by Kim Fox
Joan was his alpha now but his inner wolf’s loyalty to his birth pack would always outweigh his human allegiances.
Stop. I’m not going back.
His wolf whined and yelped as Rory pushed him back down, ignoring his most basic of desires.
“Maybe she’ll change your mind,” Drake said, pointing to the inn.
Rory gasped when he saw her. Nikki.
Nikki had been his girlfriend at the time when he was taken by the military. He had been in love with her and promised to be with her forever, even saving himself to this day to be with her.
“Not this chick again,” Cole said from behind them.
Rory watched her walk forward, expecting to feel excitement and butterflies and pure love but none of that was coming. He just felt sick to his stomach.
“Rory,” she said, smiling fakely at him. “Drake said that you can come home. Isn’t that great? You can get out of this disgusting trailer park.” She looked around with her nose scrunched up in disgust.
“Nikki,” he whispered, still in shock. It felt weird to say her name out loud. It used to be the most beautiful sound to him but now it just sounded all wrong. “How have you been? It’s been so long.”
“I’ve been missing you so much,” she said, giving him a rough peck on the cheek. “I’ve been thinking about you constantly since the second you left.”
“Really?” he asked, leaning away from her. “Because you never wrote me.” Rory had written her every day while he was in the military, sending the letters every night without fail but Nikki never wrote him back once.
“You know that I don’t like to read or write,” she said, shaking her head. She grabbed his arm and tugged him forward. “Let’s get out of here before we get fleas.”
Rory stood his ground, letting her hands slide off of his forearm. “Rory,” she snapped, her voice tense. That sound brought him back to his youth when Nikki would constantly boss him around, yelling and screaming orders at him. “Let’s go!”
“No,” Rory said, shaking his head. He walked beside Joan and crossed his arms over his chest. “I am home. I’m staying here.”
The look that Drake gave him had him cringing. The alpha of the Tracker Pack didn’t respond well to his pack members ignoring his orders. He had traveled all the way here from Oregon and he was going to be royally pissed off if he had to return empty handed. It would make him look bad in front of his pack, and Drake would never let himself look bad in front of his pack.
“You heard him,” Joan said, waving them away. “Now get off my fucking lawn before I turn the sprinklers on.”
“Rory,” Nikki said, her voice a bit softer this time. But even Nikki’s soft voice was as rough as sandpaper. “Can we talk about this first?” She glanced at Joan who looked like she was on her last drop of patience and about to rip shit up. “Away from here?”
“Fine,” Rory said with a sigh. “There’s a bar in town called The Call of the Wild. Seven o’clock?”
“What?” Cole said from behind him, sounding exasperated. “Why?”
“I’ll be there,” Nikki said, smiling tightly at him. “And then we can go home.”
Rory just swallowed hard, his heart racing inside of his chest. This is a bad idea. But he felt obligated to agree for some reason. He had waited years for Nikki and the least he could do was have a drink with her.
“Rory,” Drake growled. “I’m giving you one last chance to get in line.”
Joan exploded forward like a chihuahua with rabies. “And I’m giving you one last chance to get the fuck off of my ranch before I let out my bear and go all Kung-Fu Panda on your ass!”
Drake backed away, not wanting to test his strength out against Joan’s dominant grizzly. Wolf shifters preferred to fight in packs and Drake wasn’t about to go up against a bunch of shifters who outnumbered him, not to mention that they had a skin shifter on top of that.
Drake grabbed Nikki’s arm and pulled her back, glaring at Rory as they retreated with their tails between their legs. “Alright, Rory,” he said. “You drew the line in the sand. Prepare for the consequences.”
Rory watched them leave with an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t going to end well. Drake wouldn’t stop at this.
“Seven o’clock,” Nikki mouthed as she was dragged back to the motorcycles.
Rory sighed. That won’t end well either.
“The nerve of those people,” Joan said, pacing from side to side as they started their motorcycles and drove off. “Trying to break up my crew! Are they suicidal or something?”
“Hey!” Ashton called out from the window of his trailer. “I’m trying to get started on my honeymoon here! Will you guys keep it down?”
“He’s right,” Cole said, moving everyone along. “Ashton is about to disappoint his bride again. Let’s give them some privacy.”
Rory was too shaken up to laugh. Darn it. He dropped his head and sighed when he saw Candice at the entrance of the inn watching him. She looked upset as she hurried back in, closing the door behind her.
I should go explain.
He went to step forward but Joan placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him in place. “Don’t worry about that guy,” she said, still looking pissed off. “You’re a member of the Wilde Crew and under our protection. He’s not going to touch you.”
But Rory wasn’t so sure. Drake always got his way.
And he had almost two dozen powerful wolf shifters to help him out.
“Thanks, boss,” he said, wiggling away from Joan’s grasp. “I just have to go inside for a second.”
He ran to the inn and swung the door open.
Candice quickly picked up the phone when she saw his face. “Hello,” she said to the dial tone. “Okay. Great.”
