Flesh and Fury (U.S. Marshals I.S.R. (Interspecies Response) #3)

Chapter Four

ARI

Ari’s blood went cold as their hope of a peaceful resolution to this in-law problem vanished. Along with it went the possibility of enlisting both packs to cooperate in getting King John’s clan back. If they somehow couldn’t convince Alvin Walters to back off from his promise to kill Oscar Garcia, they were going to end up nowhere on this case as well. He hadn’t been with the I.S.R. very long, but even Ari knew that having two werewolf packs at war with one another was a very bad thing, especially when it could have been easily avoided. He watched as Eoghan sat forward.

“Alvin…Alpha Walters, I hope you aren’t being serious,” Eoghan said. “I know that you know you have an entire pack to think of. Just because Oscar Garcia is an ill-tempered man, doesn’t mean you need to blow up negotiations. Please, think twice about what you’re saying. No one wants war, certainly not your two packs, and definitely not the I.S.R.”

Walters leaned forward, making his desk chair creak. The look on his face was stony and the yellow circle around his irises glowed brightly. “That wolf came into my bar and not only threatened my grandson, but also insulted his own granddaughter, calling her a whore in public. What kind of man does that? What kind of wolf kidnaps another Alpha’s young grandson to force his older brother into a marriage to his own pregnant granddaughter?” He shook his head emphatically, then took a long drag of his cigar, turning it sideways and examining it again, before blowing out the smoke. “I can’t lose face in front of my whole pack and take that kind of insult lying down. I’ll be challenged by members of my own pack just itching to become Alpha. I can’t back down, now that the kidnapping has become a matter for public consumption.”

“You can be the bigger Alpha and point out that what is said under the influence, shouldn’t be taken seriously, especially when the outcome is so important, Alpha Walters,” Eoghan said. “We have a great incentive to hold this peace together and you can be the bigger man by leading the charge. Everyone in your pack knows that you’re the wronged party, so stepping up and offering the hand of peace in your willingness to negotiate with Garcia will prove to them that you are a great leader. Clearly, you trusted them with your situation when that wasn’t going to be your intention originally. And you can trust that they’ll stand behind you now.”

Walters nodded. “You’re a wise man, Marshal Sapphire, and I assume you’re a good diplomat. I know why your chief sent you as her envoy in this matter, but you don’t know internal werewolf politics. If you did, you’d know that being the bigger man means keeping your claws buried in the necks of men willing to challenge you for Alpha.” He glanced over at Ari. “What do you think, Marshal Brown. Should I just try and make peace with this wolf who has wronged me twice?”

“I think you should, but my reasons are purely selfish.”

“Oh? What are they?” the Alpha asked, setting the cigar in the ashtray and leaning forward, listening carefully.

“What are you talking about, Ari?” Eoghan asked.

Ari glanced over at him, recognizing not only surprise but warning in Eoghan’s eyes. He looked back at the Alpha.

“I don’t want to see my partner hurt. He was attacked by a werewolf and his injuries nearly killed him. The last thing I want to think about is seeing him back in the hospital. My reasons are selfish.”

Something in Walters’ expression changed as he stared back across the desk at him. He could tell Ari was being serious. When he sat back in his chair, making that now familiar creaking sound, he blew out a long, slow breath. He looked up at the ceiling before looking directly at Eoghan. He stared for a good minute or so before glancing at the burning cigar. He picked it up, grinding it slowly in the ashtray to extinguish it. When he glanced at Eoghan again, he was nodding.

“You have a very wise and brave partner.”

Eoghan glanced over at him and their eyes met. He smiled very slightly before nodding. “Yes, I do.”

Ari felt his stomach swarm with butterflies as he swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“All right. I will sit down with that fucker once he’s had time to sober up,” Alvin said. “And, I’ll have another talk with my oldest grandson. Please reach out to Garcia and tell him that I’d like to meet. We can and should avoid war. You’re right. It wouldn’t be good for either of our packs. Senseless death should always be avoided whenever possible. I let his insults get to me but I will warn you. If they continue upon this second meeting, I will not back down. If I do, I’d be universally maligned by my pack. I might as well kill myself and I certainly will not bring that kind of shame upon my family. I hope that’s understandable.”

