Chapter 7

Trent - Chapter 7

"I should like to talk to you, Trent." To be honest, Noah was sort of nervous about the big wolf and talking to him about Joe. "There are some things that I think I need to clear up with you."

"I've already told her that her money is fine where it is. It's ours. Both of ours. She made me understand that." Noah wondered how that had gone over, and nearly burst out laughing when the young pup frowned before continuing. "I won't make that mistake again. Our money is just that, our money. She's very touchy about that, isn't she?"

"Yes. That stems, I believe, from not having much. She's worked very hard at getting where she is, and I think that the two of you will do well with her knowledge of business and other things. But that wasn't what I meant to tell you. It's about her powers." Trent asked him just how much Joe was worth. "Quite a bit. Even by my standards, she has a good deal of money. Billions by now, I would guess. As I said, she's been working hard to save her—"

"You mean millions." Noah covered his mouth to hide the smile and shook his head. "You said billions, but I think you meant millions, right? I mean, not that millions isn't a lot, but billions is a fucking lot."

"Yes, I'm well aware of how much billions is. And she has a few of them. Last I had any knowledge of it, I think it was right around seven. Probably more by now." Noah grabbed Trent as his knees simply gave out on him. When he was safely in the chair, Noah sat as well. "She will be most upset with me if you faint away while in my care. And I have a great many things to tell you as yet."

"I thought you were joking with me. I knew she had a lot saved. She told me that you paid her well and that she was good at investing in companies. I mean, you know, millions of dollars is a lot for even the average person to save. She has been around for a while now and would have been able to save a great deal, I guess. And she told me that she watches trends and markets. I'm babbling, I'm sorry. I'm not usually so disjointed when I talk." Noah told him that was what he wanted to talk to him about. "Trends or markets? Because if it's about a loan, I've made a deal with my brother and he's taking over the business. I'm sorry."

"No. It's about being around for a long time. You will be too." Trent nodded. Noah knew he was still thinking about the amount of money that Joe had amassed. "You're like her, in a great many things. Like immortality. And a few other perks. Like you can heal much faster. As a wolf, you could anyway, but now it will be as if you are healing as you—"

"What did you say?" Noah told him. "No. Not the healing part. The immortality part. I'm not an immortal. Joe told me that she was, because of something you did to her. But I'm only a human, and, while I'll live a little longer than a regular person, I'm going to die."

"No, you won't. You're just like Joe. All of her. The moment you accepted her blood into your body as her mate, you became as she is. It's one of the things that I was able to give her as my friend too." Trent was shaking his head. "You didn't expect to die in a few years and leave her, did you? It's the way that things work with our kind. Well, my kind. I'm very powerful. I've been around for a very long time, Trent, longer than Joe by a great many centuries."

"She's a watcher, not a vampire." Noah told him that it was day walker, not watcher. "What's the difference?"

"A day walker affords all the benefits of being a vampire but doesn't have to drink blood, nor does the sun bother her. A watcher is someone that has been risen from the dead, a person who only does what his master commands him to do and will kill anything and everything that comes between him and his master, and is loyal only to him. Ever. Joe has never died. She is not…I think you call them zombies. She is not one of those…she's a day walker. For me."

"And so…I'm sorry, but I'm trying to understand this." Noah told him it was fine. He was actually enjoying watching the man work through his fears. "So what happens to her should you…you die or be killed? Will she die as well?"

"No. She's an immortal. As are you. The only way to kill you—and it's not something that happens anymore—is that you would have to be beheaded ‘on consecrated ground by a man of the cloth who has no sins of his own.' The last part is what most people fail on. Even if they are a good clergy, they have some small sin in their past. Very few people could say that they have no sins. When I die, and I would imagine I will one day, I will simply meet the sun and Joe will continue as if nothing happened. I do hope that she will shed a small tear for me, but I don't know."

Noah had hoped for a laugh, or at the very least a small smile. But the poor boy was having trouble wrapping his mind around everything right now. When he got up to go to the window, Noah watched him.

There was a calmness about Trent now that hadn't been there before meeting Joe. Noah knew, from Trent's father, that Trent had been stressed long before the heart attack that had brought the entire family to their knees. And like the rest of the family, Noah was glad for the couple, happy that they were so much in love.

