Bash, Volume III (17 page)

Bash

She smelled like
him
when they came back, and my wolf wanted to throw her in the water. However, the man knew we’d sooner deal with a wet bobcat than a wet Angelica at the moment.

I pulled her into my arms and closed my eyes to keep from glaring at Randall. He’d done us a huge favor, and as pissed as I might be about the situation, I had to think politically.

“Does this square us away?” Brain asked.

“Yes. Angelica and the women she runs with are invited to run with us at the next full moon, and I’ll name her a Friend of the Pack.”

“Not even close to square,” one of the wolves who’d come with Randall practically growled as he glared at Angelica and said, “You struck the Alpha.”

Randall sighed, and he looked so tired I almost felt sorry for him. He turned his back on us to tell his man, “I’m inclined to let it go under the circumstances, Zach.”

“If one of us had struck you there’d be a helluva reckoning, no matter that we hadn’t understood. We’re expected to trust you, no matter what.” His stance was aggressive, his voice challenging. “If lone wolves get a pass when Pack is held to the rules, I might want to reconsider my allegiance.”

“Randall, it’s okay,” Angelica told him as she pulled out of my arms to turn towards him. “I’m a big girl. If you need to hit me to make things right, I’ll stand and take it.”

* * * *

Angelica

I didn’t look at Bash or my dad — I knew they wouldn’t be okay with this, but I also knew I needed to do what I could to keep the peace. Some things I wasn’t prepared to stand down for, like the binding with Bash, but I’d been hit before and would likely be hit again. It would hurt both my face and my pride, but then it’d be over.

“It’s a thrice thing,” Randall said, his back still to me as he stared at his second in command.

“So you have to hit me three times?”

He finally turned to look at me, his expression grave. “Yeah, and I can’t hold back. I don’t have to use full strength, but I can’t make them token hits.”

I nodded. “There’s some woods on the other side of the restaurant. Let’s move over there so we don’t have any more good Samaritans trying to save me, and let’s just take whoever needs to come to witness it. I’d like to take Dawg and Brain, and leave Bash and my dad here. I assume you’ll want the two you brought with you?”

“I can just take Zach, if you just want to bring one.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll take Dawg.” The fewer people who had to witness this, the better.

“The hell you will!” Bash protested, and I could hear and
feel
how pissed he was.

“This isn’t personal between Randall and me, Bash. It’s
politics
, and I think he wants to hit me about as much as I want to be hit. Still, you and I both know how your wolf will react, and we know it’ll cause more problems and then we’ll just have to fix
those
problems, too. Dawg will take care of me afterwards if I need it.” I looked at my dad and Brain. “Need ya’ll to keep Bash occupied over here, and if someone can figure out a way for me
not
to have to drive my bike home, that’d be good.” The protein bar had helped, but there was no way I could shift to wolf and back to human to heal, and then drive my bike, too. If I
changed
to wolf, I’d likely be stuck with four legs and fur until I had a whole shitload of food to replenish my reserves.

The four of us rode to the other side of the bay in Randall’s car, and then silently walked the bike trail for a few hundred yards before following a deer path far enough any humans on the trail wouldn’t hear us. We found a little clearing, and Dawg and Zach stood at the edge while Randall and I stepped to the center.

“If you go down, you’ll need to stand back up and get ready for the next,” Randall told me. “The point of this is in forcing your wolf to take it without challenging me.”

I nodded, pushed my wolf down, and down, and down, and then wiggled my toes as I focused on Randall’s chest so I wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

Everything went black for a few seconds, and then there was an explosion of color as I staggered backwards. I have no idea how I kept to my feet. I leaned over, my hands on my thighs, and tried not to puke up the energy bars.

A few deep breaths, and I stood and walked back to him. The light was too bright around us, my thinking was hazy, and I felt blood on my face, but I had to take this two more times.

He hadn’t been kidding about not pulling his punches, but I knew he hadn’t hit me with all of his strength.

Whether the one-two punch he gave me was his way of being nice and getting it over with, or was a demonstration of his fighting skills, I don’t know. I do know I ended up on the ground with the treetops swimming in the sky.

I vaguely remember Randall’s smart-assed question to Zach, asking if he were satisfied the Alpha’s honor had been upheld. He talked to Dawg a second before leaving, and then it was just Dawg and me, and I wished I could pass out.

I knew the signs of a concussion, knew I needed to
change
, but couldn’t reach out for my wolf. I was pretty sure my jaw and nose were broken, and my neck hurt like a bitch… but the splintering, soul shattering pain coming from inside my head made me think death wouldn’t be so bad if it would make the pain go away.

