by Kele Moon
Desmon equally loved and hated Amber’s independence.
“Oh!” Janie pointed at Desmon. “If it’s something that’ll make you growl. Like, if the Alpha Council calls, and I’ll think, ‘He’s going to be growly about this. Time for a lunch break.’ Stuff like that, right?”
“I’m not growly, but yes, the Alpha Council would be one to text Jazz about. If it’s really important, he’ll be able to find me. Don’t forget—”
“A human named Amber, I know. Tell you immediately if she calls.” Janie rolled her eyes. “So, if she’s human, she’s not going to the running?”
“Nope.” Desmon shrugged, because he was disappointed about it.
“Bummer.”
Janie looked to her phone. The younger weres were much better about technology than the older ones. Desmon just wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
Then, she added, “I was thinking of running near the border tonight.”
Desmon growled.
She smiled and pointed, looking pleased that her running activities was something important enough to growl about.
“You’ve had at least twenty running offers, and those are just the ones I’ve heard of.” Desmon rubbed his forehead. “Janie, I’d really like you staying inland, with a wolf you know will be kind. There’re a lot of betas who would take advantage of a young omega on the full moon.”
“I’m not stupid, Alpha. I know it’s a risk, but my mate’s not in Nightwind. I’d feel something when he walked into the room, right?” Janie looked up at Desmon. “I’d know if he was mine, wouldn’t I?”
Desmon stood there, thinking of the feeling he got when he was near Amber. He nodded, because he couldn’t lie to her about it. “Yes, you’d know something. It’s very noticeable.”
“Even without mating with him?” Janie pressed, green eyes wide, pupils dilated once more as the wolf in her lit up at the idea of finding a mate. “I’d still feel it, just being next to him?”
“You’d feel it,” Desmon had to reluctantly admit, even if it made his life more difficult. “You’d want to make a running date with him.”
“There’s no one in this pack I want to make a date with. And those offers you heard, they know I’m not theirs, either. They want to do it because their friends told them omegas are submissive and do whatever they want on the running. I’m not into that, not without a bond. I’d rather go near the border. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find the one.”
“Landing in Goodwin because of a mating would not be lucky. You’re too young to remember what it was like before Albert—”
“I remember,” Janie whispered.
Desmon winced, because Albert made her father an enforcer on the north end, knowing he was an omega wolf. Lyle didn’t last three years, which was a lot longer than Albert had anticipated. That was the most dangerous assignment in their pack. It had been a death sentence for a wolf who wasn’t naturally a fighter, but like Janie, her father Lyle had also been surprisingly tenacious.
“Goodwins are like Albert. Their ideas are very backwards,” Desmon warned her. “We do the runnings on the border to give the Goodwin females a chance to get out, not to send ours to Goodwin. Being an omega wolf in Goodwin would be terrible, even if you had a mate. I would be doing your father a huge disservice to let you look for your mate over there.”
She tilted her head, as though considering it, and then suggested, “I could go into town.”
Desmon had a feeling he’d played right into her hands, and he growled again.
“Sara and Dawn both have motel rooms across the street from Pacers, and I love that human club. The music’s so much better than at The Barn, and it’s mostly human men, and they’re closer to my age. If I find one I like, I won’t bite, even if he smells really yummy, and—”
Desmon held up his hands. “Let me think about it, Janie.”
“Jason has a human mate,” Janie went on, as if she hadn’t heard him. “And now your mate is human, and—”
“I’m extra frustrated today.” Desmon gave her a look. “And very aware that allowing a nineteen-year-old wolf to run wild around town looking for an unsuspecting human male to keep her company for the full moon is a massive mistake waiting to happen. I’d need to be half delirious with exhaustion to consider saying yes to that.”
“Go run.” Janie gestured to the door without hesitation, clearly hoping he would manage to run until he was delirious. “I’ll text Jazz with the important stuff.”
He didn’t need to hear the suggestion twice, and left his cell phone on her desk for safekeeping.
