Chapter Five
“You look exhausted, baby doll.” Dane said the instant he opened the door of his truck.
Grace stared deadpan at him. She was exhausted but it didn’t help when a gorgeous man pointed it out. Especially since she had done her best to hide the dark circles under her eyes.
After falling asleep in the tub, Grace woke up sore, tired, feeling like an idiot. She checked out the area where the creature sat the night before. There was no evidence of an animal having been there. There weren’t any tracks or scents. Grace had even shifted. Her wolf didn’t notice anything but a rabbit hole. Proving that Grace had overreacted again. She was too accustomed to living in town. She wasn’t used to the sounds and smell of the woods. It was making her jumpy.
“Thank you for the compliment,” Grace unloaded a pack of shingles. “Last night was rough. I got worked up over shadows and ended up scaring myself.”
Dane set down what he was carrying and wiped sweat off of his forehead. “What happened?”
Grace told him about the shape in the woods. She admitted to sleeping in the bathtub. Ending with the fact that there wasn’t anything there this morning.
“I don’t know,” Grace said when she finished. “I think I was just worked up because I thought someone tried to break in a few nights ago.”
Dane’s entire demeanor changed. His body tensed ready to spring. His face was devoid of emotion. “Show me.” It wasn’t a request, it was a command.
Shrugging, Grace took him to the patch of blackberries she had searched that morning. It was the closest point to the house on that side of the forest. Dane ducked under the brambles.
Dane crouched near the base of a tree. His head turned from one side to the other searching the area of lingering scents. He picked up a handful of dirt inhaling deeply. Grace stepped back as he stood and surveyed the ground. He raised an eyebrow at the obvious wolf tracks.
“Those are mine,” Grace pointed to the single line of prints she’s made earlier.
“Just making sure,” he went down to a crouch. “They smell like you.”
A flutter tucked Grace’s stomach.
“I don’t see anything, Grace,” Dane stood wiping his hands on his jeans.
“I wasn’t expecting you to. I freaked myself out over nothing.” God, she was embarrassed.
“I didn’t say that,’ he stopped close enough to Grace that she felt heat coming off of his body. “Just because the two of us couldn’t find any trace of this guy doesn’t mean a thing. You and I don’t have any proper training in tracking. There might be clues here that we can’t find.”
Grace felt the blood drain from her face. Black dots peppered the corners of her sight. “You think it was a person?” The question was barely audible.
“I think that if it had been an animal we would have seen tracks or smelled something. The fact that neither of us could is worrisome.”
Grace stared at Dane. She felt frantic to explain last night away. She would rather think she was being paranoid rather than the alternative. “But we didn’t find anything. It’s probably just in my head.”
Dane squeezed Grace’s shoulders. She tilted her head back to look into his eyes. The angry expression was gone. Dane was staring down at her with such a gentle look that Grace felt some of her fear ease. “Were you scared last night?” Grace nodded. “Did you feel like you were being watched?” Graced nodded. “I trust your instincts.”
Dane pulled her into a hug. His body surrounded her in heat. Grace was more scared now than she had been on either night. Dane sounded so sure that someone had been out here. She felt vulnerable knowing that someone had been watching her.
“This changes things.” Grace lifted her head off of Dane’s chest. He drew a thumb down the side of her face. “We are going to replace your door right now. Then, I’m putting new locks on all of the windows.” Pinching her chin Dane tilted her head back to look deep into Grace’s eyes. “Tonight, I’m camping on the lawn.”
That snapped Grace out of the trance Dane’s presence put her in. “Absolutely not. There is no way you’re staying on my lawn.”
“Grace,” his tone was hard, “this is not optional. You can have me stay with you or you can have one of Black Bird’s enforcers but if you’re staying here then someone is staying with you.”
After yesterday’s showdown Grace was positive she knew which enforcer would be sleeping on her lawn. She could request anyone other than Jack but would that work? Grace was willing to bet that Jack would find a way to drag her back to town. Grace wasn’t up for a dressing down from Jack.