Dawg kneeled beside me on the ground, the warmth of his hand on my shoulder as he said, “You buried your wolf deep, Tink. Need you to let her up, let her out. Feel her fur, imagine paws instead of hands. I’ll help you with your clothes once you’ve
changed
, need you to let your wolf take over first, though.”

I let her up, and up, and up, until my body started shifting and
changing
, and I screamed in pain as my broken face and mush-for-brains transformed.

As soon as I was wolf, and Dawg had helped me out of my clothes, he said, “We need to move. Humans are gathering on the trail, debating whether to come check out the scream. Follow me?”

Even in wolf form, I could think better now than I’d been able to as a human. Randall had totally fucked me up with three strikes. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but since he’d been pushed into it, he’d managed to prove a point to both me and his problem wolf.

I tilted my head away from the humans, and Dawg and I walked side-by-side. If humans saw us from a distance they’d think he was walking his very large dog.

I knew the shift back was going to be a bitch — not enough food, and so many
changes
in a day, I wasn’t even sure I could do it, but I had to try.

I stopped, smelled and listened to be sure no one was close, and then imagined myself standing, imagined wiggling my fingers, running my fingers through my hair,
talking
.

The
change
took at least three or four long, excruciating minutes. When it was over, I sat on the ground, naked, and burst into tears.

Dawg sat down beside me and pulled me into his lap. “Need to get you some food and you’ll feel better.” He held me against him and let me cry, his hands stroking my back. Eventually, he moved one of them away to make a phone call.

“Yeah, someone needs to bring some food, and a cage to get her home — she isn’t even up for riding on the back of a bike right now. Don’t care if it’s damned potato chips, she needs calories. Run to the corner market and get orange juice and junk food. I’ll get her dressed and to the parking lot in the next ten or fifteen minutes.”

Dawg helped me dress because I was so damned weak. I felt like a newborn giraffe trying to stand for the first time, and I couldn’t stay balanced.

He tried to walk me out, his arm around me holding me up, but finally gave up and lifted me in his arms, cradling me to his chest like a baby. The woods weren’t too dense, thankfully, and he managed to get me back to the parking lot without having to take the trail. We stopped ten feet inside the cover of the trees and he whistled to get Bash’s attention. The men walked to us, and Duke’s classic Mustang drove towards us.

Thankfully, Duke kept his car in tip-top shape and the air conditioner worked just fine. I sat in the back seat between Bash and Dawg, with Duke and my dad in the front seat, and I ate and drank until I had enough energy to speak without sounding as if I were drunk. Or still concussed.

“Need a nap, and about ten pounds of steak, and I think I’ll be okay,” I told them. “
Fuck
,” I added, looking at Duke, “your brother packs a punch.”

“Sorry, Punkin’. I should’ve come.”

I shook my head and winced. “No, better you weren’t here. We handled it okay. When you talk to him, express my gratitude for his finding a way to smooth things over, and let him know I hold no ill will for the last part.” I paused and added, “We’ve learned something important, though. Things aren’t all hunky dory in the Pack. He’s having to fight his own people in order to run things the way he wants.”

Bash

It had taken every ounce of self-control I could manage to keep from pounding Randall when he came out of the woods. I smelled Angelica’s blood on him, knew he’d hurt her, but also knew any action I took would negate the political goodwill she’d achieved by letting him hit her.

We sat in Duke’s car in the parking lot until I was sure she’d be okay, and then followed them back to her apartment on our bikes. Gonzo had ridden with Duke so he could ride her bike back. Her dad stopped by the store and bought a shitload of steaks.

She slept in the back seat on the drive, and I carried her inside and put her to bed so she could sleep until her dad arrived with the beef and we’d grilled it long enough to call it cooked.

She had a few steaks in her freezer, and I started on those while Dawg crawled into our bed to hold her. I needed to keep busy, and I was glad he could slow down enough to take care of her.

I had no idea how to describe the relationship between the three of us. We weren’t a poly group — this was Angelica and I in a relationship, with Dawg joining us for sex occasionally. He was my best friend, and the two of them were close… more than friends but not romantically involved, either. And yet, times like this? It was the two of us taking care of her, together.

I shook my head and stopped trying to make sense of it. I was glad he was in our lives like this — I loved sharing the love of my life with my best friend, and was happy seeing the two of them when they were close. As much as I wished it could’ve been me in the woods with her, I was glad Dawg stepped up and took care of her.

When her dad arrived with the groceries and used his key to come in, the three of us were in bed, all fully clothed, with Angelica sitting between us eating.

“She had a few steaks here already so we got a head start,” I told him. “Want me to help you cook up the rest?”

