Big Bad Bite (22 page)

Jenna snorted, “I’ve seen your backyard,
tiger. It’s huge, but last time I checked nothing happened
there.”

Alec shot her the stink eye before baring a
little canine action. “I consider Wilmington as a whole my backyard
because it’s where I like to play. Ergo, shit happened in my
backyard.” He looked back to Owen with the tiger blazing in his
eyes, “There’s no reason for you to push us out of whatever this is
if we’re willing to help.”

“And are you willing to help, young Ivanov?
Even if it is a wolf matter?”

He shrugged nonchalantly back at the wolf,
“If it’ll help keep problems out and the humans stupid, sure. I bet
if you ask Gage real nice, he might be willing to help you
too.”

Gage leaned over and slapped Alec on the back
of the head with a blow that would have killed a human. Alec just
looked at his brother annoyed, “Don’t hit me asshole. We both know
I’ll crush you into smithereens. Besides, you know you want to be
in on this too. You’re too nosey of a bastard to not want to know
what’s going on.”

Gage growled, “That doesn’t mean you get to
volunteer me moron. Unlike you, I have important shit to do.”

Alec cocked a knowing eyebrow at his brother,
“Are you currently involved with anything?”

“No.”

“Have you recently been asked to start a new
mission?”

“No.”

“Then shut the fuck up, Gage.”

Vera said something in Russian to her
grandsons at the exact moment Jenna’s phone rang. Kent glanced down
to his phone expecting a ring as well, in case it was work calling,
but his stayed silent as Jenna checked the caller ID, then smiled.
She answered her phone.

“Hey, Mama.”

Her mother cut her off, “Are you at
work?”

“No ma’am. I’m-“

Her mother cut her off again, “Are you in
public?”

Jenna sighed. She knew where this line of
questioning was headed and now was not a good time. “No ma’am, but
now’s not-,” suddenly she had dial tone. Shit.

From the resigned look on Uncle Owen's face,
she guessed he knew what was coming too. Before she could voice a
word of warning to the three tigers, one demon, and one
half-brother that didn’t know what was about to happen, her mother
physically popped into the room, landing out of sight of the three
tigers on the desk behind them.

Her hands were fisted on her hips, and she
looked mad enough to spit nails. With her standing on top of the
desk, full of angry attitude, in that moment she reminded Jenna of
a pirate on board her ship facing down a foe across the water.
Larger than life, intimidating as hell, and ready to charge the
enemy. Or in this case, ready to take Jenna to task for not coming
home to assure her mother that she was truly ok after getting a
grazed by a bullet and showing up in the newspaper.

She’d appeared so quickly, that even though
she was in Kent and Logan’s line of sight, they hadn’t had a chance
to notice her before she started yelling.

“Jenna June O’Conner, if you think you can
blatantly ignore me, you have another think coming young lady!”

From the moment the ‘j’ sound in Jenna came
out of her mother’s mouth, the unsuspecting victims of her
appearance jumped. Gage reached for the insides of his pants
waistband at the hips, where she glimpsed a flash of metal in the
form of knives, a second before they occupied both of his hands.
Kent and Logan both jumped to their feet in defensive positions as
if they would have to defend themselves against an attack, while
Alec let loose an eardrum shattering roar as he underwent a
startled change. The bones in his body were already breaking and
rearranging by the time he dropped to the floor. His clothes were
halfway shredded on his body, with tatters lying on the floor. The
sounds of pounding footsteps thundered up the stairs to the second
floor in such cacophony that it sounded as if a damn army was
approaching the room.

The room’s door burst in and half a dozen
wolves including Amy, Clay and Adam, sprang into the room, ready
for a fight. Great. Here were six more people present to witness
her utter humiliation as her Mama let her have it for not running
home to her the first time she got one tiny gunshot graze away from
home. Looking up to the ceiling in hopes of finding some divine
deliverance, she had to admit to herself that perhaps asking back
at the club how much weirder her life could get was a bad, bad
idea. It seemed she had tempted fate and now that cruel bitch was
laughing at her in maniacal glee. Returning her attention back to
her mother, who still stood confidently on top of the desk as if
she didn’t have a roomful of shifters and one twitchy demon ready
to tear her apart, Jenna gave into the urge to face palm.

Really, there were times in life where you
were totally allowed to face palm because nothing else seemed to
do. Now was one of those times.