“How come the phone didn’t ring?” he asked, walking over to the reception desk.
Candice just ignored him, staring down at the desk as she pretended to speak to someone on the other line. “So I can expect it tomorrow. That’s great. Thanks.”
“Who was that?” Rory asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Delivery man,” she said, nodding at him.
“What does he deliver?” Rory asked quickly.
Her eyes darted around the room in a panic. “Picture frames,” she said, her eyes settling on his.
“Oh,” he said with a laugh. “That makes sense.”
“What can I do for you?” she asked, straightening the papers in front of her. It wasn’t her usual friendly tone and manner. She looked genuinely upset.
“I just wanted to say hi,” he said, glancing down at the chocolate bar wrapper. She had saved the note. It was a good sign. “And to explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” she said, flashing him a fake smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.”
Rory glanced down at the empty calendar on the cleared desk. “Okay,” he whispered, feeling his spirits drop. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Mmhm,” she said, not even looking up at him as he walked away.
He glanced back one last time before leaving and saw her toss the crumpled up chocolate bar wrapper into the garbage.
four
Rory walked into the bar with a nervous quiver in his stomach. It’s not too late to back out.
Now it is.
“Rory!” Nikki said, waving him over like she was a queen and he was her servant.
Rory swallowed hard and walked over, choosing the chair across from her at the table of four rather than the one beside her. It was better to keep his distance for now.
He spotted Gunner at the table across the room, sitting with the Firehouse shifters. They nodded to each other when they made eye contact.
“Take that ridiculous hat off,” Nikki said, glancing up at his cowboy hat. “Please, we’re in public.”
Rory cringed as he took it off and put it on the chair next to him. He wasn’t taking it off because she asked, he was taking it off because it was rude to
wear a hat while sitting at a table with a lady. His mother had made damn sure that he knew his manners.
He took a deep breath as he looked Nikki over. He used to go nuts over her dark black hair and stunning gray eyes but now they weren’t doing anything for him but making him nauseous.
The two of them had dated when they were teenagers and he had been convinced that he was absolutely in love with her but now, looking back on it, a little older and a little wiser, he didn’t think it was love. She always had Rory wrapped around her little finger, constantly putting him down, constantly telling him what to do.
He never understood why his mother who loved everyone hated her, but now he was starting to see. His eyes were open for the first time around Nikki.
“Great news,” she said, smiling wide. “I’m ready to get married to you!”
Rory glanced at the door, wanting to bolt out of there.
He cleared his throat after taking a few seconds to process her words. “I haven’t seen you in four years,” he said. “I wrote you every day and you never wrote me back once.”
“I was busy,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But I’m ready to commit now. I told you to wait for me. Did you wait for me?”
Rory swallowed hard as he watched the hard lines of her face. He did wait for her. For all four years.
He had told her he would, so he did. Rory was a man of his word above all else. He waited for her even if she wasn’t worth waiting for.
Nikki’s face hardened when he didn’t answer. “You didn’t wait,” she said, hissing out her words. “Was it with that redheaded slut at the inn?”
Rory’s body tensed at hearing her speak about Candice like that. He just stared at her with his heart pounding.
“I knew it,” she said, ripping up the coaster on the table as she stared blankly at the wall. “I could tell that bitch was hiding something.”
“I did wait for you,” Rory said coldly. “I waited four years. I waited even though you didn’t write, or call, or come visit. I waited because I told you I would and it was the right thing to do.”
“Oh,” she said, perking up. “Then that’s great!”
“No, it’s not great,” he said, shaking his head. “You know I’ve been thinking today and on the drive over here about the way that you used to treat me. You never loved me. You just used me and got me to do whatever you wanted. Stupid, loyal Rory would do whatever you said.”
She rolled her eyes as he went on.
Nikki was never good for him. He saw that now. She never looked at him the way that Candice looked at him and she never made him feel the way that Candice made him feel.
All she did was cause pain and havoc wherever she went. She was no good.
“I don’t know what we had these past four years,” he said, picking up his cowboy hat off of the chair. He straightened the rim as he cleared his throat. “But whatever it was, it’s done. Forever.”
He nodded at her as he stood up with the chair squeaking across the floor.
“Rory,” she snapped. “Sit down.”
She rolled her eyes when he didn’t follow her order. “Please.”
“What?” he asked. “I wasted so many years of my life being your little lap dog. What do you want from me?”
Her eyes softened as she looked down at the table. “Please sit down,” she whispered.
Rory sat down despite the voice screaming at him to run out of there and escape through the window.
Nikki looked up at him, batting her eyelashes in the way that used to drive him crazy. “I was serious when I said that I want to give it another shot.”
“And I was serious when I said that I didn’t.”
“Let me finish,” she said, sliding her hands over his. He used to be putty in her hands when she did that but now it just sent cold shivers through him. “I’ve changed.”
Rory snorted out a laugh and her face hardened, the smile and kind eyes gone.
“Fine,” she said curtly. “Let’s lay it all out on the table. We need each other. You want to get back into the pack with your respect intact.”
