Chapter Five
By the time they got back downstairs, it was already dark and people were ready to go to dinner.
“Gorgeous, I just heard the news!”
Megan heard the voice and smiled as she turned into arms already surrounding her in a hug. “When did you get here?”
Josh, the Pacific Pack’s Enforcer gave her a full kiss on the lips and Shane growled, yanking him back.
“Whoa!” Megan and Tracy both stepped in. “He’s Tracy’s Enforcer and he’s just congratulating me. It’s all right. He’s a wolf, he knows I’m mated.”
“He’s putting his hands on my mate, that’s not all right.”
God help her, Megan found herself totally charmed by that bit of silly possessiveness.
“I’m sorry,” Josh said, holding his hands up, palms out. “I’ve known Megan a few years and she’s like my baby sister. I should have realized you’d be offended. I’m Josh, can we start over?”
Shane relaxed but kept his arm around Megan. “Apology accepted. I’m Shane.”
They shook hands and Layla laughed in the background along with Nina.
“Not that I’m not pleased to see you but what are you doing here?” Megan asked Josh.
“I called him down. Or rather, after I spoke to Nick and Gabe about you mating, we thought it would be good to have another Enforcer here so you two could have some time alone.” Tracy took Megan’s hand. “You can take a vacation and just be with Shane without worrying about Nina or Cascadia for at least a week.”
Nina moved to her. “Hiro is here too. Lex and I spoke earlier, Hiro will take over your spot as my guard here and back home. Lex wants you to take some time. He said for you to call him when you wanted to talk.”
She smiled. Her brother, all tough, still a big marshmallow inside when it came to the people he loved.
“That’s a good idea, Megan.” Shane kissed her neck where he’d bitten her. He may not want to admit he was a wolf, but he sure fucked like one. “We can go to my place for a week or so. I can take the time off. We can get to know each other.”
She agreed. They needed time away from Layla and Cascadia and all their various responsibilities. There was so much to work out. She wasn’t overly thrilled by going to Vegas, which was his turf, but at the same time, he’d be giving up a lot if she could convince him to move to Seattle so it was only fair she go.
“Why don’t you and Lay have a drink or go to dinner to catch up? I’ll just say goodbye and eat with my family and then we can leave?” She turned to him, loving the way he pulled her close.
“Are you sure? You’ll be all right with it? You know you have nothing to worry about.” He kissed her and then again.
She smiled. “I do. My sister and I worked it out. I have to trust you and our bond. And Adam will be at dinner with us so...” She shrugged. “It’ll take some getting used to but we’re adults.”
He grinned. “I’ll meet you back here in an hour. One hour. Then we’ll go. I’ll get us some airline tickets.”
She tiptoed up and kissed him, liking the way his whiskers felt against her lips. “Okay.”
* * *
Shane noted Layla whispering to Megan and hugging her before she nodded and headed toward him. He had to admit seeing Megan take Adam’s hand on one side and her mother’s on the other was slightly disconcerting.
“Don’t sweat the tickets. Cade pulled some super Alpha mojo and there’ll be a private plane waiting for you two at John Wayne. Let’s go grab something to eat. There’s a little café just near the adults-only pool.” Layla took his arm and they walked the other way, but not until after he’d caught Megan laughing at something someone said and his stomach twisted at how beautiful she was.
“So,” Layla said as they sat down, “you’re going to have to face who you are now. Once and for all.” She looked up at the server who’d approached. “Can I get an iced tea and a turkey sandwich with fries?”
“Give me a cheeseburger, fries and a soda, please.”
The server nodded and disappeared.
“What do you mean?” Although he knew exactly what she meant.
She sighed. “Okay let’s pretend for a few. First of all, congratulations. Really. I couldn’t have wished a better mate for you than Megan. She’s going to be good for you. Speaking of family, Sid says to tell you hello and the kids loved the DVD player. I told you not to send one, by the way. No one listens to me. They’re spoiled enough.”
“I just saw his mother two weeks ago when they came through Vegas. And the kids needed a DVD player. I’m a doctor, I have a few extra pennies.”
