~

“Yes.” Jack nodded, and yet, there was a part of him that didn’t. I could tell from the fleeting grimace. This Malachi watching for clues thing was awesome.

“Okay, hold onto your panties because this is complicated. Fraser, Ross’ cousin, killed his father, the alpha, Lachlan, and tried to blame it on Ross, so that when he killed Ross, he would be the alpha of his pack. Ross killed Fraser when Fraser tried to kill Moira, making Ross the alpha of the pack. Are you with me so far?” He looked a little constipated, but I’m sure that was his thinking face.

“I don’t want to be, but I think I am,” Jack grumbled.

“The two from yesterday showed up looking for Ross, the alpha, claiming that Ross needed to go back to the pack with them or face a challenge. My money is on the challenge part.”

“So they’re going to try to kill Ross?”

“Maybe — possibly — probably,” I grimaced at the thought.

Over my dead body would anybody hurt Ross, and Moira’s too. Gran certainly wouldn’t be able to stand on the sidelines and let that happen, and then there was dad, probably bat-boy and Eileen, and I believe Malachi was on our side as well, but it was Malachi, so all bets were off.

Thinking about it like that made me feel better. Ross had his own pack right here on the island, and anyone stupid enough to mess with us was going down. I hoped.

“Okay, this is going to possibly sound like a stupid question — do I need silver bullets?” Jack looked as if he’d just dropped a fart in an elevator.

“You need to keep out of it,” I offered back. “I highly doubt that they will come after you for any reason, don’t put yourself in the middle of anything that doesn’t concern you.”

“Turn around and walk away?” Jack didn’t look as if that was an appetising thought.

“Run — drive — curl into a little ball and protect your head and neck,” I teased, I was, in my own strange way, trying to lighten the moment, but I don’t think he appreciated it too much.

“You’re serious?”

“I like to think I can be on occasion.” I shrugged. “While it’s true that you’re a manly–man, even you must know that there are some fights you need to walk away from.”

“I need to know how to kill a werewolf,” Jack said, leaning in and whispering the last word once more.

“With magic, claws, fangs, and superhuman strength and abilities — all of which, unfortunately, you don’t possess. Ergo, the running, driving, curling into a ball on the floor and protecting yourself stance seems like the way to go.”

“But the silver thing?”

“Would you give up on that already?” I tossed back.

Yes, silver killed werewolves, it didn’t do much good to vampires either — but what would be the point of telling him that? That would just give him a fake sense of security, something which I didn’t want to provide.

I had a horrible image in my mind where Jack was standing there with a spray gun of holy water in one hand, and Wolfsbane in the other. That wouldn’t end well — for him.

“Okay, another stupid question, maybe,” Jack said. I wanted to sigh, but he had a right to know most things, now that he was in the loop.

“Go for it.”

“How do you kill a vampire?”

I groaned. “Seriously?”

“And why are they called nightwalkers when they can venture out in the daytime?” He hooked a thumb back over his shoulder, and I followed the direction that he motioned towards.

There was Malachi, standing beside a large treetrunk, not exactly hiding from view, but not exactly easy to spot unless you are looking for him either.

“Myth — legend — lies. Look, just stay out of their way, and no harm will come to you. You left before, you can leave again,” I said.

I firmly believe that. If Jack stayed out of whatever trouble was headed our way, then no harm should come to him.

“But, what if they come to me?”

That was a good question, but I couldn’t see it happening. Not if Jack stayed out of the fight and kept his mouth shut.

“You know that old adage of keeping your nose out of other people’s business?” I left it there. Jack nodded.

“Just turn a blind eye?” He didn’t seem happy with that.

“Turn off your busybody detective brain and keep your head down. It’s all that you can do.”

I gave it to him straight. There was no point in sugarcoating it.

He knew about us now, all of us, and if he was stupid enough to get involved, then there wasn’t much I could do about that.

He’d been warned — several times — he needed to heed that warning for his own sake.

 

~

 

“You — me — bone picking,” I said, as I stalked toward Malachi. He hadn’t attempted to leave his place beside the tree trunk, and kudos for that, but the man had a cocky grin on his face that I wouldn’t have minded wiping away.

