Perfect Word

By Ed Bar

After the war with his family, Sean wanted nothing more than to go back to a peaceful life with his new pack. Yet, that peace doesn't last long. As the Church of Light begins to abuse its power, a new mysterious pack emerges, picking off members of his pack one by one. The other packs target him in an attempt to gain political power, causing him to flee for safety. New family secrets are revealed, and Sean learns why he is different than the other wolves of Perfection County. All the while, our young protagonist must suffer through the love triangle that he initially started. Fast-paced action sets the tone to the sequel to Perfect Moon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ed Bar
• Release date: Feb 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370327539

Ed Bar

Ed Bar spent most of his adult life working in the music industry as an audio engineer, music promoter and ghostwriter. Deciding to try his hand at being a novelist, he developed the idea for "The Red Demon Trilogy". Inspired by various vampire and witchcraft novels that only featured werewolves as side characters, he decided that it was time to bring these supernatural creatures to the forefront. Finding the balance between both a romanticized and villainous species, he created Perfect Moon, the first book in the trilogy. In addition, he is also the author of such short stories as "Love and Lust", "A Fallen King", and "The Voyage of Bran, a Modern Adaptation". Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, he currently lives in the Ozark Mountain Range in southern Missouri, where he spends his free time fishing and playing with his pit bull.

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Book Two

Ed Bar

Kindle Edition

Copyright 2016

Published by Cold Steel Publishing

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Prologue

There was far less blood than I had expected there to be in this situation, but there was more than enough screaming to make up for it. I watched as the woman went through her torturous endeavor. If I had felt half as much pain as she seemed to be feeling, then I would have already confessed to any and every outlandish crime that I could think of; anything to make it stop.

Her pain did not stop. She was given brief interludes where the pain seemed to dull. Her screaming would stop, leaving her panting, trying desperately to catch her breath. Then, the pain would come again and she would let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Give us what we want, Connor told her in his most villainous voice, sounding almost cartoon-like, and the torture will stop.

Shut. Up. Connor, Amanda said sharply in between pushes.

We had been in the delivery room for over an hour, waiting as Amanda tried as hard as she could to give birth to her baby son. We had all been looking forward to the arrival of our newest addition to the pack. Amanda was only looking forward to getting the child out of her and being able to tie her own shoes.

Her water broke at six o’clock that morning. She ran next door and woke me up, and then I fetched Connor. We called the rest of the pack to let them know as we drove her to the hospital. It took almost two hours before she was dilated enough to get started. Once she dilated at eight centimeters, the doctor ushered her to the delivery room. I thought it would be over by now, but no, that child was desperately clinging to his home.

The rest of the pack was in the waiting room, while Connor and I were lucky enough for Amanda to summon us to watch this horrid display of this beautiful part of nature. Since the baby’s father was no longer with us, because he died during an attack on our pack, I had taken the lobotomy classes, as I called them, so that I could help her through the delivery.

The baby is crowning, announced Doctor Barkin.

Can you see it, Sean? Amanda asked me.

Yeah, I said, looking at the slimy tuft of brown hair that had poked out of its hiding place. I did not want to think about what part of the anatomy I was actually looking at. Connor, come have a look. It’s so amazing.

Screw you, bro, he replied, safely standing up by Amanda’s shoulders. I don’t even want you down there, get back up here.

Will you two stop acting like idiots, Amanda scolded. This is a beautiful experience.

Not from where I’m standing, I thought.

Connor chuckled as if he had read my mind. Amanda reached up, grabbed him by the collar of his scrubs, and pulled him down to her eye level. Her eyes glowed yellow and she snarled. Then, she kissed him on the cheek, and said, Don’t worry, Connor, you’ll still be my second favorite son.

I stopped paying attention to their odd banter because that little tuft of hair had grown in size. The baby slid out in a weirdly shaped ball that opened up in the doctors hands, becoming a bloody, gooey naked boy. I grabbed the scissors from the nurse and cut the umbilical cord.

They rushed away with the baby and began fiddling with him in the corner of the room. They had their backs to us, shielding their actions from our view. It only took a minute or two before they brought him back, clean, beautiful and healthy. Dr. Barkin placed the boy in Amanda’s arms, and I followed to get a closer look.

Sean Michael Jameson, Amanda said, her eyes tearing up, meet your godson, Sean Michael Finnegan.

