Chapter 3
Change
With a new bartender on the way, JC felt relaxed enough to enjoy his evening of drinking. Mitzy was coming on strong, but he was tough so she wouldn’t get anywhere. At the end of the night, he would cut her loose. There was no choice, she’d become too attached. It was his fault, mostly. She’d had hopes which he’d seen, but overlooked because the sex was good and easy.
Now he’d pay for taking the easy way out. She’d either quit, leaving the bar hanging where help was concerned or she’d stick around to make him miserable. Neither choice was something he looked forward to. He’d be more careful next time or at least he hoped he would. The guys started streaming in making him wonder if there was a meeting he’d forgotten about.
“What’s up guys?” JC asked.
“Not much. We’ve got a bet going so we wanted to be on hand to see how things played out.” Cade mentioned.
He had a feeling the bet was on him. “What might this bet be since I was unaware of it?”
Jack chuckled. “As if you haven’t already guessed. Don’t blame us. Things have been dull around here so we have to take what entertainment we can find.”
“You think seeing a female’s feelings get hurt is entertainment?” JC wondered starting to get mad.
“Of course not. Seeing her kick your ass might be fun though.” Jack replied.
“She won’t do that. She’ll either quit or she’ll stay to needle me.” JC offered.
“I’ll take that action.” Grant said.
“I won’t bet on something like this you degenerates. I’ve never bet on your love lives either.” JC pointed out.
Mitzy walked by, but when she saw JC’s crew there, she made a nasty face. Everyone knew when he got together with his guys in the bar, trouble was sure to happen. The only question was what kind of trouble? Once that was determined everyone wanted to know who was targeted. That way they could stay away from it. Mitzy was already having a bad night because Sheila was working the bar.
That meant Mitzy made her own drinks most of the time. Sheila was an okay waitress, nothing to get excited about. She was steady and dependable, but slow and not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He would never have sent her to bartender training. That’s why she had gone on her own and failed.
Her biggest goal in life was to be a full time bartender, but she was awful. He only used her in desperate times. In those times, the waitresses made most of the mixed drinks hoping Sheila wouldn’t mess up serving the beer.
This was not a good time to break up with his head waitress, but he’d already let it go far too long. The crowd began to thin out, but his crew stuck with him even though he encouraged them to leave. It wasn’t long after that before it was closing time. After everything was put away and cleaned up, he called Mitzy into his office.
JC had to admit, this was the most uncomfortable he’d ever been when breaking up with a lover. She might be considered a bitch by many, but he’d considered her a friend. That was about to change in a big way which made him feel bad. The fact that she looked sad rather than angry only made it worse.
“I think you may already know what I called you in here for.” JC suggested.
“You’re breaking it off between us?”
“I’m sorry, but there’s no way we could ever be mates.”
“I want to hate you, but I can’t. That perfect female you want doesn’t exist. Even if you find your fated mate which most of us don’t, I don’t believe she’ll be anything like you expect. For me and all the other females you been so callous to, I pray you have a daughter someday.”
“A daughter? Are you alright, Mitzy?”
“No, I’m not alright, but I will be given time. You, I’m not as sure about.”
“Why are you wishing a daughter on me? That would be a great honor to have a girl pup?”
“Males like you never understand until they have a little girl they love more than anything in the world out there among males just like you used to be.” She giggled. “It’s the goddess’ perfect revenge for all the females you mistreated.”
“You’d wish being mistreated on a baby girl?” JC asked.
“No, I just want you to worry that it could happen. We done here?”
JC nodded watching as she left the room. Her demeanor had stunned him. She’d been calmly accepting, but she was anticipating revenge someday. Had he really been so cold to those women? He’d never lied about what he wanted or expected. A male had needs, he’d always tried to hook up with females that wanted the same thing.
The guys started to file in. “Did she quit?” Cade asked. JC shook his head.
“Did she try to hit you or throw something?” Jack asked with a gleam in his eye. JC shook his head again.
“What the hell did she do?” Grant wondered.
“She said she hopes I have a daughter someday.” JC admitted.
“How is that something bad?” Cade asked.
“She said males like us don’t like the way it feels when our daughters go out into the world around other males like us.” JC explained.
“Shit!” Cade said.
“Exactly.” JC answered. It looked like all the guys were giving that some thought. That didn’t mean it would change their behavior, but maybe they would be more careful about who they chose to have fun with.
