Wolf with Benefits
Page 7
Because thats what was coming. Her brother might have the hands of a true artist, but his brain . . . his brain was like that of a sadistic psychiatrist who liked to see if he could force his patients to gouge out their own eyes during therapy appointments.
Lifting Denny into her arms, Toni grabbed Kyles hand and pulled him out of the office. Shed wait for her sister and Ric down the hall.
You going to yell at me? Kyle asked her once they were away from the office and the bobcats sniffling was the only thing that could be heard by their keen jackal ears.
She smiled at her brother.
Sure. They were typical black-backed jackals, which meant they fought amongst themselves whenever the mood struck them, but they were also family. And one messed with a jackal family at ones own risk.
Nah, little bro. She winked at him. Not this time.
CHAPTER THREE
Rickys brother Rory Lee sat at his big office desk and looked back and forth between Ricky and Reece. Hes useless to me, Rory told him. Useless! I cant use him for that job tonight.
Ricky Lee knew as soon as he saw Reeces wounds that he would end up having this conversation with their eldest brother, Rory. It was something to be expected. Rory Lee Reed was the oldest and the most uptight of the three of them but Rory had always felt it was his role to take care of themeven when they didnt need it.
Now, true, one could make an argument that Reece Reed always needed someone to take care of him because he seemed to stupidly stumble into deadly situations. But the truth was, their youngest brother knew exactly what he was doing and enjoyed every minute of it. And Rory enjoyed acting put-upon.
And what did Ricky enjoy? Well, as it turned out, Ricky enjoyed watching Rory get all upset while Reece willingly walked into stupid situations to get his ass kicked. It entertained him. Like NASCAR and good American beer.
Reece said something and Rory looked at Ricky. What did he say?
You didnt understand that?
With his jaw wired and his throat still recovering from that nicked artery? No.
I could.
Ricky, his brother growled, youre irritating me.
Reece says he can do the job fine.
How? His jaw is wired shut! Because you didnt keep him out of trouble like I told you to!
Im not my brothers keep
Shut up! Rory put his elbows on his desk and dug his hands under his baseball cap and into his hair. He scratched his scalp and made lots of snarling noises.
Poor guy. He took all this so seriously. The minutiae of it, anyway. Ricky and Reece only took their cases seriously. They cared about the clients, wanted to make sure they were as safe as possible. Thatwas their job after all. Protection specialists. Thats what their business cards said. Honestly, the Reed boys couldnt have a job more perfectly fitted for their natures. When their Packmate, Bobby Ray Smith, had been discharged from the Navy, he and his best friend, Mace Llewellyn, started this protection agency. Their older Tennessee Packmates and kin were none too happy about the idea but Ricky, Rory, and Reece all felt that it was getting a bit crowded in Smithtown, Tennessee, so theyd taken Bobby Ray up on his offer to start fresh in New York. It had been a good decision for all of them.
Llewellyn Security was doing really well, their business growing every day. Though most of their clients were shifters, they happily took on full-humans. Heck, money was money. And the more money they made from the full-humans and the richer shifters, the more they could help out those shifters who didnt have the money to pay but desperately needed their help. The one thing Ricky truly loved about his kind, no matter the breed or species, was their willingness to protect each other. Sure, lions might fight wolves, wild dogs might fight hyenas, and bears might slap around everybody, but when their kind faced real danger from the outside world, from the full-humans or the full-human governments, they all worked together. It was just understood that all Pack, Pride, or Clan issues took a backseat to the survival of shifters worldwide.
Yet while the bigger shifter-run organizations like The Group or KZS handled big scale situations that might involve one or more governments, it was the smaller companies like theirs that handled individual cases. Because the less full-humans saw any evidence of the existence of shiftersthe less full-humans had to die in tragic accidents.
Mace Llewellyn walked by Rorys office. He was staring down at some paperwork and barely glanced at them, grunting out a, Hey, before walking on. It would have been meaningless if Reece hadnt gurgled a return greeting at him.
Mace walked back several steps and slowly looked into the office until his eyes rested on Reece. Whats going on with his face? he asked.
Jaws wired, Ricky told him, not one for beating around the bush.
Whys his jaw wired?
Fight with Novikov.
Closing his eyes and letting out a big sigh, the lion male demanded, How many times are we going to have to talk to you about not fighting with Novikov before a big job?
Reece gurgled something and Ricky translated, He didnt start it.
I dont care! the lion roared.
Ricky looked at Reece. He doesnt care.
