Page 7 of Brewster

“I have one here.” He got up and looked through the tall shelves of books that were in the library. As he pulled down a couple of books, he handed them to her. “You should read all of these. And if I’m not around, Landon can answer questions about anything you need as well. He’s been around about as long as Rutger had, another friend of mine.”

Opening one of the books he’d handed her, she started reading it. Calla knew immediately that he had written the book. He started quoting lines from it while she read. Opening the book for him when he asked, he stared at her.

“You can read this?” She said that she could. What was the big deal? “You said you didn’t speak any languages. I forgot thisone was in French. One of the other books is in Dutch. Can you read it as well?”

They had fun finding books for her to read. She could apparently even read vampire. It was a language that she had never heard of before, and it was quite fun impressing Brew with her abilities.

~*~

Brew enjoyed watching Calla Lily sleep. He would sit with her until she was resting and then stare at her for hours afterwards. The fact that she was his and he was hers made him feel like he’d been in this world just for her. He fully believed that she had been born just for him. And he loved everything about her.

Getting up just as the moon was going behind some clouds, he made his way to her window and stared out. Long ago, he had made friends with the wolf pack nearby, and just tonight, he’d set up a meeting with their alpha. Conri was their alpha leader, which was suitable because his name meant King of the Hounds. Willing himself to the land where he was to meet him, he entered the deepest part of the forest to meet up with the great man.

“You have the scent of a newly found mate on you. It’s great that you have someone in your life, old man.” He thought that Conri was the same age as he was but had never asked. He had a large family of male wolves, and they were about the best family he’d ever met. “My mate is long gone. It’s been too many years since I have even thought of what the flesh of a female of my own feels like.”

“That doesn’t mean that you’re forgoing female flesh altogether, does it? Even if you told me you were, I’d not believe you. Someone must be making your pack very happy, and I know you well enough that you’ve been out and about in other homes as well.” They both laughed, and he asked his friend how his family was. “None of them have mates either, do they?”

“None. My mother believes me to be cursed. She thinks thatshe’ll never hold a child of ours before she is ready to go as well. Father, as you know, was killed some time ago, and we’re a better pack because of it.” He knew there had been problems with the male elder. Macky had been trouble for decades before he’d been put to death. “What is it you have a wish for me to help you with? Your mate?”

“Yes. She has an uncle much like your father in thinking that he has no worth unless he’s taking her money and slapping her around a bit. The last time he’d put her in the hospital, and that didn’t sit well with me.” Conri said he didn’t think that it would have. “He’s currently in jail, but they can only hold him for a few more days before he’ll be out again. I don’t know that he’s killed anyone yet, but I’m having the bodies of his parents reexamined. Calla Lily, my wife, is terrified of him, and with good reason. The bank is on my list as well as they were allowing him to get into her money without his name on the account. There are a few officers as well that I’ve had a long talk with. I don’t believe they’ll be doing anything off the books or against the law again. I didn’t realize how lax I’d become about the people running my house, either. She fired them all but for Landon.”

“If you’re planning to hire staff, I have a few good people who would love to work for a man such as yourself.” He said so far, all he had was a cook named Hattie and his man Landon—though he had to confess that he liked Calla Lily more than he did him. “That’s the way it should be. He will keep her safe. Is that what you need from my pack? Someone to keep her safe?”

“I can’t be at home all the time. And since finding her, it seems like I’ve only just realized how badly I’ve been monitoring my funds. She found that I was paying an employee who wasn’t working for me at all and another one who has been dead for a decade or more.” Conri shook his head, saying that he wished someone would help him with his books. “She’s bored with vampire life. Perhaps you can persuade her to keep an eye onthem for you. But don’t come to me when she busts your chops a bit.”

“I shan’t. I can have a group traveling your land for you, no problem. But you need to tell your wife. I would hate to hear that she’s had to shoot at a couple of them because she didn’t understand why they were there. I can almost see this beautiful woman because she would be for you, standing on the front deck holding the fort down while you slumber in your bed.”

