The Bucklin Wolves Next Generation: Return (3 page)

“So you’re saying the national park is filled with werewolves who used to live here?” This information was unsettling to Maribel. She hadn’t run scenarios for this. Panic was flooding into her chest and she could feel her face tightening as she began to freak out. “We have to postpone the meeting. I have to rerun every number. No, this won’t do at all. This is dangerous. I have to do a risk analysis.”

“What are you prattling on about?” Ms. Wilson asked.

“A wild wolf pack this close to human civilization has a thirty-four point seven percent chance of harming humans. Those factors go up exponentially when you add in the fact that this place was their home a very short time ago and they might have some sort of instinctual love for it. This is terrible.”

Jacko’s laugh wasn’t something she wanted to hear right now, but there it was, filling her ears. This was serious and he was too cavalier about it. They couldn’t do this right now.

“That’s what I’m here for, honey,” Jacko said. “There’s not a wolf alive that I can’t take down. You know how many of these monsters I’ve killed? You’ll need your special super calculator to figure that out.”

“This meeting still isn’t a good idea. I have incomplete data.”

“Calm yourself, Maribel,” Ms. Wilson said sternly. “We’re signing these contracts and getting to work. But if it’ll make you feel better, I can get you a meeting with the mayor. You can interview him, compile a new report and send it to Mr. Sokolov to see if we need to beef up security.”

Jacko snorted at that notion, but Ms. Wilson’s death stare caused the strong, assured man to recoil and nod in agreement.

“We’re going to be late for this meeting,” Jacko finally said.

“Then let’s go,” Ms. Wilson said, giving Maribel one last disgusted look. “It’s time to make some money.”

Who are you, Jacko?
Maribel wondered.
There’s something not quite right about you.

Maribel vowed to keep an eye on him this entire trip. He wasn’t the sort of man she wanted to trifle with. Hopefully the mayor would be able to provide her with more information. Hopefully, he wouldn’t view her as a tasty snack. She hadn’t exactly interviewed a lot of werewolves.

Chapter 3

They’re late,
Seth thought as he leaned back in his chair. The other councilmen had busied themselves on their cell phones or by thumbing through the pages of the
Wall Street Journal
. But Seth wasn’t able to peel his eyes away from the door, which he expected to open at any minute.

What the hell are they doing on their phones, anyway? And why are they reading that newspaper? They aren’t businessmen and they don’t have constituents to keep happy.

Since he’d been attending more and more meetings he had begun to wonder what exactly most of these councilmen actually did and where their income came from. The town was nearly dead and the townspeople were just scraping by. More than half the town had left with Aster, but even more had left to strike out on their own or move to a bigger city in the prior two years. Whoever remained either had some sort of strange pack loyalty, had nowhere better to go or just plain loved Bucklin.

The meeting was supposed to start at nine. It was five past nine. Was this a business tactic? Were they making Seth and William sweat this out? He’d read about this tactic plenty of times. Seth would begin to grow fearful that the deal was off and he’d be more willing to agree to less than equitable terms. No. This might have been his first actual meeting, but he wasn’t going to be intimidated into something he didn’t want to do. No way in hell. William had prepared him too well for this.

“Are you okay?” William asked.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Seth said, taking a long drink of water. “I just wish they’d get here so we can get this show on the road.”

“You’re doing what’s right for your people,” William said.

“I know I am,” Seth said, glancing down at the table. “I don’t think Aster would have made the same decision. This is how I know I’m already a stronger leader than he was.”

“I don’t think he had to make this kind of decision,” William said. “But you’re probably right.”

“I know he wouldn’t have.”

“Did you talk to him about it?” William asked.

Seth was caught off guard by the question. Of course he hadn’t talked to Aster about it. In all likelihood Aster was a hundred miles away from Bucklin, deep in the forest. “No. That’s a silly question.”

“But you have spoken to him, haven’t you? Since you took over?”

What the hell was William playing at? Was he trying to draw some sort of scandalous confession out of Seth? He worked in mysterious ways; Seth knew that. “Once, right after I first took the job. It was a nothing conversation.”

