Tooth and Claw (Kootenai Pack Book 1) Read online

  “If you’re willing to hang out in Mainsbury for a few extra hours, you’ll be leaving with a new bionic arm,” he said sounding incredibly giddy, “It’s 3D printing now, I just need to get another scan of your residual limb for the socket.”

  My mind raced to what was left in my savings. I mentally calculated what I could do. The arms were getting more affordable every year, I could get a low end model and still have enough to get my car fixed, while keeping my emergency fund intact. But I did just fine with the old prosthetic, I just needed a more comfortable socket. I sighed, resigned, this was a luxury I wanted, but didn’t need.

  “Dr. Douglas,” I breathed, “I don’t think I can afford another one.”

  He smiled, “Not to worry. I had a few anonymous donors come to me over the past few weeks, which is covering a decent amount, and my office will cover the rest if you’re willing to let us use you on promotional materials.”

  “Anonymous donors?” I asked sagging, “I can’t take any more money from Easterville. They’ve done so much for me already.”

  Dr. Douglas shook his head, “I can’t tell you who they are, but I can tell you it wasn’t anyone from Easterville.”

  I wanted to dig into it more but this was too good to be true, “Thank you,” I breathed, “And yea, go right ahead with the promotions and stuff. Whatever you need.”

  Dr. Douglas smiled, “Awesome! Are you ok if we do some of the materials today? Get shots of the process?”

  I nodded, “Sure that’s fine. I’m not really dressed for-”

  “Becky!” he called his medical assistant into the exam room, “She agreed to do it. Bring in the team.”

  Over the next hour the exam room was transformed with big lights, a video camera, and a regular camera. A team of ten people were wandering around getting everything ready. Someone put makeup on my face, something I’d never really worn before. Wolves didn’t trust cosmetics and after I’d lost my hand, it wasn’t worth the extra hassle.

  They also had me dress in a set of workout gear that was more revealing than anything I’d choose for myself. I was worried before I caught a glimpse in the mirror, I looked good.

  Finally, the appointment could progress. I sat on the table and the team filmed Dr. Douglas scanning my arm and explaining the process to me. I nodded and smiled as directed. It took a couple of takes before they were satisfied with the result. Then they filmed Dr. Douglas showing me the bionic arm he was 3D printing. I remembered from the last arm it took several days to print one, so for him to have it nearly done, he’d known I’d agree.

  Dr. Douglas fitted me for the socket and attached the arm to it. I didn’t need to be told to smile when it was on me. It was a step up from my previous arm. It was lighter weight, but Dr. Douglas assured me that it had the same weight tolerances as the old one. I articulated the fingers as instructed as well as all the range of motion exercises.

  For the first time in a long time I was happy. I gave Dr. Douglas a big hug and set up a time with his media crew to come to the Tooth and Claw the next morning for pictures in the pub.

  I slept like a rock that night. All the excitement of the bionic arm must have worn me out. Evan didn’t come into my room to wake me up either. I dreamt of Kendrick’s wolf. Of chasing him through the woods again. Jumping over trees without fear. The dream was so vivid so real. I could swear I smelled wolf in my room when I woke the next morning.

  I felt foolish when I asked Evan if he could smell it too. He raised an eyebrow at me and just walked back to his room.

  I dressed in my Tooth and Claw V-neck and pulled on my only pair of jeans and tennis shoes. I thought about what I’d looked at when I’d been searching for a prosthesis. I wanted to wear jeans, I wanted to wear shoes with ties. I’d wanted to feel normal again.

  I ran down stairs and got the pub ready. Sarah and Evan had worked without me while I was off getting my new arm. Sarah was a good employee, but a sloppy closer. I hurriedly mopped the floor and dusted the bar. I wanted my pub to look amazing.

  The media crew came right on schedule. They made up my face again and we got to work. They filmed while I pulled drafts, carried trays of drinks, and took orders. The pub wasn’t open, so the non-actively working media crew were the pub patrons. Evan came down after an hour to start his prep. He watched the spectacle with amusement but didn’t say anything.

