Loving Her (Keeping Her) (4 page)

"Took you long
enough."  The old lady said.

"Essie.  What are you
doing here?"  Demon asked coming at them from behind while they turned
from the gate.

"Got somethin' for
you."

"Did your Alpha send
you?"

"Hah.  Mangy wolf
never was my Alpha.  Last Alpha I recognized was your grandfather."

"Then why are you
here?"

"Didn't know your grandfather
was my brother did you?"

That shut Demon up.  Seeing
his face, she cackled, thumping her cane against the ground for emphasis.  Then
she patted the little girl that was hanging onto her dress.  "This here's
Roxanne.  She was git by your mother’s cousin.  That makes her kin to you and
me and since I'm movin' on, I'm leavin' her to you."

Demon growled.  "Come
again?"

"Her mother passed,
years back."  Her tone said he was slow.  "Girl here needs pack that
she can trust.  That's you and your mate.  I was a bit worried when I heard she
was human, but when those wolves you sent back got through tellin' how she
handled Clancy, it put my mind to rest."

"You can't just give
us a child."

"Can.  And I got other
news you need to hear right enough.  Think we can get to the neighborly part of
the visit yet?"

Demon looked from her to
the little girl.  He remembered seeing her at his mother’s funeral.  She still
looked like she'd been rolling in the dirt but someone had washed a swath off
her face in some kind of pathetic effort to make her presentable.  Once again,
he was put in mind of a baby angel.  Her face was expressionless, but her hand
was white knuckled around Essie’s dress.  She was so tiny in her grubby blue
jeans and sneakers that he felt like an ogre beside her.

"Open the gate
Mac," he said, and the gate opened to show Mac standing on the other side.

"How did you get
here?"  Demon asked, looking around for a vehicle that wasn't there.

"Had the taxi drop us
off.  Figured I'd stay a few days to make sure you all aren't having wild
orgies or consorting with the devil and such."

"Well,” Mac looked
from her to the little girl.  "As long as you have standards."

***

After introducing Mac, and
learning that the child’s name was Roxanne, and wasn't that a mouthful for a
kid, they headed in to Clytie, who didn't know she was going to be a mother.

Ben opened the front door
and smiled winningly at the guests.

Essie sniffed.  "Tom
Cat," she said dismissively, motioning him away as if she was shooing away
the help. 

Ben opened the door wide
and gestured her in.  "Grandma Clampet."  He smiled at Roxanne who
followed close behind.  "And this lovely young thing must be Ellie
May."  He smiled again, this time sincerely, winking at the shy girl.

"Humph," Essie
snorted.  "You see this, girl?" she asked, directing Roxanne to get a
good look at Ben with a sweep of her gnarled hand.  "You stay away from
this one.  Pretty boys are nothing but trouble.  And the prettier they are the
worse trouble they are."  She paused for a moment looking him over with
pursed lips.  "This one could very well be the devil."  Then she
whacked at him with her cane forcing him to jump back.  "Don't need
anybody holding my door, I ain't infirm."

"Except in the head,"
Ben muttered, as she passed with the now wide-eyed Roxanne.

"What was that?” 
Essie stopped and looked him over with a squinty eye. 

"I said:  It's just
ahead."  His voice was overly loud this time-as if he was trying to
communicate with space-loud.

She humphed, and barreled
on, dragging the young girl behind her.

Ben looked at Mac, and then
they both looked at Demon.

"I know," he
growled with feeling.  Then they all turned to head for the kitchen, in sync,
like they were marching into battle.

When they got there,
Roxanne was already sitting at the kitchen island, devouring her cookies and
milk as if she was afraid it would be snatched away any minute.  Her cheeks
bulged chipmunk wide with food and her eyes were going from Cassandra to Clytie
and back again.  Like she'd never seen angels before.  Demon could relate. 
They were a pretty sight, moving around his kitchen.

"It's so nice to meet
some of Demon’s family," Clytie was saying, while Essie devoured another
cookie, and watched in amazement as crumbs flew in all directions.  It was a
race to see who could eat the most cookies the fastest, the little girl or the
hag.  For Demon’s part, he'd put money on the hag.  "Will you be able to
stay for dinner?"  Clytie finished after an amazed pause.

"Staying a bit.  A few
days, a week maybe.  Gotta make sure my girls going to a good home."

Clytie blinked a few times,
looked from Essie to Roxanne, then turned to Demon, her voice a bit high. 
"Demon, can I talk to you for a minute?  Now."

