Chapter 4: Chapter Three

Catherine sat at Jacques’ work desk waiting for the phone call. Jacques had stopped at his house to pick up the files then added the missing pages so she now had three full files. She had them spread out on the desk. All three women were about the same age. All were unattached but that was where the similarities ended. Like Jacques said one was heading to college. The other two were already working.

One was an only child, another was the only girl of five children, and the third was the oldest of three daughters.

Any patterns were because of the pack. They knew the same people, lived near each other. They even dated some of the same people, but the pack limitations made it hard for them not to date the same people. There had to be a pattern but she just couldn’t see it.

The phone rang. She let Jacques pick it up, but she knew it was Alicia. He handed the phone to her.

“Hi Alicia.”

“Thank you for the compliment but I have the wrong anatomy.”

“Max, sorry.” She sat up and glared at Jacques. “I thought it was Alicia calling with the new information I asked for.”

“And she has that, but I wanted to talk to you away from everyone.”

“But the sheriff.”

“Right.”

Jacques held up his hands and headed out the door.

“Max, I promise I’m okay with the situation.”

“I’m not. Their alpha knew better than to put you with a man. What if you go into heat?”

“I don’t see it as a problem. He is the sheriff and the son of the alpha.”

“What?”

Catherine closed her eyes. She had said too much.

“He’s the one who can’t shift, isn’t he?” Max said.

“I’m amazed at the wealth of knowledge you have.” Catherine took a breath. “Yes, he is the one who can’t shift.”

“So he told you about his ailment?”

“I don’t think ailment is the right word. It doesn’t seem to bother him.” She looked out the window to where Jacques leaned against his truck. “Or at least he has come to terms with it. Most of the people here seem to respect him.”

“Most?”

“He has a younger brother who is now the alpha in training and who, well, he’s an ass, Max, and keeps hitting on me.”

“I’m sure you can handle him with diplomacy.”

“Yes, sir.” She waited for him to ask the question. He was too smart not to.

“And the rest of the pack? How have they treated you?”

“I can’t say anyone has gone out of their way to be nice to me, other than their seer, but they haven’t been rude either.”

“Their seer?”

“Yes, sir. She runs the only restaurant here. It works as their town hall at times. Everyone goes there somewhere along the day.”

“How often are you there?”

“More than I realize. Since I’ve been here I’ve been in the restaurant at least four times.”

“Yet I find you at the sheriff’s office.”

“Alicia said she’d call me here, and it’s quiet here so I can ask the right questions.” She leaned back in the seat. “I don’t want to scare these people, Max. The murders have them on edge. I can smell it in the air.” She heard some mumbling in the background then she heard Alicia’s voice.

“So, are you sleeping with the sheriff?”

***

Jacques leaned against his truck watching Catherine through the window. She relaxed as she spoke to her alpha. The few times he had spoken to Max he could feel the power in his voice. He never demanded anything, very polite, but there was something in his voice that made you want to do what he asked.

Catherine was so different than any of his female pack members. She didn’t act like she was better than him. When he told her he couldn’t shift he expected her to snub him like all the other women had. But she took it in stride instead. If she was acting she should get an Oscar for it.

And the sex? That was phenomenal. Just the thought of what they shared made him hard. He hoped they could continue to be partners but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. He knew she was used to being in control, but maybe he needed to show her he could be her alpha. The one thing he had gotten good at was reading those subtle signals. He knew his brother’s attention was bothering her. He could use that to see how she would react to him being in charge.

“Why are you outside of your own office?”

Damn it. “Why aren’t you working with our father, Alfie? There’s no way you’ve learned everything yet.”

“I want you to stay away from Catherine.”

“Excuse me?” He stood and faced his little brother. “You came here to give me orders? What happened the last time you tried that?”

“Catherine deserves a powerful mate.”

Jacques laughed. “Catherine deserves a mate who loves her. She wants someone she can trust to keep her safe. She doesn’t deserve to be used.”

“What are you talking about?” Alfie stepped back from him.

“Do you have any idea what her world is like? You think she’d give it all up for you? You don’t even know how old she is.”

“I’m sorry. She’s just so pretty. Father told me I needed to find a mate who would be able to do what mom does. She’s the first one who came close.”

The sound of the door opening caught their attention.

“Boys?”

“Done?” asked Jacques. He turned toward Catherine. “You looked like you were being dragged over the coals.”

“Yeah.” She scratched her head. “The things those two know amazes me, but I got the information I needed.”

“And?” Jacques forgot about his brother as he took a step toward her.