She rolled her eyes. “So you say every time you send them presents. You really should let me tell people how good you are with the kids. I don’t know why you insist on pretending you aren’t that involved in our life.”
“It’s about expectations, you know that. If people knew I saw them and had more contact with them than they thought, I’d suddenly be expected to go to all this werewolf junk. And you know how I feel about that. I want to be left alone to do my own thing. It hasn’t hurt my father to live without it all these years. You guys are like a cult or something.”
She flipped him off. “A cult? You mean like, oh, say, a family who cares about you and stuff? Oooh, scary! Is that what your mother tells you, Shane? That what you are is a cult? Is that why every time I see your father, Sid and I and the kids hug up on him as much as possible because he misses contact with his own kind so desperately? Is that how you want to be? I know she’s your mother, I’m not trying to hurt you but, Shane, she’s harmed you in a big way. You’re a werewolf. Not a human. We’re different. Not wrong, not bad, just different. The human women you date can’t fill that part of you. And they really can’t now.” She laughed. “Because well, that part would be ripped off and bloody if Megan caught you.”
“Ha, ha.” He winced. “I’m no cheater, thank you very much. Anyway, I’ve heard the werewolf pitch, I’m not interested in hearing it again.”
“Too damned bad. The whole werewolf thing, Shane, is that you’ve been raised to hate yourself but deep down inside you know it’s not right. When you allow yourself to feel what you’re supposed to feel, you understand that. Let go and be who you are.” She paused. “Megan is a really grounded woman. Probably the most grounded person I’ve ever known. She’s dedicated to her job. She’s good to her family. She’s the kind of person who takes the garbage out for the elderly woman who lives across the street from her on garbage day. Megan believes in community. You have been raised to be suspicious of half your identity and I’m not going to get into it any more at this point.” She held up a hand as he automatically began to defend his mother. “The issue is, Megan is a werewolf. She’s a Warden. You may not get this because you haven’t known her very long but she’s a powerful werewolf and she won’t leave what she is behind to be a human doctor’s wife in the suburbs outside Las Vegas. It would kill her.”
The food arrived and he shoved it down automatically, knowing he needed the calories but also wanting to avoid speaking as he gathered his thoughts.
“I have a life. I don’t know why everyone assumes I should be the one to give it all up for her because she has a job. Well, I have a job too. I’ve got a nice practice in Vegas. Friends.”
“Friends? A life? I’m going to tell you this because I love you and you’re someone special to me. You have a nice house and you have human women you fuck. You have people you go to nightclubs with but they don’t know you. You don’t share your life with them above that. Those aren’t friends and that’s not a life. And she doesn’t have a job, Shane. She’s got a calling. What she is isn’t something she can just re-license somewhere else. You’re asking her to be what you are. To pretend to be something she’s not. She is Pack. She’s a wolf. She needs to be around other wolves.”
“I love you too, Lay, but this isn’t your business.” He shrugged hoping he looked nonchalant. “This is between me and Megan. I’m not some beta wolf who’ll come running when she snaps her fingers.”
Layla looked up at him, anger sparking in her gaze. “Don’t. Don’t even try it. Not with me, buster. In the first place, don’t you minimize what Megan is to you. In the second place, don’t minimize what you’ve done. You’ve done. You sealed the bond. You did it knowing what would happen. Suck. It. Up. Be a damned grown up, do you hear me? Do not mess with my sister’s head. If you think I’m being harsh you had better prepare yourself. You screwed yourself right into the motherlode of Pack law. Megan has risked her life multiple times for the wolves who lead your people. Your people, Shane. You are a werewolf.” She wiped her mouth and stood. “You can pay with your pennies. I’m going to go help get Megan packed. If I know her, she skipped dinner and is up in her room giving Hiro orders on how to protect Nina. Don’t be a dumbass. I love you. She’ll come to love you. You have to love yourself and believe that what you are, what you were born, is not something wrong or bad.”
She bent to kiss his cheek and stalked away.
* * *
Megan had waved goodbye to her family and climbed up the stairs to the private plane Cade had waiting for them at the airport. The flight to Las Vegas was a quick one and like a tourist, she watched out the window as they circled to land, mouth agape at the gorgeous lights on the Strip.
