He paused, giving me the opportunity to spill my guts. And I wanted to. I really, really wanted to. But no matter how nice Chase seemed to be, he was a male werewolf, and I knew I couldn’t trust him.
I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to say next, but footsteps echoing off the tile floor put an abrupt end to our conversation. We turned to see who was walking through the front entrance, and I squinted against the strong light beaming in from the outdoors. Werewolf, my wolf reported before my eyes had adjusted to take in the stranger’s features.
Only he wasn’t a stranger. “Milo?” I asked, recognizing a cousin who had been Keith’s age when I left home.
“Terra the Terror,” Milo answered, the smile on his lips not reaching his eyes. “The Chief sent me to check on you.”
Chapter 9
I had forgotten how quickly werewolves could move. Before I had opened my mouth to reply, Chase was hustling Keith down the corridor out of danger and Wolfie had taken the beta’s place by my side. And despite my mixed feelings about Wolfie, I was glad to have the backup because Milo, not I, had been the terror when we were kids. My cousin had been one of those boys who enjoyed tearing wings off butterflies, and now he looked like the adult version of that aggressive child—dark suit, glistening leather shoes, and the bulge of a gun under his dress jacket all adding to the image of a mob enforcer. Or, more likely, the Chief’s enforcer.
I could feel the hackles of both male wolves rise as they eyed each other, even though they were still clothed in their human skin. “Wolf Young, pack alpha,” Wolfie growled, forcing my cousin into a bone-crushing handshake, and Milo’s eyes narrowed in response. This was only the third time I’d seen Wolfie use his alpha dominance, and the effort turned him into a completely different person. Gone was the jovial wolf who would let a kindergartner maul him, replaced by a ruthless alpha like my father. Only, instead of being terrified of Wolfie, this time I was glad to have him at my back. “You’re on pack land,” Wolfie continued ominously.
“I’m here to speak to my alpha’s daughter and grandson,” Milo replied, his tone nearly as gruff as Wolfie’s. But my cousin couldn’t quite pull off the alpha persona, and after a moment his eyes shifted to the side, which made Wolfie huff out a canine laugh. Milo ignored the taunt, and although his jaw tensed, he held his physical ground.
“Proper protocol would have been to seek out the alpha of their new pack first,” Wolfie said, and I could have sworn the wolf behind his eyes was having fun. I’d heard my father pull rank so many times, the move should have been familiar, but it felt different coming from Wolfie, as if the younger alpha was playing the system rather than being swept up by werewolf machismo. Father had always been on a power trip, requiring interlopers to go through him first to prove the alpha’s dominance, but I had a feeling Wolfie didn’t usually greet intruders in this manner. He was only being surly because of the potential for danger to me and Keith.
“A pack leader doesn’t have to ask permission to speak to his heir,” Milo shot back, his eyes locking onto Wolfie’s. As much as I hated to admit it, Milo had a good point. Werewolf society was dressed up with all kinds of complicated social rules, the point of which was to keep bloodshed to a minimum. The relevant guideline in this situation was clear: no matter where a pack leader’s heir wandered, the heir remained under the alpha’s protection and control.
I shivered, imagining my nephew being dragged back to Haven by my blood-thirsty cousin, and I could feel Milo’s wolf rising in the extended silence. My own wolf responded by pushing against her bars, but Wolfie didn’t seem affected—his wolf had already been rampant, so there wasn’t much further for it to go without fur sprouting out of the alpha’s ears.
Instead, the young alpha seemed perfectly calm as he responded for both of us. “Keith isn’t Wilder’s heir,” Wolfie replied. “He’s mine.”
MILO AND I BOTH STARED at Wolfie as if he were crazy, and the alpha’s lips curled up into a grin. Yes, the bloodling really was enjoying this.
“Brooke and I had an understanding when she brought the boy onto pack land,” Wolfie explained, and I realized with a jolt that the man beside me was lying through his teeth. Wolfie’s pack hadn’t lived on the mountain when Brooke first moved here—Wolfie had been the one moving into another wolf’s territory, in part, I was now guessing, to protect my nephew.