***

We gathered at the Red-Eye Saloon, our second bar, next to the Backroad Diner. Stacey and I still owned the original Red-Eye Saloon that we had inherited from Pete, but I wanted to expand the business to our territory. When Suzy had told me that she was struggling to keep the diner open, I decided to use my uncle’s inheritance to buy the strip mall where her diner was located.

She had the only business in the building; the other three stores had been vacant for years. I talked to the owner and offered a hundred thousand over market value, which he accepted immediately. I tore down the walls of the vacant stores to create one large one. I bricked up the front, leaving only two doors, one on either end. Then, we opened the bar.

For the past four and a half months since it had opened, business had been phenomenal. I conveniently sectioned the two halves of the barroom to separately accommodate both humans and werewolves, with the bar separating both sections. The right side was for werewolves. We kept a door attendant there, who told the patrons that this side was for VIP only. If the customer flashed their supernatural eyes at him, they were free to enter. Otherwise, the door attendant directed the human to the regular section of the bar.

I told Suzy that I would waive her rent if she agreed to keep the diner open twenty-four hours a day. She was hesitant at first, because the diner had not been turning any profit and she could not afford the extra staff, even with the money she would save from not paying rent. However, after agreeing to try it out for a month, she had come to love the idea. My bar’s patrons, both coming and going, filled her bar every night. She had made so much money this last month that she offered to pay me rent again, which I refused.

We closed the bar tonight so that we could celebrate the birth of our youngest pack member, Sean Finnegan. Stacey and Gloria had spent the afternoon decorating the bar with blue balloons, blue tablecloths and a large blue banner that proclaimed It’s A Boy! in large, decorative lettering.

Hey sweetheart, Stacey greeted me as I walked in, kissing me on the cheek. Did you pick up the cake?

No, Cassy and Don said they would pick it up on their way here.

Cassy and Don, their names spoken together still caused me to have a twinge of jealousy. They had been dating for almost two months, and I wondered if I would ever be able to get comfortable with the idea. I still loved Cassy, but we were just friends. I had been with Stacey for eight months now and I had loved every minute of it. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I was never able to get over my first love completely.

She and Don had been courteous of my feelings and had limited their public displays of affection when in my presence, but my imagination had taken up where they had left off. I would physically shudder whenever those images popped into my mind, as they did just now.

I love you, Sean, Stacey said, grabbing me and kissing me passionately.

I love you, too.

You better.

I did love her. Stacey was amazing. She had put up with my lingering feelings for Cassy with a smile on her face, ever so patiently. She had stuck by my side during the worst times of my life. She never judged me for the horrendous acts that I had committed during the war with my uncle. She had even gone as far as comforting me, convincing me that I was a good man who did nothing more than protect those that were close to me.

Not to mention that she was the sexiest woman that I had ever known, and tonight she looked even sexier to me. She had her black, shoulder length hair plaited in micro-braids, held together with white beads. She wore an extremely tight, white t-shirt, with the bar name printed in red lettering, that accentuated her perfect, full breasts. Her pleated miniskirt was black, which she wore over ripped fishnet stockings.

She had put on ruby red lipstick that brought out the fullness of her sensual lips. I could not look at her without having the urge to kiss those soft, warm lips. I actually had the urge to do more than that, but giggling had alerted me to the presence of Cory and Camille standing behind me.

Oooohhh, are you going to kiss? asked Camille, giggling.

No, I’m going to eat you, I said, turning towards them, raising my hands and pretending to go after them.

They let out a scream and ran away. You are so mean, Vicky chastised me mockingly, always trying to beat up my kids.

I’m so glad you made it, I said, hugging her and giving her a kiss on the corner of her mouth. I thought you were stuck working tonight.

I told them to go to hell. I’ll just let my sugar daddy support me.

I laughed; she had called me her sugar daddy when I had moved her into the apartment across the street from us. I told her that I was more than happy to keep up with the rent, as well as anything else that she needed. After all, I was at fault for her being on her own, having imprisoned her husband and father of her children, Blake Rosewood. She responded by getting a job at the Flaherty Hotel, and telling me that she did not need a sugar daddy.

Only if you put out, Stacey said jokingly, hugging her, and let Sean watch us.

That sounds like a plan, Vicky responded laughingly, winking at me. So, who’s all here?

Connor and Gloria, Trevor, Steve and Teresa, Tom, Elliot, Bo, Stacey said, naming everyone, Sarah and Peter, their son Devon, Manda, Lacey, Tracey, Jared, Helen, and Paul and Mandy.

