Lesser of Two Evils (4 page)

“I can’t drive.”
His head tilted with curiosity. “Really. We had one car, and between my parents
fighting over who got to use it, no one bothered to teach me.

“I’ll teach you.”
He took a set of keys from the rack and hit a button on one key. The lights
flashed on a midnight-blue sedan.

“If you have all
of these fancy cars, why did you pick me up in that pickup truck yesterday?”
She followed him. “I thought it was going to lose pieces on the highway.” He
laughed, a deep sound that vibrated through to her core. Her insides quivered.

“My father and
his father picked their mates up in that truck. My sons will fetch their mates
in it, too. It’s tradition.” He opened the passenger door for her, and she sank
down onto the cool white leather seat. He pressed a button on the visor when he
sat in, and the garage door rolled up slowly. She blew out a breath. “What’s
wrong?” He reached over and squeezed her hand.

“All of this.”
She waved her hand at the other cars as they rolled past. “It’s too much.”

“How so?”

“You can never
drive all of these, so why do you need them? It seems like a waste.”

“The pack uses
them, too. They were here when I moved in. The last Alpha was a bit over the
top. He was more interested in making money, buying things, extending the house
and the territory, than he was in his pack. He also liked to dabble in illegal
drugs.”

Kerry grimaced. “He
was a drug dealer?” She was in a drug dealer’s car. The thought frightened her.

“Of sorts. He
specialized in drugs that worked on us especially. He met his demise when
several of his, um, customers ran out of cash and he wouldn’t give them what
they needed. They tore him to pieces.” She didn’t know it was possible for a
wolf to get high. Alcohol had a temporary effect if you drank enough quickly,
but she’d never considered drugs. Her pack had never had any addicts. They were
too poor and more interested in eating than drugs.

“So you were here
when this happened?”

He shook his
head. “I came the afternoon it happened. I was traveling, working for the
council at the time as an enforcer. Nasty work, but it paid well. I was to
investigate the matter and to solve the problem. The council got word that
there was a drug situation, and you know how they are.”

She shook her
head. She didn’t know anything about a council.

He narrowed his
eyes. “You don’t know about the council?”

She shook her
head.

“Huh. Okay, there
is one. The council has seven members of wolf elders. They govern the wolves in
North America. Your Alpha has to pay dues or he isn’t recognized as an Alpha.
That means if he hasn’t paid, I can walk in and take over with the council’s
support. They will send wolves like me, enforcers, to enforce their laws. If
they don’t like something he’s doing, they will get rid of him.

“Luke challenged
Mateo when my mom was a pup. He beat Mateo, killed him, and took his place. No
one said anything about a council in the story that I heard. I don’t think your
council knows about Luke. What would he have to do that would break their laws?”
He shrugged.

“Drugs are
illegal, taking everything from pack members and letting them starve, hoarding
she-wolves, things that decrease the wolf population, basically. Also anything
that could expose us as a species.”

She thought about
that. Luke hadn’t done anything to reduce the wolf population, and he always
made it clear that they were to stay hidden. He was strong and mean, but the
pack was poor. As far as she knew, that wasn’t his fault. It was the way things
were. He hadn’t had a mate in the time that she’d been alive. She saw him with
a female occasionally, but no one steady. Either none was willing, or he was
waiting for one to be available, like her. She cringed. Ethan stopped the car
at a boutique. “Come. I owe you a pair of panties.”

Kerry’s face
heated, but she climbed out and met him on the sidewalk.

“Claire,” Ethan
said to the woman folding sweaters on a table near the door. She was pretty,
thirty, maybe, and she had an exceptionally large chest.

“Ethan! Hello.
Who is your friend?”

He grabbed Kerry’s
hand and pulled her forward.

“This is Kerry.”

Claire looked her
up and down, then nodded.

“What can I do
for you?”

Kerry wondered
how he knew this woman. She wasn’t wolf, so she wasn’t pack.

“Kerry needs
panties.”

Claire smiled and
turned on her heel. She went to the rear of the store and stopped at a large
display of panties, garters, and stockings. Kerry averted her eyes. There were
so many, and so many colors. Hers normally came in a pack of five.

“Over here, we have
all kinds: nylon, cotton, silk, briefs, bikinis, and thongs. What did you have
in mind?”

“Kerry, choose,
then meet me at the counter.” Ethan said.  Kerry picked up several pairs and
looked at them. Ethan was at the counter with Claire having a hushed conversation.
She wondered if he’d been with that woman, and felt a streak of jealousy. She
shook her head to clear it. It didn’t matter if he’d been with her. Why should
Kerry care? Maybe if he was with that woman she could get a little peace. She
was still sore, and it stung when she peed this morning. He was so big, she
thought that maybe he’d torn something. She would heal quickly, of course, but
it wasn’t instant.

