Cat's Howl: A Macconwood Pack Novel (The Macconwood Pack Series Book 2) (4 page)

Modern technology sure was a marvel. He’d been around a long
time, ninety years or so, but like most Werewolves, he looked half his age.

Ninety years and he was doing the same crap he had done when
he was just a kid. Tailing and snooping. Getting info for someone else. This
job was a sweet one too.

He’d been hired to tail the new Alpha’s sister for the past
few weeks. And damn, she was fine as all heck too. Of course he never got too
close and he never ever followed her to the big house. He wasn’t stupid. Skoll
wouldn’t have hired him if he was.

She had no idea he was on her tail. It was weeks now, ever
since that poser, Rafe Maccon, had wiggled out of the question to his claim of
leadership.

The Alpha had tricked the elders with his marriage of
convenience and to a
normal
of all people! But his boss knew the whole
thing was a façade. He’d force Rafe to give up his position one way or another.
Yeah, with Skoll in charge everything would be the way it was supposed to be!

Wolves like him could run free and wild like in the good old
days. Normals would learn to be afraid of their betters.

Heck yeah!
They were playthings, nothing more than
toys for Wolves. Skoll would see to it. They’d take over this land.
Damn
straight!

Kidnapping the little sister should get things started nicely
for his boss. When the Macconwood Pack failed to rescue her, Skoll could again question
Rafe’s leadership skills and take over as Alpha.

From the looks of things, getting to her would be easy. The She-Wolf
was partnered with a normal, a fat slow one at that. Heck, it must be rubbing
off on her cause she looked as if she needed a break after running after some
punk kid.

Skoll was gonna be pleased with the information. Maybe he’d
even reward him with a few hours with that blonde she-Wolf before he killed
her!

The Werewolf smiled and licked his lips. He’d love to show
her what it meant to be with a real Wolf. He had no doubt the little slut been
had by every sham Wolf in the fake Alpha’s Guard.

Who knew? Maybe the brother had her too.
He snickered
at the thought. He didn’t mind. He liked his bitches experienced. He licked his
lips.

Soon.
This would happen soon.

“Oh my God! Is that pasta? Charley cooked dinner? Yes! Sweet!,”
Cat stepped out of her muddy boots and dropped her gym bag on the floor making
a beeline for the dining room.

The tantalizing aroma of fresh cooked food made Cat
salivate. She hadn’t eaten a hot meal in thirty hours. Her stomach was growling
big time as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Oh yeah. Charley has outdone herself again,” answered Seff,
her brother’s second in command. She smiled and nodded at the Beta Wolf.

Her new sister-in-law pushed through the kitchen door with a
basket of fresh baked garlic bread sticks. Cat almost swooned when the heavenly
scent reached her.

“Hey Cat! You hungry?,” Charley smiled and set the garlic
bread down on the long table, her husband was hot on her heels with a huge bowl
of ziti in meat sauce in his hands.

Cat was in heaven. No one made tomato sauce like their
Charley!

“Hey sis, have I told you I love you today?”

“Why, yes, Cat I believe you did when I put your wet clothes
in the dryer this morning.”

“Oops, yeah, sorry about that. I was late for work this
morning.”

“No big deal. I’m just glad you made it home last night.”

“Yeah, it was good to sleep in my bed,” Cat placed a huge
scoop of pasta on her dish and inhaled. She couldn’t wait to dig in.

“How was work today, Cat? Everything good?”

“Sure Rafe, it was fine,” she wouldn’t spoil their dinner
with talk of work. Her mind was already replaying her interview with the
teenage perp she arrested earlier in the evening.

All her suspicions had been confirmed. The kid had been in
the system for years. He had run away from countless foster homes, was a high
school drop out, and already had five stints in juvenile detention.

His name was Ricky Jones. His parents were deceased, his
grandmother was in a nursing home, and he had no other living relatives or
nobody who had an interest in him at any rate.

Then there was the latest news that Betsy, the victim’s dog,
had to be put down after all. Cat was brokenhearted about it.

But she wouldn’t share that info here. Nope, family meals
were for funny anecdotes and happy news. Not the messes she dealt with on a
daily basis.

Charley smiled and waited for her to continue, but Cat snagged
a piece of garlic bread and bit into it instead. Her sister-in-law’s eyes were kind
as Cat picked up the basket and passed it down the table.

Dib and Kurt entered the dining area with a large bowl of
romaine lettuce tossed with homemade Caesar dressing and a bowl of extra sauce
for the pasta.

Liam was the last one who made his way into the dining room
with a tray of meatballs in hand. One corner was noticeably empty. Cat laughed
at his guilty expression when Rafe eyeballed him.

She looked around at her Pack,
her family
, and she
was glad she was home. Though she noticed not everyone was at the table. Small
conversations broke out amongst everyone, but mostly they were complimenting
Charley’s cooking and passing around bowls of food.

