Chapter Sixteen
“So I just add the vodka, coffee liqueur, and cream into the glass with ice and stir,” Caleb said. “No fancy crap. It’s about taste for drinks.” He downed the drink in one gulp with a smile. “That’s good if I do say so myself. Though a good beer is still better.” He shrugged. “College kids love this crap.”
Sarah nodded slowly. In the last week, she’d graduated from pure waitressing to some behind-the-bar work. She’d spent time before opening each day learning the finer points of drink handling and a touch of mixology.
“You’re really good at this,” she said. “You could go be a bartender at some fancy high-end place. You could have Malcolm run this place.”
Caleb leveled a gaze at her. “Do I seem like the kind of guy who’d do well at a fancy high-end place?”
Sarah laughed. “Good point.”
Bartending was ending up more complicated than she would have thought, and even a little fun. Not that most customers showing up at Devil’s Den were all that interested in mixed drinks, but it gave her something to keep her mind busy when Caleb wasn’t distracting her in bed. Never hurt to learn a new skill.
She still didn’t know what she planned to do with her future, but working at Devil’s Den for a while didn’t seem so bad. All the guilt she’d had about taking a break from her graduate program had long since vanished.
Really, she’d learned so much more about how the world actually worked since meeting Caleb than she had in her classes. Sure, she couldn’t tell anyone, but there was a certain sweetness to forbidden knowledge.
“I’m not going to piss off a pack member by taking his job, am I?” Sarah said. “Thomas didn’t seem like he was happy about it.” She’d not thought much about it the last week. Even though the bar served as their home base, the entire pack didn’t work there, and she didn’t want to cause trouble with those who did.
“It’s better for now,” Caleb said. “And it’s good that we can spare some extra guys to search for the True Sons. And Thomas just is a pissy guy in general. I figured him searching for the True Sons gives him a way to blow some of that steam off.”
Sarah sighed. “I feel like all of this is my fault. If I’d never come in that night, the True Sons would have never come after me and got you more involved.”
Caleb snorted. “The hell it is your fault. This is about territory in the end, not about you.”
She looked up. “Really?”
“Look, I am pissed that the True Sons screwed with you, but this is a pack problem. If you’d never set foot in this place, we’d still be having to deal with those bastards. They just would have picked a different way to mess with us.” He tilted his head. “Huh.” Caleb glanced toward the back hallway. “One of the pack is near.”
Sarah glanced in the same direction, but didn’t see anyone yet. All the pack members who normally worked at Devil’s Den were out searching for the True Sons, with the exception of Jace who’d gone to pick up some things for the bar. “I thought you said Jace wasn’t going to be back from the store for a couple of hours.”
He grinned. “Hey, not gonna complain if he’s quicker than I expected. Maybe he found a new, better place to get what we need.”
Something crashed in the back hallway. A thud followed the crash. Caleb frowned, and they both rushed that way.
Sarah let out a strangled yelp. Caleb growled.
Thomas lay against the wall, his clothes torn and bloodied, his shirt in complete tatters. Cuts and burns covered his face and his body. He looked up, wincing in pain, and groaned.
Sarah stared at him for a moment, her breathing heavy. Tears stung the corners of her eyes. “Why isn’t he healing?”
“Silver,” Thomas said through gritted teeth. “Bastards cut and beat me with silver.”
Caleb hurried over to Thomas to help him to his feet. “Just hold on to me. We’ll get you upstairs.”
Sarah hurried to the werewolf’s other side to help support him.
They led him to the stairs and carefully helped him walk up. Thomas grunted with each step, the pain etched into his face.
Sarah swallowed. She’d gotten so used to werewolves being so tough, but the condition of the pack member slammed an important reminder into her: werewolves weren’t indestructible.
They arrived at the door to the apartment, and Caleb nodded toward it. “Unlock it.”
Sarah fished the spare key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. A few moments later they had Thomas lying down on the couch, stomach first.
“What the hell happened?” Caleb said, his expression dark.
“I caught a scent near the casino and decided to check it out. Next thing I know, there’s five of the bastards on me.” Thomas grimaced and sucked in a breath. “Goddamn silver weapons.” He ran a hand along a cut on his face. “Well, at least chicks dig scars.”
