Dannika Dark - Seven Years

One advantage of making allies among neighboring packs was that they looked out for one another, reported suspicious activity, and were more likely to lend a hand than a rogue was. Not many packs occupied the immediate territory, but Austin had spent time building a rapport with the Packmasters, making them aware of his situation with the human family. Something he would have to start all over again in the new house. There were three packs in his immediate area, and one of them belonged to Church.

Ain’t that a bitch.

Austin tucked his shirt in his jeans and peered into his bedroom, lightly tapping his knuckles on the door. He flipped on the light and stared at an empty bed.

“What the… Reno!” he yelled out, storming down the hall to the living room. “Lynn!”

Denver was lying on the sofa with a bowl of cereal on his bare chest while Maizy sat in front of the TV watching cartoons.

“What the hell, Aus? Chill out. The chicks went to redecorate. They were so excited about buying curtains and shit that Reno drove them out to Walmart about a half hour ago. The twins went to the house to crank on the air, and I’ve just been waiting for you to get your ass out of bed so we can meet up with them.”

“It’s not nice to say bad words,” Maizy reminded him without taking her eyes off the TV. She was already dressed as if she were going somewhere.

Denver’s face turned a little red and he stretched his arms behind his head and set the bowl of cereal down on the end table. “You ready? And PS, the next time you want someone to mark a hundred acres of territory, that’s all you.” Denver shot him a hostile glare before slinging his legs off the sofa and getting up, then walking barefoot toward the bedrooms. “Jericho said he might stop by, but I doubt it. You know how he gets after one of his shows; probably lying in bed drunk and stoned with two hot babes on each arm. Lucky bastard,” he murmured.

The clock read 4:35 a.m. Ordinarily, the men would have slept in, but Lynn was already working her magic to whip some of these lazyasses into shape. Now Austin was starting to look like the slacker.

When Austin sat down to put on his shoes, he looked over at Maizy who leaned back on her hands. The mark on her shoulder blade concerned him as to what fate lay ahead of her. Most of the younger generations of Breed wouldn’t know what it meant, but some would. Austin had never felt so fiercely protective of a child, and that’s when he knew Lynn and Maizy had to stay with him, even if Lexi chose not to.

Human or not, they were his pack.

Maizy peered over her shoulder. “I like you.”

His face softened and his chest tightened a little bit. She might not have looked like Wes, but damn if she didn’t have his smile with the dimples.

Austin walked over, squatted down on one knee, and tied her loose shoelace. “I like you too.”

After I fixed a plate of scrambled eggs and maple bacon for Maizy’s breakfast, I relaxed on the concrete porch step with a glass of orange juice, taking a moment to savor the early morning sunshine before the heat settled in.

In Texas, that meant around ten in the morning.

I had Austin’s cell phone tucked in the back pocket of my shorts so he could get a hold of me if needed. I stressed that he not let my mother overwork herself, but I was glad she had something to keep her occupied after everything that had happened. When my father left us, it destroyed her, and I was worried she might slip into a state of depression like before.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Her ability to find strength through all this allowed me to focus on other matters.

After spending an hour reviewing the documents Charlie left for me, I uploaded the flash drive onto a computer in Austin’s house and emailed a few files to April. I considered having Wheeler review some of the bookkeeping stuff if he had any expertise in this area, which I’m sure he did.

People never got why I liked working at the candy store, and maybe at the time, neither did I. But pieces were locking into place, and now I understood what I didn’t then.

I loved the store, plain and simple. It felt like home. Charlie had been grooming April for the manager position—I could see that now.

Little did I know he had something bigger in store for me. It explained why he’d left me in charge to make decisions I shouldn’t have been making.

My legs were quickly browning in the sun, so I finished my coffee and went inside. Maizy wanted me to paint her nails shell pink. I braided a few strands of my hair, wishing I could wear it more like Ivy did. It suited her in an elegant and lovely way, whereas I would just look childish. I put a few braids in Maizy’s hair because we were going to graduate from Pretty Pigtail Day to Salon Day. After our trip to the Salon of Lexi, we devoured a homemade cheese pizza for lunch.

