The Road to Redemption (24 page)

Stomping up
the steps of the house, she slammed the back door behind her.

“Hey, Sam!”
Jonah called out from the kitchen. “Do you have those apples for
me?”

She didn’t
pause, merely calling over her shoulder. “They’re in the backyard.
Get Damien to bring them in. Unless he’d too afraid to commit to
them, too!”

Sam stared at the spreadsheet that outlined the
month���s expenses and income. The numbers blurred in front of her
eyes, her mind otherwise occupied with Damien. Two days in a row
now, he’d rebuffed her. The scent of his arousal had been obvious
both at the pool hall and under the apple tree, so the question was
why is he so reluctant to admit that he’s attracted to her. It was
damned confusing and neither she nor her wolf could come to a
definitive conclusion as to whether or not the man wanted them. He
responded only to pull away. She knew he found her attractive, had
felt the physical response of his body, so what was the problem?
Yes, he’d mentioned his mate, her dying words, but that had
happened three years ago. No one was that devoted. Were they?

Or maybe he
was. Maybe he really was still madly in love with his dead mate. In
a way, it was admirable, something every female probably dreamed
of; having a man so besotted with you that nothing could cause him
to stray, not even death. Such a male was one in a million and it
made Damien all the more appealing. That was, if she could get him
to transfer that loyalty to her.

A twinge of
guilt pricked her. Did she have the right to go after him? She
hesitated on that point and then shook her head. If his mate had
really loved him, she wouldn’t want him to be alone and unhappy for
the rest of his life. Real love wasn’t that selfish. Reassured, Sam
considered the problem from another point of view.

Perhaps it was
her approach. Perhaps he liked to do the chasing, wanted her to be
timid and shy. She made a face. There was no way she could pull
that off for very long. If that was what he wanted they had no
future together.

Her wolf
twitched its ears angrily.
We are not giving up.

“I didn’t say
we were.”

You were
thinking it.
The creature pointed out.
But that’s not the
answer. I can sense both him and his wolf. They are confused but
interested, so we must continue the pursuit.

“It’s not like
we’re chasing him through the wilderness, you know.”

Of course
not. We’ll chase him through the back alleys.
Her wolf looked
smug as it settled down, for the moment content to dream of
pursuing Damien through the city before cornering him in a dead-end
alley. The ensuing fight would be exhilarating and, of course,
could only end one way.

Sam had
serious doubts about the plan even if the mental image appealed.
Giving her head a shake, she once again tried to concentrate on
more pressing matters, such as the pack’s finances. She was just
settling in to the task when a knock on the door interrupted her
train of thought. Biting back a sigh of frustration, she gave
permission to enter.

“How are the
books looking this month?” Jonah wandered in and sat down opposite
her.

It wasn’t a
secret from any of the members that they were in financial straits.
Everyone pooled their resources from their ‘human’ jobs and she
felt it only fair to let them know the state of things.

“We’re in the
black…barely. The bookcase I sold allowed me to pay our bills.”

“Have you
mentioned the sale to your grandfather yet?”

“You’d have
heard him yelling if I had.” She leaned back in her chair and
folded her hands behind her head. “He hasn’t been out of his room
in ages and with how I’ve rearranged the furniture, I don’t think
he’d notice even if he did come out…or at least, not right away.
And with any luck, I’d have time to take cover!”

“Would he
really be that upset?” Jonah mimicked her pose; there was no strict
formality between her and her pack mates, unlike the protocols some
of the older Alphas imposed.

“My
grandmother loved those antiques, so yeah, he’d have a fit.” She
grimaced, imagining the fallout, but sentimentality didn’t pay the
bills. For the most part, she played things straight with her
grandfather, but there were a few topics that were best avoided.
Their financial status was one of them.

