Gatsby Wolves, Vol. 4

"How come you have to change on full moons but I don't?"

Kade held Emelie's hand as he walked her to school. She skipped over the cracks in the sidewalk and peppered Kade with questions the entire walk over.

"That's because you're basically an upgraded version of me," he told her.

"Does that mean I'm better than you?"

"Watch it," Kade warned. "Don't forget, you live by the grace of me."

She gave him a smug little grin and he poked her in the side, making her giggle. Emelie had definitely inherited her mother's attitude and confidence, and it probably didn't help that Kade spoiled her rotten. She was a good girl, but she could be a handful at times. As they approached the school, Kade knelt down in front of her to straighten out her hat and coat.

"Now," he said, "I want you to go in there and focus on your schoolwork, alright? No more getting in fights with Derek Singer. Alright?"

"But he pulled Mimi's hair," Emelie pouted. "I heard you tell Uncle Bobby that, 'if someone deserve's to get their ass kicked, you kick it'. Did you lie?"

"Mills, I told you a million times that you shouldn't be listening in on those conversations," Kade told her. "Please don't repeat that. Especially to your mother."

"Is it because she gets mad at you for it?"

"This isn't about me," Kade said. "This is about you punching Derek Singer in the nuts and then biting him. I'm proud of you for defending your friend, but if you get expelled from school we're gonna have a problem. Understood?"

She gave him a big nod and a grin, holding her hand out for a quick little secret shake the two of them had together. Kade stood up as she ran into school, meeting Mimi at the door before going inside. Kade let out a deep exhale. She was a handful, but she was his best friend and he couldn't handle how fast she seemed to be growing. Every day she was smarter than the last.

Since Emelie had been born and the pack expanded, Kade spent less time meeting directly with customers. Bobby thrived in selling product, coming from a salesman background. Now Kade spent a majority of his time at his office in the pawn shop, handling less exciting things like managing everyone's pay, inventory orders, and working with their suppliers. He had a family now, and they had been in life threatening problems too many times.

For the sake of his wife and child, he thought it would be better to stay out of the more dangerous parts of his business. Sometimes it felt boring to work at a desk, but it was for his own good. Besides, he was an alpha. He had to be readily available to everyone and he couldn't be caught up in fights. He had the younger wolves to do that. God, the thought made him cringe. Younger wolves.

Almost as if on cue, Tommy knocked on his door and poked his head in. Despite being a part of the pack for two years now, the teenager was still soft spoken and shy. It was his nature, but Kade sometimes felt like Tommy was a little extra hesitant around him.

"Come in," Kade said.

"Oh, I'll be quick," Tommy said. "I was just letting you know that I'm going to get some lunch, but Gibbet is out there. I wanted to know if you want me to bring you anything."

"That's thoughtful of you," Kade remarked, raising a brow. "I appreciate it, but I'll just come with you. I can handle the bill-"

"No," Tommy said quickly.

"No?"

Tommy turned bright red and looked like he wanted to die.

"I mean, that's not what I meant," he said quickly. "I mean I know you're so busy and I don't want to-"

"It's fine," Kade chuckled. "I get it, you just want some time to yourself. I've noticed you're the most independent out of all of us."

"I guess I'm an introvert," Tommy said sheepishly.

"Why don't you just bring me a Rueben from the diner?" Kade said, counting out a few bills and handing it to Tommy.

Tommy quickly nodded and ducked out of the office before he could embarrass himself further. The rest of the day was fairly quiet, until Kade was able to pack up and pick up Emelie on his way home. He and Celine usually switched off on picking her up from school, but he knew Celine was feeling newly inspired with her songwriting and decided to give her a little time with that. When Emelie came out of the school, he frowned when he saw her hat was missing.

"Mill, what happened to your hat?" he asked.

"I traded it for this slinky toy," she said proudly, taking a slinky out of her backpack and showing it to Kade.

"That's not- You know what? I'm glad you're happy with it."

She played with the slinky on their walk home and Kade listened while she told him about what she learned in class that day, but their moment was interrupted when Kade was suddenly grabbed by the back of his collar and yanked into a side alley. He grunted when he was shoved into a wall, feeling a crunch in his nose. He was then turned around, pinned to the wall by none other that Wes MacIntosh himself.

"What the hell, Wes?!" Kade winced.

"And to think, you were starting to impress me," Wes growled. "I thought you were just some grimy human who was making things work for himself. But then you have to go and pull some shit like this."

"Let go of me," Kade snapped. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kade may have been stronger as a shifter, but pure werewolves would still be stronger. They couldn't shift at will like Kade could, only forcefully during full moons. They didn't have control over their wolf forms, either. However, they made up for it with insane size and physical strength in their human forms. Kade's gaze moved to Emelie, who had dropped her slinky toy and was staring at Kade with wide, teary eyes.

"You mutts are starting some kind of army," Wes snarled. "Did you think I wouldn't find out? I let you organize your stupid little pack, but to create new feral mutts to release into the world to attack my family? That's low."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kade insisted, glaring at him. "How would I even create more wolves? I don't even have that ability."

"Don't play stupid, you know exactly what an alpha was able to do."

"Clearly, I don't."

Wes leaned in and stared Kade down, but a soft and frightened whimper from Emelie caught his attention. He hadn't even noticed the child there. He glared at Kade, then let him go.

"I'll believe you this time, for your daughter's sake," Wes warned. "If another feral mutt attacks my family, we're going to revisit this conversation."

He gave one last glance to Emelie, and Kade could've sworn that even Wes' rugged expression softened. He didn't say anything else before disappearing further into the alley. Kade let out a relieved sigh and snapped his nose back into place before it healed the wrong way. It was bleeding and he was sure it was going to bruise. This wasn't going to be something he could hide from Celine.

As soon as Wes was gone, Emelie broke into sobs and ran to him. He picked her up and held her tightly, stroking her hair.

"Hey, it's okay," he reassured her. "I'm okay. Look at me, I'm okay."

"Who was that big man?" she sobbed.

"He's just someone I know," Kade said. "Just a cranky old man. Do you remember the story I told you about how your mother and I met? Remember the part where a werewolf gave me a tiny poke with his claws and I became a shifter?"

"Th-that was him?" she asked between choked sobs. "Why was he being so mean?"

"He wasn't," Kade lied. "It's just a game we play. That's all."

"A game?"

"Sure. Sorta like tag, but for grown ups."

"S-so you're not hurt?"

"No, angel. I'm not hurt."

She finally started to calm down, so Kade picked up her slinky from the ground and carried her the rest of the way home. Apparently, not even confining himself to desk work would protect Kade from a bloody nose from a bigger dog. He just had to find out what Wes was talking about when he accused Kade of creating "feral mutts". Kade didn't even know he had that ability.