Cat didn’t mind. In fact, she loved it. Dinner had always
been a tense affair when she was a child. Zev liked meat and potatoes and
nothing else. Every night the same thing. No spices, no flare, nothing but
plain meat and potatoes. And zero conversation. This was much better.

Randall walked in and waved hello. He had a tablet in hand
and immediately sat next to Seff. He was showing him something on the screen about
Randall’s newest upgrade to the online roleplaying game that he created,
WolfMoon
.

The techie talk they used went right over Cat’s head.
Something about back-end tables not being named correctly and causing an error
when the game refreshed. Whatever the heck that meant. Cat stared a moment too
long at the empty chair to the left of them.
Tate
.

Tate wasn’t there.

Oh well.
Cat chided herself mentally for missing him.
After all, she hadn’t said more than two words to him at a time in years.
Still, she knew his scent, the sound of his voice, and every inch of his face
as if no time had passed at all.
Fool.

Sometimes she felt as if she were still that gangly girl in
pig tails who followed behind her big brother and his buddies just to get a
glimpse of what fun was like. Well, at least she wouldn’t be distracted during
dinner.

She could eat and relax. It was a full time job keeping her
feelings hidden in front of a bunch of Werewolves. She should feel relieved
that she was getting a little break. Except she didn’t.

“What’s on your mind, Cat? You haven’t said a word,” Rafe’s familiar
ice blue eyes met hers and she knew he was trying to read her.

She held herself perfectly at ease and used all the skill
she had to hide her emotions. Years of her father’s ridiculing had trained her
early on to hide her feelings and hide them well. Of course, being a smart
aleck helped also.

“Nah, I’m good. Just a long day at the office, how about
you? Everything go smooth here? You tired of the old ball and chain yet?”

“Hey! I resent that! I am not old,” Charley giggled as she
tossed a napkin in mock anger at her sister-in-law.

“Damn it, Cat!,” Rafe almost choked on a meatball at the
almost insult and Charley patted his back in soothing circular motions.

“Oh shush, Rafe, she’s just teasing.”

“Yeah bro, I’m only teasing. Seriously though, everything
okay around here? I haven’t heard from any of you in the last twelve hours.”

“Well, um, you see-”

“Uh, now that you mention it, um, Rafe?,” Charley spoke at
the same time as Rafe and Cat couldn’t help, but get the feeling that they were
keeping something from her.

She watched as Rafe’s large hand covered Charley’s smaller
one, his eyes glowed deep blue as he caressed her hand. Cat tried not to stare at
them as they looked into each other’s eyes, but it was hard not too.

She envied them. Their obvious love and affection. The way
they shared secret messages in that intimate, unspoken language only lovers knew.

Cat bit back a sigh. She was so happy for Rafe. Newly married
to his true mate. A normal too.

Charley had agreed to stay and help him out even after the
boys had basically kidnapped her from a Jersey City bus stop!
The idiots.

Just proof that love could turn up in the most unexpected
places. Cat couldn’t have asked for a more perfect match for her brother.

Charley was domestic. She loved to cook and had a knack for
interior decorating. She was in the process of reordering linens and bathroom
décor for most of the house.

Cat was just grateful she didn’t have to do it anymore. For
a few years now she had been given that job though she often told her brother
it was sexist of him.

She had chosen simple white towels and plain curtains and
rugs. High quality, but plain, nondescript. Charley said it had a certain hotel
like charm, but Cat knew she was just being nice.

She reassured her that she was not insulted in the least if
Charley went ahead and redecorated. As a thank you Charley had tackled Cat’s
bathroom first. She loved the new tangerine and cream motif.

Especially the cute octopus shaped towel rack. Yup, she was
glad in more ways than one that Rafe had found and managed to keep Charley.

She was bright and spunky too, and her temper could rival
that of any Wolf!
Hot damn!
Cat walked in on the two newlyweds having an
argument last week and just as Rafe got a little too sarcastic, his lovely wife
upended an entire pitcher of iced tea on top of his shaggy black head. Cat
couldn’t breathe she laughed so hard.

And that feline of hers! Oh man, Buttercup was quite the
prince of the Manor. Imagine a Pack of Werewolves brought to their knees by a
fluffball!

Cat even noticed some of the guys buying him toys and treats,
even Randall. She could take the beast or leave him, especially since he loved
snoozing on Cat’s uniform whenever she left it in the laundry room for more
than day. Feline fur was hell on a Werewolf’s nose.

“Okay, listen Cat, come to my office later tonight and we’ll
talk,” Rafe’s voice brought her back to the present.

“You sure? We can talk now, the boys don’t mind. I’m pretty
sure Liam is in a meatball coma?”

“What? Me? Meatballs? More? Where?”