Noah liked Trent. A great deal. Had he been able to pick a mate for his Joe, this would have been the perfect man for her. He was smart, but willing to admit when he was wrong. He had money…not as much as Joe, but he wasn't poor either. A home, a good solid family, and as far as Noah could see, he loved Joe. Very much so.

"Can we have children?" Noah told him that they could have as many as they wished for as long as they wanted. "And will they be like us? Immortal as well?"

"Yes." Noah was almost fearful of the next confession he had. "As are your parents and brothers. I did not think that you'd want to watch them grow old and die any more than I would. I have come to love your family very much."

"And they have you as well. But this is a lot to take in." Noah said he'd come to it sooner rather than later. "We have this thing with Max and Jefferson. I've sold my business and now I have a mate. And I have a meeting with the alpha in a few days, which is going to be all right, I think, but something more that I have to deal with right now. I'm not sure how much more I can take on and still be…well, okay with it all. Just so you know, you're going to tell my family what you've done. And so we're on the same page here, I don't think they're going to take it any better than I did, and that wasn't really all that well."

"I will tell them. Perhaps in an email or on the phone. And all these things will work themselves out." Trent asked him if he really believed that. "Not really, but it did sound pretty good, don't you think?"

"I don't think I like you very—" Every part of his body tensed. Noah stood up too when the man looked at him. "Joe is in trouble."

Trent's shift from man to beast was immediate and profoundly beautiful. As he leapt though the door that led out onto the deck, leaving glass and splinters of wood in his wake, Noah reached for his child and hit a hard wall. Before he could try and punch though the barrier, both TJ and his wife came into the room, their fear as evident as it had been on young Trent's face before he left. Noah told them what Trent had said before he'd left them. When they turned to the now broken door, they all watched as five more wolves headed in the direction that Trent had gone.

"They'll get to her." Noah tried again to reach for Joe as Christine soothed her own frayed nerves by talking softly to them. "Whatever it is, they'll protect her."

~*~

Joe didn't panic. Never. But right now, with all this going on around her, it was all she could do not to give in to it. The bank that she was in, and had been in millions of times over the years, was being robbed. And they were doing so without care for who they killed or hurt.

Two were dead already, and one was hurt so badly that Joe knew that without immediate medical attention, they would also be on the list of the dead. There were many others that were bleeding, some not so badly, others bad enough that she feared for them as well. The robbers had come in, shot several of the patrons, and had ordered them on the floor as the doors were being locked down.

After contacting Trent to tell him why she was going to be delayed, he told her that he was coming to her. She had felt better after hearing that, but now she was worried for his safety as well as those with her. It had been an hour since she'd first called out to him, and now he was telling her that the police were doing all that they could. She had no more faith in them than she did the robbers.

She felt the small touch of Trent against her mind before he asked her if she was all right. I am. I've tried to figure out how many men are here as you asked me to do. There are four that I've counted, but I know there are more. One of them is using a cell phone to talk to someone, but they aren't here where I am. Do you suppose that there are others out there where you are?

The police have stumbled onto them. I don't know who they're talking to in there, but it's not the guys out here. One of them is dead and the other isn't talking. Or I should say that he can't. They're taking him to the hospital now. How many customers are there in the bank, do you think? She told him there were nine with her and two of them were dead. The bank manager one of the living?

He's alive and sitting across from me. He's been hit but not terribly so. I think he is more worried for his face than what is going on right now. He has asked the man next to him if it will leave a mark several times. Do you suppose that he's in on this?

I've been talking to a few of the officers out here, and they're thinking that he was but has since changed his mind. I don't know why they'd know that, but that's what I've been able to find out. She asked him if they were going to get them out of there before the idiots started shooting again. You just sit tight, love, we're coming for you.

For some reason Joe thought that he wasn't working with the police on this rescue. And if he was, it was going to be by his rules and not theirs. When she looked around the room again, she had a thought about the people there with her and wondered if any of them were working with the robbers as well. Reaching into the mind of the manager, she found out a great deal more than she'd bargained for.

