Frankie sat in the waiting room outside of the Pack Master office. Normally he was more than comfortable to sit and wait there. The leather chairs were comfortable, the magazines were always well-stocked, and he had his cell and a million administrative tasks to occupy himself.
Yes, usually, he was quite at home in the waiting room. It was hard to wait patiently and allow himself to be occupied, when he could hear the Luna tearing her make a new one through the closed doors to his office.
“-not going to happen. No.” Crash.
“Emma, do you need a moment? With ‘yourself’?”
“No, we are on the same fucking page on this! You are not doing this shit again. No way.” Frankie flinched as he heard something that sounded like glass shattering. Either a wine glass just hit a wall, or she just launched something through a small window? Damn she’s scary now she’s the Luna.
“You need to be reasonable. This is Frankie’s daughter we’re talking about. She’s already a werewolf Em. She is going to shift in 5 days, no matter how much of my office you break.” Frankie sat opposite the main doors and drummed his fingers on his knees. Well, the one good thing about the pair of them being as subtle as a hurricane when they disagree, is I know what’s happening. I mean, I might as well be in the damn room at this point.
“I know that. But what about her mother?”
“What about her?”
“You can not expect me to let you do to her what was done to me?” Frankie silently groaned and palmed his face. He was afraid of this. The fiery redhead was new to her role as Luna, and she still had a hefty chip on her shoulder from being turned a few months back.
“Not this again.” Caleb grunted and regained Frankie’s attention on the mahogany doors. “We have to keep our pack and the existence of werewolves a secret. Glenn Valley is a safe place because we are a werewolf only community. That’s why we haven’t had Hunters sniffing at our heels like the packs within human territories do. The Bazin pack are always dodging Hunters, and it’s because they possess human occupied territory.” Frankie nodded. That was accurate. The Glenn Valley way of life was worth protecting at all costs. The thought of Nella being captured and skinned alive for her pelt on the night of a full moon made his stomach turn.
Crash. “Break another damn chair and I’ll-”
“You’ll what?” A chill went down Frankie’s spine. Man, I hate when she does that. That witchy wolf bullshit makes my skin crawl. That had been a ‘fun’ conversation with Caleb over what started as one glass of scotch, and quickly became three.
“I’m not talking to you.” Caleb growled and Frankie took a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and pressed it to his damp brow. How the Pack Master always sounded so confident in his authority when dealing with ‘her’, was beyond this poor Beta. Even Dorian, a Dire wolf Alpha, lowered to one knee and cowered when she reared her head. “Emma?” Caleb commanded. “Come back or this conversation is over and I’ll make this decision without you.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“You wouldn’t respect me if I didn’t act in the best interest of my Pack, including the newest members. What is not in Nella and Ruby Hendrix’s best interests, is a feral wolf throwing shit around my office.” A growl so loud it made the doors vibrate in front of Frankie made the Beta wolf whimper in his throat. Oh crap she’s pissed. “My word is final when it comes to the safety of the pack.” Another growl made Frankie jump to his feet. Caleb sounded large and in charge, but the Luna sounded like she could care less. D-do I need to go in there? Should I call for Dorian? Shit, he’s her champion. I bet he’d hold Caleb still for her if she asked him to. Fuuuuuck. “You both know that this has to happen. Nella is pack, and would you prefer us to abduct her from her mother? Do you expect Ruby to not come looking for her daughter? With the attention of the police and hunters coming down on Glenn Valley?”
Crash.
“Stupid idiot told her where he worked. Any mother worth her pelt would hunt her missing pup down to the ends of the Earth, and Frankie gave her our fucking zip code.” Well shit. Now I’m in trouble.
Frankie stood and paced up and down the waiting room restlessly.
“He had no reason not to, at the time. He was there with both my consent and the consent of the Bazin pack. It was a good job too, otherwise Nella would have shifted with no pack to support and hide her, in the middle of Portland.”
“I told you, I understand about Nella. It’s Ruby I don’t want to be hounded, drugged, dragged out into the middle of the woods at night, made to feel like she’s going to die, and her throat ripped out without any choice. I won’t let that happen again Caleb. I still have nightmares about that night.” Frankie stopped pacing and frowned at the door. Emma was back and her voice was wobbling with tears.