He sighed, then turned and
followed her to the courtyard; as soon as she had them closed off in the
garden, she raised a brow.

"Is there something
you want to tell me?"

"Like what?"

"Hmm.  Let me think. 
Like why there's a crazy woman with a six year old in our kitchen acting like
we're keeping her."

"Six?"  Demon
muttered, "Huh.  I thought she was maybe twelve."

Clytie rolled her eyes. 
"She's like three feet tall; how could you think she was twelve?  That's
beside the point."  She hurried on, holding up her hands to halt any
extended explanation.  "Why is a child you obviously don't know finding a
home here?"

"She's a cousin or
something."  He shrugged, like that was answer enough.  "But I don't
know shit about kids so it'll have to be up to you."

Clytie breathed all the air
out of her lungs in one go.  "Come again?”  She asked wheezing. 
"She's not a puppy.  There are legalities, where are her parents?  You
can't just decide to keep a child you've never seen before."

"Parents are dead. 
Essie’s her guardian, she's giving her to us; we'll have Eli make up some
papers to make it legal.  Find her a school, I guess.  Do they go to school at
six?  She seems awful little for that." 

"Demon!  You're
talking like we're keeping her.  Like we're going to be her parents, suddenly,
out of the blue.  Just like that."  She snapped her fingers in his face
and sounded hysterical, so Demon pulled her into his arms where she clung,
breathing like racehorse.

  "You don't want
her?  We could send her on with Essie, but I don't like the idea of that teeny
tiny little thing growing up with the Bone Crusher Pack.  Fuck heads would ruin
her."

Clytie pulled back to look
at his face.  For Demon, it was a simple equation.  The child was better off
with them so she'd stay, and they'd make it work.  Done.  After a minute, she
realized he wasn't wrong about that.  Clytie got her breath back then Demon
spoke and she lost it all over again.

"If it was just me,
I'd be worried too, but you're here.  Nobody better than you.  Kid'll think she
died and went to heaven to live with an angel."

"Demon...”  She
started as soon as she could speak, but had to take a breath and start again. 
"I'd be very proud to raise any child with you."

He pulled her back into his
arms.  He cleared his suddenly ragged throat.  "Well...  I figure you'll
raise her.  What the fuck do I know about girls?"

"Very little," she
murmured, then laughed when he reached down and spanked her. 

"Then when she's
older,” he continued without pause, "me and Ben and Mac will teach her to
handle herself.  And of course, we’ll all beat the shit out of any boys that
try to come around."

Clytie laughed again. 
"Of course." 

He held her for a minute,
then he just couldn't help himself, he breathed deep of her hair.  "You
smell really good," he growled, his hands moving to her ass.  She slapped
his arm and moved away fast. 

"No Demon,” she said,
giggling and making her way back to the door.  "We have guests."

"They have
cookies."

"No."  Then she
was gone.  Her sweet scent and laughter trailing behind. 

He growled out his
frustration, but had to wait a minute before he could follow without
traumatizing his new kid.

***

When Clytie returned to the
kitchen the cookies were long gone, and Cassandra had such a strange look on
her face, either she had just seen an alien, or she was trying hard not to
laugh.  Ben and Mac were on either side of her behind the counter.  Mac was leaning
over the counter on his forearms, Cassandra standing beside him, holding her
coffee.  Ben was drinking his coffee behind and to the right of her, leaning
against the sink.  All three were watching Essie expound on her political
views.  Roxanne was yawning, sagging on her stool.

"The government will
stick it to you every time.  Look at that thing they did to the water.  Do you
know we never got to vote on that?  They just added chlorine to our drinking
water without so much as a 'by your leave.'  It’s disgraceful."  She
slammed her cane to the ground.  "It's un-American."

"No!"  Ben said
exaggerating sympathy and stepping up to stand way too close to Cassie, placing
his cup on the counter.  "Why, that's chlorination without
representation!" 

Cassie had just taken a
drink, and snorted her coffee.  Covering her mouth with her hand, and gasping
an apology through her laugh, she turned her back to the room and leaned over
the sink, trying hard not to laugh aloud.

"Why don't we find
Roxanne a bed to nap in?  It looks like she's almost down for the count,"
Clytie said, valiantly containing her own humor.

"Could use one myself,"
Essie said, standing.  "Sleep more in the day than at night these
days."

"Most vampires do,” Ben
muttered.

"Ey!?  What was
that?"  She looked back at him with a beady glare.

