Mr. Red Riding Hoode

Chapter Three

Oh, God. Who in the hell had given Belle and Dave helium? The two of them were sucking on balloons and singing the Chipmunks’ Christmas song at the top of their lungs. The big, bad Alpha was laughing so hard he couldn’t get the Pack meeting started, while the rest of the Pack looked on indulgently.

Of course, to absolutely no one’s surprise, the Luna had taken on the role of Alvin.

Chela could feel the Pack, the affection they held for both their Luna and their Beta as the two sang their hearts out in the squeakiest voices she’d ever heard. She wouldn’t be surprised if some of the bolder members got Belle a crap-ton of Hula-Hoops for Christmas. Dave consistently found ways to make the Alpha pair seem more accessible to the rest of the Pack, even if that meant he stood out in the snow, sucking down helium like it was chocolate-coated Ben.

Speaking of the Marshal, he wasn’t watching his mate and their Luna make idiots out of themselves. Nope. He was staring at Chela with the oddest expression on his face. “What?”

“Steve is your mate?”

She sighed. She should have known. “Belle told Rick, Rick told Dave, Dave told you?”

He blinked. “Uh. Something like that.” He eyed her warily. “So. Is he or isn’t he?”

“He is.”

He sighed happily. “Thank fuck. I’ve been trying to convince Rick to make him Pack, but he keeps turning me down. There’s no way he can deny a mating, though.”

“So you’re okay with me mating your friend?”

Ben grinned. “More than. For one thing, it will get rid of that stupid jealousy Dave still has for the man.”

Chela frowned. “I haven’t felt any jealousy from Dave in months.”

“Really?”

The relief in his voice was unmistakable. “Nope. He’s good. He knows you love him.” She wouldn’t tell Ben how, for the first couple of months after they mated, she and Dave had had long talks about Ben. She’d had to reassure the Beta more than once that Ben adored the ground Dave walked on. There wasn’t anything Ben wouldn’t do to make Dave happy.

“So. About Steve.”

Almost anything, anyway. Ben’s best friend was off-limits, but at least she’d managed to convince Dave that the candle flame of affection Ben felt for Steve was nothing to the bonfire of his love for Dave. “What about him?”

“We’ll need to let Rick know officially that he’s your mate.”

Ugh. Sometimes Chela agreed with the Luna when it came to Wolf traditions. Some of the Pack’s more formal practices drove her nuts. For instance, Dave’s sister Gina would never have been able to abuse Chela if they’d been a Puma Pride rather than a Wolf Pack. Gina would have been given the boot well before the Luna put in an appearance. But because there hadn’t been a Luna, Rick had held off. Tradition stated it was the Luna who dealt punishments to the female members of the Pack. In her absence it was the alpha female who ruled the Pack’s women, who meted out punishment and determined their place in the Pack hierarchy.

Unfortunately, Gina had been alpha female, the strongest female they had. Rick had been forced by Pack laws and traditions not to interfere in how she ran the females. Unless Gina did serious damage to the lesser females, there was nothing he could do until he had a Luna, his fated mate.

Then he’d met Belle, and all bets were off. Gina, infuriated that her place in the Pack would not only be usurped, but by a cat, had gone off the deep end. She’d begun seriously abusing the weaker females, tried to take Belle’s place through Pack law and challenge, and finally been forced from the Pack when Belle won the challenge and her right to be Luna. And winning hadn’t been without cost. Chela eyed the cane Belle leaned on, knowing the cold would be seeping into her Luna’s hip and making it ache.

If Ben’s grimace was anything to go by, this Pack meeting would be short and sweet as soon as he alerted Rick to Belle’s pain.

You’d never know that Belle was in pain from the enthusiastic way she belted out, “I still want a Hula-Hoop!”

Dave and Belle had their arms around each other, swaying in time to the music only they could hear. Ben’s reluctant grin was echoed by Rick’s as the Alpha took the helium away from Dave. “Enough, you two. We have a Pack meeting to conduct.”

Belle and Dave looked at each other and made faces, echoing, “Aw, man.”

“You take away all our fun.” Dave pouted.

“Yeah, meanie-head.” Belle sniffed.

It might have had some impact in their normal voices. Instead, it sent some of the Pack further into hysterics.

Rick just shook his head at the two goofballs and turned back to the Pack. Some of the meeting would be conducted through the bond the Alpha had with them as he spoke directly into their minds. In deference to his Puma Luna, however, the truly important declarations would be spoken aloud. While Rick could hear Belle in his mind, Belle could not hear him.

