CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
French Fry was on the porch when Lily stepped outside with her phone to her ear.
Lola answered her phone with a wary, “Yes?”
“Hi. Good morning. It’s Lily. Listen, we’re back in Maria and we have a little problem.”
“Unfortunately, I am no longer practicing couples’ therapy. Whatever tensions you’re having with your mate will have to be sorted out via some other mediator.”
“Lola. Seriously?” Lily sighed and grabbed French Fry by the collar. “I need you to give me some words. Spare me the non-interference stuff. We’ve got a serious problem here, and I don’t mean my insufferable mate.” Lily scooped French Fry up and carried him since he was obviously lacking sufficient motivation to walk.
“I know,” Lola said.
“You do?”
“I knew the moment he arrived. Psychic disruption. Unusual enough to spark my attention, and I assure you that’s rare. I can usually tune out most chatter.”
“How did he get here?”
“That is difficult to explain without you understanding his caregivers.”
“And I take it you won’t explain.”
Lola was silent, but Lily wasn’t going to bother waiting for her to come around. It didn’t matter. “What do you want us to do?”
Lola let out a long, tired-sounding exhalation. “If they are there, I imagine they will leave on their own in time. They will have no choice but to retreat. There are too many hostile shifters here, as well as witches. The Jaguars would be vastly outnumbered.”
“But in the meantime?”
“But in the meantime, they can make some things…difficult for me. In a manner of speaking, they could smoke me out if they get desperate enough, and I would have to do what is necessary to keep the peace here. I would prefer not to be so assertive with my magic. It tends to linger in unpredictable ways.”
“Like what?”
Again, Lily didn’t think Lola was going to respond, but surprisingly, she said, “Go to the library when you have the time. Look up the Maria fire of 1871. That is all I will say.”
It was more than Lily had expected. She stopped walking. French Fry was squirming way too much and Lily couldn’t hold him and the phone to her ear at the same time. Besides, it finally dawned on her how far from downtown Lance lived, and she wasn’t going to walk that. The last thing she needed was for some passer-by to report back to her father that they saw her schlepping up the road wearing yesterday’s wrinkled clothes and carrying a strange dog.
French Fry tracked immediately back to Lance’s porch and plopped down next to the steps.
What is he doing?
“Just tell me what to do,” she told Lola. “Maybe I’ll never be a Cougar, but in spite of my mate situation, my allegiances will never be so shaken that I’ll not do everything possible to protect your secrets and everyone else’s.”
Silence.
Then, another long exhalation. “I will call you back.”
*
Lance walked into the Coyote meeting house carrying a trough-sized coffee with his focus on finding Blue. He’d driven around Maria for half an hour looking for any trace of the Jaguars’ van with no luck. All he’d managed to do was burn up a lot of gas and get stared and pointed at by a good ten percent of the Maria citizenry as he passed.
That was why he’d always hated having people in his business. Once they got in, he couldn’t shut them out when he needed to change course on things.
And he thought maybe he did. Lily had thrown him for a hell of a loop, and he didn’t like dwelling on such a precipitous ledge, never knowing what way he was going to be thrown.
He couldn’t let himself get chewed up by her, no matter how much he wanted her. He’d just take her down with him. She’d always want more from him and he’d be frustrated in his inability to give it because he wasn’t willing to risk her health or her life. There’d be no compromising. Just dissatisfaction and resentment, and they’d both be miserable and unsatisfied in the end.
All eyes were on him as he edged into the living room, and conversation stopped. He wasn’t going to give any of them a chance to sneak in any question he didn’t want to answer. “FYI, the Jaguars’ Xolo is on the lam here. Found him on my porch this morning.”
Blue, who was seated at the recliner with his feet up on the coffee table and his laptop atop his thighs, raised both of his dark eyebrows. “What?”
“Drove around looking for them. No signs.”
“Well, where is he now?” Kenny asked. He was leaning onto the chair back behind Blue, probably having been reading over his shoulder. “Did he run?”
“Left him at the house so I could move quick. He didn’t seem like he was interested in following.”
“So, the Jaguars must be around somewhere.”
“That’s what I was thinking, but I don’t see any sign of them. It doesn’t make sense that they’d drop him off and run unless they were trying to leave a message.”
“And that message would be ‘Surprise. We found you.’”
