And it was intense. Like something out of
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
intense. Two bear males squaring off over a deer carcass intense.
Lips pulled back over fangs that extended out of gums, saliva pouring onto the floor as forehead rammed against forehead, and then there was the roaring. Good God! The roaring! It was so instantaneous and rage-filled that Toni was sure they knew each other.
Toni immediately looked to her parents, but they were already moving, the twins in her father’s arms—both girls fighting their father because they wanted to see the bloodshed—her mother holding the hands of Freddy and Dennis. They disappeared down the hallway, knowing Toni would take care of the older kids. Yet even though Toni was willing to put herself between danger and the others, she knew she wouldn’t have to. Kyle and Oriana would never risk any harm that could stop them from doing what they loved. Cherise was already easing away. Coop was pretty fast when he wanted to be and he’d take care of Troy. Delilah wasn’t even there and Toni never worried about her anyway.
Contingency plans, however, were unnecessary once Dee-Ann Smith ambled down the hallway. To Toni’s eternal surprise, Livy was right behind her. Surprise because Toni really thought Livy would have ditched her family by now. Not permanently or anything, Livy just wasn’t for staying in one place for very long.
Of course the fact that she had stayed said the break-in was probably more serious than Ricky had let on. So, without letting anyone know what she was doing, Toni opened up her senses to everything around her while still managing to focus on the male idiocy going on right in front of her face.
Dee-Ann stopped about ten feet from the two unbelievably large hybrid males and, after studying them for a long moment, went for that bowie knife of hers that she always had tacked to the back of her jeans or strapped to her thigh. She’d just pulled it free from its sheath when, uh—Blank? Was that her name?—jumped in front of Dee-Ann.
“You can’t!” Blank yelled. “You just can’t!”
That’s when Livy’s eyes crossed and she walked past all of them and right between the two males. Compared to seven-four Bo Novikov and seven-foot-one Vic Barinov, Livy was like a mite on some wolf’s fur. Yet, as always, she never let size stop her from doing whatever she needed to do.
She pushed her way between the two males and rammed her hands against their chests. Then she shoved, forcing both males back a step. Maybe even two steps.
“Cut it the fuck out,” she ordered, not even angry. “Novikov. You were leaving.”
“Yeah. I’m leaving.” He stormed around Livy and Barinov and walked out. Blank stopped long enough to wave at everyone, then pointed at Cherise and Livy. “See you gals tonight!” she cheered.
Toni, unsure what that meant, waved at Bo’s fiancée. “Bye, Blank!”
She stopped, spun around, and snapped, “It’s
Blayne
.”
“Right. Blayne. Sorry.”
Shrugging, Toni closed the front door and faced Barinov. “Tell me you at least knew Novikov.”
“That was Novikov?” When everyone merely stared at him, he added, “I’m not really a hockey fan. I like football.”
Sighing, realizing how exhausted she was, Toni asked, “You’re not going to continue to hang around, are you?”
“That’s up to her,” he said, pointing at Dee-Ann. “She hired me.”
Knowing there was no point in discussing this any further with Dee-Ann, Toni pushed past Barinov and caught the back of Cherise’s T-shirt before she could escape into another room.
Once she had her sister facing her, she asked, “Why did Bland say ‘see you tonight’? Why are you involving yourself with Bland?”
Cherise tried the evasive maneuver, which never worked on Toni. “I think her name is Blayne.”
“I don’t care.”
“Are you sure you’re not just saying her name wrong because you don’t like perky people?”
“I like my assistant. She’s perky. And don’t try to distract me. What did she mean?”
“Cherise and I,” Livy said from behind Toni, “were asked to join the local derby team and we have a practice tonight. With Bland.”
Toni rubbed her temples and finally asked the universe,
“Really?”
They sat in the backyard at a long marble picnic table with matching benches. Cherise brought out coffee and freshly purchased muffins from the bakery down the street. Coop brought out a big pitcher of orange juice.
Once he’d placed the pitcher in the middle of the table, Coop went to sit down by Toni, but before he could, the wolf sat down first. He straddled the bench so that he was facing Toni, his knees touching some part of her.
Unable to help himself, Coop glanced at Cherise and Livy.
