Chapter 49: Jericho

She rolled her eyes at me. 

"Yeah yeah lover boy."

I gave her a mock glare.

"Watch it mate. Or I may need to pull a page out of Deke's book when we get home."

Her arousal scented the air, and I gave a hungry growl.

"Oh, you better deliver on that, Jer. I would love it."

"Well, then that's what we'll do. We can all play in Deke's room, and each do something different with you."

"I call dibs on spanking."

Deke's voice was deep and gravelly. I grinned as Zoey squirmed in her chair and gave a breathy, "Yes please."

Fuck. It felt like I was never gonna be soft again in my life. My mate kept me in a constant state of arousal, and I was anticipating claiming her when we got home. I shifted and adjusted my cock as Laurie and Jacques came in with our drinks.

"Now, do you guys want to see a menu and order, or do you trust me to bring you a dinner of my choosing?"

Zoey contemplated for a moment.

"I trust you to bring dinner."

I nodded. 

"I know there isn't a bad choice on the menu so I'm happy to let you choose too."

Deke and Ash agreed, and Laurie's face flushed in pleasure at our confidence in her to pick the perfect meal.

"Alright then. I'll be back in a jiffy. Come on, Mon Amour. Let's get them the dinner of a lifetime."

I cleared my throat. 

"Hey, Laurie?"

"Yeah, Jericho?"

"No rush. We're gonna take Zoey to the dance floor first."

She winked at me.

"No problem. Just press the button by the door when you get back and we'll bring the food in. Have fun!"

With a wave, she and Jacques left the room. I stood and held out my hand to Zoey.

"May I have this dance, my lovely mate?"

"Oh yes. I would love to dance with you guys. But fair warning, I've never danced before."

Ash stood and came to stand next to me.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll lead you."

Together the four of us made our way to the dance floor. I noticed the other people in the room giving us wide smiles as I took Zoey in my arms and started to sway with her to the music. It seemed our whole pack was here tonight and was thrilled that we had finally found the female for us. Word must have spread once we left the doctor's office.

When our song finished, I went and stood by Deke and watched happily as Ash swung our girl around in his arms. She looked so happy, and it filled my heart to know we were making this night special for her, despite the misunderstanding earlier.

"I wish our mate had more confidence in herself."

"I agree, Deke. But all we can do is show her how amazing she really is. That fucking pack did a number on her. It's gonna be hard to erase eighteen years of being told she was ugly and worthless."

"I can't wait to make that pack pay. Especially that sorry excuse she was saddled with as a first mate. And that cunt of a foster sister. And I plan on finding her mother and having a discussion with her on what it means to be a parent."

"Oh yeah. They were the worst of her tormentors. I know Ash wants a private word with the Alpha. That man definitely didn't act like an Alpha should. I'm still shocked at how anyone could be so cruel."

"The sad thing is Jer, cruelty like that is common. The part that's strange is that so many of that type of person being in one place. Usually, you find them scattered as they typically don't like being around others like themselves and just want to fly under the radar. Too many in one place brings attention. But there they seem to gravitate together. It really makes me want to dig into what's going on there."

He cocked his head at me.

"You know, I know a few rogues I could reach out to and have them infiltrate that pack, try to get an inside look. A few of them owe me a favor and a few of them would do it just for the fun of it. But they'll all want to help when I explain the situation. We might be killers, but we have standards. We don't put up with people hurting kids and we try to stop it when we find it."

"I think that's a great idea, Deke. We need to know more about what's going on and make sure we're prepared for when we go pay them a visit."

"I'll put some calls out tomorrow and get that started."

"Looks like it's your turn around the floor, Deke."

I nodded over at Ash and Zoey coming our way. Ash stood next to me as we watched Deke gently lead Zoey onto the dance floor and take her in his arms. I didn't know who looked happier, Deke or Zoey. I caught the amazed and pleased looks from the room as everyone seemed to stop and watch them on the floor. Deke was always a reserved man who didn't show emotion often and the pack seemed pleased to see him come out of his shell and smile more.

Well, all except one it seemed. I nudged Ash and gestured with my chin.

"Look over at Erica. It seems she doesn't like seeing Deke with Zoey and being happy."

"That bitch lost her right to have any say about anything eight years ago."

"I'm betting she thought Deke would come crawling to her, begging her to accept him. Dumbass didn't realize that Deke doesn't beg anybody for anything. And now that Zoey came into our lives, she's the only one who he would beg for. And we all know she would never make him."

Ash shook his head.

"We'll need to keep an eye on her. She's gonna be trouble and I don't want Zoey or Deke hurt by that female."

"Agreed."