Eoghan nodded. “Yes, sir, and may I press our question now, Alpha?”

Walters shook his head. “Not now. When this business is concluded, we’ll discuss your vampire problem. If it resolves in my favor and Garcia and I come to a reasonable agreement, then I’ll elicit his pack’s help for you too.”

“Thank you, sir,” Eoghan said, pushing his chair back and standing to shake his hand. Ari did the same as soon as Eoghan let go. “We’ll be going,” Eoghan said as the Alpha also stood. “Please look forward to hearing from us around midday tomorrow. That should give us enough time to let Garcia sober up and then reach out to him to arrange a meeting. We’ve been told that it might be best to go through the I.S.R. marshals in Nevada. Either way, we’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Let me show you out,” Walters said.

“We can find our own way, Alpha. Thank you,” Ari said, smiling genuinely at the werewolf. When it was returned, they both headed for the office door and slipped out as unobtrusively as they could. The promise that Walters would address King John’s problem once all the mess with the two packs was sorted out, made him hopeful once again. At the moment, though, all Ari could think of was a nice hot shower and a roll in the hay with his very hot boyfriend.

“I think that went well,” Eoghan said as soon as they were in the Charger, headed for the motel where they’d stored their bags.

“You mean the last part,” Ari said, glancing at Eoghan.

“Yeah, that part. The part about nearly being bitten by a werewolf, not so much.”

Ari chuckled, pointing at the Comfort Inn.

“Yeah, I see it.” Eoghan pulled into the parking lot and shut off the car before looking at the time displayed on the digital dashboard clock. “We should call Carly Rusch and Evan Chastain before it gets too late.”

“The Nevada marshals?”

“Yeah,” Eoghan said. “Or we could start with their chief.”

“Let’s call the marshals. From what Priest says, they’re expecting our call.”

“Sounds good.”

Ari got out of the Charger and headed into the motel lobby with Eoghan at his side. “I can really use a shower and after we touch base with them, I have something special to show you.” They walked by the front desk and waved at the young woman who smiled, then grimaced when she saw Ari’s cheek.

It was throbbing slightly but hadn’t looked like it needed stitches. He’d live. And ever since finding the very special garment on Instagram, Ari had been dying to get one. The very idea of seeing Eoghan’s face when he got a look at it, had him growing hard as they stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to take them upstairs.

“What do you have to show me?” Eoghan asked, glancing over at him.

Ari smirked at him as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. “It’s something I think you’ll like but you have to wait until we talk to the marshals.”

“ Aww, come on, at least give me a hint, Ari.”

“If I do that, you won’t be able to keep your mind on business.”

“What if I don’t want to keep my mind on business?” Eoghan whined as they walked down the carpeted hallway toward their room. Eoghan slipped his keycard into the slot, and they stepped into the room.

“Would it just be possible to get through this conversation quickly?” Ari asked, whirling around. He reached out and pulled Eoghan into his arms, snugging him up against his body, as he looked down at him. “The sooner we get done talking to them, the sooner I can show you what I have.”

“Oh, okay,” Eoghan replied, tilting his head up to kiss Ari on the mouth.

Ari slid his hands down Eoghan’s back, feeling the taut muscles and loving the way they jumped just under the skin wherever his fingers stroked. The man was sexy as hell and he belonged to him, body and soul. He deepened the kiss, promising himself that he’d waited long enough. Several things were going to change between them, probably before this trip was over, but most definitely in their more immediate future. As his cock hardened, he groaned, willing himself to pull away from Eoghan and get himself back under control so that he could get through the next few minutes. Reluctantly, he pulled away from Eoghan’s lips, breaking the gorgeous kiss.

“Come on, baby,” Ari said as he watched Eoghan lick his full lower lip. He was so tempted to dive back in for more, but instead, he reached into his pocket and slid his phone out, handing it to Eoghan. “Call the marshals from Nevada.”

Eoghan took it, looking down at the object as though it offended him. He glanced back up and sighed. “You’re a total buzz kill, you know that?”

Ari smirked. “It’s going to be so worth the wait. I promise you. Now, call them.”

Eoghan growled. “Fine.” He dialed the number, putting it on speaker so Ari could hear the call.

“Hello?” a female voice answered.