To stop from giggling, Cherise desperately shoved a muffin into her mouth. An entire, giant muffin. But Livy, not well acquainted with the wolf and naturally distrusting, merely locked narrowed black eyes on the interloper.
Cherise began to choke on her muffin and Toni quickly poured her a glass of OJ while Coop patted his sister’s back until she waved him off.
“All right,” Toni said to them once they’d gotten settled. “Talk to me.”
Cherise wiped her mouth and began. “I’m just going to play one bout. Just to see if I like it.”
Coop saw his eldest sister gaze at Cherise. Toni was clearly exhausted. He saw it in her face, in her body. This wasn’t just jet lag, either. Then again, she hadn’t been on vacation. She’d been negotiating with bears in a foreign country.
“Cherise, I don’t care,” Toni told their sister.
Cherise’s bottom lip jutted out a bit into a sad little pout. “You don’t care at all?”
The wolf squinted at Coop, but he just shook his head. It was the way of his family, wasn’t it?
“Of course I care, Cherise, but you have to make that decision for yourself. I will suggest,” Toni went on, unable to help herself, “that you don’t play a week to two weeks before your concerts. That way if you hurt your arms, wrists, or fingers during a game, you’ll have time to heal. Okay?”
Cherise smiled. “Okay.”
“Where are we at?” Toni asked Livy.
“I went to Ricky Lee’s brother Reece. Had him pull in your company’s team, Ricky.”
“I would have done the same thing,” Ricky said.
“He’s been great. Jackie loves him.”
“He does have a way with the older ladies.”
“What else?” Toni pushed her friend.
“They’ve secured the house.”
“No, Liv. I mean what aren’t you guys telling me?”
Livy peered at Coop, raised her brows at him.
“Tell her,” he urged, knowing his sister wouldn’t stop until they did.
“Irene called in Dee-Ann.”
Toni leaned back. “And why was that again?”
“Honestly? I think Irene feels guilty.”
“Did she do something?”
“I don’t think so. But your mother won’t let her leave and I think Irene’s worried that if something happens to one of the kids, it’ll be because of her.”
Toni sighed. “I guess that’s why I have that behemoth following me around.”
“Who is he anyway?”
“His name’s Vic Barinov. He was part of my protection detail in Russia along with Ricky.” She looked pointedly at Livy. “What do you think?”
Livy shrugged. “Bringing in Dee-Ann is not my favorite idea.” She glanced at Ricky. “I don’t have anything personal against your friend, but—”
“But you don’t usually call in Dee-Ann Smith unless you want someone to die,” Ricky finished for Livy. “Same thing with her daddy. But we also use Dee-Ann and her daddy when we want to prevent problems. If there’s one person who can get to the bottom of this, quickly and quietly, it’s Dee-Ann Smith.”
Toni nodded. “Then leave it alone. If involving Dee-Ann makes Irene feel better, then let her do it. Besides, I want this done.”
Livy agreed. “Then it’s done.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing urgent,” Cooper said, worried about how tired his sister looked. He really hoped this job of hers was worth all she was going through.
“Okay.” She stood up. “Tell Mom I’ll be back for breakfast in a few. Livy . . . come with.”
She walked off and Livy followed her, the women walking into the house.
Ricky moved around on the bench until he could face both Coop and Cherise.
After a long minute of silence, Ricky said, “Your sister was amazing in Russia.”
Coop was about to answer, “I know,” but Cherise spoke first.
“My sister’s amazing all the time.” Cherise grabbed a muffin and squeezed it until it began to crumble in her hands. “And if you ever forget that and make her cry the way that worthless full-human did, I’m going to make you sorry you ever left Tennessee.” She got to her feet, started to turn away, but then stopped and added, “Which is a lovely state but that’s not the point!”
Coop watched his younger sister march off, leaving a trail of muffin crumbs behind her.
“I sure do like your family,” the wolf said. And Coop looked over at Ricky Lee, saw the smile that told him the man was being completely serious.
“They are great, aren’t they?” Coop agreed.
Toni sat on her bed, pulled off her boots. “Okay.” She looked right at her friend. “What haven’t you told me?”
“I saw Delilah coming out of a church.”
“Great. She’s stealing crosses now?”
“Blayne said it was a cult. They took over the church when the original congregation had to move.”
