Jaeger turned to Joshua. “He has a mate, Josh. You know the rules of the pack.”
Dae knew them too but didn’t think they applied to him anymore, since technically he was no longer a member of the pack. His brothers evidently thought otherwise, because Joshua sighed audibly and nodded.
“Rules?” Sean asked him quietly.
Dae smiled weakly. “One of the most unbreakable laws of the pack is for males to protect our mates. The law was put into place to guard females when they’re pregnant and vulnerable, and females with young litters who can’t defend themselves.”
Sean frowned and seemed offended. “I’m not a female, pregnant or otherwise!”
“I know, I know. We can’t help it, Sean. It’s in our genetic makeup to protect our mates,” Dae replied, putting a reassuring hand on Sean’s shoulder.
“If Cherise had been mated when she was attacked, not even Alastair would’ve been able to stop her mate from finding the bastards who did it and tearing them apart. Because she was unmated, he was able to bully the pack males into submission,” Jaeger explained. He cast a wan look at Joshua. “Even us, although Joshua tried, at least. I’m not proud of that, Dae. Neither is Josh.”
“I can speak for myself, whelp!” Joshua grumbled. He looked from Dae to Sean and back again. “I give you my word to protect your mate.” The words were formal, a vow not to be broken, and they touched Dae’s heart more than he’d expected they would. Jaeger repeated the oath, and Dae solemnly gave it back to them both.
“Come on inside,” Joshua said, stepping away from his position blocking the doorway. “You can stay in Jericho’s room.”
Dae heard Joshua’s voice hitch when he spoke his twin’s name, and felt another stab of deep sorrow when he realized almost half of his family was dead, killed either directly or indirectly by Alastair. Dae’s resolve strengthened, and he added another score to carve out of Alastair’s hide to his tally. That one would be for himself, for everything Alastair had taken from him.
He glanced once across the compound in the direction he knew Alastair’s cabin lay, then took Sean’s hand and led him inside his family’s cabin.
Chapter Six
SEAN SLUMPED down next to Dae on the double bed, looking around at his new surroundings. The room was simply furnished with the bed, a chest of drawers, and a large trunk set against one wall beneath the single window. Dark blue curtains framed the window; a matching comforter lay neatly over the mattress and pillows. Burnished honey pine paneling covered the walls, glossy and rich, giving the room a warm feel. He remembered it belonged to Dae’s deceased brother, Jericho, and the thought suddenly made the room feel more sterile than simple, as if the family had gone through it and disposed of any reminder of the man who once slept there.
He wearily rubbed his eyes. They felt as if they were full of grit, his eyelids begging to close. He was exhausted; it had been an incredibly long day filled with anxiety and stress. Even meeting Dae’s family—as surprisingly smoothly as it’d gone after their initial confrontation—had served to add to the tension that had been building since they stepped off the plane.
Joshua and Jaeger both seemed uncomfortable around Sean, although whether it was due to him being human, Dae’s lover, or both, Sean couldn’t tell. Their mates, Claudette and Lily, both blonde and petite, were quiet, and remained wary of him. The five children (he couldn’t begin to remember which child belonged to what couple, never mind their names), were the most accepting of him. After a few minutes of shyness, their natural curiosity about their long-lost uncle and his mate overcame their hesitancy, and they peppered Dae and Sean with questions until the children’s fathers ordered them to bed.
He found himself beginning to relax at last, right up until the moment Dae stood up and announced he was going back to the infirmary.
Neither Joshua nor Jaeger thought it a good idea for Dae to go back to check on Cherise and the baby.
Jaeger was the first to argue, but Joshua quickly joined in. “Esther is with them. She’ll take care of them.”
Dae argued, of course, but in this case, Sean agreed with Dae’s brothers. Alastair would be waking from the tranquilizer eventually, and Sean wanted Dae nowhere near him, especially not after seeing what Alastair had done to Joshua. Dae also seemed to forget that, although the shifters who’d been in the healing lodge had seemed to defer to Dae, Alastair had his supporters. What if someone was outside the cabin right now, lurking in the dark, just waiting for the chance to attack Dae?
