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“We introduce the Alpha to his new Second,” Benny said. “And then you’re going to kill him.”
Ryder started to argue, but Jessie mumbled something. His face hardened. “It would be a pleasure,” Ryder said. “It’s what comes after that, that worries me, Benny. I’m not cut out to settle in to Penticton and be the family patriarch. I need to roam. It’s not just a hobby. It drives me. I get restless, and I need to take off.”
Benny nodded. He got that. “McKenzie is an old shifter. You think he’s running things on a day-to-day basis? Going into the store, 9-5? Hell no. He’s got people for that. Just like you do in Horse Creek. You need to take off for a bit? Those managers will be grateful you’re not looking over their shoulders.”
Ryder snorted. “And plot an insurrection the minute my back is turned.”
Benny shrugged. “You’ve put down insurrections before.” And Ryder had. It had been brutal. But Ryder was still running Ryder Wolves, and the challengers were dead and buried somewhere in unmarked graves.
“You going to hang around and help with the re-organization?” Ryder asked. Benny reached out for Jessie, and he handed her over reluctantly.
“As long as you need me,” Benny said simply.
“And what about the Okanogan?” Ryder went on. “You going to take up the reins?”
“Not me,” Benny said. He glanced at Titus, then back to Ryder. “You are. Make that expanded pack a reality.” He grinned at his dumfounded brother. “Then you’ve got reason to roam — a trilateral pack. Penticton, Okanogan, and Horse Creek.”
“When did you come up with that preposterous idea?” Ryder demanded to know. “That won’t work!”
Benny looked at Titus. “It would, wouldn’t it?” he asked. “Three Seconds, Jessie in Penticton, you in Okanogan, and Diego in Horse Creek?”
Titus nodded his agreement. “Your Dad said whichever one of you showed up first to throw you the bonds,” he said. “I was to judge which one of you was the best to be Alpha. I’ve never heard of such a thing. But your Dad....”
Yeah, his Dad. Benny had figured there was something planned. Knowing his Dad, there were probably backup plans, and decision trees for more plans. Benny looked at Ryder. “Go on,” he ordered, and he put some dominance behind it to get him moving. “I need some solitude here to get Jessie back with us.”
Ryder was reluctant to go. Benny sympathized. In the best cases, mates holed up for a week or two and fucked like bunnies. He wasn’t sure Pete and Maria were ever going to get past that stage. But Ryder and Jessie would have to wait on that.
Benny sat down on the ground, still holding Jessie. “Hey,” he said. “Jessie. Wake up now. Focus on me.”
“I won’t be his assassin,” she said. “And I won’t be his toy. I’ll die first.”
“Focus on me,” Benny said, ignoring the words, although they broke his heart. “Who am I?”
Jessie blinked, and then squinted at him. “Benny? Make him go away!”
“I’m going to help you do just that,” he promised. “Did the barrier fall? We need to put that sound-proof glass back up. Can you find it?”
She scowled, but obediently looked inward. “There it is,” she said. “Back up you go.”
Benny hid a grin. She sounded drunk.
“But Benny, they are really upset,” Jessie said. “The pack. I don’t care about that asshole, and he’s not upset —just really, really angry. But everyone else feels....” She trailed off. “They feel needy,” she said finally. “It’s like they’ve got their faces pressed against the wall, and they look like The Scream —you know the Munch painting? Except there’s a lot of them. Can’t I do something for them?”
The girl had heart, Benny thought, the image of the painting flashing in his mind. He winced. That she could care, after all she’d been through? Tough chick. “Yes,” he said. “You need to give them a trickle of reassurance. Just a bit that says, mama loves you.”
She laughed at that. “How?”
Benny studied her for a moment. She was a city girl. Again the water weir imagery wasn’t going to work for her. “Do you garden?” he asked. “Ever used a garden hose? Let it run at a trickle to a plant?”
She shrugged. “The kitchen garden. But we used soaker hoses.”
Benny wasn’t completely sure what a soaker hose was. Yui and Okami would know. But they weren’t here, and really, it didn’t matter. Jessie knew. “OK,” he said agreeably. “I want you to raise the plexiglass barrier. Put down that hose, and then tighten the barrier so that nothing can get through to you — the water goes from you to them, right?”
She closed her eyes partway, and then she nodded.
“Good, now turn the water on,” he instructed. “It’s a flow of soothing goodwill and protection. Let them know you’ll take care of it. But just a little bit. You don’t want to make them drunk!”
She giggled, and then finally her shoulders relaxed. “That’s better,” she said with relief. “What about the Alpha?”