Toni suddenly laughed, surprising herself. “I wish I could say I was shocked, but . . .”
“I know. I know.” Livy laughed, too. “But when you think about it, she’d fit right in there with the pantheon, wouldn’t she? Charles Manson. David Koresh. Jim Jones. She blends.”
“Not quite. They were monsters, but they were all kind of mentally ill. According to Kyle there’s a difference between personality disorders and mental illness. Del isn’t crazy. She just doesn’t have a soul.”
Livy braced her legs apart, crossed her arms over her chest. “I put security on each of the kids.”
Toni studied her best friend. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It just felt . . .” She searched for the right word. “Necessary.”
“Then it’s necessary.” Livy didn’t do important things on a whim, so Toni didn’t question her decisions.
Yawning, Toni said, “Tell me how much I owe you for all this security because Mom and Dad said they didn’t pay for any . . .” But Livy had already walked out of the room.
“I will pay you back, honey lover!”
“Shut up!”
Toni chuckled as Ricky walked into the room.
“Your mother said breakfast will be ready for us in a bit.”
“Okay.”
He came across the room and dived onto her bed, rolling around until he was on his back. He stopped, gazed at her, then started again.
Toni laughed loud. “What is
wrong
with you?”
“I’m glad to be home.” He turned onto his side, wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “Aren’t you?”
“Yeah. But I should go check on the kids.”
“The kids are fine. Their
parents
have managed to take very good care of them.”
“Not appreciating the Southern sarcasm.”
“Come on, darlin’. Let’s cuddle like proper canines.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“That’s a great idea. It’s called relaxing. Taking a break. They’ll call us when breakfast is ready anyway.”
“Well . . .”
But Ricky Lee had already eased her down on the bed until she was cuddled up next to him and at that point she didn’t really feel like saying anything else. Besides, what could a five-minute break hurt anyway?
C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-SIX
“B
reakfast, Toni.”
Toni turned over at the sound of her baby brother’s voice; Freddy’s small hand was patting her shoulder.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I had breakfast on the plane.”
The patting stopped and there was a long pause before Freddy said, “That was yesterday.”
Toni shot up into a sitting position, her eyes trying to focus as she blinked. She searched for the alarm clock in her room. After a few seconds, she got her eyes to read the numbers.
“It’s six thirty?
A.M.?
”
Freddy nodded. “Uh-huh. Mommy made you waffles and bacon.” Freddy smiled. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
Toni smiled at her brother. “Me, too.”
He walked to the door, stopped, and said over his shoulder, “You’re invited, too, Mr. Reed.”
“Just call me Ricky Lee.”
“Okay, Ricky Lee.”
Her brother walked out and Toni spun around, landing on her knees. “You were here the whole night?”
Yawning and scratching his head, the big wolf rolled onto his back. “I guess so.”
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“That I was tired . . . that you were tired . . . that we were tired.”
“But you were here all night. And in my bed. And Freddy saw us!”
Resting on his elbows, Ricky raised himself up. “It’s not like we were naked.”
“That’s not the point. Once Freddy knows, the
world
will know.”
Ricky shrugged. “Don’t make me no never mind.”
“Well it does to me.”
“That ’cause you’re ashamed to be seen with me?”
Surprised by the question, Toni immediately replied, “Of course not!”
“You sure? I know most of your friends are important artists and musicians. I ain’t nothin’ but a good ol’ wolf from Tennessee.”
“Your accent certainly does get thick when you’re trying to make me feel guilty.”
“Is it working?” He reached over and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. Laughing a little when she fell into him.
Toni braced her hands against his chest but didn’t try too hard to pull away.
“I swear,” he said, gazing at her mouth, “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just thought we’d sleep for an hour or two. Not all day and night.”
“I was more worried about us being up all night. You know, from the change in time.”
“I think dealing with those bears just wore us out. It was the first time you could sleep without worrying.”
Toni smiled. “But that doesn’t explain why you slept so long.”
“That’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Snuggling up to you just makes me so dang comfortable. Why would I bother moving?” He suddenly kissed her neck before easing away from her. “Dang, those waffles smell good. Hope your momma made enough.”
“How many do you need?”
“A lot.” He got off the bed, headed toward the attached bathroom. “I’m gonna use your toothbrush.”
