Off the Beaten Path

by Cari Z

  “That’s cool.” We stared at each other for an awkward moment. “Um… it sounds like she’s doing better.”

  “Yeah, she is.”

  “Great.”

  “Yeah.” Jesus Christ, who was the adult here? It was time to get beyond monosyllables. “I’m Ward,” I said, extending my hand. “Ward Johannsen. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Thanks.” When he smiled, the young man’s face went from boyishly charming to devastating. Those dimples were going to be killers someday. “I’m Roman Owens. My folks are Gerald and Peggy. They’re longtime La Garita, like the alpha.”

  “Well, I’m so new to the pack I’m still shiny”―try raw―“but I’m here for the long haul.”

  “Cool.” He really seemed to believe it too, pinching his lips together as he looked at me like he was holding back an explosion of questions.

  “Tennyson’s in the back,” I said, probably unnecessarily because werewolves. Liam had taken off a while ago, as silently as he’d arrived. “If you need to speak with him.”

  “Uh, yeah. He usually helps me with my calculus homework on Sundays if he has the time.”

  “Nice.” I led the way back through the open door, and Roman followed at my heels. “Calc One or Two?”

  “One, but I’m almost ready for two.”

  “It’s easier,” I confided in him. “At least, I thought so.”

  “Yeah?” He perked up. “Are you a math teacher?”

  “Physics, actually, but there’s obviously a lot of math in that.” We entered the back room, where Tennyson was still frowning over his tablet. His expression made me nervous. He was the doctor around here, right? Why would he be making that face if everything was going well? “Is Ava okay?”

  Tennyson sighed. “The answer to that is a clear yes—just look at her. Don’t be one of those hovering, helicopter parents, Mr. Johannsen. I’d hate to have to kick you out of my clinic, but I’ll do it if you can’t behave.”

  The hell he would, but the last thing I needed right now was to start another fight. “No, of course not. You just look… upset.”

  “Oh.” Now he looked surprised. “I’m fine. It’s nothing to do with Ava, I promise.” He turned to Roman. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to have time for math today. We’ll have to reschedule.”

  In true teenage form, Roman’s whole body managed to radiate disappointment. “That’s okay,” he said, but it was so clearly not okay that even I could pick up on it. “Maybe tomorrow?”

  “Maybe, but—”

  “I can help,” I said.

  Two pairs of hopeful eyes turned toward me. “As long as we can work in here,” I continued.

  “That’s… fine,” Tennyson said. He looked at me like he wasn’t quite sure what to make of me, but Roman was already sitting down on the floor and opening his book. “I’ll go and work in my office, then. I’ll be back in an hour to check on Ava.”

  “Thanks.” I sat down next to Roman and took a look at the chapter he opened to. “Limits already? So you’re good with all the basic notations and functions?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Great.” My hand itched for a dry erase marker. It felt like forever since I’d thought of my old job, beyond an occasional curiosity about how my classes were doing. Now, though, with my heart settled for the first time since Ava’s shift, I realized just how much I had missed teaching. “So, do you know the definition of a limit?”

  Roman shrugged. “Not exactly.”

  “Okay, let’s start there.”

  Pure math wasn’t my strong suit, but Calculus One didn’t require a lot of brainpower. I spent an hour talking Roman through the basic definition of limits, what they could tell us about functions, and why it was important. We worked through a few sample problems together, and then he did more on his own with me checking his work. It was satisfying, using my head for more than strategizing and worrying. I was warm, I was comfortable, I had my daughter close by, and someone needed me for something. I was pretty damn close to content, all things considered.

  Then Henry had to show up and ruin things.

  Roman noticed it before I did, his back stiffening suddenly as his head whipped around toward the door. He stood up, and a moment later Henry entered the room.

  “Welcome back, Alpha,” Roman said as I struggled to my feet.