  By the ten the crew was packing up, having gotten all they needed. I hurried and got my morning chores done by the time the pub opened at eleven. Thursdays for lunch were always slow in January so I wasn’t too worried if I was still cutting oranges when patrons arrived.

  “You didn’t howl last night,” Evan said casually from the kitchen. With our shifter hearing we could have a regular conversation rooms away from each other. We’d shout if humans were around to keep up the illusion. But when it was just Evan and me, there was no secrets.

  “I think maybe my wolf feels better because, I like having my bionic arm back,” I told him, that had to be the reason. It was the only thing that changed. To illustrate I raised the magnificent technology and gave him a thumbs up.

  Evan chuckled, “Yea, sure ok.”

  The day flew by. After the lunch crowd came and went, the locals commented on my bionic arm spreading the good news throughout town, the dinner crowd was packed. All the regulars wanted to see the arm and check up on me. Being busy was the best.

  The last call whistle sounded and everyone but Louie was heading home. I made a pot of coffee as Evan finished up cleaning the kitchen. I brought over the three mugs and we had our nightly ritual.

  Louie had only had three drinks that I’d served him today, about a 6th of his usual Thursday fare. He was the soberest I’d seen him after 10pm since before Edith left him.

  “You’re looking much better, Lee,” he told me sipping his coffee before grimacing, “oof that’s...”

  “What’s wrong with my coffee?” I asked looking over to Evan, “I made it the way I always do.”

  “You always make it like tar,” Evan laughed taking a big sip from his cup, “Louie’s just never been sober enough to notice.”

  Louie’s face flushed “Doctor says I have to take it slow. Too dangerous to go cold turkey. It’s hard. But I’m going to do it.”

  I smiled at Louie, “I’ll help you any way I can, Louie.”

  He smiled back.

  Evan drove Louie home and I finished up the nightly reports. We’d had a good night for a Thursday in January. These were March numbers. I should try getting a new arm more often. My inner wolf whined. She wanted to run.

  I couldn’t let her out. I’d let her run after I got back from Montana and she took off. Evan finally found me 50 miles from town, in the direction of...him. She couldn’t come out unless I shifted with Evan, and his bear was in hibernation mode. He’d only come out on unseasonably warm days or in an emergency. My wolf being whiny did not constitute an emergency.

  I finished my tallies as Evan walked back into the pub. He barred the front door, “Go on up, I have a few things to finish up down here, I’ll turn off the lights and set the alarm.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice, I barreled up the stairs ready to get to bed. I put my arm on the docking station and took a shower. The pull back toward the pack was stronger since coming back to Easterville. It seemed every day it ached even more. Keeping busy helped a lot, but in quiet moments it felt like my spine was being pulled through my body trying to force me forward, toward the pack. To him.

  My wolf whined more inside of me. She wanted out. She wanted to go. She needed to be home. But I couldn't let her. I couldn't do it. I couldn’t go. I couldn’t face the rejection again. I dried myself and put on my pajamas. I turned off my light and laid down. My wolf was whining inside me. She was antsier now. Each night she got worse. She fought harder against me.

  That night I dreamed of running as my wolf again. She was chasing Kendrick, again. We couldn’t see him, but we were hot on his trail. We could smell him. But it
didn’t smell like Kendrick. But it had to be Kendrick’s smell. We ran. In the morning I woke up to Evan cooking breakfast and the smell of another wolf.

  That morning I found one of Evan’s Tooth and Claw shirts in my room, but it smelled like the wolf from my dream. I held it to my face and she riled inside of me. She wanted to chase the source of the scent. I handed it to Evan. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

  “What do you smell?” I asked him. He sniffed it still looking at me like I’d gone off my rocker.

  “Just smells like you,” he told me from the hallway, “When’s the last time you did laundry? If you need to borrow my clothes, you must be getting desperate.”

  I groaned, not wanting to answer, it was before the kidnapping. After my return to Easterville, I couldn’t change the sheets on my own. But now that I had the spiffy arm, I could do it. If my wolf’s mood would improve enough to let me move beyond the bare minimum.