The manager is in on it. And he's also the one that called the police. The combination of the vault that the robbers want into has been changed, and he doesn't know who might have done it. He thinks he's only alive because they believe he knows the way in, but is holding out for more money. He asked her how she knew that and she told him. I reached into his mind. Also, he's been going to the vault several times a day and taking out some cash for himself. He's afraid now that whoever changed the locking code also knows about his theft, and he might go to prison. I think that's a good possibility, don't you?

Oh yeah, that's a done deal. Honey, in a few minutes we're coming in. There is a wolf on the force that is going to let us walk into the basement that will lead us to you and the people that are on the floor you're on. She told him again that she had no idea who else was in the building. I don't know either, but there are six of us as wolves, and we're not waiting around for someone else to get hurt.

When you enter the building, close your eyes and then when you open them, I think I can see what you see. I've never done it before, but Noah said that it was one of the things he'd given me to keep me safe. He told her Noah had said he had the same powers she had, and asked her if she thought he could do it as well. That's wonderful. Yes, you can do it. Just concentrate on what heartbeats you can hear coming close to you. Then you can reach out to them and see if they are friend or foe by entering their mind. Don't push. If you do, you can hurt them.

All right. I can do that. He paused for several minutes. We're in the building. Elijah and I are going to take the floor that you're on, and Sterling and Randal are going up to the third floor. Scott and Tanner are going to stay here to keep anyone from coming in or going out that shouldn't be.

She told him to be careful. And when you come to this floor, let me know and I'll see if I can tell you where the men with guns are.

The woman next to her started sobbing, which she'd been doing off and on for the last hour, and it was starting to make Joe nervous. The noise alone was enough to make her want to smack the woman, but when she started wailing, Joe wanted to tell her to shut up and stop acting like a baby.

Stretching her neck, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye that wasn't Trent or his brothers. She had no idea how she knew that, but she knew as surely as she was sitting there that it wasn't any of them. The big wolf moved along the desks, sniffing the chairs, then moving on. She'd bet anything that it was seeing how many shifters were there with him. She reached out to let Trent know.

What does he look like? I mean, is there anything about him that sticks out? Like markings or his coloring? Joe tried her best not to stare, but could see that he walked with a limp and had a long scar down his right side. You're sure? His right side?

Yes, I'm sure. I guess I could tell you that he's facing me and that's how I'm telling you what side it's on, but it's his right. Do you know him?

When Trent didn't answer her, she watched the wolf closely while trying her best not to look as if she was. Reaching into his mind wasn't going to work, because she had a feeling that he would feel her clumsy touch. She knew then that as soon as this was over, she was going to practice this more until she was as good as Noah was. Then she remembered him. Reaching out to him, she could feel his fear for her.

I've been trying to contact you, child. It's been as if I have been hitting a blank wall. Are you all right? She told him what Trent was doing and about the big wolf. Look at him and then close your eyes for me. Perhaps I can help this way. I don't know who could be there either, but between the two of us, we should be able to figure it out for the pack.

When she did as he asked, Joe knew who they were looking at. Before she could tell Trent what she and Noah had discovered, she heard a loud scream. Looking at the wolf and what he was doing, Joe felt her belly lurch up as the animal dragged a man away by his throat.

He's cat…panther, I think. Joe said nothing as the man was killed there in front of her. Don't look, child. You can do nothing for him now. Just be very still and I'll let Trent know that his alpha is in the building with him and will know that he's close.

I have to do something. He told her to wait. I can't wait and you know it. When he smells you or even Trent on me, he's going to be really pissed off. Their alpha his going to kill everyone here because of me.

You don't know that.

But she did know, and told Noah that the wolf was coming toward her, and was now standing in front of her with blood dripping off his muzzle. He could smell her, was all her mind could think about, and when he tensed up and looked to his right, she knew that Trent had entered the room. He looked back at her then, his teeth bared and the hair on his back standing up. He knew that she'd contacted Trent and the others.

She never took her eyes off the big wolf standing over her. Neither of them, it seemed, was going to be the first to look away. But when he was suddenly gone, his face just seconds from being at her throat, Joe closed her eyes for a second to let the fear of what he might have done to her wash over her. Then she opened them and stood up.

Trent had attacked the alpha, she knew that much. And she knew that he'd not looked around for the men with guns before coming to her. She had a fear that one of the others would shoot him, and Joe had to protect him.