Desmon’s office was located in the center of pack land, but he still encouraged his wolves to be cautious about shifting out in the open.
Most of them weren’t.
Around the corner, away from Janie’s window, there was a walled-off area, just in case unsuspecting humans wandered in. It looked like a small outside dressing room. It had a bench and a coat rack, because there were lots of times Desmon needed to take off in fur to deal with an issue.
Once he was naked, he didn’t waste time, and was quickly a wolf instead of a man. Then he ran hard toward the woods. Desmon took the scenic route, going full throttle the whole time. He went all the way to the north end of the border. The trees became denser. The ground was mossy, now more mud than dirt, because the branches hid most of the dying afternoon sun. It was a dark, depressing side of their territory, one most of their pack wouldn’t venture out to on a dare.
The two-story cabin was hidden by a canopy of trees. The porch was swept. The leaves that had fallen on the surrounding property were raked up in a small heap off to the right side of the building. A large pile of chopped wood was stacked up next to it, and smoke from the chimney betrayed how well used that firewood actually was.
Jason and Brandie were the closest neighbors, but their land had plenty of sunlight.
Desmon smelled venison cooking and realized he was famished. For some reason, when the wolf was at the forefront of his mind, he was always on the lookout for food. It likely had to do with survival. Alphas were as simple as any other wolf. Their priorities could be narrowed down to three things—eat, fuck, protect the pack, not always in that order. When he was feeling vulnerable, his animal half was doubly determined to keep his body powerful and resilient.
He didn’t have to change forms to knock. The door opened and Miles stood there, bare-chested and barefoot, in only his jeans. He didn’t hide the scars on his shoulders, chest and stomach that kept him from shifting. His long dark hair, nearly identical to Desmon’s, was tied back, leaving his marred face more visible.
Usually, Miles didn’t open the door so easily, but Desmon was his cousin and, more importantly, the two of them were friends from puppyhood. Desmon didn’t have to beg to be let in like others.
“Surprised to see you in the north end. Thought you’d be busy with other things after hearing the shit going around about you.” Miles’s voice was the low growl of a lone wolf, more feral than others in the pack. “Hungry?”
Desmon shifted and stood to his full human height. “Starving.”
“I figured.” Miles opened his door wider, inviting Desmon in. He pointed toward his bedroom. “I have jeans in my bottom drawer.”
Desmon didn’t ask where Miles had heard about his issues, though it was odd for the gossip to reach him clear out in the north end. Miles didn’t talk to anyone.
After Desmon pulled on some jeans, he walked into the kitchen. Miles had divided the venison onto two plates and set the table.
“There’s coffee in the pot, go ahead and grab some.” Miles pointed to a coffeepot in the corner. “Smells like you didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Desmon poured himself a cup of coffee, black, and sat across from Miles.
“I actually slept fine last night. What you smell happened this afternoon, and I did take a shower before I came over here.” Desmon took a bite, impressed. “This is really good.”
“Thanks. Your s
hower didn’t work, by the way. I can still scent your human on you.”
“I’ve been at work all day but no one said anything. Only you can smell her.” Desmon couldn’t hide his admiration. “You’re the best scenter in California.”
Miles took a bite. “Gary Goodwin’s better than me.”
Desmon flinched, because Miles wasn’t wrong. All the Goodwins were amazing scenters, but Gary Goodwin was in a class by himself.
“I hate Gary Goodwin. I hate him more than Leroy. Arrogant bastard. It irritates the fuck out of me that he’s as good as he is.” Desmon’s voice was low, slightly inhuman with irritation. “Why won’t you teach a scenting class to the pups?”
“Do you really want me around the pups?” Miles asked darkly. “So they can run home and tell their mommies when I growl at them?”
“I’m talking about teenage pups, asshole, not toddlers.”
Miles let out a low, displeased growl. “Same difference.”