  “You didn’t howl last night either,” Evan noted when he returned to the kitchen.

  I shrugged. I guess she hadn’t.

  56

  6 years earlier

  “So have you given any more thought to what’s next?” Evan asked, leaning over the bar.

  “I only graduated yesterday, Ev,” I teased, focusing on filling the salt shakers before opening the pub for lunch, “Give me a little more time to figure it out.”

  “I’m just curious,” Evan said throwing his giant hands in the air backing up into the kitchen, “You don’t need to bite my head off.”

  “What? I didn’t bite your head off,” I said, an edge coming into my voice. I hadn’t been fighting before, but I sure would if Evan pushed me.

  From the office, I heard a muffled cough. At first I thought Earl was just covering up his laughter at the banter of his two favorite employees. But then the coughing continued, getting louder and sounding more painful.

  Evan ran out from the kitchen and looked around, obviously also hearing the hacking cough. We both went down the narrow hall opening the office door just as Earl took a wheezing breath in and stopped his coughing fit.

  “Earl, are you ok?” I asked rushing under Evan’s arm to Earl’s side behind the desk.

  “Just a summer cold, Lee,” Earl said patting my shoulder, “Nothing to worry about.”

  “Earl,” Evan’s tone brokered no nonsense. But Earl didn’t back down from his obvious lie, “Do you need to go to the hospital.”

  “Just a cold, son,” Earl said sternly, “Don’t you two have work to do? We open in an hour.”

  Evan and I exchanged a look but neither of us made any move to go back to work.

  “I won’t tell you twice,” Earl growled.

  Evan moved out of the office first, giving me the opportunity to look at Earl without the lumbering bear at my back. Earl had always been old to me, but he seemed even older now. His cheeks seemed more hollow than before, the bags under his eyes darker.

  “If you need to take the day to rest,” I offered, “You know, for your cold. Evan and I can handle the pub.”

  “Don’t worry about me, kid,” Earl said patting my shoulder, “I’m healthy as a horse, just a cold. Get back to work.”

  “Yes, sir,” I grumbled and left the room.

  57

  Present Day

  Dr. Douglas emailed over proofs from the shoot the next Monday. He told me they’d be in medical journals and select magazines as ads starting early February. He also said he’d be sending over a few of his favorites for me to put in the pub, if I wanted. I downloaded the pdfs but didn’t pay much attention to them. I got my new arm and that’s what really mattered.

  Sarah started classes back up so Evan and I were on our own until the weekend. We’d been flirting with the idea of hiring more help, but we usually managed just fine with the two of us when Sarah was in school.

  I was struggling though. My wolf made every activity a slog. She was letting me sleep better, but she wanted to run. She wanted to go home. She didn’t want this life anymore. And it was killing me.

  That night, I pretended to be asleep when I heard Evan come up the stairs. If he knew I was awake, he’d want to talk about my feelings. He worried about me enough. I knew if I asked, he’d force his bear from his torpor and guard my wolf while she ran. He’d done so much for me the past two weeks, I couldn’t ask any more.

  “Lee, you awake?” he asked in his normal voice.

  I lazily rolled toward the voice but didn’t open my eyes.

  I heard the door opened wider and I smelled wolf. My eyes flew open and I jolted upright, but it was just Evan silhouetted in the doorway.

  “Lee, are you ok?”

  I nodded quickly burying myself back in my blankets, “You just startled me, that’s all.” His weight creaked the floor boards as he walked over and sat on the bed. I could have sworn I smelled wolf.. I was terrified, my wolf was excited and it was all so confusing. I started to sob into my pillow, not caring that Evan was there.

  “Lee,” his voice was soft and his hands rested on my shoulders. I turned away from him, ashamed of the tears falling on my face. Sobs wracked my body.

  “You’re scaring me, Lee,” he said touching my face almost maternally, “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t want to go back there,” my words were muffled by the pillow, but I knew he could hear me, “I can’t face them again.”