"I said: I'm tired too,"
he said, loud enough to have Roxanne jerking awake.  Cassandra was still facing
the sink, but you could see her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Tricky damn cat,"
Essie grumbled, turning to follow Clytie out the door and whacking her cane at
her to move her out of the way.  Demon was just suddenly there, standing behind
and over Clytie, gripping the cane before it could strike.  He held it, his
eyes narrowed on Essie while she struggled to pull it back from his iron grip. 

Cassandra had turned from
the sink when she felt the tension in the room skyrocket behind her.  She had
missed the intended strike but from the way every man in the room was suddenly
supremely pissed, she could guess what was happening.  She held her breath
while Demon and Essie waged a silent battle over the cane.  Finally, Essie
admitted defeat releasing the cane and stepping back.  After making her wait,
Demon handed her back the cane.

"I don't want to have
this discussion again," he growled.

"I'll show you to a
room."  Clytie said softly, leading Essie out.  Demon walked over and
picked Roxanne up off her stool, her eyes widened in panic. 

"Easy runt," he said,
his voice gruff.  "We're going with Clytie and Essie to your room before
you fall over."  She was so light, he worried she'd float right out of his
arms.  But he didn't want to hold her too hard and crush her either, so he
thrust her up on his shoulder and held on to her feet so she wouldn't fall. 

Cassandra wanted to laugh
again when the little girl looked around for the first time from her new
height.  She started to teeter and grabbed Demons ear, making him wince.  He
said not a word, just carried her out of the room and up the stairs following
Clytie and a more subdued Essie. 

When they were out of
sight, Cassie turned and looked at Ben and Mac, who were both watching her. 
"Is it always this exciting around here?"

Despite what she expected,
Cassie had no trouble sleeping that night, or any of the following nights.  There
was no more talk of her leaving anytime soon, and since the guys had toned it
back for her sake, for the first time in her life, she was content just to go
with the flow.  Unlike the last few months of her life, she felt safe here;
more herself even.  It made her realize how much of her own personality she had
been burying with Marcus even before the trouble started.  He had never made
her laugh, not like Ben did, or made her feel soft and womanly the way Mac
did.  Or seemed to just enjoy talking to her, touching her, the way they both
did.

Watching Clytie and Demon
was an inspiration.  It was clear from every moment they spent together how
they felt about each other.  In all the years that Cassandra and Clytie had
been friends, as well as cousins, she had never seen her just be comfortable in
her own skin; not like this.  And watching Demon be as crazy as he obviously
was, clearly he wasn't pretending to be anyone else either.  What you saw was
what you got with those too.  They fit together; it just worked with them, so
well that it gave Cassie hope for herself.

At the same time, she knew that
to take such a chance with her own heart would be either the bravest, or the
stupidest thing she ever did.  More and more, as the days wore on it was harder
to imagine a life that didn't include Mac and Ben.  Eventually she was going to
have to make a choice.  Either go whole hog and put everything she had into a
relationship with these two amazing men, or cut and run.  For right now, she
was coasting along in happy denial.

"Roxanne, don't go too
far," Cassie called when she saw Roxanne disappearing into the underbrush
of the back yard.  The child could disappear in a second if you weren't careful. 
It was amazing, actually, seeing Roxanne in the trees.  Like she was born in
the wilderness, some wild child, like Tarzan. 

"I would swear that
child was raised by apes in the jungle, the way she moves through the
trees," she muttered.

"Wolves," Ben said,
watching the sun skim the gold out of Cassie's hair.

"Excuse me?"

He realized what he’d said
and smiled his distracting smile at her.  "If she was raised by Grandma
Time, I'd say wolves, not apes."

Cassie laughed. 
"Don't you ever get tired of teasing that old woman?"

"No.  Because deep
down under that hardened and wrinkled exterior is a hardened dry interior. 
Plus, she whacks me with that cane one more time and I'm shoving it up her
ass."

Cassie shook her head,
still smiling.  "Well, then I hope it doesn't come to that…cause that
would be wrong.”  She looked around, and then sighed.  "Better find
Roxanne; probably have to pull her out of another tree.  It's definitely apes. 
Wolves don't climb trees."

Ben watched her walk into
the woods calling for Roxanne.  "You'd be surprised," he muttered.