“We’re back at square one. The rite of passage was an eye, an ear and the heart. The eye was for being able to see the wolf clearer. The ear was to be able to hear the wolf better. The heart was to give them the strength to face the wolf when they found one.” She shielded her eyes from the brightness of the sun. “What we have is a wannabe who doesn’t have access to the research I do.”

“Could it be something someone just started? As a ritual?”

“It’s possible, but why take the tongue? The only thing I can think of is they wanted their victims silent while they worked on them.”

“Now you’re making it sound like we have a serial killer.” He headed into his office. “Let me get my notebook.”

Catherine followed him in.

Alfie ended up outside alone.

“Let me go finish talking to my brother.” He handed her the notebook. “I did a little research into serial killers. It should be easy to find.”

Jacques went back out to his brother. “You know better than to say anything to anyone, right? We already have a frightened pack. I don’t want this to make it worse.”

“No one but Father.”

“I should be the one to give him this update. I am the sheriff.” Jacques stared at him. “But knowing Father he will push. You just can’t tell him in front of anyone else.”

“I will tell him you need to speak to him privately. I’m not sure if he’ll meet you at the restaurant or will want to come here.”

“He doesn’t like to be around me any more than he has to.” Jacques lifted his hat and ran his hand through his hair. “I need to come to him. Let me talk to Catherine and I’ll follow you back to town.”

Alfie nodded and went to his car.

Jacques went back into his office. “I need to give my father an update before my brother tries to handle it. You can stay here if you’d like.”

“Do you want me to stay here or come with you?”

“My father might be a bit rude when he realizes we’ve slept together.”

“Your father doesn’t scare me.” She stood and grabbed his notebook.

“I guess after dealing with Mr. Santos all your life other alphas don’t phase you.” He opened the door for her.

“I would never do anything to undermine an alpha.”

“I’m not saying you would. But the way you handled my brother showed me you do know how to get even when they’re treating you like an object.” He opened the passenger door to his truck for her. Once she climbed in, he closed the door for her then climbed into the driver’s seat.

“I didn’t disrespect your brother in front of your pack.” She gave him a sweet smile which made him laugh.

“Right. His head just connected with the counter by accident. Calling you a bitch had nothing to do with it.”

“He must have tripped.” She snapped her seatbelt on.

“How long have you spoken French?” Not looking at her, he did the same then started the engine.

“I know several languages.”

“Including creole?” He looked left and right then pulled out onto the road.

She smiled at that question but didn’t answer right away. “I’m a quick study.”

“Then I hope you’ll take this the way you should. My father will totally ignore you. That is a good thing. He will comment on the fact we’ve slept together. That is a bad thing. Anything he says is aimed at me, not you.”

“So he’s going to be rude.”

“Pretty much, but there won’t be a counter you can slam his head against so I hope you will remember he is our alpha while he puts his foot in his mouth.”

Catherine laughed at that. “I will defer to you.”

“Thank you.”

They entered the council hall and found the place quiet. Good, he should be able to clear the room without an effort. He removed his hat then moved around the hall, speaking softly to different people asking for a few minutes alone with his father. The hall emptied.

“This can’t be good if you’re clearing the hall.”

“I just wanted to give you an update on the case.” Jacques stood in front of the dais his father sat at.

“You’re back at square one.”

Jacques nodded.

“I thought our guest was supposed to help you with that.” He looked over to where Catherine stood.

“It was with her help that I realized I was headed down the wrong path.”

“So who has killed those girls?” He turned his focus back on Jacques. “What do I tell their parents?”

“That it’s an open investigation and I’m exploring every avenue.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling them. They want answers.”

“I know.” Jacques ran his fingers through his hair. “I want answers too.”

“Does your brother know?”

“Yes. I made sure he was in the loop.”

His father nodded. He looked at Catherine again, then back at Jacques. “The pack wants to go on a run this evening. Will it be safe?”

“Where did they want to run? The normal area?”

“Yes. They just want to feel safe.” He looked at Catherine again. “And they want to invite our guest to join them.”

He heard a slight noise and turned to look at Catherine, warning her with a look to remain quiet. She had taken a step forward and he was sure she was getting ready to say something.

“Thank you, Father. I know she appreciates that and will be there.” He gave him a slight nod, grabbed Catherine’s hand and headed to the doors.

Once they were outside Catherine grumbled.

“What?” He stopped and turned on her. “Are you not happy that they want to include you? Do you know what a big thing this is? I ought to spank you. Right here. Right now.”

He glared at her long enough to let his words sink in, then turned put his hat on his head and continued to his truck.

***

He wanted to spank her? What had she done wrong? It had her thinking.

Jacques held the door for her when she reached the truck. She climbed in avoiding eye contact. No one had ever threatened to spank her before. Silence stretched between them.

