by Maggie Walsh
He wasn’t big, or particularly smart. He had no athletic ability and no interest in what his parents considered the elite sports, like swimming. He loved being outside and spending hours exploring the woods that surrounded his pack. When he got older, he loved doing it in wolf form. His family always told him he was a waste of space. That he was stupid and not good for anything. They all treated him like he wasn’t even there most of the time, and when they did acknowledge him, it was to put him down or use him as a scapegoat for the things his siblings did wrong.
When he turned sixteen, he had asked his mother what would happen if she woke up one morning and found that he was gone. What would she do? She looked him right in the eye and told him that it would never happen. That he was too much of a wimp to go off into the world alone. He would never make it on his own and probably be killed by a lynx shifter within a week. It was her way of saying he was a weak, pathetic loser. Then she told him that if it were even a possibility that she woke up one morning to actually find him gone, that it would make things easier on the family because it was one less mouth to feed and they wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of him for the rest of their lives because he wasn’t good at anything, and he would never amount to anything.
With that one conversation, it was nailed home to him that they didn’t want him. He had always felt like they didn’t, but they had never said it. Now it was right there. He packed up his belongings and left that night and never looked back. He met up with a lion shifter about three months after he left home, and they traveled around together for awhile. Zeek was his first lover. The man was built like a brick shithouse, and he always protected Crew and made him feel wanted. He showed Crew how to fight and take care of himself, as well as showing him all the pleasures of the flesh. When he left home, he was only five foot six, but by the time he was eighteen, he had reached six foot and developed some nice hard muscles, thanks to Zeek. They spent fourteen years together before Zeek found one of his mates and left Crew behind.
He spent the next two years traveling around doing any odd job he could find. Most of the time he found work on a farm or a ranch. A few times he had to run from those places when they found out he was gay. He had just run from a farm in Virginia when he met Micah and the guys. He only had the clothes on his back and very little money in his pocket. He was asking around if anyone needed work done, and Raith approached him. They got to talking, and Raith brought him back to meet Micah and Dante. He had been with them ever since. Two hundred years was a long time to spend with people, but these guys weren’t just anyone―they were his real family.
Right from the start, they took him in and became his world. They trained him how to be an enforcer and became his brothers. Lexi became his best friend. They both loved to joke around and play pranks on each other. They also got to the point in their relationship where they started sharing lovers. They never had sex with each other, but they loved to share their men. Crew had a crush on Lexi for years, a long time ago, but realized they were better off as friends. He didn’t want what happened to him and Zeek to happen to him and Lexi. One day, one of them might have found their mate and then the other would be left behind. So they just stayed friends and brothers.
That was until Jesse and Taylor came into their lives. Taylor stole his best friend from him and left him on the outside looking in…again. Sometimes it felt like he had been sent back in time and he was back with his birth family. That wasn’t entirely true though. No one here treated him anything like his birth family or his birth pack, but it hurt that Lexi started hanging out with Taylor more than him, and the two of them joked and fooled around all the time.
He liked Jesse and Taylor, but he couldn’t help feeling like they stole something from him. So after Raffy strolled into the kitchen wearing that dress, which made him look hot as hell, and no one blinked an eye, just accepted it, he got really jealous and lashed out. He, Xander, and Xavier said things they shouldn’t have said and he really didn’t mean. Since Lexi left him for Taylor, he began hanging out with Xander and Xavier more, and they had a different way of joking around than Lexi did. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t all joking around as much as gossiping, but at least he had someone who wanted him around.
So they said some stupid, hurtful shit, and Lexi got pissed and walked away. But what they didn’t know was that Jesse was standing just outside the doorway of the kitchen and he heard everything. They didn’t know that at the time, and now that they all did know it, they were all horrified and ashamed that they hurt their sweet alpha mate. He didn’t deserve it. But Crew found himself so jealous sometimes when he watched the mates that he just wanted to lash out.
A chorus of “Happy Birthday” rang out and everyone started to sing. Crew looked over at the big group of people and could just barely make Jesse out through the crowd. He must have done a great job on blowing out his candles, because everyone cheered like he just won the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup. Crew rolled his eyes and turned back toward the tree line. He took another swig from his beer, emptying the bottle. When can I get out of here? I just want to go find Dirk and J.C. It had been two weeks since he had seen them last. It was before the battle they had in the Underworld and his body needed some time to really heal before he went back to his lovers.
His body began to heat up as he thought of their last time together. His cock twitched and started to fill thinking about how much he loved the swing idea J.C. had come up with. It made it so much easier for his two lovers to double fuck him. Hopefully by the time he got out of here and made it into the city, his lovers would still be at The Cave.
“May I have a seat?” The angelic voice brought Crew out of his fantasy. He blinked his eyes, turned his head, and met Jesse’s beautiful smile.
“Um…” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, of course, Jess.”
“Thanks,” Jesse said with a smile and sat in the chair opposite. Jesse slid a plate of cake in front of Crew. “I thought you might like a piece.”
