Tales Of The Sazi 05 - Moon's Fury (17 page)

Cara struggled not to blush as she reached for another handful of sticky corn meal with one hand, and a few jalapeno slices with the other. Apparently, Rosa knew full well what she'd interrupted.

"Sheesh,
Mom! It's not like I was planning to rip off my dress and throw myself on him. It's just a dance.”

Rosa snorted, not budging an inch. "Yes, and dances lead to other things. Remember he's a wolf…and an
alpha.
You can't hide attraction from a wolf's nose, so you just get it out of your head right now. Your
papi
is going to have a hard enough time letting you start to date after the Quince without smelling you chasing after older men. Don't do anything that would make him change his mind—that's all I'm saying." She made a small dismissive gesture with the back of her clean hand. "Now, go take that stuff back to your room before something spills on it. Then you can watch the game for an hour before bedtime. Oh, and check on Felix and Raul before you sit down. They should be asleep, but let me know if Raul is reading under the covers again. That boy is going to go blind if he keeps trying to read with that little penlight Luis gave him.”

The turmoil of emotion scents that rose from her niece told Cara that Gloria wanted to stay in the room to continue to argue the point, but she knew better than to push her mother right now. She had far too much to lose this close to the party. She gave a great, heaving oppressed teenager sigh that made Rosa roll her eyes and shake her head, before stomping out, taking the stack of samples with her. Rosa sighed and passed another wrapped tamale to Cara, who stacked it in the pan. Her fingers moved in almost unconscious harmony with the other women. Of course, since they met to do this nearly every other week, that wasn't a surprise. It was a tradition
Mami
started and she and Rosa kept up after losing her. And when Sharon and Penny joined the family …well, it had turned into a way to keep in touch and keep the pack a functioning unit.
"Anyway
…tell us about Adam, Cara.”

Sharon and Penny had been fighting to keep from smiling during Rosa's lecture to her daughter, but now they didn't bother to hide the slightly lecherous looks that said they'd been thinking the same things as Gloria. “There's not much to tell. He's a friend of Will's. He's visiting. Oh, and he's the Second of his pack in Minnesota.”

Sharon leaned forward to take a sip of her margarita through a straw. Cara could never figure out why she salted the rim, only to drink through a straw. After the fragrant tequila mix lowered in the glass significantly, she raised her brows. "So, is he with Wolven, too? Is that where he knows Will from?”

Cara nodded and lowered her voice even further. Hopefully, the game in the next room was loud enough that he wouldn't hear them. "I think that's how they met. Oh! And that reminds me. I don't think it's a secret…at least nobody told me it was, so I think I can tell you. But
I'm
a Wolven agent now, too!

That was part of what the meeting was about. The old council rep for the wolves, Lucas Santiago, is in town and was at the lunch, too. He's the attorney from Colorado you mentioned, Rosa. He's the new head of Wolven and is recruiting all over the country.”

Jaws dropped around the table and Rosa let out a small, excited squeal before quickly catching herself with a hurried hand over her mouth. She switching to silent bouncing and then reached across the table and grabbed Cara's hands, squeezing them with shaking intensity. The bright citrus of pride and happiness swept through the room, and it occurred to Cara that she hadn't really let it sink in with all the other things going on. A light gloss of tears formed in her eyes as she smiled, because only Rosa truly understood what it meant to her.

"Omigawd, Carita! I'm so
proud
of you! You've wanted that since you were tiny, even when Mami was still with us. I was afraid …
really
afraid you were going to pine away with a broken heart when you walked out of training. I mean, I don't blame you after what that woman did, but it hurt me so bad to see you like that. I know you're happy now, and made a life for yourself…but
Wolven!
Oh, hun bun! Tell us
every thing!”

Questions fired from all three women. "What changed their mind?" "Are you going to have to travel?" "Ay ay ay—and what about your
job?
Can you do both?”

She answered them as best she could, since she didn't know everything herself. Sharon was the first to raise her glass with pride. "To Cara, and to the status it brings our pack! Oh, and to Lucas Santiago, for being smart enough to pick her!" Cara laughed and raised her glass. Penny followed and then Rosa. Suddenly nobody cared that they'd have to scrape dried corn meal off the glass stems afterward as they clinked them together and took a sip in celebration.