“Yep.”
Blue grunted and closed his laptop. “I’ll see if I can get in touch with Lola.”
“Has she ever taken your calls?” Kenny asked him.
“No. She listens to my voicemails and gets back to me whenever she feels like it. She’d probably call Willa back immediately, but I don’t want Willa interrupted at work. She’s busy working on Christmas concert music with the band.”
“I wouldn’t bother if I were you,” came a familiar voice from the foyer that nearly made Lance drop his coffee. A moment later, the screen door slammed shut and Lily stepped into the room with Blue’s sister Diana on her heels. And not just Diana, but Belle Welch, too.
What the hell?
Belle gave the room a cheery wave that instantly made Lance’s stomach sour. Belle didn’t do cheer. When she was chipper, she was plotting something.
Lily, still wearing his shirt beneath her denim jacket, tucked her hair behind her ears and looked directly at Blue. “I already talked to Lola.”
Blue’s knowing gaze slid to Lance. “You did?” Blue likely had some things to say to his lieutenant about his marital status. Lance had been hoping Blue wouldn’t bring it up today, but now that Lily was here, he knew that was wishful thinking. Maybe he wouldn’t say them in front of the group, though. He’d wait. He’d find some way to catch Lance off-guard, and then he’d strike like a vengeful, nerdy asp and not let go until Lance ran out of words or until he stopped howling.
Whichever came first.
“Mm-hmm.” She crooked her thumb toward the outside. “I’ve got French Fry crated in the back of Belle’s truck, by the way. Not that I think that crate’ll hold him if he really wants to get out.”
“What’s he gonna do, chew through the metal?” Kenny asked.
“No.” Lily studied her nails, brow frowning as she picked at one. “He’d just vanish. Lola isn’t entirely forthcoming about the nature of Jaguar magic, so we have to make certain inferences.”
“By the way,” Belle said. “Lola bounced. That’s why I’m here. Well.” She shrugged and rocked back on her heels. “That and because Lily needed a ride. For some reason, she was stuck just outside of town.”
Lance ground his teeth. He knew bait when he heard it, and he wasn’t going to take it. “What do you mean, she bounced?” he asked.
Lily wouldn’t look at him. That was fine. He probably didn’t need to have a hostile staring contest with his wife in front of the other pack dominants. He needed to get his shit together and fast.
“She’s taking a little breather from Maria,” Diana provided. “Took her family with her. I saw her hustling out of the middle school earlier and I asked her where the fire was.”
“And she told you?” That didn’t sound like Lola.
“No. She told me to call Lily, and ta-da. Here I am.” She grinned. “We’ve got a problem, boys.”
“No shit.”
Diana gave him a scolding glare. He was used to it. He’d known the lady since she was in diapers. Nothing she could do could unsettle him too much.
“We’ve already established that we’re dealing with a group that doesn’t integrate with others,” Lily said. “I think they tolerate me because, in their estimations, I’ve been pre-vetted by the person whose opinion means the most to them.”
“Lola,” Lance provided.
“We’re not going to find them,” Lily continued on without looking his way. “At least, not yet. They didn’t directly follow us here. They knew they didn’t have to. We’re speculating that they sent French Fry ahead to find me and that he’s acting as some kind of beacon for them. Lola wasn’t very clear about the mechanics of the magic.”
“Of course she wasn’t.”
“Basically,” Diana picked up, “we have no way of knowing when they’ll show up or what they’ll do when they get here. But when they do come, they’ll find that Lola’s already gone and that whatever they want from her, they’re not going to be able to get.”
“And French Fry can’t follow Lola because he doesn’t know where she went,” Lily said. “She’ll come back once we’ve cleaned up the mess.”
“Wait.” Kenny put up his hands. “How did this become our mess?”
Lily’s smile was tight and somewhat mocking. It was a pinprick to Lance’s pride, really, but a well-targeted one. She really knew how to get under his skin. “I’m sure we can turn the problem over to the Cougars and they’ll figure out a way to handle it.”
“Yep,” Belle said with that same terrifying cheer. “After all, we’ve been the ones cleaning up all the supernatural messes in Maria for over a century. What’s one more?”
