Chapter 57: Later

Amelia

When we get to the garage, we check to make sure that nobody else is around, then Dom pulls me into one of the Dark Woods cars and kisses me thoroughly. He puts his hand on my breast, which makes me gasp and writhe. I graze my teeth over his throat, and I’m brave enough to put my hand right on his butt. That makes him gasp and writhe.

We break off before we start grabbing each others’ crotches. For one thing, I don’t have a box of kleenex out here. “Later,” I whisper.

“Later,” he whispers back, his forehead leaning down against mine, panting.

After we have calmed down a little, we climb back out of the car. He wiggles around a bit, tugging on the waistband of his pants, and I have to smile a little. I know enough now to realize exactly what he is doing, having to readjust his full dick in there. I hope he isn’t too uncomfortable until I can take care of him later.

He starts opening the hoods of the Dark Woods cars, doing a quick check to make sure nothing has mysteriously happened to the engines overnight. The car that he drove today gets a more thorough inspection. That all only takes an hour or so, and we still have a couple of hours to kill until dinner.

He wanders over to the old beat-up car that the rogues had been driving. The one that Corinne had been standing next to, luring them to pull over and help. He pops the hood, and stands over it, staring at the engine with one hand on his chin, appraising the situation.

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

“I don’t know what the leaders are planning to do with this car,” he says, “but it isn’t actually in bad shape. There wasn’t even anything really wrong with it when I pulled over for Corinne the other day. But I could do a few things to make it better. I don’t think it would hurt to give it a thorough service, so whenever they decide what to do with it, it’s running as good as it can be.”

I’m very impressed. I stand next to him, staring down into the dirty, greasy engine, all the mysterious metal parts and hoses and tubes and doohickeys, having no idea how any of it works.

He leans down to give me a quick kiss, then starts unscrewing something there in the engine, and I lean my hands against the edge of the car, under the hood with him, watching what he’s doing.

He glances up from the engine, meets my eyes, and grins.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re fulfilling a fantasy right now, Impossible Girl.”

I have to laugh. “How so?”

“I always wanted a beautiful woman to admire me while I work on a car,” he replies, his hands still on the parts of the engine.

I smile. “I want to fulfill all your fantasies,” I tell him, half joking and half serious.

He loses his smile, gets a look on his face like he is suddenly very horny, and he quickly stands up. And bonks his head on the underside of the hood.

“Ow,” he says ruefully, rubbing his head.

“Awww, poor baby!” I say. “Here, lean down.” I tug his head down to my lips, and give him a kiss to make it better. And as long as I am here, another kiss to make me feel better. And another….

The rest of the afternoon passes so pleasantly. Between sessions of kissing, we chat about everything while he works. We are getting to know each other so much better, each time we have a conversation. With, you know, actual words. There’s only so much you can learn while making out.

I keep wondering about Corinne, though. Is she okay? They can’t be hurting her, can they?

My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and I reach back to pull it out. “Gamma Michael wants me to report to the conference room,” I tell Dom, my eyes wide.

“Corinne?” he asks.

“Must be,” I say. “It’s almost dinnertime, I’ll see you in there?”

He nods, and gives me a kiss without using his greasy hands on me. I can’t resist using mine on him, just for a second, just brushing my fingers across his crotch, before I spin and jog out of the garage. I hear him gasping behind me.

Oh, that was mean, Amelia, I think. Well, I’ll make it up to him later.

Evan

Theo and Amelia meet me in the hallway outside the conference room door. We all got texts telling us to report here. It took me a bit longer to rush back from the woods where I was still stomping around, trying to calm down by taking a long walk. But I didn’t go too far away, I wanted to be nearby just in case there was any word about Corinne. So I’ve been pretty much circling the packhouse in a wide circle.

“Do you know what’s going on in there?” I ask them.

“No,” Theo says, “I’ve just been upstairs taking a nap.”

“We’ll find out soon,” Amelia says, sounding anxious.

Soon turns out to be now. The moment she finishes speaking, the conference room door opens, and Luna Darlene leads Corinne out. Corinne meets my eyes as she passes, but then her gaze goes back to the floor.

She seems all right, though. She obviously hasn’t been hurt, and I’m relieved both for her sake and for ours. I wouldn’t want our pack to behave in a barbaric fashion, and I’m pleased that whatever questions were asked, it must have been done without physical coercion. Some packs conduct interrogations that way, but we don’t.

