Wild as a wolf, p.27
Wild As a Wolf, page 27
The corner of Mike’s mouth curved. “Actually, there is one. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
Karissa waited impatiently for him to elaborate, but before Mike could continue, Cooper shouted that the food on the grill was ready. Mike immediately jumped up. Hale was right behind him.
“You stay here and hold our seats,” he said, leaning back down to give her a quick kiss. “I’ll get our food. I know exactly how you like your burger.”
She smiled as Hale got in line with everyone else collecting in front of the grills. He probably did know how she liked her burger. Then again, considering how much time they’d spent together over the past week, there likely wasn’t much he didn’t know about her.
Karissa had officially moved in with Hale the same night she’d defeated Bagley, and had never looked back. Not that there had been much to move in. She’d always traveled light and there’d been very little left behind in her hotel room to bother with. She didn’t have much in the way of stuff back at her parents’ home outside of Chicago either, so shopping was one of the first things on her to-do list.
“How’s my favorite sister?” Deven asked as he sat down on the bench across the table from her, carrying a paper plate piled high with a hot dog, cheeseburger, barbecue beans, and coleslaw. “Life with your soul mate as blissful as you expected it to be?”
“First, I’m your only sister,” Karissa pointed out with a laugh. “And second, no, life with my soul mate isn’t as blissful as I expected. It’s better.”
There’d never really been any doubt about Hale and her being soul mates, but if there had been, they were washed away when Karissa saw him carrying her sword. They’d spent a lot of time talking about it since then, even conducting a few experiments. While he couldn’t summon the blade, he could easily handle it. Their conclusion was that it was the soul mate bond that allowed Hale to use her weapon, as if the sword now viewed them as one instead of two separate people.
And yeah, Karissa couldn’t help but think about how much that all sounded like a marriage vow…two becoming one. She found herself extremely comfortable with that idea.
Her brother chuckled as he picked up his burger. “I’m glad. If anyone deserves some happiness out of this screwed-up situation, it’s you.”
Karissa knew exactly what her brother meant by screwed-up situation, so she didn’t bother asking for clarification.
The morning after the fight at the auto plant, Lorenzo had shown up at Hale’s place to convince her and Deven to go back to Chicago with him so they could try and repair the misunderstanding they had with their parents. Karissa had immediately refused, saying that her place was with Hale now. Lorenzo hadn’t seemed surprised to hear that, but he’d genuinely been shocked when Deven announced he wasn’t leaving, either.
“I’m staying with Karissa,” he’d announced firmly. “She’s family. Or at least the only family I trust.”
Lorenzo had been speechless and left for the airport less than thirty minutes later. Neither of them had heard anything from him or any other member of their family since. In all honesty, Karissa wasn’t that torn up about it. Maybe she’d attempt to reconnect with her parents and other brothers in the future. Lorenzo had risked his life to try and save her, so she owed him that much at least. But even with that in mind, it might be a long time before she was ready to forgive any of them. Even a little.
Hale came back to the table then, carefully balancing two plates full of food. Mike and Connor were right behind him, followed by Carter. The latter didn’t say anything, instead sitting at the end of the table and focusing his attention on his barely cooked steak and generous helping of potato salad. Though when Tuffie came over and sat down near the bench beside him, he quickly reached out and gently ran his hand over her fur.
“What were you two talking about?” Hale asked curiously, picking up his burger as he looked back and forth between Karissa and Deven.
She lifted the top bun and checked her cheeseburger, confirming that it had dill pickles and extra mayo, then threw a pointed look at her little brother. “Actually, I was just about to ask Deven how his college search has been going. He mentioned a couple of days ago that going to school was something he was interested in, but he hasn’t picked one yet. If he gets all the paperwork done, he can start classes next semester.”
Everyone at the table turned to look at her brother, putting him on the spot to answer. Which was what Karissa had intended. The moment Deven had mentioned going to school, she’d been behind it one hundred percent, even saying she’d find a way to help pay for it. She wanted her brother to have a chance to do something she never had. But since their initial conversation, Deven had blown her off every time she’d brought up any of the local colleges. It was starting to get irritating. Mostly because it felt like she was momming him. And she was definitely not a mom.
Deven took a big bite of his hot dog, clearly to give himself more time to fabricate a lie to cover up his procrastination. She was surprised when he looked up with a smile on his face after he finished chewing.
“Turns out,” he said slowly, and Karissa got a quiver of concern in her stomach when her brother’s expression suggested he was worried about something, “I’ve already applied at the college of my choice and been accepted. I start right after New Year’s.”
Everyone at the table, and at those nearby, cheered and offered their congratulations. But while Karissa was certainly thrilled at the idea of Deven going to college, she couldn’t shake the sense of hurt filling her at the fact that he hadn’t let her be part of the process.
“That’s great,” she said, hoping her smile was believable. “What kind of program are you going into? Which college did you pick? How much is it going to cost?”
“It’s a computer science degree, majoring in cybersecurity and information assurance,” her brother answered, still grinning. “Working with my contact at STAT got me really interested in the subject.”