“I’m sorry.” She kept her voice soft. “I wasn’t trying to insult your father. I was only going to say I could have thanked him myself.”

“If your brother told you not to talk to Max would you disobey him? Even if Max said something you wanted to thank him for?”

“No.” He was right. She should have deferred to him like she said she would.

“I know your brother and your alpha discipline you when you do something they’re not happy about. Perhaps I should do the same thing.”

She blinked. No one ever tried to discipline her. Max and Patrick kept her protected. “No one has raised a hand toward me since I was a child.”

“That explains a lot.” He stopped the truck in front of his office. Once again he opened the door for her and waited for her to climb out. He headed to the door, unlocked and held it open for her once again. The moment he closed the door, he turned toward her. “It’s time for a lesson.”

“A lesson?” She took a step back. He wasn’t serious, was he?

“Yes.” He took several steps toward her. “Take your pants off.”

“Wh-what?” She took another step back and found herself backed up against his desk. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to spank you.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And the longer you take to follow my orders the more I will spank you.”

She swallowed hard but did as he asked.

“Turn around and grip the desk.” He set his hat down on a nearby chair.

She had never felt so vulnerable. No one had ever done this to her. The sting of the first slap brought her back to what was happening. Why didn’t she fight him? If anyone else tried this they would have seen the bottom of her shoe. The second strike had her wondering what Jacques was thinking. It was obvious he wasn’t afraid of what might happen if she said something to someone. The third strike made her realize she was kind of enjoying this.

“Now stand up and turn around.” She did as he asked and found him inches away. “Next time, when I ask you to let me be in control you will do what I ask.”

She had no words but found she didn’t need any. One instant he was staring her down and the next his lips were claiming hers. He pushed her shirt up high enough that he could palm her breasts. His fingers brushed against the tips until they hardened for him.

Her hands fought with his shirt once again, but he didn’t seem to care what happened to the buttons this time because he didn’t stop her as buttons popped off. Once she bared his chest she fumbled with his belt. She sighed into his mouth when her fingers closed around his erection.

Jacques controlled their movements and had her up against the wall. This seemed to be a thing for them. He broke the kiss, looking into her eyes as he lifted one of her legs, centered himself and drove into her. He set the pace, quick and deep.

Catherine lifted her other leg and wrapped both legs around his waist. She moved with him, reaching for that moment when her release just started to wash over her. There was no finesse but she could feel her stomach quicken. That moment when she felt a thrill run through her.

His mouth was at her throat. Slight nips that put her into a sensory overload. A brush of his fingers against the side of her breast, the grip of his hand on her ass as he pounded into her, she felt each with such an intensity it took her breath away.

It started so quickly and was so intense she gasped as it washed over her. All she could feel was the intense euphoria. She floated. A soft howl escaped her. One escaped Jacques as well.

***

Catherine thought about what happened at the office. She had never had such an intense release. Good God, if every one of her orgasms were going to be like that, he could spank her all he wanted.

She looked over at his profile while he drove. They hadn’t talked about what happened between them at the office, but she knew something had changed. He had been acting more like a beta when she first met him, but that changed since the first time they had sex. Was he interested in her? More importantly, was she interested in him? They didn’t live near each other, and she couldn’t see herself settling down here because of him. He was their sheriff. His job would keep him here. It wouldn’t work out.

A sigh escaped her.

“You okay?”

“Yes.” She wouldn’t dare tell him what she was really thinking. “I just wish we could have figured out why the murders were happening. It doesn’t quite make sense.”

“I know. I’ve been trying to figure it out for months. My notebook is full of theories, so far none of them have been right.” He parked his truck next to several other cars already parked. “We’re here.”

“I’m a little nervous.”

He turned the truck off and turned to look at her. “You don’t strike me as the nervous type, cher. You are the type of woman who will kick someone in the face if they insult you. You’re strong because you have to be. You’re highly intelligent. I figured that out pretty quick.”

“That might be true, but I’ve never run with another pack before. We have certain rules and I’m sure your people do too.”

He climbed out and walked around to her door. He opened it for her. “Sally said she would run with you and help you with our protocols.”

“Thank you.” She climbed out of the truck, retrieving her duffle bag at the same time.

“And that?”

“My bag? We run at Max’s house so my brother and I always have these bags to put our clothes in.” She folded it up. “I am assuming you have a place to store your clothing as well, but you’re not set up for visitors. I thought this will make it easier. No one has to give up anything to accommodate me.”

“Everyone puts their things on those rocks over there. I saw Sally’s car. She should be around here somewhere.”

“Catherine, over here,” Sally said and signaled her over.