Cat laughed at Seff’s younger brother and threw a meatball
his way. The incorrigible pup caught it in his mouth.

“You pig!”

“Who me? No way, Kit-Cat, I eat pigs! Whole! I can show you
sometime,” he waggled his eyebrows and she threw a spoon at him, hitting him
right in the forehead.

“Ouch! Dang it, you silly feline named Werewolf, I was still
chewing!”

“You deserved it, Liam,” Seff chided him for his
disrespectful remarks. Cat just laughed. She didn’t mind, it was all in fun.

“Cat, Rafe and I are just a tiny bit worried, there’s some
stuff we need to run by you, okay?”

“Like what?”

“Uh, just stop by his office tonight after dinner. Oh, and it’s
your
turn to load the dishwasher,” Charley winked and Cat sighed.

Ugh!
It was her turn and she would do it. Just as
soon as she finished her salad. And maybe one more scoop of pasta.
Yum!
That
was probably her second favorite thing about being a Werewolf. The food.

Like other Werewolves, Cat’s metabolism was supernaturally fast.
That was because they tended to run hotter and faster than normals.

Especially during the full moon. The Change from human to
Wolf was not an easy thing. In fact, her first Change took almost forty minutes
and hurt like hell.

Afterwards she was starving. She took down three rabbits
that night. Rafe was the one who stayed with her. Well, Rafe
and
Tate.

She had almost forgotten about that. The two black Wolves
had kept guard over the smaller buff colored female that was Cat.

They showed her how to keep control, where to hunt, and when
it was safe to rest. Nowadays she managed to Change in under ten minutes. That
was something of a feat for Werewolves though Rafe managed his Change in under
three.

It was a job sometimes, keeping up with her appetite. But she
managed just fine. After all, it was a necessary part of being a Werewolf.

Of course, eating healthy was important. It wasn’t all potato
chips and cupcakes, but still Cat was able to eat way more than any of the
normals she knew.

In fact, she often snuck protein bars and shakes on the job.
She could get snappy when she was hungry. And she was always careful to keep out
of sight.

People could get pretty annoying with the same old “where do
you put it” questions. Especially civilians. Officers tended to think she just
liked to workout.

Cat wasn’t the only Werewolf on the force. There was one
other. He was much older than she was. A New jersey native, like her.

She sort of remembered him from way back when. He came
around the house sometimes when she was just a kid. Pack business, she guessed,
but at the time she wasn’t privy to any of that.

Zev Maccon was a cold man and an equally cold Alpha. He
didn’t treat his Wolves with the same kind of respect Rafe did. Besides Lieutenant
Matt Larentia tended to ignore Cat on a daily basis.

She didn’t take it personally. She figured he preferred to
work alone. Besides, she was only an officer and had no reason to interact with
him.

He spoke to her only once that she could recall. She
remembered that day. He had surprised her when he cornered her in the
breakroom. He looked just the same as she remembered. His blonde hair showed
little signs of graying and his muscular body was the envy of men on the force
half his age.

It was when she first went on the job at the Maccon City Sheriff’s
Department. Lt. Larentia had stopped her and asked about her schedule. His
voice was gruff and impersonal.

“Keep the night of the full moon free each month,” he had
advised, “Otherwise things could get a little hairy.”

Those were his exact words.

She had to refrain from rolling her eyes and saying
something sarcastic. Still, she took his advice.

Other than Lt. Larentia the entire department was full of
normals. Cat didn’t mind. It was the same as college. She did her best to fit
in, to be useful, and to serve and protect.

It was difficult maintaining friendships and personal relationships
when you had to keep such a huge secret. She usually didn’t bother.

She was just happy to be doing what she always wanted.
Making a life of her own, on her own terms, and not stuck in a job or house
because her father said so. She cringed as memories of old Zev crept into her
mind.

“Earth to Cat!” Liam’s voice was close enough that she knew
if she reached out she’d wind of smacking him. So she did.

“Ow! I just want the garlic bread!”

“Here, you bottomless pit!,” she shook off her melancholy
and tossed him a piece.

The jovial sounds of everyone eating around her put a stop
to those pesky memories.
Pack. Family. This is all I need
.

Besides, Charley’s food was much too good to bother thinking
about her childhood. She sighed and dug in.

“Want me to stay and help you clear the table?,” Charley
asked from her place next to Rafe. But the look in her brother’s eye told Cat
that he had other plans for his wife.

“No way, you cooked, I clean. Them’s the rules,” she winked
and smiled as Rafe stood up and pulled his new bride to her feet.

They exited hand in hand as Cat stood and began piling
dishes. It was quick work getting everything to the kitchen. That was where the
real work happened, but in all seriousness she couldn’t complain.

Loading the dishwasher was a piece of cake compared to
scrubbing pots and pans by hand with nothing but steel wool and baking soda. She
grimaced as the smell of metal on metal came back to her.