“When is the bartender coming? Sheila gave me a flat beer. Don’t ask me where that came from, I haven’t a clue.” Jack observed.
“I ordered my usual premium whiskey, but what I got tasted like watered down crap.” Harvey added.
It was easy to feel bad for the guys, but he felt bad for Sheila too. Being a full time bartender was her dream. She loved the atmosphere in the bar, the fun, and the people. Go figure. That might seem weird, but it was just the way she felt. Unfortunately, she was so bad, no one would ever hire her full time. On top of that, she was average in every way. Sheila never got the attention the other girls did or the really big tips.
The guys weren’t the only ones asking about the new bartender. Each customer he passed ask about her as well. How much longer was their favorite question. JC couldn’t blame them, he wondered too. Sheila was a sign of desperate times. He’d heard bartenders, good ones even, were common as mud in the big cities. It was because of them being what they were that he couldn’t just hire anyone. This girl might be human, but she knew all about the supernatural. Tyne had assured him she could handle anything thrown at her.
JC had to admit that phrase Tyne used made him wonder about her. Maybe she was one of those tough old birds that chewed nails as a hobby. She might look like a bulldog with a bite to go with it. Maybe she was a female version of the hulk. His imagination was running wild, but he was sure she was tough with hard eyes.
At least he wouldn’t have to keep the guys under control so they didn’t run her off like the last one. Mitzy would also get jealous if the female was pretty so an old woman with a face like tanned leather would be best right now. Two days before she arrived, but he couldn’t wait. Sheila just seemed to get worse the harder she tried.
Sunday was his fun day, but he rarely did anything fun anymore. That’s why he decided not to wait and go today, even though it was Saturday. They were going for a morning ride. He needed to clean out the pipes on his hog so a ride with the guys was the best way to do it. They were having some trouble near the border and there was no better way to deal with it than in person.
He might be the alpha, but he was still a badass in his own right. JC could still kick ass like he always had. They were riding in formation with their black leather jackets on. His radio was blaring the rock they all loved. The sun was shining, the wind in their faces keeping them alert to any possible danger.
Times like these were what he lived for. His motor throbbing between his legs was as exciting as any female. The exhilaration of the ride matched any of the best joys in life. It reminded him of the years they were road warriors. Even though he didn’t want to return to those homeless days of wandering, he still loved hitting the road for the day. The difference was he knew where home was now and it wasn’t far away.
This was a fun ride, but it was also pack business. Harvey had been laying onto him about the drop in revenue from the little town over the last year. The drop was so consistent as to be suspicious. Of course Harvey was the type to see shadows and conspiracies everywhere, but what if he was right? After a year of complaints, JC needed a long ride so it was time to check things out. One way or the other, Harvey would be satisfied.
It was two hours by road before they made it to the small community of Wolf Falls. It, too, was hidden from most humans. Since it was further from the main pack or Tulsa than most parts of the area the pack territory covered, it meant it was rarely bothered by pack or council representatives. The bar that the pack owned sat right by the highway just as visitors entered town. He and the boys pulled in as the crowd outside stared with open mouthed looks of astonishment.
They may not have realized it yet, but trouble was descending on them like a dark angry cloud. The cloud would eat them up before spitting them out, damaged and desiring only to run away. Profits from the bar had slowly dropped now being less than half what they had been a year ago. The trend had hit all the pack owned businesses, the reason given was drops in business.
That drop was not noticeable right now with the place so packed people couldn’t get inside. JC felt angry, the pack was being stolen from. That could not be allowed to continue. He and his males pushed their way inside where business appeared to be booming. Prices were higher than those set by pack rules. They made a fair profit, they did not profit off the backs of their people.
There was a good chance that if the person responsible was here, someone would die today. “Hey big boy, what can I get you?” The waitress asked.
“The manager.” He demanded through gritted teeth.
She hurried off then came back running behind a big mean looking guy. “You wanted to talk to me?” The guy ground out.
JC looked at Tanner who shook his head. Just as he had thought, this was not the manager they had hired. “Who are you and where is the previous manage?”
“The old guy retired. They hired me because I know how to turn a profit. Dan Dugan’s the name. Who the hell are you?”
“I am the one who hires managers for this place. I never hired you so what are you doing here?” JC asked.
“Hey,” the guy threw up his hands. “I don’t know nothing about that. The people who hired me said they run the town for the pack.” He didn’t look scared or even guilty as much as he looked surprised.
That gave JC something to think about. “Where do the profits go?”
