Absolution (3 page)

Everett traced her mouth with his thumb, getting her to release the poor abused flesh.

“Kitty—” He looked into her eyes.

“No, please don’t. Not yet.” She stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his mouth before turning and going inside.

He stood for a few minutes looking at where a second ago Kitty had stood. He bowed his head and took a deep breath. His mate was on the other side of that door and there was nothing he could do about it. Everett wouldn’t force the issue. It wasn’t in his nature. There was always tomorrow. No matter if he wasn’t in with the core group of the pack, he was going to be at that meeting.

The walk back to the group didn’t make him any happier. He stood at the edge of the party. The dance from earlier still ran through his mind. They’d had fun. If that lawyer hadn’t shown up maybe he could have calmed Kitty down enough to talk.

Peter must have seen him because he tugged Grey over to where Everett stood.

“Hey, cuz, what’s up?” Peter stopped in front of him, blocking his view of the festivities.

The music was still country and the twang echoed around the clearing.

“Kitty’s my mate.” Everett blurted it out.
Shit,
he hadn’t mean to do that, but he needed to tell someone and Kitty wasn’t talking—yet.

“Okay, then why are you here?” Grey slapped him on the back.

“I—we…it isn’t time. Not yet.” Everett sighed.

“Ev—” Peter began.

“No, Pete, this isn’t like with you. I’m not running, I promise, but she isn’t ready yet.”

“I wasn’t ready either. I don’t think most of us are, some less than others.” Peter looked a bit ashamed.

Everett hated that look on his cousin’s face. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

“I think we have more worries right now besides my mate. Did you guys hear Bella earlier?” Everett changed the subject because he didn’t want to admit how right his cousin was.

“No, we were busy dancing.” Grey winked at Peter.

Everett laughed. He liked how playful Grey could make Peter. And now he looked happy—no more pinched look, he was at ease and leant back so Grey could hold him. Everett didn’t think he’d ever seen Peter so relaxed in his own skin. It had been a long time coming and he hated to take that away from him, but this had the potential to be bigger than anything.

“We’re about to be exposed to the humans. Bella had a vision.”

“Fuck,” Grey whispered.

“Exactly. They’re having a confab tomorrow morning so the pack can handle the news break. Things are about to get dicey real soon. Maybe you guys should—”

“Don’t you finish that sentence, Ev. Don’t you dare. We are pack and we won’t go into hiding.” Peter reached out to squeeze Everett’s arm.

He should have known his cousin wouldn’t just leave. The Masters pack was everything to all of them. They couldn’t have a better leader than Russ and Everett knew Russ would do whatever it took to protect everyone.

“You’re right. I know it. I’m going back to the house to get some rest. I want to be there tomorrow. Kitty said she could help and I want to make sure if she does, she knows I have her back.”

“We’ll be there too.” Peter nodded.

Everett smiled and nodded. It was nice having family to stand by you.

“Thanks, Pete.” He turned and walked away.

Maybe he wouldn’t go to bed just yet. He needed a run to wear himself out. He stripped out of his clothes and shoved them under a bush before shifting. He raced through the wood.

The trees were a blur. The small animals didn’t tempt him. Usually bunnies were good for a hunt, but that only made him think about Kitty and her sisters. He was trying to get them off his mind so he could sleep. It wasn’t working. Nothing was. All he wanted was to mate. His wolf agreed. Now wasn’t the time. Everett had to keep that mantra going through his head. It was the only way he would not race to Kitty’s place and lay claim to her.

He was panting by the time he got back to his clothes, and he couldn’t run anymore. Everett lay down and collected himself before shifting back. He liked his wolf form, but everything was more primal. The run had done nothing to really clear his thoughts.

The shift back was fast. Everett tugged on his jeans and gathered the rest of his clothes before heading to his room in the big house. It was like a big dorm. All the single shifters lived there, leaving the houses for the mated pairs and the families.

It wasn’t a bad place, but he missed Peter since he’d moved out to his own place. All of the smaller houses were being filled. A lot of pairs had got together in the last year. The pack was growing in leaps and bounds. Hell—they even brought one of those old shifter dudes back from Africa.