“Sure. Thanks, Jesse,” Crew said uncomfortably. Ever since he found out that Jesse had overheard them in the kitchen, he didn’t know what to say or how to act around the little man.
“Why are you sitting all the way over here by yourself?” Jesse asked.
Crew shrugged as he picked up the fork and began to eat the delicious chocolate cake. “There’s just a lot of people here.”
Jesse chuckled and looked back at the crowd over his shoulder. He turned back to face Crew and smiled. “I know, right? I don’t think I have known this many people in my whole life. But Micah says it’s schmoosing. I don’t know.” Jesse shrugged. “I would have rather had just had all of us, not all these other people. I know it’s good for us to get to know everyone, but I was kind of just hoping for my family on my birthday, you know?” Jesse said sadly.
“Then why didn’t you tell Micah that?”
“He seemed so excited to throw me this huge party. Like he’s trying to make up for all the birthdays I never had growing up. But it would have been perfect if it were just our family and we had a barbeque and swam in the pool all day. Like we did for Bailey’s graduation.”
“Sorry, Jess. Is there anything I can do for you to make this better for you?” Crew asked genuinely.
Jesse gave him a big, bright smile. “Thanks, Crew. That’s really nice of you to offer, but I think I’m stuck here until the end.” Jesse sighed and his face got sad. Crew didn’t know what to say. He was so bad in situations like this, especially when the shame he felt toward this man was so big he could almost choke on it. They sat in silence as Crew stared down into his piece of cake and slowly ate it, and Jesse stared off into the woods. Every few seconds, Crew would peek up at Jesse and see the sadness in his eyes. He looked like he was lost in thought as he just stared, unblinking, at the trees. “If you’re that upset by it, Jess, why don’t you just sneak out?”
“That would be great if I could get away with it, but there is no way I can. I am the guest of honor, so I have to s
tay, and I don’t want to be rude to our guests.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” Crew said in defeat and looked back down at his cake.
“It’s obvious you don’t want to be here either, Crew. Why don’t you just go on and get out of here? Go do something you would rather be doing,” Jesse offered.
“Of course I want to be here for your birthday, Jesse. It’s just all the people. There are so many of them and so many different breeds. I figured I would just come over here where it was less crowded.”
“Thanks, Crew, but if you’re that uncomfortable, I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay just for me. I love having you here. You’re my family, but I don’t want you to feel obligated if you would rather be somewhere else. It’s okay with me if you want to go. You won’t hurt my feelings,” Jesse said with a smile. Crew could see in the man’s eyes that he was telling the truth. It just made him feel worse thinking about leaving. This was a party for Jesse, yet he was over here trying to make him feel better. Trying to give to him. He felt like an even bigger asshole now.
“Thanks, Jess, but I’m good here. I can still be at your party but be away from the crowd,” he said with a light chuckle.
Jesse gave him a big smile and he felt his heart squeeze. The man truly was stunningly beautiful and sweet as hell. “So tell me, Crew. What do you think of all the new people to the area? Storm’s pride is slowly making their way here. More than half have already arrived and the rest are supposed to be here by the end of next week.”
“I think it’s great that Storm gets to have his pride back, even if it is on the other side of the country than they’re used to. And it’s great still having Bastian so close. I’m not sure about the rest of the pride though. I haven’t really met too many of them. The few that I have met seem pretty nice. His guards are some great guys.”
“I agree. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of them when we went to Napa and it’s nice seeing them again. I only hope that this is the right move for us for the future.”
“What do you mean? Because now all the members of the council are so close and it could cause someone to try to take everyone out again?”
Jesse smiled at him. “Exactly.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. I think there are pros and cons no matter how we slice it though. Having everyone so close adds extra security and faster action when needed, but there is that element of vulnerability with everyone being nearby too.”
“Micah and the rest of the council were talking about starting a council guard again. They’re looking into building a training center and a council building nearby, instead of our home being Grand Central Station.”
“That’s probably a good idea. What are they thinking of doing with the training center?”
“He wants to build dorms for recruits from all walks of the paranormal world. Then build apartments on the campus for those who graduate through the center and become council guards. This way they will stay close. The council thinks that was one of the major flaws with the last council. The council building was in one place, and the council members lived nearby, but the only guards close were the ones on duty. All the others were away from the area in their own homes. It took them too long to reach the council when they were attacked.”
“So what is it going to be like, a military base or a college campus?” Crew asked in interest.
“Both. They want to have enforcers, pride guards, Legion warriors, Fae warriors, and Dante’s guards as trainers. Dante is also looking into finding some of the old council guards to see if they would like to have their old jobs back.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“What sounds like a good idea?” Micah’s deep voice interrupted them.
Jesse looked up at Micah and the smile on his face was so bright it made Crew smile. “I was just discussing with Crew about the council’s plans to build a training center.”
Micah took a seat next to Jesse. “We were thinking we probably need more guards, instead of making you guys exhaust yourselves trying to keep up with everything.”
“Will it only be training for council guards?” Crew asked.
“What do you mean?” Micah asked.