  Henry smiled at him, brief but sincere. “Thank you, Roman. It’s good to be home.” He held out a hand and Roman took it, and they embraced for a long moment. I knew, I knew it was normal for werewolves, but I still couldn’t help but stare a little. Roman was seventeen, and he already had two inches on me, yet he still looked dwarfed somehow in Henry’s arms. I didn’t know if it was the force of his personality or what, but I could only imagine how ridiculously small I had looked when we’d hugged earlier.

  Or maybe it was the beard. I was going with that.

  “Are you two busy?” he asked once the hug was over.

  “As a matter of fact, we’re—”

  “No, Alpha,” Roman said quickly. He glanced down at me. “I think I can do the rest of this page on my own. Maybe you could check my work tomorrow?” He shuffled his feet. “If you’re still here tomorrow?”

  Oh, I wasn’t going anywhere. I opened my mouth to say just that, when—

  “He’s not going anywhere.”

  Well. That was a change in the party line. I stared in surprise at Henry, but he didn’t look away from Roman. “I have the feeling Ward will have a lot more availability in the near future, too. Miss Sam will talk to you guys about it tomorrow in class.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  “Ward.” He finally looked my way. I straightened my back, and I swear I almost saw a smile on his lips. “We’ve got an appointment with the guardian.”

  “Oh.” My heart rate sped up so quickly that both werewolves were staring at me now. “Okay,” I managed. Henry put a hand on my shoulder.

  “It’ll be all right,” he said. And for some reason, I believed him. “He’s waiting at the house.”

  “I want to come back after we’re done.”

  “As soon as possible.”

  We left as Roman packed his supplies and Tennyson brought another meal for Ava, what looked like chunks of something meaty in a glistening broth. It smelled good; I had to admit.

  “It’s liver,” Henry said once we were outside before I even drew breath to ask. “Probably some chopped kidneys, a little bit of stomach too. Bone marrow for the broth. It’s got a lot of nutrients a growing pup needs.”

  I did my best not to wrinkle my nose. “Yum.”

  “She’ll think so. Now, I need the name of the person who told you where to find us.”

  The rapid change in subject almost had my head spinning. “I… no.”

  “Ward.” Henry sounded frustrated. “I understand why you came here. You love your daughter. But a breach like this could endanger my entire pack, and I need to be able to seal it. I’ve already told John that Sam and I approached you when we realized how poorly Ava was doing, but that’s not going to fly with my superiors. Having you here goes against all security protocol, and someone has to answer for it. I’d rather that someone not be you.”

  “It’s not a breach,” I argued, soft but fervent. “The person who helped me wouldn’t do this for anyone else, I swear.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “And you don’t know them! This person understands what a big deal this is, okay? They’re….” Shit, how could I explain how rabidly loyal Davis was to the people he cared about? “This person is the closest thing to pack a human can have, I think. There’s no way they would betray my confidence.”

  Henry looked at me so closely I thought he might see right through. “You won’t be able to keep who it is a secret forever,” he said. “Not if you ever plan on seeing this person again.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. Davis was a brother to me, my only family outside Ava since my brother Rick’s death. The thou
ght of never seeing him again made me shiver. You can work it out later. One thing at a time.

  I took a deep breath. “Let’s go meet the guardian.”

  The guardian—John, if I remembered right—was sitting in Henry and Sam’s living room when we got there, drinking from a heavy mug that smelled like tea. Sam was with him, but there was no sign of Liam.

  “—could have brought the kids,” Sam was saying as we walked inside. “I have a few more sample college essays I thought Genna might like, and I miss seeing the twins at school every day.”

  “It’s cold for them to be out, and they have homework to finish,” the man replied. He had a gruff voice, and his graying hair was cut close to his head. His craggy face looked as stern as he sounded, and when he focused on me, it was almost like fielding a stare from Henry in alpha mode. “So. This is your stowaway.”

  He sounded pissed. Fortunately, Henry spoke up before I could even open my mouth. “It was a medical emergency, and his paperwork hadn’t come through yet. I know you would have stopped us at the gate, but we couldn’t afford to wait on it.”

