Wolf with Benefits

CHAPTER TEN

Toni eventually forced herself out of the bedroom where she’d changed clothes and into the dining room. An array of Chinese food covered the long wooden table as well as white plates; knives, forks, and spoons; and linen napkins.

“Are you expecting company?” she asked the wolf as he came in through the swinging doors with a bottle of wine and two crystal wineglasses.

“Nope. Why?”

“This seems like a lot of food.”

He studied the table. “Really?”

Shaking her head and deciding not to pursue it, Toni asked, “Did you get the plates and silverware from a neighbor or something?”

“This stuff was already in the cabinets.”

“You’re kidding.”

“This apartment is ready to go, darlin’. Stuff for the bed, towels for the bathroom, soap, toothbrushes, shampoo, even that really soft toilet paper. Anything you could want is here.”

Toni pulled out one of the dining chairs, dropped into the seat, and planted her face on the table. She heard another chair being pulled out, and the wolf sat down next to her, turning the chair so he could face her.

“All right. Talk to me, darlin’. You’re not insane. A little crazy, but not insane. And this . . . everything you’ve gotten in the last few days . . . do you know how many people would kill for all this?”

“But,” she said, slowly lifting her head, “those people would be qualified.”

“You are qualified.”

“I’m not.” She finally admitted the truth that embarrassed her. “I’ve never had a job.”

“What do you call taking care of your family?”

“Not a job. There are loads of women and men in this world who help raise their younger siblings. There’s absolutely nothing special about me.”

When the wolf laughed at her, Toni’s hands curled into fists and she snarled, “You know what? You can take this Chinese food and shove it up your goddamn—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at how you don’t think what you do is work. You know, I’m part of a Pack. And when you’re in a Pack, you help take care of the younger pups. That’s just how it is. Me and my brother Rory had to manage twenty pups under the age of eleven during a Reed family reunion one summer. It was only for an hour and it was the longest gosh-darn hour of my life. Especially since the Reeds fight really rough when they’re pups. But you know what? Still easier dealing with those mean little bastards than you having to deal with your siblings. Do you know why?” She shook her head. “Because most pups are kind of stupid. Cute . . . but stupid. It’s just about keeping them from doing any permanent injury to each other. You, however, have prodigies. Mean, determined little prodigies. Ten of them. Darlin’, that’s a job.”

“Okay, yeah!” she exclaimed. “I’m the world’s best babysitter. But this job ... I was on the phone with some Russian guy who wanted Novikov in a cage and then there are all these rules about the hotel situations when the team travels. Some guys can’t room together. And every time I see the coach her knuckles are bloody and I can’t figure out if that’s a subtle threat of some kind. And then they gave me this big office and an assistant and she’s really nice even though she’s mated with a hyena and I got this laundry list of stuff to do from at least six of the players and now I’m confused because I feel like I’m their assistant and Ric isn’t even in town so I can’t ask him anything and it seems that coach doesn’t want to be asked about a goddamn thing she just keeps yelling at me because I don’t know anything and apparently that’s just not acceptable even though it’s only my first day and—”

“Okay. Okay!” The wolf took her hands and held them. “Take a breath.” He paused, then added, “Let it out. I want you breathing.”

He leaned down a bit and kept staring at her until she looked him in the eye.

“I’m going to be direct with you right now. All right?”

Toni nodded at him.

“And I’m going to say what my momma said to me once . . . you need to balls up.”

Blinking, Toni leaned back.

That hadn’t been exactly what she’d expected . . .

“Balls up? That’s your recommendation to me?”

“I’m giving you my momma’s wisdom.”

“Thanks. That’s great. I’m going to eat now. Can you hand me those egg rolls?”

“Now wait, don’t just dismiss this.”

“I’m not. I’m just deciding to eat rather than locate my missing testes.”

Ricky took the egg roll out of her hand.

“I was eating that,” she protested.

“I took it anyway.”

“Whatever.” She reached for another egg roll.

“And that’s your mistake,” he announced.

Her mouth around the egg roll, Toni muttered, “Wha?”

“Do you know what happened when I took a pork chop from my sister?” He held up his forearm and Toni winced at the scar there. “That’s from where she took a chunk out of me. Then she took her pork chop back and ate it while my mother tried to stop the bleeding. You know why?”

Toni swallowed her food. “She’s psychotic?”

“Some might say. But really she’s just a predator. That’s what predators do.”

“Okay. And?”

