by M. A. Church
Temple relaxed back in his chair, his legs crossed. “I bet you can count on both hands how many people you trust.”
“That’d be a bet you’d lose.” I smirked. “I can count the people I trust on one hand.”
Shea hooted and punched Temple in the shoulder. Temple rolled his eyes.
“Okay, the two of you get out of here. I’ve got some things to do before I leave. Temple, if anything comes up, and I mean anything at all, you call me.”
“Of course, Alpha.” Temple rose, and he and Shea left my office.
I walked around the desk, sat, and took my cell phone out of my pocket. After I unlocked it, I called Aidric.
“Well, hey. I wasn’t expecting to talk to you again so soon,” Aidric said, breathless. “I… good grief.”
I raised an eyebrow and stared at the phone. There was the sound of something falling, then soft muttering, and the rattle of something metal. What in the world was Aidric doing? “Did I call at a bad time?”
Aidric chuckled. “A bad time? No. Anything to get me out of packing is most welcome.”
Ah, that explained the sounds I heard. “Knocked over a bunch of boxes, did you?”
“They just fell by themselves.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know, I had no idea I had accumulated so much stuff. I mean, seriously, how many pots does a person need? But I’m sure you didn’t call to see how I was coming along with packing.” Aidric paused. “Or did you? You strike me as the type who can be single-mindedly determined.”
“Ha-ha.” I laughed, then stopped. Actually he was correct. Didn’t take him long to figure that out. “I’m not touching that.”
“Because anything you say could incriminate you, correct?”
“Still not touching that.” I listened to Aidric’s quiet laugh. The small sound lightened the burden on my heart. “You made me laugh, and I appreciate that.”
“Okay, that sounds…. Is something going on?”
And shit, we were back to why I called. “I have a younger brother. His name is Abraham, but I call him Bram. He belongs to the Boulder Rock Pack, and Alpha Daniel McGee is his Alpha. He’s mated, and his mate was killed earlier this morning.”
“Oh shit, I am so sorry to hear that. How did his mate die?”
“Gunned down by hunters while in her wolf form.”
“I….” Aidric fell quiet. “I’m sorry, what? Did you actually just tell me hunters gunned her down? While she was a wolf?” Aidric’s voice rose. “Do you mean to tell me some asshole shot a wolf, a species that is endangered in certain areas?”
“Yes, and unfortunately that’s not the worst of it either.”
“Are you…. What could be worse than that?”
“She was running in the early morning with a pack mate near the border of Alpha Daniel’s lands. Bram’s mate, Marlene, was shot and died on the spot. Her friend sustained a flesh wound but was able to escape. She said the hunters were just pretty much shooting anything that moved… for fun.”
“Oh. My. Goddess. I’m so sorry. That hardly seems enough, but I am. Fuck, man. How are you doing?”
“Honestly I think I’m still in shock. Bram and I…. Well, it’s a long story, and I don’t want to go into it right now, but when he left my pack, it caused hard feelings on my end. I let that fester.”
“Can I do anything?”
“No, but I do appreciate the offer. I’m….” I blew out a breath. “I formally asked permission from the other Alpha to come onto his land to try to help my brother. As bad as losing his mate was, I have yet to tell you the worst part.”
“What else could there possibly be?”
“He and Marlena have a pup named Keegan. He looks to be about ten in human years.”
“Oh, Carter.” Aidric’s voice trembled. “That poor, sweet child. Fuck, I’m so, so sorry.”
“Yeah, the whole deal is fucked-up and should’ve never happened.”
“When do you leave?”
“Just as soon as I can get packed. I’m leaving Temple in charge. I plan to be gone for a minimum of ten days. Possibly up to two weeks. More if needed. Do you have a piece of paper? I’ll give you the Alpha’s name, his pack name, and the pack location. I’ll also have my cell on me if you need anything.”
“You don’t worry about me. You take care of your family, and the same goes. I’ll have my cell on me. If you need anything, you call. Any time, day or night, do you hear me?”
