Heart of the Pack

by Kristen Banet

  “All right,” James chuckled. “I’m going to put it down now.”

  “Oh, of course.” Abigail backed away more so James could gently set it on the floor and prop it on the wall. “It’s lovely. Thank you so much.”

  “Anything for you,” James told her, smiling. Abigail remembered his words from their date and didn’t argue this time. She just wanted to enjoy it, the unadulterated love in his eyes and his words.

  “What else do we want to do today?” Antonio asked, wrapping his arms around her again.

  “I need to check up on Riley and let her know how bad I feel for missing the opening,” Abigail sighed.

  “Send her a text and we’ll hang out. She might be free for dinner, or she could also just be very busy,” Thomas recommended.

  Abigail: Hey! I wanted to say again how sorry I am for missing last night. I’ve seen the paintings the guys bought from you. I love them. You are so talented.

  Riley didn’t respond soon. Abigail was pulled onto the couch by Antonio again. A movie started, but Abigail didn’t watch much of it as Antonio taunted and teased her. It had started with an innocent kiss on her cheek as he threw an arm over her shoulder. That hand started rubbing her arm and shoulder as the kiss turned into kisses on her neck.

  Twenty minutes into the movie, she was being pulled into his lap. She could hear a soft laugh from Thomas. James was on Antonio’s other side and kissed her as Antonio nibbled on her neck.

  “Her phone is vibrating,” Thomas interrupted, a laugh in his voice.

  Abigail tried to reach for it but Antonio kept hold on her, grinning. “I’m not ready to let you run off yet,” he crooned.

  James grunted in agreement, reclaiming her mouth before she could say anything.

  “Riley sent you a picture,” Thomas informed them, chuckling. “Holy shit, the rocks on that ring.”

  “What?!” Abigail pulled away from Antonio and James hard enough to nearly fall off the couch. Antonio barely stopped her from going back into the coffee table and floor. James turned the movie off as everyone went silent for only a second.

  “Here,” Thomas mumbled, wide-eyed.

  She snatched the phone, climbing off Antonio’s lap. She looked down and gasped.

  It was a ring to impress, but not because the jewels were huge. Riley had taken a picture of her hand, her left ring finger. On it was a simple gold band with four small gems in it: a diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. It was a gorgeous ring.

  Her phone vibrated again with another picture.

  “Oh. My. God. She didn’t,” Abigail muttered.

  “What?” Antonio asked, looking over her shoulder. “Oh, shit. Did she marry Brenton last night?”

  Abigail narrowed her eyes on the picture and wondered the same thing. It was a picture of a driver’s license, and instead of Riley Stern, it said Riley Kingson. She couldn’t have married her Alpha the night before and already have a new license. There was no way. And none of that made sense either. Riley marrying only Brenton? Abigail knew the young woman would never choose one of her men over another.

  Abigail: I am really excited for you and also very confused. You married Brenton?!

  Riley: No! Oh my god, no. Me and all the guys changed our last names to Kingson behind his back. He and all the other guys got us rings behind my back.

  Abigail: Why didn’t I know about this? Why did you change your name?

  Riley: Brenton was lonely. He didn’t like being the last Kingson. We changed that. I didn’t tell anyone since we didn’t want it getting back to him.

  Abigail repeated the words to the wolves.

  Thomas sighed, nodding.

  “That’s cool of them,” he whispered. “With Lana’s death, he is the last biological Kingson. Riley didn’t want to marry one and leave the others out. This solves their problems, in a way.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Abigail agreed. “I wish that Alpha would talk to someone, though. I had no idea he was feeling that lonely.”

  “He will never sit down for therapy, Abigail,” Thomas chuckled. “But, look at that. His Pride knows how to take care of him. They’ve been together for over a year, longer than we’ve all known them. This seems like the natural progression, honestly.”

  “Wait. So they’re all Kingson now?” James asked, looking around Antonio.

  “Apparently,” she said weakly. “With rings. Seems about as close to a marriage as Riley is willing to get, really. It’s why I was so surprised. Marriage just never seemed like her thing.”