“Sure. Why not?”
“No need for that tone,” he teased. “You can use my toothbrush anytime you have a need.”
“Oh, well.” Toni flopped back on the bed. “When you put it like that . . .”
They walked into the kitchen together and Ricky expected the treatment he’d get from his own kin and Pack, a lot of dramatic stopping and staring, making the pair feel uncomfortable. But the jackals seemed less than interested.
“Good morning, you two,” Jackie greeted them. “Waffles and bacon for breakfast. How many do you want, Ricky? One or two?”
“Try six,” Toni stated as she reached for one of the plastic cups on the table and the pitcher of orange juice.
“No big deal.” Jackie laughed. “I had to feed that lion security guard. My God, could he eat.”
“You do know, Miss Jackie, you don’t have to feed the team.”
“I don’t mind. At least for breakfast. I don’t do lunch or dinner. That’s what takeout and delivery services are for.”
Ricky sat down at the table, nodding at the Jean-Louis Parker siblings. They continued to eat, lost in their own thoughts, it seemed. Until Kyle bit into a piece of bacon and then asked, “So Freddy tells us he caught you defiling our sister.”
Toni choked on her orange juice, quickly slapping her hand over her mouth and turning away from the table so she didn’t spray everyone sitting there.
“Well—” Ricky began, but Cooper cut him off with a raised hand.
“Kyle,” Coop said, “do you actually know what defiling means?”
“Of course I do.”
“No, you don’t,” Oriana told him.
“Shut up. I do, too.”
“You don’t know anything. You’re an idiot.”
“And you’re getting fat!”
“Kyle!” Toni, Cooper, and Cherise all yelled in unison.
“She started it!”
Jackie put a plate piled high with waffles and another plate piled with bacon in front of Ricky. Smirking, she winked at him and whispered, “Just stay away from my mate while he recovers.”
“Recovers?”
She glanced at her now arguing offspring and leaned down to whisper in Ricky’s ear, “Recovers from finding out his daughter has fallen for a wolf. Something I’m sure he’ll blame Irene for. She’s a bad influence, don’t you know? At least that’s what my mother always said.”
When she pulled back a bit, Ricky softly asked, “You sure about that? The falling, I mean. Because I can’t really tell.”
“Because you’re male and all of you are hopelessly stupid.” She smiled at him and went back to the stove.
By the time Ricky dug into his waffles, Toni and her siblings had stopped arguing but were now staring at him.
“What?” he asked around a mouthful of his food.
“Are you really going to eat all that?” Coop asked.
He shrugged. “I’m hungry.”
In the backyard, while the rest of her family was still in the kitchen, watching Ricky Lee dig into his
third
helping of waffles and bacon, Toni faced her best friend.
“What did you say to me?” Toni demanded.
“The wolf . . . he’s in love with you.”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
“He’s not in love with me.”
“You’re stupid. You’re a stupid head.”
Toni pinched her lips together. It made her frown and look fierce when what she was really doing was trying not to laugh.
“You might as well just face it. The wolf’s locked on target. And I think that target’s your big ass.”
“My ass isn’t as big as yours.”
“I’m compact and powerful. You, however, are a jackal and should look more like Oriana. But if she had that ass, she wouldn’t be anyone’s prima anything.”
“
Such
a bitch.”
“And very good at it.”
“I’m about to do something, Livy, that you’re going to hate me for.”
Livy studied her a moment, black eyes narrowing. Then, the honey badger begged, “Please don’t.”
“I have to.”
“No. You don’t have to. We can just let this go.”
“We’re not letting anything go.
I’m
not letting anything go. Not now. Not ever.”
Disgusted, Livy snarled, “Then just get it over with.”
So Toni did—by hugging her best friend.
“Thank you so much for taking care of those little bastards that I love.”
“You know I didn’t mind.”
“I know.” She hugged Livy tighter. “But it means the world to me.”
“Whatever.”
“You know . . . you don’t have to feel ashamed if you’re into me. Apparently a lot of people are right now.”
Hissing, Livy shoved a laughing Toni away.
“You’re such a freak,” she accused. “And I told you I’d protect them.”
“I know.”
“I mean, I may be a cold, heartless bitch, but once I make a promise, I keep it.”
