Libby (A Children of the Hunt Short Story)

LIBBY

  A Children of the Hunt Short Story

  By Emme Wesson

  Libby

  Copyright: Emme Wesson

  Published: December 6, 2015

  Publisher: Emme Wesson

  The right of Emme Wesson to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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  Attribution

  Cover designed by Emme Wesson

  Author's Note:

  Libby takes place during the same time frame as Faith and some of the events overlap. To get the full experience of this story, you might want to read Hunt and Faith first.

  Dedication:

  As always, I'd like to thank my editor, A.C. Rogers. No matter how long or short the story, you're always insightful and keep me on track. Even when you stump me!

  My husband also deserves thanks, for always being supportive and reading my stories. I love you.

  Final thanks to Lyndsey for the last read through. You always manage to find something we missed.

  Libby Flynn had a problem.

  It wasn't a real problem in the traditional sense. No. Her problem was totally of her own making. Mostly in her own head...and her loins. If she wasn't careful, it could cause her to lose her job. Then where would she be? It was bad enough that she lusted after her boss. If she couldn't see him five days a week, it would kill her. Not to mention it would mean finding a real job. She loved working at Crescent Moon Books and she didn't want to give it up.

  The problem wasn't so much that she had the hots for her boss. Women dealt with that issue all the time. No, the true heart of the problem was who he was. Liam MacKenzie was Alpha to the Lake Sunapee Wolf Pack. He was friends with her parents and her great-grandmother. He was old enough to be her father. In fact, he was a year older than her father. She even babysat his son, Malcolm, when he came for summer visits. He was as off-limits to her as any man could be.

  He was also the absolute hunkiest man she knew, and since most wolves tended to be good looking anyway, that was saying something. If it was just about him being a wolf, there were certainly other men available. Men closer to her own age. There were five in the Sunapee Pack alone, but they didn't have Liam's presence, or his black hair and blue eyes.

  No, the wolves of her generation didn't interest her at all. Since she was human and not wolf, that should have been the end of it. She should have found a nice human boy her own age, someone she could date, have sex with. But the truth was she'd been secretly in love with Liam since she was fifteen years old. Hell, he'd been part of her life since the day she was born. Her family had always been associated with the Sunapee Pack because of her great-grandmother's role as their Daughter of the Hunt. Gigi, as her great-granddaughters called her, was linked to the Sunapee Elder, Michael Cooper. She'd taken up with him after her husband had passed away thirty-five years ago.

  Gigi wasn't a full Daughter of the Hunt. She had the second sight, but she didn't have a true Daughter's ability to heal a wolf by bringing on their change. Libby's sister, Cory, could though, but Cory wasn't attached to the Sunapee Pack; not in a true sense. Being attached meant that you were in a relationship with a wolf from the Pack. But Cory wasn't interested in anyone from the Sunapee Pack. In fact, she'd found herself a wolf from California. Bodhi Cooper had given up his place in the Lake Tahoe Pack and was now a lone wolf so he could be with her sister. It was all very romantic and she didn't begrudge Cory the happiness, but she wanted it for herself too.

  So here she stood at the counter of the bookstore, watching as Liam helped a customer locate a book. Was it wrong that she was jealous of someone's grandmother for getting attention from the store owner? Libby sighed and went back to pricing the books that had recently come in. If she kept staring at Liam, he would start to notice and that wouldn't be good. He'd already caught her watching him a couple of times now, but she'd acted like she'd just spaced out and wasn't really looking at him. A little more of that and he'd probably start to question her competence.

  As she rang up the customer he'd been helping, Liam approached the counter and waited for her to finish before saying, "I need to go down to the Town Clerk's office for a bit, Libby. Do you want me to bring us back some lunch?"

  "Sure," she agreed readily. "That'd be great." They'd been working together long enough that he knew what she liked to eat, and it meant they'd eat lunch together, so she certainly wouldn't say no. As Liam left, she picked up the pile of books and carried them into the stacks to shelve them. The bell rang as the door opened and she called out, "I'll be right with you."

  Libby set down the books she hadn't placed yet and walked to the front of the store. A tall blonde man stood near the counter looking around nervously. He glanced outside, then at the register, then outside again. Libby slowed her walk, suddenly very wary of his behavior.

  "Can I help you?" she asked with more confidence than she felt.

  The man turned to her and Libby came to a halt. His hand was stuffed in the pocket of his sweatshirt, but she was pretty sure she saw the outline of a weapon. She looked up at his face and saw desperation in his eyes. It made her suddenly aware that she was very alone in the store. The man pulled the gun out of his pocket and showed it to her, not pointing it at her yet.

  "I don't want to hurt you," he stated, his voice strained. "I just want the money from the register."