After the first night when
she had volunteered to help Ben with dinner, they had fallen into a pattern. 
During the day, she would spend time with Clytie or play with Roxanne while
Clytie worked on her encaustic.  She spent a good part of her day looking online
and in the papers for job listings, but there was always some reason not to go
out and hit the streets.  It could be said that she was enjoying her vacation
just a little too much.  The guys made sure of that.

When they weren't following
her around and driving up her sexual awareness, the guys worked in one of the
other wings of the house on super secret security stuff during the day. 
Occasionally they had to leave for a few hours, or a few days, to take care of
other business for the Gibbs Company. 

She found herself looking
anxiously for them wherever she was and missed them when they were gone, no
matter which one left.  Then come the evenings, she would help in the kitchen,
which was apparently Ben's domain when he was home.  After that, the guys would
move it to the couches and they would talk and flirt, while trying to ignore
Essie, who would go from yammering on about some political travesty to nodding
off. 

The first time it happened,
everyone turned at the sudden silence.

   "Is she
dead?"  Clytie asked looking at her slumped in the oversized chair.

"Can't be," Ben
said.  "It's not Christmas."

Which made Cassie laugh. 
Roxanne didn't seem too concerned where she was sitting on the floor positively
enraptured by the cartoon network.  You'd think she'd never seen TV before. 
Maybe it was “Darkwing Duck” that was new.

Either way, Essie was still
breathing, and after a while, she opened her eyes and started talking again, as
if she hadn't nodded off at all.  This had Ben burying his face in Cassie’s
shoulder and groaning.  Cassie reached back and patted him on the head
sympathetically.  "There there, poor baby.  You'll be alright."

"We really need to get
Roxanne some new clothes," Clytie said, looking at the little girl in her
beat up jeans and t-shirt.  She was clean at least; Clytie and Cassie had given
her a bath the first night and washed her clothes while she slept.  The
screaming when they had to comb her hair was ridiculous, but Demon eventually got
over the trauma.  Now she was all scrubbed and braided, and ate everything they
put in front of her.

Cassandra was in her
customary spot between Mac and Ben at the island, which is where they managed
to maneuver her every time they were together in any of the rooms.  She smacked
at Ben's hand that was creeping down into the back of her jeans.  There was a
gap at her waistband if she leaned forward, and he tended to take advantage of
every opportunity. 

Despite being constantly
turned on and more often than not flustered, it was the most relaxed she had
been in a long time.  Being here with all of them was the most fun she ever
remembered having.  She spent so many years going from place to place and job
to job, trying to find a place to belong.  What was it about these people that
made her believe she might have found it?

Another such night, a week
to the day after Cassie had arrived, and after suffering through listening to
Essie expound on yet more of her political views before dinner.  Marveling at
the way Essie ate good steak as if she had to gnaw it off the animal herself. 
Then more philabusting when they retired to the great room.  They were all
surprised, but relieved, when she nodded off in the middle of a sentence and
there was blessed quiet.

Noticing Roxanne looking
around so seriously, Clytie produced some paper and markers.  The baby looked
at them as if she had never seen anything like them before.  But as soon as
Clytie drew a flower, she sat down at the coffee table and grabbed the pink.  Now
she was happily scribbling across the pages with her tongue sticking out in
exacting concentration.

"Anyone else worried
that the kid never speaks?"  Ben was watching her from the kitchen island,
where Cassie half-heartedly fended off his continuously wandering hands.

"She speaks, Tom Cat,”
Essie grouched.  Suddenly awake again.  "She just ain't like some that got
to jabber on and on like every word they speak is drippin' gold."

Demon snorted, while Cassie
bit her lip to stop her own laugh.

When Ben made another foray
into uncharted territory, she slapped his hand away and moved to safer ground. 
Ben growled and followed her out to the great room.

Cassie sat on the couch
beside Clytie who was scrunched up against Demon.  Immediately, Mac joined her
on the other side, close enough to rub thighs.  Mac could move fast and fluid
when he wanted to.  You would blink and he’d be there.  Ben narrowed his eyes
but didn't hesitate picking her up.  He sat back down with her in his lap.  She
let out an undignified squeak, but he ignored it.

"Really?” she asked
when he had her settled just so sitting sideways facing Mac, who had pulled her
legs over his lap.  "You're not kidding with this?"

Ben looked her right in the
eyes.  "Why, whatever do you mean?"

Cassie laughed.  She
couldn't help it.  She hugged him and laughed.  "You are so full of
sh..."

"Okey-dokey." 
Clytie said loudly, interrupting her.  "What should we talk about?"

