Untamed: An Alpha's Promise (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) (8 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Knowing that Charmaine couldn’t have Parker at the funeral was unbearable, but they both knew it had to be that way. It wasn’t yet the time to make demands of either side. When he dropped her off in town with Scottie, he was filled again with the same powerless rage that he’d felt when she’d been promoted, only this was far worse. She needed him, and instead of fulfilling his duties as the man in her life he had to hand her over to Scottie and watch him step up to the task, which the other man was only too happy to do. It was beyond emasculating.

Closing the passenger door of Scottie’s truck behind his fiancée and watching Charmaine ride off with her friend to César’s funeral, Parker cursed himself.
Fuck, I should be there with her
, he raged, thumping his steering wheel as he cruised along the road to Jamison’s house. The thought of Scottie publicly squiring Charmaine around at a family function as if he was her Mate gnawed at his insides. He fought to keep himself focused, but all he could picture was the way Scottie looked at her when he thought Parker didn’t notice. He was a man destroyed by love, the most dangerous kind of man to know.

Parker had already agreed to meet with Jamison that afternoon, so when Charmaine headed to the funeral, he drove over to his Beta’s house. Though he never enjoyed dealing with Dominic, he was still flying high on the engagement and the news of Charmaine’s pregnancy. She was still anxious, though she’d been happy enough to learn about the loophole in the treaty. He knew that once things calmed down she’d be able to enjoy their news the way an expectant mother should.

He was still deep in thought when he arrived on Jamison’s doorstep for their meeting. His Beta greeted him with a warm smile and a cold beer. “You look troubled, Boss.”

Parker forced himself not to roll his eyes at the older man. Jamison had stopped arguing with him and the power games that he’d endured since his father got sick had ceased, but the way he said “Boss” was a dig if Parker had ever heard one. He let it roll of his back. Jamison’s phony acquiescence was the least of his worries at the moment. “Just got a lot of family stuff on my mind,” he said brusquely, as if Jamison didn’t know all about his family. Or all about
most
of his family.

They talked for quite a while about Parker’s proposal to renegotiate the treaty, and Jamison was surprisingly agreeable throughout. He’d been with Parker at the Council Summit, naturally, though he hadn’t weighed in, which was uncharacteristic for Jamison. And now he was nodding thoughtfully in response to Parker’s every suggestion, which was downright odd. He seemed preoccupied, too. When he finally spoke up, Parker was relieved.

“I need to let you know about something,” Jamison began cautiously. “Maybe it’s a big deal and maybe it’s not, but I think it’s taken care of now. I just wanted to make you aware.” His face gave nothing away. It was just the right mix of confidence, competence, and concern.

“What is it?”

“The redheaded kid, the one who’s friends with your lady. You know the one.”

“Yes?” Parker was wary.
My lady?
Parker hadn’t told Jamison about Charmaine, and he didn’t think Dominic had.
So how the fuck did he—?

“The kid came by here last night. I’d never met him before, though of course I know who his dad is. I’m not sure how he found me. I think maybe Christopher Vella gave him some information about me. Doesn’t matter.” He waved a hand and continued. “So the kid - who is pretty obviously in love with your lady, I should mention, in case that becomes problematic later on—”

Clearly it’s problematic now
, Parker growled in his head, forcing his expression to remain neutral. “Go on.”

“The kid told me that Christopher was planning a strike against you. Against this pack,” Jamison clarified. “So I arranged a meeting with him.”

“You
what
?” Parker thundered. “You arranged a meeting with him
behind my back
?”

“Not behind your back, Boss.” Jamison was calm, looking Parker directly in the eye. He was either being totally honest or he was the best liar Parker had ever met. “On your behalf.”

“Alphas need to set up any business meetings with other Alphas. You know that.”

Jamison looked amused. “That spoiled boy is no more an Alpha than the silly redheaded kid is,” he scoffed, smoothly sidestepping Parker’s directive. “Christopher Vella is his daddy’s puppet. And I figured you’d want that meeting set up so he knows we mean business. It wasn’t anything more than that.”

Parker nodded. “Fine. Thanks, I suppose. Tell me about your conversation with Scott Tyndall.”

“He came to my house.”

“And?”

“And. Let’s just say that he and I came to an understanding. He was a bit tense, as you can imagine, and he needed some reassurance and stress relief, both of which Christine was only too happy to provide.” He let that sink in before continuing, “For the greater good of this pack, of course.”

“You made your wife—”

“No one
makes
Christine do anything,” Jamison reassured him. “She’s a woman who understands men. She had a hunch about what might work with the kid, and she was right. He told us everything he knew about Christopher’s plans.”

Parker felt a flash of sympathy for Scottie. He’d seen Christine work on a man – hell, when he was younger she had turned him all around and left him a horny mess on more than one occasion. It was only raw fear and his sense of honor--which, if he was honest, had taken a backseat to the fear--that kept him out of her bed. He knew her allure and her iron will only too well. Scottie was lonely and heartbroken, and women like Christine were out of his league. They were out of everyone’s league. Any guy in his right mind would jump at the chance to be with her. He sighed and asked the obvious question. “Does he know she’s your wife?”