“Alright, you can stay but you’re camping outside. I’m not letting you stay on my couch. I don’t care how cold it gets at night.”
Dane slapped a hand over his heart, swaying dramatically. “You’ve found out my one move. How am I going to get you to like me if I’m not showing up at your door looking pitiful?” Grace punched him in the arm. Dane laughed. He pulled out his cell phone.
“Hello?” Ben answered on the first ring.
Grace dove to grab the phone but Dane wrapped an arm around her trapping Grace.
“Hello Alpha Thompson, this is Dane Jennings. I’m working on Grace Copeland’s house. I’m going to be camping out on her lawn for the next few nights.”
There was a pregnant pause. “Can I ask why?
“Someone was scoping the cabin out last night and I don’t feel comfortable leaving her out here on her own.”
“Is Grace next to you?” Grace could already tell by Ben’s tone of voice that she was in major deep shit.
“Yeah, she’s right here.”
“Pass her the phone.”
Dane let go of Grace and handed her the cell.
“Hi, Ben,” Grace smiled hoping the cheery voice would cool his temper.
“I have a couple questions for you, Grace. Why is it that I’m just now hearing that you had an intruder?” The way he phrased the question told Grace that Ben was not expecting her to answer. “And why is it that I’m hearing this from a South Creek wolf? Were you ever planning on passing along this information?”
Grace’s pride pricked at Ben’s questions. “I wasn’t sure if anything had been outside my house. When I went to check things out on both occasions I couldn’t find a trace of anything. It wasn’t until Dane looked things over. I realized I might not be jumping at shadows.”
Ben groaned. Grace could practically see him grinding his teeth. “Grace,” he bit out, “what did I tell you to do when you moved?”
“To call you if anything happened.”
“I expected you not to give me lip service but to actually do what I told you to do. There are rogues circling around South Creek. That could be one of them testing out borders last night. I asked you to call not only because I want you safe but because you’re in a position to help keep all of us safe.”
“I really thought I was overreacting until a few minutes ago.” Looking back, it was a feeble excuse but honestly, she hadn’t even thought to call Ben or the enforcers until last night.
“Take everything seriously from here on out. I would rather have the enforcers rack up miles driving out to your house than the alternative. That being said, I’m sending someone out there right now.”
“No,” Grace yelled into the phone. “Please Ben, send Paul or Derek or the Tate twins. Just don’t let Jack find out. He’s already been on my case. I’d never hear the end of it if he found out.”
Ben sighed through the phone. “I don’t want to know. I’ll send Ezra and Ezekiel out.”
“Thanks, Ben.” The Tate boys wouldn’t go around telling people what had happened. Grace hung up the phone and handed it back to Dane.
“Who’s Jack? An old boyfriend of yours?”
Grace laughed but it sounded forced. “No, I can safely say that I have never dated Jack. He’s just an enforcer who has decided in the last twenty-four hours that he has more of a claim over my life than he actually does.”
The absolute last thing that Grace wanted to do was explain her relationship to Jack. Dane was attractive, he obviously had a protective streak and telling him about Grace’s almost mate would be humiliating.
“So, I don’t have to worry about an angry ex trying to beat me up?” Dane joked as they walked back to the cabin.
“No, no angry exes. Jack might come by and grill you about your roofing technique though.” At Dane’s confused look Grace explained. “I hired you over him.”
“Oh,” Dane nodded, “a rival contractor. Those, I can deal with.”
“Next round is on you, asshole.” Mark shoved the empty pitcher of beer at Jack.
“What the hell?” Jack barely caught the pitcher in time to stop it from hitting the floor.
“We’ve had to listen to you bitch all night. The least you can do is buy the next round.” Mark pointed in the direction of bar. “Get to it.”
Jack snarled and made his way to the bar.
He’d woken up exhausted that morning. Everything went downhill from there. The lumber he was waiting for was late. Then Ben called him away on some wild goose chase. That bullshit had him running through the woods until dark. By the time Jack made it home it was too late to drop by Grace’s place to see if she had changed her mind.