Samuel Harper
had had a…unique…book keeping system, and she’d been hard pressed
to figure out where their money had gone when she’d finally taken
over that part of the job. It was puzzling given that he was so
meticulous in most other areas. And when she’d asked him, he’d
merely grumbled that research into infertility had taken a lot of
it. She’d finally decided he simply wasn’t a numbers man. After
all, it didn’t really matter; the facts remained the same. They’d
owed a ton of money in back taxes and their utilities were on the
verge of being shut off. She’d done what was needed to keep a roof
over their heads and was now trying to build some financial
security for the future.

She looked at
the man sitting across from her. Jonah was in his mid-thirties,
both he and his mate, Laurie, were lifelong members of the pack.
What would happen to them and the others if there was no money to
support them in their old age? And even now, it cut her to the core
to have to deny them. They’d yet to produce any pups; another
couple falling victim to the genetic flaw most seemed to carry.
While they’d talked of adopting, parentless Lycan pups were rare
and there wasn’t money to pay for more fertility testing.

Feeling
guilty, she gave him an extra warm smile. “What can I do for
you?”

“I wanted to
let you know that I switched patrols with Hiram. He and Damien are
working on rewiring the kitchen and, since I’m a hazard when it
comes to repairs, I said I’d do an extra shift.”

“It’s fine
with me. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.” Sam shuffled a few
files, found the duty roster and made a notation of the change.
“Was there something else?”

Jonah
hesitated before speaking. “I made no secret regarding my
reservations about taking on a rogue, but Damien seems like a
decent guy. I’ve seen him talking with Hiram, asking him his
opinion on how to fix a few things around the house. Makes Hiram
feel good, you know?”

“I know.” Sam
nodded. She’d seen the same thing. For a rogue, Damien had a soft
spot for the older members and went out of his way to talk to
them.

Her wolf gave
her a nudge.
See? This is why we need to continue our efforts.
Damien is what we need and what the pack needs as well.

“Anyway, I
wanted you to know that I’ve changed my mind about him.” Jonah
stood up. “I have to get to work now.”

“Evening shift
this month, isn’t it?” She flicked a glance at the chart she kept
with everyone’s schedule. Given that most of the members had jobs,
she had to make sure their pack duties didn’t conflict with their
employment.

“Yep. I have
to shower before I head over to the restaurant.” He pushed out of
the chair and left with a casual wave. Jonah worked as a chef at a
local restaurant. Too bad he shared his culinary expertise with his
pack mates only once every two weeks. She was on kitchen duty
tonight and knew the wieners and beans she’d planned were
pathetic.

Her computer
chimed indicating she’d received a message and Sam shifted her
chair bringing it closer to the screen in order to check her email.
It was from Lycan Link. Probably nothing important, but reading a
dry newsletter was much more appealing than tackling the budget or
working on dinner. Clicking on the message, she started to lean
back only to freeze in place as she realized it was from OPATA, a
division of Lycan Link. The word ‘urgent’ followed by her
grandfather’s name had her pulse beginning to race. This wasn’t
some general news release.

Leaning
forward, she began to read.

“
The Office
of Pack Administration and Territory Allotment wishes to inform you
that Kane Sinclair, current Alpha of Smythston, Oregon, has
officially filed a request to take over the Chicago pack.”

Her chest
tightened and a cold feeling washed over her before settling in the
pit of her stomach. She’d been expecting this, dreading it, hoping
against hope, but to actually see it on the screen before her…

Swallowing the
sick feeling that rose in her throat, she tried to read more but
her vision blurred with fear…and anger. Fear had no place in her
life so she grabbed onto the anger, dragging it to the foreground
and whipping it into a fury.

“Hell and
damnation!” She shoved her chair back and began to pace the small
room. “Kane Sinclair, if you were here, I’d grab you by the neck
and…” She clamped her mouth shut, allowing her imagination to run
wild with the unspeakable things she’d like to do to the
bastard.

Running her
hands through her hair, she kicked the chair before exhaling. Calm
down. This isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of the fight. She
had a few tricks up her sleeve and the Harpers weren’t going down
without one hell of a fight. What she needed to do was to see what
he was building his case on.

Returning to
her desk, she read the remainder of the message.