“Did you tell him about your lineage?”

“Why would I do that? He was none the wiser.”

“Good,” William said, straightening up in his seat. “You have to be careful around Aster. One conversation is too many. He’s a wild wolf who doesn’t know what it’s like to be human anymore. The town will thank you when we’re done.”

“I know they will.”

“You will finally break the last bonds of that wild nature. The ones who remain are the ones who want to be human. Once they see what a strong leader you are, they won’t care what your bloodline is. Realistically that’s the only reason they’ve allowed you to lead, but once you show them your strength you’ll usher in a new age of prosperity in Bucklin. You’ll be rich beyond your wildest imagination and you won’t have to do this gig forever. Humans will move into town, we’ll start a general election and you’ll be revered as the one who took us out of that 1950s ideal way of living and into the twenty-first century.”

Seth could only smile at the thought. He hadn’t wanted to be alpha at all, but now he was proving his worth as mayor. Before too long there wouldn’t be a need for an alpha and he could move on with his life as a private citizen who had anything he could ever want. He was loving this boardroom intrigue, even if his suit did bother him and cause his skin to break out in certain areas. But nonetheless he’d had a taste of it and he might move into corporate America after taking Bucklin to new heights.

But all of that was him getting ahead of himself. He had to stay firmly grounded in the present. He couldn’t be a hero and save his people without signing the contracts and breaking ground on the casino. The last remnants of the pack system still permeated through the remaining residents of Bucklin. Sure, they could play at being human all they wanted, but their instincts would still take over when it came time to look for a strong leader.

Seth chuckled and shook his head. “You know, it’s funny, William. I’m trying to prove to them what a strong leader I am so that they don’t need me to lead them. So that they can move on to someone not of my bloodline. Isn’t that funny? I’m trying to lead my way right out of the leadership position.”

William gave him that kind, fatherly smile that he had given so many times over the years. “And you know what, my boy? The fact that you realize that shows me how much you’ve grown. I was right to put my trust in you.”

Seth sprang into action as the doors of the conference room flew open. In no time flat he was introducing himself and shaking hands with the triumvirate who had entered the room. The first one he met was the leggy and beautiful Ms. Wilson. He knew immediately that every man in the room was growing stiff at the sight of her—that was why so many of them weren’t willing to jump up and shake her hand. They were content to watch their mayor exchange pleasantries.

“I pray your trip was safe?” Seth asked.

“Easy enough,” Ms. Wilson said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mayor.” She looked him over, sizing his large frame up. “All of you, at that.”

I have to keep my eye on this one.
He could tell just by the look on her face that she wasn’t someone to be trifled with. She tried to flirt and be nice, but Seth could smell the bitchiness in the air. It was hard to hide your true colors from a wolf, especially an alpha wolf whose senses were heightened beyond that of any normal wolf.

Behind Ms. Wilson was a man; at least that’s what he was playing at being. Seth had him pegged the moment he walked in. He didn’t smell like a human; he was more animal than anything else. He was like a wild beast wearing a human’s skin as a disguise. The hair on Seth’s back was standing up as he shook hands with the man. The power he had inside radiated through the handshake and almost forced Seth to shift. The wolf inside of Seth was furious with this intruder. Seth was using all of his concentration to hold the beast down and keep this meeting from devolving into an orgy of blood and violence.

Seth had never met a man like this, one who exuded such raw power and bad intentions. He was a shifter; there was no doubt about that fact. But what was he? He wasn’t a werewolf. Seth had never smelled this kind of creature before. He wasn’t a wolf, he wasn’t a bear and he damn sure wasn’t a big cat of any kind.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mayor,” he said. “I’m Jacko, head of security.”

“Nice to meet you, Mister…” Seth trailed off, waiting for a last name.

“Let’s just stick with Jacko, shan’t we?”

Seth nodded and laughed, clapping him on the back. “Jacko it is.”