Trent and the wolf, the alpha, were fighting now, their bodies knocking over anything and everything that was close enough to be destroyed. She saw Elijah as he made his way to her just as she broke the neck of the first gunman that she came upon.

"Lead them to the lower levels." He shook his head at her. "I have to go and make sure that no one else is on this floor. If they get hurt over this, no one will come out a winner."

At his indecision, she moved to the offices to her right. A gunman was just coming out of the room to no doubt see about the noise, and Joe grabbed him from behind and snapped his neck too. Elijah nodded once, as if he realized she could care for herself, and started for the group on the floor. None of them moved.

"You want them to kill you too? They will if the gunmen come here and see what's going on. Go with him or you'll die. I've no energy to try and help those that do not care to help themselves." The sobber looked at her, then at the wolf, and whined about him biting her. "I see. So you think that a bite is so much deadlier than a bullet? It's not. And he won't bite you. Get up off your asses and get the hell out of here. Damn it, what is wrong with you people?"

One by one they got up. The manager was still sitting there when Elijah led the group toward the stairs. She looked at him and told him to get going. He shook his head, his face full of anger.

"What have you done?" She asked him what he meant. "They have to rob this place. Do you have any idea what they're going to do to me when they don't get their money? Not to mention what is going to happen to me if they get away. The higher-ups are going to think that I've robbed my own bank. You have to sit down and let this play out or there will be hell to pay."

"I don't think so. You should have thought of that before you made this bank and these people's money your own personal pay thing." He shook his head and she nodded at him. "You've taken so much money that didn't belong to you that you're going to be lucky if you only go to jail. These people will lynch you. Also, the authorities already know that you're in on this. So get your slimy ass out of here and face your problems."

He was still sitting there when she moved into the other part of the floor. Joe had enough problems right now, and not one of them was about the bank manager. The third robber was standing with his gun pointed at the alpha and Trent when she cleared her throat. He tensed but didn't look at her just then.

"You cannot kill him, I'm afraid. It won't work for me, you see." He looked in her direction as he pointed the gun at her. "I don't think that's in your best interest either. I need for you to lower your weapon. I'm not going to hurt you too badly if you only do what I tell you."

The pain of the shot took her breath away. But before she could take the gun from the man, he, like the alpha, was simply gone. Elijah had come back and was tearing the man's throat out before she could move. She dropped to her knees, and Elijah came to her and whimpered quietly.

"I'm fine, I promise. The wound will be healed in a few minutes." She put her forehead to his. "You saved me a great deal of pain. I can't thank you enough. I never knew that it hurt so badly to be shot. Did you?"

When he licked her face, she stood up. Trent was coming toward her, and his wolf looked as fit and sexy as she'd ever seen him. Elijah stood beside her and didn't move when she was knocked to the floor so that her back was on it and Trent was laying over her.

Are you hurt? She told him what had happened. You ever do that again and I will beat your pretty ass for you. I need you in my life.

"And I you. But there are others here that need to be taken care of. Several more that have been hurt." He didn't move, but Elijah did. "Trent, are you all right?"

Yes. The pause scared her a little. He's dead. The alpha is dead. I'm not sure what's going to happen to him, but you can bet that someone is going to be pissed off.

Joe knew what should happen now. Trent had killed the alpha, and that meant he was king. If no one protested it, Trent would take his place as the pack leader. Not that she didn't think he'd do a wonderful job at it.

There were still things they had to do before the police entered the bank. One of them was to get Trent and his brothers out. She reached out to Noah and told him what she needed. He said he'd do it with pleasure.

"Noah is going to alter the minds of the humans to keep them from telling anyone that several big wolves were here. I don't know what they'll tell the police, but you won't be brought up." He looked down at her as she continued. "We have to get the rest of the people out of here though. I'll lead them out once the other robbers are taken care of."

They're all dead now. The others, my brothers, have taken care of them, as well as the cameras in the halls. She'd never thought of that and was glad that he had. But he still hadn't moved. Dad is on his way here with clothing for us. I'll go out in…I love you, Joe.

Then he was gone. She wanted to call him back to tell him that she loved him as well, but there were things that had to be taken care of now. Later, she told herself, she'd make him pay for running off. Smiling, she thought of all the things she wanted to do to him.