Sinclair
claimed there were too few members to carry out the required duties
for a territory of this size. Patrols, safety, resource management,
economic development… Was the man crazy? Chicago was a city, not
some backwoods territory that needed economic development!

There was a
tap on the door and she glanced up to see Damien there, a look of
concern on his face.

“Can I come
in?” He’d heard her cursing—louder than usual, that is—and both he
and his wolf had felt the need to seek her out. He’d been reluctant
to give in to the instinctive pull. It smacked too much of having
an emotional connection to her and that wasn’t possible; his heart
and soul already belonged to someone else. Hadn’t he reminded her,
and himself, of that yesterday? Yet at the same time, the antsy
feeling had demanded action, and now, almost against his will, he
found himself outside her office door.

She waved him
in distractedly, no hint that she was still upset with him. That
was one good thing about Sam Harper; she blew up but then it was
over. No holding a grudge.

“Something
wrong?” It couldn’t be young Chris; the kid wasn’t even home from
school yet.

“Hmm? Yeah.”
Her eyes were still focused on the computer screen.

“Anything I
can do?” He perched on the edge of her desk, forcing his hand to
remain loosely at his side despite the fact that he wanted to give
her a comforting touch.

“No. Yes. I
don’t know.” She dragged her hands through her hair, finally
looking at him. “That ass, Sinclair, has issued an official
takeover request.”

“Really?”
Damien stood up and went to look out the window, guilt making him
feel caged in. He shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Kane had
finally made his move. “On what grounds?”

“Too few
members to handle the responsibilities.”

He made a
non-committal sound. It was a legitimate point, one he’d confirmed
for Kane.

“It’s complete
crap, of course. My pack and I take excellent care of the area. We
never slack off on patrols, we keep an eye on any shifters in the
area and—”

Damien
interrupted. He knew how hard she worked and didn’t need her to
point it out to him. “So, what are you going to do?” Turning to
face her, he kept his expression bland as she sifted through the
papers on her desk before pulling out a page. It was a copy of the
month’s duty roster.

“Prove he has
no grounds for his claim.” She tapped some keys on her computer and
files appeared on the screen. “I have it all here and just have to
update this past week; a list of duties, the pack members who
carried them out, dates… Crap.”

“What’s
wrong?” He stepped closer and peered over her shoulder.

“You aren’t
listed as an official pack member. That’s the sort of thing
Sinclair will pounce on.”

He silently
agreed. Kane was an expert at finding minute inconsistencies in
reports. It was how the man had managed to get the Black Devils out
of trouble on several occasions when youthful antics had put them
at odds with the Academy’s version of campus police.

“At least it’s
an easy fix. I can edit this report, add your name to the
membership…” She paused and glanced his way. “When I hired you, you
were Dante Esparza, but now….?”

“Damien
Masterson will do.” There’d been no point in making up a new
identity for such a short period of time. Kane would take over the
pack in a matter of weeks and he’d be on his way.

She typed in
his name then scrunched her face. “Masterson? That suddenly sounds
familiar. Like I’ve seen it come across my desk before.”

He shrugged.
No doubt his name had passed over her screen in one of Lycan Link’s
newsletters. There wouldn’t have been a lot of information, though.
Rogue Enforcers tended to be kept hush-hush so the general Lycan
population didn’t panic. Details would only have been given out on
a need to know basis. And if Dante had been telling the truth, he’d
been pardoned, so the record would have been purged. “Just a name I
pulled out of a hat.”

“Hmm…”
Thankfully, she seemed more concerned about her report than double
checking his story. She continued to enter data into her computer
and then leaned back, a satisfied smile on her face. “There. We’re
now up one member. It’ll even give the impression that the pack is
growing.”

“Why isn’t it?
Growing that is?”

“I told you.
Infertility.” Sam didn’t even look his way, tapping a pen on her
chin as she studied her duty roster.

“I know, but
what about recruiting new members? It seems to me that would be an
easy fix to the number problem. And new members would add to your
gene pool which would dilute the genetic flaw.”