Trent (16 page)

“My mom? I don’t think…what did she do? And
if you’re referring to her having my baby bed delivered to the cabin, I told
her to stop that. She can be pushy.” That had embarrassed her as well. During
one of her chats, it had been delivered and set up in one of the spare rooms. “She
does love you a great deal.”

“I love her too. But I was talking about her
telling everyone that I was a whiz at investments. I don’t know anything but
what I like.” Trent said nothing as he finished dressing. She’d been ready for
over an hour while he’d been out dealing with some last minute things that had
come up. “I can’t stop people from asking about stocks and things. I can’t help
them.”

“Dad said you doubled his portfolio. And did
it in less than two days. He said he wished he’d known you when he was younger…he
might be as rich as Midas right now.” She had. It had been easy. TJ had been
willing to do whatever she said for him to do. “And I know that you work on
Noah’s investments as well. Did you know that Tanner is going on the same
advice you told Dad? He said that once he gets enough money, he might open his
own firm.”

“Tanner needs a less aggressive and more long-term
investment strategy. He has plenty of time to make money, while your dad wants
to take your mom on a long.... What?” Trent just grinned at her. “That is not
the same thing as being an investment banker. I’m merely helping out family.”

“If you say so.” If there was ever a time
when she wanted to throat punch him, it was right now. “By the way, did you
know that the pack is in need of a financial director? You should take it over.
Make some long-term investments for the pack.”

She told him she’d do it before she realized
the trap. Being the director for the pack opened her up to all kinds of people
coming to her for advice. As soon as the pack meeting was over, she was going
to murder her new husband. Joe looked down at the rings on her hand.

Just over three hours ago they’d been wed. It
hadn’t been a big ceremony, just mostly family and a few of their friends, and
it had been held in the field that served as the pack meeting place. The entire
event had taken less than forty minutes, and she was now Mrs. Johanna Calhoun. She
soon discovered that having five brothers was a little overwhelming in that
they were more protective now than they had been before.

“Scott wants to know if you’ll work with
him.” Scott was the only brother that had not kissed her after Trent claimed
her. “He said to tell you that if you come and work in his office with him,
he’ll make it worth your while in donuts.”

“I love donuts.” It was a new thing for her.
Usually one to avoid sweets as much as possible, she’d been turned on to
pumpkin cookies and donuts in the same day, and she could not seem to get
enough of both. “What does he do, anyway?”

She knew that Elijah was an investment guru,
and had been having fun since he’d bought out Trent.

Sterling was still recovering from a horrific
car accident that had killed two other people. He’d not been the one that
caused it, but he had lost his job as a teacher when the pain had kept him from
working. The college had needed someone to take the job now, and he’d not been
able to do so. She knew that he still hurt from time to time, and Joe was
pretty sure that he’d not told everyone everything that had happened. He looked
like a man haunted by something horrific.

Tanner was currently unemployed, but looking.
If he took the job that Noah was offering him, he’d be busier than he’d ever
been, but he’d have the freedom that he’d not had as a lawyer in a firm. She,
too, had hated being in an office all day, and was glad when she’d moved on to
something more. Tanner was smart, personable, and he was a ladies’ man. Joe
wondered what the man would do when his own mate came along, and how the women
he had in his harem would take it when he was off the market. It was going to
be a great deal of fun watching the younger man get caught up in love.

Randal was a kindergarten teacher. She’d
never seen a man more suited to the job than he was. He loved kids and was
favored by them even after they left his classroom. Randal was also favored by
the moms of the kids, and sometimes it got a little out of hand. She had to
smile thinking about the other day, when he’d had to sic his mom on one
particularly aggressive woman.

He’d been walking to his car, and his mom had
been in hers just pulling in the lot to have dinner with her baby boy, she’d
told her. Then this woman came out of her car and nearly tackled him to the
ground. Randal had seen his mom coming toward them and had begged her to help
him out. Christine had pulled the woman off her son and tore into the woman
like she was five years old and caught stealing. Which, Joe supposed, she had
been…stealing her baby boy.

Scott? She had no idea what he did, and
looked at Trent when she realized he’d not answered her. “What is it? What are
you not telling me?”