Theo immediately enters the room, while Amelia’s eyes follow after Corinne. She is next to me, and she whispers, “They’re just going to the bathroom.”

Ah.

The leaders are all assembled. “Sit down,” Alpha Kanen tells us, and the three of us quickly comply.

Beta Malcolm tells us, “The rogue was very helpful. She helped us fill in information about the location of all of the caves she is aware of being used by the rogues.” That’s a relief to hear. I knew she would be helpful, and I’m glad that the leaders realize it now too.

Malcolm continues, “Michael and I, and Ross and Nolan, are going to leave first thing in the morning to check the locations. We expect the trip to take a few days. We’ll be back in time for the mating ceremony for Alpha Kanen and Luna Janine on New Year’s Eve. Theo, Evan, you will be coming with us. Pack your things and be ready to hit the road by 8 a.m.”

Oh! All right then. My boss Nolan looks at me and adds, “I want you to notify Dominic that he will be coming as well.”

Amelia lets out a very soft sigh.

Alpha Ross comments, “We have been discussing whether we should bring the rogue with us, in case we need further information.” He looks at the three of us. “What is your opinion? Is she trustworthy?”

Theo and I glance at each other. I know she is trustworthy, and am about to answer, when Amelia speaks first. “She is trustworthy, yes, I think she has demonstrated that. But I’m not sure she should go with you. She told us she is worried that Xavier will be trying to find her. If her scent is detected together with yours at any of the rogues’ cave sites, it would alert the rogues that she is cooperating with us. Wouldn’t that complicate things?”

Oh, wow. Good point.

Ross stares at her for a moment, then looks over at Alpha Kanen. “She’s right,” my Alpha says. “She’ll need to stay here. Do you have a secure detention area?”

Kanen nods. “We have a few cells in a holding area in the basement.”

I am dismayed. Corinne was worried she’d end up in a jail cell, and we told her that is unlikely if she cooperates. She cooperated, yet she’s going to be jailed anyway. I’m glad she wasn’t hurt, but this still seems very unfair to her.

Amelia interjects again, “Um, don’t some of the regular bedroom suites downstairs have doors that can be locked from the outside? Couldn’t she be given one of those instead?”

Her boss backs her up. Michael confirms, “Yes, those rooms are secure, and it does seem a poor reward for her cooperation to throw her in jail.”

Glad I’m not the only one who sees it that way.

“All right,” Kanen says. “And we can arrange to have meals brought to her room.” I notice that Janine is watching silently, observing everything that is said, but she is not contributing. I wonder if this still feels weird to her, to be a Luna now. Probably.

“Actually,” Amelia says, seeming determined to look out for Corinne. I’m grateful to her for her courage in pestering her Alpha. “If we don’t leave her alone, couldn’t she come to the cafeteria for meals? I know she won’t try to leave the packhouse, she is very worried about being found by Xavier. I believe there wouldn’t be any risk in allowing her to be out of her room, especially if a pack member is always with her.”

Kanen shrugs, and looks around at the other leaders. None of them have any argument with this, so the Alpha says, “Fine. Just make sure that she is either secured inside her room, or that a pack member is with her whenever she is elsewhere.”

There is a moment of silence, and when nobody has anything else to add, Kanen says, “That’s it, then.” He stands, takes Janine’s hand, and she stands next to him. “We’re going upstairs,” he says, obviously already completely distracted with his new mate. This will be their first night in the River Moon packhouse together.

Everyone starts filing out of the room. I wonder where Corinne is. Darlene wouldn’t have taken her to the pack jail cells, would she?

I look to Nolan, and he tells me, “See you in the morning, Evan. Remember to tell Dominic about tomorrow.”

As we leave the conference room, Amelia tells me, “Dom is probably waiting in the cafeteria. And I’ll bet that Darlene brought Corinne there already to get some dinner.”

“You’re probably right. I can’t imagine Luna having any intention of locking Corinne up.”

Theo nods, agreeing, and the three of us walk across the hall to the kitchen area, to see if they are in the cafeteria yet.

Sure enough, Corinne is in there, sitting at a table in the back, together with Luna Darlene, and they are chatting with Dom.

Phew.