The Strength of the Pack Read online

  I will go run tomorrow.

  Chapter Two

  When Nate awoke from his nap five minutes before his alarm went off, he was relieved to find that the headache had completely broken and retreated to the realms of memory.

  Although now his stomach felt a little rebellious from the effects of his earlier Mountain Dew consumption.

  After his shower, he finished gathering the rest of his stuff together and ate an early dinner. Even though they usually had pot lucks at the club, there was rarely anything he liked, unless he or Cherise brought it. His little sister indulged his eclectic and inconsistent dietary structure. Sometimes, he was a voracious carnivore, almost like a craving.

  Then he could go months without so much as a piece of sushi.

  He was in an in-between phase right now, where he could go either direction. His dinner tonight consisted of gluten-free crackers, pine nut hummus, and two hard-boiled eggs. He’d take a bag of trail mix with him to snack on during the night if there wasn’t anything on the tables he liked.

  Cherise pulled into his driveway exactly on time. He was already out the front door to take his first load of gear to her car before she even opened her door.

  “You look better, bro,” she said as she rose up to peck him on the cheek as she passed. He was six four to her five five frame. She’d inherited their mom’s short stature, while he apparently took after his birth father’s side of the family.

  He only knew that by what his mom had said, since the man had died when he was two and he had no memories of him, only a few old pictures.

  “I feel better. It popped completely.”

  “Good. You looked like shit earlier,” she called over her shoulder on the way to the house.

  Five minutes later, they were loaded and heading toward the club. He’d seen her implement bag in the trunk.

  “Going to play tonight?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Maaaybe. Depends. There’s a guy I’ve been talking with on Fet who might show up tonight. A newbie.”

  While she jokingly called herself a play slut, she and her boyfriend weren’t poly. Her boyfriend didn’t mind if she played with others, as long as she didn’t have sex with them. “Won’t be until later if we do, though. I told Marcia I’d man the desk for her early on. That collaring is tonight and she wants to be there for it.”

  Ah, yes. He’d heard about that. He knew the people involved.

  Leo and Jesse were a gay Master/slave couple getting married tomorrow, but they lived with Leo’s ex-wife, Eva, and Leo and Eva’s young daughter.

  From what he understood, it made Tilly’s complicated situation look positively normal by comparison.

  He hadn’t asked for the personal details of the situation, because he worked on the assumption that if people wanted him to know their business, they’d tell him. He didn’t judge, either. It wasn’t his job.

  When they arrived at the club, they were the second ones there, after Marcia and Derrick.

  Marcia looked relieved. “Oh, good, you’re both here. Crawford, I have a big favor to ask.”

  Nate’s scene name was Crawford, easier to remember than making something up out of thin air. And it helped prospective clients remember his name more easily when trying to find his phone number for his services.

  “Sure.”

  “Jesse called me and said Leo’s having some pain today. Can you work on him before their collaring? They should be here any minute. Hell, I’ll even pay you for a full session rate, if you want.”

  “Of course I’ll work on him, and no, you won’t pay me. Let me get set up.” Leo was already one of his regular clients outside of the dungeon, although it was usually one of their mutual friends, or Jesse, who brought him in for his office visits. Eva had never actually been to his office with Leo, and he’d never worked on Eva at the dungeon, even though he had worked on Jesse before, both at the dungeon and officially, in his office.

  He rolled his large travel bag into the dungeon area and set up at the medical play table they’d put downstairs for just this reason. It meant he didn’t have to haul his stuff upstairs to the isolated area where needle and knife play frequently took place.

  He never charged for what he did at the club. They always let him in for free because he held demos, and he handed out business cards that helped bring him more clients.

  By the time he was ready, Leo, Jesse, and Eva had arrived. Eva and Jesse looked worried as they helped Leo out of the car and into his wheelchair.

  Nate held the office door open for them. The club wasn’t officially open yet, but since Marcia had cleared it, he waved them in.