When Sean went nose-to-nose with Dae, threatening to trank Dae himself if Dae dared step foot in the direction of either the infirmary or Alastair’s cabin, Sean thought his worth might have inched up a notch in Joshua’s and Jaeger’s eyes, although that wasn’t why he did it. He was petrified of Dae getting injured—or worse—at Alastair’s hands. “Esther promised to send Fang to tell you if a problem developed with either Cherise or her baby. You need to rest, Dae. Look at you! You’re a mess.”
It was true. Dae’s clothing was spotted with blood and sweat, and he looked as though he hadn’t slept in a week. Finally, Dae nodded, adding that he would rest awhile, then go to see Cherise. The look on his face challenged anybody—including Sean—to try to stop him then.
Now Dae sat in sullen silence next to him on the bed. Sean understood why Dae felt as he did, why he was angry. Sean had challenged him in front of his brothers. Dae’s alpha wolf already felt threatened by his brothers; he and his mate arguing had made it even worse. None of which changed Sean’s feelings about the matter, although he did feel the need to explain himself. He didn’t know if Dae would listen, but he had to try.
“Dae, you know I only argued with you because I love you,” Sean said softly. “You would’ve done the same thing if the situation were reversed.”
Dae’s eyes shifted toward him. “I shouldn’t have let you come, Sean. I think you should go home.”
“Why? Because I tried to stop you from doing something stupid?”
“No. First, you didn’t stop me from doing anything. All you did in there was postpone the inevitable. I’m going to check on my sister and her baby, and then I’m going to kill Alastair.” Dae’s eyes blazed with a hatred so bright, it scalded Sean to the bone. “I want you far away from here when I confront Alastair.”
Sean had only seen that look on Dae’s face once before, over a year ago, when Dae’s former lover, Jack, had kidnapped Sean. Jack had been preparing to kill Sean when Dae, in wolf-form, burst into the small clearing in the forest where Jack had dragged him. Dae had had the same murderous look in his eyes then too.
Dae had torn Jack’s throat out.
An icy finger tickled Sean’s spine as a dark feeling of foreboding nipped at the edges of his mind. “Dae, please, be reasonable. Look, I have no doubt you can take Alastair. He’s old and probably a lot weaker and slower than your wolf, but he’s not alone. He has his supporters. You can fight one wolf, maybe two… but how about ten or fifteen? They’ll kill you, Dae!”
Dae shook his head. “In a traditional contest, there are only two combatants—the current alpha, and the challenger.”
“Do you think Alastair will play by the rules? He’s ruthless, Dae. He seems to think nothing of the lives of the people in his pack!”
“Then I die. I don’t care, as long as I do it with Alastair’s blood in my mouth,” Dae snarled, turning away.
Sean felt as if Dae had slapped him in the face. “And me? Do you think they’d let me live after you’re dead?”
Dae’s head snapped back toward him. “No. That’s why you’re leaving first thing in the morning. I’d send you off now, but it’s too dark, and you’re not familiar with the roads.”
Sean bolted up from the bed, so angry he began shaking. All the tension, the fear he’d felt since early that morning boiled to a head, bleeding out through his pores. “I’m not going anywhere, Dae. You call me your mate. To me, that means I’m your partner, your equal in all decisions, including this one.
You try to pull that alpha shit on me again, and you’ll get to see just how sharp my little human teeth are!”
Dae stared at him for a full minute, fury blazing in his eyes. Sean forced himself to return Dae’s glare and not look away first, refusing to show any sign of submission. It was too important a moment for him to back down.
The fire slowly died down in Dae’s eyes, and his lips tilted in a soft, if seemingly reluctant, half smile. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re one stubborn son of a bitch?”
Sean returned Dae’s smile with a relieved one of his own. “That would be you, my furry friend. I’m just a man in love trying to keep his better half from getting killed.” He sobered and sat on the bed again, leaning into Dae’s warmth. “There has to be another way, Dae.”
Dae’s arms encircled him, holding him close. “Yeah? Well, if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears, pal.”
Sean sighed, then looked up into Dae’s eyes. “I don’t have the answer, Dae. I just know that your idea is a surefire way to get dead.”