“Hi. Is this Carly Rusch…I.S.R. Marshal Carly Rusch?” Eoghan asked, looking at Ari who sat watching him from the opposite bed.

“Yes, who’s this?”

“Marshal Eoghan Sapphire from Los Angeles. My partner and I are in Bishop, and we wanted to touch base with you about the Hawthorne pack.”

“Yes, Deputy Chief Washington told us you’d be here tonight or tomorrow. He thought we should meet before you talk to Alvin Walters.”

“I’m sorry but we met with him tonight,” Eoghan replied. “It was our intention to call you before that happened but when we went out to dinner tonight, we walked right into his brewery.”

“Oh.” She hesitated. “Your deputy chief didn’t tell you he owns the Mountain Rambler Brewery?”

“No. Perhaps she didn’t have that information. In any case, my partner and I were sitting at the bar when an altercation began between Oscar Garcia and Edward Walters. They were sitting with Garcia’s granddaughter, Carmen, when it took place.”

“What kind of an altercation are we talking about here?” she asked.

“He appeared to be very drunk and when he stood up, he was shouting that he expected Edward to do the right thing and marry Carmen. She started crying when Garcia called her a whore, and Edward took offense to that along with aspersions on his own family and his grandfather, the Alpha.”

“He called his own granddaughter a whore?” she asked, sounding incredulous.

“Yeah, it was pretty ugly. It devolved from that to punches being thrown and then my partner and I rushed in to pull the men apart. Of course, we had no idea they were werewolves. Though we should have from the shouts and the namedropping going on.”

“Oh, my. Was anyone hurt?” she asked.

Eoghan glanced over at Ari who reached up, touching the sore spot just under his eye. He knew it was probably going to bruise. He was getting used to being hurt on the job even though it was probably a stupid thing to do. Then again, getting hurt and letting down his guard always served to remind him he was an idiot. Every time he found himself in one of these situations, he figured he was going to have to utilize more common sense in the future. Clearly, he wasn’t doing so well when he jumped into melees or made assumptions about cuttlefish run establishments. Eoghan still hadn’t stopped laughing and wouldn’t let him forget wanting to discuss James Bond and cuttlefish culture with a poisonous, ringed octopus shifter or her marine life, white trash siblings.

“My partner got punched in the eye, but he’ll live. It’s more like our egos were bruised when we realized we were facing down a bunch of werewolves possessing much greater strength. Fortunately, no one shifted or there might have been bloodshed.”

“Good. Well, I suppose now that the diplomatic overtures have failed, we should prepare ourselves for a war,” Rusch said.

Eoghan frowned at Ari, looking across the expanse between the double beds. “No, ma’am. I don’t want to give up. We can’t have war. We need there to be a peaceful resolution to this. If not by making Edward accept Carmen as his bride, then in some other way, but I don’t want to give up until we’ve exhausted all angles. I definitely don’t think it serves either pack to be at war either, especially when we can still demand that the two Alphas get in a room with each other and sit down like civilized men.”

“They’re werewolves,” she said.

“You know what I mean. Those two Alphas used to be friends. If they weren’t, why would they have pledged their grandchildren to each other before they were even born?”

“You’re right. I agree. Evan and I will update our deputy chief and let him know what happened at the brewery. I just wish we could get Edward to be reasonable about it. Pregnancies happen and it’s not a reason to reject a future mate. Werewolves adopt unplanned kids all the time, just like humans. I just wish there was a way to deal with this on a purely adult level.”

“It’s our understanding that it probably wouldn’t have happened that way, ma’am. Carmen Garcia wasn’t exactly willing to give up the name of the child’s father either. Maybe she still wants him.”

“First, please don’t call me ma’am. It makes me feel like I’m a hundred and thirty instead of thirty. Call me Carly. Second, I don’t know why she’s refusing to tell who the father is unless it’s not another werewolf. Maybe she’s conceived with a human or another shifter. That could spell disaster especially if Oscar is the asshole you say he is.”

“You’ve never met him, ma— ah , Carly?”

“I haven’t, but Evan—my partner—has. Come to think of it, he says he’s kind of a jerk. I don’t know what that means but either way, if he’s an abusive asshole, then, yeah, I might just want to keep things like the identity of my child’s father under wraps. If I give a crap about him, that is.”