My eyes stung. My nose burned. Shit. I was a werewolf, and an Alpha werewolf at that. Alpha werewolves did not cry. I sniffed, bit my lip, and tried to get myself under control. “I hear you. Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Don’t thank me for something any halfway-decent mate would do.”
Gods. He was going to reduce me to a blubbering mess before we got off the phone. I cleared my throat and cleared it again. “I….” Damn, my voice broke. “I, um, I’ll call you just as soon as I can. Aidric?”
“Yes?”
“When I found out what Jack had done, I wanted to throttle him. Swallowing my pride and having to go onto your Alpha’s lands galled me at the time.”
“I’m sure it did.”
“But the first opportunity I get, I’m going to thank Jack.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Because if he hadn’t acted like an ass, I never would’ve met you.”
Now Aidric was repeatedly clearing his throat. “Take care of yourself, my Alpha. I’ll be expecting your call.”
We said goodbye and hung up. Him calling me his Alpha made me feel ten feet tall and like I could take on the world. I liked it. A lot. My wolf scratched at my mind, happy with the conversation. Tail wagging, my wolf barked at me. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to fall head over heels for a furball. If that was the case, then I was determined Aidric was going to be in the same boat.
It was, after all, only fair.
Chapter Thirteen
Aidric
AFTER I hung up with Carter, I sank down on the couch, replaying the conversation. I’d learned two things: I still had a lot to learn about Carter, obviously, since I hadn’t known he had a younger brother. Hell, he hadn’t been the one to tell me about the sister, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Opening up was not easy for Carter; that much was obvious.
The second thing was Carter’s reaction when I told him he could depend on me, that if he needed me, to call me. Did he not have anyone in whom he could confide? Was there no one in his life he could let his guard down with? I never thought about what being an Alpha entailed, but it stood to reason there weren’t many an Alpha could trust.
My big tough Alpha got choked up while we were on the phone. Knowing that simultaneously reassured me this mating could work and broke my heart. Maybe I should’ve offered to go with him, but…. I bit my lip.
We were unmated, and frankly, even with Carter by my side, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going into the territory of a werewolf I didn’t know. Hell, I hadn’t been comfortable going into Carter’s territory. Since Carter hadn’t brought it up either, I was going to assume his reasoning was the same as mine.
Shit. This mating business was a minefield.
I SPENT the next several hours sorting things. Needing a break, I ate a light lunch and got back to it. I had one pile that was bound for the trash and another pile I planned to donate to various charities.
As I told Carter, I had no idea how I’d managed to accumulate so much stuff, and now I was regretting it. I was so wrapped up in what I was doing I hadn’t noticed the sun had set. My stomach growled, reminding me I didn’t eat much for lunch, so I wandered into the kitchen to see what I could find.
After dinner I watched TV. As I channel surfed, my cell rang, and Carter’s ringtone sang out. We didn’t get to talk long. He mainly wanted to let me know he’d arrived, and yes, things were as bad as he thought. His brother was half out of his mind with grief, and Keegan, Bram’s pup, was in shock.
No sooner had we hung up,
my cell phone rang again, only this time it was Dolf.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Aidric. How’s the packing going?” Dolf asked.
“Long. Half this junk should’ve been tossed years ago. I think I was one slippery step away from being a hoarder.”
“You? Mr. Neat Freak? Hardly. Listen, I just have a few seconds to talk, but I want to bring up the subject of throwing you a going-away party.”
Damn, I should’ve seen that coming. “Oh, come on, you don’t have to do that.”
“But we want to.”
Lovely. I massaged my temples. I wasn’t against parties, per se, but I knew there’d be a lot of emotions involved. I felt bad having something like that when Carter was dealing with death and grief.
“Who are we talking about?”
“Just us,” Dolf promised. “Let me do this. We all need a chance to say goodbye.”
He had a point. Maybe I could find a few minutes alone with Dolf so I could tell him about the latest development too. “Thank you. A party sounds good. When do you want to do this?”
“Well, tomorrow is Friday, and since it’s the weekend, let’s do it that evening. Is that good for you?”
“That’s fast. Can you get something together that quickly?”
