TUCKER: Valley Enforcers, #3 (10 page)

There was another knock, this one more urgent. Without bother to see who it was, I opened the door. Shawn stared down at me with wild, angry eyes. His chestnut locks stuck out from beneath his beanie.

“What the
hell
are you doing? Why haven’t you been answering your phone? And whose truck is that?” His irritated voice was loud, and I winced. He went to step inside but I shot an arm out to stop him. Then, in slow motion, I watched him put the pieces together. His nose twitched and his eyes grew to saucers before turning to slits. His hands circled around my wrists and he forced me to look at him. “Jesus, Emily! Are you fucking serious? A
bear
?”

“Get your fucking hands off of her.”

Both of our heads snapped to the direction of the voice. Tucker was dressed in his clothes from the day before. He wore a calm expression, but the tension kept his face tight. I could feel the boiling anger rolling off of him along with the dominant vibes. I hadn’t realized just how strong his bear was until that moment. He wasn’t Alpha level dominant, but he was stronger than Shawn. That didn’t stop my brother from growling.

“Who the hell are you and why do you think you have any say in what I do to my sister?”

Tucker was standing next to me, but he didn’t reach out to touch me. I wanted him to. Instead he crossed his arms and, with words laced with venom, warned, “I’m the bear who is going to rip your throat out if you don’t get your hands off Emily.”

I sensed the change in Shawn. His muscles flexed, fingers tightening as his body prepared for a transition. Tucker, too, seemed to be swelling. Echo barked like a madwoman in the corner.

Shoving Shawn off, I looked back and forth between the two of them. “No. No. You are not going to
fight
in my house. You’re not going to fight period. You –”I pointed to Tucker. “Step back and cool it. And you –” Now to Shawn, whose nose was turned up in disgust. “Over there.”

Neither of them listened. Shawn shook his head. “This isn’t a social visit. You’d know that if you weren’t too busy shacking up with a
bear
.”

“You have no right to say anything about Tucker,” I defended. “Especially when you dated a fucking cougar shifter in college.” Surprise flashed on his face momentarily. “Yeah, I know about her. So shut the fuck up. What I do in my own time and who I do it with is none of your concern.”

“It’s my concern when we have a pack emergency and you’re nowhere to be found.”

“Did Reid lose the keys to the Lambo again?” I asked dryly, referencing one of the Alpha’s sons. A pack emergency didn’t hold much stock with me.

Shawn’s eyes dug into Tucker before he shook his head and looked down at me. Disappointed and seething, he decided that whatever he had to say wasn’t so confidential that it couldn’t be talked about in front of my guest. “Bella and Baylee Thompson were found dead on clan land this morning.” My stomach already churned. I didn’t need to hear anymore, but he continued. “Skinned. Someone killed them in form and skinned them. They were six. You think that’s important enough for a fucking pack meeting?” Met with silence, he snarled, “That’s what I thought.”

“Lay off.” Tucker’s voice was a hard whisper. It did more in putting distance between us that it did in comforting me. Or maybe that was the fact that he refused to hold my hand, even when I reached out for him.

Shawn looked up and grimaced, like he was willing himself not to shift. “
You
lay off, man. This doesn’t concern you, and neither does Emily.”

“Emily is one hundred percent my concern.” The words didn’t match up to his body language.

Suspicious eyes drifted between us. “Is she really, now?”

“Enough of this. When’s the pack meeting?” I stepped away from Tucker. Being so close to him without having his touch comforting me was damaging. My skin was warm and the weight of my clothes hurt.

“Forty-five minutes at The Hub.” The Hub was an intimidating amphitheater type building specifically for meetings. It had nearly five hundred seats. There were only two hundred and seventy six in our pack, but it was still cramped and crowded when we all had to file in.

“I’ll meet you there. Just go, Shawn. Please.”

He muttered something that sounded a hell of a lot like “unbelievable” under his breath before stalking out of the partially opened door, slamming it on his way out. Tucker and I stood in silence as we listened to the sound of crunching snow and an engine starting up. With bated breath, I waited. I waited for Tucker to reach for me. To hold me. To
say something
. I got nothing. I didn’t have time to deal with tragedy and his cold shoulder, so I pushed him aside and tried to channel all my energy into mourning Bella and Baylee.

“I should go.” Emotionless. His voice was cold and detached.

Without missing a beat, I agreed, “Yeah, you probably should.”

There wasn’t a goodbye, just a silent click as he closed the door behind him. I waited. Counted down from twenty, my breath hitching with each murmured number. When the door opened, I didn’t get my hopes up. I knew it wasn’t him. Kate, like an omnificent angel, swooped in and pulled me into a hug.

It was only then that I let myself cry.

A somber quiet hung over The Hub. No cries. No angry pleas to the stars. Silence. Like we were sardines packed into a can waiting to be cooked on top of a pizza, we all sat with a unified sense of dread as we waited for Alpha Silver to take the stage. Red velvet drapes were pulled back revealing the gaudy platform, still decorated for Christmas. The podium with our pack emblem carved on the front was flanked on either side by poinsettias. Four wooden chairs lingered some feet back for his children and mate.

Though I showed up much later than the rest of my family, Amanda had saved me a seat. She didn’t ask questions. Nobody did. Either Shawn filled them in on what happened at my house or they were too busy worrying about the emergency to notice my tardiness. Probably the latter. I wasn’t so selfish that I thought my fight with Shawn and Tucker was anything in comparison to the lost lives of the twins.