“The reason we shouldn’t let them,” Diana appealed, “is twofold. The first is that if we successfully resolve this, we can go a long way in undoing some of the bad PR the pack has earned over the past few decades. We need to pay back everyone else for their suffering, you know?” She counted off on her fingers. “Secondly, I’m skeptical that Cougars coming head-to-head with these ladies isn’t going to escalate the problem.”
“What do you mean?” Lance asked.
“Think about it,” Lily said, not to him, precisely, but to the room in general. He’d never felt so ignored by someone who was technically responding to him. Now, she wasn’t just poking a straight pin at his ego, but stabbing at it with a metaphorical ice pick. “The Cougars here have long benefited from Lola’s, and now her son Tito’s, patronage. There are other Cougar groups descended from that first group that Lola created, but she’s chosen to live amongst the ones here in Maria.”
“She may claim to be neutral, but she does play favorites,” Belle said. “If you haven’t noticed, my father named me after La Bella Dama. He wouldn’t have done that if her presence here hadn’t been celebrated.”
Kenny whistled low. “I could see where we could create some static if the Jaguars find out her treatment hasn’t been so even-handed.”
“If I were them,” Lily said, “I’d be really pissed, too. I trust Lola’s reasoning for why she did what she did—whatever it was. Obviously, she knows the history better than we do. But I’m not the one living through the consequences. They are.”
“It’s fine if you trust her, but what’s the plan?” Blue asked. “Sounds like you ladies have something bubbling away. I’m not going to reinvent the wheel unnecessarily.”
“Actually, there is a plan, and it’s for you to stay out of it,” Diana said.
“What?” Blue, Lance, and Kenny asked in unison.
Lance glared at Lily. She was turning a curl around her finger and glowering right back.
“Sitting on our hands when there’s shit going down isn’t what we do! We’re troubleshooters, not bystanders,” he snapped. Belle may not have known that, but Diana certainly did, and he’d thought Lily was coming to know better, too.
If Lily were feeling any anxiety over her traitorous act, she wasn’t showing it.
“We’ll handle this,” Diana said.
“And by we, you mean…” Lance prompted.
“The ladies in the Coyote pack.” Diana crooked her thumb toward the cousins beside her. “With some coordination assistance from Lily and Belle, of course.”
“Huh,” Kenny said at the same time Blue said, “Tell me more,” and Lance said, “Over my dead body.”
Of course, it was Lance’s statement they all homed in on out of that entire squashed-up word bouquet. They all turned to him.
He straightened up, folded his arms over his chest, and cleared his throat. He’d said what he said and he wasn’t going to take it back.
Lily’s expression had been pleasant enough before, but it suddenly took on a mask of irritation powerful enough to make his nuts shrink. The last time anyone had made him feel like that, he’d been fourteen and his mother had caught him and Kenny showing off in front of some other Coyotes. They were demonstrating how fast they could shift from one form to the other and then back. She’d put the fear of the devil in both of them because alphas didn’t like it when little boys had too much magic.
Slowly, she swiveled toward Blue. “We’ve got to coordinate this game plan quickly because, again, we have no way of knowing if or when those women are going to show up here. We have to assume they’ll be here in a matter of hours.”
“You know what?” Blue turned his hands over and let out a tired-sounding scoff. “Whatever you’ve got in mind, just do it. Go for it.”
“Are you serious?” Lance asked. “You’re going to give them free rein on this?”
“Careful now, Lance,” Diana said through a toothy grin, “or I might start thinking you’re questioning my competence.”
“I’d never do that.” And most certainly not aloud. He may have done some reckless shit on occasion, but he knew antagonizing his alpha’s sister would be hazardous to his health. Not only because Blue could easily send him to his maker, but because Diana had plenty of dominant energy of her own. She didn’t need Blue’s help to make people hurt. She could do that all by herself.
“Okay, then,” Blue said. “So, since Lance married Lily, she must have an okay brain in her head or the coyote part of him would have said nah, so I’m gonna trust her instincts.”
What?
There was no way in hell his alpha could side with her. She wasn’t even a Coyote. “Blue, I really have to—”
“Whatever you do,” Blue said over Lance while getting to his feet. “Just keep Willa out of the scheme. Don’t tell her a damn thing unless you really have to. She always thinks she’s obligated to save us from ourselves. Just this once, let’s show her we can be grownups, shall we? If we manage this, maybe she won’t try to cut her maternity leave short.”