Her reaction when she found out had been priceless. Rick still winced whenever he heard that flea and tick jingle. A simple MP3 player set to max volume and some headphones had made the Luna’s point quite well, and Rick had changed Pack protocol to accommodate the Luna, who couldn’t hear him in her head.

“My Pack.” Chela felt her Alpha’s regard envelope her, his protection wrapping around her like a father’s arms. It was one of the many ways an Alpha strengthened his connection to his Pack. The ability also gave the Pack an advantage during battle as the Alpha could direct them even from a distance and while in wolf form. “The lodge is doing well, and our Pack is doing well.” Rick went over some numbers that had some of the members gasping in happy surprise. “In light of this, the end-of-year bonuses I had hoped to give you will definitely be coming through.”

Some of the married members of the Pack exchanged happy glances. While the lodge had been struggling, times had been hard, but within two years of Rick taking over it was back in the black. No one could be prouder of their Alpha than she was. She, more than anyone except perhaps Belle, knew how Rick worried and fretted over things. As the Omega, it was Chela’s job to ensure that everyone from the Alpha down to the smallest pup was taken care of on an emotional level.

Rick nodded at the happy expressions on the faces of his Pack. He might look stoic on the outside, but on the inside he was dancing like a happy puppy. “Now it’s time to discuss the important Pack issues.”

“I have one.” Ben stepped forward, his emotions all over the place.

“Speak.”

“Our Omega has found her mate.”

Chela hid her wince as every member of the Pack turned their gazes on her.

Rick knew, of course, but until he gave his official blessing the Pack might not accept her mate, an outsider, the way they’d accepted Ben and Dave’s mating. As both were already members of the Pack they hadn’t needed Rick or the Pack’s approval, although Chela could have told them they had it. Rick could override the Pack if he felt Steve would ultimately benefit them, but he might not be willing to risk the Pack’s displeasure. They could make his life a living hell if they decided he’d stepped over the line.

It was a fine dance an Alpha stepped with his Pack, one Chela was glad she didn’t have to deal with.

Rick would go the formal route for Steve, a man he’d once denied Pack status. The Pack had been far too unstable to introduce a new, human member when Ben had asked, but it would work against Steve in this instance. Ben had understood why Steve had been refused, but the rest of the Pack would only know that he’d been denied. It could lead to all sorts of problems if the Pack felt he’d been denied due to, say, an unstable personality like the one Ben’s father had suffered from. They could try and force Chela not to mate him, or worse, not to bite him.

They would lose, but they could try.

She was proven right when the Alpha spoke. “State his name and whether he is Pack.”

Chela straightened her shoulders. Here we go. Thanks to Ben blurting out about her mating to the Pack, she’d had no time to inform Rick privately. She just prayed Belle had said something to the Alpha. Rick hated surprises. “Steven Hoode. He is human, from New York, and our Marshal’s best friend.”

The Pack grumbled a bit at that. While human mates were not unheard of, she could sense that not all of them were happy at the thought of adding another mouth to feed or another soul to house.

“Why should the Pack accept him?”

“I can answer that.” Ben stepped forward, glancing toward Dave for a moment before smiling at the rest of the Pack.

Chela gulped. If the Pack refused to hear Ben’s reasons she’d be forced to either give up her mate or leave the Pack.

Really, there was no option. Her Pack was no longer her top priority. The blond with the smiling blue eyes was.

Ben stared Rick straight in the eye, a gesture that could be viewed by some as a challenge. “Steve is a good man who shielded me more than once when my father came after me.”

The Pack’s grumbles stilled. Rick had made clear Ben’s past while Ben had chased his mate to Disney World to claim him. They all knew now how Ben had been abused by his father and neglected by the previous Alpha. That Steven had shielded Ben from his father’s rage spoke well of him. A recommendation such as this would go a long way toward getting Steve accepted as an Omega’s mate. His compassion, fearlessness and loyalty would ease many of their fears.

Rick nodded. “Anyone else?”

Surprisingly, Dave stepped forward. “He enabled Ben to come after me when he could have denied Ben the use of his timeshare. He gave selflessly to a friend in need.”

Selflessly might not have been entirely accurate. He’d bargained for rooms at the lodge in exchange, but he’d given up the warmth of Orlando for the cold of the Poconos. Chela had seen the way he shivered. That was not a man who was fond of snow.

“Anyone else?”

No one else stepped forward, so she did. She gathered her courage, the part of her that Belle had helped strengthen, and squared her shoulders. “He’s mine.”