Karissa was waiting for him to answer the rest of her questions but was forced to sit there stewing as Deven hid behind another big bite of hot dog. And then a forkful of beans. Okay, he was seriously pushing his luck now.
“So…computer science?” Hale asked, looking like he was about to laugh at how impatient she was being. “You going to North Texas? A&M maybe?”
“Neither, actually.” Deven’s smile slipped a little as he looked at Karissa. “I’ve been accepted at DC University in Washington. They have one of the best cybersecurity programs in the country. My contact at STAT recommended the school.”
Karissa’s mind went blank. Washington, DC? That was half a country away. She’d never see her brother. At least not often.
“And if you’re worrying about paying for me to go to college, don’t,” her brother added, almost like he’d been rehearsing what he’d been going to say. Which he probably had. “I’ve already taken care of it. I’m covered for the whole four years, plus a little extra just in case.”
Her head was swimming at that, and she paused with a forkful of coleslaw halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean, you’ve already taken care of it?”
Her brother shrugged and dug into his barbecue beans. “I know you don’t want anything to do with Mom and Dad—or their money—but I’m not so forgiving. I missed out on most of high school because I was working for them. The way I look at it, they owe me for four years of education. I’m just making sure they pay for it.”
Karissa could feel Hale and everyone else around the table looking at them and knew without glancing over that they were smiling. She kept her attention on her brother, knowing he’d crack.
“Fine,” he said with a long sigh. “I hacked into the company accounts and transferred an appropriate amount into an education trust fund to pay for college. I got the idea from that account Glenn Patterson had, and my contact at STAT helped me set it up. It’s not like Mom and Dad have room to complain. Not after all the crap they pulled.”
Karissa was starting to think that getting Deven and this person from STAT together was going to lead to a lot of trouble in the long run. But before she could point that out, Hale nudged her shoulder, obviously trying to get her attention.
“Now that we know what Deven has been doing behind your back, maybe you should let him know what you’ve been up to?” Hale said. “I’m sure he’s been worried about what you’re going to do with your life now that you’re not working for your parents.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Deven looking at her with confusion. “I thought you’d just keep doing what you’ve been doing, saving innocents and stuff, but on your own.”
On your own.
The mere sound of those words was painful to hear, even though Karissa knew she’d never be on her own again. Not since she’d found her soul mate. But it appeared that she would be without her little brother. For at least a while. That was painful, too.
“I considered going into the personal security business on my own, but in the end, I had to admit I didn’t have the kind of contacts necessary to find clients. That was Mom and Dad’s part of the gig and I never really worried about it.”
“So what are you going to do?” Deven asked, and Karissa realized he was actually a little worried about her. That concern felt nice.
“You know Hale’s pack mate Rachel, right?” Karissa asked, looking around the compound until she saw the woman at another table. “She was at the auto plant after everything went down, helping to clean up.”
Her brother glanced over at Rachel, who was sitting at the table beside theirs, then slowly nodded, clearly having no idea where this was going.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Well, her mate, Knox, runs a private security company here in Dallas,” Karissa said. “I was a little hesitant about working for someone I don’t know—especially after what Mom and Dad did to us—but Hale promises that I can trust Knox. That he’s part of the extended SWAT Pack, like you and me now. So I’m going to work for him.”
Deven considered that for a moment. “Won’t you miss running all over the world saving people?”
“Maybe,” she admitted, sipping her iced tea. “But after ten years of being separated from Hale, I’m actually looking forward to staying in one place.”
Her brother seemed to take that answer in stride, and the two of them spent the next few minutes talking about their most recent plans. The conversation was interrupted by Gage slipping onto the bench beside Deven.
Karissa couldn’t help noticing how tired Hale’s pack alpha seemed. Well, as tired as a werewolf could look, she guessed. According to Hale, his commander had been run ragged over the past week trying to tie up all the loose ends from Bagley’s assault on the auto plant, not to mention the involvement of the Gang of Five.
“Everything sorted with the Balauri and the district attorney?” Mike asked, looking up from his plate of steak and macaroni salad.
Gage nodded. “Officially, Darijo Tamm and the other three Balauri were handed over today to Interpol and the International Criminal Court, where they’re facing several dozen lifetimes in prison for crimes against humanity. Unofficially, they’ve been taken into custody by STAT and are being held at wherever it is they take all their supernatural prisoners.”
“So it’s over?” Carter asked quietly from the end of the table. He’d been so quiet that Karissa had almost forgotten he was there. “There won’t be anyone else asking questions about what happened that night?”
“It’s over,” Gage said. “As far as the DA and the chief are concerned, the Gang of Five was hired to kill Dominic Patterson and his son as part of a plot to steal secrets relating to the plant’s high-tech robotic manufacturing equipment. Everything they’d done before that was merely to distract the police and keep us off balance.”
“And the dried-up two-hundred-and-seventy-year-old corpse that Bagley turned into?” Connor asked in between bites of burger. “How did you explain that one?”
“I didn’t,” Gage said. “STAT showed up and took the body before anyone saw it.”
Karissa looked around the table, having a difficult time believing it could be that easy, even though everyone else seemed to accept Gage’s explanation—even Hale.
