Claws (18 page)

Vivvie feigned indifference when Eli
told her Jericho was coming home. She snuggled Justice in her lap,
sorrowful for the latest incident where Elaina and Devon pushed him
into the creek behind the house.

Vivvie dove in to save her drowning
child and knew real fear as she pulled him out lifeless in her
jaws, growling in fury at her scattering children on the bank. Even
if he regenerated quickly, her heart couldn’t take it. Justice was
a mark for torment in her household. He had to go with Jericho
before it got more obvious to her husband.

She managed to keep much from him. He
was busy running the compound and his company these days, not home
to see them all gang up on her son. She counted the days with dread
until he left her, knowing the little boy deserved to have some
peace too.

Justice knew her moods and his sad eyes
met hers. He snuggled down into the crook of her arm, as if knowing
his days were numbered. He was withdrawn and stayed to himself now,
hiding in the laundry basket in her room to stay away from the
others.

“Did he say why he was coming back?”
she asked as she tickled Justice’s tummy, rewarded when her son bit
at her hand, showing more spark than she’d seen in him all
day.

Eli grinned and rolled his eyes. “You
know Jericho, babe. Who knows why he had a change of heart. He
claims he left some important things behind. Things needing tending
to.”

Vivvie knew what those things were and
said nothing, putting down her son who immediately bolted under the
couch when he spied Devon moving in for the kill. She was glad Eli
didn’t notice as he leafed through his mail, leaving her for his
den.

She sent Devon a fierce glare and
snatched him up and tossed him out on the deck. Justice peeked out
and she could see his fear. Elaina and the other girls were
upstairs. She patted the carpet and the panther kitten ran to
her.

Vivvie carried him to her room and set
him on the bed. He soon curled up on a pillow and slept. She shut
the door to her room and went outside in the backyard, regarding
her oldest son with a scowl and a fierce growl that made him cringe
as she bore down on him, fangs elongated in anger.

“You aren’t Chief yet, my son,” she
said with a hiss as she cornered him on the deck. “You will leave
your brother alone or so help me I will have you declawed and
neutered. Do you understand me?”

Devon’s head went down at that but the
hair still stood up on his back, reminding her he was very much an
Alpha. The low growls dwindled and she returned to the
kitchen.

~ ~ ~

Vivvie drove Elaina and Devon to school
that first day, smiling to see two very normal-looking children in
the backseat. They grew fast over the months and looked like any
other kindergartners with their shiny new shoes and bright,
colorful backpacks. Shifting wasn’t allowed in school.

Elaina’s dark curls were pinned at the
sides with barrettes and her new pink dress made her look adorable.
Devon wore jeans. He pouted to wear a button down shirt instead of
a Denver Bronco’s tee-shirt his Father bought him. She smiled to
hear him growl most of the way.

Her son was a miniature of Eli and an
Alpha all the way. He was as defiant as ever these days, and if not
for Eli, she’d make good her threats to neuter him. He left Justice
alone and for that she was relieved.

Elaina on the other hand, the
instigator of the pair, soon picked up where her brother left off.
She took to tormenting Justice right off, luring him into the dryer
the day before. Vivvie caught her before she could nudge it on with
her nose.

The pair was warned but that meant
nothing. Margie and Izzie had all day to do their worst. Justice
was becoming sullen and withdrawn as a result, clinging to her and
getting scornful hisses from the others.

Eli suggested he go stay with his
grandpa for awhile. She hated the fact Jericho was right. Eli would
handle matters at home like he did within the tribe, thinking of
keeping the peace.

Justice sat in the backseat looking out
the window, mewling softly as if he knew he wasn’t going home with
her. She fought tears as she arrived at the compound, knowing it
was for the best. She leashed him and walked Elaina and Devon to
class.

The pretty young woman who met her at
the classroom door was a loaner teacher from Florida. Her pale
blonde hair was cut in a stylish bob Vivvie envied. She promised to
stay on for only the school year until another could be found. Her
name was Erin and Vivvie liked her immediately seeing she had
Jericho’s traits too.

Erin bent down and petted Justice and
frowned as she sniffed at him, regarding Vivvie questioningly.
Devon and Elaina hugged her goodbye and ran into the classroom,
sparing her from having to answer Erin’s obvious
questions.

Jericho turned out to be her
grandfather, she informed her as they chatted. She knew Justice was
of her bloodline too. Erin smiled and stood up, showing no surprise
to know one of her grandfather’s young were in Vivvie’s new litter.
It happened all the time. None made much of a fuss over
it.

“We’ll have this little guy in here in
no time,” Erin said instead and Vivvie breathed a sigh of
relief.

“Is Jericho teaching today?” she asked
the schoolteacher.

“My grandpa teaches the older ones,”
Erin replied and smiled in such a way that made Vivvie feel as
though she saw through her. “He’s in the education office if you
were looking for him.”

Vivvie left her, imagining what
thoughts she must have. Justice looked up at her and mewled,
knowing when she was upset. She tugged him along to the education
office. Jericho sat at his desk with his reading glasses on, his
hair tied back in a ponytail. He dressed in a white golf shirt with
the school logo and khaki’s.

He looked up when she came in, yellow
green eyes glowing at the sight of her. He got up behind his desk
and came over to her, looking down at Justice with a wide grin. He
bent and scooped up his son and cuddled him, sniffing him
appreciatively. Justice was soon purring and sniffing him
back.

“Thank you, Vivvie,” he said as he held
his son. Justice seemed content with his Father and at ease. “I
know this is going to be an adjustment, but you’ll see it was the
right thing to do.”

“I’m just going to miss him,” Vivvie
said and felt tears sting her eyes as she saw Justice basking in
his Father’s arms. “I think Erin knows.”