The entire Pack turned to face her, almost causing her to panic. Too often she’d been under a Pack member’s scrutiny only to have someone strike out at her.

Belle had definitively put a stop to that, standing at her side and showing her exactly who Chela was meant to be.

She tilted her chin, allowing her power to flow through her. She would claim her mate, with the blessing of the Pack, or without it. “Steven Hoode is my mate, and I will fight for him with every breath in me.”

Slowly, one by one, the Pack lifted their faces to the moonless night and howled their approval. Rick was last, giving the Alpha’s blessing.

Only the Luna held back, her gaze amused as the Wolves howled. When they were done, they all turned toward her, waiting.

For Chela, Belle’s approval meant everything.

The Luna gave it in her own unique way, the screaming cry of a Puma rending the silent night as Belle gave her blessing to Chela’s mating.

Rick grinned. “Then I declare this meeting adjourned. Shift, and let’s run.”

The Pack shifted, ready to run into the night, play in the snow. Chela embraced her wolf, fur sprouting along her body. There was no blinding flash of light, no sound of crunching, grinding bones. It was more like watching water flow through the person, moving them, bending them, blending them with their animal in a liquid haze of a dream until the man was gone and only the wolf remained. Anyone looking on from the outside would assume the feeling was wet or slimy, but it wasn’t. It was airy and tingled in her palms. It was sensual and innocent in a way a non-shifter could never understand.

Then the wind shifted, and the most alluring scent drifted across her senses. She turned in place, already knowing how the Pack would react to the intruder in their midst.

She just hoped she got to him before any serious damage was done. They might not physically harm him, but they could do a hell of a lot of damage to a mating that hadn’t even taken place yet.

She just hoped she got the chance to explain things to him before he ran all the way to Abu Dhabi.

Steve bolted through the woods, only one word pounding in his brain over and over again.

Werewolves.

Je-sus.

Leave it to him to go on vacation in the one place that was chock-full of Team Jacob.

He could hear them baying behind him, hunting him. If he could get to his car, he’d be safe. He’d take off, pretend he never even came here. He could have Ben ship his laptop back to him, right?

Right?

Shit.

Ben had changed into one of them too, and worse, the son of a bitch knew where he lived.

Moscow sounded pretty good. No one would think to look for him there. Except he hated borscht. And the cold.

He was going to miss the hell out of his computer.

Dark shapes streaked past him. Oh, God. They were going to circle him. Circle him and take him down like a wounded deer. His coat had seemed dark enough for the moonless night, but who knew what wolves could see?

Did it look like blood?

Fuuuuck.

Wait. No fuck. No fucking whatsoever.

Graciela had called him her mate, right before she turned fuzzy.

Mate.

He had to let them know he really wasn’t into furries. Or pony play.

Would that be wolf play?

Ew.

Lights in the distance caught his attention. He didn’t think the werewolves would want to ick out their guests by feasting on his gory remains in front of them.

This was what he got for wanting to see a pretty girl get naked. He was never going to look at naked girls again.

She’d been awfully pretty, though—

A howl rent the night air, and Steve shuddered.

I’m dog food.

He stumbled into the open, his breath coming in freezing pants, his legs numb from the knees down from plowing through the snow. There. The car park. If he could just get to…

Shit, fuck and damn.

Ben was leaning against his car, buck naked. The hood was up, and his ex-best friend was holding something that looked suspiciously like wires. Ben held up his hands, his expression wary. “It’s okay, Steve.”

Steve didn’t even hesitate. He veered off, heading for the front doors of the lodge. If he could get inside, maybe he could call for help. The National Guard would know how to deal with this, right?

Did they even have silver bullets?

Fuuuck.

He was almost to the door before he realized Dave was there, the huge man’s arms crossed over his chest. The floodlights outside lit the grin on his face, making his teeth gleam. Apparently he ran faster than Ben, because he was wearing unbuttoned jeans. At least he wasn’t rubbing his bare ass up against the glass.

Ben’s naked ass had been on his car.

Ew.

Wait. Were those fangs in Dave’s mouth?

Steve wasn’t hanging around to find out. He booked it for one of the other doors leading into the lodge.

Before he got three steps, a small wolf stepped in his path. Steve instinctively veered away, unwilling to get his ass bitten for stepping on its tail. He slid on some ice, going down on said ass with a grunt.

The wolf settled itself down, laying its muzzle on its paws with a soft whine.

Steve sat there, his butt sore even through the padding of his coat, and stared.

The wolf wagged its tail, a pup ready to play. Tag, maybe?

