By the third morning Leon had turned up. Even though he knew things weren't right but he couldn't turn up until I had made peace with Sid. He wasn't a member of my pack but because he is my uncle he could feel disturbances like the gale force attack when a family member uses it. And that was why he was on our doorstep bright and early, ready to find out what was going on and how he was going to help me deal with it. Sid's black eye was slowly fading; I had offered some of my make up to cover it but he just looked at me like I was crazy. While I was with Leon and Phil, Sid looked after the children. I think he needed time to re-evaluate what he truly held dear to his life. He was so flippant with the thought that his life was mundane. The reality was that he missed the night life of the VIP room, the club that he probably spent the majority of his night in. He probably had a different woman in his bed every night before I came along. But how could I make life different for him? He chose this life with me, he didn't need to create a house for us to live in but he did. Sure Dylan wasn't exactly planned and I guess neither was Kayla but he knew the pitfalls of unprotected sex.
"The wolf is in dire need of training." Leon mused as he looked at me. "Maybe Cody should come back for more meditation."
"No." I grumped.
"Why not? There is no issue of his claim, he is still a valued member of your pack, what issue is there Veronica?"
Well, what was my issue? The only issue I had previously was Sid's jealousy but after the recent events I was ready to tell him to stick his jealousy where it fitted.
"Nothing. So long as he behaves himself he can return."
"Very good. Now, next moon I want you to turn. Take your son out and run with your pack. Do you think Kayla will be ready?"
"Unlikely. She can stay at home with her father."
"Very good." Leon rubbed the stubble on his jaw. "Now, continue with the gym, I think the physical fitness will build stability and help you turn. Ok?" he grinned at me.
"Ok."
"As for the dark arts, I don't know what else I can do for you. My father would have been able to help you but not anymore."
"You can't do the dark arts?"
"Some things I can, like when I did the bait and separate that night when you were with that awful family. What you did was far different to what I did. The bait and separate is a calling dark art whereas the gale force is an attack dark art."
"So what does it mean?"
"Well you need to look at the situation that you were in. You were feeding, you were angry and hurt. The person that held your anger was being drained of her life and the person who held your hurt was trying to stop you from feeding. Instinct took over, thinking that he was trying to rob you of your feed and you stopped him. Either that or you wanted to kill him." Leon grinned darkly at me.
I gulped hard. Did I really want to kill Sid? I certainly wanted the woman dead but my husband? Surely not.
"Not possible." I said low.
"Are you sure of that Veronica? In your eyes, he was cheating on you. The wolf had taken over your body, pushed the vampire so far away that you could hardly hear anything. You said you couldn't hear anything but static, that's an enraged feed for a werewolf. If Phil hadn't walked in when he did, you would have certainly killed the girl, then your attention would have been directed to Sid. Sadly, if Curtis was still in the room he would have been next."
"No." I whispered tears spilling out "You're wrong, I couldn't hurt my best friend."
"Ronnie, I saw your eyes." Phil said from across the desk "They were pure white, that means one thing only in our world. Pure anger, you would have fed until someone stopped you. Friend or no friend, it wouldn't matter."
"The kids?"
He nodded ruefully and I couldn't help but cry. I was a monster.
"Now, now my dear..." Leon patted my back "It is not wise to think so morbidly. I am yet to see someone kill their family in an enraged attack."
"So it's not just me that does this?"
"No, all wolves are like this." Phil said dryly.
"How do you not end up killing everyone?"
"Don't piss us off." he grinned like it was that simple "It takes a lot to get to that point Ronnie. You were tired from a lack of sleep, you're always complaining about the wolf and vampire giving you hell, you don't run with your pack, you don't let the wolf out. Hell, you don't even mate with a wolf."
"And that makes a difference?" I snapped at him.
"To the wolf it does. She knows that you're bedding a vampire. You might find that wolf will get along with the vampire on occasions but that doesn't mean she's happy that you're mating with one."
"Well she can get used to it. I'm not going to have an argument with Sid about my inner wolf wanting a wolf lover. He's already accused me of being a hypocrite once, I don't need it again."
"That's fine Ronnie, I'm just telling you the problems as I see it. How you chose to live your life is of no concern to me. But maybe you should do as we suggest, run with the pack at full moon, turn and let her out. Go for a run with Dylan, he misses you so much when you don't come out."
"Fine." I sighed.
"Great." Phil grinned "Now while you're here, you can sign off on these new wolves."
"How many?"
"A married couple and their adult son. As an added bonus the son is a barman and will fit in nicely to the opening that Sid has managed to create."
I rolled my eyes and looked at the documents.
"Have you met with them?"
"Yes, they come highly recommended from their current pack. At least there's no trying to hide any untoward nastiness like the last recommendation."
I remembered them with a lot of distaste. A pack from another country had been trying to find them a new pack because the daughter had been fraternising with the alpha's married son. She was a trouble maker, trying to blackmail him, threatening to say that she wasn't a willing participant of their encounters. Phil didn't want that kind of trouble maker in our pack and refused them without even bringing them to my attention until after he had sent the refusal.
"So the married couple and a son, why are they coming here?"
