Acceptable Risk (5 page)

Ranger’s face turned to one of hope, and he
looked at Jonathan and said, “Well, maybe we’ll have one bright
spot out of this clusterfuck.”

“What’s the bright spot first, and then explain
why it’s a clusterfuck, please?” Bethany said as she sat back on
the bed.

“Letting go of the wolf so the human form can
gain control is hard, and so far Mac hasn’t managed it. He has to
go to sleep and then wake up human. He
really
wants to be
part of this conversation, so it’s possible he’ll manage it for the
first time.”

“As for the clusterfuck,” Jonathan continued,
“we’re going to have to explain to Duke what happened, and he’ll
have to be present when we—” His voice cut off, and the room was
suddenly so silent Bethany could hear her own heartbeat.

“Humans aren’t supposed to know about us,”
Ranger told her, his voice soft. “When you do, there’s a way to
bind you, so we’ll know if you tell.”

“It’s more than that,” Jonathan told her. “We’ll
know if you’re
thinking
of telling. Penalties for planning
to do so are bad, but the penalty for actually telling is death.
Our world is harsh and cruel, and humans have killed us in large
numbers in the past, when we haven’t been careful. Because we
aren’t pack, and neither is Duke, he can demand to be in on the
binding, so he’ll also know if you’re thinking of telling.”

“Why aren’t you pack?”

“I’m a pack member,” said Ranger, “but my Alpha
is far enough away, and the link is a little degraded because I
haven’t been back for a full moon run in a while, so he might not
know I’ve had a hit, which means I could conceal it if I didn’t
want to have to hurt you, which I won’t. If I were a pack member,
everyone higher than me in the hierarchy would know.”

“So, the RTMC is a pack?”

“No,” said Jonathan, “but please don’t ask us
any more questions about them, okay?”

“I’ll call him,” Ranger told Jonathan. “You
explain the binding process to her.”

Ranger left the room, headed towards Mac, and
she was glad someone was going to check on him.

“Ranger will need to ingest some of your blood
as you swear to not divulge our secrets. You’ll say it with the
understanding that you can’t leave hints, can’t write notes, can’t
in any way do anything that might make someone think you’re telling
them shapeshifters exist, or that we aren’t entirely human.”

“Can I see you change?”

“Yes, but not now, and probably not tonight.
Maybe in the morning, we’ll have to see how things go.”

“This binding thing, what will it do, besides
keep me from telling someone?”

“If you drink each other’s blood it can do a lot
more, but with him only taking in yours, he won’t have any kind of
control over you. Ranger’s strong enough to be an Alpha, if he
wanted, but he doesn’t want to lead a pack. Sometimes Alphas can
learn more about the person, see into their thoughts and memories
as the link takes place, and during intense periods of emotions
sometimes pick up on thoughts or images. It doesn’t happen all the
time, and is almost exclusive to Alphas, so it isn’t likely, but
you need to be aware of the possibility.”

“Duke’s an Alpha though, right?”

“No, but he’s closer to being one than
Ranger.”

Ranger stepped back into the room and said, “No
more questions for us about Duke. He’ll be here in around thirty
minutes. His woman knows, so he’s bringing her, too.”

“Gen knows? But, she tells me everything!”

“Then she’ll probably be really happy to finally
be able to talk to you about it,” Ranger answered, “but she
couldn’t tell you before, babe. Remember? The whole blood bound
thing?”

“Yeah, and I told you I don’t like being called
babe
.”

“Did whoever hurt you call you babe?”

This from Mac, standing in the doorway in all of
his human glory.

The fact he was right, combined with her relief
of seeing him as a man again, along with everything else, made her
burst into tears.

Jonathan reached for her, but she sidled away
from his reach and ran to Mac, who opened his arms, embraced her,
and then went to the floor with her, sitting with her in his lap as
he held and comforted her.

“You’re safe with us, my little fiery
vixen.”

Bethany laughed through her tears, and a few
minutes later Mac stood with her still in his arms, and the next
thing she knew they were all in bed. She was still in Mac’s lap,
but the other two were there — close enough to comfort her, but far
enough away she didn’t feel smothered.