Desmon growled back. “You’re the only one we have who could give Gary Goodwin a run for his money. It’s your job as a member of this pack to help educate our young and make us stronger.”
The scenting problem wasn’t new, but since Amber showed up, Desmon had started getting anxious to strengthen the pack. The Nightwinds were already strong, but so were the Goodwins, and peace between the two packs was likely impossible.
Desmon wanted his pack to be the best in the area.
Invincible.
“You’re teaching a scenting class, Miles.” Desmon growled once more at his cousin. He knew why Miles hid out here in the north border, but it had been years since the accident. “You can suck it up and come into town twice a week and teach the older pups tracking. Your father would want you to preserve the old ways.”
Miles snorted and flipped him off. “Jazz texted all your enforcers to let us know you might be aggressive for the next few days. He didn’t say anything about you being psychotic.”
Rather than take the high road, Desmon doubled down on his bad mood. “Jazz texted you my problems?”
“No details. Just watch your asses, don’t mouth off to Des this week.” Miles took a sip of his coffee. “After that, I called Jason to find out what was going on. He gave me the details on the Amber situation, which is why I’m not kicking you out of my house right now.” Miles looked at Desmon sympathetically. “Am I supposed to say congratulations?”
“I guess.” Desmon ran both his hands through his hair. “She’s back. That’s what matters. I wish I didn’t have to do this running tonight. I hate leaving her.”
“It’s difficult to have a mate who’s human.” Miles pushed at his food with his fork like he was looking for something to do with his hands. “I think Jason misses the runnings, but he won’t leave Brandi, and I can’t blame him. I wouldn’t leave my mate, either. Don’t know why he won’t change her.”
The running was a sensitive issue with Miles, because he couldn’t shift anymore, but Miles didn’t let it show today. He just gave Desmon a pointed look. “If you didn’t let them run so close to Goodwin territory, you wouldn’t have to go babysit like you do every full moon. You could stay with your mate.”
“I know, but a lot of the Goodwin females are trying to get out of that pack, and we have too many unmated males right now. They keep going into town and finding human females there, which isn’t always good. Look at the whole Merl-and-Katie nightmare. She says she wants to be with him, so what can I do? I can’t force her to stay away from him. It’s justhuman females are so fragile.”
Desmon didn’t mention his own human issues with Amber, but he worried over them. It was going against everything in him to leave her alone during the running. He didn’t need her to run with him, but he did want to spend the full moon doing something other than making sure young pack members didn’t chase their tails into the wrong territory.
As always, Desmon thought about his mother during the years when Albert had control of her, knowing there were women in Goodwin facing the same fate. Many of them were marked as pack whores like his mother had been, and their lives were likely horrific.
“We’re keeping close to the border.” Desmon was talking more to himself than Miles. “Their females know where to find us if they want to try for a way out of that pack, and it is the only day of the month where our males have an excuse to be sniffing around. If a mating happens, it’s not the Goodwins’ place to argue with nature.”
Miles rolled his eyes. “Then don’t complain about babysitting.”
A smartphone on the counter dinged with a message. Miles pushed away from the table and walked over to grab it. He stared at the screen with a frown and looked up at Desmon. “Jazz is asking if you’re here.”
Desmon sighed. “I know I need to start running with my phone.”
“Buy a harness, or just borrow one of my old ones. I have extras.” Miles sat back in his chair as he typed on his phone. “You could run with your phone and a gun. It’d make your life a lot easier.”
Desmon let out a low, angry growl.
“You think you’re too good, but I never went on an assignment without wearing one for good reason. If they’re suitable enough for the enforcers of World Shifter Alliance, they’re suitable enough for you, Desmon Nightwind.”
“You know as well as anyone if I came at a strange shifter wearing an Alliance Enforcer harness with a weapon, I wouldn’t have to fight them. They’d drop dead in terror.” Desmon snorted.