Kerry held up a
thong and dropped it. That wouldn’t cover anything at all, she thought. She
picked a white cotton pair and took them to the counter for the Claire to ring
up. Ethan sat in a pink velvet chair nearby. Claire put the underwear in a
small beige bag with gold trim and handed it to her. “Now if you’ll wait right
there, I will record your measurements.”

Kerry shook her
head. “I just needed the panties,” she said softly.

“If you need
anything else and they have your measurements on file, we can call and they
will deliver it,” Ethan said without looking up from his smartphone. Claire was
already wrapping a fabric tape around her waist, then her bust. She scribbled
on a pad on the counter. She measured Kerry’s legs, arms, and feet. She grinned
when she looked up at her.

“Shoes,” she said,
and scribbled on the pad again. “Thank you, Kerry. If you find yourself in need
of anything, you call and I will have it sent right over.” Kerry didn’t think
she would be calling. The price on the underwear she’d just bought was
ridiculous. She’d chosen the cheapest pair on the table, but she could’ve bought
a whole pack at the superstore for less.

Ethan unfolded
himself from the chair, and Kerry thought again that he was huge. Claire wasn’t
paying him any mind, and Kerry decided that he wasn’t sleeping with her. If he
had, it was over and in the past. Following him outside she sat down in the car
when he opened the door for her. He got inside and started the car, still
looking at the phone.

“I’m going out of
town for a couple of days,” he said, finally tucking the phone into the holder
at his hip. Her heart gave a little leap. She could sleep and maybe pee without
that stinging. “The council has summoned me.” He backed out of the lot.

“Do you still
work for them?” She thought maybe he was still an enforcer. He shook his head.

“No, they got
word that I mated. I have to present my case.” Kerry’s brows knitted. “I’ve
been here for almost a year. When I came, Alexander was lying in pieces in the
yard. No one saw anything. I assumed the Alpha position, cleaned up the mess,
and made it disappear. Somewhere along the line, I decided to stay. I like it
here, I like the pack, and they wanted me to stay. I never felt like I belonged
anywhere until I got here. The council assumed that I would straighten the mess
out, find a new Alpha, and return to work. Now they’ve gotten wind that I mated,
which means that I will not enforce for them anymore.”

“Am I going?”

He shook his
head. “No, this isn’t about you, it’s about me. Connor will look out for you
while I’m gone. If you need to go anywhere, he can take you. There’s plenty of
food in the fridge and freezer. You can cook for yourself, right?” She nodded.
“If you want to go out and meet the pack members, by all means feel free.
Thelma lives in the pink house, if you need any female guidance.” He turned
onto the long drive with the nut trees.

“Do these trees
belong to you?”

“Us and the pack,
yes. Pack territory, thanks to Alexander, is ten miles in every direction.”

“So you own the
town?” He was messing with her, surely.

“We own the
buildings, not the businesses themselves…well, some of them, but not all.
Alexander liked to dabble in real estate.”

She nodded.

“You like
walnuts?” He looked up at the trees.

“Oh, there are
pecans, too. Chestnuts, black and English walnuts, and I think an almond tree,
but we were going too fast. I saw apples and pears. Are there peaches?”

He shook his
head.

“Oh.”
Disappointment clouded her face.

“You like
peaches?”

She gave him a
small nod.

“What else do you
like?” He’d slowed the car and was creeping along but she didn’t know why.

“I don’t know. I
like persimmons. I like all the fruits, I guess.”

“Thelma is our
gardener. Talk to her and she will plant whatever you like if you promise to
help her weed.” He winked and turned the car around to back into the garage.
Kerry watched the mirror worriedly. They were going backward down the center,
the other vehicles passing quickly. She eyed the rickety pickup truck that he’d
come for her in. It could rest now for another thirty years or so. She wondered
if it would make it.

“I have to pack.
Can you entertain yourself for a while?”

She nodded.

He pushed the
button that lowered the big door and got out. She followed him inside the house
carrying her small bag. “Oh, I forgot to mention, I have a delivery coming
later today or tomorrow morning. Just sign for it and put it away,” he said
over his shoulder as he hurried down the hall.

Kerry stopped in
the kitchen and looked inside the fridge. It was stocked. She went back to the
big freezers and opened their doors one by one. There were three. One was full
of fish and chicken, the next full of pork, and the last, beef and lamb. How
efficient, she thought. No turkey anywhere. She went back to the fish and
chicken to look again. Nope, not a turkey in sight. Maybe he didn’t like it.
She went to the bedroom, where he was folding pants and putting them into a
duffle. “Do you like turkey?” He gave her a funny look. “You don’t have any in
your freezers.” He tilted his head in thought.

“Do
you
like turkey?” he asked with a teasing smile. She nodded. “We’ll get some. I
love turkey.”