“Evening, Jack, the boys got tired of your bitching?” Greg Miller, the owner of the bar, smiled as he took the pitched from Jack. Greg was an older man. His years working at the bar showed in his thick gut and rough hands. He was a good man even when he was being a pain in the ass.
“I’m not bitching,” he grumbled.
A tray dropped onto the scratched countertop. Lydia Miller curled her lip and lifted a brow. She was Greg’s wife and a ball buster. Her red hair was turning white but she was still fiery. “If you kept up any longer about ‘Grace and her harebrained idea’ I was about to get you a tampon.”
“I wasn’t that bad. I just don’t think she’s making a rational choice.”
Lydia rolled her eyes and picked up her tray again. “If I didn’t know any better I would say that you were worried about that girl.”
“Of course I’m worried about her,” Jack folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve got to agree that moving to a half collapsed cabin at the edge of our territory is a bad idea. The woman is going to get herself killed,” Jack shook his head.
This sudden change in behavior did worry him. It wasn’t that it was Grace though. If any of the Pack started acting like that Jack would be just as concerned. He kept repeating that to himself.
“I think it's about time Grace let loose,” Greg set the full pitcher of beer next to Jack. “I haven’t seen her here in too long. It’s boring without the girls causing a ruckus. There’s never a dull moment when the girls have a night out.” He nodded towards a table in the back. “I’m betting a dance floor breaks out before midnight and we have to replace a chair by closing.”
Right next to the old jukebox was a group of women in shiny tops. Jack winced at a peal of shrill laughter. Holly Kroll gestured wildly. Betsy Robbins grabbed a martini glass that was in the path of Holly’s waving arms. Anne rolled her eyes at Holly. And bent over laughing hysterically was Grace.
Her blonde hair was pinned up leaving her pale neck exposed. She pounded the table unable to stop laughing. Her cheeks were flushed an attractive pink. The low lights twinkled in her eyes. She was completely unaware of how enticing she looked.
The men around her weren’t. Every eye in the house was drawn to the table. Jack even saw a few of his friends watching them.
It pissed Jack off.
“This is what I mean,” he pointed towards the women. “Grace is going home, alone, drunk off her ass and no one's gonna be there to keep the literal wolves from the door.”
Lydia came back with another empty tray. “Seems to me, Jack Taylor, that you want to apply for that position.”
Jack glared at Lydia’s back as she went to deliver drinks. Disgusted, Jack grabbed the beer and went back to the table.
“If your gossiping made that beer warm, I’m taking you out back to knock some sense into you.” Derek said casually pouring himself another glass.
“Why is everyone on my case tonight?” Jack snarled.
“Because we’ve all hit the limit of this Jack and Grace bullshit,” Mark shrugged. Everyone around the table nodded, agreeing with him.
“I, for one, almost shouted for joy when you finally grew a pair and told Grace you weren’t going to mate her. I thought we’d all finally get to move on.” Paul grimaced at his harsh tone, “And no one needs to move on more than you and Grace.”
“But we didn’t. You,” Dave pointed a finger at Jack, “would not shut up this whole weekend about Grace. It’s only Tuesday and I already want to kill you.”
“I second that,” Dave grumbled.
“Yeah, Grace had moved on,” Paul indicated to the girls doing shots at the bar. “Besides, it’s time for someone else to be tossed to the Black Bird sharks.”
“Yeah, Paul,” Dave smiled widely showing off his eyeteeth, “it is time for someone else to be at the mercy of the old ladies.” His eyes dropped to the table. Jack leaned back. Dave was trying too hard to act casually. “Cal just said that Betsy’s ex is flying here to see her.”
Paul whipped his head around. The easy going air was gone. His shoulders were tense. Jack could feel his wolf’s anger from across the table. It made Jack edgy.
“When’d you hear that?” The words scraped out of Paul’s throat.
Dave smiled, still paying too much attention to his drink. “They were helping me move furniture the other day. I guess Mr. Robbins is pretty excited about it. He’s convinced that this guy is the one who got away.”
The glass exploded in Paul’s hand.