  “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to,” he cooed stroking the hair on the back of my head, “Is it your wolf? Is she sick? Do you need to shift?”

  “She needs her mate,” I whimpered, “I dream about him every night. I...I can’t.”

  Evan’s hand stilled, “We’ll figure something out.”

  “I can’t go back there, Ev,” I twisted back to face him, “I can’t ever go back. But my wolf-”

  Evan’s jaw was tense and I could hear his molars grinding, “We’ll figure something out. You aren’t going back there. Try to get some sleep, ok?”

  I nodded. I didn’t feel Evan leave my bed, but he must have at some point.

  I dreamt of chasing the pull again. Hot on the tail of Kendrick’s wolf we ran. My wolf was on four legs again.

  The next morning I found Evan in the office of the Tooth and Claw he was sitting at the computer typing up a storm.

  “What’s going on?”

  Evan looked up at me, “I got a weird request from that production company Dr. Douglas sent, I’m just forwarding it to our lawyer so he can look at it.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “They want to use the Tooth and Claw for an episode of Bars, Bistros, and Badass Burgers on one of those cooking channels,” Evan said sounding unsure of himself, “Apparently one of the camera guys has a buddy who works on the show as a producer and they were talking and-”

  “Your burgers are badass,” I told him.

  “It would be incredible for Easterville,” he told me, “The information packet they sent was filled with restaurants seeing increased sales and towns seeing larger tourism dollars because of it.”

  “Would we have to shut down?”

  Evan nodded, “Filming would take about a week for it all, but they’d be willing to do it in February, which is our slowest month anyway.”

  “This could be really good for us,” I said liking the idea the more we talked about it.

  Evan sagged, “It could be, but Lee,” he looked at me, serious eyes, pitying eyes, shit, “With the way your wolf is. I don’t know if now’s the-”

  “She’ll suck it up,” I said, “I’ll buck her up. We’re equal partners in this business. I’m not going to let an opportunity like this pass us by because my wolf’s whiny.”

  “You’ve been through a lot the past few months, Lee,” Evan said, “I don't want to push you.”

  “Push me, it’s fine,” I told him, “I’ll handle it.”

  He didn’t look like he believed me but he dropped it, “Fine, once we hear back from Rory we’ll sign on and get our f
ifteen minutes.”

  Our lawyer apparently wasn’t great at the lawyer client confidentiality part of the bar code because as soon as we opened for business, every local in town congratulated us on being invited on TV. I was confident every Eastervillian popped in for a drink by the time last call sounded. For a Tuesday night in January, we’d made a lot of money.

  Wednesday we signed the agreement. By the first week of February the Tooth and Claw was closed for production.

  The filming of our episode of Bars, Bistros, and Badass burgers was more exhausting than I’d anticipated, and far less interesting that I would have thought. We got up before the crack of dawn and were working until after dark every day for a week. I was so exhausted and bored by the time we’d go to bed every night I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow, and slept dreamless sleeps.

  After filming was over, business at the pub picked up slowly. A few tourists filtered in on rumors the pub would be showcased on the new season. Then more streamed in. And more. Our February numbers climbed steadily more than making up for the first week’s closure.

  Every morning for almost two months I swore I smelled wolf in my room. Every morning, Evan denied smelling anything. So the fateful last Saturday in February, when I woke up to a sandy colored wolf sleeping at my feet, the jig was up.

  I poked the wolf until it woke up. The brown eyed beast yelped and jumped from the bed standing by my closet with her tail between her legs whimpering.

  “Evan,” I said loudly, “What’s going on?”

  The wolf continued to whimper, it was such a scared little thing I was worried it’d piddle on my floor, “You’re ok,” I told it in dulcet tones, “I’m just confused why you were in my bed.”

  The shaking slowed some. Evan pushed my door open and the wolf darted from the room through his legs, “Shit,” Evan cursed, watching the little wolf flee.

  “Why was there a wolf in my bed?” I asked crossing my arms, “And why have you been lying about not smelling one?”