“Enid. When did you leave the Air Force?” Hank came over and shook Enid’s hand with a warm smile.
“You two know each other?” Joe asked, eyeing them both.
“Hank came in to teach a special course to some of us jet jockeys about fifteen years back. On loan from Pepard Industries. You still work for Mark Pepard?” Enid asked as she returned the greeting.
“Always,” Hank replied. “So, you’re the priestess the whole town is buzzing about? I had no idea you knew anything about us.”
“Just following in my mother’s footsteps. She says I had to get the flying bug out of my system before I could settle down and answer the Lady’s call. I retired from the military a few years back and have been following the Lady’s path ever since,” she told Hank.
“Where are you based? Louisiana?” Hank went on.
“Temporarily,” Enid replied. “I haven’t found a permanent place yet.”
“Well, maybe I can help with that. I have connections all over. I could put out some feelers for you, if you like,” Hank offered.
“That’s very kind of you to offer, but I believe the Lady will show me the right path when it’s time.” She chuckled. “Waiting for a sign is considered an act of faith among my kind. And, for the record, I always knew you were a shifter.”
Hank smiled at her. “You played that real cool, Major. I had no idea.”
“Well, that was the plan,” Enid agreed, also smiling.
“You two sit,” Joe said, giving in to the inevitable and inviting the two men to sit with them for a bit. They took the seats on either side of the square table and made themselves at home.
“We won’t stay long, but we wanted to report back what we’d learned about that property you asked me to look into,” Ken said, speaking to Joe. “I asked Hank for a hand because it turns out there’s a small bobcat Clan living on the other side of the property line. I figured inquiries would come better from another cat than from me, and it worked like a charm. As soon as the Alpha cat realized we were allied with Pepard, he opened up and gave us some good information on the current owners of the land.”
Ken reached into his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a sheaf of papers and handed them over to Joe. Enid couldn’t help but be curious. Joe seemed to have his hands in many pies and all sorts of expansion plans. He looked over the papers, and an expression of satisfaction came over his face.
“This is very good, Ken,” he said finally. “Very good. And thanks, Hank, for your help.” Joe looked over at Enid with a speculative gaze. “This deal, if I can bring it to fruition, might be the perfect setup for Henri and his people.”
“Really?” Enid was impressed. Joe was already setting the wheels in motion for Henri. Joe certainly didn’t let any grass grow before he got to work. They’d only been in town for a few hours, and already, he had his people producing results.
“If it doesn’t appeal to them, I can always do something else with it, but I think it might be something Henri could work with long-term. It’s a good location, and now, we know there are shifters on one of the boundaries, so that should help with security if we can broker an alliance with the bobcats. Did they seem amenable to that kind of thing, Hank?” Joe asked his son-in-law.
Hank nodded. “I think so. They’re a small group, so allying with a Pack like yours would be in their best interest. And your Pack’s connection to the Jaguar Clan is iron clad since it’s a blood bond that can never be broken.”
“Looks like that empire you’ve always planned on might actually be coming to fruition, Dad,” Ken put in, grinning at his father.
“It’s not an empire. It’s safety,” Joe reminded his son. “The bigger the Pack, the stronger we’ll be when bad times come.”
Enid heard the ring of conviction in Joe’s tone and was impressed all over again, with his foresight and strength. This Alpha had lost his mate, but he’d found something to live for. The safety of his family and his Clan was a worthy goal for an eminently worthy man. Enid feared she was halfway in love with Joe already. Every new facet she saw of him only made her like him more. It was a dangerous path she was on. Dangerous to her heart and her future happiness, but she couldn’t seem to make herself leave it…or him. Not just yet, anyway.
Chapter Nine
The two men left when Joe and Enid’s dinner arrived. They ate together, and Joe realized just how comfortable he’d become having Enid around over the past day. He had a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach that hadn’t been caused by the spicy barbeque. It had more to do with being with someone special.
Yes, he could admit that, at least. Enid was very special. She made him feel alive again, and not just because of the sex. That was a major development, of course, since he’d thought that part of his life had been over forever. Still, it wasn’t the only reason he liked being around Enid.
She had a calming presence that soothed his wolf. Maybe it was a priestess thing. Maybe it was just her personality. He didn’t know why, but he liked being with her, even just shopping or walking around town or sharing a meal. He’d enjoyed today more than he could remember enjoying anything in quite a while.
They left the restaurant after dinner, pausing on the way out to say a few words to some of the Pack members who were there. Joe had promised Enid that they could stop by the Pack house so she could get a feel for the space. He borrowed one of the Pack vehicles that had been parked in the lot for the restaurant. Kevin usually used the old truck for deliveries at lunch time, but dinner wasn’t as busy for take-out.
Joe held the door for Enid then went around and got in the driver’s side. They drove for a few minutes to the outskirts of town where the Pack house was located on its own wooded lot. When he pulled into the drive, he noted more vehicles parked around the front entrance than he’d expected.
“Lot of people here tonight for some reason,” Joe observed, parking the truck in the last open spot. As they approached the front door, Joe started to understand why it was so busy. “Looks like they decided to do a little more decorating,” he observed, nodding toward the boxes marked Winter Solstice on the porch.
Joe opened the door for Enid and ushered her in. The sight that met their eyes was a bit chaotic, but one of the happiest tableaus Joe had seen in this house for years. A wave of emotion came over him, and for a timeless moment, he remembered a similar scene from years past.
They habitually put a very large Christmas tree on the side of the dining hall that featured nearly an entire wall of windows. Tess had started the tradition as soon as this new Pack house had been completed. She’d even used that fake snow spray to put little fake snow drifts in each pane of the large windows, throwing tinsel and lights all over the enormous tree they’d had that year, and every year after.
As they walked in and saw the bustle of mostly women, but also quite a few men that had been caught up in the spirit of the season, Joe thought for one split second that he saw Tess there, smiling at him from beside the giant tree, as she’d done so many times. Joe shook his head, and the vision was gone, but the feeling lingered.
“Is it okay?” Enid asked, touching Joe’s hand. Oddly, it didn’t feel like a betrayal to have just been thinking of happy times with Tess and then have Enid touch him. Her touch was calming. Almost like a benediction.