Mercenary Wolf

Ch 17 ed

"We became friends at the gym I work out at. Private place, mostly ex military, guys who want to work out practicing skills few others use."

"And what skills do you practice there?"

"Mostly wrestling. You don't grow up where I did without learning how to wrestle. I was on the team in college, and before that in high school. I've had some pretty intense bouts. Nothing compared to a lacrosse game though. Around the groups I played with and against, if you couldn't tussle a bit you were useless for a lacrosse match."

I listened to the recording from their time in the VIP room. Eddie and I were up in the balcony. I didn't look at Eddie as I fixed my PBJ.

"You know we got a four star chef down stairs," said Eddie as he tried to hide his disbelief.

"Sometimes a guy just wants some good old-fashioned grub. Overall though, the kid did it right. Yeah he told her about us, but it was in such an offhanded way it doesn't draw attention to us. He didn't say anything about fight night. He focused on himself. He won't be lying to her about where he spends his time. Decent kid."

Eddie just looked at me like I had lost my head. I had lost my head at Derrick when he first brought Little Wolf by.

"You know that's the first time we've served an under aged?"

"Derrick said his birthday was this weekend."

"Tomorrow."

I did look at Eddie a little sheepishly then. Last thing I wanted was to get our license pulled because I was still being stupid.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked him.

"I don't know, maybe I wanted to see what you were thinking. Rick..."

"Little Wolf," I interrupted.

Eddie just gave me another dead-pan look.

"Little Wolf," he stressed, "didn't actually drink all that much. He held the glass of wine to his lips often enough, but seldom actually drank. He refilled the glasses often, always when they still had some in them. He was usually pointing to someone on the dance floor before he filled the glasses so the girl didn't pay attention to how much he put in his. He'd put a splash in, then pretend to drink. I doubt he managed half a glass throughout the night."

"Smart kid."

"Look, Mac, I don't know what happened in the basement with the kid's dad," Eddie started. I didn't let him finish.

"They're werewolves."

I carefully put the lid back on the peanut butter. Took a good guzzle of milk. Gently set the glass down. Turned to look at Eddie.

"I ain't drunk. And I know what I said. Damn kid stories are about the kid. Black wolf, his kid Little Wolf. He paced back and forth in front of me. It was when he dropped his jeans that did me in. You ever see a dog..."

Even now I couldn't say that part. I pulled out the bottle of Crown I'd brought up earlier, set up the shot glass. I made a point of showing Ed the unbroken seal on the bottle. I opened it and poured a shot, slid it over to Eddie.

Eddie looked over at me.

"Go ahead, it's yours not mine. I ain't had any. Let your mind keep connecting the dots. Every time you connect a dot, take a shot. You'll need it."

"I don't drink alone, so I'll pass."

"Noble of you. I'll top mine off." I refilled my glass with milk. The bouncer I'd sent shopping for me had looked at me like I'd gone nuts. Loaf of bread, peanut butter, strawberry jam, gallon of whole milk. It was weird to feel hungry this way.

"To werewolves," I said, raising my glass. I nudged the shot closer to Eddie. He didn't pick it up.

"Black wolf came out of the Black Forest. Him, his dad, his granddad. He said so," I added.

When Eddie still didn't move I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah," I told him, " I'd think I was nuts too if I hadn't seen what I'd seen. You hadn't connected the dots yet. Give it time, you will. When you do, you bring the bottle to me, I'll sit with ya while you get plastered."

"Mac..."

"Just remember that I told you."

I finished off the glass of milk, set what was left of the milk in the little micro fridge we kept up here. I started to go when I realized I forgot to stick the jam in there as well.

Eddie just watched me. I gave him a shoulder clasp as I headed down to make the rounds. Little Wolf was dancing slow with his lady. She was a dime piece, I had to give him that.

I felt bad now that Eddie had pointed out I had served a minor. I'd get onto any of our guys who were that careless. This is why I stick to security. I got my head in the game, did my checks, made sure the guys got rotated.

Rotating the guys was Jimbo's idea, keep them from getting complaisant. They stayed on their toes when they didn't know when someone would be coming to relieve them. Being at different stations kept them from getting bored.

The night was winding down, the little wolf had left with his girl, the crowd was thinning. One of the servers got my attention.

"Eddie is looking for you, said he'd be in the balcony."

"Thanks sweetie, I'll be right up."

I wasn't sure what Eddie would say after my revelation earlier. I don't know why I expected him to believe me. It was tough facing him, but easier than climbing in that ring with Black Wolf.

He was looking down at the dance floor when I came up behind him. The empty shot glass was in his hand. The bottle of Crown was sitting by him. A slight growl from off to the side made me jump. The black wolf, on four legs, was curled up over to the side, glaring at me over his tail.

"Derrick brought him," said Eddie. "Don't worry, Derrick stayed downstairs in the back."

"Black Wolf," I acknowledged with a nod in his direction. He showed me his teeth, growling softly but intently, giving me that stare.

"My crew," I said firmly. "I'll tell them as I need to. My guys need to trust me. Eddie is my right hand. I can't deal with this without having at least Eddie know what's going on with me. If he says I'm good, the guys know it's true. The rest of them can wait till later, but I need Eddie to know the truth."

He stood, reaching for his jeans. He said nothing as he slipped his tee shirt over his head. He didn't take his eyes off me except for when the shirt went over his head. I held his gaze. Eddie didn't turn around.

Finally the black wolf who was man once more gave me a nod.

"He's your responsibility," he said gruffly. "We're having a surprise gathering for Little Wolf's birthday tomorrow night. Let's see if you can at least keep that secret. I'll expect you there." He gave a hard look Eddie's way. "Only you."

He slid out then, his bare feet made no sound. It wasn't a request he made of me, but a command he'd given me. Again. I had broke his trust, but I think he understood why.

I poured Eddie another shot, wrapping my huge hands around his slender ones, taking a breath. I took a hard look at myself right then, trying to decide how bad I wanted to rip that shot from his hands.

I found I didn't want it. I felt better knowing I could facing the black wolf's wrath sober. I had stood up to him, defended my decision to involve Eddie. I hadn't wanted a drink while facing him. He might be a damn werewolf, but I was the leader of my crew!