Page 11 of Help Wanted, Vampires Inquire Within (Ours Evermore #6)

Jack

“I’ll drive Jack and the car back home,” Remy said as they all left Joy. Zan was quick to lock the door behind them. “The rest of you can head over to where we parked and take the SUV home.”

“If we can find the keys,” Marcus said as they all started sifting through bits of shredded clothing.

Being close friends and business partners with a pack of wolf shifters for decades taught Jack to store spare clothes everywhere. He still had the fob in his pocket so he opened the trunk and pulled out sweatpants.

“Here,” he said, tossing a pair of pants and shirt to each wolf. They tugged the clothes on as they searched for wallets, keys, and phones.

“Marcus, this one is yours,” Remy said, tossing an old, battered wallet to Marcus.

“Great,” Marcus said, tucking the wallet away.

“This is why I can’t ever have nice things,” Kayla grumbled. “I’m never going to find that lipstick color again.”

“This is why I keep telling you to carry a purse,” Toby, her mate, admonished. “Only the strap would break when you shifted, and all your stuff would stay together."

Kayla frowned at Toby. “I will never carry a purse again. When I do, all you guys ask me to carry your stuff! You can wear a damn fanny pack or whatever.”

The familiar argument between Kayla and Toby helped Jack relax and focus on the search. It took a while, but everyone found their possessions, including the SUV keys and Kayla’s lipstick.

As Remy had instructed, everyone ambled away to where the SUV was parked, and Remy hopped into the driver’s seat of Jack’s car.

“I can’t believe you drove here,” Remy grumbled, starting up the vehicle.

Jack shrugged. “You made Joy sound too fun to skip, and I was bored.”

Remy cast him a sideways glance. “Let me reword that. I can’t believe you went without telling us.”

Jack sighed. “I wanted to do something on my own. You guys are too protective. I know I’m still a youngish vampire, but I’m not completely helpless.”

“Remember when you first met my dad?” Remy asked.

Considering it was the day Jack was almost killed by a tooth-puller, he was unlikely to forget. He’d been a vampire for less than fifty years when he was lured into a trap and disabled with magic chains. Jack watched helplessly as the tooth-puller raised an ax to separate his head from his body.

Remy’s dad, Marcel Augustin, had burst into the room in his massive wolf form, and ripped the tooth-puller’s throat out. Jack thought the shifter would turn on him next. Instead, Marcel took human form and sat down next to Jack.

“How old are you, vampire?”

There was no reason to lie to the wolf. “I was born in 1924. I was turned in 1944.”

Marcel nodded. “That makes you only about forty years old, as a vampire I mean. That’s youngish for a vampire, but not so young you should've fallen for this idiot's ploy.”

Despite the circumstances, Jack laughed. “I know. I’ve always trusted too easily. Mom said it would be the death of me.”

Marcel snorted. “Not today. I have a deal for you, vampire.”

“My name’s Jack Young,” he said. “What’s the deal?”

“I’m getting older, and my pack is small,” Marcel explained. “If you adopt our pack, we’ll keep you safe during the day.”

It was common for vampires to adopt a pack of wolf shifters. It started long ago when vampires ran the risk of angry villagers attacking them during the day. Those worries were in the past, but packs and vampires still tended to form alliances.

“Why would you want me?” Jack asked.

“Because you trust too easily,” Marcel answered. “You want to trust others. It’s a trait hard to find among vampires.”

Marcel must’ve seen his doubt because the wolf continued.

“I’m a powerful alpha. I’ll help build your reputation so you sound fierce and merciless.

No one will come near you. No one will challenge you and tooth-pullers will stay away.

Giving you that reputation will benefit all of us because no one will want to mess with the Clover Pack.

I need a vampire who will never mistreat my pack.

I can tell you’re slow to anger and quick to defend. ”

Jack was astonished by Marcel’s comments. “You could be wrong.”

Marcel shook his head. “You let the girl go. The tooth-puller didn’t care if she died, but you couldn’t bring yourself to kill her.”