Alec in tiger form, and one of Adam’s three
wolves she wasn’t acquainted with in human form, took menacing
steps in Mama’s direction. Jenna’s body tensed at the perceived
threat towards her mother, but she didn’t move. Instead, she tried
to warn them.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The words were too late. Her mother threw
both hands in the air, palms facing outwards in an ‘I Surrender’
gesture, except she wasn’t surrendering. No, she was adding to
Jenna’s, as well as Alec’s and the unknown wolf’s, humiliation. The
leanly built older wolf, along with the close to a thousand pounds
tiger were now levitating at least three feet off the ground. The
wolf thrashed around as if he could put himself back on the ground,
where according to his frightened face he desperately wanted to be,
while Alec seemed to be doing the opposite and locked every muscle
in his body so not move at all. He didn’t look irritated so much as
pissed for being incapacitated.

Before anyone else made idiotic moves towards
her mother, Jenna tried to diffuse the situation again. “If
everyone would calm down for a second then maybe I could get
through introductions before someone gets hurt. Everybody, this is
my mother. Mama, this is everybody. Now please put the wolf and
tiger back safely on the ground.”

She knew people were staring at her with the
whole shock and awe factor going on, but she ignored it. She was
busy having a staring contest with her diva of a mother, who had
yet to land the two floating bodies in her control. Jenna growled
in exasperation.

“Mama, please. Put. Them. Down.”

Her mother huffed, “Why should I? How do I
know they won’t try and come after me again?” The Irish lilt she
was so adept at hiding was out in full force with her anger. This
group was in serious trouble now. Kelly O’Conner was all geared up
to rip into every single person in the room, and she had her mouth
halfway open to start on it.

Uncle Owen cut her off before she could get
started, “Kelly, I assure you no one will attack you now that they
know you’re Jenna’s mother. You can’t blame them for their
reactions to you teleporting in uninvited.”

The curly haired blonde scowled. “Uninvited,
am I? I’ve got news for you Owen Davies, wherever my daughter is, I
most assuredly am invited. And just where the feck have you been?
Not that I expected much from the Davies after she was born and Da
died, but I thought surely you would at least stick around to see
her.”

Uncle Owen’s expression turned black. His
wolf eyes bled through, and he snarled, “Put them down, you
infuriating woman!”

She dropped the two men unceremoniously
before disappearing off the desk and reappearing right behind
Jenna. Gasps sounded around the room as Jenna turned to face her
mother, who placed loving hands on her shoulders.

“Oh my wee lass, what have you done? You’ve
been in town less than a week, and you’re sitting in a room full of
people you should have never allowed yourself around. Your Uncle
Rick is going to hit the roof. Don’t worry though. We’ll squirrel
you away somewhere safe, and this little nightmare will pass. If we
leave now, we can have your house packed up and have you home
before the morning.”

In a flash, there was a fierce heat at her
back and a muscled arm clamped across the front of her chest.
Adam’s body was literally vibrating with rage. “No. She’s not
leaving. Ever.”

Her mother dropped her hands from Jenna's
shoulders, and her O’Conner blue eyes flashed in warning. “I’ve got
news for you young one, I’m her mother, and I’ve kept her safe for
almost twenty-four years. If I need to hide her in Siberia to keep
her safe, I will.”

Adam’s arm tightened painfully across her
chest, causing Jenna to wince. “You will not hide her from me. If
you try, I will track her to the ends of this Earth to find her,
and you will regret the day you took her away from me. As far as
I’m concerned, there shall never be a day that passes from here on
out that I do not know where she is and that I can reach her
easily. Do you understand me, little demon? Mother or not, I will
do what I must to keep her.”

“Don’t provoke Kelly, Adam. Not if you like
your house intact. And Kelly, you’re not taking Jenna anywhere. On
that, Adam and I agree. Her time hidden away is over. She has more
than you and Rick for family, and it’s time that she knows them.
Her half-brother Logan is standing right next to her. Would you
really take Jenna and keep her away from her own blood?”