“She knows he’s of my bloodline by
scent, Vivvie,” he explained and smiled. “Don’t give it away.
Nobody knows for sure and none would say anything. None of them
have room to talk.”

“Have you looked into the legends to
see how we can get rid of this demon?” she asked to take her mind
off leaving Justice.

Jericho put Justice down on the floor
and shook his head. “The old legends say nothing. It was promised
tribute and that’s what it wants. It won’t be satisfied with less.
I think it’s fair to say we’re stuck with it.”

“What about this thing with
Tania?”

“The demon wanted her,” Jericho said
coolly. “She promised it you to save her own neck. I say we give
her to the creature. It would serve her right.”

“It will have her gift then. Don’t you
see that as dangerous? What if it comes after us in our dreams
later on?”

“Vivvie, it won’t go away unless it has
something to chew on,” Jericho replied and sat back behind his
desk. “Do you have a better idea?”

“No, I don’t. How do you plan to go
about this?”

“She conjured the demon. It didn’t just
wind up back in our world. It was let in, by her, I’m assuming. We
give her to it and show it the door. That’s the best plan I
have.”

“Do you know how to conjure this
demon?” Vivvie asked nervously.

Jericho smiled and sat back, folding
his arms across his wide chest. “I haven’t a clue. I’m going into
Denver to buy some books on Demonology and Witchcraft later today.
Our Tania obviously opened up a can of worms here.”

“She could still tell Eli.”

“Vivvie, if she was going to tell Eli;
she already would have. It’s the tribute she wants and only you can
give it to her.”

“I won’t get pregnant again just to
appease her.”

“You might have to,” he remarked and
Vivvie looked sick at his words. “Vivvie, you play a dangerous game
with a dangerous woman. She gets what she wants in all things. I’ve
known her all her life. Don’t think she won’t do what she has to in
this.”

“What I can’t figure out is what it is
she wants,” Vivvie said and looked angry now. “What could she
possibly want from this demon? What is worth all this?”

Jericho chuckled and shook his head.
“It’s obvious and right in front of your face.”

Vivvie made a face. “I don’t follow you
at all.”

“She wants what she can’t have, Vivvie.
What might that be?”

“Eli?”

Jericho snorted in disgust and rolled
his eyes. “Think, will you? What could she want that only this
demon can give her? It’s what we would all want if we could have
it.”

“Humanity?” Vivvie asked incredulously
and saw she hit the nail on the head. “She wants to be human again.
But why?”

Jericho looked sad. “Ask me that again
in a hundred years, Vivvie. When you are a great-great grandmother
yourself with nothing else to live for. You will know how she
thinks.”

“But I don’t understand,” Vivvie said
in dumbfounded amazement. “Why would she want to go back to
being…so…ordinary?”

“Wouldn’t you after being with us these
last nine months?” he challenged and Vivvie agreed
readily.

She would give anything to be that OCD
driven girl she’d been back in Sebastian, with all her flaws and
weaknesses. Her life was easier then. She’d hardly ever realized
what a blessing that was until she was bitten by Ryken. Now she was
the slutty cat lady she’d always joked about being.

“The demon won’t give it to her,”
Vivvie said sadly. “She would sell us all down the river for
nothing.”

“That’s more than enough reason to do
this.”

Vivvie leaned down and petted their
son, still saddened to leave him. “Let me know when you’re ready to
call up this demon.”

Jericho grinned and rolled his eyes. “I
can’t believe I agreed to do this. Do you realize how dangerous
this is? I’m no shaman, Vivvie.”

“You’re all we have right now,
Jericho,” she pointed out.

“I’ll let you know what I come up with
in a few days.”

Justice purred and wove in and out of
her legs now, wanting to get up. She felt like her heart was
breaking by leaving him. He belonged with his Father. Jericho would
give him the confidence he sorely lacked as an Alpha right now. She
couldn’t baby him anymore.

She was grateful when Jericho picked
him up so she could leave. A choked feeling hit her when she was
back in her car. She was too emotional to see Eli and skipped going
to his office.

Once home, she went in the bathroom and
cried her eyes out while Margie and Izzie took their naps. She was
drained when she left the bathroom and saw the light flashing on
the answering machine. She hit play and heard Ty’s
voice.

“Vivvie, this is Ty. Call me when you
get this. We have a problem.”

She frowned and dialed the compound in
Florida. He answered on the first ring.

“What’s going on, Ty?”

“Derek is back,” Ty told her quietly.
“He was in your home town recently. A young man and his girlfriend
were reported missing. I believe you know a guy named Kevin Moore
and his girlfriend, Lenore Messner?”

“Missing? What do you mean their
missing?”

“Vivvie, there’s one of us on the loose
in Sebastian. There’s evidence to suggest this person knows you.
Why else would they target your ex?” Ty queried.

Vivvie frowned and gulped. Kevin and
Lennie were missing? What if it were just a coincidence?

“Dina and Rachel are dead. Nobody at
the diner came into contact with Ryken and Dean. I didn’t have a
lot of friends, Ty.”

“Vivvie, I think we have to assume Dina
or Rachel is very much alive.”

“Ryken bragged about killing them to
me.”

Ty sighed on the other end. “Most of
the breeders were put down by Derek when he got here, Vivvie. Dina
and Rachel weren’t here, assumed dead. Ryken could have just lied
to you to scare you then.”

“What does this have to do with
me?”

“You need to come back here and help me
track down your old roommate, Vivvie,” Ty told her and she could
tell he wasn’t happy to recruit her. “She’ll come out of hiding to
see you. She took out your ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend for a
reason.”

“You think their dead?”

It went silent on his end for a moment.
“I think we can assume that relationship is resolved for you now,
yes. I smelled signs of death all around the area where they were
last seen. The cops think they just ran off. You’ll agree this
isn’t like the guy to just up and leave?”