“That’s it?” she asked. “People are going to buy a story about a convoluted murder plot by a team of international fugitives and a little industrial espionage? What about everyone who saw us fighting Bagley and the Balauri? Didn’t their account of the events mess up your narrative?”
Gage shook his head. “It was dark and chaotic in the building and witness accounts were all over the place, with most of them admitting they couldn’t see much of anything. The only thing that Patterson and his son could say for sure was that you, Hale, and Carter saved their lives.”
“And all of this is going to fly with the press?” she asked.
There had to be someone out there looking closer at such a dramatic event. Especially with all the rich people who’d been in attendance.
“It was big news for a few days,” Gage admitted with a shrug. “But news cycles fast in this country. The attempted murder will be back-page news soon and the only thing people will care about is when the plant will be fully operational and when they’ll start hiring.”
A part of her wanted to think that people couldn’t possibly be that unaware of what was going on around them, but in her heart, she knew it wasn’t true. She’d spent ten years fighting monsters—supernatural and otherwise—and in all that time, regardless of the unexplainable things that people had witnessed, nobody had ever said a word, much less asked a single question.
Maybe because people simply didn’t want to know the answers.
The conversation around the table turned to more mundane subjects, like what training the team would be conducting over the next few weeks and where everyone was taking their soul mates for a special night out. In between, she and Hale talked about when she’d start working for Knox and how they’d sync up their schedules. It might be silly, but it felt nice to plan simple things, like grabbing lunch together and how they’d always make time for each other.
“What happens with Deimos?” Connor asked. “Now that Thomas Bagley is dead, is Deimos no longer a threat?”
Karissa looked at Connor. “I suppose Deimos will start looking for a new avatar to possess. Based on how Davina described the lopsided relationship he requires, it will take him a while to find the right person. And even then, it will take years before he’s anywhere near as dangerous as he was with Bagley.”
“I guess that’s as much as we can ask for,” Mike remarked. “It’s still something we need to have STAT keep an eye out for though.”
“Speaking of having STAT keep an eye out for stuff,” Carter said. “Has anyone talked to them about those strange wolves Hale and I saw? Is there a chance they were involved with the Balauri—or Bagley?”
“I spoke to Davina about them and even brought the subject up with Tamm before STAT took custody of him,” Gage answered. “Davina never heard of a werewolf who could transform as fast as you described, and while Tamm wasn’t exactly talkative, he didn’t react with anything but confusion when I asked him. I don’t think these new werewolves have anything to do with the Balauri.”
“And there’s no way of knowing if they were helping Bagley since he’s not around to ask,” Karissa added. “But I have to admit I don’t see him working that closely with anyone. The deal he made with the Balauri seemed to offend his sensibilities as it was. He was only using them to distract the Pack.”
Mike sighed. “I guess we’ll have to see if the first run-in with them was a random thing or a sign of some kind of future problem.”
Karissa silently agreed. Her instincts were telling her that something really scary was coming their way and it was all tied to those new werewolves. But now wasn’t the time to bring it up. She’d tell them later. For now, she forced herself to stop worrying. Whatever was headed their way, they’d all deal with it together. Like a family.
Because the Pack was as much her family now as Deven.
Another round of burgers, hot dogs, and steak followed the first—for the werewolves in attendance at least. Karissa nibbled little bites off Hale’s plate now and then until they got around to dessert. She definitely made room for the brownies that Rachel had baked.
Volleyball followed the food, which seemed like a bizarre idea to Karissa. She was too full to jump around, much less throw herself on the sand to try and save a spike. But it was clear the SWAT wolves loved playing the game, and having a chance to be out there with Hale as he laughed and joked made it worth it.
While the Pack was obviously a competitive bunch, the games quickly turned into an excuse to run around and act like kids. Karissa couldn’t remember having this much fun in a long time.
A decade, to be precise.
But when Karissa looked around, she realized there was one person missing out on the party. Carter was cleaning the grill and clearly lost in his own head again, Tuffie at his side. Any humor she’d felt disappeared, to be replaced by compassion for her newfound pack brother.
Hale must have sensed her change in emotion because he was immediately at her side, concern clear on his face. He started to ask what was wrong but then followed the direction of her gaze and saw his pack mate standing by himself.
“I know Cooper convinced him to talk to a therapist, but I still wish we could do something to help him right now,” she said softly. “I mean, it feels wrong that the two of us get to be so incredibly happy while someone we care about seems so lost.”
“The therapist Cooper mentioned is good at what she does. She’ll help him. I’m sure of it,” Hale said, squeezing her hand. “Carter just needs to hold on until all this turns around. Whatever all this happens to be.”
“Maybe it would help if he found his soul mate,” Karissa said, suddenly wishing Carter and Mike, the only two remaining werewolves in the Pack who didn’t have one, could feel the same connection that she and Hale felt.
“I’m sure it would,” Hale said, moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her middle, pulling her close. “But unfortunately, there’s no way we can rush something like that. When it’s time for Carter to find The One for him, it’ll happen. Until then, all we can do is be there for him and hope that’s enough.”