“She was an innocent.”

Marcel gave him a pitying look. “She wasn’t innocent. She had a collection of vampire fangs herself. This wasn’t the first time she was used as bait, but it’ll be the last time. She tried to shoot me. I did the same thing to her as I did to this guy.”

Jack groaned. “I’m an idiot.”

“Maybe,” Marcel said with a grin. “But you’ll be our idiot. My son is young, but he’s already displaying all the power and protective nature of a strong alpha. He’s going to grow up with you as a friend. The two of you will keep our little pack safe.”

It had been a long time since Jack had friends or family. The idea of having a pack appealed to him at every level. “I guess I need to change my name to Jack Clover.”

“It’s got a ring to it,” Marcel agreed, freeing him from the magical chains that held Jack immobile.

The moment he was free, Jack held his hand out to Marcel. “Thanks for saving me, Marcel.”

The alpha took his hand. “To quote my favorite movie, ‘I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’”

As he said he would, Marcel had made sure the pack had a fierce reputation. Marcel and his mate had retired years ago, letting Remy take over the Clover Pack.

Remy had kept the pack's reputation but also made the pack rich.

Jack always felt like he was along for the ride and couldn’t be happier about it.

Now he had Mason. He didn’t want to lose the Clover Pack, but he couldn’t give up the gargoyle either.

And hopefully gain a nymph. How did he explain to the pack that his future flock wasn’t a threat to them?

They should have a pack meeting. It might take a lot of talking, but he’d convince them to accept Mason and Skyler.

“We need to buy property,” Remy said as he steered the car onto a freeway.

Jack was so preoccupied with worry that he wasn’t able to follow Remy’s logic. “We’ve been looking but nothing has appealed to everyone yet. It took four years before we bought the compound in Illinois. It might take that long here.”

Remy shook his head. “You don’t understand. If you want to win the nymph’s affection, then you’re going to need land. She’ll need dirt to play in and room to grow things. It’ll keep her healthy.”

“You said we ,” Jack said, relief making him feel dizzy. “Does that mean we’re all staying together?”

Remy shot him a weird look. “Do you want us to leave now that you’ve found a flock?”

“No!” Jack shouted. He didn’t mean to be so loud, but he couldn’t help it. The Clover Pack was family. He hated the idea of living without them.

“We always knew you’d find a flock. This isn’t a shocking development,” Remy said. “All vampires need to find their soul bonds or they eventually go feral.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jack said. Honestly, he’d forgotten about the feral issue. He’d never really thought it would affect him because he had such a close relationship with the Clover Pack.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Remy said.

“But we were never going to be enough. Family is great, but we couldn’t take the place of a soul bond.

It was one of the reasons we all agreed to move to San Diego.

The opportunity was good, but there was the added benefit that many vampires find their flocks here.

There’s something about this place that helps. ”

“I didn’t know that,” Jack said. “You guys never said anything to me.”

“We didn’t want you to say no,” Remy said simply. “I want you around to be part of my future kids’ and grandkids’ lives. That might not happen if you don’t find a flock. The math was simple. We all agreed.”

Jack felt mildly annoyed and very adored. “I can’t believe no one said anything to me. I’m not a young vampire anymore. I’m much stronger now! It's been a lot of years since Marcel had to rescue me from that tooth-puller.”

“You might be stronger, but your ability to sense danger is still shit,” Remy retorted. “You’re never getting rid of us, even if you have a gargoyle.”

“Harsh,” Jack grumbled. “And I love you too.”

Remy snorted out a laugh. “Focus, Jack. I think we should buy that piece of property with the orange grove on it. It’s a little far from town, but we could also buy a few condos for people to stay in when we have to physically show up at work.”

“Manny will hate that,” Jack said.

“Manny doesn’t like any change,” Remy retorted. “There were three houses on that property. If we give him the one at the back end of the property, he’ll be happy.”

“He might even smile if we offer to help him set up all his bookshelves and unpack his books.”