Austin called to check on me and we chatted for a little while. I laughed when he told me my mom was running the show like a drill sergeant, giving orders on where to paint and what not to touch. She had put Denver in charge of scrubbing the floors.

Austin told me he’d been able to secure the new house so quickly because the couple had moved out a year ago. They hadn’t gone through a realtor, so he’d bought it from them directly.

In cash.

That pretty much earned him the key on day one after signing a few papers and shaking hands.

A few minutes after Maizy went to her room with a book, I dozed off on the brown sofa. I missed lawnmowers, dogs barking, and passing cars—all the vibrant sound effects associated with living in the city.

The phone in my back pocket startled me and I answered in my sleepy voice. “Hello?”

“I hoped you would answer,” Lorenzo replied.

“Hi, cousin,” I grumbled, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I walked into the atrium and closed the sliding glass door behind me so I wouldn’t bother my sister with our conversation, in case she had fallen asleep. “Why are you calling Austin’s number?”

“Because you returned my phone and I had no way to get in touch with you. I was going to give Cole a piece of my mind, but I’m glad it’s you. Is he taking care of your needs?”

“I take care of myself,” I said, crossing my ankles and leaning back in the lawn chair.

“I hope you took care of yourself when you were in heat. Is that over?”

I held the phone away from my ear and looked up at the sky with my palms up. Why me? These guys thought my libido was appropriate table conversation to bring up while discussing their favorite beer or what’s on TV.

“Alexia?” he called out.

“I’m here. All that’s over with so, yeah. I don’t really want to discuss it.”

“Fair enough, but one day, you’re going to tell me everything that happened. I hope Austin warned you that you shouldn’t have sex while in heat unless you want to get pregnant. That’s what your body is preparing for, and a baby will tie you to him permanently.”

He was trying to get me to fess up either way on what happened. I decided to whistle instead.

A deep chuckle filled the other end of the line. “I get the point. Have you decided if you want to join a pack or are you stalling?”

“What do you have to offer?”

I was only kidding, but Lorenzo switched to his business voice and decided to give me his best sales pitch. “My property is five hundred acres and I own two more lots on the other side of the city. As I’ve told you before, I control a large pack. That means safety and protection for the females who live among us. My men follow orders or there are consequences. I left two of those consequences on your porch the other day.” He paused so I could get his full meaning. “We have sixteen bitches in the pack and eleven are mated.”

“To you?” I asked in an irritated tone.

“No one is mated to me, but three share my bed when they are willing. No other male can touch the ones I’ve claimed. There’s a code we follow and no one is forced to do anything against their will.”

“One isn’t enough?”

I heard the clicking of his teeth. I’m sure he was figuring out how to answer that one without digging himself in a hole, because Lorenzo didn’t really know my stance on such things. He’d never asked me out on a date or bothered to question what my favorite food was or what I enjoyed doing on the weekends.

“All I’m saying, Lorenzo, is that most women don’t want to share any more than you men want to share. They may seem okay with it, but if you married one of them, I can guarantee you she wouldn’t be okay with it. It’s not in our nature to share our man.”

“Which is why I haven’t mated. I’m not asking you to be my life mate, Alexia. I want you to keep my bed warm.”

“Not if someone else has kept it warm for me. And besides that—”

“If you bring up the cousin thing one more time, I’m going to come over there, throw you over my shoulder, and bring you home with me. We’re not related by blood, so let’s drop it. Are you wearing shorts?”

I glanced down. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

He laughed darkly. “I just wanted the mental image of what you’d be wearing while I was wearing you over my shoulder.”

“Someday you’re going to find a woman who doesn’t like it when you talk like that.”

“Suffice it to say I’ve never had any complaints from a woman when it comes to the private words I whisper in her ear.”

I glanced up at a red-tailed hawk spreading his wings across the blue sky and piercing the silence with a scream.

“This is who I am,” he continued. “I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t accept that I’m a feared and respected man.”