As she lay there, her mind going a million miles a minute, she heard the door opening to the front of the bank and sat up. When someone told her to put her hands on her head and not to move, Joe obeyed. There was no point in making someone else mad enough to hurt her.

The bank was secured by the police in a matter of twenty minutes. Then the questioning began.

"Are you telling me that you don't know what happened to anyone?" She told the officer again that she didn't know. "You were right there, in the main part of the building, and you don't know what happened to the gunmen or the naked man in the hall."

"No. I've told you several times already that I didn't see anything, as they had us on the floor. I didn't want to get killed." He looked at the blood on her shirt. It was hers, but she'd told him she'd tried to help one of the other people. "I'm not going to tell you again that I don't know what was going on other than we were told to shut up and to sit still."

"You do know that there are six dead men in the building, not counting the naked one, that look as if someone tore them apart or broke their necks. Do you know what strength it would take to do that?" She asked him if he thought she'd done it. "No. But someone must have heard something. We have to close this case and there are no cameras to go on, and all the people there have the same story as you. They don't know anything either."

"And that's my problem how?" He didn't say anything, but she could tell he was pissed off. "Perhaps you should go and find out who the men are and see what they did to make someone so upset with them."

When he walked away, she felt the nudge of Noah in her mind. She wanted to scream at someone, but let out a long breath when he asked her if she was all right.

I can come in there and kill him for you. Or perhaps Trent will want to do that. He is most upset with everyone. Just as his dad was showing up, he took off to the woods. Joe knew that he was upset. He'd told her that he'd come for her after he'd run off some of his anger. Is he going to be all right, my dear?

I think he was afraid for me. Noah said that was more than likely it. He killed the alpha, Noah. There will be consequences for that.

He will make a great leader, as you will his alpha-bitch. She told him she wasn't so sure about that. I am. As are the others. TJ is about to burst, he's so happy. I think that the man will be crowing for years to come about this. Does anyone know why he was a part of the robbery?

Not that I've been made aware of. But then, I'm stuck here in this room with these fools walking all over the evidence. Not that they have much need of it. The men who did it are all dead, and the manager has confessed to everything. She laughed a little. I don't suppose you had anything to do with that, did you?

I have no idea what you might be speaking of. If he confessed, he did so because it was good for his soul. If he even has one.

She was released a few minutes later and asked to wait for someone to clear her.

You'll be fine, my dear. Even if I have to take out the entire police force to see that you are.

As the police came in—one standing near her with a gun ready to be brought up at any moment—she reflected on what was going on. Joe could understand what he was doing. There had been a lot of death on his watch, and none of them were taking any chances that they'd get shot as well. When she was released, two of them escorted her to where the Calhouns were, and she sat down on the chair when it was offered to her. She was worried about Trent and hoped he was going to be all right with this.

I'm fine. I'm just...I'll have to run this pack or be killed. Well, not killed, I guess, but we would have to leave the area. It's more than I ever wanted in this life. She told him what Noah had told her. I saw my dad when I left. Elijah was telling him what had happened. I've never been so afraid in my life. But killing Casey was the only thing my wolf could think to do when we saw him standing over you. I think he planned to try and kill you.

He did. But you know that he wouldn't have succeeded. He said he knew that. The manager of the bank had been stealing from here for years. He's confessed to being one of the men in on the robbery, and to have taken some of the cash prior to this. Did you know that?

Noah said he would take care of it, so that's more than likely the only reason that he confessed. I didn't know what he meant by that, but I really needed to get away and think for a moment. And short of taking you out of there, I had to run. I never expected anything like that from Casey. I mean, he could be a real bastard when he wanted, but to rob the local bank? What did he hope to get from it besides money? Joe knew but for now kept her mouth closed. I'll be home by the time you are released. Then I'll come and pick you up. I need you.

Good. I'd like very much for you to take me hard, Trent. Just as soon as you get in the house. He said they'd never make it that far. Fine with me, so long as I can scream out my releases when you do.

Joe spoke to the police once more, telling them that all she'd been doing was adding someone to her account when the men came in. No, she didn't know who they were. And she had no idea how they'd been killed. She also told them that she'd not seen anything like a large animal at any time. The officers let her go but told her that they might need to speak to her again. That was fine by her. Joe still wouldn't say a word as to what had really happened.