by Sky Winters
“And then what? Say we get a place to stay, your uncle lets you work for him, and you make some money. What then?”
“Then we save up more money and keep moving. I could open a branch in LA, make a shitload of money. If we had enough, we could get a place to stay that’s safe, impenetrable. And we could ally with some local shifters to make sure we were protected. If we got the right city clans on our side, Chad wouldn’t risk coming after us. He’s strong, but not that strong.”
“It sounds like a hell of a few months we’ve got ahead of us.”
Jason, without thinking, reached over and took her hand into his.
“We do. But I don’t have a doubt in my mind that we’ll be able to get through it. Hell, we’ll thrive if we play our cards right.”
She smiled back at him, and for a moment, it seemed to Jason like there was no one in the world but the two of them.
But he knew there was still the matter of what would happen between them. They hadn’t talked about the obvious chemistry, how they couldn’t keep their hands off one another.
Later, thought Jason. For right now, we get safe, find a place to stay. We’ll worry about the rest later.
When they were done with their meals, Jason and Lexi stepped outside and made their way to the bus station. Twenty minutes later, they were on their way, the bus heading back onto the highway and taking them closer and closer to Seattle.
They passed the trip in silence, Jason staring out the window and Lexi resting her head on Jason’s shoulder. He knew he had to be strong, that it’d take everything he had to keep her safe.
But he was ready.
A couple of hours later, the spires of the city rose in the distance, Mount Rainer rising above it all. Lexi had been sleeping, but the sight of the city brought her back to full alertness.
“Holy shit,” she said. “We’re here. We’re really here.”
She watched in silence as the city drew closer and closer, a smile spreading across her face.
“Coffee,” she said when the bus reached the station and the passengers began filing off. “We have to get some coffee.”
“What?” asked Jason as he hopped off the bus, helping Lexi down after he did.
“Coffee. That’s what Seattle’s known for, right? I know it sounds kind of stupid, but I always had this fantasy of going to school here, working part-time as a barista at one of the coffee shops. I guess it was my way of fantasizing about being a normal twenty-one-year-old.”
Jason smiled. “You know, you’ll never be normal.”
“I know, I know—I’m a shifter.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. You’re a shifter, sure, but you’re more than that. You’re brilliant and beautiful and brave.” Jason stopped himself as he spoke, as if surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth.
But it wasn’t that he didn’t agree with them—it was that he couldn’t believe he was being so open with her, sharing his feelings like that.
“That’s...that’s really sweet of you,” she said with a smile. “But I don’t know how true it is.”
“It’s true. And you can either believe me or find out for yourself.”
The two of them made their way from the bus station.
“You think the coffee can wait?”
“Why?” asked Lexi. “Got something else in mind?”
“My uncle. One of two things are going to happen here in Seattle—either we’re going to start from the bottom, or we’re going to start from way, way below the bottom. And the only way we’ll find out is by meeting with my uncle and seeing what kind of help he’ll provide.”
“And where is he?”
Jason stopped and pointed to a far-off skyscraper, a skinny building that cut into the air like a dagger.
“You see that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“He’s right at the top.”
“Wow.”
“Wow’s right. He’s the reason why the Thundertooth clan has such a good standing in our region—he makes a shitload of money, enough to keep us supplied. But it also means the rest of the packs are all over us, wanting what we’ve got.”
“And you worked for him?”
“I worked for the company. But not him directly. My Uncle Stone, he’s a...prickly sort of guy. He cares for his family but also doesn’t believe in giving hand-outs. If he helps us, we’ll have to work for it.”
“Well, I don’t know about you,” said Lexi. “But I’m ready.”
“Same here.”
They caught a cab to the tower, Lexi watching eagerly the entire time as they made their way through the city. Jason was focused on their future, but at the same time, he loved that he was able to bring Lexi here, to make her dream of living in the city come true.
Jason paid for the cab and they climbed out, both of them craning their necks to take in the sight of the building, which seemed to stretch up and into forever.
“All right,” said Jason. “We’re about to have a meeting with destiny.”
Lexi smiled, fearless. “Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER 11
JASON
“Now,” he said as they stepped into the lobby of the tower. “There’s a really good chance this might end right here and now.”
“What do you mean?”
“My uncle...he was pleased with my job performance. But that was all he was pleased with. He didn’t care for my...extracurricular activities.”
“What are you talk—” Lexi caught herself, and Jason could tell she’d realized mid-sentence what he was referring to. “God, you’re such a jackass.”
And to his surprise, Jason was a touch embarrassed by what she’d said. Never had he been ashamed of his sexual past—and he still wasn’t—but something about Lexi’s words gave him pause.
“Maybe, maybe not. But I was single, totally unattached. What was I supposed to do on the weekends?”
She grinned. “I don’t know—read a book like a normal person?”
“You mean like a nerd like you?” he matched her grin with one of his own.