“For the purposes of using him for information, she’s my sister.”

“Christ.”
That means Scottie’s guard is down.

Parker closed his eyes and tried to take it all in.
Think, damn it
, he commanded himself.
What would Scottie know that would be useful to Jamison? Or to me? What could Christopher really have planned?

What could be worth Jamison pimping out his own wife? What does he know that I don’t?

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Parker had planned to go to his parents’ house after he left Jamison’s, and he poured out all his fears and frustrations about his relationship with Charmaine when he got there, feeling ashamed when, after ten minutes of nonstop rambling, his father clasped his arm with fragile fingers and asked Parker in a croaking voice to get him a bottle of water.

“Shit, I’m a useless son today as well,” he complained bitterly as he unscrewed the top of the bottle and pressed it into Dominic’s hand. “Sorry, Dad.”

“Knock off the self-pity,” Dominic growled at him, taking a long draught of the water. “You’re better than that. What else is going on?”

He was more than happy to discuss something that made sense for a change. “I’m a little concerned about Jamison, actually. He’s been surprisingly… pleasant. When you were in the hospital last time, there was a lot of grumbling, most of it was from him. Now he’s silent. He and I have been getting along great. Aside from the fact that he calls me ‘Boss’ in a jackassy way, he’s been downright agreeable.” He didn’t say,
Not only that, he let his wife seduce Scottie Tyndall to get information from him about the Vella Pack.

Dominic’s eyebrows shot up.

“I know. I don’t trust Jamison being agreeable at all.”

The older man sighed. “Jamison is a soldier through and through. He requires strong leadership. If he has it, he will follow you without question, but you can never lose hold of him. If he senses any weakness he’ll try to gain control. We’ve worked together for two decades, and our dynamic depends on him knowing that I am the final word on everything he does. He needs that. If he has it, you can trust him.”

“I see what you mean. It’s like you taking over is the thing he needs to feel secure in his role.”

Dominic nodded. “He’s very much in touch with his inner wolf that way. Maybe the purest animal I’ve ever seen in that regard. Makes some things with him easier, frankly.”

Parker nodded, deep in thought.

“Sounds like you’ve made an impression on him. Maybe this submission you’re so suspicious of is genuine respect for you as a leader.”

“Maybe.”
Or is he just waiting for his moment?

They spent the next hour discussing their plans for the pack when Parker realized he hadn’t told his father the big news.

“Dad… ah… So there’s something I have to tell you,” he began, rubbing his hands on his thighs. “I wanted to tell you guys all together, but I need to say it now, to you, man to man, while we’re still able to talk like this.”

“You mean before I die.”

Parker shot him a look.

“You have to be able to say that, Son.”

“I can’t, Dad, not yet.” He looked away, his eyes burning.

Dominic sighed. “Go on, then.”

“Charmaine’s pregnant.” The words tumbled out of him in a breathless rush. He was surprised when his father only smiled.

“Is that all? Yes, I know,” he replied, his face filled with joy.

“Wait — how do you know that?”

“Instinct. Experience. It’s written all over her.”

“So how come I didn’t know?”

“You will next time,” Dominic promised. “You’ve never been around a pregnant woman before.”

“No, just Mom, when she was pregnant with Maddie.”

“You were a kid at the time. If you had been a man, you’d have known. Adult males develop a keen instinct for pregnancy. The women do, too. If she was surprised this time, she won’t be next time around. Once you’ve gone through it, it’s all old hat.”

“Let’s just worry about one pregnancy at a time,” Parker begged, and his father chuckled.

“Any questions, Son?”

“A million. I have no idea what I’m doing, and you won’t be around.” Hot tears stung his eyelids and he blinked them back. His father’s illness made him feel helpless, childlike. Tears came easily around him these days.
Get a fucking grip,
he chastised himself.
Don’t upset the old man.

“You’ll be great,” Dominic promised before a coughing fit racked him. It took him a while for him to get back under control, and once he did, he was exhausted.

“I’m sorry,” his father wheezed. “Damn coughing fits… I can’t…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Parker reassured him.

“Need my oxygen.”

Parker followed his father’s instructions to prepare him for sleep, and when he was finished Dominic looked at him a long moment and grasped his hand.

“Stay…”

Parker nodded and settled back into the armchair at the side of his father’s bed, and though he woke the next morning with a stiff neck and a numb arm, he was happy to have spent the night by his father’s side. In the morning light, Dominic’s withered cheek looked as fragile as a moth’s wing, and a lump formed in Parker’s throat.
It could happen any day
, he thought.
Any day now, I could lose him.

When his father’s eyes opened, the first thing out of his mouth was, “I think you’re right. Keep your eye on Jamison.”

Parker felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. “Why do you say that?”

His father shook his head. “Just a feeling I had as I was drifting off last night. Maybe it’s nothing, maybe I’m wrong, but I trust your judgment these days more than my own. It doesn’t sound like Jamison to let the changes to the treaty go by without any challenge. Hell, the man lives for arguments.”

“That’s what I always thought,” Parker frowned. “He might not openly challenge me in front of the Elders, I get that, but it was weird, Dad. He didn’t even question it.”

“That is odd,” Dominic conceded. “Keep him close.”