  “I’ll check us in,” Eva said. “You guys go on inside.”

  Jesse wheeled Leo into the dungeon as Nate held the inner door for him. The car accident three months earlier had left Leo with severe injuries, including a broken pelvis. He was now able to walk and move around without the wheelchair, but spending a lot of time on his feet wore him out and jacked up his pain levels.

  Nate helped Jesse steady the man and got him up onto the table, where he laid down with a pained grunt.

  “So where are we hurting today?” Nate asked.

  “Can I start with what doesn’t hurt? Might be faster.”

  “Your big day is tomorrow, isn’t it?” Nate prepared the first batch of needles and opened up several packs of alcohol swabs. He suspected the extra stress was adding to Leo’s pain levels.

  “Yep. Going to marry my boy tomorrow.” Leo glanced over at Jesse. The love and adoration in the man’s gaze nearly made Nate’s cock hard despite him being straight.

  Nate, personally, had given up actively trying to find someone. If it was meant to happen, it would. He didn’t sleep around and he would admit he had some pretty specific standards. He was okay with being alone. Being thrown into a parenting role at twenty-one had adjusted his world view in a hard and fast way. Forced him to shift his priorities in a way that, even though his sister was now grown up and independent, weren’t easy to change back.

  “Okay. Close your eyes and relax for me.”

  Nate started placing needles, paying careful attention to how Leo reacted. It was easier to do this now, being familiar with the man and how different treatment protocols worked for him. After about fifteen minutes, Nate sensed the man’s tension begin to ease, which would naturally help with pain relief in the process.

  “Any better?”

  “Yeah,” Leo said, eyes still closed. “It’s helping. I still don’t get it, but I won’t question it.”

  “Common reaction,” Nate told him. “So,” he asked Jesse. “How’s the little one handling things about tomorrow?”

  “She’s in flower girl commando mode. I never knew there was such a thing, but she is.”

  Eva had sat at a table with Marcia over in the social area and was talking with her out of earshot.

  “And Eva? Do you or she need a quick stress relief session?”

  Jesse glanced over his shoulder at where Eva sat. He dropped his voice even more. “Maybe we can talk her into it later tonight,” he said. Then a smile crept over his face. “She might be looking for an excuse to duck Tilly and Eliza.”

  Nate knew exactly what that meant, but it left him more confused than ever about their arrangement. “Wait, what?”

  “Matchmaking,” Leo mumbled, sounding deeply relaxed. “Eva’s under our protection, but she’s single. She’s agreed Jesse and I get to sign off on any prospective matches.”

  Nate glanced at Eva again. The first time he’d seen Eva at the club, her hair had been dyed a brassy orangey red that he personally thought hadn’t suited her at all. In fact, it’d almost screamed, “Get away.”

  Tonight, her hair was a beautiful rich, dark reddish auburn that looked absolutely perfect on her.

  He broke his own code. “Not to be nosy, and feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but I thought you guys were a poly triad?”

  “No,” Jesse said. “We’re a pack. Not quite a le
ather family.” He smiled. “Leo and I are gay. We love her, but we’re not poly with her.” His expression turned sad. “We just want her to find a good, solid guy who will love her, love our daughter, and be okay with us there as well.”

  “Oh.” Nate placed another needle. “At least you have a supportive family behind you all.”

  “Well, family by friendship,” Jesse said. “Long, ugly story.”

  Nate didn’t press any further. “Still, if you or she wants a session tonight, let me know.”

  “Thanks,” Jesse said. “I might take you up on that later. Leo comes first.” He tenderly stroked Leo’s cheek. “Big guy gets priority. Always.”

  Even before his involvement in the BDSM community, Nate had friends that ticked multiple boxes all over the rainbow spectrum in terms of gender identity, sexuality, and relationship dynamics. He didn’t care who or what someone was beyond if they were a nice human being or not.