But my analysis of the situation simply didn’t make sense. Although our animal side was cunning, werewolves couldn’t tell outright untruths when our wolf was in charge, and I couldn’t quite figure out how Wolfie could be both the most wolf-like person I’d ever met, and still hold onto the human trait of deception. No matter how Wolfie pulled it off, I hoped Milo wouldn’t have enough facts to realize the alpha was lying. If my cousin twigged to any inconsistencies, hopefully he’d get caught up in the same mental tangle I was currently pushing my way through.
Wolfie ignored both of our shock as he kept spinning his enticing lie. “The grandson of an alpha would present a threat to my status if the boy wasn’t clearly kin, so Brooke and I took a blood oath and I accepted Keith as my heir.” He raised a challenging eyebrow at my father’s enforcer. “As you probably know, that supersedes any claim your pack leader may have on the boy. So you can go home.”
Milo moved as if to obey the outright command, his face turning red at the involuntary reaction to another pack leader’s order. Then, with an effort, my cousin turned his attention away from Wolfie to speak directly to me. “I don’t know what the deal is with Keith, Terra, but Chief Wilder said to tell you these precise words: ‘You or him.’”
“It’s only been two days!” I exclaimed, the sentence popping out of my mouth before I could think it through. I could already feel my father yanking me back to Haven, and the tug of his command terrified me. In fact, my father scared me far more than the alpha beside me did, I realized as Wolfie laid a possessive arm loosely around my waist. I would have thought the contact would feel confining, but instead I relaxed slightly, my wolf retreating out of my eyes at the alpha’s touch.
I knew that my accidental words would have repercussions, but, wolf-like, the man beside me seemed willing to deal with the present danger first. Wolfie kept his gaze trained on my cousin as he coldly bared his teeth in what would look like a smile to humans...but wasn’t. “You’ve delivered your message,” the alpha said coldly. “Now go.” Milo jerked his head in a farewell, as if he’d meant to leave anyway, but it was clear that the alpha’s command spurred his quick exit.
The two of us stood in silence until my cousin was out of sight, then Wolfie turned toward me and raised that eyebrow that was getting such a workout today. “We need to talk,” he began.
“We do,” I agreed. “After I check on Keith.”
I DIDN’T SLOW DOWN until I’d rushed around to the back of the building and could see the beta and my nephew through the dirt-encrusted windows. There was more work getting done now that Chase was Keith’s partner, but the kid still seemed to be having fun, if the huge smile on his face was any indication. I could feel the tension in my back easing at the sight.
“They’re fine,” Wolfie said, grabbing my shoulder to spin me around to face him. Despite my previous conclusions about his good intentions, I instantly shrank back from the alpha’s firm grasp, and he let me go as if I were on fire. A wolf-like growl burst up from his chest, and I took another step backwards even though I was at least partially sure the bloodling’s reaction was pure frustration.
Unlike every other alpha-leaning male I’d ever met, though, Wolfie seemed to instinctively know how to defuse his dominance. He dropped into a sitting position so I was towering over him rather than vice versa, and I slowly joined him on the ground. The lawn was chilly, but the sun felt good on my face, so I sat silently for a minute, collecting myself, and Wolfie let me take the time I needed.
“That was a lie about Keith being your heir,” I started tentatively, once the sun had driven away most of my earlier chill.
�
��I do consider him part of my pack,” Wolfie answered, his correction sufficing as confirmation of my earlier statement. Now it was the alpha’s turn to pause as he worked his mind around an undemanding way to ask me what my intentions were toward my nephew. Because my accidental word choice with Milo made it clear that I hadn’t showed up simply to help Keith through his first shift.
When I didn’t offer any explanation, Wolfie suggested, “Chief Wilder sent you to bring Keith back into the fold.” Ashamed of my own willingness to consider the plan, but figuring lying was no longer an option, I nodded agreement. “But you aren’t going to bring Keith to Haven,” Wolfie continued as if this second statement was as obvious as the first.
