Seth couldn’t argue with him. Being Alpha was a pain in the ass. “You have your hands full,” he murmured just as Jenny slid past Claire and looked around the office, her brow furrowed as if certain Seth would’ve screwed up her entire organizational system in the half hour he’d been there without her.
She finally nodded, and her shoulders relaxed.
Seth shook his head. It was his office. He’d destroy it if he wanted. But he wouldn’t. “Jenny? Do you mind finding us a good lawyer? One with some experience with libel?”
She hopped once and nodded. “You bet.” Patting Claire on the arm, she exited and clopped in fancy-looking heels back down the hallway.
Claire watched her go. “You might’ve created a monster. I rearranged a couple of the magazines downstairs in the sheriff’s office yesterday, and she nearly smacked me with one. She’s not working for the sheriff’s office, as well, is she?”
Seth shrugged. “I’m not telling her no.” He looked at his phone on the desk. “Erik? When will you be back to work at the mine?”
“Actually, not anytime soon. I’ll be back at work as your Enforcer as soon as I can, though. I’ve been looking around for some backup in that regard, and I’m thinking Todd is good, as well as Greg Treverton. What do you think?”
“Yeah, Todd is a definite yes, and Greg would be great as well,” Seth said. He’d never forget how Greg had taken out Lewis when he threatened both Seth and Jenny. Then the guy had helped clean up the mess, not shedding a tear over his fallen cousin. “Both males are tough and do what needs to be done.”
“I’ll start looking into rotating them when I have to be out of town,” Erik announced. “We’re going to need more coverage for both you and Mia, especially with the baby coming.”
“I agree,” Seth said. “For Mia and the baby. Not for me. We’re stretched thin, and I don’t need a bodyguard.” To have any credibility, he had to be able to protect the pack on his own, and taking care of the Copper Pack squad the other night had been a good start.
Claire stood taller. “I think there should be some separation between the sheriff’s department and the Volk holdings.”
Seth rubbed his chin. “Todd is a good deputy, and he’s done a good job of fulfilling those duties and keeping an eye on Mia so far. I like the arrangement as is.” His phone buzzed, and he glanced at the face. “I have to go. It’s Mia.”
“All right, I’ll see you tonight.” Erik disconnected.
“Hey,” Seth said by way of greeting. “I just dropped you off downstairs. What are you doing calling me already?” He made his voice light as if joking. He wasn’t a guy who joked, but he’d make an effort for her.
Unfortunately, she didn’t laugh. “We just had a report come in that there was another murder out at The Flock. Do you know anything about it?”
Claire straightened, her eyebrows shooting up.
Seth frowned. “A murder out at Jeremiah’s place? No. Why would I know anything about it?”
“Because the victim is Rocko Blunt,” Mia said. “Jeremiah is making noises about the newspaper article that went online this morning. Blunt accused you of having Pete murdered.”
“So long as Jeremiah’s still alive,” Seth drawled, “you know it wasn’t me.” If he was going to take out any human, it’d probably be Jeremiah.
She coughed. “Good point. I was only checking.”
“I don’t want you to go out there alone,” he said.
“I won’t. We have a whole team on this,” she assured. “I’ll call you when I return to the office.” She disconnected.
Claire smoothed her hair away from her face. “I need to head out there. I’ll cover her back.”
“Excellent. Thanks.”
She nodded and slipped out of view. This might work out with both Claire and Todd being deputies if he could find somebody to take over as sheriff. They both had aptitude but had just started. They needed somebody with some law enforcement training, and while he’d originally wanted Mia to take the job, that wasn’t feasible with a baby on the way.
Not that she couldn’t take over as sheriff if she wanted to once the baby was born, but right now, there was too much danger, considering news had gone wide about the baby and its possible origins. Which was just an excuse to challenge him.
He didn’t like her working FBI cases. They needed to get this one wrapped up and get everybody out of town. For now, he was pleased that Claire or Todd would be covering Mia’s back. He didn’t trust Agent Colbey or the photographer, although watching Lionel speak with his cameras had been amusing. The longer the FBI remained in town, the more danger the pack was in—not to mention the problems Willie Williamson’s news article about Pete’s death would cause.
Seth had a tight enough hold on his pack that nobody would make a move without his say-so right now, but he was really getting tired of having to kill people who were trying to kill him.
At some point, his pack needed peace—as would his child.
Chapter33
