after we had you tranquilized. The Inquisition is looking into how your situation will affect your behavior patterns, but we’re pretty sure you’re unique. We’ll figure it out. The Inquisition is eager to get you settled, since Andrea is pretty valuable as an attorney, and once you are back in full action, you’ll be a huge asset, too.”

“So there’s no rules against one of our kind being an attorney?”

“It’s a good career choice for one of us. A nice, bloodless hunt. Andrea’s exceptional since she’s pretty submissive. We were worried she wouldn’t shake out as a good attorney, but then she met you.”

I poked at the stew to buy myself some time to think, but no matter how hard I thought about it, I didn’t understand what Marcello was talking about.

One of the things I had always liked about Andrea was how good of an attorney she was.

“Okay. What do you mean by that? She’s always been a good attorney, Marcello. Fuck, that’s one of the things I liked about her from the beginning. So many women come to the courthouse determined to prove they are no different from the men and stomp all over everyone in the process. All they end up doing is proving they lack a professional bearing in court. The good ones respect everyone—and are respected in the process. They’re tough, but in a good way.”

“You didn’t see her before she met you. She’d cringe even when she was challenged by Normals.”

“I like to think of it as being overly respectful, a little bit shy, and nervous about my work,” the attorney in question stated. I whirled around, as did Marcello. Andrea stood next to the refrigerator, her arms crossed over her chest. “I shook out just fine, thank you very much.”

“Shit,” Marcello hissed. “Busted.”

Andrea strode towards me, pinning me against the stove with her lithe body. “Stew? Good choice, Mr. Scott.” She reached around me, turned the burner off, and moved the pot. “It’s also bubbling, which means it’s ready.”

While I was still hungry, I had a very difficult time paying any attention to my stomach with Andrea so close to me. I took a deep breath, enjoying the cinnamon of her scent. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Marcello woke me with his lecturing.” She leaned against me, smoothing my shirt with several strokes of her hands. “I wanted to make sure you were actually in here.”

There was nothing wrong with my shirt, but I wasn’t going to complain if Andrea wanted to hunt down invisible wrinkles. I was tempted to slip my hands inside her bathrobe to find out if she was wearing anything beneath it. Instead, I rested my hands on her hips and relaxed under the influence of her attention.

Marcello scowled. “I wasn’t going to let him escape.”

“He’s very good at giving us the slip. He managed to sneak out of bed without me noticing.”

Since they were both talking about me like I wasn’t present, I decided to join in, too. “He’s a jerk like that, wanting to let the pretty lady sleep when she looked so peaceful. Also, he’s hungry.”

Andrea pulled free and bumped her hip against me to push me away from the stove. I got out of her way, hooking a stool with my foot and dragging it to me. “Apparently he can’t feed himself without an audience or help.”

“He’s been pretty helpless the past week.” Marcello grabbed a stool and perched on it beside me. “You’re going to have to control your purring habit, Sean. You can’t do that in public.”

I scowled. Purring in public was something I was already aware I couldn’t do, although I had gotten much better at producing the sound since becoming a Fenerec. My cheetah’s influence had strengthened thanks to his inability to manifest anywhere other than in my head. “But she makes it so hard not to. Look at her, Marcello. She’s beauty in motion. Purring is complimentary.”

“It’s also a reflex exhibited by felines when injured, stressed, or otherwise under duress,” Andrea commented. “Your scent markers informed us you were not, in fact, complimenting me; you were comforting yourself during your incapacitation.”

“She’s in lawyer mode now. You’re doomed, Sean.”

“I object. There is insufficient evidence to support such a claim.”

“Scientific fact, Mr. Scott,” Andrea murmured, setting a bowl of stew in front of me. She fetched one for herself and another for Marcello and took a seat beside me. “You can’t argue against scientific fact.”

“I maintain my stance: you have insufficient evidence to support your claim.”

Marcello snickered. “She has evidence, actually. We had a little fun at your expense. The volume of your purrs was directly related to how far Andrea was from you when you were so drugged you couldn’t see straight. You were only quiet when she was right next to you, probably because your nose was able to convince you she hadn’t disappeared somewhere.”

I groaned at the thought of what went on while I was under the influence of painkillers. “Please tell me he’s joking, Andrea.”

“I’m sure there’s at least one video floating around the pack,” my fellow attorney replied, grinning at me.

My eyes widened. “Wait. Didn’t one of you tell me half of the Bureau officers are Fenerec or witches and associated with the pack?”

“Most of them are in the pack,” Marcello confirmed. “A few are in one of the neighboring packs, and I hear they’re pretty disappointed we’ve already laid claim to you.”

I groaned and slumped over the counter, shoving my bowl of stew to the side. “Why me?”

“Stop your crying and eat your stew,” Andrea chided, jabbing me with her elbow. “We have an early morning, and I fully intend to take you back to bed with me before I have to get up for the day.”

I choked on my first bite, comprehending what my nose was telling me about Andrea’s state of mind and her intentions. Marcello laughed and pounded my back.

“She needs you alive for her terrible plans, Sean. Try not to choke to death after we spent all that time making you healthy for her. Slow down.”

I was tempted to dump the bowl over my friend’s head. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Was he always so stoic in court, Andrea?”

“Always. It’s absolutely infuriating.”

Years of practice around the woman allowed me to keep my expression neutral despite my desire to grin. “May the best attorney win, Miss Morgan.”