She smiled, happy
with his answer. She went to the closet and pulled out her laptop bag. She
found the charger and plugged it in. It was almost out of battery when she’d
packed it yesterday. He came over and opened it.

“That’s mine.”
She reached for it. He gave her a low growl, and tears pricked her eyes. “I
saved a whole year for that, please don’t break it.”

“Sweetheart.” He
turned to her. “If I do, I will be more than happy to replace it. I’m only
giving you access to the wireless.” Her brows knitted. “So you can go on the
internet.” She dropped her hands and watched. The only time she got to use the
internet was when she could get a ride to the public library.

He opened the
network, let it find the signal, and entered a password. “If something happens
the password is ‘AlexanderIsKing,’ all one word. It took me ten minutes to
break it.” He chuckled, “and that’s the password to anything that needs one.”
He winked. “If you want, there is a computer in the office, too. You’re welcome
to use it. I have to go. They don’t like to wait.” He kissed her forehead and
grabbed his bag. She listened to him walk down the hall and then heard the door
close. She sat down in the wing chair with her sketchbook. She didn’t like to
use the laptop while it charged. She’d heard a story about cellphones and other
technology catching fire if you used they while they were charging. The thought
of setting her mate’s house on fire frightened her. He would not be happy with
her, and they were still on shaky ground. There was a raven outside squawking,
and she hoped that bigmouth would hold still for a few minutes. She sketched
for a long time until the bird flew away, and then she napped.

When Kerry woke,
the sun was nearly down and her belly grumbled. She sat there enjoying the
quiet for a few moments and watching the sunlight that dappled the ground through
the canopy of leaves. It was rare for her house to be this quiet. She heard a
clock ticking somewhere, but that was all.

Her mother always
had a radio or TV playing because she couldn’t stand silence. At least that’s
what she said. Kerry suspected it was to irritate her father. He didn’t want
them to use any unnecessary electricity. Neither she nor her parents had ever
had a steady job, and money was scarce.  Kerry found the silence comforting.
She also found that the less her father yelled, the better she felt, so she was
content sitting in a dark room sketching or reading.

She tracked
movement deep in the trees, past where the raven had been. Honing in on it, she
watched. The wolf pushed. Game. Her mouth watered. Turkeys. At least five
turkeys were back there. The wolf pushed harder. Her Alpha liked turkey and
they didn’t have any. Kerry kicked off her shoes and ran to the next room. She
stripped as quickly as possible, opened the window, and she was out. Two
minutes for the fat one. The wolf presented herself, and they were off.
Creeping through the woods, she could hear them as she moved without sound. Her
wolf was a true predator. Her father made her that way. Her earliest memory was
of her first hunt.

“If you want
to eat, you’ll catch and kill your dinner. Until then you go hungry.”

“Kerrigan,
she’s only four.”

“Four and
hungry.”
His eyes had flashed, terrifying her. Her belly was empty and
growling. Kerry shifted then and snapped at him. He’d backhanded Kerry and sent
her rolling across the floor. Dazed, she’d gotten up and ran out the open door
like a flash. A squirrel chittered in the yard, and she’d given chase, but he’d
gone up a tree. Then she heard it. A doe, a baby, really, but it snorted at the
edge of the clearing. Kerry started counting in her head. The seconds ticked by,
and she’d reached twenty before she’d caught it around the throat and snapped
its neck. Its mother burst out of the thicket then and nearly stomped Kerry to
death with its sharp hooves. Her mother not only protected her but brought the
big doe back as well. A count of ninety had ended two lives but prolonged three
others.

Kerry dragged her
little doe behind her mother as she dragged hers. They’d left them on the
porch. She remembered her father whistling as he’d cleaned them. It was the
only time she’d ever heard him do that. Kerry never ate that venison. Killing
it tormented her even today. It was just a baby. He’d made her do that.

The turkeys were
just ahead of her now. There were six, not five. Five were hens and one was a
tom. She’d leave him and his brood to make more. She chose the second largest
and stalked forward.
Ten seconds for you, girl.
Something spooked them
and they scattered.

The wolf bolted
after one, not the one that she’d picked but the closest one. It took off and
flew for a short distance, and Kerry gave chase. She followed it, letting it
lead her from the house and the group. It circled and ran, taking off sometimes,
still leading her farther and farther away. Eventually, it ran out of stamina,
but the wolf was raring to go. She had it in her jaws. The turkey’s life over.

It was dark now.
The crickets buzzed, and frogs croaked somewhere nearby. She didn’t remember
scenting water when she left the house. How far had she gone? She put the bird
down and scented the air. It was chilly and clean. No pack, no people, and no
other wolves. Lifting the heavy bird, she went in a straight line, following
what she thought was the correct path.