by Meg Ripley
“Please don’t talk about it like that. It’s not like he went to war.” She rolled her eyes, hoping she could get her parents to understand that she didn’t see her divorce as some tragic event. Yes, it was a pain in the ass. Yes, she still had a lot of stuff she’d have to work out with Luke. But right now, she just wanted to pretend it’d never happened and start her life over.
Mrs. Larson set Randy down just inside the living room. The blonde locks he’d inherited from his father whipped through the air as he charged across the area rug to the recliner, tackling his grandfather just like the guys on TV. “Touchdown!” he yelled.
Even though the boy had knocked the air out of him, Mr. Larson smiled as he swung him up onto his lap. “There’s my little running back! Are you gonna watch the game with me?”
Randy turned to look at the television, one finger poking into the soft chubbiness of his cheek. “You want the guys in the orange to win?”
“They’d better, or I’m gonna lose a lot of money.” Mr. Larson gave his daughter a wink. “It’s good to see you, kiddo.”
“You, too, Dad.” She gave him a one-armed hug before following her mother into the kitchen, where Mrs. Larson was already busy at the stove.
“Looks like you’re cooking for an army,” Audra commented, frowning. “I hope you didn’t do this for me.”
But her mother was grinning. “And why not? If my baby girl is home, I thought we could have a little bit of a get together. Oh, and I’ve got your room all ready for you. I still have my sewing machine set up in there, but we can move it out later and make more space for your things. Randy can have Nate’s old room. You think he’ll like the blue walls? I haven’t repainted it yet, but he can pick out whatever color he wants.”
Audra didn’t like the sound of that. “Hold on, Mom. I’m not staying here permanently. I just needed to get away from Luke for a little while and collect myself.”
The sharp look from Mrs. Larson was a brief one before she turned back to the stove. “You’re not thinking about going back to Fort Collins, are you?”
She twisted her mouth. “I don’t know yet.”
The oven door slammed. “You don’t know? How could you even dream of going back? Your family is here. Your pack is here. We all knew Luke was a deadbeat from the very beginning, even though you didn’t want to see it. You’ve got no business running back to Fort Collins.”
“Mom, stop.” Audra planted a fist on her hip. She should’ve known Mrs. Larson was going to try this, no matter what they’d discussed on the phone. “You say that, but I also don’t have any business keeping Randy away from his father. Sure, it might be nice in a perfect world, but it’s not realistic. This is just a temporary thing, and I thought it might be a nice distraction for Randy to see what it’s like to be a part of a pack.”
“Obviously, he’s going to love it.”
Audra turned to see her brother Nate standing in front of the door to the garage. He had the same bright blue eyes and dark hair that both of them had inherited from their father, even if the old man’s had turned a steely gray. She trotted across the room to give him a hug. “I missed you.”
He kept her in a protective arm even once she’d let go. “I missed you, too, but I’ve been worried about you more than anything.”
“Why’s that?”
“I never liked Luke. None of us did. If there’s any reason I need to go beat the shit out of him, I’m more than happy to make the drive.” Nate scowled down at her, his jaw flexing.
She punched him in the chest. “Stop it! You’re just looking for an excuse to get into a fight. So Luke cheated on me. He’s not the first guy in the world to pull shit like that.”
“But is there anything else? He didn’t hit you, did he? Luke always looked to me like the kind of guy who would.” He took her jaw in one strong hand and turned her face from side to side, looking for bruises.
She backed away and slugged him again. “Luke might be an asshole, but not that kind. It was just as well he cheated on me anyway. The two of us never did anything but argue.” That was the charm of their relationship, at first. Audra had found that she kind of liked arguing with him, especially when it meant they got to make up for it later. But once she’d had Randy and he got old enough to know better, she knew things had to change. “I just didn’t want Randy growing up thinking that was right.”
“Then you did the right thing,” Mrs. Larson said from her position at the stove. “He deserves better, and so do you.”
Nate gestured with his head. “Why don’t you come out to the garage with me? We can talk.”
The last thing she needed was to talk more. She felt completely talked out. The few friends Audra had made in Fort Collins had heard all about Luke and his indiscretions, as well as how pissed Audra was over it. But she followed him anyway, because at least talking to Nate would be easier than talking to her mother.
Nate leaned against their father’s old truck and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. “So, I heard part of what you and Mom were talking about in there, that you’re not coming back here to stay. What’s your plan?”
She slumped down onto an old stool near Mr. Larson’s woodworking bench. “I honestly don’t know. Maybe I’ll stay, or at least I’m going to for now. But the last thing I need is Mom believing this is permanent and then giving me a guilt trip when I try to leave again.”
“She’ll only do it because she loves you.” Nate took a long drag and watched the smoke float toward the ceiling.
“An interesting observation from you, considering how much trouble you got into,” Audra pointed out. Nate had always been a troublemaker, but that was also what made it easier to talk to him. He’d done everything, so he couldn’t judge.
“Yeah, and I had to listen to a lot of lectures over it. I know them all by heart. Eventually, I started listening. Mostly.” He gave her a toothy grin that reminded her of the wolf that was inside him, inside all of them.