“Woah,” Derek yelled as he stood up. “What the hell man?”
Mark signaled Lydia to bring over a towel.
Paul stared down at his hand. He didn’t move to remove glass shards or wipe the beer from his hand. When he looked up the happy, relaxed facade was back. “Sorry guys, sometimes I forget my own strength. I’m going to close my tab and call it a night.” Paul didn’t bother waiting for a reply. He got up and left.
Jack and Mark shared a look. Derek punched Dave hard enough that Dave flinched.
“Why have you got to be an asshole?” Derek asked.
“What?” Dave rubbed his shoulder. “Jack grew a pair. It’s about time for Paul to stop fucking around.”
“Is Betsy’s ex flying to Black Bird?” Jack asked.
“Yeah,” Dave didn’t meet anyone’s eyes. “But Betsy’s dad might not be so thrilled about it.”
Jack picked up a napkin and threw it at Dave. “You are such an ass.”
Squealing from the back of the bar had everyone turning their head. Henry Robbins was dancing with Anne who looked drunker than shit. She kept tilting to the side, forcing Henry to practically carry her. By the table, Betsy was poking Cal in the chest as she read him the riot act. The squealer turned out to be Holly, no surprise there, who was being used as a barbell by Patrick Robbins. Jack searched around but couldn’t see Grace. Figuring she had gone to the bathroom he got up to wait for her in the hall. This way Jack could finally talk her into moving back into town.
“I am totally not making a good impression today.” Grace stood at the end of the hall talking someone on the phone. Jack was too far away to hear the person on the other end. She laughed at whatever the person said. The sound made Jack’s stomach clench. “I can’t thank you enough. This is really going above and beyond the call of duty. Okay, I’ll see you in a few.”
Grace smiled down at her phone until she noticed Jack. Her mouth turned down as she lifted her chin. Jack wanted to put his fist through the wall. Grace was done with Jack.
“Who was that?” Jack followed her close enough to bump into her when someone got in the way.
“Not that it’s any of your business but that was my ride.” Grace weaved through the scattered tables and chairs.
Back at the girl’s table the Robbin’s boys were flirting shamelessly with Holly and Anne. Betsy was gone. Leaving an open chair. Jack sat down before anyone kicked it out of the way.
“What’s up, Jack? I heard you were on patrol duty all weekend.” Cal Robbins was the oldest sibling and by far the most tolerable. Unlike his two younger brothers, Cal was reasonable. The younger Robbins brothers might as well be teens.
“Yeah, Ben is keeping security tight with all of the rumors floating around.”
“There more than rumors if I’ve heard correctly.” Grace looked Jack dead in the eye daring him to lie.
“More than rumors,” he hedged. Jack looked at Anne. If she was passing along secret information then Ben would want to know. Tonight would not be the night to ask her though. Anne was so drunk Jack would be surprised if she remembered her own name.
“Damn,” Henry muttered. He turned to Patrick. “We should probably go to that enforcer training Ben is setting up.”
Holly spit out her beer. Anne and Cal yelled, pushing back from the table. When Holly stopped cackling, she wiped tears from her eyes. “I know you guys think you’re the shit, but you wouldn’t last two minutes in a training session with Derek. Let alone the Tates. They’d chew you up and spit you out.”
The brothers frowned. Patrick lifted his lip in disgust. Henry looked offended.
“We can hold our own just fine,” Patrick folded his arms. “Kinda cocky words for someone who can’t even try out to be an enforcer.”
Holly gave them a shit eating grin over her beer. “Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?” Patrick and Henry barked at the same time.
“Ben opened up the position of enforcers to women.” Jack watched the brothers’ faces go from surprised to pissed. He pointed at Holly. “And she’s the reason why.”
“That’s bullshit,” Patrick slammed a fist onto the table causing the old wood to crack.
“What’s Ben thinking? We protect our women. Having female enforcers defeats the purpose, don’t you think?” The anger in Henry’s words began to burn the air around the table.
Jack’s wolf hated it. Having a less experienced wolf challenge the Alpha’s decision did not sit well with it. Jack could always take the younger men outside and remind them where they sat on the totem pole. It might improve his mood.