“I’ll see you later, then.” She looked up at him. Catherine hesitated just long enough for it to get weird.

“Right.”

Sally watched them and waited.

“Hey, Sally.” Catherine walked over to her.

“Now you sound like one of us. We don’t say hello when hey works just fine.” Sally pointed to a large rock. “You can put your things with mine.”

“Thank you.” She rested her bag on top of Sally’s rock. The woman had tried to cram all her things to one side. “Why don’t you use the rock the way you normally do and I’ll put my things down here. The bag will keep everything protected.”

“You sure?”

“Of course. I use this all the time when I run.” She patted her bag. “There are several locations to enter the place where we run so the bags are best for storing our things and they’re easy to hide.”

“We’re pretty laid back with our runs, but we do always do this together.” She saw someone approach and waved them over. “Simone. Come meet Catherine. Catherine, this is our resident doctor.”

“Nice to meet you, Simone.” Catherine held out her hand to the young woman.

“Nice to meet you.” The doctor shook her hand. There was a little bit of a commotion near them and when the doctor looked she didn’t seem happy. “Oh dear. Excuse me.”

“What’s going on?” asked Catherine.

“It seems her daughter has made a small mistake. We normally all shift together, but she has already shifted.”

Catherine nodded. Good thing she didn’t shift before she got here. She had thought about it but didn’t like riding in vehicles as a wolf. She slid around far too much.

The doctor caused a little more of a commotion before the word came down to shift.

Catherine removed her clothes, put them in her bag, then shifted. Everyone around her did the same thing.

“Wow.” Sally trotted around her.

“What?” Catherine started looking at herself. Her tail was nice and fluffy, her fur neatly groomed.

“Your coat is beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone’s coat shine the way yours does.”

“Oh.” Thank goodness. There was nothing wrong with her. “Thank you.”

Everyone started moving. Catherine and Sally were in the back.

“How do you get your coat that way?” asked Sally.

“I guess you’d have to ask my groomer.”

“You have a groomer?”

“Don’t you?”

“No, just the doctor.”

“Oh.” Catherine found that odd. “We have doctors, but they’ve also attended veterinary school and grooming school so they could care for every aspect of our lives.”

“That’s smart. I wonder if our doctor would be willing to do that.”

Silence stretched between them. She knew Sally could read this the wrong way, but she had to ask. “Um, what does Jacques do while you run?”

The sound of a motor filled the air.

“He watches us.” Sally pointed to where the roar of the engine came from. “He follows us to make sure nothing happens.”

Catherine looked behind them and saw the dirt bike closing in on them.

“I have a new couple to check on. You okay back here?”

“Sure.” She looked around as she moved with the pack. The smells were so different than Charlotte. She’d love to explore but didn’t want to upset her guests by disappearing on them. Something caught her attention. Stopping, she turned around and went back to the spot where she saw movement. Nothing. Maybe she had imagined seeing something.

A snap filled the air. A moment later she saw a small furry butt.

“What ya doing?” she asked.

“Oh, it just smells so good in here.” The voice told her the child was young and male.

“I agree,” said Catherine. She took a deep inhale. “Is that why you came in here?”

“Ah-huh.” He continued to sniff around.

“Well, everyone has moved out of sight now so I’m going to go find them, but I don’t know my way. Maybe you could show me?”

“Yeah. I know the way.” He released a big sigh. “My mom will probably worry anyway.”

The crunch of a pair of boots got louder. Jacques hunkered down next to Catherine.

“Uncle Jacques! Look what I found!” He rolled a small mushroom to him. “Looks like they’re going to be ready to pick soon.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Everett.”

The puppy walked over to Jacques, who picked him up. He tucked him inside his shirt. He looked down at Catherine and smiled. “Thanks for watching out for him.” He petted the puppy. “Come on, squirt. Let’s go find your mom.”

***

They caught up with the rest of the pack just as the pup’s mom realized he was missing. She chastised her child while thanking Jacques for finding him.

“Oh, that wasn’t me. Catherine was the one who noticed where he went.”

The mother looked at her, then dipped her head in thanks.

They had reached an open space and everyone had stopped.

Catherine found a spot and sat down. They looked like they were getting ready to play a few werewolf games. The younger pups were already playing. The teenagers were trying to play coy.

A big sigh filled the air as someone sat down beside her. She looked down and found her new friend.

“What’s up, little man?”

“Momma’s mad at me.” He pawed at the dirt. “She doesn’t like it when I disappear.”

“Moms are like that. They want to keep us safe and happy. If they don’t know where you are, they don’t know if you’re safe and that scares them.” She lay down and rested her head on her paws so they were the same height. “My brother used to get in trouble all the time because he’d disappear and I’d follow him, so my mom would get so mad at him.”