“You can scar?” Sarah asked.
Thomas gave her a pained smile then winced.
“From silver, yeah,” Caleb said. He shook his head. “Fucking pricks,” he said. “They got lucky that they surprised you, otherwise with all that silver they could have easily screwed themselves.”
Sarah hurried to the bathroom to look for some first-aid supplies. She opened up the medicine cabinet and found nothing. Werewolf overconfidence was biting them in the ass.
She bit her lip then rushed into the kitchen to grab a beer. If they didn’t have any medicine, then a little alcohol would have to do. After stepping back into the living room, she handed the beer to Thomas.
He gave a grateful nod and then sipped the beer.
Caleb snatched his phone out of his pocket and sent out a text. A moment later, Thomas’s phone dinged.
“You’re texting me when I’m right here?” the wounded man said.
The alpha shook his head. “Calling the entire pack in. It’s time we stopped being half-assed about this and dealt with the True Sons once and for all.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Sarah was standing behind the bar pouring drinks. Eleven men sat at the tables, while Caleb stood near the door, a frown on his face. Thomas was resting upstairs, though at least Malcolm had shown up with some bandages for him.
Sarah considered the pack as she set the beer-filled mugs on a tray. She’d met them all at least once, but only regularly dealt with a few, like the serious Malcolm, the hot-blooded Thomas, and the flirtatious Jace.
Even though they were a pack, many worked their own jobs to help strengthen the pack, so she’d only met most in passing.
Maneuvering around the tables, Sarah started setting down mugs of beer. “Don’t you need some reinforcements?” Every head in the room swiveled to stare at her. Her cheeks burned.
“Why would we need that?” Malcolm said, his gaze cool.
“You haven’t seen Thomas,” Sarah said, sighing. “He’s all cut up from silver.”
Several of the pack growled.
“So?” Malcom said.
Sarah narrowed her eyes. “You’re a man down, and the True Sons might have like forty guys in their pack. Do you have any actual information about them? My research before I even knew about werewolves suggested the True Sons might be a large group.”
Malcolm’s expression softened. The gathered werewolves all chuckled.
“It doesn’t work that way, Sarah,” Caleb said.
“I don’t understand.”
“No alpha can bond with more than twelve wolves. It’s just… the way things work. I mean maybe some wolves might help another wolf from a different pack out, but no alpha’s going to trust a bunch of wolves around him he can’t sense coming, and who he knows aren’t loyal.” He patted his chest. “That’s what it means to be in a pack. The other wolf has bonded himself to you in spirit.” He shrugged. “And the way Jake is, I doubt he would risk that even more.”
Sarah nodded, relief spreading through her. At least they wouldn’t be badly outnumbered once they found the True Sons. “Oh, I see.”
“But I’m glad you’re thinking of the pack.”
Several of the others grunted their approval.
Caleb turned his attention back to the men. “I’m tired of this shit,” he yelled. The men all shouted in agreement. “Jake’s bitches are coming after our pack with silver?” He snorted. “That means he’s afraid. Afraid that his guys will get torn apart in a straight fight.”
The men shouted in agreement. Sarah watched quietly, holding the tray under her arm as the pack came together as one in spirit.
“Jake’s not wolf enough to come straight at us,” Caleb said. He slammed his fist into his palm. “So we need to find him and go straight at him.”
The men all shouted louder. Even Malcolm seemed to get into it, not quite yelling, but more animated than Sarah had ever seen him.
“We need to get serious about this. I want half the pack scouting the city full-time. Take off work or make up whatever excuses you need. Work any contacts you have, shifter or human. The other half of the pack will stick close to Devil’s Den in case Jake’s pack attacks. I want this shit over within a week.” He pointed toward the window. “We need to show everyone that you don’t fuck with this pack. We need to show the dragons. We need to show the other wolves, and most of all we need to show those sons of bitches, the True Sons!”
Every wolf jumped to their feet to let out a roar of approval.
Sarah’s heart pounded. She just wasn’t sure if it was from fear or excitement.