“No, I don’t.”
She just ignored him. “And I need a man to marry me so that I can keep my respect intact. We need each other.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, looking at her in total confusion.
Nikki sighed. “I’m pregnant,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Okay,” he said, standing up. “It was nice seeing you again, Nikki. Good luck with your child and have a nice life.”
“Wait,” she said, reaching out to him. “You’re my last hope. I can’t raise the baby in the town by myself. You know how people talk.”
Rory took a deep breath and turned around, facing the woman who he would have died for only a few years earlier.
“You were horrible to me,” he said, staring her down. “I was too young and stupid to know it then but I know better now. You and I are done.”
He tipped his cowboy hat to her and walked out feeling like a million pounds had been lifted off of his shoulders.
“Ahhh,” he said, stretching his arms out as he took a deep breath of the cool night air. Does the air always taste this sweet?
He skipped back to his truck, feeling like he was walking on a cloud. His adrenaline was pumping, his lips were smiling, and his eyes were glowing.
How did he not see it before? It was all so clear to him now.
Nikki was never mate material. She wasn’t even friend material.
He had feelings for Candice. Real feelings. The type of mutual feelings that he never had with Nikki and now he was free to explore them. He had cut all ties with his past and he was free to go after the girl that he was in love with.
And it felt great!
It felt so great that he didn’t see the fist coming until it was too late.
Then it didn’t feel so great.
***
“You little mutt!” Drake said, snarling in Rory’s face.
Drake had a fistful of Rory’s hair as he leaned over him with his lip curled up. He had come out of nowhere and punched Rory in the face, knocking him to the ground.
“How dare you embarrass your alpha like that!” he growled, bringing his heavy fist back once again. “Where did you find that cunt of a bear?”
Rory tried to move his head away but Drake was too strong, cementing his head in place with his powerful grip. All Rory could do was close his eyes and cringe as his meaty fist slammed into his nose.
“Omph,” Rory grunted as pain shot through his brain and his eyes started to water. His nose felt broken as warm blood poured down his lip tasting like warm metal.
“You’ll be lucky if I don’t skin your hide for this insult.” He brought his fist back once again and slammed it into Rory’s cheek, cracking his orbital bone and shooting jolts of searing pain through his face.
“Fuck,” he grunted, spitting out a wad of blood. “Drake, I-”
A punch to his stomach shut him up quick. Drake was so unbelievably strong and Rory couldn’t move.
“Why do you even want me back?” Rory asked, coughing up blood. “You couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.”
Drake yanked him closer. He leaned in so that his mouth was an inch from Rory’s ear. “Do you think I can just let pack members come and go as they please? I have to rule my dogs with an iron fist. If you say the vow, you’re in for life. You said the vow. You’re in for life.”
Drake punched him again and again in the stomach until Rory was bent over, unable to take much more.
“You’re coming back,” he hissed into his ear. “And you’re going to marry Nikki and raise my child like it’s your own.”
Rory’s eyes widened. He was the father.
Drake was already married with a mate so that explained why Nikki was up shit creek without even a canoe.
“I’m in love with someone else,” Rory said, struggling to get free but it was impossible. Drake was too strong.
“I don’t
care what stupid bitch you’re in-”
Drake’s eyes widened as a large hand landed on his head and grabbed a fistful of his hair. The hand yanked him back, launching him off of Rory and onto the ground.
“Gunner,” Rory gasped when he saw the lion shifter standing between him and his old alpha.
Gunner turned with his bright eyes shining like wildfire. His long blonde hair was down over his round shoulders with his tight white shirt clinging to his stout muscular frame.
“I got this, Rory,” he said as he clenched his hands into fists. “Go home.”
Rory stood up on his shaky legs and wiped the leaking blood off of his chin. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, stepping beside his old friend.
Drake looked furious as he stood up, appearing bigger than ever.
He glared at Rory with hate-filled eyes. “You’re a wolf shifter,” he said, spitting on the ground in disgust. “And you associate with these zoo animals?”
Drake was old fashioned and always thought that shifters shouldn’t mix within species. “Wolves should stay with wolves,” he always said. “Just like nature intended.”
“He’s my friend,” Rory said, glancing at Gunner. “No. He’s my brother.”
“That’s right,” Gunner said, stepping forward, “and if someone touches my brother they have to deal with me.”
Drake’s eyes darted to the door of the bar when it opened. He stepped back when the rest of the Firehouse Crew stepped out, laughing and joking around as they walked.
Rory took a breath of relief when he turned back to Drake and he was climbing on his motorcycle, whistling for someone else.
Nikki burst out of the front door and ran over to Drake, giving Rory the finger as she passed.
“That’s your girlfriend?” Gunner asked as he watched her climb on her motorcycle.
“Ex-girlfriend,” Rory corrected.
They started the bikes and revved the engines as they left the parking lot.
“And that’s your alpha?” Gunner asked.
“Ex-alpha,” Rory corrected.
He just had to keep it that way.