Behind them was a woman looking at the ground trying to avoid all eye contact. As Seth’s eyes fell on her his wolf began to stir, but this time in a more positive manner. He could feel a tingle radiating over his entire body as his eyes traced the line of every lush curve she had. This wasn’t the kind of woman he expected to be attracted to. Her suit jacket barely hid a rather large waist and her cheeks were chubby and round like a cherub’s. But here he was, fighting to keep his cock from standing at attention, barely concealed by the thin material of his suit pants.

She had plain brown hair that hung limply to her shoulders, but her big brown eyes were enough to draw him in and keep him interested in the rest. She had round, full lips that he found himself imagining working their way up and down the shaft of his full manhood. She had buttoned her top all the way up, but it did little to hide the monstrous breasts she was hiding behind the shirt. They had to be among the largest Seth had ever seen. His eyes continued to follow the lines of her curves, all the way down to the thick legs that poked out from under her skirt. Thick legs that he wanted wrapped around his waist, squeezing for dear life as he parted her moist folds with his purple head, ready to unleash all the pent-up sexual energy he had directly into her channel.

As they shook hands he could feel the sweat in her palms and sense the nervousness that was radiating off her. She was scared, afraid of the big bad wolf who had a grip on her hand. He wanted to pull her in close and tell her it would be alright, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He wanted their bodies pressed together as he comforted her and made her feel at ease with him and his people. Then maybe her hands would move to unbuckle his pants and slide into them….

“Mr. Moxley?” the enchanting chubby goddess asked.

“Yes?” he said, snapping back into the present. He could feel everyone’s eyes upon him, even a few giggles as they noticed the bulge in the front of his trousers.

“I said I’m Maribel Hernandez. The risk analyst.”

“I’m Seth,” he said, motioning for her to sit. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Hernandez.”

Seth was practically hunched over as he made his way back around the table, trying to hide the after-effects of Maribel’s curvaceous spell. No woman had ever done this to him before; this was unexpected and at the same time thrilling. But as he took his seat he closed his eyes and tried to focus. He needed to get through this meeting and get the deal done. Then Ms. Wilson would distribute the press releases and the groundbreaking ceremony would be set—if he could just think with the head on his shoulders and not the one between his legs.

But as Ms. Wilson droned on about corporate synergy and thinking of the town as a business instead of a municipality, he found his eyes wandering across the table to Maribel—sweet and innocent Maribel. She hadn’t said anything to indicate that she deserved that descriptor, but he could just tell by smelling her. And how wonderful did she smell? It brought him back to his days as a puppy frolicking on a beautiful spring day. He wanted to be a kid again—he felt like a kid again just looking at her and thinking about holding her hand as they watched the stars.

“So, that’s pretty much it,” Ms. Wilson said, bringing him back once again into the here and now. “We just need Mr. Moxley’s signature and we’ll be able to move forward on this plan. We can do the groundbreaking next week, when all the local media are here. The mayor is obviously a strong and imposing figure. He’ll look great on television and he’ll instantly garner respect from those who watch on television.”

Seth looked across the table at Maribel to catch her thoughts on that description. She was thumbing through a folder, but he caught the hint of a smile at the corner of her lips which brought out his own smile.

“See!” William said. “He’s already thinking about the fame. The boy is a born politician. Why don’t we have a few babies out there for him to kiss, too?”

“One thing at a time,” Ms. Wilson said with the fakest, flirtiest giggle Seth had ever heard. It was enough to make his stomach churn and he fought not to roll his eyes.

“Well, thank you for that, Ms. Wilson,” Seth said. “How about we sign these contracts? We can’t do anything until it’s in ink, right?”

“Of course,” Ms. Wilson said, dropping a stack of papers in front of Seth.

It took almost as long as the first part of the meeting for Seth to sign everything, and he began to hate the phrase “initial here” as spoken by Ms. Wilson. Soon the words lost all meaning, his hand went numb and he was running on complete autopilot, leaving his John Hancock on the paperwork. Luckily William had assured him they had received advance copies and he had vetted everything.

“What’s this security agreement?” Seth asked as they drew to a close.

“That’s for me,” Jacko said, spinning in his chair. “It basically gives me the authority to police how I see fit while I try to protect our investment.”