  Libby swallowed down her fear and nodded. Liam had always told all of his employees not to play hero if someone threatened them. Of course, he'd only meant the human employees. Two of his Pack worked part time for him at night and would think nothing of taking the man down. He also told them all to stay calm, but Libby's hands were shaking as she approached the counter giving the man a wide berth. She moved to the register and punched in the code to open it, pulling out all of the cash. It wasn't much. It had been a slow morning and there was only about $300. She put the money on the counter and pushed it towards him. He looked at her blankly for a moment and then his face flushed.

  "Is that all there is?" he demanded. "There has to be more. It's not enough."

  "Why?" Libby asked before she could think it through.

  "What?" It seemed he hadn't expected her to question what he said.

  "You said it's not enough money. Why not?" she asked again.

  "That's none of your business," he told her, pointing the gun at her this time. "There's a safe here, isn't there?"

  "In the office," Libby squeaked out. The man moved to the door and turned the sign to say 'closed', then locked the door. Her heart started to pound in her chest.

  "Show me," he told her.

  "I don't know the combination," she objected.

  "Show me," he repeated harshly.

  Libby's legs were shaking as she led him to Liam's office. She opened the door and preceded him in, pointing silently to the safe that sat against the back wall. The man went over to the safe and tried the handle. While he
was distracted, Libby tried to slip back out the door, but he noticed the movement and turned back to her, raising the gun in her direction.

  "Sit down over there on the floor," he told her.

  Libby complied hesitantly, knowing it wasn't good that he wanted to look at the safe. She watched as he tried the handle again, then started looking under things on the desk. He was probably looking for the code, but she suspected he wasn't going to find it. Liam wouldn't leave something like that just lying around. The man started muttering to himself and going through the drawers.

  "It has to be here somewhere. I can't leave here without more money. I can't do this again."

  As soon as he said that, Libby remembered reading about another robbery in Newport. Was this the same man? What did he need the money for? At least she definitely knew no one had been hurt that time.

  Finally, he looked up at Libby and asked, "Who has the combination?"

  "Only the store owner does."

  "Where is he?"

  "He's not here this afternoon," she told him, hoping he would believe her.

  He pushed the desk phone towards her and said, "Call him and tell him he needs to come here now. If you let him know what's going on, I'll shoot you."

  Libby could tell he wouldn't take no for an answer, so she went to the desk and dialed Liam's cell phone with shaking fingers. It went straight through to voice mail, which probably meant he was at the Town Clerk's office. She hung up the phone.

  "He's not answering," she said softly.

  "Call again and leave a message this time. Tell him to come here immediately."

  Libby dialed the phone again and when prompted said, "Liam, you need to come to the bookstore as soon as you get this message. It's very important." She put the phone down and asked, "Now what?"

  "You sit back down there on the floor."

  Libby moved back to where she had been sitting before, asking, "Don't you think it will be suspicious that the store is closed?"

  "You ask too many questions," he told her angrily. "Keep your mouth shut from now on."

  She leaned back against the wall to wait. Liam would be back eventually. She glanced at the picture he'd hung over the two-way mirror in his office. At least the man wouldn't know when Liam arrived and it would work in their favor. Hopefully it wouldn't all blow up in their faces.

  Liam checked his phone as he left the deli, only to realize his battery was dead again. The damn thing had been driving him crazy and he needed to visit the phone store to get it looked at. As he got into his SUV, he searched around for his car charger. When it didn't turn up, he suspected Libby has borrowed it again and forgotten to return it.

  She was a conundrum, was Libby Flynn. He was never quite sure exactly what she was thinking, but at times her emotions were clearly obvious. She wanted him, of that he was sure. He just wasn't sure why. He was old enough to be her father. She was good at hiding her thoughts, they never showed on her face. But her hazel eyes followed him around the store. That was why he'd noticed her interest in the first place. Once he'd noticed, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. It's why he'd hung that picture in his office. He'd found himself staring at her through the two-way mirror for hours at a time. He hadn't been able to get any work done at all. Instead, he now had a mountain range to stare at with a pack of wolves in the foreground. It wasn't a fair trade, but it kept him on task; kept him from temptation.

  Libby was a temptation he couldn't entertain. It would complicate everything and it would be inappropriate on so many levels. If she had been anyone but exactly who she was, he wouldn't have thought twice about bedding her. Of course, if she hadn't been who she was, chances are he wouldn't have been interested. Wolves would always be attracted to the Daughter's line, it was simply the way it was. He'd had other human lovers, but they had been few and far between. Quick flings that had meant nothing. He would never view Libby in that light and that made the situation even more dangerous for him.

  When he got back to the book store, he was caught by surprise to find the front door locked. Libby's car was in the lot, but when he looked through the window she was nowhere to be seen. He slipped the key into the door and let himself in, scenting the air. Normally he would have called out for Libby if she wasn't near the registers, but something felt off. There was a recent male scent lingering near the door and he followed it quietly to the back of the store, right to his office door.

