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Jessie pulled out her phone and punched in a number. “What’s going on?” she asked someone. “Yes, we’re headed back.”
Benny glanced at Ryder who was turned around, facing back. Titus, Ryder mouthed.
“OK, I’ll tell them,” Jessie said, and ended the call.
“There are some pickups of young men driving up and down the road in front of the house,” Jessie reported. “Titus says they’re hollering, probably been drinking. He doesn’t think they’ll do more than that. But the women are scared, and that’s what I picked up on. He doesn’t blame them for being scared, and I don’t either. But he thinks it’s under control.”
“He’s right, they may stop there with just scaring them,” Benny said grimly. “And then, again? They may not.”
“Yeah.”
Benny looked at Ryder. “Can you tell anything? Are there pack members congregating at Duncan’s house?”
“It has a name,” Duncan said. “I always jump when you call it Duncan’s house. It’s called Wolf’s Head.”
“Living in plain sight, are you?” Benny murmured. “And what’s the name of the pack house?”
“Wolf’s Head Winery,” Duncan said promptly. “Good wine too.”
Ryder snorted, but Benny saw his shoulders drop a bit, as if the humor released tension. “No, I don’t feel a gathering of pack,” Ryder said. “Not sure that I can do that yet. Be my guess, though, that they’re some of the recruits.”
Benny didn’t know if that was good or bad. The recruits were unpredictable. They couldn’t be judged by what wolves would do. But they weren’t human either. The wolf could drive them to do things humans wouldn’t normally do.
“Turn left,” Duncan said. “There’s a shorter route this time of night. Clogs up something fierce during the rush hour, but....”
Benny turned right and followed Duncan’s directions. They turned onto the street in time to see a man go over the wall. “Call the house,” Benny said. “Give them warning. Who did you say was in the attic? Amanda? Can she shoot?”
A shot pierced the night.
“Guess so,” Benny muttered.
“Let me out,” Ryder said grimly. Benny pulled over, turning to argue with Ryder. They needed to get him inside the gate and safe! Then he realized they couldn’t open the gate, not with three pickup-loads of young men hollering outside the walls.
Jessie scrambled out of the back seat, and Benny sighed. He turned off the motor and got out too. “Left shoulder,” he murmured to Jessie. She nodded and fell into place. Benny took Ryder’s right. It didn’t matter, really. Some Seconds chose one side or the other. But Benny was right-handed, and he liked to have that arm free to move. He felt Duncan and Dennis behind him. He tensed just a bit. Well, if he couldn’t trust the two of them, they’d find out now.
Ryder prowled forward. Benny thought his wolf must be near the surface. Jessie’s wolf was too —she was padding forward like she’d be on four feet at any moment. In fact that wasn’t a bad idea. “Ryder, hold up,” he said softly. “Let Jessie shift.”
Jessie didn’t wait. She kicked off her boots, pulled the sweater off over her head, and shifted. She shook the pants off and stepped out of them. Seconds later, she moved forward so that she paced beside Ryder, rather than followed him.
“Go,” Benny said.
Ryder walked out into the middle of the street and stood there, outlined in the headlights. The men in the back of the first truck quieted down. The second vehicle pulled over onto the verge. And the third was behind it. “Out of the car,” Ryder ordered. “Now!”
The men got out slowly and walked forward. “A bunch of sorry-assed, good-for-nothing wannabes out to terrorize some women?” Ryder growled. Benny’s eyes widened. “I hope you’re proud of yourself. You got one man killed. How many more of you want to go down tonight? I didn’t get my workout in today.”
“Who do you think you are?” someone demanded. “You think you can come in here and change everything? Who elected you? Do you think you’re God?”
“Yes,” Ryder said. “I’m in charge. I’m more powerful than you are. I’m trained, and I’ve fought before. I was in Iraq. I was in Fallujah. Mosul. I’ve killed. And you have no fucking clue about anything. Now I can teach you. I can teach you to be men —shifters. Men you can be proud of. That I can be proud to have in my command. Or you can come at me right now and die. Your choice.”
“And what if we just get in a pickup and drive away?”
“Then I will hunt you down like a rabid dog,” Ryder said. “You don’t know enough to be a loner. You’ll violate first rule before you get out of town. And it will be my duty to put you down just like I would any animal that’s a danger to society.”
There was muttering at that.
“So, I want to see you,” Ryder said. “Line up. Six across, as deep as you need to be. Let’s see what I’ve got to work with.”
Benny was speechless with admiration. Ryder was channeling his Army sergeant days, and he was going to make it work. It worried him though. They’d left these guys under guard, hadn’t they? Where were Ryder’s Wolves? If these bozos had harmed one of his men, Ryder would shred every last one of them.