A rousing yell from the other room was followed by whoops and general laughter, causing all of them to look up. A few seconds later, Paco swung open the slatted door, which separated the kitchen from the rest of the house. Cara was reminded abruptly why Rosa had been so attracted to him. He was darkly handsome, with expressive dark eyes and sculpted features that could probably put him on magazine covers if he tried. She found herself comparing his looks to Adam's and realizing something startling. She never thought she'd find a man with blue eyes and a light skin attractive, but here she was, comparing him to every man she knew, from guys she'd dated in high school, to her own brother-in-law. Thinking of him made her wonder about the laughter in the next room. He was the Second in a big pack. Surely he was good at meeting people. Still, she'd have to ask how he was getting along with people before Paco left the room.

He took a sniff and raised his brows after kissing Rosa on the top of her head and reaching for the refrigerator handle. "You girls must be having some fiesta in here! I didn't know invitations and balloons were such exciting things to talk about.”

Rosa put her hand on Cara's shoulder and said with pride, "Cara made
Wolven,
Paco! That's what the meeting today was!”

Her Second looked at her in astonishment for a moment and then grinned broadly, a pair of Corona bottles in his hands. "No shit! That's awesome, Cara! Hey, we'll really have something to celebrate on the moon—you're getting the backstrap for sure this month. Only the choicest deer steak for our rising star.”

It occurred to her then that the word
would
spread like wildfire through the pack, and she really wasn't sure she was supposed to have said anything. "Okay, but look, guys—I'm not even sure I'm supposed to have told y'all. Keep it secret for now, huh? Let me find out more first and then I'll make a general pack announcement." She looked around the table in turn, and they each nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Music on the television made Paco's head turn. "I'd better get back. Otherwise, Eddie and Jorge will wind up in here, and start asking questions about the scent.”

Cara nodded then raised her chin in appreciation. "By the way, thanks for changing the channel. It was nice of you to watch the hockey game with Adam instead of the NBA playoffs.”

Paco shrugged. "Hell, I haven't seen a Stanley Cup game in years. I've never really understood hockey, and Adam is answering stupid questions for us. Nice guy and smart. I finally understand what that frigging blue line is for! Besides, you know how I feel about the middle games of the NBA playoffs.”

Cara shook her head and let out a small chuckle before reaching for her glass again. "You're not going to go on again about how they're
fixed,
are you? I'll bet you wouldn't dare say that to a player's face." She took a sip, feeling the smooth tequila push the salt off the rim into her mouth to dissolve on her tongue.

He jutted his chin defiantly but didn't raise his voice. It told Cara that while he was still in control, if he put down a few more beers, he was going to start to get obnoxiously opinionated. She'd have to get Adam out of here before that happened. She loved her brother-in-law, but Will was right about him.

"I might. When's the last time you saw a four-game sweep? Years! That's because all the playoffs are going to six or seven games now, and
that's
because fans have to buy the tickets in advance! People get pissed if year after year they don't ever get to see a game in their hometown. And I mean …c'mon!

When the Bulls are having a year like this one and they trip all over their feet like they did the other night?

Nope, I know damned well they're going to win tonight and it'll go to game six. At least with the Stanley Cup, I don't know the outcome.”

She shook her head, and so did Rosa. It was no use trying to change his mind. He was firmly convinced he was right and when he got convinced—"So, real quick, how's Adam getting along with the others—Chris, Jorge and…
Eddie?”

She was more than a little worried about Adam meeting Eddie and had wanted to stay in the room to watch the interaction, but Paco had shooed her into the kitchen. Since Cara had never watched a game with the male pack members, it would seem really odd to do it today without explaining why. Paco understood the underlying question about his twin brother Eduardo. "I haven't noticed anything. Adam did give him a little raised eyebrow when Eddie said he was going to spend the weekend in Dallas because José had called to ask him to
vamos a coger viejos.
I guess Adam must speak some Spanish, because he got a surprised look and stared at Eddie for a few seconds. But he didn't smell aggressive and let it go, so I think it's okay.”

Shit! She hated it when Eddie went bar hopping in Dallas. It always led to trouble. "Damn it! I really wish he wouldn't, Paco. You know how I feel about him hanging out at the gay bars with illegal immigrants. I mean, I know he can't get or give diseases, and he carries his ID, but what if he breaks skin on someone during sex or gets picked up in an ICE raid? Can't you talk to him?”