“Nothing. I don’t know what I’m talking about,” Crew said quietly and looked down at his cake.
“Crew, don’t do that,” Jesse admonished gently, and Crew looked up at him. “You know what’s going on around here and I’m sure you have feelings and opinions on everything. And I’m sure you have valid concerns and ideas. What did you want to know?” Jesse encouraged.
“I was just wondering if the training facility was just to train council guards. If it’s just for that, then why spend so much time and money when they could be trained right here? We have enough room for the training classes and it would take nothing to add on a few rooms to hold them. It would make more sense to build a big campus, like a military school, if we were to train new enforcers, pride guards, vampire guards, and fae warriors. We could train them all the same. Well, with a few minor differences. Vampires would have to train at night, and the fae warriors would have to train using their powers. But it might be more beneficial to our changing world if all paranormals who wanted to be enforcers or guards of some kind came here to train and then be sent out where they are needed. Instead of individual packs or covens training their own to do their own thing. Then all these enforcers and guards would also know all the rules of the new council, so when they went to their designated packs, prides, and covens, all the laws of the council could be adhered to the same across the board,” Crew explained. He looked at Jesse and saw a huge smile on his face. Crew shifted his gaze to Micah’s and found him smiling brightly, too.
“What?” Crew asked in confusion.
“Those are some great ideas, Crew,” Dante said from behind him. Crew turned, looking over his shoulder, and was surprised to see not only Dante, but also Dare, Storm, Bastian, Ryland, and Phenex standing there.
He turned back around and looked down shyly. “It’s no big deal. I’m sure you all probably thought of it already.”
“And you would be wrong, young Crew,” Ryland said and pulled a chair from a nearby table and joined them. “We were thinking about training council guards only, but what you just said is a great idea.”
“I completely agree,” Dante said as he and Dare pulled up some chairs, too. “So tell me, Crew, what exactly did you mean about all the guards being trained here? Do you mean from everywhere?”
“Um…” He looked to Micah for guidance. Micah gave him a big encouraging smile and nodded.
Crew took a deep breath. “Well, yes. We all know that most of the old council were in it for themselves. They just liked the prestige of being on the council. They didn’t really want to be bothered with all the pack policies and politics. They left that up to each individual pack, pride, or coven. If it got really bad and out of hand, then the council got involved. But I think that’s why there were so many laws being broken and leaders doing whatever the hell they wanted.
“You’re trying to change all of that. To change the paranormal world as a whole, and make it better for everyone. Instead of having alphas being chosen because they are the firstborn son to the former alpha, why not change it so that they would have to be appointed alpha and his betas by the council? Each of the paranormal factions could send their potential candidates to the training center to train and learn all the laws of the council.
“You could have inner circles of alphas and two betas that would take over an appointed pack at the same time. This way there are no longer legacies. We all know how shitty those legacies can be. When an alpha is ready to step down, or the council believes it is his time, or the pack makes a lot of complaints about that alpha, then a new team of alpha and two betas who are ready to take over can go and step right in.
“If a pack needs enforcers, then they just call the council and request enforcers and you send them. It wouldn’t be left to the individual pack a
nymore to say who among them are enforcers or not. If you pick an age when they could be sent here to train, say eighteen, then they have to spend however many years training first before they make the title of enforcer. Once they made enforcer, then they could stand as council guards until something opened up in a pack, and if they want to go to a pack.”
“That’s fucking genius, Crew,” Raith said. Crew looked up, surprised to see that they now had a crowd around them. He was so busy explaining himself that he hadn’t realized they had drawn an audience. All of his enforcer brothers, Storm and Dante’s guards, as well as Ryland and Phenex’s warriors were standing around listening.
“That would work perfectly to stop the fighting between the paranormals too,” Storm said. “We wouldn’t have to worry about pack territory wars anymore, or alphas appointing their own and claiming a dictatorship over their pack.”
“If the council sets up a leadership pyramid that is followed in all the paranormal factions, that would help to stop the dictatorships as well,” Bastian added.
“If we’re all supposed to be led by the Alpha Prime, and we all know this to be true, then we start with that as the top of the pyramid,” said Crew. “Then the council members below that. Storm would still be Leader Winthrope, but he would be the only one with that title. He would be top leader over all the prides. If they have a concern, then they contact him and he makes a ruling, unless it is a council problem. Then he takes it to the council. Not to take the title of leader away from the felines, but what if all shifters, no matter what breed, had an alpha as their titled leader, then two betas to help him run their pack, pride, cast, et cetera, then enforcers to keep the laws and the peace? Dante, Dare, and Ryland still keep their title as Kings and Phenex as Commander. Dante would still be in charge of all the vampires, but each coven would have a leader. Give them a title, like…Lord or something. Then they would each have two seconds as well, like betas, but give them a title, et cetera, for all the other paranormals. It would be across the board. No matter where you went in the word if someone said Alpha, you would know what they are talking about. Or they said that’s Lord so and so, you would know he was the leader of the local vampire coven.”