I would have gone with just saying almost everyone, I interjected. Zoey will be bringing Dexter later on, and I believe Mason will be here as well. Cassy and Don are getting the cake; and Amanda will bring Sean Junior in about half an hour.

It was hard to believe that there were twenty-eight members in my pack, counting Amanda’s new boy and myself. I had over four hundred, if you listened to Dexter and Mason. Even though I had split the Jameson pack up, made them each the respective alphas and left with my own pack, they still considered me their alpha. Either way, it was a big change from just being me, Trevor and Amanda; the way it was in the beginning.

Dexter Damien Jameson, formerly known as Dexter Damien Lynch, was my newly discovered half-brother from my father’s side. When we were about to end the war with my uncle, Dexter chose not to take his place as the eldest son and challenge him for the alpha position, leaving that privilege to me. Once I defeated my uncle and became the alpha, I gave the position to him, after separating the Jackson and O’ Neil clans and handing them over to Mason.

I never wanted to be an alpha, and was quite content in running my small makeshift family. I helped Mason and Dexter structure their new rule as alphas, and establish a new governing society. Where the Jameson alpha had always led with an iron fist, the three of us now rule together. This change was my idea, created to stop people such as my uncle from being able to abuse the power.

During the war, I finagled the positions of mayor, warden of the containment facility and the sheriff’s office from the werewolves in order to block my family from using them against me. I handed the position over to the humans from the Church of Light, led by Reverend Fairchild, our acting mayor and Cassy’s father, estranged as he was. He had been unreasonable at times, and definitely did not cooperate willingly on most issues; but he had served his purpose of protecting the integrity of our government from greedy men.

I walked over to the pool tables where Connor was attempting to take his turn, but Gloria kept grabbing his butt, distracting him, every time he drew his stick back. She would laugh and dodge his playful swipes with his pool stick before taking another shot.

I was never happier than when Connor and Gloria started dating. The main reason was that he had deflected her amorous crush on me. From the moment that she had joined my pack, I had seen her as the sweet little sister that I never knew that I always wanted. They were a perfect match. I trusted my best friend completely with Gloria. He doted on her as if she were the supreme queen of his universe, and always strived to make her happy.

Is my mom here yet? Connor asked as he bent over the table to take his shot.

No, she said she had to stop at your old place to deal with the new tenants.

Once again, Gloria squeezed Connor’s butt just as he pulled his stick back. He thrust his stick forward awkwardly, causing the cue ball to jump off the table. He turned to mock-attack Gloria, but she ran behind me, using me as a shield.

I’d be careful, bro, Connor said, his famous grin beaming, she might goose you, too.

Oooohhh; cut it out! I yelled, jumping a little and grabbing my backside, pretending that she had done just that.

Gloria quickly stepped away from me, blushing. She was completely adorable when she blushed, turning her naturally tanned face to a deep reddish-brown. It seemed that she might still have a little crush on me after all.

Connor laughed, knowing that I had faked the violation to my bottom. She has soft hands, doesn’t she?

I didn’t do it, she said, clearly embarrassed by the false accusation.

I heard my phone beep. I pulled it out and read the text message from Amanda. She was outside and needed help carting everything in to the bar. I gave Gloria a quick hug and apologized for discomforting her, then headed outside. I stopped and grabbed Bo on the way, knowing that Amanda had brought everything the baby owned with her.

Hello, dear, she greeted me, giving me one of her award winning motherly hugs that brought an instant warming comfort to my soul. Hi, Bo, it’s nice to see you again

Hello, ma’am, Bo said, giving her a friendly hug. I heard you need someone strong to lug in that giant monster you brought with you.

He was joking, of course, but the giant monster in question, Sean Finnegan, was an eleven-pound, super fat infant. Yet, despite his size, his angelic face made him look to be the farthest thing from a monster.

I hope that you mean the monstrous playpen, she responded in mock anger, because if you are insulting my son, I will turn you over my knee and whip your fanny. I don’t care how big and strong you are.

Bo and I carried in the playpen, diaper bag, a bag of toys, an extra diaper bag, Amanda’s purse, Amanda’s duffel bag; and Amanda hauled my fat godson behind us. Everyone pushed Bo and I aside, without a single offer of help with our load, and instantly surrounded Amanda, cooing and trying desperately to pinch Sean’s cheeks.

As Bo and I set up the playpen and arranged the luggage, Cassy came up to us. Hi, baby, she said, hugging me fiercely. Despite that we had broken up, became friends and were dating other people, we had never stopped showing each other affection. It just felt too natural to avoid. Sorry I’m late. The bakery was packed for some reason.