“You know how we are. Not going to be a problem, trust me.”
Werecats and food. The two went together like peanut butter and jelly. “Okay, then.” I glanced around my cabin. There was nothing here but boxes staring back at me. Solitude had never bothered me before, but suddenly the quiet was overwhelming. “It’s not as if I have much to do besides pack. What time?”
“Let’s say about seven o’clock. Hopefully that’ll give everyone time to get off work and get here.”
“Do I need to bring anything?”
“Just yourself.”
“Okay. Thank you, Dolf.” After he said goodbye, we hung up.
I packed up a few more of my personal belongings before taking another break. The TV was playing in the background in a vain hope of offsetting the quiet. I stared at the boxes. There was also a pile of old newspapers sitting out I was using to wrap dishes.
I scratched my head, toed one of the boxes, and finally gave in. It was a box. An empty box. It was just sitting there too… and it was more than I could resist. After stripping, I shifted. Crouched on the floor, I stared at the big brown thing.
Body low to the ground and ears laid back, I crept closer, watching, whipping my tail behind me. Something in my brain said go, so I shot across the floor, my nails clicking as I ran. I slid to a stop next to it and reared up on my hind legs, my front claws battering the top.
Whap! Whap, whap!
Damn box was taller than I thought. The lid flopped up and down under my attack. I swatted it again, and the top bounced back, hitting me in the nose. I yowled and sprang backward. Hissing, I arched my back. Swat me, huh? I’d show it. I leaped back at the box, claws extended. The battle continued as the top persisted in its resistance.
On my back legs, I danced around the edge, swatting at it relentlessly. I glanced in and… oh, hello. What was that? There appeared to be a seam in the bottom that needed to be demolished. Oh, oh, I needed to get in there. Pronto. With a mighty spring, I went into the box headfirst.
After a few twists and turns, I managed to arrange myself properly, and said demolishing commenced. Once that was accomplished, I stood on my hind legs again. I had a bone to pick with that lid. Gleefully I chewed on it. Smack me in the face, would it? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I spit some paper, then continued my annihilation.
The box retaliated by tipping over.
Startled, my meow rang out. Dammit. The box landed on its side, and I hissed. I raced out, slipped across the floor, and tore off toward the kitchen. With a ferocious growl, I made a lap, then darted back at the box, full speed ahead, and slammed into it.
The box and I slid across the floor. Point made, I crawled out and flicked my tail at it. Now that I’d taught the silly thing a lesson, I could relax, so why not relax in there? I fit, so why not sit? I sprawled inside it and licked my front paws. Life didn’t get much better than this. I curled up, trapped my tail under my front paws, and closed my eyes.
Time for a catnap.
I BLINKED my eyes open, and my ear twitched from the chirping birds. Bright sunlight streamed through the windows. Huh. Apparently I had been more tired than I thought, since I’d spent the night as a cat. I shifted, ate, and got back to packing.
The day passed quickly, and before I knew it, Friday night was here. I showered since I felt grimy, dressed, and grabbed my keys. As I drove to Dolf’s house, I mentally replayed everything I had left to do. When I got home tonight, if Carter hadn’t called, I was calling him.
By the time I arrived at Dolf’s house, several vehicles were already there. I parked, walked up to the front door, and rang the doorbell.
“Hey, come on in. We’ve been waiting on you,” Dolf said, standing out of the way so I could enter.
Various scents assaulted me, and I sniffed. Oh good, hot wings. I followed Dolf into the kitchen, where there were several large trays of finger foods sitting out.
“Hey, Aidric.” Kirk slapped me on the back as I entered, then hurried toward the drinks on another counter.
“Hey, Kirk.”
“Guest of honor is here, guys! Time to get this party started,” Kirk called. “Remi? Little help over here, please.”
“Hey, Aidric,” Remi said, joining Kirk.
“About time you got here, Aidric!” Tal hurried past me with plate of finger sandwiches.