Kate, who had been listening to the argument from the other side of the living room wall, dried my tears and gave me a pep talk only a best friend could. It was a thirty minute drive to pack property, and I smelled like sex and bear and was still in my pajamas. Kate shoved me in the shower and talked to me from her spot on the bathroom sink. She shoved me out the door a few minutes later, promising to take care of Echo. Her eyes told me our conversation was far from over.

I didn’t have time to think about Kate or Tucker or Shawn or anyone except the two innocent lives that had been taken so grotesquely.

What seemed like hours later, the clicking of expensive shoes on worn wood pulled me out of my thoughts. Alpha Silver, stoic yet strong, emerged from behind the stage curtain. He took his place at the podium and waited, eyes on the crowd, as his family followed behind him. The First Lady of Silver Shadow, Kimberly, was poised and collected with her dark hair twisted into a sophisticated up-do and her power suit. She didn’t look a day over thirty four, which was impossible because her oldest son, Beau, was nearing thirty. The Silver heirs all looked like clones. Years separated them, but they were all tall, dark, and had a sophisticated Italian beauty to them. Their dumb little bachelor game – the one that put me on the Silver family bad side for the rest of eternity – was supposedly a setup by Alpha Matthew to see who deserved the throne next. According to the gossip, Beau threw a giant tantrum and took on his little brothers, Landon and Reid, because as eldest he felt entitled to the pack. I didn’t put much stock in any of the rumors. There was no correlation between having a mate and being an Alpha, and Alpha Matthew had at least another decade before he would step down.

He was a good Alpha; they were a good family. I would have my hide handed to me if half of the things I said about them ever made it beyond the walls of my home. I realized, especially after being around Tucker, that my pack was gifted. Cringing to myself, I used my mom’s term – blessed. We were a large city pack with space to roam and an Alpha with Silver Shadow in his bones. I always scoffed and rolled my eyes when she said that. It was a little too upper crust. I always saw the bad before the good. The high pack dues that ate up more of my paycheck than my rent. Alpha Matthew’s annoying prejudice towards the Grizz. The low wages he paid the workers that supported his company. The lame meetings that highlighted the First Family of Silver Shadow like they were trophies. But in that moment, I was willing to put all the petty stuff aside and have faith in the iron tight ruling of my Alpha.

“Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for finding a way to make it to this unfortunate meeting. At a time when we should be celebrating life and planning for the future, we are forced to deal with an unspeakable tragedy. It goes without saying that we all stand behind the Thompson family. This was not just an attack on their children, it was an attack on the entire pack. Needless to say, the pack will be taking care of all funeral expenses. We do have a donation set up for Rick and Mary Beth. I ask that you all please speak with Amanda or one of our staff members and pitch in.

“This is a culling of our kind. There is no doubt in my mind that these intentional and heinous crimes are the first in an act of many. The government eliminated our animal brethren from the Endangered Species Act, pulling away the one line of official protection we have against hunters, poachers, and land owners. By delisting wolves, they have essentially turned us over to the human
scum
that thinks it is fun or profitable to kill two innocent pups.

“But fear not, my loyal pack. We are working effortlessly and will continue to work effortlessly until this issue has been resolved and those who have damaged our pack have been brought to justice. Every resource we have is being exhausted at the moment. Bella and Baylee will be avenged. Though we are in a time of peace, I am not turning a blind eye to those of our kind. I do not question the men and women sitting in front of me, rather, those who surround us. Under my ruling and my father’s ruling, we have not warred with any of the neighboring shifters of any breed.

“Further, I will continue with a warning. I do not want anyone to feel unsafe taking natural form. I do not want anyone to be ashamed of who they are under the skin or be afraid. Be wary and careful of your surroundings, especially when in form. Landon is heading the security portion of our investigation. Son, please join me and speak on behalf of your team.”

Landon monopolized the stage. He wasn’t as charismatic as Beau or charming as Reid, but the middle Silver son had steely determination that had the entire pack watching his every movement as he laid out the new security plan and the changes he was implementing. He wasn’t sharing every trick up his sleeve for the new things; he just outlined them so we would know not to be alarmed with new features or people. The changes were what really was important. Scheduled group shifts. Signing in and out. No shifting after dark, even on private property. Our pack land, after all, was private. And a curfew for anyone living around the pack property.

I lived far enough away that the curfew didn’t reach me, but I didn’t see myself staying out late anyway or shifting near my little complex. My heart thumped with fear for Echo, whose Siberian Husky breed often got her mistook for a wolf. She wasn’t used to having restrictions, but I wasn’t going to let her get injured because she was too stubborn to stay in the yard and I was too cold to stand outside with her while she did her business. I had no doubts that Landon’s team would resolve the issue, but that didn’t stop the tendrils of fear.

Resolve the issue. Like that would bring the twins back. Like it would ever make the holidays okay for the Thompson family. Bella and Baylee should have been playing with their Christmas toys. They should’ve been laughing while her parents prepared for New Year’s Eve. I didn’t need children of my own to mourn their loss or to understand how hard it would be for them to go home to an empty house and stand in the time capsules of their daughter’s rooms.

After Landon outlined the new rules and his plan, Alpha Matthew took the podium once more. He praised his son for his dedication, reminded the pack of the donation, and dismissed us. Not a single person spoke as we filed out into the parking lot. The Hub was on pack land, but it was on a strip that housed the central office for Silver Lumber and the Silver affiliates. It offered protection from outside eyes and ears while giving us a meeting spot that wasn’t in the middle of nowhere.