Lexi chuckled, put her hand on Jason’s arm, and gave him a shove. Together, they made their way to the front desk, the young woman working there smiling broadly as they approached.
“Welcome to Grizzly Holdings,” she said. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Grizzly Holdings,” Jason heard Lexi say under her breath. “Cute.”
“An appointment?” asked Jason. “Uh, not exactly. But I’m here to see Stone Rainbringer.”
The girl’s eyes flashed. “Stone Rainbringer? As in, the CEO? I don’t think...”
“You don’t need to think, gorgeous,” said Jason. “I’m his nephew—I worked here until a week or so ago.”
“You’re his nephew?”
“That’s right. So, just get him on the line and tell him I’m here to see him. He’ll send me right up, I’m sure.”
She nodded, picking up the phone.
“You’re sure about this?” asked Lexi.
“Not entirely.”
“‘Not entirely’?”
“I mean, there’s a good chance he’ll tell me to screw off. Better than a ‘good chance,’ maybe. But no big deal if he does. We’ll figure something out.”
That answer didn’t appear to put Lexi at ease.
“His secretary said to come right up,” said the clerk as she set down the phone.
“Yes!” said Jason under his breath. “I mean, very good. Thank you for your help.”
“Take the private elevator around the corner to the executive level. But then again, you probably knew that already.” She smiled broadly.
Jason and Lexi thanked her again for her help, the two of them made their way down the long elevator hallway to the end. A guard checked Jason’s name and opened the elevator door. They stepped in and were off.
“Wow,” said Lexi, turning around to look through the glass wall of the elevator, the city rising up as they went higher and higher. “This is amazing
.”
“Wait until you see the view from my uncle’s office. One of the best in the city, if you ask me.”
They went up and up, the doors eventually opening when they were far above nearly every other tower nearby.
The place was abuzz as they entered, well-dressed men and women zipping here and there, all with the same purposeful expression on their face. The walls were floor-to-ceiling glass, affording a three-sixty sweep of the city.
Everything about the place screamed power and prestige.
“All right,” said Jason as the two made their way through the floor. “Just let me do all the talking.”
But as the two of them walked, Jason noticed many of them giving them strange looks, as if trying to figure out what the hell they were doing.
“Damn,” said Jason. “What’s with the weird stares?”
Lexi laughed. “Probably because we’re both dressed like it’s laundry day.”
Jason stopped and looked down at his jeans and T-shirt, realizing right away that they both looked very out of place.
“Oh, guess you’re right. So much for dressing like the job you want.”
They reached a massive set of double doors. Jason gave his name to the secretary, and she placed a phone call.
“All right,” he said. “Remember—let me do the talking.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The secretary told them both to go in, the doors opening on their own.
Jason took a deep breath and stepped inside.
“Wow,” said Lexi. “You weren’t kidding about the office.”
The room was huge, easily as big as Jason’s cabin back in the woods. The ceilings were tall, the walls lined with bookshelves. A massive fireplace was on one side, a huge TV above it that played the news on mute.
At the far end was an enormous desk, the window looking out onto Mount Rainer in the distance.
And standing behind the desk, his back to the door and his hands folded behind him, was Jason’s uncle.
“Someone couldn’t stay out of the city.” His voice was low and deep, filling the room with ease.
He turned, greeting Jason with a narrow-eyed stare.
Stone Rainbringer was, like all the males in Jason’s family, tall and built and serious-faced. His hair was short and silver and slicked back, his eyes a sharp blue and his mouth small and prim. His face was all angles. And his suit was dark, hand-tailored, and impeccable.
“You know me, Uncle,” said Jason. “Can’t stay away from the hustle and bustle.”
Stone’s sharp, blue eyes went right to Lexi, his stare so hard that it froze her in place. He raised his palm and sniffed the air.
“An...omega. Jason, you brought an omega female into my office. Why is she here? What’s going on?”
“Kind of a lot is going on. And I’m more than happy to explain all of it to you.”
Stone gestured to the two high-backed chairs in front of the desk. “Sit. And do it.”
They both sat down, Jason taking a deep breath.
“This is Lexi,” he said. “She’s an omega in our clan.”
Stone’s eyes flicked over to her. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “I don’t spend much time out in...nature.” The way he emphasized “nature” made it clear he didn’t think much of the woods-dwelling ways of the rest of the pack. “So I don’t know everyone in the tribe. But you’re a female omega.”
“Right,” said Lexi.
“And you look twenty-one...why are you here? Why aren’t you married back at the Thundertooth grounds? Jason, explain yourself now.”
Jason took a deep breath, preparing to get into it.
And he did. He told Stone about Chad, about the marriage, about what he’d done and said to Lexi.
When Jason was done, Stone sat back, tapping his finger on the desk and processing it all.
“Chad...now that’s a name I do know. Little prick, ever since he was a kid.”
“Right,” said Lexi. “And he’s gotten even worse. More than that, I’m pretty sure he’s planning something with the rest of the tribes.”
“Planning something? Like what?”