Kelly O’Conner’s pale skin flushed in fury.
The walls and floor of Adam’s house started to tremble, and one of
the unknown wolves whined, not liking the sensation. “You will NOT
take my daughter from me, Davies. Blood or no blood, I will keep
her safe from anyone that becomes a danger to her. How dare you
waltz back in after being absent for years. Dangling a new brother
in front of her knowing she can’t resist that. Not to mention the
fact that she’s only been out of my house for a week, and she
already has this inexperienced Alpha obsessed with her. An
obsession that you’re apparently approving of! How could you let
something like that continue?”

Jenna stilled in shock. Adam was obsessed
with her? What did that mean? They weren’t talking about it in a
manner that conveyed a regular crush between a man on a woman, or
the unhealthy longing a killer had for his victim, but in the sense
that it was a thing to be suffered or lived through, like a
condition or disease. Like the symptoms of a harsh fever that
helped you burn out the virus invading your body. Was Adam
suffering in some way because of her? Had she inadvertently done
something to him that she hadn’t known she could do?

Uncle Owen looked downright annoyed at having
his judgment questioned. “Adam is an exemplary Alpha, especially
since he has achieved such status at a young age. I overlook his
obsession because I know that it will ensure his need to make sure
she is safe. What happens between the two of them from there is no
one’s business but their own. If she chooses Adam, then what more
could I ask for than an honorable man who would be devoted to my
only niece? You must learn to let go a little, Kelly. Jenna has to
learn how to survive in this world on her own. What if something
were to happen to you, or me, or even Rick? Losing my brother
should have taught you that.”

The tremors from the house stopped, and
Jenna’s mother looked somewhat chastened. Jenna was so shocked that
someone had put her loveable Mama in her place, that she reached up
and pinched her own arm to make sure it wasn’t a dream. When she
felt the jarring pain, she couldn’t help but smile in awe at her
Uncle. She wondered if Satan was handing out ice skates for his new
frozen rinks in Hell.

Uncle Owen ran a flustered hand through his
hair. “Let’s all take a half hour break, calm our nerves a little,
and then the necessary people meet back here.” Looking to Adam he
added, “That includes you and your Beta now. Perhaps after a little
refreshment we can all get through the rest of this meeting without
slaughtering each other.” Walking over to Jenna’s Mama, he held out
his elbow to escort her. “If you would spend the break with me
Kelly, I’d be happy to fill in the necessary gaps so that there are
no more hard feelings between us about my niece.”

Kelly looked at the elbow as if it offended
her tremendously. From the way she glared at it, you would have
thought it was covered in a flesh eating slime. Her stubborn Mama
finally sighed in resignation and accepted Uncle Owen’s elbow as if
she were the freaking Queen of England. Of course, with the way
Kent sent her a worshiping look, strangers might have thought she
was royalty.

The second her mother was out of sight Adam
had his face buried in her neck, taking a deep breath. When he let
loose a viscous snarl she knew she was in deep doo doo for
something. Cause you know, fate hadn’t already jerked her around
enough today. No, she had to have something else go wrong before
she’d been tortured enough for one day. The last of the footsteps
trailed out of the room, but she could sense Amy nearby. Probably
hovering close to them out in the hallway. Adam’s nose trailed the
length up her neck to her ear, as the hand he didn’t already have
wrapped around her traveled down her ribs, and settled on her hip.
He nipped her ear sharply with his teeth, causing her breath to
hitch at the warmth it caused to spread down her body, settling on
the southerly parts of her anatomy.

With lips that never left contact on her ear,
he rumbled, “Why do you stink so badly, my sweet tart?”

Shocked all the way to her toes, she asked,
“Sweet tart?”

He moaned in assurance. “Yes. Sweet. Cause
the first time I saw you, I thought, ‘She looks like a sweet woman
who could never stand up to my wolf. Then you started your little
staring contest, refusing to submit and look away. Determined to
convey to me in every way you could from fifty feet away that you
had enough moxie to stand up to me, my wolf, and my whole damn pack
if you had too. You were telling me with those beautiful eyes of
yours that you may look like a delicate, stunning creature that
needs to be wrapped in cotton and protected at all costs on the
outside, but on the inside you’re the kind of woman who would
sooner cut off my balls than let me try to wrap you in that
protective cotton. You’re like my own piece of living, breathing
candy. I wonder if you’ll taste just as sweet and tangy as your
confectionary nickname suggests. The problem is, I can’t taste you,
and I can barely smell your sweet essence through that god awful
striped fluff ball odor. Which is an odor that should not be all
over you. Let’s remedy that now.”