And now they were about to be exposed. It blew donkey balls.

Chapter Three

Kitty barely tasted breakfast. It was a nice meal of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, all of her favourites, but all she could think about was afterwards when they would have the meeting and she’d have to reveal parts of her past that she really didn’t want to. If Bella was right, their whole species would be in danger. She had no idea about the Ancients, her home pack had never talked much about them. They were never as spiritual as the Masters pack seemed to be. Kitty had missed all the drama over the past year or so. She felt bad for the Masters, but happy that her little family hadn’t been there.

Now this.

“Kit, you okay?”

Kitty looked at Bunny. Her sister appeared nervous and Kitty couldn’t have that.

“Yeah, you’ve been playing with the eggs. They’re good, you should eat them.” Poppy nudged her with an elbow.

“I’m good. Promise. Finish eating and you can go back to the house.”

“What about you?” the twins said at the same time.

She had to grin, they were so in tune. Sometimes they even finished each other’s sentences. It could be a bit creepy, but she was used to it.

“I have a meeting with Russ.” Kitty pushed her eggs around her plate before she took a bite.

“Are we in trouble?” Bunny worried her lip.

“Trouble? No, honey, I just need to discuss a few things with them. That’s all.” She patted Bunny’s leg.

“They won’t make us go back, will they?” Now Poppy picked at her food.

“Nope. This is our home now.” Kitty looked at them both, trying to reassure them any way she could.

“Good, I like it here.” Bunny grinned.

“Me too, sweetie, me too. Now finish up. You two have chores.”

“Aww…Kitty.” They both groaned.

“Don’t you ‘aww, Kitty’ me. If you want me to take you into town later for some shopping you’ll clean up your rooms.”

Not to mention she needed to look for a job. She’d managed to stuff some money away before they left, but a lot of that had gone to the Tyler pack. They were supposed to have helped Kitty get what was rightfully hers from her parents’ estate, but that had never happened as far as she had been able to tell. Now Mr Harrington had shown up. She’d bet her last nickel that bastard Roger Tyler had told Mr Harrington where to find them. Roger hadn’t been happy when they left. Well, he hadn’t been pleased period with his gay son showing up. If they’d stayed after that, who knew what condition they would have been in. Roger had a heavy hand and he didn’t care who he hurt.

“We’re adults, you know. You don’t have to baby us.” Bunny pulled her out of her musings.

Teenagers
. Kitty was just happy they’d started acting their age. For too long they’d been so quiet and almost perfect.

“Yes, I know, you’re old enough to clean your rooms without me telling you. So…do it.” Kitty laughed.

“Whatever.” Poppy shoved her food into her mouth before getting up from the table.

“Dishes,” Kitty reminded her.

Poppy grumbled, but did what she was told. Bunny did the same. Usually the housekeeper took care of those things at home, but things were different now.

Kitty glanced around and most of the pack had left. Russ and Vivian were at the head of the table, talking. Peter and Grey were still there, as well as Everett. She’d known he’d been there the whole time. It was like she had radar and it was tuned into the Everett station. He’d looked at her a few times—she could feel his gaze. And there it was again. She glanced up and away quickly.

Russ stood. “Let’s adjourn to my office.”

She gathered her stuff and left it in the kitchen. It wasn’t her day to help in there. They had a schedule and rotated dishwashing and cooking. She was on tap next week. She liked the steadiness of it all.

Everett fell in to step beside her on the way to Russ’ office. She glanced back to see Peter and Grey not far behind. Nobody spoke until they got into the office. Russ sat behind his desk and Vivian stood beside him.

“Okay, for those of you who don’t know, our newest member is Kitty Kelley. Kitty, I’ll introduce you to everyone. Over on the couch are Valerie and her mate Max, beside them is Joy and her mate Zareb. On the other side of the room are Bella and her mate David. You know Peter, Grey and Everett, right?”

Kitty nodded and looked at the floor. She hated the focus being on her.

Russ continued. “Last night Bella had a vision that we are about to be exposed. We have no idea when, but we need to assume it’s soon. We’re going to use Valerie’s media connections to release our news.”