“Is that why the pack decided to make you Alpha when Uncle Gary died? Because you’d finally learned to listen to your mama?” Audra teased. “You should add that to your resume.”
“Still have your sense of humor, I see.” Nate took another long drag and tapped the ashes to the floor. “But in all seriousness, I need to talk to you if you’re going to be here and be part of the pack.”
“Okay...” She didn’t like the sound of that. It wasn’t like Nate to get serious about anything, or at least not the Nate she’d grown up with. Maybe things had changed.
“There have been a lot of problems lately. A lot of packs like this area, and they’ve been encroaching on our territory. I mean, I can’t say I blame them. This is a nice city, and being right near the mountains and all this wilderness is a prime opportunity for shifters. You get the best of both worlds. But we’ve had our territory outlined for decades, and now some upstarts are trying to claim it as theirs.”
Audra realized just how distanced she’d become from pack life. Her concerns over the last few years had amounted to changing diapers and choosing a preschool for Randy. But whether she stayed or not, this pack was her family. “Have you called the conclave? Surely they can get this figured out.”
“I tried, but there are members of at least two other packs who are doing the same. They’re claiming that we’re the ones invading their territory. They said they’d send someone down to take a look at things, but who knows how long that’ll take.” He dropped his cigarette on the floor and ground it under his heel before flicking the butt under the truck. “And it’s not something as simple as wandering onto the land.”
“What do you mean?” Audra picked up a twisted wood shaving that had come off the drill press and pulled it into tiny pieces that she let flutter toward the concrete. When she was little, her father used to give her a dollar for sweeping the floor of the garage after he’d been out there working on one of his projects. Those were simpler days. Much simpler.
“I mean, it’s escalated. There have been n
umerous attacks, both on people from our pack and on others. Some of them have been deadly. And when it happens to one of the other clans, they all want to claim that we did it.” Nate was starting to get riled up, his blue eyes flickering. He was never an even-tempered person, even as a child.
“There’s got to be something that can be done,” Audra countered, although she didn’t know what it was. The idea of shifters being attacked and killed was more than she wanted to deal with. “Great. I thought I was coming home so I could settle down a little, collect my thoughts, and figure out what was best for my son. Why didn’t anybody tell me this over the phone?”
Nate gave her a harsh look. “You know we don’t talk about pack business over the phone. And it’s not as though you’ve spent a lot of time in your other form, so I couldn’t exactly give you the message that way.”
Audra looked away, irritated that he should know how distant she’d grown from the way of life she should’ve been leading. But of course he would know, because as the Alpha, Nate was probably spending a lot of time on four legs. “It’s not easy to do when you live in the middle of the city, you know. People notice.”
“And that should’ve been your first clue that you shouldn’t have married Luke, when he wanted you to live like some sort of caged animal.”
“Shut the fuck up. I don’t need a lecture from you, too.” She picked up another whirl of wood and crushed it in her hands.
Nate sighed. “I’m sorry. That was a low blow. I’m just worried about you with all this Luke business, and I’ve got pack stuff to take care of on top of it. I’m glad you’re back, and you did the right thing by bringing Randy here. We’ll all keep you safe.”
“I don’t need to be kept safe,” Audra hissed with a roll of her eyes. “I hate it when guys talk about women like that. I’m not helpless.”
He pressed his hand to his forehead, frustrated. “It’s not just you, it’s all of us. I don’t want anyone going out alone, okay? At least until this blows over. It’s not me being sexist. It’s me being an Alpha.”
Audra could see it from his perspective if she had to, even though she didn’t like it. “I’m going to get settled in.”
Nate wrapped her in another hug. He smelled of cigarettes and gasoline, just like always, with a faint scent of lycan beneath. “Come spend time with me at the pack house this week, okay? It’ll give you something to do instead of watching the Home Shopping Network with Mom all day.”
“Oh, god.” Audra laughed at that. “I will.” She headed inside, past her mother and down the hallway to her old room. It was right where she’d left it, at the end of the hall on the right. There was the same twin bed she’d slept in, even though all her friends had full-size beds. There was the same shaggy purple rug she’d insisted on getting, even though it just collected dirt and was next to impossible to clean. Her books had been boxed up and put under the bed, but Mrs. Larson had left all her trophies and awards displayed proudly on the wall. The only thing that had really changed was that her desk had been turned into a sewing table.
Audra sat on the edge of the mattress, feeling the springs dig into her flesh. All this time, her life had been changing day by day, and she’d imagined that it’d been changing for everyone else, too. But her mother still watched the Home Shopping Network and probably still ordered far more junk than she needed. She probably also still hid that fact from her husband. Nate was leading the pack and keeping their family tradition alive. Her father still cheered on the Broncos, no matter how bad of a season they had. Nothing had changed.
Now Audra just had to figure out how much she’d changed.
3
Flint dumped his duffel bag on the bed and sighed as he looked around the hotel room. It was probably bigger than his apartment, yet he still felt confined. The kitchenette in the corner and the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony with a view of the pool didn’t make him feel any better. In fact, he didn’t feel good about any of this.