  “And she’s not married,” Thomas reminded her.

  “I see that now,” Abigail laughed. “Oh my god. I can’t believe that girl. Well, I think I won’t be seeing her for a few days.”

  “Why’s that?” Thomas frowned at her.

  “Please.” She looked over to him, grinning. “You think they’re going to want to hang out with other people after that?”

  “I know exactly what they’re going to be doing for the next few days,” Antonio growled in her ear. “We can show Thomas.” His words sent shivers down her spine.

  “Oh Jesus,” their Alpha groaned. “All right. I’m not that dense.”

  “You know you wouldn’t mind spending a few days in bed,” Antonio teased.

  Abigail was still looking at her Alpha, whose exasperation changed to deviousness. She took a deep breath as he stood up, leaving his recliner to come to the couch. Antonio pulled her back into his lap and Thomas took her spot.

  “James, turn the movie back on,” Thomas ordered, his eyes still locked on hers.

  18

  Thomas

  Thomas sat behind the desk in the office, absorbing the quiet, enjoying it. The bar was closed, everyone was gone, and he could just think for a moment. There was too much going on, and he was too stressed out to go home for a romp with the guys and Abigail. They would keep busy while he made the decisions he needed to make. It was probably the worst Monday he was ever going to have, and it was only four in the morning. He just had a bad feeling. When the sun came up, he needed to talk to Chris about the Virginia shit before he got any more calls on it.

  After Chris, he needed to deal with what was going on between him and Abigail. She said the words and he didn’t know what to do with himself. James was already in. It was obvious as day that James was in love with her, that he would do absolutely anything for the doe. Antonio was the same, even if he didn’t say the words.

  Thomas wanted to keep her. He wanted to see her every day, every moment. He wanted her in his space. He didn’t like that he felt it, though - that he wanted her around like that. He’d been through this before. In the end, something better always came along, and her job? She would be traveling. The emotions would fade, the lust would wear off.

  And where would they all be after that?

  James heartbroken or gone to be with her? Antonio back to being a complete womanizer? Thomas didn’t know. He didn’t know a damn thing, and he was frustrated by it. He had wanted Wild Junction to settle them, make life easy, and it seemed to get harder every day to keep their lives uncomplicated.

  Abigail made it complicated and he loved her for it. He hated himself for falling so fast when it could all go so wrong, but he knew he loved her and it was going to kill him. His ex-wife hadn’t completely ruined him, but he had a feeling Abigail definitely could.

  She hadn’t even told her family about them. She hadn’t even publicly acknowledged them, and yet there they all were, madly and hopelessly in love.

  His phone rang, and he snarled, grabbing it off the charger and declining it. He didn’t even check the number. When it rang again, he groaned and looked to see who desperately needed him.

  The Colorado Pack Alpha.

  “Fuck,” he mumbled as he picked the phone back up and answered. This was probably the one thing he wanted the sun to come up for. This was probably about Chris and his friends. “Thomas Marek. What’s going on, Heath?”

  “Thomas, I didn’t want to make this phone call,�
� the other Alpha sighed. Heath wasn’t a bad guy, but Thomas didn’t like the tone he had. If Heath didn’t want to make the call, then it was bad. Very bad. Heath didn’t like conflict. He was a chill Alpha over the state and didn’t give Thomas a hard time once things had settled between him, Thomas, and Brenton over who ruled what. Brenton just wanted his hometown peaceful, Thomas just wanted something small for himself, and Heath just wanted the shifters in Wild Junction to stay in Wild Junction.

  “Out with it, man. It’s late. You know the bar just closed.” Thomas didn’t want to beat around the bush; he already knew his assumption was right. This was about the fucking shit about the Virginia Pack.

  “Virginia wants your brother and his friends,” the Colorado Alpha groaned. “I’m inclined to give them.”

  “But they are in Wild Junction,” Thomas reminded him.

  “Exactly, and I won’t walk into that town and take them without you and Brenton knowing, especially not with it being your brother,” Heath explained. “But…”

  “You want to make a deal,” he guessed.