As usual, he brushed off her concerns with a wave of his hand, which nearly sloshed beer onto the floor. "Eh. You worry too much, Cara. He's been seeing that one
mayate,
Juan Carlos, up there—

the bricklayer from Zacatecas he met at Bamboleo's for a couple months now. The guy has a real green card, and he always lets Juan Carlos be the
activo,
the top, so that'll never happen. Let's face it, it's not like there's much chance of him finding a stable relationship down here. When we decided to accept his lifestyle so he could remain with the pack, we had to accept the things that go with it.”

What he said was true, but how would the newcomers from Minnesota deal with hunting with a gay male wolf— especially one who spent his weekends with
mayates,
Mexican immigrants who might or might not have crossed the border hiding in a trunk? Were there other gay pack members? She just didn't know, but it sure had been a shock to this pack when Eddie came out of the closet. It had taken a long time for him to be accepted by his own
family
—over a dozen full moons before the others wouldn't snap at him for standing too close in wolf form. That definitely needed to be one of the topics of discussion with Adam. It hadn't even been on her mind when she'd discussed cultural attitudes at the restaurant…at least, she didn't think it had been. But so many things were about to change, for all of them. Maybe this needed to be the first thing.

"Yeah, but that was before he started hanging out at the bars up north, Paco, and before I became sheriff. And now that I'm in Wolven—I just don't know. Maybe …well, maybe it's time to look at it again. It's not just a question of lifestyle anymore because those bars might get
raided.
Hell, the H-E-B grocery in San Antonio got raided last week, in broad daylight. Even if not this time, then what about next time or the time after?" She shook her head and looked down at the now perfect square of corn meal she was idly playing with. "I need to think about this.”

She noticed Rosa start to nibble at her lower lip and saw why. Paco's face had gone dark and the sharp jalapeño of his anger was stronger than the peppers in the bowl right in front of her. "No,
we
need to
talk
about this. That's how this pack works, if you remember.”

He'd opened his mouth to continue when a loud knock on the screen door was followed by voices in the next room. Oh, great! More people were arriving. It sounded like Joe and Tara. Now a full half the pack was here. Rosa got a startled look on her face and stood up in a rush. "Paco, I need to talk to you outside …
now.”

She didn't wait for a response. She just bustled out of the kitchen, her plastic
chanclas
—

flip-flops—clicking against her bare heels like a telegraph machine, leaving the other four to look at each other in surprise. Cara flared her nostrils, trying to get some sense of the emotions her sister left behind, but got nothing other than surprise, with a touch of worry. Paco got an odd look on his face, and Cara knew why. While he might appear to be the tough-as-nails head of the household, it was Rosa who actually ruled the roost. He followed out silently but Cara heard him pause for a moment to welcome the new guests and offer them a beer…just as soon as he came back inside.

The mood at the table took on a decided downward spiral. Penny picked up her glass, emptied the remaining green liquid, and then silently started to attack the spiced meat again with a fork. Sharon's face remained studiously blank, but it was pretty obvious from her scent that she was curious about what was happening. That made three of them.

Blood dripped from Adam's muzzle as he yanked again, trying to get the deer in his mouth unstuck from where one hind leg had become wedged in the crook of a tree. Finally, he walked around behind the deer and simply freed the still-warm hoof and then lightly leaped over the antlers to begin to drag it again. The taste of fur and meat on his tongue nearly made him want to stop and eat, but no. He was pretty sure he couldn't.

It must be a test. That's the only thing that makes sense.

Why else would the events have happened as they did? Paco and Rosa went outside and talked about a lack of food for the guests in his hearing range, while Cara continued on in the kitchen as though nothing was happening. Rosa had made it very clear to Paco that if they fed the guests, it would use all the meat in their freezer and there was still another week until his paycheck. Paco had told her they would worry about that later, but now it was dinner time and they had to be good hosts. The only thing he could figure is that Cara wanted to test him to see what sort of pack leader he'd be. No Alpha would allow his people to go hungry. It just wasn't
done.
Surely she would know of the problem through the pack mind-link. Josef knew what any of his pack was thinking or worried about at any time. He might even be watching Adam this very minute. So if Cara hadn't done anything yet, either Paco and Rosa were being punished—which didn't seem likely, or it was a test of
his
resourcefulness
.
No problem. He was up to the challenge.