On the way to his house, Megan sat, nestled into Shane’s side as he drove his sporty little car. He’d not stopped touching her since he’d shown up at her room door, a to-go bag in his hand and a smile on his face. She’d wondered why Layla had shown up early but she was happy to spend time with her sister before they left.
He didn’t live too far away from town and the air was reasonably clean albeit still very warm even at midnight. She had known him twelve hours and her life was totally different than where it had been when she’d tumbled out of bed that morning hoping to buy shoes and shoot guns.
“A gated community, huh?” she murmured as the large iron gates swung open silently. A guard tipped his hat as they drove past.
“It’s a nice, safe place to live. You’ll like it here.”
Nice wasn’t really how she’d have described his house. Palatial would be more accurate. He pulled into the garage where a motorcycle sat and a boat was parked, covered up.
“We’re home. Come on, let me show you around.”
“Lex has a Harley too. You two can go riding. Nina hates it and Dave lives in Boston now so he doesn’t have as many friends to ride with.”
He smiled absently as he keyed in a code and opened the door leading into the house. The place was huge inside. Marble and gleaming hardwoods and tiles. Abstract art hanging on the walls. No pictures of people or wolves. No books. Several plasma screens in the rooms she passed. No throws on the backs of the couches.
“Do you like it?” He flipped on the lights and she saw through the glass he had a pool. Those lights went on as well. It was beautiful in its own way.
“It’s beautiful.” She nodded. Nothing she’d ever want and it didn’t seem to really express much about him either. But what did she know? She’d known him half a day.
“You’re probably tired. Let’s get your suitcase up to the bedroom. Well, to our bedroom. Do you want some tea? Are you hungry?”
He led her up an open staircase and into his room. She couldn’t really feel like it was hers. The room was stark white with a big bed in the center. Everything in the room was white. Just not something she’d have chosen. But she made herself stop reacting to it and just try and get to know him.
“I need a shower I think.”
He put her suitcase down and pushed open double doors to her left. “Bathroom’s right there. Towels are in the cabinet. I’m going to check my messages and make some arrangements to have extra time off. I’ll be back up in a bit.” He kissed her and left her to her own devices as he headed out.
Somewhere in the back of her senses, another woman’s scent lived. She’d been here, that other woman, but not for a while. There were no female touches in the bathroom and as she pulled her toiletries out, she noted with some satisfaction that not a single tampon or other female emergency product was in evidence in the drawers. Not that she peeked. Much.
The bathroom was so neat, so tidy she felt odd even taking her clothes off. Boy were they opposites. It would take some work to feel comfortable with each other she knew. She guessed it would be good to start by folding up her discarded clothes and putting them neatly on the counter instead of tossing them to the side like she would at home.
* * *
It was well after midnight but he left voice mails with his staff and service and got another doctor to cover his patients for an extra two days, giving them until Wednesday before he had to deal with the reality of work again.
Cynthia would be awake still, despite the late hour, her shift would only have ended about an hour before. He heard the water begin to run and dialed her cell.
“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you,” she answered without preamble. “Bored in LA already?”
Cynthia, the woman he’d been seeing for the past several months. Mostly exclusively but not in a serious way, only that he just didn’t have much time to pursue anyone else. She was young, twenty-four, and worked as a cocktail waitress at a casino.
“I’m home actually.”
“Oh is this a booty call?” She laughed.
“Ahh, no. Cynthia, I’m just calling to let you know I met someone.” He hadn’t been with her in over a week due to his work schedule. But he didn’t want to take a risk and have her show up and be a nasty surprise for Megan. He didn’t want to be an ass and lead Cynthia on either.
“That was unexpected. But okay. Do I know her?”
“No. She’s not from Vegas. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. You’re a nice woman and I didn’t want you to think I was double-dealing or anything.”
“Good luck and give me a call if things don’t work out.”
He hung up. That was easier than he thought it’d be but he was relieved as hell. He’d have to tell Megan at some point just so there’d be nothing between them she didn’t know.
Smiling, he headed back upstairs. His woman probably needed some help scrubbing her back.