He shook his head. “Knowing ya’ll are a thing is… but seeing you all in bed together…
shit
. If she don’t need you both at the moment, maybe Dawg can help me?”

“Daddy? I kind of like having them both here, right now. We aren’t fucking, they’re just being emotional support. It’s nice having one on either side of me.”

He sighed. “Okay, Angel. My problem, I’ll deal with it. I’ll fix up all fifteen steaks — if I remember correctly I can do six or eight at a time on your grill. Maybe we can move this to the living room in the next ten or fifteen minutes?”

* * * *

Angelica

I enjoyed my time between them another couple of minutes, and then walked myself to the patio and sat in my big reading chair. No need in pushing my dad’s open-mindedness, and the steaks had helped me feel almost human again.

The guys followed me out, Dawg sat in another chair, and Bash leaned against the railing to watch my dad work the grill. Didn’t matter I’d already eaten a few steaks and felt better, my stomach growled and my mouth watered at the smell.

“You’re pissed,” I told Bash, “and I don’t really blame you, but I did the best I could.”

“Why the fuck did he have to do it away from me?”

“It wasn’t to make you feel as if he had more control over me than you, though I’m sure that’s the way it felt. He has problems in his Pack, as you could see by the way Zach reacted. He knew Zach wouldn’t approve of his solution so he kept it between just the two of us. He asked me to only tell you what happened, but I’ll tell the three of you. I’m assuming he’ll tell Duke, and Duke will tell Brain.”

“Pretty good assumption,” said my dad, “but you might want to double-check with Duke in a few days, let him know if his brother didn’t clue him in, you will.”

I nodded and told them what I’d agreed to, and the things I’d negotiated for.

“Trained her right, Bud,” Dawg said with a grin.

My dad smiled at me. “Not sure how much credit I can take for it. Her mom beat it into her head to be sure what she was agreeing to, and used to trick her into agreeing to things she didn’t intend, when she was little.”

I laughed. “Shit, once she got me to agree to do the dishes and laundry for the summer with no pay when what I
thought
I was agreeing to was adding some household responsibilities onto what I was already doing for the summer, and getting a whole lot more allowance than I’d been getting. She recorded it, and I had to admit I’d agreed to give up my entire allowance, AND add on more work. She held me to it, too.”

“Wish I’d been able to meet your mom,” Dawg said, his voice soft.

“I didn’t know her long, but she was both incredibly kind and terrifyingly scary,” said Bash, his eyes on me. “You plannin’ on takin’ Randall up on his offer to bring your she-wolves on a full moon run with the Pack?”

“I intend to talk to them about it. I’ll accept the run, but I’m not sure if a majority of the women will want to. We’ll have to figure out what to do if we’re split.” I shrugged. “Randall said he didn’t want us to formally put rules out, but I’m thinking if we’re going to keep growing, we’re going to need at least a few. I may need to talk to him about it at some point. The MC has rules.”

“I’d wait,” said Bash.

“You’re still pissed.”

“Not at you so much as the situation, but… yeah.”

I love you.
I told him telepathically.
I love being able to feel you all of the time, love having you in my soul.

Love you, too, Princess. Just let me sulk a little. I’ll be okay.

I rolled my eyes at him with a smile and then asked my dad, “Did you know I could draw energy from you?”

“No, Angel. If I’d known, I’d have taught you to do it long ago. I felt you pulling it, though. If you’re ever in trouble, do that, and I’ll know, even though you can’t talk to me telepathically. I’m assuming the binding with Bash gave the two of you telepathy?”

Bindings didn’t always bestow telepathy, but we’d figured since I had it with Brain on an accidental binding, I’d have it for sure when I meant to bind myself to someone.

“Yeah, and it’s cool. Why can I pull from you?”

He looked at Bash and Dawg, then to me, and then back to the steaks. “Part of gaining Alpha status in a Pack lies in your ability to pull energy in from people and nature, and use it against your opponent. You have to be able to fight physically, too, but you need to be able to wield some magic as well. Not all wolves can do it, only the strongest. I knew you were a damned strong wolf, but it never occurred to me to teach you how to…
shit
, Angel. I’m sorry. I should’ve.”

“Can
you
do it?”

He nodded. “I’m not supposed to, since I’m a lone wolf, and I have to be super careful when I do, so I don’t draw attention.”

“How much of a danger am I to the Pack? I’m pretty sure Randall knows I don’t intend to mess with them, but if some of his people are against lone wolves having power…”

“If we ever have open hostilities with the Pack, we’ll need to hide you away,” said Bash. “Otherwise, as long as Randall’s Alpha, you should be okay.”