He could meet with them while Preston babysat Ariel. While his friend would also want to learn what these men had to offer, Benson wasn’t ready to leave her alone. She might not have a car, but knowing Ariel, she’d convince Beth to pick her up.
“Great. Where should we meet?”
“Tell me which hotel, and I’ll meet you in the lobby at one PM.”
“We’re at the Wintergreen Hotel.”
That was next to the Double G Bar and close to the sheriff’s office on the main street of town. “Perfect. See you then.”
He probably should have asked for a description of the men, but he figured there weren’t a lot of werewolves who looked like they were trained in combat.
Once he disconnected, he returned to the kitchen.
“Is everything okay?” Ariel asked.
“Yes. I usually don’t get calls on the weekends, but there are exceptions.” He picked up the empty plates and carried them into the kitchen. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit? If you’re feeling better, maybe we can do something later.”
She pushed back her chair. “That sounds good.”
Her walking seemed to be a little better, but she still appeared to be rather stiff. He bet by tonight, she wouldn’t want to move.
As soon as she was out of sight, he sat back down. “That was the men General Armand told us about. I’m going to meet them at one at the hotel in town. Can you stay with Ariel? I don’t fully trust her not to escape.”
Preston huffed out a laugh. “That would be like her. No problem. I’ll watch her.”
“Thanks. I’m going to call my dad to see if we can use the old barn on the property. It’s large and empty. I figure Liam and Alex can set up shop there if they wish. A plus is that it will be easy for us to train whenever we want.”
“Better yet, since there is so much land, we can train in our wolf form with no one the wiser,” Preston said.
His father had carefully chosen the men who worked at the ranch. All were werewolves. It was one reason why no one had successfully stolen any of their cattle.
“I just need to make sure to let Liam and Alex know that Ariel is unaware of ourotherside,” Benson said.
“That’s the last thing we need.”
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“What do you think?”Benson asked Liam and Alex. “It’s a little rough, but it’s free, and no one will bother you out here.”
The empty barn had a few missing slats on the sides, and they’d torn out the floor in order to build the new barn, but the roof was solid.
Liam looked around. “I think it’s perfect. Once we get our company up and running, we’ll pay rent.”
“I doubt my dad will accept any payment. As you can see from the lack of a floor, he was about to tear this down, but he hasn’t had the time.”
“Then thank you,” Alex said. “We are going to have to rely on you and your family to help us with the clientele. It’s not as if we can put an ad in the paper.”
Benson chuckled. “Totally. By the way, our mate doesn’t know we’re werewolves. If you call, and we say something that sounds off, it’s because she’s around.”
Alex held up a hand. “We understand. When would you and Preston like to start training? I heard you might be tangling with some unsavory wolves in the near future.”
General Armand had filled them in, but they couldn’t know about Ariel’s most recent attack and stalking. He detailed what happened. “Considering the escalation—assuming it’s the same people responsible—how about a quick lesson now? To be honest, being an attorney, I haven’t had the chance to fight many wolves.” Sure, he’d played around as a kid and broken up a fight here and there, but he’d never gone against a trained wolf.
“I say we shift and have a go at it.” Alex smiled. “I’ll only nip you here and there so you don’t go home wounded. That would cause Ariel to ask a lot of questions.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“I’ll be the referee,” Liam said. “Afterward, I’ll be critiquing the fight. Now shift.”