Chapter 5
Moving On
Duroc didn’t know how to woo a female
because he never had. Many human females thought wolves old
fashioned and in a way they were. Women didn’t have the full rights
males did and even females such as Ariel often had to acquiesce to
their mates in many situations. While Blake and Ariel had managed a
balance that seemed to make them both happy, many never
did.
Being born human made things harder
because human females had expectations. Male wolves expected to
rule the roost and those expectations were not only hard to
understand, but rarely met. Bindi seemed to know enough about the
wolf world to realize what an alpha male would expect from his
mate, and she wasn’t willing to give it.
He understood if he pushed right now,
all would be lost. It went against his nature, but he needed to
step back and give her room. Letting her drive went against his
nature as well, but here she was driving. That seemed to please her
so maybe he was making points. This point system baffled him, but
others had explained he needed to let her have her way more than he
did, at least at first.
It was something he could dodo,
especially if it was not a permanent thing. Bindi was worth
fighting for and he would do whatever was needed. Duroc grabbed the
list from Moe as Bindi climbed into the driver’s seat. He hurried
out to join her. They were going out near Branson today. While Tyne
had a specialist that lived there and worked mostly from his home,
there was no way he could keep up with the demand for services in
that area.
There were four jobs on the list, but
one was a repair so it should be quicker. That really depended on
the issue. It was the furthest one from here so they would start
with it. The drive was nice with them catching views of the lake
off and on. Much of the area they drove through was wooded and he
yearned to go for a run but knew he couldn’t.
This job was located in a lake view
community, and everything here was perfect. All the yards were
perfectly manicured, and the houses spaced for ideal privacy. The
tracts the homes setwere on were about five acres. Looking at the
house they were atin, Bindi would call it a mini mansion. She’d
picked up the cute human terms from the white wolves. That term fit
it perfectly.
Everything was quiet, he thought too
quiet. “Let me go first. Keep the radio at the ready.” Bindi
nodded.
Duroc approached the front door and
knocked. No one answered so he waited a moment then knocked again.
Footsteps approached heavy and plodding. When the door opened a
weaselly faced guy answered. The guy looked surprised.
“Where’s the girl?” He spit
out.
“What girl?”
“I made the appointment
with a woman.”
“She’sShe’s, our
secretary.” Duroc explained. This guy looked so out of place
here.
“Fine. Come on in.” The guy
pulled a gun. “Do it slowly or I’ll blow you away.”
Duroc stepped in slowly, but when the
guy went to close the door, his fist went to the guy’s chin
knocking him out. Slapping ties on him first, then Duroc went to
look around. There was no way that guy was working alone. Walking
quietly, he approached a bedroom where two guys were trash talking
a poor woman they had tied up.
“I go first this time
Tim.”
“It don’t work that way.
You got to work your way up.” Tim was in the process of undressing,
so Duroc snuck up right behind them and smashed their heads
together hard enough to knock them both out.
“Are you alright?’ He asked
as he pulled the tape off her mouth gently.
“Yes.” She
whispered.
He continued to untie her as he
questioned her. “Anyone else with them?”
“All I saw was these two
and another guy who seemed to be in charge.”
Once she was free, he tied up the other
guys. “My partner is outside. Do you still want security set
up?”
“More than ever.” She
replied.
Duroc carried one of the assholes out
to the truck dropping him in the back. “There were three guys
waiting for us. Get started while I get the other two in the
truck.”
Bindi got out and checked the system
while he loaded the other two. Then he returned to the house to
check with her.
“The system was purposely
cut. I ran the line and repaired it. It’s working now.”
“I guess we can go.”
Because of the quick take down of the intruders and the easy
repair, they were on their way in no time.
“Want to call Moe? I
haven’t yet.” Bindi admitted.
“Hey, Moe. We have three
miscreants that were lying in wait at the repair job.”
“Did they go
easy?”
“Surprisingly. Now they are
in the back of our truck waiting for pickup.” Duroc
explained.
“I’ll have someone call
you. Meantime just leave them lie.”
“Gotcha.”
They headed to their second job, but it
wasn’t until their third that they got a call. “Hello?”
“Is this Duroc?”
“It is.”
“This is Vinnie. I’m with
the wardens and I hear you have a package to pick up?”
“I do and I’ll be glad to
get rid of it too.”
“Where are you right
now?”
Duroc gave him his GPS
coordinates.
“I’m not far. Is there any
privacy?”
“It’s pretty quiet out
here. No close neighbors but there is a road.”
“That will do. I’ll see you
in ten.”