“You’re not wrong. No one wants to run into an Alliance Enforcer, with or without their harness. Just talking about one showing up will make a were sweat.” Miles sighed nostalgically. “I miss that.”
“Don’t worry, you’re still terrifying when you show up,” Desmon snorted in amusement. “You really miss serving with them? It’s such grim work.”
“It’s not pleasant, but it’s necessary to protect our people and someone has to do it. I was planning on renewing my contract before my accident, but I know now it would have been a mistake. The ones who stay in too long, it’s worse than the scars I’m stuck with. They’re always primal, putting off that aggressive, territorial scent, like their pack is under attack, and not just the wolves—any shifters, even the cats.
“They lose themselves. Their only loyalty is the Alliance, and they go after every assignment like survival is at stake.” Miles’s phone went off again, and he picked it up to read the message. “Jazz is looking for you, speaking of the Alliance.” He glanced up with a look of apprehension. “He says they called in a hazard report out here on the north end.”
Desmon jumped up and went for the portable hanging by the fridge.
Before Jazz had a chance to say hello, Desmon asked, “What’s the north end hazard?”
“A sleuth of were-bears who got displaced by the fires. Just figured you should know in case you stumble across them.” Jazz didn’t sound too concerned. “Janie says you’ve been gone a few hours. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Desmon lied, running a hand through his hair. “Tell me about the bears.”
“They’re following the rules, traveling in neutral territory, but they called in for permission to cross through. I gave them the go-ahead, since it was the Bear High Council asking the favor.”
“I wouldn’t have given them permission to cross. They could decide they like it, and then what? You think the Goodwins are bad, try being in a territory war with a group of grizzlies,” Miles growled, clearly still listening in. “I’d rather fight a tiger than a grizzly.”
“Bullshit.” Jazz laughed. “I’d rather fight two grizzlies than a fucking tiger. I met one once, when I was helping out the Hunters in Arizona and visiting Hope. This guy was standing there, working the door at a were club in Phoenix, just chilling and watching out for humans and pups trying to get in. Nice for a cat. Seemed harmless. Then something went down, and I saw him shift. Fuck that. I’ll take a bear any day. I can outrun a bear.”
“Something you might not know about
grizzlies.” Miles actually took the phone from Desmon and spoke into the receiver, “They can run just as fast as a tiger. I’ve seen it with my own eyes—more than once.”
“Miles, I watched that tiger jump two stories straight up without blinking, and that was before he’d shifted. There’s not a grizzly alive who could do that.” Jazz seemed bored with the conversation. “Besides, there’s no grizzles stomping through your backyard. Just eight black bears and a couple of cubs. We could defend our territory if we have to, but we won’t, because they’re bears, and they don’t bother anyone.”
“Until they do.”
Jazz sighed. “Man, everyone likes bears. I don’t know what your problem is.”
“He doesn’t like anyone, bears included.” Desmon took the phone back. “I’ll run back to the office.” He wanted to know if Jazz got his arm stitched, but instead asked, “Meet you there?”
“Nah, you don’t have to come back. Go rest up for an hour or so before the running. Could be a long night. Janie’s on the prowl to get off pack land.”
“I know, and she’s not wrong.” Desmon closed his eyes tiredly. “Her mate’s not in the pack. I have to let her out. I’d be defying nature not to.”
“I’ll head into town tonight and keep an eye on the females at the dance club,” Jazz decided for them both. “You stick with the males at the Goodwin border, and we’ll remind all the mated couples to stay inland to make our lives easier.”
It was a good plan, similar to ones in the past because they had so many young wolves who were inclined to roam in new directions looking for their mates.
“I think Janie could be one female too many, because she told me Sara and Dawn have plans, too. Did you know about that?”
“No,” Jazz snorted. “She forgot that part.”
“That’s a lot, Jazz. Plus your usual crew,” Desmon said. “They’ll scatter in twenty different directions, and you’re susceptible, too. What if you end up distracted by a human for the night? You’re not nineteen, but it happens.”