“Hey, Remi.” I shook my head in amusement at Remi’s shirt. It said, Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians. Help end the violence. Eat bacon. “Hey, Tal.” I snorted as I glanced at Heller, who was leaning against the bar, a plate of food in his hand. “Un-huh, Kirk. You trying to convince me no one’s already been in the food?”
“I was starving.” Heller bit into another hot wing. “I missed lunch. What can I say? How are you doing?”
“All things considered, pretty good,” I said.
Lawson stood next to Heller, smiling. “Um, no, you did not miss lunch, Hellcat. I was there, remember? Hey, Aidric.”
I laughed. “Hey, Lawson.”
“Ha! Busted.” Remi smirked and elbowed Kirk in the ribs.
“Damn pointy elbow,” Kirk complained, rubbing his side. He pointed at Dolf. “Can’t you do something with him?”
Dolf stopped piling food on his plate long enough to glance at Kirk. “Who? Remi?”
“Yes,” Kirk huffed as he added ice to the cups for the drinks.
“Only one who can do something with Remi is Marshell.” Dolf shrugged.
“Brah, I try, but you know how it is,” Marshell protested. “Cindafella over there got into the catnip earlier.” Marshell looked at me. “Hey, man.”
“Hey, Marshell,” I said.
“I warned you about calling me that,” Remi growled as he stalked toward Marshell, holding their drinks. “I am so kicking your ass when we get home.”
“You’re welcome to try.” Marshell waggled his eyebrows and took his drink from Remi.
“Jesus, I told you about that stupid eyebrow wiggling deal, dammit,” Lawson complained. “I swear there ought to be a law against you and Janelle doing that.”
Janelle entered the kitchen, her high heels clicking on the floors. “Marshell’s the one who looks creepy when he does that. I look elegant.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” Lawson laughed.
Janelle smirked at Lawson as she passed by me. She patted me on the arm before she and Sam got their drinks. “Hey, Aidric.”
“Hey, Janelle,” I said.
“Hey, how’s it going, Aidric?” Sam asked.
“Good, good. Glad you could make it,” I said. “I figured it’d be too busy at the restaurant for you to get away.”
“Yeah, we’re always hopping, but there was no way I w
as going to miss this,” Sam said.
“Oh my goddess, Aidric! Look at you. Still as handsome as always.” Breanna stepped around Brier and hurried toward me. After she hugged me, she stepped back. “You haven’t changed at all.”
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Surprised, I hugged her back. Breanna was Brier’s sister. It’d never crossed my mind she’d be here, but I was glad she was.
“Janelle asked me, and I couldn’t resist.” Breanna flipped her hair up her shoulder. Jeez, how were she and Heller able to do that so gracefully?
“So you and Janelle have become friends, have you?” I asked. That was terrifying.
“Oh yeah,” Breanna said and promptly went on to waggle her eyebrows like Janelle and Marshell.
“May the goddess help us all!” Heller yelled across the kitchen.
“I would like to second that,” Brier said. “Hey, Aidric.”
“Hey, Brier. How’s having your sister living back in town?” I scooted over so Breanna could stand next to me.
“Interesting.” Brier shook his head, glaring at his sister. “Very, very fucking interesting.”
Breanna returned Brier’s glare. “Suck it up, buttercup.”
I, of course, had just taken a drink and promptly choked.
Dolf burst out laughing. “Good grief. I got to remember that one. Although I’m not really sure ‘buttercup’ fits Brier.”
Brier scowled at Breanna. “I hate you.”
Breanna’s sweet smile didn’t fool anybody. As I stood in the kitchen, I observed all the people crowded in here. Dolf, Tal, and Kirk were eating off each other’s plates. Lawson and Heller were talking to Marshell and Remi. Sam and Janelle were in the group I was in, talking to Breanna and Brier. Every once in a while, someone would toss a napkin at someone else. Or someone would make a smart remark for the other person to hear.
We took our plates and moved into the living area to sit down. A lively discussion started about the best hot wing sauce recipe. We laughed, we drank, and we ate everything in sight. Sarcasm flowed freely, and I laughed so hard at times my sides hurt. Goddess, how in the world was I supposed to leave all these people?