Leader of the Pack (4 page)

She took one last look at herself in the mirror before pocketing the piece of paper she’d been given and heading downstairs. She put this off for more than a week. When she had gone into work at the bar the day after she met Cullen she found out that Derrick ended up in the hospital after all. Luke said that he’d been told Derrick would be out for a couple of weeks or more.

When Derrick had initially gotten to the hospital he’d been unconscious. Some nice passerby doing a good deed had called the ambulance. Aislinn had decided to wait and see. She hoped that he would keep his mouth shut and leave her alone because he wouldn’t want to have to deal with her accusing him of attempted rape. But when he woke up he fired her. Then he decided to press charges against her for battery. She was arrested and spent the night in jail before Renee and Luke managed to put together bail money.

The story she ended up getting was that Derrick claimed she tried to steal some money from the register that night. Supposedly he caught her and she took off with the money. He chased her down and she and some big guy that Derrick didn’t know beat him up and left him for dead. When Aislinn told the cops what really happened they suggested she bring up charges of attempted assault.

Everything was going to hell. Aislinn hadn't wanted to accept this job after Cullen had taken off that night. He'd given her that kiss, and then disappeared like there had been something wrong with it. She didn’t understand why she felt betrayed by that. It was all too strange. On top of that, there was the court case, and now she owed Renee and Luke a lot of money. She tried to find another job at a different bar, but Derrick apparently had a few friends. No one was hiring Aislinn. She finally decided that she needed the money too badly to let her pride get in the way of taking the job she had been offered.

Aislinn had been so caught up in her misery that she didn’t pay attention to where the taxi was going. When the taxi pulled up in front of Taigh-O

sda, the restaurant/bar/hotel attached to the most popular casino in town, the Madadh-alluidh Saobhaidh, she was positive that he had to have taken her to the wrong address. “Are you sure this is it?”

“Yeah lady. That’ll be 13 even.”

Aislinn handed the guy her last twenty and accepted her change. She took a deep breath, turned around, and walked toward the main entrance. When she got to the front door of the popular steak house a woman in expensive looking heels, a knee-length brown skirt, and a white silky shirt opened and held the door for her. “Welcome to Taigh-O

sda,” the woman said warmly. Aislinn immediately felt as if she were in over her head.

Aislinn walked in with as much confidence as she could manage toward the front desk. An incredibly attractive dark haired woman with a clip board approached her. The woman’s eyes were the same kind of dark brown as Cullen’s and from the look of the woman she could have been his sister. Aislinn wondered if she had ever met a more attractive woman in her life.

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Um, no,” Aislinn said. She pulled the paper out of her purse, noticing that her purse didn’t match her shoes and wondered if the woman she was talking to noticed. “I’m here to see Liam about a job. Cullen sent me.” She held out the paper to the woman.

The woman’s dark eyes showed obvious shock. Aislinn was fairly certain that this woman wouldn’t have believed her if it weren’t for the note.

“Okay,” the woman said haltingly. “Uh, wait here a minute. I’ll go get Liam.” She handed Aislinn back the paper and she headed through a door just off to the right of the desk. Aislinn had to step out of the way as a couple came up to the desk and a different woman, also very attractive and with a similar look to the other approached the couple and spoke with them quietly. Then the couple was led off toward the restaurant entrance.

As Aislinn waited she couldn’t help take in the delicious smell of steak that was wafting from the restaurant. Once the initial nervousness of the situation wore off some she decided to look around a bit while she waited. She took a few steps through the hotel lobby so that she could get a view of the inside of the restaurant through the entrance.

The lighting was low and the booths were high backed and mostly private so she couldn’t tell how many customers were there. But it was relatively early.
The place probably picks up with the casino in the evenings,
she thought as she glanced across the elegant lobby to the casino entrance that was opposite the restaurant. The Taigh-O

sda had only opened for lunch about an hour before she showed up. So it was still pretty early. The casino was pretty empty yet as well. Both venues were definitely more of a night life kinda thing. She knew of this place by reputation and it appeared well deserved.