Ari made a hand signal for him to wrap up the call and waited for Eoghan to make his goodbyes as he stood up and walked across the room, grabbing his duffel and pointing to the bathroom.

Eoghan nodded. “Let’s meet for breakfast somewhere, Carly.”

“That’d be good. Where?”

“You know the best places in town. Do you want to come to Bishop or do you want us in Hawthorne?”

“We’ll come there. If things go the way I think they’re gonna go, we might have to start with Alvin Walters who seems to be the more reasonable of the two Alphas.”

“Good enough. Text us a place and we’ll be there.”

Ari smiled at Eoghan and slipped inside the bathroom, closing the door as Eoghan grinned at him, making a shooing motion. He listened as Eoghan made pleasantries before hanging up the phone and then walked over to the counter and set the duffel on its surface. He slowly slid the zipper open so that he wouldn’t damage the garment packed on top. Ari smiled when he saw the large, flat, paper wrapped package. He pulled it out and set it down on the counter before he heard Eoghan at the door.

“Babe, can I come in?”

“Not unless you need to use the facilities,” Ari replied.

“I do.”

“Hang on. I wouldn’t want you spoiling my surprise.” He grabbed a towel and laid it over the package before telling him. “Come on.”

“Thanks,” Eoghan said, craning his neck to look around Ari’s body at the towel.

“Well? Take a quick shower or a piss or whatever you need to do. I’ll wait,” Ari said with a smirk.

“A long, hot shower would do the trick.”

“A quick, cold shower would be advised. You’re gonna be hot soon enough,” Ari said with a laugh.

Eoghan also laughed, already pulling his shirt over his head. “Okay, that sounds perfect. Thanks.”

Ari watched, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter as Eoghan stripped all the way down to his skin and then stepped into the shower. He was only in there for a few minutes which allowed him to run his fingers over his bruised and cut cheekbone. It looked like it might not end up being a black eye after all, for which he was very grateful.

He was surprised when the water shut off but he grabbed a guest towel to hand it to Eoghan the second he stepped out. Kissing him quickly, he stepped back to allow him to dry off, glancing over at the package which was still covered.

Eoghan shook his head, finally realizing he wasn’t going to get to see the surprise and left the room. Ari followed him to the door and then locked it before smiling to himself and walking over to the sink.

The garment had been shipped in the most beautiful packaging. He’d had it delivered to a P.O. Box which Ari set up solely for the purpose of keeping it a surprise for Eoghan. He carefully unwrapped the paper and drew out the garment, a gorgeous brown, silk corset embroidered with tiny iridescent bluebirds. It had a deep V in the front with metal froglike closures. Both sides were boned and, though, you could see and feel the ribbing beneath its silk covering, it was seamlessly made. When pulled taut by the laces which were threaded from top to bottom at the back, the corset molded to Ari’s body like a second skin. It was sleeveless, so it could be worn like a vest over clothing or in the case of what he had planned, against his bare skin after a shower.

After setting it down, Ari showered quickly and then slipped into a pair of snug boy shorts which he’d found on the website where Eoghan ordered his manties. They were made of a slippery, silky, coffee colored material that lovingly cupped his cock and balls and were perfect when paired with the corset. He stood in front of the mirror fastening the hooks in front and pulling the laces tightly in back to give him the shapely torso and abs he was after. He cocked his head side to side as he ran his fingers lovingly down the rich silk, admiring the corset and praying that his efforts to keep it from Eoghan’s nosy, prying eyes, paid off once he saw it.

Ari thought Eoghan would appreciate it. And as he admired his shape inside the corset, he had to admit, the effect was impressive. If this garment went over as well with Eoghan as his choice of lacy manties had done for him, Ari had no doubt he’d be pouring over the catalogues with him as soon as they got the opportunity. When he’d checked to make sure he looked as good as he could be, he opened the door and poked his head out. Eoghan was seated on the edge of the bed and he looked up when he caught sight of him.

“You ready?” he asked hopefully.

“Babe.” Eoghan waved at his semi erection which was visible through the underwear he’d pulled on after his shower. “I can’t tell you how ready I am. Come on. Don’t be shy. I want my surprise.”

Ari smiled and nodded…

…and stepped into the room.