“And you’re used to working with full-humans. Rich, fancy ones who think stealing someone’s company out from under them is being predatory. And your family is used to dealing with full-humans. They know they have to act a certain way in order to do well in their chosen fields because it’s full-humans giving them the money or hiring them for the jobs.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“But that’s not what you’re dealing with at this job. Now you’re dealing with predators. Ones that get on the ice and bash the shit out of each other for money.”

“Couldn’t you say the same thing about any pro team? Shifter or not?”

“Not really. Think about it. The team doctor has a specialty in artery repair and their team insurance includes fang-loss as a long-term disability. These are not full-human concerns, but they’re ours.”

“So what do I do?”

“Treat them all like you treat Kyle. He’s the only one of your brothers and sisters that you don’t hold back on.”

“What about Oriana?”

“You’re too worried she’ll get an eating disorder. But Kyle is too arrogant to bother with any of that. So treat the team, including the coach, like bigger, stronger, stupider versions of Kyle.”

“And what if that blows up in my face?”

“You were all ready to quit anyway. What could you lose with one more day trying it my way? Plus . . . you get to keep this place for a whole other day.”

“You are way too attached to this apartment.”

“Did you see the size of that TV in the living room?”

He spotted her right away. And had followed her for at least an hour. She captivated him. The way she seemed to float everywhere. The way she kept that small smile, no matter what was going on around her in this horrible city. There was just something about her that he couldn’t put his finger on, but it called to him.

And he knew if it called to him, it would call to Chris.

She walked on. Easing through the busy streets, seemingly untouched by all those around her. She glided. She glowed. All men noticed her, some spoke to her, but they didn’t try to stop her. They didn’t try to impede her progress. And she seemed not to notice them. She stopped for a while by the street artists, studying their work. Briefly discussing what she saw, but even that didn’t keep her for long.

Finally, she walked down a street he’d come to know so well since he’d moved to this horrible city and, to his shock, she walked up the stone steps to his true home and sat down in the middle, her back facing the big double doors.

He finally approached, crouching beside her. He gently took her hand and her head turned toward him, big blue eyes focusing on him.

“You search for something,” he told her. “You search for truth. For joy. For happiness. You search and, finally, you’ve found it.”

She said nothing, merely stared at him with those blue eyes, that same small smile on her lips.

“Come with me. Let me show you the truth. Let me show you the way. He’s waiting for you.”

She nodded. “All right.”

With that commitment, he led her up the stairs. He knocked once and the doors were opened. He smiled and nodded at the acolytes who protected the doors. He could see their jealousy. They also knew that he was bringing in something extraordinary.

He led her through the temple. As they walked, she looked around, blue eyes taking it all in. But she asked no questions, did not question him or his motives. Simply let him lead her through his home, his hand holding hers.

He stopped in front of double doors deep inside the temple and waited, giving her a brave smile. She merely stared back at him.

He didn’t knock. He didn’t have to. Eventually the doors opened and Chris stood there. He studied her, learned who she was just by looking at her. Chris could see into a person’s soul, understand their needs and wants, and then help them find the truth about their lives.

Chris was their Savior, and soon, the world would know it.

“I’m Chris,” he said, holding out his hand.

“I’m Delilah.”

“I’m here to help you,” Chris explained. “To guide you to the light.”

Delilah dropped her hand into his, stared at Chris with those big blue eyes, and replied, “Okay.”

The TV was nice and the perfect end to a perfectly shitty day. After downing more of that Chinese food than she’d thought she would, they ended up crashed on the couch, watching true crime shows and eating gourmet butter pecan ice cream that was already in the freezer.

“You’ve gotta love the defense attorneys,” Ricky said after swallowing another spoonful of his ice cream. “No matter how much bull their clients are trying to pass off, they always seem to go along for the ride.”

“Defense attorneys are important. You never know when you’re going to need one.”

“Planning to kill your third husband the way you killed your first husband so that you can get the life insurance and buy more Chanel bags, are you?”

“I’m not planning to do anything. Life is too short to spend a moment in prison. But you never know when you might be falsely accused. It happens more than people want to realize. And if it happens to me, I’d like to know that there’s a defense attorney out there who’s going to save my ass.”

“Do you sit around worrying about being falsely accused all the time?”

“Not all the time.” She shrugged at his one raised eyebrow. “I worry. That’s what I do.”

“And you’re damn good at it.”

“Yes, yes. I know. That’s all I do. Sit around and worry about my family.” But if she didn’t worry about her family, who would? Some cutthroat agent? Some reality show producer? Toni shuddered at the thought.

“Is that why y’all broke up?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why you broke up?” Ricky asked again.