“He’s going to come after me as soon as he wakes up, Sean.” Dae’s voice was soft, but hardly reassuring. “Attacking first would at least give me the element of surprise.”
“Don’t you think he’d know you’d come after him? I’m sure there are people protecting him while he’s unconscious, and once he wakes up, he’ll be gunning for you and Fang.”
“I know. My only option is to strike first. Be there when he wakes up and take him out.”
“No. There’s another alternative, Dae. We can both leave, right now.”
“I can’t, not without my sister and her baby, and not before I know for sure my brothers will be safe.”
Sean felt a small thrill of hope. “We can take them with us, can’t we?”
“Take them?”
The tiny thread of hope grew stronger. “Yes! Of course! That’s it, Dae. We’ll take them all back to Florida.”
Dae looked startled, and Sean realized he hadn’t thought of the possibility before. Truthfully, neither had Sean, not until that moment, but once he had, he thought it made perfect sense. Taking Dae’s family to Florida seemed the only viable solution to their problem. As far they knew, Alastair had no idea where Dae and Sean lived. Dae’s brothers hadn’t told Alastair their address before now, and after they left, there’d be no way for Alastair to track them. Maybe they could all change their names, just to be on the safe side.
To Sean’s dismay, Dae slowly shook his head. “No. Cherise is too weak to be moved, and my brothers won’t want to leave here. This is their home, Sean. They’re all shifters. It would be too hard on them to try to adapt outside the pack. Besides, I can’t run. I ran before, instead of fighting. I was young and thought my whole family was against me, but I still feel like a coward for leaving without a fight. Now I find out all they were trying to do was protect me, and it makes me feel even guiltier. My mother and father are dead, Jericho is dead, and Joshua went through nine kinds of hell all because I ran.”
“None of that was your fault, Dae. You were hardly more than a kid.”
“I know, but it’s a different story now, Sean. Don’t you see? Who’ll die this time if I run instead of fight? Will it be Josh or Jaeger? Their mates? One of their kids? Somebody from one of the other families? I can’t take the chance. Alastair should have given up leadership years ago. Any other leader who really cared about this community would have already handed over the reins to someone younger and become an advisor. Alastair is getting old, and he’s desperate to keep control of the pack. He’ll kill anybody who may attack his position, and he sees my family as being his biggest threat. Besides, as I said, their home is here. They won’t want to leave with us, and I can’t turn my back on them. Not if I want to live with myself.” Dae’s hand cupped Sean’s cheek, his eyes sober. “You can go, though. Hell, you should leave. I’ll feel much better knowing you’re safe.”
“No. I am not leaving you, Dae. If you stay, I stay, and that’s final!” Sean turned his face and kissed Dae’s palm. “I know that’s not what you want, but I will not, can not, leave you here alone.”
“But—”
A rap at the door interrupted Dae, thankfully. Sean thrust his hands through his hair as Dae got up to answer the door. It seemed they were at a stalemate. Dae wanted him to go, to be safe, and he could appreciate those feelings, but Dae needed to understand that Sean could leave no more than Dae would ever leave Sean were the situation reversed.
It was Jaeger. “Joshua and I need to talk to you, Dae. Sean too. This involves him as well.”
“Sean doesn’t need to be—”
“I’m already in this up to my nose hairs, Dae,” Sean cut in, standing up and walking to Dae’s side. “Stop trying to cut me out of it. I’m going to stay, so I might as well know what’s going on.”
Jaeger agreed. “If he’s staying, then it’s safer for him to be in the loop, Dae. He needs to know what to expect.”
Dae grunted but eventually nodded. “All right. I don’t like it, but it seems I don’t have a choice in the matter. I don’t want him involved when we attack, though. I want him out of it.”
“Dae—” Sean began to protest but soon found himself talking to the backs of the two brothers’ heads as both ignored him. Jaeger led the way out into the living room. Sean ground his teeth, both frustrated and humiliated. He was a grown man, not one of the kids to hide away until after the danger was over!