"You got any of those
insert things for hemorrhoids around here?  Mine are acting up something
fierce,” Essie said, shifting in her seat and glaring at Ben.  "Think it’s
that rich food the cats always makin'"

"And yet you keep
eating, and eating, and..."

"How about those
Raiders?"  Clytie interrupted Ben, looking at Demon rather desperately. 
"Think they'll go to the Super bowl this year?"

"No."

Well, so much for that
conversation, Cassandra thought, biting back a smile.

"Been meaning to tell
you," Essie stated matter of factly.  "Alpha Bidel called revenge on
you and yours for that dipshit Clancy's death.  Expect you'll have a visit from
the Bone Crusher Clan one of these days.  They mean to wipe y'all out."

There was a taunt silence
then everybody started talking at once.

"And you’re just
telling us now?”  Demon growled low.  His eyes flashing wolf.

"Why would you bring a
child here if you knew there was danger?”  Clytie asked her face visibly paler.

Mac pulled out his phone
and dialed.  "We have a situation.”  Then.  "Everyone you can spare,
we have the women, plus a kid here."

"Any idea when?" he
asked Essie, holding the phone to the side.

"Whenever they get up
the gumption, I expect,” Essie answered his hostile question blithely.

"Yesterday," Mac
said into the phone grimly, then hung up.  He pushed Cassie’s legs gently off
his, then leaned over and kissed her full on the lips before he left the room.

"Anyone want to
explain what's going on?"  Cassie asked, while Ben hugged her close enough
to make talking difficult.  "Because it sounds like we're about to be
attacked by a pack of bone crushers who want to kill us for killing someone
named Clancy."

"She ain't dumb,"
Essie said, cackling.

Ben hissed at her, hissed. 
Like an angry cat.  What.  The.  Hell.

Then he held her tighter
and breathed into her hair.  "Fuck."

Cassandra rubbed the hair
back from his forehead and looked around at the rest of the room.  “This isn’t
a joke is it?  Somebody really is coming here to attack us.”

Clytie looked at Demon, who
studied Cassandra in Ben's lap and then nodded to Clytie to go ahead.

“When I first came here, Clancy
attacked and tried to kill me, among other things,” she said shuddering. 
“Demon saved me and Clancy was killed.  His father is the leader of another
pack and he’s the one who is allegedly coming to kill us all.”

“Another pack?”  Cassandra asked,
her brow furrowing.

“Another pack
of…shapeshifters,” Clytie said, and watched Cassie blink a few times.

“Come again?”

“Shapeshifters.  Demon can
turn into a wolf, and the people who are coming after us also change to
wolves.”

Cassie pulled Ben's head by
his hair so she could see his eyes.  “And you?” she asked with a chuckle,
thinking they were having her on.  His eyes changed as she watched, going gold
and slitting like a cat.  “Holy Shit!” she said, trying to get out of his lap,
but he held her steady.

“Easy Cassie,” he said.  “No
one’s going to hurt you.”

His eyes were back to
normal.  Still she was ready to hyperventilate.

“I’m not sure where to take
this from here,” she said, holding really still in his arms. 

“Just give it a minute,”
Clytie said, “It’s a bit of a shock.”

“Ya think?” she snapped,
and then took four long deep breaths.  “Anything else you want to tell me?  Is
Aunt Essie really a vampire?  ‘Cause I’m through assuming anything.” 

“Hah!”  Essie harrumphed,
pounding her cane on the ground.  “Vampires?  Filthy creatures.  Smell like old
socks.”

“No.”  Ben said, while
Clytie choked on something beside them.  “She’s not a vampire.  She’s really
just that unpleasant.”

Then Cassie heard Clytie
whisper to Demon, “There are vampires?”  Good to know she wasn’t the only one
in the dark.

Mac came back, studying
everyone in the room.  “What’d I miss?”

“You’re all shapeshifters
and vampires do exist but smell like socks,” Cassandra said more blithely than
she felt.  “Anything else, I mean, before I start screaming?”

“I finished my picture.” 
Roxanne spoke for the first time since she arrived at the house.  She was
standing beside Ben and Cassie at the couch.  She held up the paper to
Cassandra.  On the paper was a picture of two blobs with ears and a lopsided
pink flower.  She pointed to one of the blobs.  “That’s Es when she runs with
the pack, and that’s me.  But I won’t change until I’m bigger.  You can have it
if you want.”

She looked at Cassie expectantly. 
Her big blue eyes enormous in her little heart shaped face.