That’s alright, I replied, kissing her cheek before ending the embrace. Amanda just got here.

She smacked me on the butt, and said, Well, let’s go sing happy birthday to the cuter Sean, even if it is a day late.

Bo and I followed her over to the large crowd. The lights dimmed, and then Stacey and Don carried in the large chocolate cake with white and blue icing and one lit candle that was in the shape of a zero. Everybody belted out a disorganized chorus of Happy birthday to you.

Chapter One

I woke up to soft fingertips running over my body. I looked over at Stacey to see her grinning mischievously at me. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the feel of her caressing fingers as they trailed down to the waistband of my boxer shorts.

What do you have planned for today? She asked as she continued to tease me.

I think staying in bed all day with you sounds perfect.

Yes it does. She stopped teasing me, reaching in my underwear.

I turned and jumped on top of her, causing her to giggle. I quieted her by pressing my lips to hers, gently parting them to taste the sweet flavor of her tongue. I maneuvered her around, tugging her shirt up her body and over her head. She felt warm against me as we began kissing again, exploring one another’s bodies.

Someone knocked on our bedroom door. Before I had a chance to answer, or even cover us up, Cassy stormed in. She paused as she crossed the threshold. She seemed slightly flustered by the sight of Stacey and me, but quickly shook it off. I need your help.

Do you mean mine or his? Stacey asked, flaunting her body at my ex-girlfriend. She was accepting and patient when it came to my feeling for Cassy, but instinct still caused her to show dominance as my number one mate whenever Cassy was around. Honestly, I liked that she felt the need to do it.

I need Sean’s help, well, both of yours, actually, she answered, ignoring Stacey’s indiscreet display of feminine sexuality.

What’s going on? I asked, scooting off Stacey.

Cassy sat down at the edge of our bed and took a deep breath. You know that my father became the minister of this Church of Light in order to take the council position, but you may not be aware that the Church of Light has been involved with werewolves everywhere in the country.

No, I didn’t know that, I said. Honestly, I never knew that his being on the council had anything to do with the church. I figured that it was just a coincidence.

I had only recently been involved with our city council. Before we implemented the changes that we made, the council consisted of five liaisons from the five smaller packs and three human representatives. The only changes we made in that concern was the addition of a liaison from my pack, the Jackson pack and the Jameson pack; and instead of an appointing member from the packs, the alpha took the seat.

Yeah, she continued, so, anyway, my cousin, Audrey, was sent to hunt down a solitary wolf that had murdered a human family. During this hunt, he attacked her and her team. She was the only survivor, but the wolf bit her. Now, the church is hunting her. They want to exterminate her. She heard about me and she called, asking for my help.

Then, you want us to go up there with you and rescue her? Stacey asked sympathetically, her previous display of dominance gone.

Yes, I would like you to go up there with me. I am going whether or not you come, but I could definitely use the help. My parents are content with pretending that I don’t exist, but I fear that the rest of my family would kill me if they saw me.

I had no choice. It had never been in my nature to sit back while innocent people died for nothing. We’ll help you.

Yeah, who needs to lie around in bed all day, Stacey said.

Thank you so much, she said, throwing herself on top of Stacey and me, hugging us both. I’ll go call Don. When do you want to leave?

I had to think about that. I had never been to St. Louis, but I knew that it was about two hours away. Something of this importance would definitely require our immediate intervention. I was about to tell her that we could leave in an hour, but Stacey answered for me.

As soon as I get to finish making love to my boyfriend, she said, smiling sweetly at Cassy.

I’m glad to see that you have your priorities straight, Cassy retorted.

I was joking. We’ll be ready when you and Don are, I promise.

I’d say about half an hour, I said. Do you want to take your car?

She said that she did. When she left, Stacey snuggled against me and sighed. I kissed the top of her head, and then pulled away from her. We took a shower, dressed and then left to meet Cassy upstairs.

***

St. Louis was amazing. We had reached the downtown area, and it was huge. Their downtown was larger than the entire county of Perfection, both in size and populace. I had never seen skyscrapers in real life. My neck was beginning to get sore from craning it to look at them.

I actually felt a little moronic by my wonderment; apparently, I was the only one in the car that had never been here before. Stacey just held my hand, suppressing a giggle every time that I expressed my astonishment. I was beginning to feel like a dimwitted country bumpkin. I worried that this trip might ruin my reputation as an alpha.

