Page 3 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)
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CHAPTER TWO
I watched the werewolves train until it was lunchtime, listening to Dirk and Niko discuss other things quietly in my living room. I didn’t follow with my full attention as they reviewed the security system Dirk was installing on the home Niko purchased. I liked his home but it was too close to my territory for him to make his own, much to my chagrin. Finally, Heath looked at my office, a sign that they were about to wrap up. He quickly dismissed the werewolves from the day’s training, and they scattered. As I watched him walk out of view, I heard cars and trucks turn on and begin leaving. In my head, through my magical connection with my territory, I felt all of them move away from my home except Heath and Landon.
I didn’t bother Heath immediately. I heard him say hello to Niko and Dirk, then head upstairs. Landon went into the downstairs bathroom after seeing Niko and Dirk and claimed that shower while Heath went to our bathroom.
With both showers running, I stepped out of my office and went into the living room.
“Niko, you need a territory. We’ve talked about this.”
“Well, with things going on, it’s good we’re so close to each other. If something happens, I’m here in twenty or thirty minutes instead of a few hours.” Niko was relaxing on my couch like he lived there.
I thought we came to an agreement about this. Damn it, the moment he found an excuse to stay right outside my territory, he took it.
I swallowed anything I could think of saying to him. I only stared at him, making my displeasure clear.
“Well…” Dirk started standing up, cleaning up some folders and documents he’d spread all over my coffee table. “I’ll let the two of you talk about this…”
“I know you heard us earlier, but you should probably stay to tell Landon and Heath that you want to train with Niko,” I said quickly, causing him to freeze for a moment. He gave up on organizing his stuff to leave and fell back onto my couch.
“It would be a lie to say I want to,” he said, sighing. “But it’s something I have to do. I need to be good at fighting as a werewolf. It’s really unlikely Heath would ask me to do any sort of fight in werewolf form because of my other responsibilities and expertise, but it would be stupid not to prepare as much as I can.”
“Perfect. You can say that to them,” I said with a smile. Sitting in the armchair, I turned my eyes back to my brother. “You want to be a rogue, don’t you?”
“I would prefer if you left me alone about it.” Niko relaxed further, spreading his legs out.
Wow. I really thought we had this settled…
“Fine,” I said, shaking my head in frustration. I kicked one of his feet. “This is still my house. Don’t take up all the space.”
He moved his foot out of my range.
Landon came out first, showering and dressing fast since he didn’t live with Heath and me. Landon bought a house some time ago as Carey was getting older, and Dirk moved in with him when they got together. Dirk had been living with Oliver, who was now living alone, happily staying away from all the supernatural parts of the world he worked in. I had a monthly meeting with Oliver about Kick Shot, but I tried not to talk to him about the more dangerous things happening. The bar was monitored through the security system and the werewolves on guard duty also knew if a problem happened there, they could get involved to help.
“Unofficial meeting?” Landon asked, looking between us as he continued to rub his head with a towel.
“Somewhat,” I said as he went to Dirk, leaning over to kiss him.
“All right. Can I throw my stuff in your laundry and just stay through dinner?” Landon looked back at me to ask.
I heard the upstairs shower turn off as he asked.
“Wait for Heath’s before you run it. He’ll be down soon.” It was just their workout gear, so it would all fit together.
“And make sure you do a good smell test before it goes in the drier. Recently, Heath and I have found we have to run his twice.”
“Understood,” Landon said as he went into the laundry room.
“Yeah, we do the same at home,” Dirk said, groaning. “The heat and the sweat. Humans probably wouldn’t catch it, but it’s still there.”
“Yeah, the worst part about the sensitive nose. We do more laundry,” Niko said with a chuckle. “You and Jacky need to be grateful for the machines. I’m sure Heath and Landon remember the days when we had to do it all by hand.”
“Those were bad days,” Heath said as he came down the stairs. I smiled at him and like Landon and Dirk, my werewolf came to give me a kiss before he went to throw his workout clothes into the washing machine. He came back out with Landon and looked over the room.
“There’s obviously something that needs a discussion, but first, I need to fix this.” He waved a hand at the room. “Dirk and Landon, loveseat.”
Dirk moved over and met Landon there, neither of them saying anything. I was already standing, knowing what was coming.
“Niko and Jacky, switch places.”
Niko rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue. It was the eye roll of a man who knew what Heath was doing. He thought it was typical Alpha werewolf behavior, but he wouldn’t defy it.
I leaned on Heath as we sat on the couch together, putting up my feet as he wrapped an arm over my shoulder.
“Much better,” Heath murmured in my ear before kissing my temple. He relaxed and looked around. “What are we doing today? Tomorrow is your family meeting, so I know there are at least a couple of things that need to be talked about.”
“Dirk and I are going to train with Niko since we haven’t been able to join the pack’s training,” I said without any sort of preamble. “Niko also wanted to know what you’re planning to do with the pack with everything going on. I told him it was best he heard it from you.”