  Fortunately, he’d been able to instill that ethic of tolerance in Cherise during her formative years. She’d spent plenty of nights with him while he was studying in school and practicing techniques on classmates and friends. He’d essentially been a single dad skimping by on death benefits from the military for their parents, his own scholarships and grants, and doing cash work on the side giving therapeutic massages, acupuncture treatments, Reiki work, and tutoring classmates in their studies.

  At least the house had been paid off by their parents’ life insurance. He’d calculated their average monthly living expenses and set that much aside for six years’ worth of bills so he didn’t have that stress to deal with, at least. And there had been enough for him to go to school without having to work, too, a good thing, since he had Cherise to take care of. He signed her up for pre-paid college benefits to help take the sting out of that. He figured if she didn’t use it, she could cash it in.

  Which had left very little money to spare in their budget after the fact, but he had the comfort of knowing they would always have a roof over their heads, electricity, food, and running water.

  Where Cherise’s friends had grown up loving My Little Pony and playing with Barbie, she had learned about meridians and Reiki and pressure points and practicing them on her friends’ toys.

  When he’d first graduated and started practicing, she’d been his after-hours assistant and appointment scheduler, when she wasn’t in school or doing homework.

  By the time Nate finished with Leo, the club had opened and people were starting to gather. Nate helped the man sit up. “Better?”

  Leo offered him a smile. “A lot. Thanks. Please add this one to my next bill.”

  “Nope. You know what I do here is gratis. Consider it a wedding gift, if you have to.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jesse got him situated in his wheelchair as Loren walked over to confer with Leo about starting the collaring ceremony.

  Nate washed his hands and grabbed himself a cup of coffee, returning to the medical play table to sit on it and await the start of the ceremony. Out of courtesy, no one would play while the collaring was underway, so it wasn’t like he was blocking anyone’s access to the table.

  Besides, Marcia, Derrick, and Kel always reserved the table for him for the whole night when he was in attendance. He enjoyed absorbing the ambient energy from watching others playing around him and from what he himself was doing.

  It wasn’t about paddles and canes and floggers for him. He wasn’t into that.

  He found his attraction in the energy exchange. Maybe some would call that woo-woo nonsense, but it was his kink and he enjoyed it.

  All the better, he could actually do some therapeutic good for people in the process.

  His gaze fell on Eva one more time as Loren called for everyone to gather around for the collaring. He’d always sensed a sad sort of cloud around Eva.

  No, that wasn’t right. It was more like a wall, a protective cloak. He’d never seen her play with anyone, not even Leo or Jesse, at the club. As a Top or a bottom. And while some people were very friendly and huggy with others, formal protocols notwithstanding, he’d noticed she…wasn’t.

  Interesting.

  Chapter Three

  Yesterday, while Jesse had been at work and Laurel had been at school, Leo had asked Eva to sit down and talk with him.

  Adjusting to this new life was getting incrementally easier for Eva. She’d think she couldn’t do another day, then look back three weeks later and realize yes, she had.

  That was the only thing keeping her going. That, and her promises to Leo and Jesse that she would keep going.

  And she was slowly building up a stable of good, trusted friends. Tilly, Eliza, June, Marcia, Loren—everyone at the Suncoast Society had proven by the way they responded to Leo’s accident that they cared.

  That had gone a long way to earning her trust.

  Yes, she would still sometimes feel angry over the situation. That it wasn’t fair the man she married wasn’t her husband any longer. That he never really had been the man she thought she married.

  Leo hadn’t deliberately misled her any more than she’d deliberately misled him about her past. He’d also struggled for years to try to be what and who she needed until he finally couldn’t.

  That wasn’t on him, that was on her. She’d avoided dealing with herself and her past long enough.

  At least Leo had tried.

  If she was totally honest with herself, Leo had put far more emotional energy and effort into their relationship than she had.

  Another promise she’d made to Leo and Jesse was to continue the counseling. If for no other reason than to be the best mother to Laurel that she could be.