“Ben’s thinking about the wellbeing of the entire territory,” Cal’s voice rose to drown out his brother’s outrage. Cal must have seen the look in Jack’s eyes because he continued to try talking some sense into his brothers. “Besides, this is the 21st century. Women don’t have to be sequestered any more. They can defend themselves and their Packs.”
“Yeah, we could really benefit from Holly’s experience,” Jack tipped his head in Holly’s direction. It earned him a bright grin from Holly and a glower from Grace.
“So, you agree,” Grace turned to face Jack.
“Agree with what?”
She pointed at Cal. “What he said about women being able to defend themselves and whatever.”
Jack look around the table. Patrick, Henry, and Cal were suddenly very interested in something happening across the room. Grace was leaning across the table ready to spring her trap. “I agree with Ben that he should allow women to try out to be enforcers.”
“But that would mean you think women can protect and defend against other wolves.” Grace had an angry, determined look on her face waiting for Jack to stick his foot in his mouth.
Suddenly, Jack was exhausted again. “Don’t go putting words in my mouth, Grace. You are not Holly. Holly has training. She was an enforcer for her old Pack.”
“So if I get training, you’d get off my back about moving to town?”
“Stop grasping at straws,” Jack bit, his patience gone. “Defense training would take months if not years to master. And that’s if you’d stick with it.” Jack leaned across the table getting into Grace’s space. He felt his eyes shift. From emotion or nearness to Grace he didn’t know. “Let’s be honest. Something terrible will happen to you before you get the chance to learn how to protect yourself and the rest of us will be left to feel guilty because we didn’t stop your reckless behavior. All because of your wounded pride.” Jack inhaled the scent of Grace: anger, sunshine, paint, and settled back in his chair. “Don’t be stupid. Move.”
Thick tension crowded the table. Jack heard one of the Pack’s more timid wolves, Debbie, whine in distress. When Jack looked up he saw the bar staring at them in silence. Mark, Derek and Dave were all shaking their heads. A few of the women looked ready to feed Jack his balls. There was enough rage coming off of Grace that he was positive she was going to try and literally feed him his own balls.
“Is there a problem here?” A tall, leanly muscled man stood next to their table. He was wearing jeans with holes worn in them, a fleece button up and work boots. They were all clean but well used. Jack didn’t recognize him but the way his body was angled towards Grace had him jumping up.
Grace stood so fast that the table rocked making everyone dive for their drinks. She stepped between him and the stranger. “No problem, Dane. Jack was just reminding the town of his opinion about me. I’m ready to go when you are.”
Dane looked Jack over from head to toe. He took in Jack’s appearance before inhaling to scent his emotions. Dane met Jack’s gaze. The look wasn’t threatening, it was analytical. Jack could feel the man taking his measure. He wanted to slam his fist into the asshole’s face.
“I see why you didn’t hire him,” was all he said before turning to follow Grace outside.
“Hold on, who the hell are you?” Jack growled following the pair out.
“I’m the contractor Grace hired to fix up her cabin.” Dane didn’t bother turning around to face Jack he just kept walking towards the dirt parking lot.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
The man shrugged, “Grace asked for a ride home. Said she drank too much.”
“And why the hell are you still here to give her a ride home?”
Dane led Grace to a pickup. “I’m camping at the cabin for a few days.”
“No fucking way,” Jack strode forward to grab Grace but she ducked out of his reach.
“You don’t have a say, Jack Taylor. Ben gave the okay and Ethan gave the okay. Since both of them outrank you, you can deal with it. Now, go away. I’m tired.”
Jack stared open jawed as Grace stepped up into the truck’s cab. “You would rather have some unknown wolf sleeping outside your front door than me? Have you lost your mind?”
“No, I think I finally found it again.” With that, Grace slammed the door.
Dane paid no attention to Jack as he opened the driver’s door. “Are you sure he’s not an ex?”
Jack heard Grace’s reply just before the door closed. “Thank God, no.”