“Ah…” Heath looked down at me. “Are you sure?”
“Well, Dirk called Niko here because I was grumpy and bitchy and on edge, apparently. This was a result of that conversation. Yes, I’m sure. I need to be active. He’s going to train me in hand-to-hand and weapons.”
“Okay,” Heath whispered, leaning down to kiss my forehead again. “I’m sorry the pack and I couldn’t do that for you. When are you going?”
“Every day starting Saturday,” Niko answered quickly. “Unless Jacky and Dirk both have something to do that day out of her territory. They’ll still have to show up if the other is busy.”
I finally looked at Dirk and Landon, knowing it was time for Dirk to speak up. It was Landon’s face that stopped me from forcing my nephew into the discussion. I paid attention to my nose. While figuring out the scents there, Landon met my gaze.
“No,” he declared simply, an attempt to end the entire discussion.
“Dirk already knows hand-to-hand and weapons. I’ll be getting him into his werewolf form to give him more practice and experience?—”
“No,” Landon repeated, cutting Niko off succinctly enough to stop my brother’s train of thought. His eyes went to my brother, holding a defiant stare. I thought Niko knew Landon well enough at this point, but I had been wrong. He stared at Landon as my brother’s frustration grew with Landon’s stare back.
Dirk was sinking, unsure how to manage what was happening. He hadn’t had a chance to say anything before Landon put a stubborn foot down and now he didn’t know how to deal with his higher-ranking mate and his father giving each other looks that could kill.
I tapped Heath’s knee, a silent request for him to step in. He sighed as he grabbed my hand in his. I was asking him to pick a fight with his son to help his son’s mate.
“Dirk, to best help your pack, I order you to train with your father every day you are available to do so.”
Landon’s snarl made his anger explode in the air, suddenly becoming the strongest smell in the room.
“That’s enough, Landon. You’ve been more protective with everything going on, but that’s enough. Dirk needs the training, and you won’t let me give him private lessons with other pack members. Niko is centuries older than both of us and has the ability to train with his own son.” Heath released my hand, and I felt him move, so I pushed up to give him freedom of movement. He leaned closer to Landon on the loveseat, only a few feet between them. “And if I can accept Jacky needing her own training when I’m unable to handle training with her, then you can do so with Dirk.”
“Jacky isn’t your?—”
“Finish that sentence, and I will kick your ass across Texas,” Heath snarled in return, his temper flaring properly now, overriding even Landon’s anger.
I leaned away from Landon and Heath, the verbal slap Heath tried to stop Landon from delivering still hitting its mark.
He’s right. He and Dirk have the mate bond… While Heath and I don’t, even after several years together.
Whatever showed on my face, whatever emotion was being carried in my scent, caused all of them to look at me. I looked away, refusing to meet any of those gazes.
“I’ll go for a run,” Landon said softly, getting up and moving to the door.
“Do that,” Heath whispered, the potential of violence a promise in his tone.
“I’ll go get him some extra clothes to change into,” Dirk said, starting to stand.
“No, he’ll run home and get his own,” Heath corrected. “He can drive your truck here to get back if he’s not feeling up for running back. Or he can just stay home ,” Heath finished in another deep, chest-vibrating growl.
I knew Landon wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
“We’re having steaks for dinner. Dirk, you are going to stay for dinner. Niko, you are more than welcome to,” Heath continued, making sure Dirk wouldn’t be going home to comfort Landon until much later.
“Plus, someone needs to take his laundry home when it’s done,” I added, swallowing at my fiancé’s anger. Heath’s eyes fell on me. “Or he can pick them up tomorrow when he comes for training,” I quickly said, shrugging.
“Either works for me,” Heath said simply, and the tension released everyone in the room. He leaned back on the couch and seemed to get comfortable. I didn’t lean back on him, but I relaxed, trying to recover from the hurt Landon just gave me and the aftermath of it.
“Let’s move on,” Niko said softly. “I was asking Jacky earlier about your plans in the future for you and your pack and the fight we’re getting into with the witches.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Heath stretched his legs out this time. “Let’s get one thing settled before we get into that. Dirk, you have to know when to speak up with Landon. I know you’re capable of it. You share a mate bond with him, so you can feel certain things through that. You have a much better chance to bring him down from the ledge of being stupid than anyone else, even better than I do now as his father and Alpha.”
“It just happened so fast, Heath.” Dirk rubbed his chest like he was trying to force his muscles into relaxing. “I didn’t think he’d get like that from training with my father. Now that I know, I’ll talk to him tonight when I get home. I didn’t appreciate it any more than anyone else here. I’m a grown man who can decide things for myself.”
“Good. The werewolf side of things also complicated things, I’m sure,” Heath said gently. “He’s the second most dominant wolf in the pack, and no one challenges him, not even me most days. We’ll talk more about it after dinner before I send you home.”
