Force of Temptation

“They did,” agreed Eli, their Head Enforcer. A dopey-looking Labrador, Bruce, lay at his feet. “Considering we only have two pups in our pack, do you think you might have gone a little overboard?”

“Hey, if my old pack had a play area like that when I was a pup, I’d have loved it,” said Bracken. The enforcer had grown up in the same pack as Jesse and another enforcer, Zander. Their old pack was nothing like this one. The Mercury Pack was a close-knit bunch that protected their own fiercely.

Jesse, Bracken, and Zander had been Mercury wolves for over three years now. It was a small pack, but it was by no means weak—particularly since their Alpha, Nick, was powerful and dangerous.

“Cassidy’s settling in so well,” said Shaya. “Everyone at the shelter warned me that it’s often hard for kids to adjust, but Cassidy already considers this her home.”

Cassidy was a four-year-old pup the Alphas were fostering, who had been staying in a shelter for lone shifters up until eight weeks ago. A friend, Makenna, worked at the place, having once been a loner herself until she mated with a Phoenix Pack wolf—a pack that was very closely allied to Jesse’s.

Ally, the Beta female, gave a soft snort. “It’s not like she was reluctant to come with us.”

That was true. Jesse had accompanied Shaya and Ally when they went to the shelter to donate clothes. Cassidy—who they had never seen before that day—had been waiting for them with her backpack full and announced, “I’m ready to go with you now. Did you bring Willow with you?”

It turned out that Cassidy, like Ally, was a Seer. She had foreseen being fostered by the pack and was more than ready to come, eager to meet the Alpha pair’s three-year-old pup.

“Makenna was surprised that Nick was open to fostering,” said Roni, a female enforcer who was also the sister of both Nick and Eli. Roni was mated to a Phoenix Pack enforcer, Marcus. The pair acted as enforcers for both packs. “In fact, I was too.”

Jesse had been just as surprised. “He doesn’t exactly welcome outsiders.”

Shaya snickered. “He doesn’t exactly welcome insiders.” Nick was highly antisocial, which was tempered by his mate’s warm nature. As Shaya was a very compassionate and positive person, it often came as a surprise to people that she was also handy with knives and a shotgun—that was thanks to the teachings of her human, ex–Navy SEAL father.

Knowing there was a small chance that Nick would accept an outsider, Shaya had simply taken the child home. Cassidy had happily skipped into the main lodge and chatted to a confused Nick like she’d known him for years. The Alpha male had just sort of stared at her, totally bemused.

“I’m glad Nick was okay with it,” began Ally, “because I wouldn’t have had the heart to take her back to the shelter.”

Derren, the Beta male, leaned into Ally and nuzzled her neck. “And you like the idea of being around and tutoring another Seer.”

Ally smiled at him. “Of course. She’s a good student. Bright. Tries hard. She just needs help vocalizing what she’s foreseen. It’s hard for a child’s mind to translate an adult situation. I only had someone to guide me for a little while.”

“But she’ll have you,” said Derren. “And you can also help her learn how to cope with the sensory overload.”

Being a Seer didn’t just entail visions. They were also highly empathetic, which could no doubt be overwhelming. Picking up emotions caused physical sensations for them; if an emotion was positive, the sensations would be pleasant. But if the emotion was negative, the sensations could be anything from uncomfortable to painful.

“Where are your mom and sister?” Ally asked Bracken.

“Sightseeing,” he replied. Bracken’s mother and younger sister had come to visit for three weeks. In Jesse’s opinion, it wasn’t so much a visit as an attempt to lure Bracken back to their old pack in Arizona. The guy’s mother, a person who disliked the majority of the population, adored her son and preferred to have him close. Bracken turned to Ally and Jesse. “Can I just say I’m sorry about my sister?”

The Seer lightly patted his back. “No need to apologize.”

“Yes, there is,” insisted Bracken. “I asked you guys to train Kim because she said she was interested in being an enforcer. I thought she meant it.”

Ally sighed. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s not wrong that she doesn’t take life too seriously and wants to have fun. But there’s a flip side to all that—she’s operating on her own timeline, so she’s often late. She doesn’t like rules, so she bristles at our orders. In not taking life too seriously, she’s not taking the sessions seriously. That’s the problem.”

“And she pays a little too much attention to Jesse,” added Bracken.

Ally inclined her head. “Well, yeah.”

The whole thing grated on Jesse’s nerves. There was only one female he and his wolf wanted—a pretty little margay shifter with a will of iron and a spine of steel. Jesse knew she was in California, working at a club not far from his territory. He also knew he wasn’t going to let her leave the state. He’d hoped Harley would come to him, had waited patiently, but she hadn’t. One more week. He’d give her one more week. If she didn’t come to him, he’d go to her.

“She gets a little distracted by him,” added Ally.

“A little distracted?” repeated Bracken with a snort. “That’s an understatement.”