“Awww. Can I hug you again?”
“No.”
Toni laughed until she saw her father walking toward her, the dog her mother had brought in for her own selfish reasons right by his side. She kind of liked that her father had his own companion while he was in New York. Although he had lots of friends in their home state, he didn’t have any out here and didn’t feel the need to make any. So the dog, and probably Coop, gave him some relief from keeping the kids from killing each other.
“Hi, Dad.” Toni smiled at her father but he didn’t respond, simply wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close.
“Uh . . . Dad?”
“My poor, poor baby. I blame Irene for this!”
Toni looked over at Livy, but her friend was about to get into a fight with a rude squirrel who kept mocking her from a high branch.
“You blame Irene for what?”
“For this . . . this . . . this nightmare.”
Oh, boy. “Dad—”
“You know he’s not like the Van Holtzes, don’t you?” Her father pushed her away so he could look directly into her face, but he continued to grip her shoulders. “He’s not a chef or cultured in anything that doesn’t involve a banjo.”
“Dad!”
“I’m just letting you know what you’re in for. Because I think you’re under the misconception that wolves are better than they are. But they’re not.”
“Dad, you’re taking this too seriously.”
“It’s all my fault,” he went on. “I should have stopped this from the beginning. But I thought he’d be able to distract you from that ridiculous full-human you were still mourning. I didn’t know you’d get serious about him!”
“Dad, I wasn’t still mourning anyone.”
“But you’ve been so down the last few months.”
She shrugged and admitted, “I was starting to think that my entire life was going to be taking care of my siblings. I love them all, but spending every day ensuring there’s enough money for facial reconstruction for Kyle after he pisses someone off is not my idea of a satisfactory life goal.”
“I’d never allow that. Don’t get me wrong. I can’t imagine running this family without your help, but I had no intention of letting you become anyone’s permanent nanny. You deserve, more than anyone, to have your own life and your own family.” He paused a moment, then added, “A family made up of un-spoilt jackal children.”
“Dad.”
“I’m just saying that you take a risk when you start mixing breeds.”
“This from the man who used to spend entire nights outside bars so he could get tickets to Dead Kennedy concerts? Where did my soulful, liberal dad go? Besides,” she added, “we both know that being a purebred doesn’t ensure anything, either.”
And to illustrate, she looked over at the best friend she’d entrusted her siblings to the last few days.
Livy had shifted and was now high up in the tree, fistfighting with a squirrel. Livy’s shifted form was huge compared to a full-blood honey badger, but a hundred-pound ratal shifter was still tiny compared to the lion, tigers, and bear shifters. Of course that difference never stopped Livy from taking all of them on at one time or another.
Honestly, Livy would fight the Queen of England if she thought the woman stared at her too long.
“That’s not a fair comparison,” her father argued, but he winced when Livy lost interest in the squirrel and discovered a beehive a few branches higher.
“Uh-oh,” her father sighed out. “I’ll get the Benadryl cream from the first aid kit.”
He headed toward the back door, but stopped, faced her, and smiled. “I love you, baby.”
Toni grinned at her father’s warm words, ignoring the sound of a breaking tree limb as Livy slammed into the ground, the hive caught between her claws.
“I love you, too, Dad.”
He started off again, giving a wave. “Good luck at work today.”
As her father walked into the house, Ricky Lee was walking out.
“Mornin’, Mr. Parker.”
“Whatever,” her father growled, before moving around the wolf and going into the house.
Ricky Lee looked at her and grimaced. She felt for the guy. No one wants to face down a canine father after he knows you’ve been fooling around with his daughter.
“Guess he’s mad, huh?” Ricky asked once he stood in front of her.
“Just worried about me. I tried to tell him it’s not serious, but he doesn’t believe me.”
“Of course he doesn’t.
I
don’t believe you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not hung up on you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I wasn’t. But what if I’m hung up on you?”
Toni took a step back. “But you’re not.”
“I told you he was.” They both looked over at now-human Livy, her hands still claws, her naked body covered in marauding bees while she gorged herself full of larvae-filled honeycombs. “You canines never listen to me, even though I’m always right.” She held her claw out, opened it. “Larvae?”
Toni shuddered. “No. But thank you.”