He had a sudden vision of himself as the rope in a tug-of-war game.

Steve almost hyperventilated and tried to booty-scoot away. “Uh. Nice puppy.”

He could almost swear the wolf rolled its eyes.

Steve continued to butt-walk backward until he hit something that felt suspiciously like legs. He looked up and got an eyeful of a part of Rick Lowell he never wanted to see again. “Ugh.”

Rick rolled his eyes and crouched down next to him. “No one is going to hurt you.”

Steve might have felt better about that if Rick hadn’t wrapped a massive paw around the back of his neck. “So you’ll kill me quick?”

Rick sighed, the sound full of exasperation. “See that little wolf over there?”

“You mean the one with its butt up in the air?”

The little wolf looked ready to pounce on him. Was this the pack alpha or something?

“That’s Chela.”

He blinked, then shook his head and blinked again. “She’s your alpha?”

Rick started to laugh. “No. I’m alpha.”

That, at least, made sense. Rick had presence, that special something that made other people sit up and take notice even when he wasn’t speaking.

“Hey, Stevie.” Ben settled on the cold, hard ground next to him. “You okay?”

Steve shot him a disbelieving look. “What do you think, asshole?” He blinked in shock. Was he seriously baiting a wolf? “Forget I said that.”

Ben bit his lip. The son of a bitch was this close to laughing while Steve was still debating whether or not he was terrified enough to pee his pants. “If I told you that you’re safe, would you believe me?”

“Dude. You’re Team Jacob.”

He recognized that laugh. Dave had joined them and now crouched behind Ben, who’d begun to shiver. “You’re a Jacob fan?”

Ben glared at his lover. “You aren’t?”

“Nope.”

“You like that emo vampire?”

“I’m more Team Winchester. Those boys are hot.” Dave grinned and winked at Steve, obviously trying to reassure him that all this was nothing more than a bad dream brought on by bad oysters or something. After all, everyone was naked.

Except usually it was Steve who was naked in those kinds of nightmares. “Can I go now?”

Ben grimaced. “We…kinda tore a part out of your car.”

“I don’t think you’ll be leaving for a while.” Why the fuck did Dave have to look so smug?

“Listen to me.” There was something about Rick’s voice that had Steve snapping to attention. “You know what we are now.”

Yeah. That was why Steve was considering a lifetime trip to Moscow.

“We are the Poconos Pack, Wolves who have been in this area for centuries. I am their Alpha, their leader. Ben is our Marshal, our enforcer if you will. The Pack’s physical well-being is in his hands. Dave is my Beta, my second-in-command, and Ben’s mate.”

Mate. That was the word Graciela had used just before she’d…

He swallowed hard. He wasn’t ready to think about that yet. His gaze drifted over to the little wolf who was suddenly a lot closer than she’d been a moment before. He could just make out the gleam of her golden eyes as she settled down in front of him, much as she had when she’d first run out in front of him. Only this time her gaze kept darting between himself and Rick.

Oh God. It really was Graciela.

“Ted is the Marshal’s Second. He acts as Ben’s Beta, if you will, enforcing the law and helping to see to the Pack’s well-being. He has as much say as the Beta, Marshal and Omega in how the Pack is run.”

“And Graciela?” His voice sounded gravelly and loud as hell.

“She’s the Pack Omega.”

Something in him tightened at that. Even he knew that in wolf packs the omega was the one who got to eat last, the one who got beat up on when the other members needed to work out their aggressions. He didn’t like that.

He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t like it one little bit.

Rick must have felt the way he stiffened, because he continued in a quieter tone. “Chela is a treasured member of the Pack. The Omega sees to the emotional needs of the Pack, ensuring that it remains happy and healthy on a mental scale. She works closely with Ben to see to it that everyone has what they need, and if they find problems, they bring them either to me or Dave.”

“Congratulations! You’re her mate.”

Ben sighed, but his gaze never left Steve’s face. “Goddamn it, Dave. Can we give him a second to breathe?”

Steve nodded, then pulled up his hood. Breathing was good. He figured it would give him a few more minutes of life before they found his frozen corpse somewhere in the woods, because this had to be one of those life-and-death hallucinations he’d read about.

It was the only thing that made sense, really. He’d die, they’d find a Stevecicle, and they’d send flowers, the end. He closed his eyes and prayed his ass would stop hurting.

He should have gone to Bermuda.

Chela glared at Dave and snarled as her mate passed out.

“What?”

She chuffed at him. This was why she didn’t let her Packmates deal with the straights.