  “Yes.” Heath was to the point. “Give me the two friends. Their crimes against the Virginia Pack are worse. They betrayed their own Pack, while Chris is just a Packless Alpha looking for a place.”

  “And Chris?” he asked softly.

  “I want him out of my state,” Heath replied. “I won’t go after him to give him to Virginia, though.”

  “Send your men in to take the other two,” Thomas whispered. “As soon as you can.”

  “Brenton…” Heath seemed cautious, and Thomas chuckled.

  “Brenton hates my brother and he won’t like hearing that three wolves stopped into his town and hid under his name to protect themselves,” Thomas growled. “He’s allowed my brother to visit me, but I haven’t told him about the other two. I’ll send him an email. He’ll be happy to hear I’m taking care of the wolf shit, so he never sees it.”

  “Who really runs that town, Thomas?”

  “Does it matter? Brenton supplies a name that people don’t want to mess with, but he hates external politics. I promised to not let shit come in and bother him and his family, especially with the shit that went down in December. Where are your guys?” Thomas waited after that. He could hear Heath breathing.

  “Five minutes from those fucks’ hotel,” Heath answered softly. “I’ll text them to go in and grab them.”

  “I’ll deal with Chris in the morning,” Thomas told him quietly. He was holding the phone tight enough to cramp his hand. He was amazed it didn’t break.

  It was a silent ten minutes on the call. Thomas heard a ding on Heath’s end.

  “They have them.” Heath sighed. “I’m sorry about this, Thomas. I really am.”

  “Don’t be,” he bit out, trying to not lash out at the other Alpha. Heath wasn’t the Alpha who needed to get put in his place.

  “If he’s not out of Colorado by the end of tomorrow, I might have to send my guys after him. I don’t count Virginia as an ally, but that Pack isn’t an enemy of mine either. He’s a damn Rogue Alpha.”

  “Can I offer a change in the deal?” Thomas decided to make another play. Rogue was the important part that needed to be fixed here. He needed to get Chris to settle. “Let me see if he’ll submit to me. Join my Pack now that his friends are gone. I can keep him out of trouble.”

  “Okay,” Heath said quickly. “I can do that. If he joins Wild Junction permanently, then Virginia will forget about him. He’ll no longer be an Alpha wandering around, looking for a chance to take over.”

  “Can you ignore him? Being here?”

  “I ignore you for the most part.” Heath laughed darkly. “Thomas, I’ve never looked at that town or the surrounding area as mine. You didn’t take anything from me. Keep Chris in your space and as your responsibility, and I won’t give a damn.”

  “Thank you.” He didn’t have words past that. Heath didn’t need to let his tiny Pack handle Chris. He didn’t need to call Thomas and tell him what he was doing, didn’t need to give him a chance to get Chris on the right side.

  He didn’t know much about what happened in Virginia. Possible coup. Someone had tried to take their Alpha out, and the old bat of a female didn’t want to go down. She was a tough old coot and she was out for blood. One of Chris’ buddies was her grandson. Thomas figured now that Heath had him, he wasn’t going to see the end of the week.

  “Have a good morning, Thomas.”

  “You get some sleep, Heath,” he replied. He hung up before Heath could. He held on to the phone for a moment and looked at his contacts. He hit his brother’s name and waited.

  “What?” Chris snarled. “It’s fucking like four in the morning, jackass.”

  “Come to Rocker’s. Immediately,” Thomas ordered, trying to leave no room for argument.

  “Fuck you,” Chris bit back.

  “I’m not fucking playing right now. Rocker’s. Now. Your fucking friends have been captured by Heath and will be shipped back to Virginia for their Pack to deal with. You will come here to Rocker’s and fucking let me keep you alive.”

  There was no response. Chris hung up on him. Thomas snarled and threw his phone across the office, watching it shatter on the wall. His fucking brother.

  He didn’t leave his office though. He waited. He wasn’t going to go out and find Chris. His brother would come to him or just leave town.