The lobby was decorated with an old Celtic feel. The floors and walls were cut, carved stone and large wooden beams arched up to the ceiling. The beams were decorated with elaborately carved Gaelic sayings that were most likely wasted on the average patron. But Aislinn was entranced by the intricacy and the beauty of it all. There were stained glass murals high on the walls that threw beautifully colored shadows across the floor from the sunlight streaming in. Tapestries lined the stone walls and sconces holding lighting that looked remarkably like flames. It was as though she had stepped into some different city.
No wonder this place gets so much attention
, she thought.

As she waited she contemplated the names of the two businesses. The name of the restaurant, Taigh-O

sda, was actually “the pub” or “hotel” in Gaelic. The name of the casino, Madadh-Allaidh Saobhaidh, was “wolf den”. She thought about Cullen’s eyes and the growling. She didn’t really know how to take it all. She was smart enough to make the movie world guess and jump to really insane conclusions. But she just couldn’t force that thought into her head.
At the same time
, she thought,
I wouldn’t have ever believed that there were druids until I’d had to run away from their creepy culty “circle.”

It wasn’t too long before the woman returned and then asked Aislinn to come with her. She led the way back through the door next to the desk, passed a set of doors on the wall that shared a corridor with the restaurant. Waiters and waitresses were going in and out of the doors with trays and food, presumably room service for the hotel. The woman led Aislinn to a similar set of doors farther down the hall. “This way,” she said with a smile, then hesitated and turned to look at Aislinn. Her eyes flashed with curiosity. “I’m sorry I just have to ask, how do you know, uh, Cullen?” Aislinn noted the strange emphasis the woman placed on his name. It was almost as if Aislinn shouldn’t have been allowed to use it. The tone reminded Aislinn of a parent pointing out to a child that she should be more formal when speaking of adults.

Aislinn had really hoped that question wouldn’t come up. She cleared her throat. “He helped me out last week. Uh, he thought the guy I worked for wasn’t very nice and suggested I get a job elsewhere.”

The woman looked at her as if she didn’t believe what Aislinn said, but didn’t press the issue farther. She just turned around and led the way through a door at the end of the hall into an office. There was a man in a gray suit shuffling paperwork at a desk. He looked up and motioned for Aislinn to come in. The woman immediately headed back out the door and closed it behind her.

He looked up at Aislinn with a piercing dark stare. Aislinn stared right back. He looked older than Cullen, but again there were those strange dark brown eyes and dark hair. Liam was much paler in skin tone than the woman who had brought her here or Cullen, as if he spent all his time in doors behind a desk. He seemed to be trying to see through Aislinn, but she put up her standard wall and waited for him to be done appraising her and say something.

“Meghan said that Cullen sent you here with a note for me.” Aislinn stepped toward the desk and handed Liam the note that Cullen had written. He looked it over and then looked up at Aislinn with more of an interested gaze than before. “Okay, so do you have any experience with waitressing?”

“My last job was tending bar. But I’m a quick study,” Aislinn offered.

The man nodded and looked back at the note. It was pretty obvious that this kind of thing didn’t happen often. Somehow it made Aislinn feel good to know that Cullen didn’t go around getting every woman he met a job. “Well Aislinn, I do have an opening for a new waitress. When can you start?”

There wasn’t even an interview really. Aislinn filled out the paperwork, was given a tour of the place by Meghan, and was told what to buy as a uniform. That evening she went to the store and spent the last of the rent money on appropriate clothes for her new job. As she did it she wondered what her landlord was going to do when she didn’t have rent on time. She shook her head. There wasn’t anything she could do about it at the moment.
One step at a time
, she thought.

* * * *

Cullen had been into Taigh-O

sda several times throughout the week. It was his favorite place to eat so no one thought anything about it. But really he had been looking to see if Aislinn had shown up to get that job. He had been more than a little annoyed when she didn’t show.
Muin
, he swore to himself
. If she wants to work for some jerk who tries to rape her then let her. She’s just some random human female. Why the hell do I care?