“Of course, sir,” Dirk said with a nod, looking at Heath with an immeasurable amount of respect.
“Now, we can get to what you want to hear, Niko.” Heath crossed his legs, an ankle on his knee, the picture of relaxation and ownership over the space. I wasn’t sure I was still needed for this next conversation, so I waved Dirk to come with me as I stood.
“Can you stay?” Heath asked me before I got farther. “He might want your input on how you feel about this.”
“I think I’m going to make a few sandwiches and potato salad for lunch. I can hear you from the kitchen.” I smiled. “Unless you don’t want lunch. Because I don’t have to make you lunch. I can just make my own.”
“Trust a werecat to remind me that I’m not fully in charge,” he said with a chuckle.
“Exactly.” I leaned to kiss him before I went to the kitchen, Dirk following me. I put him to work to get his hands busy and his mind in the present, so he could fret and worry about Landon later. I wasn’t a werewolf, but I was getting very good at handling them at certain moments. Werecats were toxically independent, so there had been months and months of adjustment, but I found simple ways to show them acceptance and love. Giving them something to do to help me was an easy one.
“I plan on the pack being the permanent guard of Jacky’s territory,” Heath started. “Before you question the need for that, I’ll give you some history behind my choice.”
“I look forward to hearing this, because a lot of werecats will see it as a sign of weakness for Jacky. So long as she handled her own problems, they were able to ignore the werewolves.”
I knew Niko would think that much like anyone else in his position would, which meant pretty much my entire family. It was something Heath and I had discussed at length. When he and I were finally ready to act on it, Heath made sure everyone in the pack was okay with it.
He didn’t have to press the pack at all about it. Considering how they became the werewolf pack they were, it was only natural for them to help now like this.
“Jacky and I were the ones who were driven into action against the Dallas werewolf pack and the witches who tried to take control. Those witches discovered the potion or whatever it is to hide the scent of magic from our noses.”
“Subira and Zuri have been working on that again, not that we have a recipe. I think we’ll get an update on it tomorrow,” Niko said softly. “Sorry, continue.”
“Even before that, it was Jacky and I who ruined their first plans with the coup in Dallas as I was trying to step down. We’re the ones who took it to the Tribunal, which put it on the map for everyone. Then in Alaska, Jacky gets the attention of a powerful witch, or warlock since it was a man. I think she’s going to be an easy target for any witches who want to retaliate against our new movement to shut down their attempts to control us. She’s the youngest of your family. She’s vulnerable due to her activities in the supernatural world, making her a known figure that can cause some trouble.” Heath took a deep breath.
“And then there’s the fact that some werecats who dislike your family taking the current turmoil as a chance to lash out and try to send a message about the ruling family they might despise. We’ve seen it happen once before, and current events could give another the idea that they can try.”
There was silence as I finished pulling out everything from the fridge. Dirk was the one making the potato salad because I knew he didn’t know how. It required him to read the recipe and pay attention, making it even harder for him to think about Landon and what happened in my living room.
“I agreed with him, Niko,” I called out softly for both of them to hear in the living room. “It might do something to my reputation, but it’s better than getting killed or taken by someone finding me without a guard. The pack was already guarding the house and territory for other types of threats… other werewolves, fae, and the like. They’re just taking it over entirely. If a werecat comes to challenge me for the territory, I’ll still fight, but if I go down, the werewolves will protect their home as well. This place can’t be taken from all of us.” I chuckled. “And if they cheat by bringing friends like the last time, then I get to have my friends, too.”
“Fair enough.” Niko kept his tone conversational. “I feel it’s not the only reason for you, though.”
Not Heath, I realized. Me.
“Unity. We’re dealing with people who want to capture and control Moon Cursed. Werewolves and werecats have to work together because we’re more vulnerable without the skills and magic of both species. Heath and I can prove how we can do that,” I explained. “Witches may be less likely to try more attacks like what happened in Dallas if we show them that our people are working in tandem. The Tribunal is one example. Heath and I will be another.”
“Enough said, then. I need to think about this. I’m living close by, so whatever comes from this decision you two made will also splash onto me. I might have some ways to mitigate and lessen the problem with enough time to think about it.”
“We’ll consider your suggestions when you have any. I’m telling the rest of our family tomorrow.” I kept working on the sandwiches, not worried about this. It wasn’t like any of them could stop me. We had enough on our plates without in-fighting over what my werewolves were going to be doing. “You could just support it. Plus, your son is a werewolf in Heath’s pack, so it’s not like you can outright avoid this. Everyone knows they can’t ask you to disown Dirk, and he’s a werewolf.”
“I never said I didn’t support it,” Niko said quickly.
“Why don’t we have lunch and let Niko have the time he needs to think?” Heath said, ending the conversation effectively with a subtle jab at Niko that made Niko chuckle.
I brought the lunch, engaging in the mild conversation while tracking a wolf who was running like his life depended on it in the back of my mind.