He stalked out of the bedroom, his mind made up. No matter what the three brothers decided, Sean was going to be at Dae’s side, whether Dae wanted him there or not.
Chapter Seven
JAEGER, JOSHUA, and Sean sat on the sofa and the overstuffed chair in the living room, but Dae was too keyed up to sit down. He paced, instead, marking off the small room with his long-legged strides.
Joshua currently had the floor. “Alastair is either already awake or will be waking up any minute now. When he does, he’s going to come hunting for you, Dae. We need a plan.”
Dae shook his head, not once losing his stride. “There’s no reason for you to get involved, Josh. You’ve all suffered enough at Alastair’s hands. This is my fight.”
The three others took instant offense to his declaration. Jaeger jumped up and got in Dae’s face. “The hell it is! Cherise is our sister too. You weren’t here when she was attacked. I know that’s not your fault, but you didn’t see her, Dae. You didn’t hear her crying. You weren’t kept awake at night listening to her scream because of her nightmares. You didn’t have to watch her suffer.”
Joshua nodded. “That’s right. Alastair has decimated our family. First you, then Jericho, then our parents, and now this. We owe him as a family!”
Dae noticed Joshua didn’t include the savage scars Josh received at Alastair’s hands, but he mentally added them to the tally. He sighed. “I understand, but it has to be me, Josh. I’m the one who started it all. If it wasn’t for me, then—”
“Bullshit!”
Everyone turned to stare at Sean. Sean’s eyes were nearly snapping fire, and his posture was agitated as he jumped to his feet and started poking a finger in Dae’s chest. For a human in a room full of shapeshifters, he was showing remarkable daring, and Dae couldn’t help feeling proud of him.
“Stop with the martyr stuff, Dae. There’s only one person to blame for all of this, and that person is Alastair. You did nothing wrong. You were just being who you were born to be. Stop torturing yourself, and for God’s sake, stop deluding yourself. You think if it weren’t for you, none of this would’ve happened, but you’re wrong. Assholes like Alastair enjoy hurting other people. That’s how they prove their superiority, how they keep control. If you’d been born straight, he would’ve just found another reason to hurt you and your family, or someone else to attack.” Sean took a deep breath, obviously wrestling with his temper. “Look, I admit I don’t know a lot about shapeshifters, but from what you’ve told me, there can only be one alpha leader, right?”
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The others nodded, Dae included. He knew better than to try to stop Sean midstream. Better to let Sean’s rant run its course. Dae bit back a smile at the twin looks of respect on his brothers’ faces. They didn’t know Sean like he did and were surprised and impressed at Sean’s temerity in confronting Dae.
Sean gestured to Dae and his brothers. “This family seems to have an overabundance of testosterone. Don’t you think Alastair can smell it? I think he would’ve gone after this family no matter what because any one of you would pose a threat to his position!”
Joshua jerked a thumb toward Sean. “Are you sure he’s not the alpha in the relationship, Dae?”
“Yeah,” Jaeger added. “’Cause I’m just about pissing my pants right now, and he’s not even angry with me.”
Sean blushed, and they laughed, breaking the tension in the room.
Joshua smirked at him. “You have to admit he makes a good point, Dae.”
Finally, Dae sobered. “I know. Listen, I’m not trying to take Alastair’s sins on as my own.” He gestured toward Jaeger and Joshua. “But there’s a method to my madness. You two weren’t in the healing lodge when Alastair came in while I was there with Cherise, and Sean doesn’t understand the significance of what went down. We had a mini pissing contest, Alastair and me, and I won. The others who were there backed off and seemed to support me. It’s what made Alastair flip out and why Fang had to trank him. Out of all of us, I think I have the best chance of taking Alastair down.”
Joshua looked surprised. “If you win, you’ll stay here and assume leadership?”
Dae saw Sean tense and quickly shook his head. “No, I’ve built a life in South Florida with Sean. I have my veterinary practice there. If—when I win the challenge for alpha, I’ll be turning it over to you, Joshua. You’re the eldest of us, and you’ll have Jaeger here to help you.”
Joshua wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know… it’s a big responsibility. I have a family, children I need to consider, Dae.”
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