In what was more like five minutes, a
guy pulled up in what looked like a big double cab forest ranger’s
truck. “I’ll take a load off your hands.” Vinnie
offered.
Duroc helped him load them into his
backseat. Vinnie waved as he took off and headed down the road. He
was relieved to have those guys gone. Tomorrow was date night, and
this incident hadn’t helped to get his sweetheart in the proper
frame of mind.
Going on to finish the list, there were
no more problems. Saturday was on his mind all the way to the
office. Moe had already told them what they needed to know and when
they arrived, they saw why. Someone else was filling in for Moe and
they already looked like they were in over their head. Since he’d
not seen this woman before, it seemed to be sink or swim training
and she was sinking fast.
“I’m Duroc and this is
Bindi. We’re here to check out.”
“Do you have your
list?”
“We do.” He handed it to
her.
“I’m Ellie and Moe is gone
for an emergency.”
“Nice to meet you.” Bindi
said and he echoed it.
They turned to leave. “Hey, do you need
anything else?” Ellie asked.
“No, we’re checked out
until Monday.” Duroc offered.
“Oh, good. Have a nice
weekend.”
“You too.” Bindi
said.
A whole day off was nice and it was
nicer because he’d be spending time with her. They split to each
take their own vehicles, but Duroc followed her. Why was he doing
that? Maybe he was trolling for a meal at Ariel’s? Everyone seemed
to love eating there.
When she got there and pulled into the
parking lot, Duroc was still with her. “What are you doing
here?”
“I have an appointment with
Ariel.”
“That’s one busy lady.”
Bindi observed.
“She’s got a lot of irons
in the fire.”
“Ellie won’t last. She’s
not able to keep things straight.”
“Maybe if she has more
training?” Duroc suggested.
“I’d have to assume she had
some.”
They got to the door and Ariel’s oldest
let them in. The scent of food permeated the house. There were few
people hanging around since it was a little early for supper. “I
see her.” Duroc said then he took off to let her know he was
there.
“Let’s talk in the
office.”
She led the way to Blake’s office and
gesturedgestured that he sit in the chair across from her. “I’m
sure you’re wondering why I want to see you?”
“Not really. You want a
lake house so you can live there until you have to leave and then
it’ll make a great vacation home.”
“How did, never mind. What
else do you see?” Duroc asked.
“You should wait. Even if I
looked it would take some time to find what you want.”
“I thought the cats were
almost all here and settled.”
“No, they aren’t, but
that’s not the reason. Buying homes and land has come into fashion.
The phase will pass, and the market will open up again.” Ariel
explained.
He could see she really believed he
needed to wait. “If you think it’s best.”
“I do, stay for supper,
it’ll be ready soon.” She led the way out of the office and back to
the dining room.
Duroc couldn’t see Bindi, but he
assumed she’d gone to her room to clean up. She came back out a few
minutes later. It was time for supper, so he escorted her to the
buffet. They were right behind Ariel. That would give them the best
selection. That made him hungry, and he couldn’t wait to get to the
food. His wolf agreed.
Their plates full, they sat down next
to each other. “Where you going tomorrow?” Ariel asked.
“Does everyone know?” Duroc
asked.
“Not everyone maybe a
handful of people.” Ariel replied.
“I’m not sure. There are
several choices.”
“You can go to Eureka or
Branson.” Ariel suggested.
“Or Holiday
Island.”
“That’s a great place too.
Maybe you don’t need any suggestions?”
He’d thought about renting a boat there
and taking her fishing. She’d never gone but he thought she might
enjoy it. Thank the goddess Ariel dropped the subject.
Bindi moaned. “This is
excellent.”
“What is it?”
“I snuck a bite ofoff my
cake. This is a dream.”
“That’s so naughty.” He
winked at her, and she turned pink.
They kept eating until they had nothing
left but dessert. Duroc tasted the cake first. “That is
amazing.”
When that was done, he was going to go.
“Duroc, why don’t you take Bindi to the rec area. I’m not sure
she’s been.”
“Have you been there?” He
turned to look at her.
“I walked through, but I’ve
not done anything there.” Bindi admitted.
“Maybe we can find
something to do.”
Ariel was gone by now, so they got up
and dropped off their plates and their items. He escorted his mate
to the building behind the house. It was a huge room with a ping
pong table and several pool tables. The bar was up against the
farthest wall with various bottled drinks. A locked cabinet held
hard liquor forliquor to be used for parties for adults. Beer was
on tap but guarded well. Everything else was water, soda, juice or