Any other day, Andrea’s scowl would have left me despairing, but her eyes were bright with the anticipation of the challenge, and her scent was rich with her delight. “Oh, believe me, Mr. Scott, I have no intention of losing.”

“Are you two seriously challenging each other over who cracks and smiles at the other in public first?” Marcello first stared at me before turning his attention to Andrea. “I can’t tell if this is going to be fun to watch, or if this is a disaster in the making.”

“Business as usual,” I assured my friend.

Andrea growled at me and pointed at my stew. “Eat.”

Some battles weren’t worth fighting, so I obeyed without a word. Marcello patted my shoulder and said, “Good luck with her. You’re going to need it.”

I wouldn’t have had it any other way, but I was wise enough to keep my mouth shut.

Chapter Nineteen

Andrea left for work wearing her usual blazer and slacks, and her laughter echoed in my ears.

Marcello, Dan, and O’Mallory had way too much fun dying my fur black while Ramirez watched, her laughter a match for the defense attorney’s. Baring my teeth and growling at them resulted in even more amusement at my expense.

“You can’t keep your spots, Sean. They’re too distinctive,” Ramirez scolded, shaking her head at my canine protests as the three Fenerec styled my fur to their liking. “Just be glad we don’t have an eight o’clock start like your mate. Stop whining, hop in the shower, and let’s rinse the residue off so we can finish and get to work.”

While I warbled my complaints, I did get in the shower without them having to force me. Getting the excess dye out took over an hour even with all four of them working on my fur, and by the time they finished, I was a soggy, miserable mess.

Instead of letting me shake off the excess water, they used a hairdryer on me.

I looked—and felt—like I had stuck my paw in an electric socket.

“Well, he looks about as fluffy as a Tibetan mastiff,” Ramirez commented, crossing her arms over her chest while looking me over. “It’ll do. We’ll claim he’s a mastiff mix we’re trying out. Marcello, you and Dan are in charge of running him through the course so he can pass as an actual police dog.”

“Are you seriously going to put him on a patrol?” Marcello demanded, peeling out of his plastic gloves and dumping them in the trash can. “The last thing we need is him getting shot in the line of duty, Captain. Andrea will murder us.”

“Then don’t get shot at while on patrol.”

The Albano brothers glared at the woman, who ignored them and turned her attention to me. “If you even
think
about getting shot this week, I am going to skin you for a rug.”

I huffed and refused to look any of them in the eye.

Dan laughed. “I think he’s mad at you, Captain.”

“He’s just mad Andrea tricked him and forced him to change to his wolf. I have to give that woman credit, she’s sneaky.” Crouching in front of me, Ramirez cupped my muzzle in her hands and kissed my nose. “The last thing we need to do is bring you into the pack officially, and it was Andrea’s idea we do it while you’re a wolf with a nice furry coat to protect you from my dull, harmless human teeth.”

I grumbled my surrender, flopping to the floor and heaving a sigh.

Marcello sat on the floor beside me and patted my shoulder. “Think about it this way, Sean. I get to feed you all the steak you can eat this week. I’ll even take you to the park. Friday, you’ll be back up on two feet and master of your domain. We even had all the locks changed, a new security system installed, and surveillance in case that stupid bitch Idette shows up.”

“We even have you tentatively scheduled to serve as a guard dog at the courthouse Wednesday and Thursday so you can whet your appetite for work,” O’Mallory added.

It’d be longer than a week before I caught up enough at work to be able to take anything to a court, but instead of whining, I submitted to the indignation of playing dog with another sigh.

“I’ll bring you into the pack now, Sean,” Ramirez said, leaning over me. “Just stay relaxed. Honestly, if you feel anything, I’ll be surprised. Your wolf will be happy being in a pack, though—especially a pack with Andrea in it.”

Both of my spirit beasts were intrigued by the idea of pack, and despite my misgivings about having anyone’s teeth near my throat, I kept still, flinching a little at the pressure on my neck. Ramirez stroked my shoulder with her hand, murmured reassurances, and bit through my fur.

It didn’t hurt, although I couldn’t stop myself from whining my anxiety at the feel of her teeth. As she claimed, I didn’t feel anything different, but I heard a faint chorus of howls in my head before they quieted.

Ramirez pulled away, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet. “All done, Sean. That wasn’t too bad, was it?”

I drew a deep breath, lurched to my feet, and shook to settle my fur. The acrid stench of anger melded with the sharper cinnamon of Fenerec, and with a little work, I was able to distinguish the differences in the three scents.

Whatever Ramirez had done hadn’t hurt, and I bobbed my head to acknowledge her.

“I hope that Idette bitch fucks up and gets too close to our territory,” Marcello snarled. With wide eyes, I twisted to face my friend, who stretched his fingers before balling his hands into fists. “No wonder Andrea’s been damned protective of anyone getting near his neck.”

O’Mallory got to his feet and stretched. “I’ve already warned the rest of the pack to be cautious about his throat. For now, we’ll rank him in the pack with Andrea until he’s gotten a chance to watch a dominance test without participating. We all know he won’t shake out as a submissive, not with how he behaves in court, but until he’s ready to do dominance challenges and deal with the throat nipping, we’ll leave ranking him out of the equation.”

I wasn’t really sure what they were talking about, but I’d make a point of asking later. My wolf seemed inclined to agree with the judge, however, which was enough for me. Contentment radiated from both of my spirit beasts, and while I was only faintly aware of the odd howls in my head, my wolf listened to them and was satisfied with what he heard.

The calling wolves welcomed us.