“Nothing bad. But Scott is an instructor.” When
he didn’t elaborate, she asked him what sort of instructor. “He teaches couples
how to have sex…you know, doms and subs, how to work their lifestyle out and
become better partners. It’s a process, I guess, and Scott is a natural at it.”

“I don’t understand. Doms and subs? You mean
as in bondage and whips?” He told her that not all dom/sub relationships
involved whips. “And this is what he does? And he wants me to come and work for
him?”

“He said he’d like for you to come and be his
receptionist. Scott assured me that you’d never be involved in the actual work
he does.” She tried to see if he was joking with her or not. “I know that you
don’t need the money, but it does pay well. And he said you can have stock
options.”

“You don’t care that I’d be working in a…a
sex shop?” Trent shrugged as he pulled her up from the chair and led her to the
door. “I mean…really?”

“Yes, really. He wanted me to talk to you
first, before you found out.” She asked what his parents thought of it. “They
don’t care as long as he’s happy and out of trouble.”

She could see that too. The Calhouns loved
their children without any sort of restrictions, and they supported them in
whatever they needed to do to be happy. And they were, for the most part. She
thought them to be very secure in what they did.

So, as they made their way out to their first
pack meeting as husband and wife, and also pack leaders, she had to think of how
to look Scott in the face and not wonder what sort of things he’d done that
day. Giggling, she thought perhaps she’d ask him for a manual or something.

Chapter 11

Trent had been on this field several thousand
times in his life. Each time had meant a great deal to him. But none were going
to be as epic as this one would be. He was pack leader, and he had his mate at
his side. As he entered the arena, he heard the hush move over the field and he
had to smile. This was for him.

Trent wasn’t a vain man. Nor was he one that
wanted someone to pat him on the back, but he did love having not just Joe at
his side, but his family there as well when he took this huge step. A change in
his life that would last forever. When he stood upon the large stump that had
been at one time the tree of life for their kind, he looked around. It was
time.

“As you all know, Casey has been convicted of
crimes that resulted in the death of several people. And even though he is
dead, his name has been bandied about as a criminal. But that’s not why I
killed him. He was going to harm your alpha-bitch.” The murmurs were loud but
soon quieted again. “That day in the bank, I had no idea that he’d been a part
of this. All I saw was him standing over my mate, his teeth bared and his
hackles up. He meant to kill her.”

Reaching out his hand, he brought Joe to the
top with him. Holding her like this, as close as he could, all he could think
about was how close he’d been to seeing her hurt. Not dead. Thankfully she
could no more die than he could, but she could have been hurt badly all the
same.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like for you to
meet my mate, Joe Calhoun. Your leader and master forever.” The shout that
started was deafening in the field. Flowers were tossed at them, some landing
on them but mostly around them. They looked to be in a faerie garden. The
ground was covered in the petals.

They were doing things differently this time.
There would be a run, in which everyone who wanted to could shift and run
freely in the fields. Not that there were any restrictions from that sort of
thing normally, but tonight, with the moon full over them, it had a special
magical quality to it. With a new pack master and his mate, there would not be the
normal ritual of bringing forth issues and problems that had occurred during
the time before, and no one would be brought to justice over some problems that
were a result of it.

As he and Joe moved among the crowd, people
stopped to talk to them, most offering congratulations and a few asking for a
small token. It had been this way since he was a boy. The master and his mate
would hand out favors, usually a small coin that could be returned when they
had done a misdeed, and this would lessen their punishment. They each had ten,
and after his were all gone, he looked to his dad, who was always close at
hand.

“You did good.” Trent smiled at his dad,
never seeing him so happy before. “Right proud of you, I am. Your mom is too,
but I’m about to bust with this.”

“You always told me that I’d be here
someday.” He had, since his first changing. “I’m so glad that you were here
with us when we took our first walk.”

“My pleasure.” He looked around like he
didn’t want someone to hear his next words. “That mate of yours, you know that
there are some that are wondering if you’ll change her too. I don’t think she
could get much more perfect, but they are asking.”

“We talked about it, and we’re waiting. I
don’t know what it will do to her, and there is little information on changing
a day walker to a wolf. Noah said he’d ask around.” His dad nodded and smiled. “You
want to know something else? We’re going to try to have a baby or two before
the end of next year.”