He laughed and told him that he had no doubt that she’d do it, too. Conri threw back his head and laughed, drawing the attention of most of his pack. Waving them off, he continued teasing him.

“I will send them out this night to keep an eye on things. If you need anything else, just let me know. You’ve done so much for this pack of mine that I cannot refuse you anything.” He said that they were even. “Doubtful either of us feel that we’re even. I know that I owe you my life thrice over. And I believe you’ve been in my healing hut for a while off and on for a while now.”

“Yes, we both owe so much to each other that knowing that I’d be able to come to you would make my lovely wife safe so much easier.” After a while, the two of them shared a bottle of wine. Brew could drink wine, but it would never satisfy him. Even food sometimes would be something that he’d partake of, but again, without blood, he’d die. Parting ways with his good friend, he made his way home through the darkened woods.

That’s when he saw the man lingering through the woods to his right. Not taking his eyes off him, he knew that he’d kill him simply because he was wandering around on his land. The pack land was his as well, but he had been letting the pack stay on it for as long as they wished. It was another thing that he owed the other man for. Saving his ass countless times.

The man moved to the next tree. Just as he was going to leap at the man and tear his throat out, the pack moved as oneand leapt on him. There wasn’t a sound made, and there was no barking or yipping from the group. As one, they did the job that he really didn’t want to do, and it was taken care of. Once the man was dead, there would be nothing left of him, and there wouldn’t be a sole to find his body either. The other creatures of their kind and other nonhumans would smell the person, but they’d never tell since it was on his land. Brew was known for being a very fair man and one who could be counted on to hold a grudge, too.

He was just stepping into the kitchen when Hattie showed up in the kitchen. She talked to him for a time about ordering for the household and to tell him that if he needed her, she would willingly give him subsistence to help him. His wife, as well.

“She’s a good woman. Loves you too.” He told the tiger that he loved her as well. “Good. You’ve needed someone in your life for some time now, and I’m glad that you’ve found each other. However, she’s afraid. Did you know that?”

“Her uncle?” Hattie nodded. “Yes, I knew. I’ve made arrangements for the pack to wander through the land to keep an eye on things. Remember that if you were go to out in the night, all right?”

“I’ll tell my man too. He said that he saw that the pack took care of a snooper. Some newspaper man trying to get the story on you and your new missus.” He told her that he wasn’t going to be bothering them again. “Good to know. I like that about you, Brew. You can be counted on to keep someone safe, and you don’t suffer fools well. Yes, I very much like that about you.”

Calla Lily joined them, too, and Hattie put a large glass of ice water in front of her. She nearly drank it down; he was happy to see and sat down to tell her about the pack. He didn’t want any of them hurt either and was glad that she was happy about having them around. He also said that he wanted her to meet Conri. It turned out that she knew him as well.

Chapter 4

His head was splitting, and he needed something to make himself feel better. It wasn’t having Calla Lily around, just the opposite. Having her around made his head and body feel so much better. But it was the constant pulling of the police, Daniel Marshall, and the unknown force that seemed to think this land was free to roam. Three dead now from the pack and it didn’t look like an end to it anytime soon.

Brew looked up in time to see that she’d joined him in the office. Telling her what he had going on, never keeping anything from her, he decided that he needed to rest more. When she was sleeping, which she needed as a partial human, he would work himself to nearly falling over until she woke. Then, he would spend the day with her, making plans for their future and neglecting his needs in favor of spending time with her.

“You’re looking poorly. I think that even Landon noticed it.” He told her what he’d just been thinking. “Good to know. You’ll come up to bed with me now, and we’ll get this waiting thing over with.”

“I don’t know that I could be gentle with you. I have had a need for you for some time.” She said that she’d had one for him, too, but he’s never rested enough to join her. “How long do you think you’ve been waiting for me to make the first move? I hope not as long as I’ve been pining away for you.”

“Several days, I guess. I’ve also been worried for you for the same amount of time. Why aren’t you resting when you need to.” He said that he loved spending time with her. “And how much time do you think you’ll get to spend with me if you’re dead? You do know that you can die from not resting, don’t you?”

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