At some point she was transferred to Ranger’s
lap, and Mac went to his room. He returned a few minutes later
wearing sweatpants cut off just above the knees, and handed her one
of his shirts. “This’ll be enough for you to wear when Duke gets
here. It’ll probably come down to your knees.”

“Yeah, and he wants you to smell like him,”
Ranger said as he helped her into it.

Jonathan put some boxers on, and Ranger
eventually left to put jeans on. None of the men wore shirts, and
the four of them probably looked like they’d spent the night
fucking.

When the doorbell rang, Bethany excused herself
to the bathroom. She couldn’t find a brush, and did the best she
could with the comb she found in the drawer. She rinsed her mouth
for thirty seconds with the mouthwash, and then joined the men.

The only furnished room downstairs seemed to be
the man-cave of a den — done all in a thick leather suede, with a
huge flat screen television hanging on the wall. The floor was made
of mountain stone, and huge pet beds occupied three of the
corners.

“How irresponsible could you be?” Duke was
saying as she walked in, and when he saw her, he stepped to her and
pulled her into a hug. “You’re okay? His claws didn’t catch you?
Even a tiny nick?”

“I’m fine, Duke. I freaked and fell out of bed
and my hip might be bruised, but that’s my fault, not his. No one
knew I changed beds, and they tried to keep me in bed but I told
them I had to pee, which I did. I meant to come back, but decided
not to after I used the bathroom.”

Bethany smiled at Gen sitting on a sofa. Her
friend gave a worried smile back, but then looked to Ranger as he
said, “Which explains why we let her go and fell back to sleep
without waiting for her to come back. She told us she’d be back,
and she smelled like she was telling the truth.”

Duke sighed, sniffed her, and then glared at
Mac. “She’s wearing your shirt. I can’t tell if you nicked her or
not.”

“I didn’t. Ranger, Jonathan, and I all checked
her before she had my shirt on. She’s fine.”

“She’s one of mine,” Duke told them. “I’ll do
the binding.”

Ranger shook his head. “Because he was turned as
part of an op, Aaron considers Mac one of his. And, since I turned
him, Mac is mine. This makes her our responsibility, so I’ll need
to bind her. Not to mention, last night was kind of special and
we’re hoping she’ll agree to be ours, at least for a time.”

Bethany walked to the sofa and Gen stood to hug
her, but the women didn’t talk as they listened to the men.

Duke nodded, thoughtful. “You’re pack, right?
Not local, but if you do it then we’re legally okay to do this one
direction?”

“Technically, yeah. Fair warning, though. She’s
jumping to a lot of conclusions about you. We’ve asked her to refer
all questions about you, to you.”

Duke turned to Bethany, now sitting on the sofa
with Gen.

“Ask away, Bee.”

“Gen wouldn’t let me whisper secrets around you,
or even talk to her about stuff the night we were in your room and
you weren’t. She made me type it out on my phone. Are you a
werewolf? Or something else?”

“Werewolf.”

“Are you the only one? Or is it all of your
club?”

“Most werewolves choose to join their local
pack. If they don’t like the local pack, they move and find one
they like. Some of us have issues with being in a pack, and we’re
called lone wolves. I’m a lone wolf, but I get what I need of the
pack brotherhood by being in a motorcycle club. Whether there are
others who feel as I do and join a motorcycle club, I can’t
say.”

“I’ve moved around a lot, but for various
reasons I can legally remain a member of the pack I grew up in,”
Ranger told her. “While in the military, I was given leave to miss
the three mandatory full moon runs a year. Since I’ve been out,
I’ve made it to two full moons, but it hasn’t been enough to fully
reincorporate the pack bond from a distance. I’m legally pack, but
in reality I’m probably closer to a lone wolf.”

“Mac will be bound to Ranger for a while, since
Ranger turned him,” Jonathan explained. “Their relationship is as
if Ranger is his Alpha. If Ranger’s Alpha was around, things would
be different, but under the current circumstances Mac has another
six or eight months until he’ll have to decide whether he wants to
find a pack or stay a lone wolf.”

Bethany pulled her legs onto the sofa and
stretched the t-shirt over her knees, suddenly cold again.

Mac immediately walked to her, sat beside her,
and pulled her into his lap. Jonathan left the room and returned
with a blanket, which he draped around her.