  It took thirty minutes, but Thomas heard him. The bar was silent, so Chris’ growling rant to himself could be heard through the entire bar. Thomas listened to the thumping stomp of the wolf coming up the stairs.

  “Tell Heath to release them,” Chris snarled as he barged into the office.

  “No,” he told his brother, walking around his desk and leaning on it at the front.

  “Why?” Chris snapped. “Why not?”

  “Because I made a deal with him,” Thomas sighed. “Those two to him, you to me. I’m keeping you alive. He was about to grab all three of you but didn’t want to yank you out of my territory.”

  “How the fuck-”

  “Virginia has been calling around, Chris,” he snarled. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

  “I-“

  “I really don’t need an answer,” Thomas cut him off. “I know the answer. You want to be an Alpha to a Pack again.”

  “I am an Alpha. I should have a Pack,” Chris growled, glaring across the office at Thomas.

  Thomas raised an eyebrow. “I was your second for a decade. I didn’t need to be the Alpha. I had a place and I did what I could from it,” Thomas replied, full of annoyance at Chris’ power-hungry shit. “Chris, I made Heath a deal. Now, you have a choice.”

  “Oh really?” Chris sneered. “What choice is that?”

  “Join my Pack or leave Colorado.” He sighed. “But you can’t hide here without pledging your loyalty to me. It’s not safe for you, me, Antonio, James - fuck, even Heath. Virginia will come after you if you’re still a threat. If you join my Pack, then there’s a chance they forget about you, since you’ve decided to settle. It’s likely, really.”

  “Or leave Colorado. Be hunted but still have a chance to not be your bitch,” Chris snarled.

  “God damn,” Thomas groaned. “Seriously? I’m offering you a chance to have a decent life. Out of trouble. With people who fucking care about you - and all you’re thinking about is going out and…You haven’t even asked about the graves, you know?” Thomas chuckled weakly. “Our dead inner circle and you haven’t gone to see them. They fucking died for our sins. Your sins.”

  “I don’t need to see their graves. The only one on this earth I care about, I can’t even visit anymore,” Chris whispered, looking away from Thomas.

  “Jillian would never be okay with how you’re acting,” Thomas snarled. “Don’t try to say you loved her so much that you think everyone else is worthless.”

  “You don’t get to talk about her,” Chris snarled back, pointing at him.

  Thomas stayed wher
e he was, trying to stay unfazed by the anger. It rattled him, though. He was tired. He was tired of this fight. He was tired of his brother. Thomas had served Chris for a decade to the absolute best of his abilities and yet Chris still…

  “You hate me,” Thomas whispered, looking at the hand pointing at him, smelling the rage coming from Chris. It was so obvious. He wondered how he missed it. He wondered how he had ignored this for a decade. At the realization, Thomas felt cut in two.

  “She’s dead because of you.”

  “She’s dead because she wanted to go to a party,” Thomas reminded him. “It’s not like she couldn’t. She was twenty-two, Chris.”

  “You let her sneak out,” his brother retorted.

  “I was seventeen,” Thomas whispered. “Chris, we need to work past it. I’m just trying to keep you alive right now. We’re the last piece of family either of us have. Just accept my invitation into my Pack and we’ll work through this, once and for all.”

  “Family?” Chris growled. “You…Thomas, you are so fucking naïve sometimes. I haven’t thought of you as family since she died.”

  Thomas let that sink in. “You’ve been using me,” he said plainly, looking away from his brother. It sank in, and Thomas was so tired.

  “Damn right,” Chris chuckled darkly. “Why shouldn’t I? You have offered your help willing for years.”

  “You opportunistic son of a bitch,” Thomas mumbled, running a hand over his face. “Go. I won’t protect you. Just get out.”

  “Stop acting like you fucking care,” Chris scoffed. “You never treated me like the brother you always claimed I was.”

  “I treated you like I would treat any brother. With respect. I treated you no different than I treated any of the inner circle, men I considered brothers.”

  “That’s the point,” Chris snarled. “Just like them. I was your actual brother. You never listened to Dad. Mareks first.”