Jason realized that Lexi wasn’t intending on following the rule of letting him do the talking.
Should’ve known better. She’s too strong-willed for that. And I dig it.
“I don’t know,” said Lexi. “But it can’t be good.”
Stone raised his palm, stopping the conversation in its tracks. “So, let me get this straight. You were betrothed to the future alpha of the pack and you...ran away. And you, Jason, helped her? Are you insane? Do you know what kind of blowback this is going to have?”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Jason. “Because there was no other option. Not a chance in hell I was going to stand around and let Chad do what he wanted.”
“And no way I was going to marry a man like him.”
Stone shook his head. “But that’s tradition,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you want—it matters what’s good for the pack.”
“But following tradition just for the sake of it is no answer,” said Lexi. “I know Chad, and I know if he became the new alpha just because he was in line for it, that’d be about the worst thing imaginable for the pack.”
Stone thought about it some more. “And I assume no one else in the pack, namely your families, know about what happened.”
“No one knows,” said Jason. “And I want to keep it that way.”
“Do you have any idea what kind of position you’re putting me in by doing this? You’re making me an accomplice to your insane plan. And if I were to go along with this secret I’d be in just as much trouble as you two likely are.”
Jason’s stomach tensed. He knew it all came down to that moment.
Stone shook his head. “But...I’m not going to tell them.”
“You aren’t?” asked Lexi. “Really?”
“I know Chad, and I know that you’re right—if he takes control of the pack, it’ll undo all of the decades of hard work we’ve done making peace with the other tribes in the region. Men like him want power, and they don’t care how they get it.”
“Right,” said Lexi. “And no one else seems to see this. They’re so obsessed with ‘tradition’ that they don’t care about anything else. If the Thundertooth pack is going to survive, they’re going to need new thinking, new ideas. And I want to be the one to bring it them.”
He cocked his head to the side, clearly intrigued. “What do you mean by that?”
“All I’ve wanted was to come to the city, to go to school, to learn about the world outside of the woods. I want to think beyond tradition, to finally take our pack into the twenty-first century. But no one else sees that. All they can wrap their heads around is the way things have always been.”
Stone’s lips curled into a slight smile, and he turned his eyes to Jason.
“She’s...not like any omega female I’ve ever known.”
“That’s because she’s not like any omega female period.”
“But this all doesn’t consider the fact that you’re supposed to be getting married, Jason. Isn’t there some woman back home waiting for you?”
“Yeah,” said Jason. “One that I don’t love, and who doesn’t love me. In fact, she’s in love with someone else. It’s a miserable marriage waiting to happen.”
“But it’s tradition to have the elders choose mates,” said Stone.
“A tradition that should end, if you ask me.”
He rose, stepping back over to the window and looking out.
“I had to fight like hell for this, you know. Me and your father, Jason, we argued for hours and hours over the years about my plans for the pack. And our father, your grandfather, was right there with your brother. I wanted to come to the city, to carve out an empire, and do for the pack what I knew I could.”
He turned back around.
“They wanted me to stay in the woods, to be a loyal secondary alpha to Rick. So, you know what I did?”
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br /> “What?” asked Lexi.
“The day after our father died, I didn’t waste any time getting the hell out of there. I fled the woods, came to Seattle with a few hundred dollars in my pocket and a heart full of ambition. And with just that, I built this empire. Now, thanks to me, the Thundertooth pack is one of the strongest on the West Coast.”
He sat back down and shook his head.
“But all it takes is one bad alpha to ruin all of that. Rick is good, solid. But he’s not going to be around forever. When Chad’s in charge, he’ll squander our fortune and bring shame to our pack. I’m not going to stand for it.”
“Then you’ll help us?” Jason asked.
“I’ll help you help yourselves. Jason, if you want your position back, you can have it. And I’ll provide you with a temporary apartment in the meantime.”
Jason and Lexi shared an excited look.
“And I’ll keep you being here a secret from the pack for the time being. I want to know what’s going on in the woods, what that little shit Chad has planned for my people. But until then, I’m going to keep you two in my back pocket. As long as he doesn’t have his omega, he won’t be able to solidify his position as the next alpha.”
“Thank you so much, Uncle Stone. You’re not going to regret this.”
“I’d better not.”
Then he glanced over at Lexi.
“Would you mind excusing us for a moment? I want to speak to my nephew alone.”
“Of course,” said Lexi. “I’ll wait outside.”
“Thank you.”
Lexi rose and left, the door shutting behind her. Jason’s stomach tightened as he met eyes with Stone.
“Thank you again,” said Jason. “I—”
“I’ve got terms for this,” he said. “And the top of them is I don’t want to see you screwing around. I cut you slack when you were here before because you did good work. But now there’s no room for any of that. You’ve got an omega to look after, and it’s only a matter of time before she attracts the attention of other shifters in the city. You fuck up once, and my help stops. You’re on your own.”
Jason took in a deep breath and nodded.