Packed: The Enforcer: A Shifter Paranormal Romance by Carolyn Faulkner
Authors: Carolyn Faulkner
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Alpha-Omegas."
Cash rose immediately to come around to the front of his desk and hug her tightly. "I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that, Mari. It just hasn't been the same without my little sister by my side."
As she hugged her brother with all her strength, Mari shed a single tear, both for the enormity of what she was gaining, and losing, at the same time.
* * *
She got into the swing of their small society much more easily than she had expected to, though. She was an independent, single woman, and there weren't many of those around the club. The mates pretty much stayed at home and raised the children, although they could certainly work if they liked. But the guys brought in more than enough money for them not to have to, and the majority didn't. Lots of them did volunteer work, mostly for the children in the area, and that kept them busy.
But her relationship to their leader meant that the single guys in the pack considered her pretty much off limits – except, of course, for the one she wasn't supposed to want. None of them was willing to brave Cash – except Tek. She had been glad to see that he had treated her reentry into pack society as serious, and they had not had a liaison since the fateful night after the potluck. They hadn't even really talked at all. Tek did his best to stay out of her way, usually finding some excuse to leave a room once she'd entered it, and spending his time with the other single guys at pack parties, instead of hanging with Cash and Abby as he used to, because she was also there. Mari tried to do her part, too, making sure they weren't alone together any more than they had to be. It wasn't as if their desire for each other could be shut off, but it could, apparently, be stuffed down, and that was exactly what she intended to do, and day after day, week after week, month after month, it began to get the tiniest bit easier to do that.
At least until she saw him again. Then it was back to square one, every time. He seemed to be coping much better than she was, it seemed, and that was hard for her to realize, too.
Mari took to spending her off time – what there was of it – at the club, and, with her business degree, quickly found herself getting involved in the financial end of things. That was something that Cash did because it was his responsibility, but he didn't like it. He was only too happy to turn over those duties to his sister, whom he trusted with his life and his money, which was saying something.
She tried to make sure she was there for every pack event, whether it was just someone's birthday, or a Fourth of July barbeque at Cash and Abby's, or a more official occasion, such as voting on whether or not someone could join the club. Ancestry and family history with the pack were only part of what one needed to become a full fledged member - and she quickly became known as a smart, level headed cookie, whether she was dealing with someone who had been shot up in a raid gone bad, or with the inevitable search warrants that were occasionally presented from the police. She knew most of the officers on the squad and they knew her, so she was very congenial with them, which was a very different reception than the antagonistic one that usually met with them. Mari served them coffee and home baked cookies while they were rummaging through the clubhouse.
That became a bit of a bone of contention with some of the members, who thought she was aiding and abetting the enemy, and she was called before their council, which consisted of the Alpha, his enforcer – who was Tek – and three other of his most trusted men. Although all decisions were his to make, regarding the club, he was also expected to take into consideration the advice his council gave him on matters affecting the pack.
In the end, though, she was able to convince them that her way of treating the law – openly, with good humor and courtesy – would make them less likely to think of them as outlaw
Cash rose immediately to come around to the front of his desk and hug her tightly. "I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that, Mari. It just hasn't been the same without my little sister by my side."
As she hugged her brother with all her strength, Mari shed a single tear, both for the enormity of what she was gaining, and losing, at the same time.
* * *
She got into the swing of their small society much more easily than she had expected to, though. She was an independent, single woman, and there weren't many of those around the club. The mates pretty much stayed at home and raised the children, although they could certainly work if they liked. But the guys brought in more than enough money for them not to have to, and the majority didn't. Lots of them did volunteer work, mostly for the children in the area, and that kept them busy.
But her relationship to their leader meant that the single guys in the pack considered her pretty much off limits – except, of course, for the one she wasn't supposed to want. None of them was willing to brave Cash – except Tek. She had been glad to see that he had treated her reentry into pack society as serious, and they had not had a liaison since the fateful night after the potluck. They hadn't even really talked at all. Tek did his best to stay out of her way, usually finding some excuse to leave a room once she'd entered it, and spending his time with the other single guys at pack parties, instead of hanging with Cash and Abby as he used to, because she was also there. Mari tried to do her part, too, making sure they weren't alone together any more than they had to be. It wasn't as if their desire for each other could be shut off, but it could, apparently, be stuffed down, and that was exactly what she intended to do, and day after day, week after week, month after month, it began to get the tiniest bit easier to do that.
At least until she saw him again. Then it was back to square one, every time. He seemed to be coping much better than she was, it seemed, and that was hard for her to realize, too.
Mari took to spending her off time – what there was of it – at the club, and, with her business degree, quickly found herself getting involved in the financial end of things. That was something that Cash did because it was his responsibility, but he didn't like it. He was only too happy to turn over those duties to his sister, whom he trusted with his life and his money, which was saying something.
She tried to make sure she was there for every pack event, whether it was just someone's birthday, or a Fourth of July barbeque at Cash and Abby's, or a more official occasion, such as voting on whether or not someone could join the club. Ancestry and family history with the pack were only part of what one needed to become a full fledged member - and she quickly became known as a smart, level headed cookie, whether she was dealing with someone who had been shot up in a raid gone bad, or with the inevitable search warrants that were occasionally presented from the police. She knew most of the officers on the squad and they knew her, so she was very congenial with them, which was a very different reception than the antagonistic one that usually met with them. Mari served them coffee and home baked cookies while they were rummaging through the clubhouse.
That became a bit of a bone of contention with some of the members, who thought she was aiding and abetting the enemy, and she was called before their council, which consisted of the Alpha, his enforcer – who was Tek – and three other of his most trusted men. Although all decisions were his to make, regarding the club, he was also expected to take into consideration the advice his council gave him on matters affecting the pack.
In the end, though, she was able to convince them that her way of treating the law – openly, with good humor and courtesy – would make them less likely to think of them as outlaw
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