“What am I supposed to do instead?” I burst out. “Father said it was Keith or me....” I let my voice trail off, though, as I realized that Wolfie was right. I’d only known my nephew for twenty-four hours, but already I realized that my father would chew the boy up and spit him out. I couldn’t set up such a good-natured kid for that kind of soul-crushing. Better that I suck it up and go back to Haven myself—after all, I’d already enjoyed a decade of freedom. I probably had been tougher than Keith even when I was his age, and unlike my nephew, I would survive my father’s attention. I sighed, accepting the inevitable.
Wolfie had no such fatalism. “We’ll think of a way to fix it.” He reached out and took my hand in his massive paw, which woke my wolf up with a jolt. Instead of the pain I’d felt recently whenever my wolf was present, though, a tremor of pleasure rushed through my body. The innocent skin-on-skin contact suddenly felt thoroughly erotic, and my breath caught in my throat. Breathe, demanded my wolf. I want to smell him.
Wolfie’s mouth turned up into a smile, almost as if he’d heard my wolf’s reaction, and I blushed furiously. “There’s just one more thing we need to talk about right now,” the alpha rumbled gently.
“What?” I asked, trying to figure out which other disaster had attracted Wolfie’s attention.
“Whether you’ll go out on a date with me tomorrow,” the alpha replied.
IT WAS A DAY OF INTERRUPTIONS, but this was one I was grateful for. “There you are,” Dale called toward us as he strolled around the corner of the building. “The clinic’s looking great, isn’t it?”
My brother-in-law was so homely and human that he made the werewolf beside me seem even more dangerously beautiful. Emphasis on dangerous. Despite my wolf’s complaints, I yanked my hand free of Wolfie’s and got to my feet, dusting off the back of my jeans and turning away from the alpha without a backward glance.
“Rounds go okay?” I asked, and Dale was quick to gratify my curiosity. When I turned to wave goodbye to Wolfie a minute later, the alpha merely looked amused by my escape, rather than angry, so I let my brother-in-law draw me toward his minivan, where a sodden Keith was already waiting in the back seat. My nephew had sunken into avid contemplation of a hand-held gaming device, and in that instant he looked as entirely normal as his father did. I could almost imagine that Keith wasn’t a young werewolf, and that I wouldn’t have to figure out how to help him change into wolf form and then how to protect him from my father. But as I got into the car, the kid’s eyes turned up to meet mine in the rear-view mirror, and I could see the hint of worry in his face. “We’ll talk soon,” I mouthed, and my nephew smirked briefly before turning back to his game.
I’d never been part of a normal family before, and despite Brooke’s absence, I could almost touch the solidity of the unit she’d left behind. I offered to help Dale cook dinner, and it felt comfortable to be chatting about our day as I chopped carrots and he sautéed up a stir fry. Keith was his usual, uncommunicative self over dinner, but when Dale was called back to the hospital in the middle of the meal, my nephew volunteered to help me wash up the skillet and rinse the dishes before they went into the dishwasher. Despite Milo’s visit, I was surprised to realize that the packless ache in my stomach had nearly entirely fled.
“So, which one of those guys are you dating?” Keith asked out of the blue as he ferried a load of plates from table to sink.
That pulled me out of my happy, pack-filled glow and my eyebrows shot up. “I’m not dating either one!” I exclaimed. While literally true, the words felt a bit off as they bounced around the kitchen.
“Hmm,” my nephew hummed noncommittally. “You definitely like one of them.”
“We’re not all in high school, Keith,” I retorted, but couldn’t help smiling at the kid who suddenly reminded me of his mother. Brooke had always known exactly what everyone was feeling in our household, and Keith had evidently inherited the knack. Even though I’d lost my sister far too soon, it felt more sweet than bitter to notice those traits in her son. “Wouldn’t you rather talk about your problem?” I deflected, figuring we might as well get the Talk over with while Keith was feeling happy and I wasn’t drooping with exhaustion.
“Naw,” Keith answered. “We’ve got all day tomorrow while Dad’s at work and I’m home sick. Right now, I’m more interested in your loooove life.” He drew out the word in the way only a teenager could, and I laughed despite myself. But I still shook my head, refusing to dish up any more information.
“Girls always like the bad boys,” Keith concluded. “That’s a shame. Chase is a pretty cool guy.”
