Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,94
sat down with their coffee and sweets. “John gave me a call, and we had a long talk about things. One thing led to another, and he issued the invite for me to come here and take a look around. I told him how things stood at home and all the reasons it would make sense to go lone wolf more officially than you and I have been doing. John offered an alternative that I think you’re going to like as much as I do.”
“Wait a minute, Arch. I support Brock as Alpha. He knows that.” Jim wanted that point to be clear.
“He does,” Arch agreed. “But he also knows that you and I don’t fit into the mold of the Pack he’s creating. There’s no room for the kind of work we do in White Oaks. It was fine when the Pack was smaller, and there were less vulnerable Pack members, but the work we do can have repercussions, and it’s safer for the Pack if we’re not seen to be part of it. I have never wanted to lead trouble back home to Brock and all those families under his rule.”
Jim sat back in his chair, just looking at his uncle. They’d never come out and said these things aloud, but they’d both known the day to break from White Oaks was coming sooner rather than later. Brock was building a Pack on the Big Wolf model. There were no mercenaries working out of Big Wolf. Jim suspected the Alpha there wouldn’t stand for that kind of thing, and he’d probably already talked to Brock about Arch and Jim’s presence and how it could negatively impact the rest of the Pack.
“For the good of the Pack, it’s time for us to make a decision,” Arch said in a solemn tone.
“There’s something else you may not know that has to be considered,” Jim said, needing everything out on the table so they could make fully informed decisions. “Helen is my mate. I’ll be going wherever she wants to go. If she wants to go back to Pennsylvania to be near her family, then that’s where I’ll be.”
“Understood.” Arch nodded. “And congratulations. I was hoping you two would make a go of it.”
“You were?” Jim was surprised, but then, he realized he probably shouldn’t be. Arch was one of the best at observation. He’d probably pegged Jim and Helen at a hundred paces. Jim shook his head. “Of course you saw what I didn’t. Question withdrawn.” He chuckled at the way Arch just shook his head and grinned.
“Look,” Big John spoke for the first time since sitting down, “I know you have things to work out, but I wanted to be here to let you know that the invitation is open for you both to stick around here for a while. A long while.”
Jim was surprised, all over again, at the Alpha bear’s willingness to let a wolf—now two wolves—make a home here in the haven he’d set up specifically for bear shifters. He was going to ask why, and maybe, finally, he might get an answer.
“With all due respect, Alpha, but just why is that? Neither of us were part of your unit. We’re wolves, not bears. Why the red carpet treatment?” Jim tried to keep his tone respectful, but he really wanted to know.
Big John sat back and sighed. “There are a few reasons, son, and I see I’m going to have to give you some of them to satisfy your curiosity. Hell, you sure you’re a wolf and not some kind of cat?”
Arch laughed, and Ezra chuckled, but Jim just waited patiently to hear what John would say.
“I’ll vouch that he’s one hundred percent wolf,” Arch said playfully, “though he does swim like a fish.”
“Which could come in handy in a town that was created for bears but has become a haven for a mer pod and all sorts of magical Others that I never could have expected,” John said, his tone only slightly exasperated. “You may not realize this, but your uncle and I go way back,” John revealed, surprising Jim.
“You never said anything,” Jim said, looking straight at his uncle.
Arch shrugged. “What was there to say? I’ve worked with a lot of people in my time, but yeah, I’ve always had a high regard for Big John. A better tactician I have never met, and I’ve met more than a few men who were very gifted in that area. Johnny’s the best of the best.”
John