“Broke up with who . . . ?” she thought a moment. “Or is it whom?”

“Broke up with your last boyfriend?”

“Why are you asking about that?”

“Just curious.”

“Well, be curious about something else.”

“Breakup was that bad, huh?”

Toni rolled her eyes. “Is giving me that pity look supposed to get me to tell you everything about my last relationship?”

“That won’t work? Because it’s worked on others with equally large breasts as yours.”

“No, that won’t work.” But Toni laughed in spite of herself.

“Come on,” he pleaded with a smile. “Tell me somethin’. Toss this wolf a bone.”

“All right, all right. He was full-human—”

“Mistake number one.”

“Are you going to let me finish or comment on each new revelation?”

“Okay. Finish.”

“He was—is—full-human and an eye surgeon. He was nice but very . . . particular.”

“About your sexy times?”

“Again . . . no. But thanks for grossing me out.” She shrugged. “He was just particular about how things should go. He seemed to be on a schedule.”

“I figured you’d like a man with a schedule.”

“Not when that schedule specifically involves me.”

“Let me guess . . . he wanted marriage, right?”

“What makes you think that?”

“All full-humans want marriage. Waste of money, in my opinion.”

“That’s what my parents would say anytime I asked why they weren’t married. Funny thing was, my ex’s mother used to constantly ask when my parents were going to get married rather than living in sin. Her words. Yet my dad was home every night with his mate—”

“Hence the many pups.”

“Exactly. While my ex’s dad was banging his secretaries. But my parents are the ones living in sin? Really?”

“Full-humans do love to judge.”

Toni gave a small shrug. “I don’t know. Shifters can be judgmental.”

Ricky waved his spoon. “No, no. It is not the same. Our kind are born with preconceived notions about each other. Cats hate dogs. Wolves hate coyotes. Nobody trusts the foxes, and everybody fears the momma grizzly. These are givens based on centuries of surviving in the wild together and putting up with each other’s bullshit when eating at a Van Holtz restaurant.”

He did have a point.

“So what happened?” he asked again. “Did he push for marriage?”

“He did. But that wasn’t the main problem.” Toni brought her legs up and turned her body so she could face the wolf, suddenly eager to have this conversation. She could have talked to Coop when it happened, but he’d been on tour. She could have spoken to Cherise, too, but she took it so personally when anyone hurt any of her siblings that Toni didn’t want to be responsible for what she might do out of anger. There was also Livy, Toni’s best friend. But if upsetting Cherise was a bad idea, then upsetting Olivia Kowalski, American-born, Chinese-Polish daughter of two take-no-shit immigrants was a mistake on a global scale.

“The main problem was that he couldn’t understand the connection I have to my family.”

“Of course he couldn’t,” the wolf said flatly. “Do you really think some full-human gal can understand leaving my bed some morning, walking out into my living room, and finding my entire Pack snoring on my floor or eatin’ my yogurt while they watch the Brickyard 400?”

“Am I supposed to know what that is?”

He sighed, long and deep. “Poor, pretty Yankee. That’s NASCAR, darlin’. You do know what that is, right?”

“Yes,” she replied eagerly. “Troy and Freddy like to watch it for mathematical and scientific reasons—I think they’re secretly planning to build a car. Kyle likes to watch it because he says it’s fun to see what the”—and she used air quotes here—“ ‘average’ human being does in his or her time off.”

“It must be hard for ol’ Kyle to be so—”

“Arrogant? Rude? Condescending?”

“I was just going to say snotty, but those words work, too.”

“He’s really not that awful,” she admitted. “Unfortunately . . . he doesn’t know he’s not that awful.”

“I have to say, though . . . I like Kyle.”

“You do? Because you’re one of the very few.”

“I like his attitude.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. You know why?”

“No idea whatsoever.”

“Because he is what he is. I like that in a canine.”

“You’re an odd man.”

He scraped the last bit of melted ice cream at the bottom of his bowl. “Some might say.”

“So,” Ricky asked as he placed the empty bowl on the coffee table, “how did it end with your boyfriend?”

“I did something . . . reprehensible.”

Ricky leaned back and waited for her to tell him what that was rather than pushing her. And she did tell him.

“I left him alone with Kyle.”

“You are a cruel woman.”

“I know, I know. I still feel bad about it. The man graduated from Harvard Medical School, and by the time Kyle was done with him, he had to take a sabbatical from the hospital.”

Ricky started laughing at the full-human’s weakness.