  “Yeah, you said as much. Not sure if I buy it, but”—John shrugged—“it’s your funeral if I don’t get that paperwork by the end of the month.”

  “Within a month from the day of arrival,” Sam corrected. “It’s already the seventeenth. We’ve got until the middle of February to get his paperwork to you.”

  It was time to interject, before a fight broke out. “I’m Ward Johannsen.” I stepped forward and held out my hand for what felt like the tenth time that day. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  After a moment’s pause, the guardian got up and shook. He squeezed hard enough to grind the bones of my knuckles together, and I winced. A low growl broke the air, and John let go of me, his expression going a little surprised as both he and Sam stared at Henry.

  “Huh.” The guardian looked back at me. “You work fast, Mr. Johannsen.” I opened my mouth to ask him to explain, but he barreled ahead. “I’m John Parnell, and if you’re lucky, we won’t see much of each other.”

  “Uh… okay?”

  “Sam, thanks for the tea. Henry.” He looked back at the alpha as he wrapped a scarf around his neck. “One month. Then I go digging.”

  “I understand.”

  Well, that was good, because I sure as hell didn’t. I waited for him to leave to ask about it, though.

  Sam smiled reassuringly and patted me on the shoulder. “Let’s all have some tea, and then Henry and I can tell you what’s going on. Maybe have some cookies too. Sound good?”

  A tea party with a werewolf? It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’d done so far today.

  “Sounds great.”

  Chapter Eight

  Henry

  I DON’T think I’d ever met a person as resistant to logic as Ward before, and given my commanding officer, that was saying something. He absolutely refused to give us the name of his person on the inside, and no amount of persuasion could change his mind.

  Sam broke first. “Fine. If you can’t share it with us, you can’t. We’ll see what else we can do to fix this.”

  That was code for Find someone else to take the blame. As confident in my sister’s networking capabilities as I was—I left all the interpack negotiating to her for good reason—I had a sneaking suspicion that this time around, the only person who’d be able to take the blame for a rogue human ending up on pack grounds would be me.

  The thought should have enraged me. I wasn’t here to be anyone’s patsy. I was the alpha of La Garita pack, and I had a duty. That duty included being whole and present for my pack, not taking responsibility for a man without any care for the consequences of his actions. But for some reason, my sense of righteous indignation had taken a back seat to acceptance. I wasn’t sure if it was due to personal fatigue or just something about Ward, but either way, I was grateful not to have any more conflict shoved into my soul right then. Sitting at the table with a mug of jasmine tea and a plate of ginger snaps, with just Sam and Ward for company, was the calmest I’d felt in weeks.

  “I’m really sorry for the trouble.” I could tell that he meant it, but while his scent carried a vague aroma of guilt, there was nothing of regret there. I appreciated his sense of commitment, at least.

  “Don’t worry about it. In the meantime, we’ve got to find something for you to do around here while we work out a permanent solution.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She means finding you a job,” I said. Ward raised one eyebrow, and I smiled. “What, you thought you could just waltz in here and freeload for the rest of your life?”

  “The rest of my—no, I mean, of course not, but—” He picked up a cookie but didn’t eat it, turning it over and over and staring at it like if he tried hard enough, he might find a fortune written on it.

  “Because that’s what we’re talking about,” I continued, pleased to have the upper hand for what seemed like the first time in way too long. “Until Ava is old enough for college, she’s staying here. Werewolves don’t leave their territory except in cases of emergency or prescribed absences, such as school or marriage.”

  Ward looked up curiously. “How is marriage a prescribed absence?”

  “A lot of werewolf marriages are arranged,” Sam said. “It’s the easiest way to find someone else like us, and werewolves aren’t allowed to marry regular humans. The agency doesn’t want the gene to spread to any more of the population than it already has.”

  “That’s….” He blinked a few times as he searched for the word. “Disgustingly draconian.”