Remy chuckled. “Only if we promise to leave right after everything is done and not bother him for at least two days.”

“That’s Manny taken care of,” Jack murmured. “But I want to make sure everyone else is okay with it. I don’t want to disregard a single pack member.”

“I’m the alpha here,” Remy reminded him. “It’s my privilege to make sure the pack is happy. Your job is to convince Mason and Skyler to be your flock.”

“That might not be easy,” Jack admitted. “When I touched Skyler, there wasn’t a spark, and I don't think Mason will soul bond with me without Skyler.”

Remy’s eyes went wide. “But that’s impossible. A gargoyle can’t resist the call of his mate.”

Jack shrugged, making Remy wince.

“That makes things more complicated,” Remy murmured. “But you’ve got a whole pack backing you. And I think Mikey’s pack would back you too. They’re good people.”

“I heard that from Kayla and Toby. They wouldn’t stop talking about Mikey and Maddy that day after they met them last week,” Jack said with a wry smile. “I get the feeling I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

“Don’t worry, Jack. We’ll make sure everything works out, no matter how much candy or plants we need to buy the nymph!"

Jack wished it was all that simple.

Jack and Remy got home before the others. Marcel and his mate Adelle had already gone to bed, along with the pack members who’d stayed home. That meant the large house they were renting was quiet.

Jack retreated to his small room. Grabbing a tablet, he flopped down on the bed and got himself comfy against the mound of fluffy pillows. He hoarded soft pillows. It probably came from a childhood where the great depression stole any soft things from his family.

He searched for unique gifts, but even as he scrolled through colorful images, he knew nothing here was going to work. Anything he gave Mason and Skyler needed to be special. It needed to be perfect.

The door to his room burst open and most of the pack flooded into his room. Jack wasn’t startled by the pack’s sudden and uninvited entrance into his room. This was what it was like to live with a pack. Privacy could be hard to come by.

Because there wasn’t enough floor space to accommodate everyone, Kayla and Toby perched on his desk, Marcel and Adelle joined him in the bed, and several wolves climbed on top of each other. Manny stood in the doorway with only his toes in the room.

If even the introverted Manny was here, the pack had something important to discuss with him.

“Shouldn’t all of you be sleeping?”

Chuckles came from a few of the pack, but most of their expressions didn’t change.

“Remy told us about the gargoyle and the nymph,” Adelle said. She sat to his right while Marcel made himself comfortable on his left. The couple might be in their seventies, but they still had a commanding presence.

Jack shot the alpha an annoyed look. “Thanks, Remy.”

Remy shrugged. “Mama woke up when we were getting a snack and decided to find out why we were eating so late.”

“It wasn’t the snacking that woke us up,” Marcel said. “It was how loud Remy was on the phone.”

“I might’ve forgotten how late it was and called the real estate agent,” Remy said, rubbing a hand over his face.

“I’m amazed we don’t need a new real estate agent,” Jack said.

“Only because the property we’re buying is going to make her a really good commission,” Remy said.

“Enough about that, we need to talk about your flock,” Adelle insisted.

Jack shook his head. “They aren’t mine yet.”

Adelle patted his knee. “Don’t worry, the Clover Pack never fails.”

“Except for Toby’s herb garden,” Jack said. Toby rolled his eyes as the rest of the pack laughed. No one would ever let Toby forget the hundreds of dollars he’d spent to create an herb garden that only produced about two dollars’ worth of herbs.

“That doesn’t count,” Adelle said. “The pack wasn’t behind the herb garden because it was another one of Toby’s sudden obsessions. This is much different. You’re family, Jack, and we’re ready to make the gargoyle and nymph family too.”

“Mason and Skyler,” Jack murmured, touched by Adelle’s words.

“Mason and Skyler Clover,” Adelle said. “That sounds right.”

Jack pulled in a deep breath. “Thanks everyone.”

If he lost Skyer and Mason, at least he got to come home to the Clover Pack. That was the best consolation prize he could ever ask for.