pushed his empty plate away. âAre you certain the other wolves havenât caused trouble for any members of our pack?â He couldnât imagine they had left the females alone.
Allan stopped eating his chicken and watched to see his momâs expression.
âNot for me. As far as I know, not for any of the others either.â
Catherine sounded evasive, and she glanced at Allan as if worried he might believe she wasnât telling the truth. Paul thought she was getting technical with him. Trying to pin her down, he asked, âSo youâre saying if someone had difficulty with any of them, she just didnât tell you.â
âWell, right.â
Paul ground his teeth. âBut you suspect one of our women had difficulty with one of them?â
âMaybe or maybe not. The men have gotten into a couple of barroom brawls that I heard about. Thatâs when I learned they were actually living in the area now and working for Somerville. No one in our pack told me that theyâd had difficulties with the men. Iâm not about to make up something when thereâs no cause for it. For now, as long as the men are only instigating problems for the humans, we can deal with them.â
âAs long as they donât get incarcerated. You asked the others, and everyone said they havenât had any difficulty with them, right?â
âYes. Which probably means they didnât.â
Paul relaxed a bit. âAll right. As usual, the meal was great.â He couldnât cook worth a darn, although not for want of trying, which meant he really appreciated anyone who could.
Catherine smiled, but she still looked apprehensive.
âWhat concerns you?â
âThose three men caused problems for their own pack eons ago, before the rest died. Iâm afraid that eventually theyâll do the same with ours. They were omegas, sure, but when they have no one else to keep them in line, even omegas can behave in alpha or beta ways.â
âSo youâve been keeping an eye on them.â He should have known she would. He just hoped that all their wolves would be as wary about the men.
âAs much as I can. They stay close to the Somerville ranch for the most part.â
âOkay, thanks. Iâllâ¦check into it.â If Paul had been strictly a wolf, he would have chased the three wolves out of his packâs territory. Or killed them if they persisted in hanging around. But as a lupus garou , it wasnât that easy.
If Paul was here all the time, heâd have more of a handle on this. But popping in every once in a while wouldnât deter other wolves if they wanted to cause problems for the Cunningham wolf pack.
When Paul and Allan returned to the cabin, they took a wolfâs run through the forest and then did some work around the place, trimming back tree limbs stretching out to the cabin and handling a few other odd jobs before they grilled hamburgers on the back patio for dinner. The time just seemed to fly by. Paul was glad to be back home and was thinking how much heâd like to do this more often. He was a little apprehensive about who would win his services tomorrow night, though, and what he would be expected to do.
He didnât want anyone to feel they didnât get their moneyâs worth out of him, even if it was for a good cause.
* * *
At her grandmaâs home where Lori lived and helped take care of things, they were getting ready to eat dinner. Lori hadnât wanted to worry about the auction, but she knew her grandma was bidding for either Allan or Paul. Lori just hoped that no one would offer too much money and make the bidding go too high, because she didnât want her grandma to be disappointed if she didnât win one of the bids.
The aroma of spicy beef enchiladas smothered in cheese filled the air in the bright yellow kitchen as Lori set the dinner on the table. They settled in their seats, and her grandma smiled
Dick;Felix Francis Francis