Jenna showed up at the den late that week. She was excited and waited all afternoon for Cullen to manage enough time to meet with her. For his part he had been finding as many extra things to do as he could come up with. The woman was driving him crazy. Ever since he had agreed to the mating she had been calling non-stop and making a fuss. As far as he was concerned, this was supposed to be an arrangement of convenience and nothing more.

Cullen was only mating with the girl as a favor to Brennus Tairneach. He was ancient. Jenna was his only child and he wanted his bloodline to retain some power in his clan. Cullen owed the man a great deal. Brennus had been an alpha when Cullen was still a child. If it weren’t for Brennus Cullen would have been killed centuries ago. But as time wore on Cullen came into his own power. He had never been interested in being an alpha, but he was more than strong enough mentally and physically to do the job. He had created clan Arnauk a long time ago and it was now one of the most powerful clans on the continent. At the same time Brennus was growing older and becoming less influential among the stronger members of the Tairneach clan. It was more than apparent that Jenna would not be able to succeed him and the vultures were clamoring for his throat.

Brennus’ plan was simple. He called in an old favor. Here was his beautiful daughter Jenna. Cullen couldn’t debate that point. The girl was attractive. Cullen owed him a favor and was more than strong enough to merge the Tairneach with the Arnauk. Brennus wanted the Tairneach name to be carried with one of Jenna and Cullen’s children and when the child was old enough to rule Cullen was to give the Tairneach land to Brennus’ grandchild. Brennus’ only hope was that he would be around long enough to see it happen. But he had no delusions about his ability to hold his position as alpha for much longer.

When Cullen had received word that Brennus wanted to speak with him Cullen had been surprised, but happily went to visit the man. Initially Cullen had refused Brennus’ request, but had noted the political turmoil in Tairneach territory. There were a number of lycans that were capable of overthrowing Brennus. The only thing keeping the situation from becoming volatile was a small group of loyalists who were backing Brennus. The main problem being that their backing was contingent on Brennus finding a suitable mate for Jenna so that they knew, if a challenge for his position were to happen, there would be someone able to take his place who wouldn’t punish them for their loyalty to Brennus. Cullen had left that initial meeting feeling bad for Brennus and guilty for not wanting the man’s daughter.

Cullen had done everything he could to help Brennus in some other way, but as the months wore on Brennus became weaker. Jenna was no closer to finding an alpha mate than she had been when Brennus had first summoned Cullen with his proposition. Finally Brennus asked again and this time Cullen had been unable to refuse. He couldn’t handle the idea of the once strong alpha begging for anything. Cullen owed the man too much and had too much respect for him to refuse again.

Besides, he reasoned that if he hadn’t found a true mate by now it was entirely likely he would never find one. Cullen didn’t put much stock in the idea of a ‘true mate’ anyway. He had always assumed that when he wanted a family he’d pick a woman and mate with her and have a family. He had recently been thinking about it anyway. All of his close friends had gone that path long ago. Ranaild had two sons, Keith had a daughter and Jaylyn was pregnant again, Shona had grandchildren already. Jenna was attractive enough. And if he mated with her then he could take control of the Tairneach problem and not have to worry about his border.

He sat at his desk, rubbed his face in his hands and tried to not feel like his life was ending. Technically he should have been thrilled by this, a beautiful wife and an unchallenged addition to his clan holdings.

The truth was that a large part of the final decision involved the problem of who was most likely to become Tairneach alpha if he didn’t. Gregorius was the best candidate. He was also the most likely man amongst the Tairneach to decide that he needed more territory and go after it. With the constant trouble to the south the last thing the Arnauk needed was to lose their strongest ally. Not to mention that Brennus may have been dying but the pack itself was still as strong as ever. The wrong man in charge of that pack could mean a great deal of trouble. So between the fact that there was no reason for Cullen to not want to mate with Jenna and the fact that he would be protecting the Arnauk in the process, he felt obligated to do it.