“It’s not funny. I still don’t know what Kyle said to him, but he was only in there for ten minutes. Fifteen tops. I thought he was just going to scare him off or something. Prove to him that my entire family was a bunch of spoiled brats that no normal man would want to be around. But it turned out Kyle really didn’t like him. At all.” She grimaced. “I think he was crying when he left. And Kyle was smiling . . . then again so was my dad, Coop, and Freddy.”

“If your daddy didn’t like him, that should have been a clue.”

“My father has never liked any of my boyfriends.”

“All full-human?”

“That’s who I was around. Except for the Van Holtz Pack, but all that Pack talks about is cooking. I still make Hamburger Helper.”

“I love Hamburger Helper.”

She grinned. “Me, too. Any time we know Uncle Van is out of town, we invite Aunt Irene and her kids over and I make a big batch of Hamburger Helper for everybody.”

“Why when he’s out of town?”

She was quiet for a moment before saying, “Everything is pretty much a joke to my uncle Van except three things. His daughter, Ulva, who I decked once during a family soccer game because she made Cherise cry; the cleanliness of his kitchen; and his food. Uncle Van takes his food very, very seriously. So, yeah, we keep our Hamburger Helper nights completely top secret. And you better never tell, either.”

“Your secret is safe with me. The Reeds are known for the ability to keep our mouths shut. In fact, I have a couple of cousins in Midwest prisons just for that reason.”

“You know that is something I’d suggest not telling people.”

“Funny, my momma says the same thing.”

“You should listen to her.”

Toni’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of the backpack she had resting against the couch.

“Fancy phone,” he said while she stared at it.

“It’s the one I got at the job . . . and yet Kyle already has the number.”

Ricky chuckled and Toni answered her phone. “Yes, Kyle? No, Kyle. No, you may not tell her she’s fat. Because she’s not and because it’s wrong. No, you cannot push her into an eating disorder. No, you cannot convince Troy that Dad isn’t really his father and he’s really the slow boy Mom adopted. Can’t you all just work together?” Sighing loudly, Toni closed her eyes and Ricky saw all the tension that had eased out of her over the last couple of hours come right back up. “No, you are not superior. You are one of us and you will work together. Goddammit, Kyle, I am not playing around.” She looked at her watch. “Fine. I’ll be home in—”

That’s when Ricky snatched the phone out of her hand and while she watched, he crushed the little technological marvel in his fist. “Uh-oh . . . look at what I just did. My big, clumsy wolf hands crushed your itty-bitty fancy phone. You know what that means?”

“That you’re insane?”

“No. That ol’ Ric Van Holtz is gonna be real upset with me because he’ll have to get you a new one. So upset he’ll have to send Dee-Ann Smith to pummel me because he can’t risk bruising those lily-white hands of his.”

“Don’t pick on Ric. He’s one of my favorite not-really-cousins.”

“ ‘Not really cousins’?”

“With a hyphen between each word. In other words, he’s like family but not by blood.”

“So you just make up ridiculous terms for no reason?”

“Pretty much.”

Ricky shrugged. “Okay. So you wanna make out?”

“No, I do not.”

He stared at her, waited about a minute, then asked, “What about now?”

“No!” But she was laughing and no longer tense.

“If I wait another five minutes . . . ?”

“The answer will remain the same.”

“But I’m crashing here tonight—”

“When did I invite—”

“—and you can’t expect me to just lie out here all alone with a beautiful woman in the very next room . . . can you?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Heartless.”

“So Kyle has told me.” Toni relaxed back against the couch and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Ricky also relaxed back, his shoulder pressed against hers. “Since I can’t get you to make out with me . . . what about massaging my head?”

“What?”

“Please?”

“You mean like a . . . scalp message?”

“It’s my favorite thing. And you got them strong hands. Plus”—he pulled off his Tennessee Titans baseball cap—“I’ve got a great head of hair. All shiny, smooth, and silky. When I’m around Mitch Shaw, I make sure to shake my hair out to make him jealous of its beauty.”

She frowned a bit. “Is Mitch Shaw a lion?”

“You know him?”

“No. But a wolf mocking a man’s hair can only mean he’s either talking to a super model . . . or a male lion obsessed with that goddamn mane they all have.”

Laughing, Ricky laid his head in Toni’s lap and put his feet up on the armrest. “I have to say, darlin’, I am liking you more and more.”

“I’m learning to tolerate you, too.”

Then, to Ricky’s delight, Toni dug her fingers into his hair and gave him one of the best scalp massages he’d ever had.

“I’m just doing this,” Toni muttered, “because I feel I owe you one for today. You know . . . calming me down and everything.” Then, her voice stronger, she snapped, “But don’t get used to it or anything. This is a one-time deal. Understood?”

