When the apartment was finally empty of everyone but Lucy and Jason, they papered over the broken glass door with cardboard. “Guess I’ll have to call the landlord,” she said.
“He insured?”
“Probably. I’m sure the money will come from Richard, eventually.”
“Don’t count on it. I had Ian do some digging while we were…doing all this, and apparently Richard was racking up some serious debt. That’s probably why he was so desperate to have the clan pass to someone else.”
There was a knock at the door. Again? “I’ll check it,” Jason said.
It was Andy, wearing pants this time, holding Lucy’s towel in his hand. “I…I wanted to apologize, and give this back.”
He smelled all right. Jason stepped back and let him in.
“Thank you,” Lucy said. She was standing straighter, holding herself like the Queen she was. “Do you want to come in?”
“If, if you want me to,” he said. “If you trust me.”
Lucy just smiled. “Why don’t you come in and tell us what happened?” She walked over to the kitchen table and sat.
He sat across from her. Jason stayed back. Andy was definitely in subservient mode, but Jason wasn’t about to be complacent. He wasn’t the Alpha to this clan. That was Lucy’s role, and it felt good to have her embracing it.
“He told me…he told me you were going to betray the clan,” he said. “That you didn’t care about any of it, you were going to let this guy from the Pacific take over everything.” He looked ashamed. “I should’ve known better than to listen to him. But Oliver was gone, and we all—we all looked up to him. And then we didn’t hear anything from you at all.”
“I didn’t know,” she said. “I only found out yesterday that werewolves were even real.”
His eyes went wide for a second. “You catch on fast.”
“Oliver…he left a lot of advice,” she said, with a generous smile. “And Jason’s helped me. Even though he isn’t from the clan. They’d put a lot of work together about the alliance before I got in the picture. I’m sorry I couldn’t get in touch with any of you sooner, though. I think Oliver was trying to protect me, but I think it may have encouraged Richard to act…well, the way he did.”
“I haven’t been with the clan that long,” Andy said. “I was adopted, so I didn’t grow up in a werewolf family. Oliver found me, and brought me in, but I just graduated college in the spring. I was planning on getting a lot closer to the clan now that I’m independent, but I hadn’t had the chance.”
She reached a hand over to him. Jason’s wolf felt a moment of jealousy, but the truth was, she was being kind. “We can get closer together,” she said. “I’ve still got a lot to learn. As long as you—”
“You’re the queen,” he said. “I should never have doubted you. I’m so glad you understand.”
“It’s easy to feel lost.” She smiled back at Jason. “But I think we’ve both found our way. I need to call a clan meeting—do you think you could help me with that?”
“Yes,” he said, brightening up. “I’d really like that.”
She smiled. “I thought so.” Damn, she was sexy when she was ordering a pup around. “Uncle Oliver worked very hard on strengthening the clan, and on this alliance. We can talk about it at the meeting.”
“Richard might—”
“No one’s going to believe Richard,” she said.
“Did he call you?” Jason asked. “Are there phone records, anything like that?”
“I don’t think so,” Andy said. “He…shit. He wanted me to take the fall if anything went wrong, I think. Didn’t want us connected at all. The ritual—”
“There’s no such thing,” Jason said.
Andy put his hands over his face and sighed. “I’m an idiot.”
“You trusted the wrong person,” she said reassuringly.
“If I’d been the alpha, really, I would have known.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “You live close?”
“I’m staying with my parents until I can afford an apartment. It’s pretty close to Oliver’s. That’s why I thought….” He shrugged his shoulders, putting his hannds back down. “I really miss him.”
“Do your parents know?”
“No,” he said. “I know they love me. And they’re my parents, always. But…this? I can’t ask them to deal with a werewolf son. They didn’t ask for that.”
“As long as you’re safe,” she said. “And they love you. Why don’t we trade numbers? We can start working on the meeting tomorrow.”
“All right,” he said. “Thanks. I…probably ought to get home after that.”
“I think I could just fall asleep right here,” Lucy said, after Andy had left and she’d sent one last email.
“Why don’t we go to bed instead?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “I think I’m too tired for anything but sleep.”
“Me too,” he said. “I’m a werewolf. I’m not Superman.”
“Good. Do you mind sleeping with me? Just sleeping?”
He laughed. “Of course not. Let’s get some sleep. We deserve it.”
“I’ll say,” she said, getting up.
He caught her around the waist and held her tight. To his relief, she let him. She smelled secure, content. He put his face in her hair and breathed her in.
“I thought we were just sleeping,” she said. He could hear the smile in her voice.
“For now,” he said. “There’s still the morning.”
“Late breakfast,” she said happily. “Definitely.”
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “I was going too fast.”
“You were,” she said, “but you were right, too. I have to—this is my family. My clan. Maybe I didn’t know them for a long time, but they’re mine. I get that now. Having someone else here from the clan—now I understand. When I was a kid, sometimes I’d talk to someone and it was just like they were family…they were, weren’t they? They were part of the clan and I just didn’t know.”
“That’s just how it works,” he said. “I wish things hadn’t worked out the way they did. Losing your mom, and Oliver—he was hoping the clan alliance would give him an excuse to finally get to know you all.”
“I wish he had.” She looked up at him. “Do you think Richard might have—?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever know. But a heart attack…might have been wolfsbane.”
She hissed in breath.
“I don’t know if we can find out for sure,” he said. “Do you want me to look into it?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. Let me think about that. And I want to talk about the clan alliance in the morning,” she said. “About us, too.”
“I can wait,” he said.
She kissed him, and he didn’t want to wait. He wanted to claim those soft lips for the rest of his life. He wanted to take her to bed, make love to her, never let her go. But he wasn’t lying. He could wait. He just hoped he didn’t have to wait long. “Thank you,” she said. “Now let’s go to bed.”
***