When we passed by the arch, I really wanted to stop. Cassy said that people could take an elevator to the top, and that they had a museum underground. I almost asked, but I dreaded to receive more condescending grins from my companions. Not to mention that we were here for a reason and a woman’s life was on the line.

We made it to North County, where Audrey said she was, and we stopped to fill up the gas tank. The gas station had a name that promised us that our trip would be quick and it would have been, if six young wolves that sat outside of the store had not held us up.

You’re in the wrong part of town, said the oldest of the pack, flashing his yellow eyes, as we walked out of the store. We’re going to need you to compensate us for your trespass.

We’re just passing through, I responded, flashing my red eyes. We don’t want any trouble.

They all looked at each other, perplexed and slightly fearful by the unique color of my eyes. Two of them looked as if they were trying not to back away. The one that I assumed to be the alpha spoke again, trying to maintain an air of dominance. You might not want trouble, but you found it. We don’t like stray dogs roaming in our territory.

I almost felt sorry for the kid. He was tall, but scrawny. He lacked any real muscle definition. Despite his bravado, I could sense his fear. I took a step closer to him, flashed my eyes again, and said, I’m sorry, but what I meant to say was that you don’t want any trouble.

We outnumber you, he said. I think that we can handle ourselves. Now, if you want to leave, you will have to pay the toll. How much money do you have?

I have more money than I will ever be able to spend, I answered. I was rich back when I only had the remaining half of my inheritance that my uncle was unable to steal, but after my uncle left me his fortune, I had too much. I did not know if I was trying to make up for my ridiculous behavior at seeing St. Louis for the first time, or if I just wanted to see how well the wolves out here fought, but I decided that I would not leave until I beat all of these wolves into submission. He thought that our being out numbered gave him the advantage; I would increase their advantage. Stacey, why don’t you take the other two and go back to the car. I don’t think that I’m outnumbered enough.

You don’t have anything to prove, she responded.

That was an order.

Cassy’s eyes flashed red, and she said, We need to find Audrey.

This will only take a minute. We still need to wait for her call, anyway, since she ditched her phone. Now go to the car.

The six wolves looked apprehensive about fighting now that I sent my pack away. The alpha asked, Are you insane?

Where should we do this? I asked, ignoring his question.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked away, his pack following. I walked behind him as he led us behind the gas station. There was a wooden privacy fence extending from the other side of the building, blocking our view of the street.

I guess it will just be the two of us, then, he said.

No, I responded, I’m fighting all of you.

The wolves encircled me, stepping closer to tighten the circle. The alpha threw the first punch. As I blocked his attack, I saw that the other five went through the partial change. I grabbed his arm, pulling him toward me, and head butted the bridge of his nose.

I initiated the partial change as I kicked out at an approaching wolf. My foot landed on his sternum and knocked the wind out of him. Two more wolves attacked, both grabbing either of my arms. I pulled my arms to my chest, ramming them together. When they let go, I grabbed them by the back of their heads and smashed them together, causing them both to drop.

Taking advantage of the fact that they did not know about my abnormal ability to change into both the partial wolf and the full wolf form, I began stripping off my clothes, walking backwards through the hole I had created in their ranks.

The fallen wolves got back to their feet and joined the others as they walked toward me. I knelt on the ground, my bones cracking and my body shimmering as I changed. The shock stopped all of them in their tracks.

What the fuck are you? asked the alpha.

I howled in response. All of their resolve fled faster than they did themselves. As I watched the six teens tripping over themselves as they desperately tried to get away, I wagged my tail happily.

Please explain to me what that was about, Stacey said as she, Cassy and Don rounded the side of the building.

I changed back to my human form, began putting my clothes on, and said, I don’t know. A few different things, I suppose. I was feeling a little restless from sitting in the car for over two hours. Then, there’s the fact that they posed a threat and I was curious about how tough the wolves were up here.

Can we go now? Cassy asked. While you were playing around back here, I got an interesting call from my mother. The church knows that we’re up here. They tapped Audrey’s phone. That’s probably why she got rid of it.

Wait, your mother called you? That sounded a little fishy. Her mother had made absolutely no attempt to contact her, or acknowledge her existence since she became a werewolf. Cassy had cried for weeks at the loss of her mother. Losing her father did not seem to bother her as much, but the fact that her mother followed his example almost destroyed her. If she called now, then there had to be some ulterior motive.

Yeah, she called to warn me not to come up here. She said the church wants to exterminate you and me both. They don’t like the fact that we’re different.

"Did you tell