“Sure.”

Of course, understanding didn’t mean he’d agreed to a damn thing . . .

Ronnie Lee Reed knew the girls were bored. Of course she hadn’t told them not to drink. That had been Sissy. Sissy who was clearly enjoying the torment-potential of Ronnie’s pregnancy.

“Isn’t it great?” Sissy was saying to their fellow She-wolves. “Hanging at this great club and not drinking?”

They all muttered, “Yeah. Great.” But they were bitter, bitter words.

“It’s like we can really talk without worrying about liquor clouding our minds. Isn’t that right, y’all?”

More muttering followed that, and Ronnie had to quickly tip her head down and focus on something else. Anything else, or she’d bust out laughing. Sissy knew it, too. This was how the pair of them had entertained themselves for years. It was wrong, Ronnie knew. But it was fun.

“Hey, y’all.”

Ronnie raised her eyes and looked up at Laura Jane Smith. Funny. She hadn’t liked Laura Jane when they were growing up in Tennessee together, and she disliked her even more now.

It had been such a relief when Laura Jane had headed off to stay with the Mississippi Smiths. A large Pack, full of Reed males for her to fuck with. Cousins Ronnie didn’t think that much of one way or another. She had kin she was much closer to. Like, you know, her own brothers.

It had been the one thing Ronnie and her mother had ever agreed on. How much they disliked the relationship between Ricky Lee and Laura Jane. It wasn’t that Laura Jane was, as Sissy liked to call her, “a ho.”

Hell. Sissy and Ronnie were hos before they’d settled down with their mates. But they’d known their boundaries. Family wasn’t off limits, but if you were just looking for a good time without any commitments, then you stayed away. That’s not what Laura Jane did. She’d played Ricky Lee and several other males she’d been with around the same time. Not okay, in Ronnie Lee’s book. So having the bitch coming to town to “visit with my favorite kin!” was doing nothing but irritating Ronnie’s already sensitive nerves.

Rory Lee kept telling Ronnie to stay out of it. She didn’t want to. Females like Laura Jane didn’t understand subtlety. But she could tell that Ricky was avoiding her, and Ronnie didn’t like that, either. If anyone should feel awkward, it should be Laura Jane.

But that one didn’t feel much of anything. She was too busy running around, trying to look “sultry.” It was the word all the boys had used about her when they were growing up.

Took a lot of effort, if you asked Ronnie Lee. Always posing and making sure your mouth is at its most pouty.

Laura Jane pulled out a chair and dropped into it. “So what are we all doing tonight?”

“Hanging out. Just experiencing life,” Sissy Mae offered, her smile large. “Liquor-free.”

Laura Jane managed to hold on to her perfectly sultry smile. “Really? How novel.”

“So have you been enjoying your visit to our fair city?” Sissy asked her cousin.

“I have. I have. Although it’s not really your city, is it, Sissy Mae?”

“I live here, don’t I?”

“True. But you’ll always be a country girl.” Laura Jane’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit. “Just like the rest of us.”

The words were said kindly, but Ronnie wasn’t fooled. Neither was Sissy Mae, which was why she was Ronnie’s best friend.

Laura Jane looked over at Ronnie. “How ya doin’, hon?”

“Fine.”

“Got the morning sickness yet?”

“Came and went. Just like my momma.”

“Good. Good. My poor sister, Sally? Lord, she went through hell during her pregnancies. Running to the bathroom to throw up nearly every damn day for nine months. Poor thing.”

“Uh-huh.”

Laura Jane leaned over the table a bit and said to Ronnie, “I went to see your brother today, darlin’.”

Ronnie had learned long ago how not to react to just anything. It was a hard-won skill but necessary when one’s best friend was Sissy Mae Smith. A She-wolf who was still banned from several countries in Asia and Europe. Of course, so was Ronnie Lee, but that was only because of Sissy Mae. It was always only because of Sissy Mae!

“Is that right? How is he doing anyway? Haven’t seen him in a day or two. Always so busy, that Ricky Lee.”

“He seems fine. Looks good.” Laura Jane winked at her, and Ronnie wanted to tear the bitch’s eyes out with her fangs. “Surprised about him and that She-jackal, though. It’s not like him to use somebody just to get out of an uncomfortable situation. Odd-looking little girl, too. I mean, unless she paid to have that hair.”

Unable to help themselves, Ronnie and Sissy glanced at each other and back at Laura Jane.

Then Ronnie Lee asked, “She-jackal?”