  I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  “But how can you just accept that?” Ward exclaimed. “How can you just be okay with the fact that your entire pack is destined to spend their whole lives on however many miles of land you have here, with no chance to explore the world or choose their own spouse or, or just push back? How can you be okay with that, as their alpha? What does that even mean, if not that you stick up for the rest of your pack?”

  I felt my claws start to emerge, and I clenched my fists. Ward was so stupidly innocent. He had no fucking clue what life was like for us, but by God, he was going to get one now. “Do you have any idea how easy it would be to kill us off? Any idea how many people want to kill us off? There are people in power, members of the United States Congress, who are trying as we speak to get people with the werewolf gene declared dangers to society and either hunted down or forcibly sterilized.”

  Ward opened his mouth, but I rolled right over any protests.

  “There are other people who think we should be used as diplomatic bargaining chips, others yet who think we should be put into a breeding program and weaponized for the sake of ‘national security.’ John isn’t just here to keep people out of our territory―he’s here to make sure we stay in it. We toe the line, yeah, because if we don’t? Everything we have can be broken apart with very little trouble to the folks in command. So no, I’m not okay with how things are, but I abide by the rules because that’s part of how I stick up for my pack. I get sent to the worst places in the world so we can—” I bit my words off before I went any further. It was one thing to stick up for our way of life, another completely to indulge in a pity party in front of someone I’d just met. Judging by the stunned expression on his face and the hurt I saw in Sam’s, I’d already given away too much.

  I took a deep breath and let it out. “So, a job.”

  “Right.” Ward shook his head a little and then thankfully got right back on track instead of chasing down the end of my last sentence, or even worse, apologizing. “Yes. I do need something to do. Actually, I was thinking maybe… I could be a tutor?” Given how incredibly defiant almost everything the guy said was, the way he wobbled a little bit now was strange. “I helped Roman out with his calculus homework today. I feel like I could do more of that pretty easily.”

  Sam frowned. “I didn’t know he needed help on his calc work. He’s been getting perfect sco
res on his quizzes.”

  “Well, regardless, I was happy to do it. So… what do you think?”

  “Personally, I think you’d be a bit wasted as just a tutor,” Sam said. “I’d rather have you as another teacher.”

  I chuckled. “She just wants someone she can shove grading off onto.”

  Sam pointed a finger at me but kept her eyes on Ward. “Don’t listen to a word coming out of my brother’s lying mouth. I do as good a job as I can with the kids—”

  “You’re a great teacher.” Ha, made her blush.

  “But,” she continued, “my background is more soft science than hard science. It’s all I can do to handle calculus, and I’m pulling my hair out over physics and chemistry. I could really use the help, and the kids would love having another person around to mix things up.”

  “How many kids are there in the pack?”

  “Seven, including Ava.”

  Ward’s eyes widened. “That’s all? How many people are there in the pack, total?”

  “Twenty-five. Twenty-six, including you.” She smiled. “We’re about average, really. Packs almost never get bigger than thirty people. Fifteen would be considered small, almost too small to be healthy.”

  “What’s their age range?”

  “Ava will be the youngest. Josie is six, Pippa and Louis are both eight, Olivia is eleven, Terrence is fourteen, and you’ve already met Roman. He’s the oldest of the group. The problem isn’t so much that I’ve got a lot of kids to take care of,” she said. “It’s that they’re all at very different levels, and there aren’t many lessons I can do for all of them at the same time. I get Roman to assist me more often than I should, probably.”

  “Oh.” At least Ward didn’t seem intimidated, tapping the edge of his crumbling cookie on his saucer as he cupped his face with his other hand. “Well, I’d love to help out. I’m not licensed to teach in Colorado, but I don’t guess that’ll be much of an issue up here, will it?”

  “Not even a little bit,” Sam assured him.

  “Oh, for shit’s sake.” I pushed his plate a little closer to him. “Eat that thing before it falls apart. Or don’t.” I didn’t really care, but it was annoying as hell watching him play with his food. “Just put it down, then. But drink the tea before it gets cold,” I added, because I could tell he was still feeling the effects of the weather.