“They know what you’re feeling,” Gen told her.
“They know when you lie, when you’re telling the truth, when you’re
scared or nervous. It’s a little disconcerting at first, but don’t
start assuming they’ll know what you’re thinking. Sometimes they
do, but it’s a guess based on the emotion they smell. You have to
keep talking to them, so they know what’s going through your
head.”

“What’s the binding like?”

“Hers was different than yours will be,” Duke
told her. “Since I’m not pack, her binding is two way, and
physically keeps her from telling our secret. She couldn’t if she
wanted to — the oath is bound into her subconscious. Since Ranger’s
pack, we can do this one direction with you.”

“What’s the difference?”

“It means my connection to you won’t be as
strong,” said Ranger. “With a two way binding, both parties drink
the blood of the other, and the connection is stronger, the binding
tighter. Since I’m pack, anyone higher in the hierarchy should know
if I get a hit from a binding, so I can’t ignore it. If my
connection weren’t degraded then others would see to it you were
stopped before you had a chance to follow through on your plans.
We’re legal doing it one-way.”

“There are a few things you need to know, before
we do it,” Duke told her. “There’s a chance we’ll see some of your
memories and catch some of your thoughts during the binding ritual.
The risk is quadrupled for a two-way binding, but it’s still there.
Also, if there’s an emotional connection, sometimes it can be
strengthened. You and I have one, through Gen. I don’t know if you
and Ranger managed to form one overnight, but I think I saw one
forming with Mac, and since Ranger and Mac are pretty tightly wound
right now, so soon after
changing
him…”

Bethany looked at Jonathan. “It’ll be enough for
them to do it? Do leopards have a way to…”

Jonathan’s gaze shot to Gen, then Duke.

Duke looked to Gen and said, “Yeah, he’s a
leopard. You knew there were other animals already, now you’ve met
one.” Duke turned his head to Bethany. “You have to be more
careful, Bee. We should’ve warned you, but not everyone in the room
will know everything you know. This isn’t a big deal, as her
binding will keep her quiet, but it could’ve been, and the
repercussions are huge if you slip. If you’d prefer a binding that
keeps your subconscious from slipping, we can do this as a two-way.
It’s a tighter binding, and you run the risk of either Ranger or I
knowing things you may not want to share. You’ve just seen how easy
it is to slip up, though, so I’m giving you the option.”

“If you slip up, in some cases the penalty is
death to you and whoever you tell,” Ranger warned. “I’ll try to
find other options, but depending on who knows, Duke and I may not
be totally in control of the consequences.”

Bethany had been sitting on Mac’s lap with her
back to his chest, and she turned sideways, with her arms around
his neck and her legs to his left, her bare butt on his thighs, the
blanket still around them.

Mac’s arms held her as if he were protecting her
from the room, and he said, “My wolf wants to lash out at the
rules. She’s scared and confused, and we want to protect her.”

Duke took two steps back and said, “I know I
represent the rules to you right now, but I care for Bethany.
Remember? She’s under my protection. She’s my woman’s best friend.
I consider her family.”

“He’s okay, Duke,” said Ranger. “He’ll leave the
room if he’s close. He’s just letting us know where he is. I can
feel him and he’s got it under control.”

Bethany told them she’d do the two-way with
Ranger, figuring she didn’t like being
technically
legal,
and she also didn’t want to mess up and accidentally give something
away.

Ranger, Duke, and Jonathan discussed strategy
and method for a while, and Bethany zoned them out and relaxed in
Mac’s arms. It was nearly six in the morning now, and it wouldn’t
take much for her to fall back to sleep.

When they finally decided what to do, she
watched Jonathan open a sterile package, take out a large diameter
needle, and lift her left hand.

“Not her finger,” Gen said. “She’s a massage
therapist. Do it somewhere else.”

Mac chuckled and Bethany shook her head, but
agreed with her friend. “Yeah, no open wounds on my hands.”

“Toe, forearm, or breast?” Jonathan asked.
“Those are the next best places to get a good flow without having
to go too deep.”

Bethany untwisted enough to get her left foot
out from under the covers, and Jonathan held the needle to the
inside of her big toe and said, “Take a deep breath and then blow
out, hard.”