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Chapter 11
Day 159 of the re-emerged Hat Island pack, Wednesday, Nov. 13, Penticton
Jessie clutched hercoffee mug as she sat at the breakfast table in the Social Club, the pack’s club —which really was much nicer than the Last Chance, she admitted. Breakfast was being served, but most of the shifters who came in took a glance at their table, ate quickly and left.
She didn’t blame them. It was too early for this. No one had had enough sleep. She worried that tact was going to go out the window.
Well, at least her reason for no sleep was a good one. She glanced at her mate out of the corner of her eye and smiled to herself. They’d gotten back to the room, and she had mumbled something about a shower. Ryder followed her in to the bathroom. “Showers together saves water,” he’d said solemnly, but she saw the amusement in his eyes. “Really, it’s the least we can do to save the earth.”
She didn’t know if they saved water, but she wasn’t complaining. She wasn’t complaining about the sex that had followed either.
But 6 a.m. was damn early for a wakeup call.
So here they were, the two of them, Titus, Duncan and Dennis McKenzie, a guy named Buster Malloy, who apparently ran the lumber operation for the pack, and they were all waiting on Benny. The rest of the MC were at a different table by the window. They were none too happy about Ryder going off without guards last night, and he’d promised it wouldn’t happen again. Did that mean they were going to have men trooping along behind them for the rest of their lives?
Probably,Ryder said, proving that he was eavesdropping on her private thoughts. She scowled.But better to have guards than a short life.
Fine. She focused on the food, which was good and plentiful, and the coffee which was plentiful but bad. She’d have to fix that. Folgers wasn’t going to cut it.
Benny walked in finally. He got a cup of coffee from the waitress before even joining their table. “Sorry,” he said. “Bad night.”
“Problems?” Ryder asked sharply.
Benny shrugged. “Those kids were hurting,” he said. “I ended up at the bottom of a dogpile for part of the night. But the ones who were working morning shifts all made it down for breakfast. The others seemed to have things under control.”
“Kids?” Duncan said sharply.
“The recruits?” Benny said, he snagged a piece of bacon off Jessie’s plate. She slapped his hands. “Their employment bonds snapped and didn’t reconnect. Hurt like hell — just as if they’d been banished.” Benny appeared to consider that. “Well, maybe not quite that bad.”
“Employment bond?” Duncan asked. “I thought they were pack.”
Benny shook his head. “Apparently not. And the employment bond was with Hansen, not John McKenzie. What the hell was going on? Do you know?”
Duncan grimaced. “Some,” he said. “But I told John he was a damned fool, and we haven’t been speaking. Might have been shortsighted on my part, but damn it, he practically destroyed the pack 15 years ago, and here he was on another destructive path.”
“About sums it up,” Benny agreed. He smiled his thanks to the waitress and dug in. “So, what did I miss? Have we gotten to the good part yet?”
“We’ve been eating,” Jessie informed him, with mock haughtiness. She watched Benny with a frown. He was doing his charming act, but she wasn’t sure she bought it. “Shifters don’t talk with their mouth full.”
He grinned at her. “Well, you all are done eating,” he pointed out. “Who’s doing the briefing?”
“I’ll start,” Buster said. “I’ve got work to do. The timber operation is going well. I’ve got 40 men out in the woods. The mill employs another 62 men, and we’re in the black for the year. And if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get back to it.”
He stood up.
“Sit down,” Ryder said coldly. The man hesitated and sat back down. “Now. Let’s try that again. I’m quite sure that’s not the kind of briefing you gave McKenzie.”
Buster swallowed hard. “Sorry, Alpha,” he mumbled. Jessie didn’t buy that either, but at least he’d used the word Alpha. “What would you like to know?”
“How many acres of timber land do we own? How many acres do we have leases on? What is the age of the equipment? How is our safety record in the forest, and in the mill?” Ryder rattled off the questions. Jessie sat back in her chair and hid her smile behind her coffee cup.
