With Raymond having only two-collar shirts, and the other one red—something his ginger ass wouldn’t tolerate—he got stuck with something from Dominick’s closet, an oversized, button-up plaid. His brother grinned as he slung an arm around him.
“Twins.”
“Fuck off.”
“Chin up, little brother,” Dominick teased. “Now that I’m a taken man, maybe you’ll have a chance with the ladies.”
“Not interested in catching fleas.”
“Don’t my boys look handsome. Smile.” Mom had her damned phone up and was clicking away. He didn’t know what for since she didn’t use social media. Perhaps she had massive cloud storage where she kept all their pictures in anticipation of a future wedding slideshow to torture guests. “Let’s get going.” She swept out the door.
“In a second,” Dominick said. “I wanna tell Pammy we’re going.”
“Pretty sure she already knows,” tittered Maeve, bouncing down the stairs and outside.
While Pammy hadn’t answered any calls or texts to say whether she was going to the barbecue, she did reply when Stefan fired her a message that said simply, Someone should watch the kids while we’re out. Sixteen-year-old Tyson and nine-year-old Daphne were too young for the visit.
Tyson wasn’t happy about it, and he glowered at them from a spot halfway up the stairs. “It’s not fair. I should be allowed to go. You’re treating me like a baby.”
“You want me to treat you like a man?” Dominick grabbed the kid by the back of the neck and reeled him close. “You are the man of the house the moment we leave. Something happens to your sisters while we’re gone, and we will blame you.”
Big eyes blinked.
Dominick smiled with too many teeth to be friendly. “We clear?”
Tyson nodded and swallowed hard.
“Bravo,” Stefan muttered, clapping. “And in case it wasn’t clear, ditto to what he said.”
They then yelled good-bye to Daphne, who was already scanning the horror movie channel, which had Tyson gulping. “She’s too young for that, right?”
“I’m sure you’ll reassure her if she gets scared.” Stefan clapped his brother on the back before he left.
While Stefan had ridden his bike to the farmhouse, Mom had already told him he’d be riding with the family in one of two vehicles. His luck, he ended up in the passenger seat of the minivan, a baby blue vehicle with a stick family running from a dinosaur in the rear window. Raymond, Anika, and Dominick sat in the back two rows. Maeve, having plans for later, insisted on driving her Jeep and took off like a purple bat out of Hell.
Not so the minivan. Mom drove. The speed limit. It gave them too much time to talk.
“Any idea how many people will be at this party?” Dominick asked.
“Enough that we’ll be in trouble if someone steps out of line.” Mom’s warning came with a flash of her eyes in the rearview mirror, ensuring everyone felt the glare.
“I’d listen to Mom and think twice about causing trouble.” Raymond had taken the third row of seating and had a laptop balanced on his knees—not the kind bought in a store. He’d modified it to his use.
“Mama’s boy,” Stefan coughed.
“More like smart one. I’ve been searching this Valley Pack group.”
“Searching what? I highly doubt the local werewolves are advertising their presence,” Stefan drawled with a hint of sarcasm.
“No, but digging into the address we’re visiting brought up some interesting items. Such as the fact a company labeled The LVP owns Gwayne Pendraggun’s house. As a matter of fact, LVP has bought many houses in this neighborhood via many shell companies in the past few years, which I’ll admit took some serious digging to discover.”
“Meaning they’re coordinated, with money,” Anika pointed out.
“How many houses we talking about?” Dominick asked.
Raymond had a ready answer. “Try more than fifty.”
Dominick whistled. “That’s a lot of wolves.”
“If they’re all able to morph,” Stefan retorted. Nimway had acted as if it were a given. He still had his doubts.
“Even if they can’t, they might possibly pass on that gene to their children.” Mom’s contribution as she stopped well before the light turned yellow to the annoyance of the car following.
“What makes you think that?” Stefan didn’t follow the logic.
It was Raymond who said, “Because the houses they bought are single-family homes. We’re talking three and four bedrooms with yards and double driveways with garages.”
“Good for them. They want to have puppies in suburbia.” He couldn’t have said why he remained acerbic. “It still doesn’t mean shit to us, given they’re in Barrhaven with plenty of room to expand.” Mom’s house was in Richmond, southwest of where the wolves had taken up residence.
“I don’t think it’s about expansion, but protection,” Mom interjected. “In the wild, predators tend to stake out territory and then maintain its boundaries. It’s to create a safe haven for the breeding females and young.”
“We’re not animals,” Stefan barked.
“No, but you’re also not just human either, my dear son. Some of your motives might be driven by that specialness inside you.”
“Maybe that explains my urge to mark my condo with piss.” Sarcasm was his method of coping, but his family didn’t always appreciate it.
“If you can’t say anything constructive, shut the fuck up,” Dominick snapped.
“Yes, Daddy.” Stefan couldn’t stop himself.
“I know you’re picking a fight in the hopes I’ll dump you on the side of the road and spare you this party. I will stop if you want me to. Just ask,” Mom said.
“You know I don’t want to go.” Even though he couldn’t explain why. “But I have to. I can’t let you face this by yourself.” He’d never get answers, such as the one that burned the most. How to make the hidden tiger within go away forever?
“Just try not to be an asshole,” Dominick grumbled. “Which reminds me, no seducing any wives at the party, Stefan.”
“Why are you singling me out? What about Ray? Or Mom? Have you seen what she’s wearing?” He’d noticed the rarely seen eyeshadow and jewelry.
“Don’t deflect. We both know they’re not the ones with a history of doing it,” Dominick reminded.
“It was only the one time.” And it got ugly, as the married woman left her husband, expecting them to get together.
She thought wrong.
Before Stefan could reply, Mom glared at him. “You cuckolded someone?”
“She seduced me,” Stefan exclaimed.
“You could have said no,” Mom hissed. “I didn’t raise you to be a home-wrecker. How would you feel if it happened to you?”
“Never going to happen because I am never getting married. Ever.” Stefan remained adamant on that point.
Dominick chuckled. “Never say never. Look at what happened to me.”
“Your stalking paid off,” muttered Anika, which drew even more laughter.