“I send it to them. They pay all the expenses then supposedly send the rest on to the Tulsa pack.”
“Why hasn’t this place been enlarged? Why are the drinks priced higher than allowed by pack mandates?”
“I don’t set prices, they do. As far as expanding, they refuse to spend the money. I’ve ask for that as well as a restaurant of some kind. Even a grill would be something.”
“Let’s go to your office. I need some information.” JC directed. The guy turned leading him to the back.
The back office looked as run down as the rest of the place. Someone was stealing them blind not putting anything back in the pack. He motioned them to chairs that wobbled like they were going to break. No one decided to sit.
“Just get me the names of those that say they manage the pack’s businesses. Put the money in the bar’s bank account from now on. Someone will be moving to town for a while to get this straightened out. Get quotes for the needed repairs and improvement so when I send someone you can give it to them.”
“Okay. What do you think happened to the old manager?” Darren, or at least that’s the name on his tag, asked. He handed JC the list.
“I doubt he has any worries anymore.” JC guessed.
“Damn. This shouldn’t be a dangerous job. I may have to rethink my career choices.” Darren said.
“I’m about to call in a group of enforcers in who will keep everyone safe. I have to admit, I’m not sure how this happened.” JC said as he looked around at his males seeing confusion in their eyes too. Tanner and Cade were already on their phones taking care of business, but some of this would be taken care of up close and personal.
“Alpha.” Darren whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Most of them are human.” He informed then looked down at the floor.
Fucking humans? Humans shouldn’t be able to find this place much less rape the money from their businesses. The council would hear about this too. It had to be stopped so it wouldn’t happen to another pack.
JC nodded to his guys so they all followed him out into the bar. “It’s time to hunt.”
They headed outside ready to ride into the fight when they came to a sudden stop. Their tires were slashed. JC grabbed the nearest wolf pulling his alpha dominance out. “Who did this?” The poor male shook with fear as he pointed to some smirking assholes.
The guys were on them in a second. There were only three so he didn’t even get one. They had them pounded into the ground in seconds. Cade dragged the bloody and beaten one he decided was the ring leader to JC for questioning.
“Who are you?” JC asked.
“I’m the pack beta. The alpha is going to come after you.” The guy said.
“What pack are you beta of?” JC wondered.
“Tulsa pack.” The guy said like he thought JC was nuts.
“I’m alpha of Tulsa pack. This guy is beta.” He said pointing to Tanner. “I don’t even fucking know you. Tell me where I can find this big bad alpha that’s going to teach me a lesson.”
“He’s at the pack house. That’s where the alpha lives.” The guy told him like JC was an idiot. Maybe he was for being unaware of this for so long.
“Where are your bikes at?” JC asked. The guy just pointed.
“I’ll stay behind to get the tires repaired.” Jack offered.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” JC asked looking at the gathering crowd.
“Sure, Boss.” Jack declared.
Only three of the guys could go with him so Harvey and the other four that had come along for the ride stuck with Jack. He and his three other betas, all the top six were considered betas with responsibilities and authority, headed to the pack house. It had been a cottage since this area hadn’t been heavily populated. He had a feeling that wasn’t the case anymore.
They made it there in record time. The cottage was still there, but a behemoth sat next to it. His initial assessment had been they planned to milk the area of money then run away with full pockets, but it didn’t look like that anymore. This was a place for someone who intended to put down deep roots.
“Tanner, go hunting around the back. I have a feeling they got something planned. You’ll be my ace up the sleeve.” Tanner nodded and broke off driving a wide circle toward the back. He’d park then continue on foot so they wouldn’t know he was there. “What do you think, guys?”
“Looks like a trap.” Cade noted.
“Yeah, my feeling too. You still got those artifacts, Grant?”
“Yeah, Boss. I got six of them with me. You should have given Tanner one.”
“Maybe, but he might not even be needed.”
Grant snorted. He pulled out the charms they’d gotten years ago from a grateful witch tossing one to Cade and JC before putting on his own. They protected for a lot of things including bad magic and bullets. A fistfight, well they were on their own in one of those. She probably figured a wolf would love a fight. She wasn’t wrong there.
They approached slowly looking out for any danger that might present itself. Nothing stood out before they reached the front of the new pack house. The lights were on, but there was no other sign anyone might be home.
“Wait here Grant in case we’re taken you can either try to save us or escape to get more help. Cade, let’s go.” JC directed as he parked his bike. They moved carefully, but with haste. No point in dicking around now that their course was set.