“Why?”

“Well, because he not only had her worrying about him, but me as well.” She turned her snout toward him. “Have you ever told your mom about the places you want to explore?”

“After.”

“Well, maybe you should try telling her before. She might be just as curious as you.”

“Is that true, Momma?” He looked up at the female wolf walking over to them.

“It would help. I might be able to get one of your siblings or your father to go with you if I can’t. You’re getting older and there might be times when you can go by yourself as long as someone in the family knows where you are, but you do need to be a big boy and promise to wait until you talk to me or your father before you take off.”

“I can do that.” He jumped up and trotted after his mom for a moment before running back to Catherine. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She watched him run back to follow his mom.

“Looks like you have found a friend,” said Sally as she came to sit beside Catherine.

“Little man? He’s adorable.” Catherine sat up. “He’ll be fine when he gets a little older. He just has to learn that he needs to talk more with his parents.”

“You planning on joining in?”

“Me?” Catherine shook her head. “Don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Yeah, why not?” asked Alfie as he walked over to where the two female wolves sat.

“Because it wouldn’t be proper for me to beat your ass in front of your pack.” She heard someone snicker.

“You think you’re all that?”

“I do.” She stood. “I run with my brother and my alpha. I have to keep up or they wouldn’t let me run with them. No matter how much you try to antagonize me to run, I can’t.”

“What about if we time your run?” asked Sally. “That way if Alfie thinks he can beat your time he can run too.”

“I’m not sure if that is a smart idea either.”

“I do,” said Jacques. “Everyone is curious about your training. This will allow you to show how fast you are without consequences. I’ll time you.”

Catherine sighed. She followed Jacques to a flat area where they did sprints.

“This section is a quarter mile. I know how fast our fastest runner is.” He crouched down in front of her. “I also don’t want you to hold back. Show them what you can do.”

Catherine nodded. This wasn’t a good idea. She knew she could run circles around these wolves. She knew this by the way they moved around. Her pack would look like they were in a hurry all the time compared to this group. She waited for the signal and took off in a good run. This was about the pace she did with Max and Patrick. It wasn’t her fastest, but it should beat anyone else’s time. When she finished she walked over to Jacques.

He looked at the stopwatch he had and whistled. “That wasn’t your fastest time, either, was it?”

She shook her head.

“How fast was she?” asked Alfie.

“Fast enough,” replied his brother.

“I want to know the time.”

“The smart thing to do is take what he says and move on.” Catherine pitched her voice so only Alfie and his brother could hear her. “I run with Max Santos. I have to be fast and not be winded. I’m probably at least ten seconds faster than you.”

Jacques nodded.

“And it’s not my fastest. I don’t want to embarrass anyone and if you push this your people are going to know that a woman was faster than you. Is that what you want?”

“You could run slower.”

“Alfie, you’re not getting this.” Jacques crouched in front of him. “Everyone watched her. If she were to run slower so you could win the whole pack would know. You’d lose clout. To be our alpha you have to make smart decisions as well as be the strongest in our pack. Trying to show off will backfire on you.”

“But I’m supposed to be the fastest.”

“Of our pack. Why do you think our father doesn’t attend our games? Especially when we have guests? Because he doesn’t have to prove anything to them. Only to our pack.”

“I want them to be proud of me.”

“The best way to earn respect is to show respect to others,” commented Catherine. “My mother taught me that.”

“I don’t care what your mother taught you.”

“I’m only going to say this once.” Catherine paused long enough for her words to sink in. “I can make you a laughingstock in seconds. I can outrun you, out fight you. I can rip your throat out in seconds and force your pack to follow my alpha. I’m not here to do that. I came to help you find out who’s killing your young women. If you wish to push I will take pleasure in showing you just how good I am. I’m hoping you will show me you are the alpha your people need and will back down.”

Alfie plopped his butt on the ground.

Catherine tilted her head.

“This is so hard. I thought being the alpha meant I’d be worshiped by our pack. The way they seemed to worship Jacques.”

“It’s not that easy, is it?” said Catherine.

“No. It’s a lot harder than I thought.”

“You’re going to make a great alpha. You just need to believe in yourself. You don’t need to prove anything. You just need to be the man your people expect you to be.”

“That’s the hard part. I don’t know how to be that man.”

“You’re doing fine so far,” said Catherine. “As long as you stop hitting on me. I’m old enough to be your mother.”

“Really? You look good for your age.”

“Never insult a woman who can beat your ass,” said Jacques.

Catherine laughed at that.