"The husband has been offered a lucrative job transfer. So good is this transfer that not only can he afford to contribute to the pack, he pays the human government taxes and still has money to burn."
"The wife?"
"She isn't working as she and the husband are waiting to conceive another child. At present she devotes herself to charity work for the poorer wolf families."
"Well she isn't going to find much of that here." I said dryly.
"She can contribute into my pack if you like." Leon interrupts.
"If you are happy with that, then it's fine by me. What about the son, have you spoken to Sid about him working downstairs?"
"Frankly Veronica, I couldn't give a shit what Sid thinks. He should consider himself lucky he hasn't had my team here ripping him a new hole."
I grinned at Phil, he was the best beta a girl could ask for.
"I think I will still tell him."
"Did you know that Stuart has gone through every single employee that works downstairs?"
"No, I did not."
Phil grinned again, one devilish smirk.
"As you know all of the employees are coven members and as such they are ruled by you. As your right hand man, he tends to all of your duties when you are unable to. Having you walking around like a sad, zoned out zombie for the past few days, he took the opportunity of you and Sid being a little distracted. He has spoken to all of the female bar staff and told them that if they ever touch your husband then they will find themselves very much out the door."
"But they are employees." I frowned at him.
"Coven comes first my dear, he was well within his rights to protect his leader."
"And what about the women that enter the VIP room?"
"Well now, that is a whole new problem, isn't it? Do you trust your husband Veronica?"
"I wronged him too, that day in the gym, I kissed that woman. How is it different? I made it out that it was different, but I don't think it is."
"So you've had one each, eye for an eye. It's done now. What happens in the future though? What happens when he walks into his club, into his VIP room that is full of naked women, women having sex, women willing to have sex with him? Where do you draw the line Veronica?"
"Phil is right Veronica, it's one thing for a married man to have such a room, it's another for him to participate in the room. You need to make sure he understands that he cannot be in there and risk being tempted. If your wolf finds him in another situation whether it is innocent or not, she will not think twice in dealing with the problem." his eyes stayed on me as his lids lowered, his head tilted back slightly.
It was a look of seriousness. Severe, deadly seriousness.
"You do not want to enrage her again. You tell him this, make him fear her."
I didn't want to be the one that told him that pissing me off could do some serious damage to him, so Phil took great pleasure in sitting him down in his office and giving him all of the gory details. While he was in getting the life scared out of him, I sought out Stuart. He was in his office, behind his desk looking rather odd.
"Morning." I poked my head through the door "Busy?"
"Uh, kinda, can it wait?"
"Not really, Phil's lecturing Sid and I wanted to talk to you while he's occupied."
I walked in without the full invitation, closing the door behind me. Stuart was still looking odd, a bead of sweat trickled down his temple.
"You ok?"
He nodded quietly.
"Ok, so I know you work late and I was kind of hoping for a favour. Be my spy."
"Pardon?"
"I don't know what to think. I want to trust him but his job is being in the club when it's open, right?"
He nodded quietly again, another bead of sweat rolled down his face.
"So you understand where my issue is here, it's his club, it's his duty to be down there and making sure that everything is fine but there's that damned room. It's pure temptation, isn't it?"
Stuart gulped and nodded.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Perfectly fine." he croaked.
I sighed as I leaned back into the chair.
"Am I overreacting? Do you think he has learned his lesson? I mean I know Phil is making sure he understands that he can't upset me like that with the wolf thing but I just don't know. What if he's more careful now?"
My head fell into my hands as began to feel overwhelmed. Anxiety was about to ripple through me but something caught my eye, something caused all my thoughts to instantly scatter out of my mind. The front panel of his desk went almost to the ground, it stopped about a hands width from the ground. It was enough to clean under but that's about it. It was also enough to reveal things behind it. Like one red soled shoe. I didn't think that Stuart was in the habit of wearing designer high heels. The devil of a vampire suddenly sat up and took notice, rubbing her hands together with wicked glee. I was a blur as I grabbed it and leaned back into my chair, laughing darkly as I held it up in the air.
"Did you get me a pair of Louboutin's for my birthday Unckie Stu?"
I grinned at him with the light shining off the black leather.
"I am a fan of the peep toe; how did you know?"
"Veronica, it's not what you think."
"They aren't for my birthday?" I pouted "Are you telling me they're yours?"
"What? No!" he panicked.
I stood and tossed the shoe onto his desk.
"Please tell me you are still wearing pants under there."
"Err."
"Oh my god, really? All this time I'm sitting there talking about my wayward husband and you didn't think to say hey could you give me a sec to put my pants back on?"
"Do you really want your uncle talking like that Veronica?"
"I'd rather you not sit there with no pants on thanks!"
"Fine." he said dryly.
"I do hope you are going to ensure this conversation doesn't leave the room Stuart."
"Of course."
"And are you going to be my spy?"
"I think you might have two now, my dear." he grinned at me "She is such a minx, might even set a honey trap for you."
"Excellent, you can go back to..." I gestured to the desk where she would be hiding "Whatever it is that you weren't doing during work hours at your desk that happens to be so close to my children with an unlocked door."
"Point taken."
He waited until I was out the door, I could hear a flurry of things moving and then one lock click. I shook my head with a grin and set out to find out how my husband was doing.