There was a feeling of power in the air as they moved up the steps to the porch. The door wasn’t locked, but that wasn’t strange at a pack house. They entered what looked like the living room when a tall man with long blond hair stepped into the room from another one. His hands raised as he chanted a spell. JC and his guys just stood there watching hoping the artifact would work as they’d been told.
Magic was a funny thing, there were so many kinds. It could be flashy or invisible, powerful or soothing, but one thing JC knew was that he always had the ability to know when it was nearby. In this case, he could see it as if it were a living thing as it reached out to grab him, Grant, and Cade. It seemed to glow with power as tendrils like fingers reached out to do their worst.
The second they came into contact with them, those same tendrils flew back to their source. Another person appeared looking angry and disappointed. “Is that it? What did I pay you for?” The big angry human yelled.
“To cast a spell which I did. It was explained to you there’s no guarantee. I recognize this protective magic so I’m done here.” There was a large flash of light with the sound of thunder. The smell of smoke drifted through the air as the witch disappeared.
JC growled his wolf was pissed making it hard to hold him in. His two males growled too. The big guy with the pot belly looked at them in irritation. “You can’t hurt me. I’ve got contacts in the council. It will bring you more trouble than it’s worth. Just leave this territory to me and the family. We won’t take any more than we already have.” He smiled like that would make JC happy.
“You invaded my pack territory, you stole from our businesses, you took advantage of my people, you probably killed all my managers, but you think I’m going to let you go? Not even if you leave and never come back. You won’t leave here alive.” JC threatened.
The man showed some fear for the first time. “I’m just an employee. I do as I’m told. Don’t you want to know who sent me? Wouldn’t you rather get the kingpin than the jester?” He asked.
JC calmed his wolf taking a moment to think. Without this guy’s information, he probably wouldn’t find the responsible parties any time soon. This was organized and the council was involved.
“What do you have for me?” JC asked.
“I know who is behind this and the council members who made the deal.”
JC’s mind began working. The unnecessary census that tied up so much manpower and supervisory time. He could track it back to the originators, but it would take time. “What do you want?”
“My freedom, a car, and some money to start over elsewhere.”
“Okay. Start talking.”
“It was the Scrazassi crime family. They made a deal with two council members so they could get a foothold here and in some other territories.” He spoke fast with fear now obvious.
“Who were the council members?” JC asked.
His mouth opened but all that came out was a gasp. The witch had returned to take out his former boss than disappear into the same smoke as last time.
“Damn it!” JC was pissed. They’d never find that damned witch. At least not on their own. He also had to send someone out to every community of wolves in his pack territory.
There was also an obligation to get the word out to other pack alphas who might have trespassers taking over communities in their areas. The informer had blown up in a magic storm his body turning to ash which rained down to the floor. JC was fairly sure that it was the crooked council members that had seen to the man’s demise.
It might slow things down, but it wouldn’t stop them from finding out who they were. Both Tyne and Damon would be excellent allies in the hunt for answers. Meanwhile he had to leave Tanner and a couple other guys here to begin sorting things out. These people deserved better than they had received.
The people he’d left in charge had been good, but this time those in charge would be great. They would also be capable of putting up a hell of a fight if someone tried to take them out. There were a couple badass brothers that had been former rogues. They’d been in the pack thirty years or more now. Neither were mated so they weren’t tied down.
He’d trust those two to handle most anything. That was good since the bar, grocery store, two factories, and a child care center were all owned by the pack or him personally. It made him angry all over again to think of how they’d been stealing from them for a year or more before they’d noticed. That crime family was going to pay. They had no idea what war was, but they were about to find out.
Tanner finally came in to see what was happening. Once he caught him up to speed, he was pissed too. “Why didn’t I get one of the artifacts?”
“We hadn’t thought of them yet. Now listen, you’ll stay here with a few of the guys to start settling things down. I’m going to talk to the Sanchez brothers to see if they’ll come here to take over.” JC explained.
“You’ll have to find replacements for them at their current jobs.” Tanner pointed out.
“They both have seconds that can step in. This is more urgent right now.” No one could argue. Once they got everything decided, JC and the others rode away.
He felt a little bad about leaving the guys behind in a strange place, but someone had to do it and he needed to be at headquarters to handle a hundred other things as well. There would be no more weak areas to be taken advantage of. They would establish two yearly meetings that all his managers would have to attend. That would prevent them from going missing for a year before it was discovered.