A day ago, I would have agreed with Keith that it was too bad. But I was starting to realize that Wolfie possessed a depth that the bad-guy image didn’t begin to cover. Not that I was interested in either one of them, of course.
Right, my wolf responded, pulling me out of my thoughts. I would have liked to think she was agreeing about my lack of interest in the young alpha, but I knew sarcasm when I heard it.
Focus, I reminded my wolf. And myself.
Chapter 10
I had thought it was a good idea to hike up the mountain with Keith before explaining werewolf culture and helping him through his first shift. The uphill climb would smooth out the boy’s jitters, and if my nephew freaked out about his wolf form, he’d have a long way to run before he could do any damage.
The flaw in my plan only became apparent as we crested the ridge. There lay Wolfie in canine form, lounging in the same ray of sunlight he’d been enjoying two days before. The wolf barked a welcome as we came closer, and I rolled my eyes, trying to decide whether to turn around and go home.
“That’s Chase’s dog,” Keith explained, sitting down beside the alpha werewolf to give him a belly rub. “He’s harmless,” my nephew continued, as if my reaction was due to fear of being bitten by a strange dog. I wished a dog bite was the only thing I had to worry about.
The day was already off to a bad start, but I figured I’d better ignore the alpha and barrel on through. “So...” I stretched out the word, trying to figure out how to begin. “If your mother was still alive, she’d be the one telling you this,” I started. “Well, it really should be your father, but...”
“...He’s clueless,” Keith finished for me. “I really hope this isn’t all a lead up to telling me about the birds and the bees, Aunt Terra, because I promise, I’ve heard that before.”
The kid’s charisma was already shining through despite his teenage gawkiness, and I figured Keith would be putting his sex-ed knowledge to use much earlier than the average teenager. I barely resisted the urge to pat his tousled hair, and I smiled despite myself, imagining Keith’s reserved father trying to give his son the other kind of talk. Dale would get so embarrassed about the subject that he wouldn’t even be able to start the conversation. “I’ll bet you didn’t learn about the birds and the bees from Dale,” I retorted, laughing at the image.
“He bought me a book,” Keith confirmed. My nephew moved his attention up to Wolfie’s ears, which apparently were in dire need of scratching from the expression on the wolf’s face. Or maybe the alpha was just amused at my fumbling attempt to educate my nephew.
“So, right, not about the birds and the bees,” I continued. “I guess I should start out by telling you that y
our grandfather isn’t a very nice guy, which is why your mother ran away from home so young. I did too.” That had finally gotten Keith’s attention and he watched me as I paced nervously in front of him. After another bout of extended silence (and pacing), I figured I might as well just spit it all out. “I guess I said that wrong,” I corrected myself. “Your grandfather isn’t a very nice werewolf.”
It was only after Keith started laughing that I realized the kid didn’t believe a word I was saying. Okay, sure, he probably believed his grandfather was an asshole, but tossing out the term “werewolf” with no lead-in had made my nephew think I was making a joke. And as much as I tried to bring him back down to reality, Keith had determined we were kidding around.
“That’s a good one, Aunt Terra,” he gasped finally, when his belly laughs were all played out. “But what did you really drag me up here to say?”
“I...”I began, but Wolfie had decided to take matters into his own hands. Or, paws, rather. The werewolf stood and walked a couple of feet away from Keith, then shifted into human form.
“WHOA!” KEITH EXCLAIMED. “You weren’t kidding!”
“And you’re not helping!” I shot at Wolfie. Sure, the alpha had made my point abundantly clear, but I didn’t think my nephew was ready to see shifters in action when he probably thought they existed only in comic books. Figuring that I’d better get ready to deal with symptoms of shock, I squelched my anger at the alpha and reached out a hand toward my nephew.
Keith didn’t seem as traumatized as I’d expected him to be, though. “You need some clothes, dude,” was his first statement to the wolf who had suddenly turned into a man. Clearly, Keith’s teenage world view expected to see ten impossible things before breakfast, and Wolfie smirked at me as if to say, I told you so. Okay, maybe the alpha had a better feel for the situation than I did after all.
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