“Hot damn.” They both looked around when the
crowd hushed at his dad’s loud voice. When he spoke again, he was much quieter,
but no less excited. “That’ll make your mom and me very happy. To have a
grandbaby. I have to tell you, son, I despaired of you six ever getting around
to it.”

Hugging his dad, Trent felt his eyes fill
with tears. He was as happy as he could be right now, and his dad was there for
him too. It was weird, but over the last several days he’d been very emotional
and had yet to ask Joe about it. He was sure it had something to do with the
fact that they were so busy all the time. Seeing Noah walking toward him, he
decided to ask him about it.

“It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?” Trent told him
it was more than that. It was draining too. “It’s because of the power you’re
getting. Not just from Joe but me as well. My blood, you see. When you took it,
you took on more of me. Joe said she was having the same problems.”

“Yes, she told me. I thought it was me
feeling what she was.” Noah said that was part of it but not all. “Will it
level out, you think?”

“Oh yes. In about another decade or so.”

Trent wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not,
but never got the chance to ask him. Two of his younger pack members came to
him about an issue and he went with them to take care of it.

As soon as he entered the woods, he knew
something was wrong. Running now, he kept up with the younger pups as they led
him to Sterl. He could hear him then. His screams were tearing through him as
if he was hurting too. Stopping the younger men, he asked them to go and get
his mate and brothers.

“Don’t tell my parents. Unless they ask. So
don’t go by them.” Billy, the younger of the boys, nodded. “Get the others here
now. And find Noah. He was in the field where you found me.”

Going deeper into the woods alone now, he
reached out to Sterl. He was in pain, he could feel it now, and it was a deep
pain of his mind and heart that Trent didn’t know how to fix. As soon as he saw
his brother curled into a tight ball, Trent approached him slowly, speaking
softly to him.

“Sterl, it’s me, Trent. I’m here for you.” The
sob was heart wrenching, and he moved to touch him. “Tell me what I can do.
Where do you hurt?”

“Everywhere.” Trent could see that he’d cut
his face and arms. While he didn’t have any idea how that had happened, he knew
that they were only superficial and nothing for him to worry about now. “Kill
me. Please, end my life now.”

“I can’t do that.” Tears blurred his vision
as he touched the long scar that he knew was on his brother’s back. “Come on,
Sterl, let me pick you up and take you to the house.”

“Don’t touch me.” He continued to run the
scar, knowing that it pained him now because it was tight. “Trent, they made me
an immortal. I can’t live forever like this. Make them take it back. I don’t
want to live like this.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I know.” He moved
closer to Sterl and held him, like a mother would a child. He could hear his
brothers coming and wasn’t sure it was a good idea for anyone to see him like
this. Then Noah appeared in front of him, and the noise from the woods his
brothers were making stopped.

“I sent them back. I let them think it was a
hoax. I didn’t think you’d want it spread around that Sterl was in pain.” Noah
got down on his knees just as Joe came into the meadow where they were. “She
and I are going to help you, Sterling.”

“No. Just take the immortality from me and
let me die.” Noah didn’t say anything as he tore open his vein. “That won’t
work. I’ve tried that before.”

That shocked Trent. His brother had tried to
get a vampire to take away his pain. He looked at Noah when he only shook his
head and put his wrist to his mouth. As he did that, Joe pulled Sterl’s wrist
to her mouth and bit down. She was going to drain out whatever poison that Noah
found. And he told Trent there was plenty.

About a year ago now, Sterl and four of his
friends had been out on a date. He’d been the odd man out, but had gone anyway
when his date, a human, had gotten ill and wasn’t able to go with him. Sterl
never drank alcohol but told him later that there had been something in the tea
he’d been drinking. Something that had made him dizzy and sick with it.

“I was just sipping it when I felt the urge
to throw up. I thought it was the food we’d eaten. No one else was sick or
dizzy, so I went outside to get some fresh air to see if that helped.” Sterl
had been in his own bed then, having been released from the hospital that
morning. He’d asked to speak to him alone and told him what had happened. “Then
when we all got into the car to leave, Mitch said he was feeling great and had
promised us all that he’d not drank either. I believed him because I didn’t
smell it on him.”

“What happened then?” Sterl hadn’t looked
like he was going to answer, so Trent started to change the subject. Sterl’s
face was cut up, his back the worst of it, having been thrown from the car,
despite his seat belt, and impaled on a tree. Plus, his leg had been broken in
several places. No one then or now could figure out why the wounds didn’t go
away when he’d shifted, nor had the bruising lessened. It was as if he were a
human and not a wolf.