  During their talk yesterday, Leo had laid it on the line to her, that he needed to know if she was going to be able to go through with witnessing him and Jesse formalizing their commitment to each other in public at the collaring, in front of their friends. She already knew she’d be okay at the wedding.

  It had been a tiny victory when she could honestly admit to Leo that she felt a mix of sadness and love over the events, but she’d be able to handle it. She did love Leo and always would. She’d come to love Jesse, too. He was as good a dad to Laurel as Leo was.

  It didn’t obliterate the entirety of her loss but she tried to remind herself that if she found Leo, maybe she could one day find another man. She didn’t want Leo and Jesse’s lives placed on hold and in limbo just because of her.

  She knew what to expect today. Leo had gone over what he planned to do, to make sure she’d be okay with it.

  To give her the opportunity to back out.

  “I’m going to be brutally honest, Eva,” he said. “If you cannot deal with the collaring, you will need to go wait outside while it happens. Or stay home. I can’t be focused on you, because I’m there for Jesse.”

  “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

  Then he’d hugged her. “We’re not abandoning you,” he said.

  “I know.”

  Sitting here now, it hit her how real this was.

  And that she was dealing with it. Coping. Handling it.

  What she hadn’t expected was for Leo to call her over to them after he collared Jesse.

  Loren handed Leo another box, similar to the one that had held the day collar necklace he’d put on Jesse.

  Inside lay a similar necklace.

  “I know we haven’t been around much,” Leo said to those gathered in attendance, “but just for the record, in case anyone didn’t know, Eva is under our official protection. We’re not her Doms, but if anyone fucks with her in the bad way, we might as well be.”

  “Amen,” Tilly said with a smile.

  On the tag, a small tribal fish design like the one on Jesse’s tag, only with a hot pink background. On the back had been engraved LC-JM.

  The men’s initials.

  Leo handed it to Jesse, who fastened it around Eva’s neck.

  “When you meet a guy we can sign off on,” Leo said, “we’ll let him repl
ace that. Until then, it’s a reminder of the fact that you’re safe with us, but that we’ll find the right guy. That we are and always will be a pack.”

  She felt close to tears, hugging first Jesse, then Leo. Leo hadn’t told her about this, and she was glad he’d surprised her.

  “Thank you, guys.”

  “You thank us now,” Tilly joked. “You just wait.”

  * * * *

  After Leo had paddled Jesse at the close of their collaring, others started playing. Leo and Jesse ended up sitting at a table in the social area, surrounded by friends.

  Tilly walked up behind Eva. “How you doing?”

  Eva’s hand automatically went up to the necklace, playing with the tag. “I’m vertical. How’s that?”

  “It’s a start.”

  Marcia appeared on her other side. “Hey, Crawford has an opening. Why don’t you let him work on you?”

  Eva blanched. “I…I don’t play. You know that.”

  “No, just let him do some acupuncture on you.”

  “I’ll hold your hand,” Tilly said without a hint of snark. “He’s not gropey. He’s a good guy.”

  Hell, Leo and Jesse had both been worked on by him. He’d actually helped Leo’s pain.

  It wasn’t the man’s fault that she had body issues. “If you hold my hand.” She’d let Tilly think it was a needles-squick issue on her part.

  “Deal.” Tilly laced fingers with her and led her over to the table, where Crawford was wiping it down. “Can you do a little stress relief on her, Crawford?”

  “Of course I can.” He spread a clean towel on the table. “Hop on up here. I can always use a fresh victim.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tilly assured her. “He’s the sweetest damn sadist you’ll ever meet.”

  “Why do you women insist on telling people how nice I am? How am I ever expected to terrify people if they think I’m a fluffy bunny?”

  Eva actually laughed at that.

  “Because truth in advertising, dude. You’re a sweetheart.” Tilly remained on the other side of the table, holding Eva’s left hand as she lay face-up on the table. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve got that Professor Snape vibe going on? Only in a sexier, Domlier kind of way.”