“Knoxville is in town,” Ares said quietly. “They’re not the most stable pack.”
Despite Claudia’s belief she was being sized up as a potential mate for him, his mother’s sole purpose for inviting the Knoxville pack for a visit was to evaluate the mental state of its new alpha and its dominants.
The pack was under new management as of nine months ago. Claudia had finally seen the writing on the wall, challenged her father, and put him down before he finished running the pack into an early grave.
“I doubt they’re involved.” Midas doubted they were that organized either. “They have nothing to gain by my death.”
“Tisdale made it plain if they didn’t clean house,” Ford said, “she would send a maid to do it for them.”
The maid would have been Midas, as second, and he would have challenged Claudia’s father, killed him, and then forced the pack to choose a new alpha who was strong enough to hold the pack and weed out the bad seeds.
“Midas.” Ares spelled it out for him. “She killed her old man to prevent anyone else from doing it.”
“That’s grudge material right there,” Ford agreed. “All I’m saying is we need to keep eyes on her.”
“Do it.” Midas stared through the glass front entryway. “She’s with Hadley.” He turned. “Do it now.”
“An eye for an eye is popular among gwyllgi,” Ares allowed. “I’ll go. I need to stay active to stay awake.”
“Thanks.” Midas tried to hide his relief. “Let me know when you’re in position?”
“Sure thing.” She hesitated. “I’ll just grab more coffee from the break room before I go.”
“You’ve been yawning since you met me upstairs.” Midas studied her. “Why are you so tired?”
“We’re babysitting Liz’s nephew.” She rubbed her red-rimmed eyes. “He’s four months old.”
Ford’s eyebrows climbed into his hairline. “How did you manage that?”
“Liz’s sister is having gallbladder surgery, and her husband is staying at the hospital with her. They needed someone to watch Baby Alex for a few days, and we volunteered for the practice.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. They were too heavy. “He’s adorable, oh so adorable, but he’s also not thrilled both his parents are MIA. He never sleeps. Never. I swear. It’s unnatural. He’s always awake, and he cries unless you’re carrying him. I really, really, really hope our kid isn’t like this one.”
“He’ll settle down in a day or so,” Ford assured her. “Little ones get ornery when their routines change.”
“A day or so?” Ares deflated. “Jay is coming to pick him up tomorrow.”
“In that case,” Ford said on a laugh, “I hope you’ve got twenty-four more hours of sleeplessness in you.”
Whimpering, Ares trudged off on her quest to load up on caffeine.
“I’ll find a spare body to go with her,” Ford offered. “She’ll need sharp eyes to keep up with Hadley.”
Two sets of eyes—and fangs—would make him more comfortable, as long as she didn’t catch him at it.
“I appreciate it.” Midas’s gaze tagged the front door. “Do you think I should go?”
“Pretty sure the reason Claudia wanted to get Hadley alone was to talk about how good you are in bed.”
A flash of heat singed his face and then drained away in a rush. “Are you serious?”
“What do you think girls talk about when they’re alone?”
“I have no idea.”
“You have dwelled in the dark for too long. I’m willing to bet they’re talking measuring sticks right now.”
Scrubbing his palms over his face, Midas wished he could hide behind his hands forever. “God.”
“Come on.” Ford slapped him on the back. “Post assignments now, die of shame later.”
Later couldn’t come fast enough for Midas.
Four
The bar Claudia selected had seen better days, probably, but not in my lifetime.
The soles of my new sneakers made sucking noises against the flaking laminate floor when I walked, and dingy stuffing burst from the stools and the booths in the corner. The counter gleamed in the low light, buffed to a polish by the bored young man with nothing better to do and no motivation for extending his efforts to the rest of the place.
“Shots for all my friends,” Claudia announced. “Line ’em up and keep ’em coming.”
Forty-five minutes later…
Gwyllgi can get drunk, for a few minutes, if they really dedicate themselves to the cause. Otherwise, the alcohol might as well be water. Me? I didn’t have a fantastic metabolism, so I had to be careful what and how much I drank in unfamiliar company. Given what had happened last night, I was sipping Coke. Just Coke. That didn’t stop Claudia from lining up shots for me too, but I had taken to nudging them her way.
The fact she didn’t notice why her shot glass was bottomless said a lot about how deep she had climbed into the bottle. Under different circumstances, I might have been impressed with her single-minded dedication to chasing a buzz. Tonight, it worried me how desperate she was to escape her life, even for a few minutes.
“To the rotten son of a bitch who sired me.” Claudia raised her glass. “May he burn in hell for eternity.”
The others drank to that, but I didn’t know her father from Adam, so I wasn’t sure if I should sip or not.
“He’s a waste of a shot,” Ares murmured in my ear, causing me to jump. “He was a bastard.”
“What are you doing here?” I set my Coke on the counter. “Babysitting me?”
“Did the diaper bag give it away?”
“I need to get to HQ.” I hopped off my stool. “Be a pal and distract our hostess.”
“I knew I should have stayed outside,” she grumbled, clearly not a Claudia fan. “I have to pee. Can you wait that long?”
The stack of coffee cups in her hand earned her my sympathy. “Go on.”
A vibration in my pocket gave me hope I was about to have an official reason to make my escape.
>>I’m out of ABS.
>What?
>>Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene.
>>Plastic. For the 3D printer. I’m out.
>What do