“A woman—or something—was in front of the
car. Like she just appeared. I don’t mean like she ran in front of us, but she
was just there. Mitch swerved hard to the right, which should have put us in
the ditch rather than.... I felt the car lift up, and then it was falling over
the hillside like we were in a ball being rolled head over ass.” Sterl looked
away as he finished. “I woke up, hanging from the tree with my feet in front of
me, and I could see that I was broken. Not hurt…I was literally broken from the
accident. And there it was again. Like a woman, but not. I thought that I’d
only dreamt about it being there when we’d wrecked…the woman, I mean. But there
she was again.”

“What was she doing?” Sterl again said
nothing for several minutes, and that time Trent had waited. He thought that
the pain of the injuries had made Sterling see the woman, but after he
continued, he knew he’d seen the thing.

“Mitch was hanging out of the front window.
His body was moving, I could see it. When this thing stood in front of him, he
reached for her, begging her to help him. She reached out her hand and touched
him. But instead of helping him, she jerked him from the broken window and tore
him in half. Just tore him apart. She moved to Bri then. Her body was on the
ground behind the car. The thing, this woman thing, killed her too. Tore her
head off and left it to lay there.” Sterl looked at him then. The anguish of
what he’d seen was there on his face. “Tony and Beth were next. The thing
stabbed a large piece of the glass from the broken windows into his chest,
going not just into him but completely through him. Beth was dead. I could see
that her neck was snapped, but the thing didn’t stop. She walked to her and did
the same thing, using a large stone to crush her head.”

“Christ.” Trent hadn’t wanted to ask him
about what she’d done to him. He hoped that she’d left him there, thinking that
he was going to die anyway. But Sterl had started crying then, sobbing out the
rest of his tale.

“She came to me then. Just levitated up the
tree to me.” Trent held his breath. “As she floated in front of me, I got a
good look at her face. She was…she was beautiful. Long dark hair, lips that
were full and red. Her body, sheathed in this sort of transparent aura, was
gorgeous. She just stared at me until…until....”

He’d looked away then, as if he were too frightened
to continue. Trent wasn’t sure he wanted to know what she’d done. Was positive
even to this day that the thing that had killed his friends had meant the same
for Sterl.

“Her fingers seemed to morph, like ours do
when we shift. But they elongated, and her nails darkened until I was sure they
were covered in old blood and were as long as her arm. Her hair, too, changed. It
lightened to a purest white and hung below her feet. Her face seemed to shrink
in on itself, until she was nothing more than bones with something stretched
tautly over her skull. When she touched me, stuck her nails through me, I could
see that she was enjoying it, and I had the sudden urge to just die, to give
up. But then she spoke.” Sterl looked away again. “She told me that I was going
to be her biggest prize as yet. That my seed would flood the earth with
demons.”

Sterl lay back, his eyes closed as Trent held
his hand. He hadn’t even realized that he’d touched him until he felt his
brother’s fingers tighten around his. They sat there, neither of them speaking,
as the sun lowered in the sky and the sounds of the outdoors echoed in the
house.

“I’m never going to meet my mate, Trent. I
never want to have children. I don’t want that thing to come back and take them
from me.” Trent asked him if that was what she’d said to him. “Yes. My children
are going to be hers.”

~~~

Memories not his own hit his mind. Noah knew
who the she-devil was and what she’d done to the man in front of him. Sterling
Calhoun was lucky to be alive. As he filtered through the terror of the young
wolf and focused on the words she’d said to him, Noah also felt the man’s
resolve not to ever find or keep his mate. He’d rather die lonely than to take
the chance that any issue of the union would be taken from him. Noah looked at
Joe.

I know her
. He nodded and asked her not to speak
of it here
. Can you help him? Can we keep him safe?

We will.

As Sterling drank his blood, Noah moved into
his mind and pushed the poison from his body. He knew as surely as he was
helping this man that the she-devil had put a poison in not just his mind, but
his body as well. Noah found all that he could, knowing that if he didn’t get
it all, the man would try to talk him into letting him die again. And knowing
what he did now, Noah wasn’t sure that he’d not help him.