“Yes. Ginny ripped him about it today. When Meg showed up, he went off on her and while she stood up well to it, we got in there as fast as we could. He was beginning to shift and Ginny hit him in the ear with the canned air,” said Kevin.
“Canned air in his ear?” asked Luc trying to figure out how that would stop Duke.
“Yeah, believe me, she’s deadly with that damn stuff. Blasted him right in the ear canal and nearly gave him frostbite. Couldn’t hear out of it for over an hour,” said Kevin.
“Hmm,… I’ll have to remember that for later,” said Luc.
“Once Ginny got his attention, she hauled him out of the office, took his keys and told him to go pick a fight somewhere else far away from work, town and even the county,” said Kevin.
“So why are you here if Ginny took care of him?” asked Luc.
“We both figured that Duke would show up here. We wanted you to have both sides of the story, knowing full well that Duke wouldn’t provide it. Plus, the last thing I wanted him to do was ambush Meg after work. You’re in no fit shape to protect her. Ginny said you haven’t shifted again yet, so I decided to take first watch,” Kevin said.
“When is Meg due home?” asked Luc looking up at the clock.
“Ginny was going to keep her there until I had time to come talk to you,” answered Kevin. “Peter from the warehouse was going to follow her home.”
“Okay, I’m not happy about this,” said Luc.
“I knew you wouldn’t be, which is another reason I’m here,” said Kevin.
“You are about the most neutral shifter at work, aren’t you,” said Luc.
“Yeah… me, the beta,” Kevin said with a bit of disdain.
“Hey, not everyone can be an alpha,” said Luc. “Hell, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with issues at work, because you are there. You’re dominant enough when needed, and I appreciate that too,” said Luc.
Kevin just sighed and fell back against the couch cushion. He wasn’t sure which he hated most, politics or pack issues. Either way, they drove him crazy. His cell phone chirped. Opening his phone, he read the text message, replied and sent it. “Ginny just asked if we’d had time to talk. I told her we had and she’s sending Meg home,” he said.
“Okay, I think I’m going to get dressed. If this is headed where I think it is, there are going to be too many people here to be sitting around in my sleep pants,” said Luc.
“I agree. I had hoped we’d avoid this, but Duke is such a loose cannon lately,” said Kevin.
“Be honest, when hasn’t he been a loose cannon?” asked Luc.
“When he was actually in bed with Penny screwing like coyotes?” said Kevin.
Luc smiled, nodded and headed for the bedroom. He got dressed slowly and carefully. Duke was being a right pain. While very beta when all was well and right in accordance to his universe, Duke tried to be an alpha in all the wrong ways when things were chaotic. Like now. That list Kevin had brought wasn’t bad. For the most part, the bits that Duke was complaining about were things he never dealt with in any way shape or form. The unfamiliarity with the business was Duke’s downfall. Duke didn’t know that Ginny handled all the dispatching as well as ran the front office. Nor did he understand that Peter ran the warehouse and Kevin managed shipping and receiving with Peter. Somehow, Duke had gotten it in his head that Luc did all of this, and that the interplay of people was in fact chaotic. Luc knew from the IM chats and other bits of information from Ginny that things were really rather quiet. The only real chaos was Duke interfering.
Luc walked back out into the living room to find Kevin watching out the front windows. He walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“How soon until Meg should be here?” Luc asked.
“In a few minutes. I figure that if Duke was heading this way, he’d get here early,” said Kevin.
“I agree. At least I don’t have too many shrubs or trees to hide behind,” said Luc as they stood there waiting.
“No, that is a good thing. No parking garage either. Is that her car pulling up?” Kevin asked.
“Yes,” said Luc as he looked out. “I’m going to go out to meet her. This way the door will be open and you can be ready too.”
“Okay, I’m not exactly comfortable with this, but it will work,” said Kevin.
Luc nodded and slowly walked out to meet the Neon as it pulled up in the drive way. He waved at Meg, and she waved back. Looking around, he didn’t see anything. So far, so good.
Meg was curious as to why Luc was outside. She was about to ask him why when he opened the door.
“Meg, come into the house as quickly as possible,” he said quietly. There was a sub-vocal quality to his voice that Meg noted.
“Okay Luc. Let me grab my bag and we will get inside and you can explain this,” she said. She reached over and grabbed her laptop bag and stood up out of the car. She heard a noise behind her and tried to turn.
“Watch out!” Kevin hollered from the doorway. He was out and moving as fast as he could towards the car.
Meg felt the car slammed into her and the scrape of claws on metal. Then she felt Luc shove her back inside the Neon and slam the door. The top of her car started to cave in with the weight of whatever had attacked them. There was a thump, and then what looked like a large dog slid off the side of her neon. Watching from the inside, she saw Kevin tackle the sandy colored animal. Meg realized a second later that it was a wolf. Kevin didn’t shift, but he and the wolf were locked in battle. The wolf grabbed at his ribs and bit. Kevin grabbed the wolf by the ears with one hand and thumped it around the snout and jaws with the other. The wolf let go and went for Kevin’s hand that hit him. Kevin delivered another punch to the wolf’s skull right between the eyes.