Is something wrong with his ears? Llewellyn asked. Has Novikov hit him in the head so many times that he no longer understands English?
Lifting Denny into her arms, Toni grabbed Kyles hand and pulled him out of the office. Shed wait for her sister and Ric down the hall.
You going to yell at me? Kyle asked her once they were away from the office and the bobcats sniffling was the only thing that could be heard by their keen jackal ears.
She smiled at her brother.
Sure. They were typical black-backed jackals, which meant they fought amongst themselves whenever the mood struck them, but they were also family. And one messed with a jackal family at ones own risk.
Nah, little bro. She winked at him. Not this time.
CHAPTER THREE
Rickys brother Rory Lee sat at his big office desk and looked back and forth between Ricky and Reece. Hes useless to me, Rory told him. Useless! I cant use him for that job tonight.
Ricky Lee knew as soon as he saw Reeces wounds that he would end up having this conversation with their eldest brother, Rory. It was something to be expected. Rory Lee Reed was the oldest and the most uptight of the three of them but Rory had always felt it was his role to take care of themeven when they didnt need it.
Now, true, one could make an argument that Reece Reed always needed someone to take care of him because he seemed to stupidly stumble into deadly situations. But the truth was, their youngest brother knew exactly what he was doing and enjoyed every minute of it. And Rory enjoyed acting put-upon.
And what did Ricky enjoy? Well, as it turned out, Ricky enjoyed watching Rory get all upset while Reece willingly walked into stupid situations to get his ass kicked. It entertained him. Like NASCAR and good American beer.
Reece said something and Rory looked at Ricky. What did he say?
You didnt understand that?
With his jaw wired and his throat still recovering from that nicked artery? No.
I could.
Ricky, his brother growled, youre irritating me.
Reece says he can do the job fine.
How? His jaw is wired shut! Because you didnt keep him out of trouble like I told you to!
Im not my brothers keep
Shut up! Rory put his elbows on his desk and dug his hands under his baseball cap and into his hair. He scratched his scalp and made lots of snarling noises.
Poor guy. He took all this so seriously. The minutiae of it, anyway. Ricky and Reece only took their cases seriously. They cared about the clients, wanted to make sure they were as safe as possible. Thatwas their job after all. Protection specialists. Thats what their business cards said. Honestly, the Reed boys couldnt have a job more perfectly fitted for their natures. When their Packmate, Bobby Ray Smith, had been discharged from the Navy, he and his best friend, Mace Llewellyn, started this protection agency. Their older Tennessee Packmates and kin were none too happy about the idea but Ricky, Rory, and Reece all felt that it was getting a bit crowded in Smithtown, Tennessee, so theyd taken Bobby Ray up on his offer to start fresh in New York. It had been a good decision for all of them.
Llewellyn Security was doing really well, their business growing every day. Though most of their clients were shifters, they happily took on full-humans. Heck, money was money. And the more money they made from the full-humans and the richer shifters, the more they could help out those shifters who didnt have the money to pay but desperately needed their help. The one thing Ricky truly loved about his kind, no matter the breed or species, was their willingness to protect each other. Sure, lions might fight wolves, wild dogs might fight hyenas, and bears might slap around everybody, but when their kind faced real danger from the outside world, from the full-humans or the full-human governments, they all worked together. It was just understood that all Pack, Pride, or Clan issues took a backseat to the survival of shifters worldwide.
Yet while the bigger shifter-run organizations like The Group or KZS handled big scale situations that might involve one or more governments, it was the smaller companies like theirs that handled individual cases. Because the less full-humans saw any evidence of the existence of shiftersthe less full-humans had to die in tragic accidents.
Mace Llewellyn walked by Rorys office. He was staring down at some paperwork and barely glanced at them, grunting out a, Hey, before walking on. It would have been meaningless if Reece hadnt gurgled a return greeting at him.
Mace walked back several steps and slowly looked into the office until his eyes rested on Reece. Whats going on with his face? he asked.
Jaws wired, Ricky told him, not one for beating around the bush.
Whys his jaw wired?
Fight with Novikov.
Closing his eyes and letting out a big sigh, the lion male demanded, How many times are we going to have to talk to you about not fighting with Novikov before a big job?
Reece gurgled something and Ricky translated, He didnt start it.
I dont care! the lion roared.
Ricky looked at Reece. He doesnt care.
Is something wrong with his ears? Llewellyn asked. Has Novikov hit him in the head so many times that he no longer understands English?