“You know, you keep denying that there is something between us, and yet, you keep seeking me out.”

“Maybe because you keep doing stupid stuff like stalking deputy dog,” I shot back. That gleam of amusement in his eyes annoyed me so.

“And what would you say if I told you that I was trying to keep him safe from harm?”

“Oh, I don’t know — liar – liar, gonna set your pants on fire.” I offered him a cocky grin of my own.

“Okay, you caught me. I’m stalking detective Dolittle so that I can find him doing something nefarious and have a reason to drain him of every drop of his blood and leave him dead on the ground for the crows to feast upon.” He offered me a small shrug of his shoulders. “Does that fit your opinion of me better?”

“Now that you mention it — yes.” I knew his game, and I wasn’t playing it. If he wanted to make me feel guilty for doubting him, accusing him, it wasn’t going to work.

On the one hand, I trusted Malachi, and on the other hand, I didn’t. It felt as if I was standing there trying to balance the scales of justice where he was concerned, but if anyone felt as if they had a split personality, then it was definitely him.

“Ouch,” he grimaced, and I hated that I couldn’t tell if that grimace was real or not.

“Oh, I’m sorry did I dent your pride?”

“Yes, a little.”

Now he was looking at me as if I did him a really big wrong. The problem with that was; where Malachi was concerned, I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. The man was a coin with two faces; I guess it just depended on which way he was going to land in any given situation as the mood took him.

“Oh, poor baby,” I offered back and was rewarded with a slow to boil, sexy smile that lightened his face, played in his eyes, and sent my X-rated brain off in a totally wrong direction.

“I like it when you show your true feelings for me.” Now he looked teasing but smug, and these were the moments that threw me the most. I know he liked to keep me off balance, but that was unhelpful on so many levels.

“I like it when you do that stealthy vanishing act thing that you do, let’s see some of that.” I deflected because being off balance wasn’t what I wanted to be when I was around him.

“Deflecting.” His melodic tone grated on my nerves as he busted me once more.

“Not caring,” I used a singsong tone right back at him.

“Liar – liar.”

He was back to teasing me again, and I was back to wanting to stab him with a fork. Not to cause him pain, which obviously it would, and that would just have been a bonus. Not because I was evil and mean, which I could be, anybody could — but, just because it annoyed me that he could get to me so much and on so many different levels, and I still hadn’t figured him out yet. It sucked.

“You keep thinking that and I’ll know the truth,” I said as I turned on my heels and started back toward my car.

I hadn’t got Malachi to agree to stay away from Jack, and probably never would, but I did need to make my escape before Malachi hit on something that neither of us could take back.

“The lady doth protest too much,” he called after me, and that was a loaded statement. So, I flipped him my middle finger and kept walking.

 

~

 

“Let’s be honest, Ross, you need the goon squad that the pack sent to be gone,” Dad said as we sat around the dining room table and allowed Gran’s sticky toffee pudding to settle.

Highland food was designed to fill you up, heat you up, and keep you going. Couscous and rice dishes weren’t really on the menu anywhere other than in the towns and restaurants unless the rice was in a nice hot pudding with nutmeg. If I’d served stir-fry to my elders, they’d probably want to know where the leg of lamb and the tatties were hiding.

“Aye, it’s like a black cloud hanging over your head,” Eileen said, somewhat absently as she played footsies under the table with bat-boy, and thought nobody was going to notice, der.

“Well, aren’t you little Miss Sunshine tonight?” Moira bit out, back on the defensive again now that Ross was in the firing line once more.

“I think Ross should stay here,” I said, and all eyes turned to me.

“Excuse me?” Dad choked on his own tongue.

“That’s really not a…” Mother got out.

“Hello?” Moira piped up. She looked kind of shocked, but at the same time, she looked very interested in that idea.

“That’s…” That was the total of what Ross had managed to push out his mouth as he slowly shook his head from side to side.

“Taking this pet adoption thing a little far, aren’t you?” Malachi asked with so much amusement in his eyes that they held my gaze for a long moment.