  He listened at the door for a moment, hearing movement inside. He could smell both Libby and the man strongly, so they were both in there. Was she hooking up with someone in his office? That thought made him suddenly angry. She'd known he'd be back with lunch. Would she have been so careless? Or was there something else going on? He considered for a moment exactly how he should handle the situation, then walked back to the front of the store.

  "Libby! Your lunch is here!" he called out loudly and waited to see what happened.

  "Who's that?" the man asked Libby. "How did he get in?"

  A hundred answers ran through her head, but the only one that popped out was, "My boyfriend. He works here too and has a key to the door."

  He gestured at her with the gun. "Open the door and tell him to come back here. Then move back from the door."

  Libby knew this was her chance to let Liam know something was wrong. She opened the door a little and called, "I'm back here in the office, Chip. Come on back."

  She left the door ajar and moved back against the wall where she had been sitting before and waited. Liam's hand appeared first, holding the bag with their lunch as he pushed the door open. When he spotted her against the wall, he paused briefly and she watched him pull in a deep breath, his blue eyes never leaving her. The gun was still trained on her and she didn't dare move or show any emotion. If Liam hadn't known something was wrong before, he should now.

  "Libby girl," he said softly in his Scottish lilt as he came all the way into the office. "What are you doing back here?"

  The robber put his gun against Liam's temple and said, "She's doing what I tell her to do and so will you. Do you know the combination to the safe?"

  Liam turned his head ever so slightly, his eyes taking in the man beside him before he asked, "Who the hell are you?"

  "Answer my question," the man insisted. "Do you know the combination to the safe?"

  "Only the owner knows it," he informed the man.

  "Jesus Christ!" burst from the man's mouth. "Go over there with your girlfriend and sit down."

  As Liam moved towards her, he mouthed Chip? with a distasteful look. She gave the slightest of shrugs, not daring more than that. Liam set the bag down carefully on top of the filing cabinet and turned to put his back against the wall beside her. His fingers found hers and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing them. She felt a little calmer with Liam beside her. She knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her, but she was curious to know why he hadn't acted yet.

  "Why do you want to get into the safe?" Liam asked calmly.

  "That's none of your business," the man replied as he started to pace. He looked at Libby and asked, "Why hasn't the owner returned your call or shown up yet?"

  "I don't know," she said softly.

  "Perhaps his cellphone battery is dead again," Liam offered. "Someone keeps borrowing his charger."

  Libby let out a small huff and said defensively, "Perhaps he needs a new battery."

  "Shut up, both of you!" The man held the cordless phone out to Libby and said, "Call him again."

  Libby took the phone and dialed. The man never noticed she dialed a different number this time. When the phone was answered she quickly said, "Liam, thank goodness you answered this time. I need you to come to the store immediately."

  The voice on the other end said quietly, "I'll be right there."

  "See you soon," Libby breathed in relief and disconnected the call. Not that she doubted Liam's ability to handle the situation, but it was good to know backup was on the way. She handed the phone back to the rob
ber, saying, "He's on his way."

  "Good," the man said absently, taking the phone from her. "Good."

  "What's your name?" Liam asked the man.

  "Why would I tell you that? Do you think I'm stupid?"

  "No, but it would be helpful to have something to call you, other than 'man holding us at gunpoint'."

  He seemed nonplussed at that and finally said, "You can call me Ed, but I'd prefer both of you just keep your mouths shut."

  "So, Ed," Liam continued as though he hadn't heard the second half of Ed's statement and Libby sighed. "Why are you robbing the book store?"

  "I told you to shut up," Ed reminded him.

  "Do you need the money for something?"

  "I said shut up!"

  "Maybe we can help you," Liam offered.

  "Why would you want to help me?" Ed asked derisively.

  "You don't strike me as someone who would take up a life of crime for no reason."

  "You don't know anything about me."

  "That's why I'm asking," Liam told him. "You do realize that if you get caught, it will ruin your life? Do you want that?"

  Ed scrubbed his hair with his free hand, but didn't say anything. Libby wondered if Liam was going somewhere with this or just delaying until help came. She knew the Alpha could easily take the man out right now, but there wouldn't be much fun in that. Like all wolves, he liked a challenge from his prey. She'd find out eventually what Liam was after.

  "So what is it, Ed?" Liam asked him. "Is your house getting taken by the bank? Are the creditors breathing down your neck? Are you raising money to flee the country? What's the story?"

  "I told you to shut up," Ed said tiredly.

  "I'm not very good at following directions," Liam agreed.

  Libby snorted and Liam bumped her shoulder with his.

  "Do you think this is funny?" Ed asked them angrily, approaching with his gun pointed at her. He seemed like he was right on the edge and she sobered immediately; she didn't want to be the one to provoke him. She'd never liked guns and liked them even less now. "Do you?"

  "No," Libby told him softly.