“We need to find a sob story and get it out there. Something that will get the people on our side and if someone has any government contacts now would be the time to speak up. If we get an ‘in’ with them maybe they can help us.” Valerie stood and paced the room.

It was time. She needed to speak up, but her family might make the situation worse. She cleared her throat.

“Kitty? Is this why you said you could help last night?” Russ’ voice was low, as if he was trying to calm her.

“Yes,” she whispered and cleared her throat again. “Yes. I’m the daughter of Arthur Kelley.”

She waited for it to sink in. It didn’t take long. Her family had been front page news for months.

“You mean—the Secretary of Defence? The guy whose wife shot him and then herself?
That
Arthur Kelley?” Valerie turned to look at her. Kitty nodded. “Well—fuck. That might not help us. It would show that we can be violent if they know your folks were wolves.” Valerie began pacing again.

“I thought about that, but I can use contacts to let others in D.C. know. Some of them my father took into confidence so the knowledge that shifters exist is already out there. If we can get the President on our side it would help our cause.”

“Good, that’s good. We need some established couples to interview. That would help. We need some from the other packs as well.” Valerie was almost talking to herself.

“I agree, which is why I called a meeting with all the alphas in the United States. After that we can contact alphas in other countries, but for now we all have to be on the same page.”

“My dad—” Peter started, but the alpha didn’t let him finish.

“I’m stronger than he is, Pete, he’ll listen to me,” Russ assured Peter.

“I think we need Bella and David as the first interview.” Valerie turned to the couple.

David didn’t look happy. Nobody did, not that Kitty blamed them. The situation was beyond crappy. It sucked that they would be exposed. They should’ve been able to stay in hiding. It wasn’t like they were hurting anyone.

“What?” David stood and scowled.

“Dave…she’s right.” Bella stood and gripped David’s arm.

“I don’t want—” David turned to Bella.

“This isn’t only about us and you know it. I’m pregnant and it shows. I’ll be perfect.” Bella stroked David’s arm and it appeared as if it was calming him down.

“And you’re both attractive and calm types. That’ll help. I think Peter and Grey should—”

“Oh, hell no.” This time it was Grey who stood.

The whole room was tense. Kitty hated it. She clenched her fists. Everett took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. It helped more than she was comfortable with, but he was her mate. They’d probably have to talk when all of this was over.

She was scared though, she didn’t want to end up like her parents.

“You represent the foxes
and
you’re a gay couple. We need to come at this from
all
sides.” Valerie didn’t look at any of them. She still appeared to be scheming.

There was a knock on the office door. Everyone turned and stared.

“Enter.” Russ raised his voice.

Kitty figured it was so the person on the other side could hear, but she still jumped.

One of the pack members Kitty didn’t know stuck her head in. “Russ—there’s a Mr Harrington out front to see Kitty.”

“Thanks, Erin. Give us a couple of minutes and I’ll send someone out to get him.”

Erin nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

“Okay, this is over for now. I have the other alphas due to arrive this afternoon. Valerie, get your contacts together and start on your interviews. I’ll want to take a look at it before it goes live.”

Valerie nodded and left the room, Max on her heels. Joy and Zareb were next, followed by Bella and David. Peter, Grey and Everett stayed in the room.

“I take it the three of you are staying?” Russ raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, Russ, we are.” Everett spoke for all of them.

“Good. Kitty, do you know what Langford Harrington wants?” Russ tapped his fingers on his desk.

“My uncle Kurt wants me and my sisters under his thumb so he can take control of our inheritance.”

“It’s more than that, isn’t it?” Russ looked right at her.

He must have smelt her unease. The small room didn’t leave her anywhere to run.

“He…ahh…the reason we ran was because—”

“You’re safe here, Kitty. Go ahead.” Everett squeezed her hand.

“Uncle Kurt wants more than the money. He wants me.” Kitty flashed a quick glance at Everett, then down at their joined hands.

Everett growled.

“Well, as long as you’re happy here, you don’t have to go back. Calm down, Ev.” Russ smiled.

“But—he’s my alpha.” It was the first time she’d acknowledged that in a long time. He could call her back at anytime and that was probably why Langford had shown up.