They’d just rested on their accomplishments and felt too relaxed. Just because they were predators didn’t mean others, even wanna be predators, wouldn’t try to take a bite of them. He planned to take this lesson to heart. No one was going to do this to him again.
It was midnight when they breezed into town in desperate need of a shower, food, and sleep. The bar was still open so they went there first. Everything was as it should be so they ordered their food with a beer. It came quickly like the cook knew they needed it right away.
“What happened?” Mitzy asked.
She sat down by them because it wasn’t busy right at the moment. “We had big trouble in Wolf Falls. Someone had moved in to take over everything. They were human, but had a magic user working for them. A trap was set, but luckily it didn’t work.” JC explained.
“You guys kicked ass?” She asked.
“We did, but we had some surprises. They really got rooted deep before we caught them. They killed off all my managers replacing them with humans.” JC observed.
“The locals didn’t notice that?” She wondered.
“They didn’t question it.” He admitted. That did bother him. He had an open door policy, but no one had bothered.
Mitzy snorted. It made the guys laugh. “You need to make them take some responsibility too. You can’t be everywhere.”
There was a lot of sense in what she said. Pack members should know better. What was going on there broke so many pack rules, but no one reported it. Something needed to change. “Why are you being so supportive?”
“We may not be seeing each other anymore, but this is still my pack. It belongs to each of us. We have privileges, but we also have responsibilities. One call could have stopped that in its tracks.” She observed.
“When you’re right, you’re right. How would you address it?” JC asked.
“You need to educate your people. Once they learn what is right, they’ll know when something is wrong. That’s when they need to report it. Humans have a city council. Some packs that are big like ours have the same thing. Senior wolves take a governing and advising role. They can’t overrule you, but they can stop bad things from happening or call you if people won’t listen.” Mitzy said.
JC liked her idea. With some work, it might help keep a takeover from happening again. Since he didn’t know many of the local wolves there, he’d need help to pick some. It would take work, but over time the situation would heal.
Right now they needed to eat before they went home to shower then fall into bed. Mitzy left them to eat going back to serve the customers. Once their plates were empty, they left the bar heading home. JC couldn’t deny he was glad when he was finally under the hot water letting it wash all his cares away. After that was done, he dried off then hopped into bed ready to sleep halfway through tomorrow.
He hadn’t really intended to sleep that late, but it was well after noon by the time he woke. Maybe the magic had drained some of his strength. The artifacts had to receive power from somewhere. Regardless, he wouldn’t get much done today nor could he find the strength to care. Fixing himself breakfast, he ate then went to his home office to begin making calls.
“Damon here.”
“Damon, I hate to bother you on your personal cell on a Sunday, but the situation is urgent.”
“Okay, tell me what’s going on!”
By the time Damon was up on the events that had occurred, he was angry. “I really thought we had all the bad ones cleared out. Maybe we’ll never get them all. You said the fake alpha said there was another pack dealing with this?”
“Yes, but he never said where.” JC admitted. “He started to tell me about the council members when he was destroyed.”
“I’ll call Zorth to see if we can track the magic male.”
“How will he do that?”
“I’m mated to a witch and I still have no idea how they do it. I’ve seen them track items or places where the spells were cast. It is possible he might be well known enough they might figure it out from your description. Zorth may want to talk with you or he may not.”
“Whatever he needs, I’ll try to help. This is important to me. They killed all my managers. I still can’t believe I never noticed.”
“You have a big territory. That makes it hard to watch it all. The other pack must have a big territory too. That will rule out the smaller packs. It’ll also be a pack with money, but not one of the vicious warlike ones. Maybe one of my computer monkeys can find a program to narrow things down. Thanks for calling me.”
Damon was gone. He continued to make calls for an hour before taking a beer break. This was harder than his usual work. It was also upsetting and made him feel guilty. JC wanted to talk to Tyne, but he was at a party for one of his employees. Must be nice. Tomorrow would have to do as far as talking to Tyne was concerned.
Drinking his beer while he thought wasn’t helping him come to any good decisions. He finished his beer then went to his office to do paperwork. Tanner called in to let him know he had everything under control. That reminded him he needed to talk to the Sanchez brothers.
Calling them, he got a hold of Jose. Explaining everything, Jose said he’d talk to Juan. They’d call him tomorrow to let him know their decision. Now he was going to watch a movie then get to bed. Tomorrow his new bartender would be arriving in the afternoon.