“…okay. I hear you. I love you and I don’t regret turning you, of course. But both the lead up to biting you and the weeks following were hell for me too, remember?” Caleb spoke softly. Had Frankie not lingered near the door he wouldn’t have picked it up. “Okay Darlin. Now you two aren’t snapping your teeth at me, let’s talk this through. Ruby needs to join the pack and if we warn her first she’ll run for the hills. We’ll have hunters here before we can blink.”
“But-”
“None negotiable. However? I’m prepared to discuss how to make it the best transition possible for her. I’m reasonable, after all. I remember how traumatic it was for you Em. I felt it through the sire bond too.”
“No drugs.” Emma began and Frankie had to press his hands and ear to the door to keep listening. “No creepily popping up all the time to watch her and assess her either. Let Frankie do that. He’ll be around her anyway, right?”
“Okay. So far that’s reasonable. Frankie has suggested we deal with Nella first this week, and turn Ruby in two months. You had two months. The pack coped bottling everything up outside their home for that long, but I wouldn’t push it any further. Trust me? In that last week we had several close calls with you.”
“You did?” Emma chuckled.
“I’ll tell you over beers later. Can we at least agree for now that she is to be kept in the dark until it’s time for her to be sired, and she is to become pack in two months?”
Frankie held his breath and waited. Technically this wasn’t Emma’s decision to make, but she was the Luna. If she didn’t support Caleb that would carry through the pack and could cause dissent. Not to mention ruin their home life. “We can put a plan in place that reduces the stress on Ruby. You can even take the lead on welcoming her with the Arbitrator, if you like?”
“Ha! Nayavu will love that.” Frankie raised a brow and resisted the urge to hum curiously. Is that his name? I was expecting something like Luthor or Mannex or something. “Fine. I’ll talk with Vanessa and put a proposal together to amend the siring procedure.”
“You mean when you can get Toddrick to put her down?” Caleb sniggered. “I still can’t believe he ended up transferring to our pack. I mean, I know they’re soul mates, but he was the second to the Dark Legion and his father is the Pack Master.”
“Beth says Jason is filling his boots rather well.” Emma giggled. “Oh is he? Frankie, you can come in now.” He flinched against the door and swore under his breath. How does she do that?! Frankie cleared his throat, put his good guy smile in place and hoped she couldn’t tell how apprehensive he was as he pushed the office doors open.
“Pack Master. Luna.” Oh dear Lord! Frankie blanched as he took in the stage of the office.
Caleb sat behind his thick dark mahogany desk, which was broken in half right down the middle. His white shirt was missing the top two buttons and had been clawed over the left peck. If he’d been cut beneath the fabric, he had already healed. His raven hair was disheveled and he seemed at ease, despite the strewn chair legs, shattered glasses, and scattered paperwork on the floor. Two windows were broken, and Emma stood in the middle of the storm. She wore her pink scrubs, likely having finished a shift at the clinic at this time in the afternoon, and her ginger pixie cut looked as fiery as her mood. “…shall I…send for maintenance?…again.” Frankie chuckled nervously, which made Emma raise a brow and Caleb bark with mirth.
“Good man.” Caleb stood and walked over and poked a finger through one of the slices in his shirt with a chuckle. “I’m running low on shirts. Can you put an order in at Lucy’s store?”
“Yes Pack Master.” Frankie bowed his head and offered his palms to him with respect. “May I ask-”
“Why, you heard everything?” Emma cut him off and marched over to Caleb to start unbuttoning his shirt. She ignored the suggestive grin on his face and yanked his shirt from his belt and trousers. “I’ll use my potent pheromones to help Nella shift on the full moon. We’ll need to plan how to sneak her away from Ruby safely. Without drugging her.” Emma gave them both a firm look with glowing golden eyes, and then bundled Caleb’s shirt up around her hands. “Then we have two months to find someone nice to sire her and do so as gently as we can.”