But he was the logical choice for the mission, and he’d told himself that he needed to get away for a while. If that was all true, then why did he still feel that restlessness inside, that urge to wander even though he had no idea just what he was looking for? His inner wolf thrashed inside him, insisting that it knew more than he did; that if he would only just let it out more often, he might not be in this predicament.
Flint shook his head. He splashed water on his face to refresh himself before rummaging through his luggage to decide what he needed to take with him. This would be his first visit to the first pack house. There were at least three packs involved, so it was likely to be a lengthy mission. He had to be careful to infiltrate each group without letting the other ones know.
He sighed again. These were supposed to be his people. He should’ve been excited to meet so many wolves at once, but it was the last thing he wanted to do.
In the end, he tucked a pistol under his waistband and hid it beneath his t-shirt. His favorite folding knife, the one with the squared-off blade, went in his pocket. As a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant, Flint wanted to bring more of an arsenal, but he couldn’t be too conspicuous if he was meeting this pack for the first time. They’d never let him in the door if he was armed to the teeth. He picked up the tiny plastic case Hudson had given him, looked at it for a moment, and flicked it back into his bag. It wasn’t like they were going to induct him into their pack immediately.
With nothing more to do, he headed for the address Garrison had given him.
“I appreciate you meeting with me, especially on such short notice.” Flint shook the Alpha’s hand, eyeing him carefully. Nate was a big guy, but young. He still had that feral look in his eyes that said he was ready for anything. Not that Flint could exactly judge him on that. He was fairly sure he’d seen that look in the mirror a time or two.
“Not a problem, but I have to say it’s unusual to have someone moving in from another state. Most of our members have been with us their entire lives, or they’ve married in.” Nate led him in through the wide double doors of the pack house. The building butted up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, with nothing but wilderness and trees for a backyard. It was secluded, but it was obvious where the pack liked to spend their money. Warm, hardwood floors contrasted with crisp white walls, and the ceilings boasted recessed lighting.
Flint knew more about guns and knives than he did interior decorating, but he could spot money just like anyone else could. Any human that owned a place like this would’ve made him take his boots off. “Well, you know how it is when you get out of the service. I was stationed out here for a little while, and I told myself this is where I’d come back to.” He pulled out his discharge papers and handed them to Nate.
The Alpha nodded appreciatively. “I’ve never been in the service myself, but from what I can tell, this is an impressive record. It looks like you’ve performed quite a bit for our country while you were in the Air Force.”
It was hard not to correct him and state that it was the Army, thank you very much, but Hudson had doctored the discharge papers to show otherwise. It only made sense with a large Air Force base located right there in Colorado Springs, and it gave Flint a good excuse to be in the area. “That’s just the part I can actually let you know about,” he commented instead.
Nate gave a slight backward tip of his head, and Flint couldn’t decide if that meant he was impressed or that he didn’t believe Flint’s remark. “You should come on back. I’ve got several other members here, and I’ll want their opinion on your membership.”
With his wolf shoving backward toward the front door, Flint followed the man down a flight of stairs into a finished basement that was nicer than any apartment he’d ever lived in. The plush carpet squished under his feet, and a massive table had been set up in a space that Flint thought would be perfect for a pool table. In the upholstered chairs around it sat half a dozen people, all of them with their eyes on him.
“Flint, I’d like you to meet the t
op members of our pack. This is Richard, my second. This is Chris, Jeremy, Ryan, and Nick. And this is my sister, Audra. Guys, this is Flint. He’s seeking membership with our pack.”
Flint plastered a smile on his face, even though it wasn’t a countenance he was used to. Nor was he used to being around so many wolves at once. It was overwhelming, and he didn’t like it. Damn it. He should’ve made some excuse not to come on this mission.
The men stared him down with a territorial glare, but there was something different about the woman. Flint would’ve known she was Nate’s sister as soon as he met her. She had the same dark hair, except that hers was much longer and captured in a ponytail. Her tipped blue eyes watched him with curiosity more than hostility, and he felt his inner wolf pounce as soon as he laid eyes on her. He ripped his gaze away before he did something stupid.
“Have a seat,” Nate said, gesturing at an empty chair. “I’ll get you a drink. What do you like?”
“Whiskey’s fine.” It was too damn early in the day to drink, but he was going to need something to get him through this.
“Tell us a little about yourself,” Richard invited, and Flint could tell he was forcing himself to be friendly as well. “We don’t get a lot of newcomers around these parts.”
“That’s what Nate said, but it’s hard for me to believe considering how nice it is here. With just the tourism alone, I’d think you’d have other shifters that would want to settle in this area.” Flint had done his research before he’d come, just like Drake and the others wanted him to. He’d looked through all the tourism guides, memorizing as much as he could about the various hiking trails, national parks, and other outdoor activities that seemed to draw everyone there. He had his own plans for some of those places, but that would have to come later, after he’d finished duping these pack members into believing he wanted to be one of them.