Sara frowned in confusion. “It was?”
Best not to push it. “So I’ll have our lawyers get in touch about finalizing the contract and agreement.”
“Yeah, sure.” Sara finished off her beer. “One other thing.”
Damn. She’d thought they were out.
“The Wilson Pack. You know ’em?”
The three of them tensed. How much do they let Sara Morrighan know?
“Yes,” May answered. “Their Alpha is my first daughter’s father.”
“Huh.” She jumped off the desk. “Watch your back. Rumors are flying among the wolves.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Vague shit. But I’ve heard your Pack’s name and theirs mentioned in the same sentence, and not in a fun-loving way. Just watch your back. You don’t want to get caught between the Smiths and their kin. I heard they’re crazy.”
Ooh. Lobbing boulders from that glass house, eh? “Thanks for letting us know.”
“No problem.” She pulled on a leather biker jacket. “Okay. Gotta go. We’re heading to Alaska tonight.”
“That’s nice,” Jess said, standing up. “It’s really beautiful there.”
“That’s what I heard. We’re going bear hunting. Unfortunately, I have to do it as wolf cause it’s out of season for me to use my new Remington rifle. Which really blows.”
Jess couldn’t look at May and Sabina. She’d lose it again. Instead, she said, “I feel your loss.”
“Maybe—and this is just a suggestion, Sissy Mae—but maybe we shouldn’t be egging your cousin on to beat up a supermodel.”
Sissy snorted, enjoying the show way too much to call it off because Ronnie was having one of her attacks of conscience. “Oh, come on. As drunk as she is? She won’t do that much damage.”
Marty, one of the few older wolves who joined Smitty and Sissy in New York, sipped her German beer, and said, “And those supermodels have all that insurance to cover those pretty little faces of theirs.”
“Oh, well, then. I guess that makes it all right.”
Sissy put a hand to her chest. “Ronnie Lee? Is that sarcasm?”
“Sissy Mae,” Ronnie said, nudging her and pointing toward the club entrance, “do my eyes deceive me or is that the little gal who slapped you around like a dime-store hooker?”
It was her! That heifer! “She did not slap me around. She caught me off guard is all.”
Ronnie’s eyes narrowed, trying desperately to focus. “Who she with?”
“No one either of you wanna mess with.” Marty took another sip of her beer. “That She-wolf makes y’all seem downright normal and rational.”
“Who is she?”
“Sara Morrighan. Alpha Female of the Magnus Pack.”
“The crazy one?” Ronnie asked.
“No, y’all are crazy. You know, fun lovin’ and crazy.” Marty pointed at the frightening Amazon with her beer. “That bitch is insane.”
“Can someone explain to me,” Sissy demanded, “why Jessie Ann Ward is hanging out with the head She-bitch of the Magnus Pack? She is a dog, isn’t she?”
Ronnie grinned. “She was when she slapped the shit out of you.”
“She did not slap the shit out of me. But I’m this close with you.”
Marty nudged Sissy’s arm. “And here she comes.”
Sissy watched as Jessie Ann walked toward her, one of her She-dogs behind her.
“Hi, Sissy.”
“Jessie Ann.”
“Hi, Jessie Ann.” Ronnie pointed at herself. “Remember me? Ronnie Lee Reed.”
Jessie’s expression turned horrified. “Good God, you two still hang out together?”
The She-dog leaned over Jessie’s shoulder. “Perhaps they are lesbians.”
Jessie’s expression went from horrified to panicked. “Sabina.”
“Perhaps they are dirty, dirty lesbian whores.”
“Sabina!”
“I’m just saying.”
“May.”
“Got her.”
One She-dog dragged the other away and Jessie Ann forced a smile. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry... about the other day. When I... uh... ”
“Slapped the shit out of her?” Ronnie volunteered.
“Made her cry like a girl?” Marty asked while popping another beer, using her claws to rip off the cap.
“Made her rethink her existence on this planet?”
“Made her find the Lord?”
Jessie Ann let out a sigh. “Well... as always it’s been fun to talk to you guys. So if you ladies will excuse me.” She turned around and walked right into the Amazon.
“Sara? Uh—”
The Alpha Female stared directly at Sissy. “Sabina says this bitch used to beat you up.”
“Sara, that was a long time ago. I can assure you I can take care of myself now.”
Over the years, Sissy had found there were several types of wolves. There were the wolves like Smitty, who lived to hunt, fuck, and sleep—the typical wolf existence. There were the ones like the Reed boys, who were more junkyard dogs than wolves, always looking for the next fuck or fight. And then there were the few like Sara Morrighan—silent but deadly attackers who went for the throat first and probably didn’t even bother to ask questions later.
And that’s exactly what the crazed She-wolf did. She pushed Jessie Ann out of her way and went right for Sissy with claws and fangs unleashed.
Sissy never took her eyes off her and braced herself for the hit. She hated fighting crazy people, but she would.
The She-bitch never even got near her, though. What Sissy assumed to be the Alpha Male of the Magnus Pack was there, catching hold of his mate in midair before her claws could dig into Sissy’s face. Sissy had heard about this guy but never had the pleasure of meeting him.
Zach Sheridan lifted Sara up with one arm while holding his cell phone in his free hand. Even better, he kept a running conversation going with whoever was on the other end of that phone without missing a beat. He simply caught hold of his mate and carried her away. Sissy would bet cold, hard cash that this was not the first time he’d had to do this.
Hanging over her mate’s shoulder, Sara Morrighan waved at Jess and grinned. “Bye, Jess! Call me!” she said, while making the universal sign for “call me” with her fingers in the shape of a phone.
“Friend of yours?” Sissy asked Jessie after Sheridan tossed his female into the back of a limo and drove off.
The She-dog cleared her throat. “Business partner.”
She headed back to her friends, and Sissy asked her, “Did you ever get a chance to talk to my brother, Jessie Ann? You were looking to talk to him the other day, right?”
Jessie stopped walking, her entire body one rigid line. “Yeah,” she said without turning around. “I did. Thanks.”
Sissy watched the She-dog head off with her friends. “What don’t I know?” she asked anyone who’d listen.
“A lot,” Ronnie Lee answered, “based on your old report cards.”
“Incoming!” someone yelled and the three women stepped apart seconds before Sissy’s cousin Gemma rammed headfirst into the car they’d been leaning against.
Staring down at her cousin, Sissy made a tsking sound. “You’re going to let a supermodel beat the shit out of you? Have you no pride?”
Gemma dragged herself to her feet and went after the supermodel again.
“You’re going to hell,” Ronnie said for the millionth time.
“Don’t worry. I’ve picked up a lovely property overlooking the lake of fire. We’re set.”
CHAPTER 21
Halfway through a bottle of tequila, Smitty had a nice “wallow” going on. His dinner with Mace had gone fine and chances were high they’d make a fortune off this Kenshin guy. But so what? None of this fixed his problem with Jessie Ann.
He should have gone home, but he still couldn’t face that bed alone, so he ended up here. At the Kingston Arms. It didn’t surprise him either when his baby sister tracked him down in the back bar the Pack favored. Like him, she had a good nose. It ran in the family.