“Yes mam.” Caleb chuckled and winked at Frankie to reassure him everything was fine. Emma threw his shirt in the bin, which Frankie thought was hardly helping considering the state of the room. She pulled out a draw on the broken desk and found a plain black t-shirt. “Oh for me? And here I thought you were trying to get me undressed Darlin’?” Caleb’s icy blue eyes lit up and he growled at her.
How he can be in the mood to get frisky when Emma just tore his office up and physically lashed out at her, is beyond me. Sure she’s beautiful and smart, but she’s way too aggressive. For my tastes, anyway.
Emma proved his point by stormed over and ‘playfully’ swatting Caleb’s arm.
“Not in front of Frankie?” She hissed, her cheeks flushed as she tried not to react to Caleb’s rising pheromone scent. Frankie cleared his throat to remind the Alpha that he was still there, and could also smell his desire.
“I am pleased that you will support me in bringing my daughter, and her mother, into the fold of the pack. I will collect them tomorrow and bring them here.”
“I better draft the black alert to let everyone know to hide their natures outside of their own homes for the next two months, and why.” Frankie grimaced through his smile. That wouldn’t be a popular order. “Don’t worry Frankie. No one will mind when they know it’s for the mother of your child. Hell, I’d expect gift baskets to start turning up.”
“No, no that’s weird.” Emma chipped in and counted off her fingers. “No creepy shit. No sly comments about becoming one of the family, or ‘you’ll understand one day’, or random gifts for no apparent reason. No sniffing, no touching her neck, and no stalking her.” She commanded them both in truth, but she was looking at Frankie. “I mean it.”
“I know I went looking for Ruby, the one that got away, with the hope of seeing if we could have been more, but we’re different people now.” Frankie put his hands up and chuckled. “She made it clear I wasn’t to get any funny ideas about her. I agree, anyway. All I want is Nella in my life and safe. I’d like Ruby to be happy, but that’s not going to be with me.”
“…sure.” Emma didn’t sound convinced. She groaned and held the back of her neck, groaned again, and then flicked her wrist at Caleb to take over. “Okay I’m not pissed at you anymore. Let’s go home. My back is in knots and you always know how to get them out.” She riggled her shoulders and walked out of the office.
“…I love it when she gets bossy. Hold my calls for the next two…no. Three hours.” Caleb clapped his second’s shoulder as he passed him, chuckling eagerly, and Frankie managed to keep the smile on his face until the Pack Master hurried after his mate. Then, and only then, did he pinch his nose and shudder. Alphas and Omegas. I’ll never understand them. Hopefully I can find the order neutraliser in this wreckage somewhere while I wait for maintenance.
Frankie started to smile as he sprayed the desolate office. As nerve-wracking as that was to listen to, they both agreed. I’m bringing Nella and Ruby to Glenn Valley tomorrow, and I can’t wait. I’ll help them move in and spend time with Nella. I should buy her a present…but I don’t know anything about teenage girls. Frankie assumed from their conversation yesterday that Nella was for all intents and purposes a teenage girl, so he should treat her like one. What do teenage girls like? Chocolate? Oh, what if she’s lactose intolerant or diabetic or something? No, better not get food, and she’s too young for me to buy her a beer…erm…flowers? Frankie grumbled as the maintenance team arrived and got to work clearing the mess and cleaning the room. What if she has allergies? Crap. I have no idea what to get her. I don’t even know anyone with teenage daughters I could ask.
His phone pinged and the black alert notice went out to everyone in Glenn Valley. That’s it then. I’ll hire a moving truck and go get them tomorrow. I better let Ruby know I’m coming so she doesn’t try and dig her heels in. The blonde was defiantly dubious about him turning up after 18 years and how quickly he’d made the arrangements for them to move to Glen Valley. I’ve got them a nice place close to the dance hall, and Linda even offered to interview Ruby as a bartender. If anything Ruby had become more suspicious, not less. Even so, she bit his hand off after Linda forwarded on a job advert to use as proof that he wasn’t making it up. The pack always care for their own, and Nella and Ruby were as good as pack members already. They just don’t know it yet.
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