“I’m surprised she wants to go back to work at all,” Lance said. He was practically broiling with irritation. The skin of his forearms was going splotchy from rage. “I don’t know if I’d be able to.”
“Honestly, she was on the fence. I don’t think anyone likes the idea of hurrying back to work right after bringing home two babies, but they’re only going to helpless for so long. She has a job that’s really important to her and it’s not one she could easily step back into in a town this small if she changes her mind.” He canted his head toward Belle. “Helps that Belle’s brother Hank is going to sub for her with the band while she’s out. I think Willa would be a lot more agitated if the school brought in a substitute who was hoping to make the gig permanent.”
Just like that, Blue had deflated the tension in the room for the time being. That always happened whenever Willa was the topic of concern. Willa was the pack’s heart, whether she wanted to be or not, and the discussion was a critical one. “You need to tell him that he needs to sub for as long as she wants to be out,” Lance told Belle. “However much that inconveniences him, I’m sure we’ll all pitch in and find some way to dampen the misery. Shit, I’ll fill in for him at the wood shop if I have to.” Lance shuddered at the idea of spending a third of each day with dominant Cougars, but that was what well-run packs were supposed to do. They pitched in when someone needed help, and Willa so rarely asked for it.
“I’ll make sure he takes you up on that,” Belle said.
“Well, this has been a productive huddle.” Blue glanced at his watch and nodded at Kenny. “Need to go check on our recent relocatees. Come on, Lance.”
Lance pointed to himself, dumbfounded. “Me?”
“Yep. Leave the ladies to do their work.”
Yeah, right, the coyote inside him balked.
If Lily got into the thick of that mess and Lance wasn’t around to see for himself that she was safe, he’d probably chew his fur off. That’d go over super well the next time he needed to boss some disorderly pack member around. No one would take him seriously if they thought that slip of a woman was pulling him around by the tail.
“Maybe I should stick around and give them some backup.”
“We’ll be fine without it,” Lily said.
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“I know the Jaguars trust me and dislike you. That’s enough to go on.”
“But—”
Kenny hooked his arm around Lance’s and yanked him toward the side door. “Let’s get some work done,” Kenny said in an insistent undertone. “Shall we?”
Confused, Lance shook his head. “That’s what I was going to do. Work.”
“No, you were going to interfere,” Kenny said after they’d gotten out of listening range of the house. “I’ve been chewing out both Blue and Willa about delegating tasks to the most qualified leaders, and that’s what he’s trying to do. It’s hard for him. Don’t make it worse.”
“You’re saying I’m not qualified?”
Kenny gave his bow tie a little tug of discomfort and glanced at his vibrating phone. He didn’t answer. He always answered because the business he and Blue worked in required quick decisions and fast deals. Lance didn’t think it boded well that his cousin would ignore a call. “Listen. You’re not thinking logically right now. You may think you are, but your goals are different than what the problem needs.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re not thinking about the threat to the shifters and the paranormal population of Maria. You’re thinking of how Lily is entangled in the mess and what you can do to extricate her from it.”
Lance was going to argue, but he couldn’t. It was true. He didn’t give a damn about the rest of it. He was worried about his wife—his mate—getting embroiled in unnecessary drama, and she didn’t even seem to think that she shouldn’t engage with it. She was walking right into it like trouble was her birthright.
“Gods, I…love her,” he said as he gave his hair a brutal yank.
The revelation seemed to stun Lance even more than it did Kenny, who was suddenly cranking out an excessive amount of hormones of the “You’re making me uncomfortable” sort.
That was what that nagging anxiety had been—that fear of disconnection. That fear of missing out on the perfect sort of companionship that brought as much excitement with it as peace.
Lily wasn’t afraid of him.
If anything, he was more afraid of her. He was terrified that in the end, she’d go and hate him for making it so she had to leave him.
He’d be useless. The part of him that was coyote would always be pining because he didn’t want anyone else.
“I…love her, but she’s so…fucking irrational. I can’t deal with that. I’m not going to be a party to her destroying herself.”
“Would you if she weren’t human? Would your reactions be the same if she were a Coyote?” Kenny glanced down at his phone screen and grimaced. He didn’t silence the buzz this time, though.
Lance was going to leave him to deal with the call, if only not to have to answer that question.
He knew the answer. He just didn’t know what to do with it.