by Holley Trent
“What happened?” Nixon asked.
“Alpha’s just being proactive. With all the shit that went down with Vic and the Madeiras, Alpha just wanted to be sure Ashley’s father wasn’t gonna to try to use Esther as some kind of homing pigeon and follow her out here.”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot that Ashley came out of that Jersey pack and that her daddy’s the alpha.” Nixon cringed.
“They didn’t know where I was going,” Esther said, obviously indignant enough to look the man in the eye.
Colt wasn’t fazed, but he probably wouldn’t have been. He likely got far worse glares from his wife. “They could guess. Even if they don’t all know our precise location, besides the fact we’re somewhere in New Mexico, he knows that Ashley is here and that she’s married to Vic. Just because Vic paid them off doesn’t mean they’re going to stop hassling him.”
“Vic paid—”
Colt put up his hands. “Get Ashley or Vic to tell you the story. I don’t know all the details. Suffice it to say Vic would do whatever was necessary to keep Ashley safe. Any of us would for our mates, even if we have to spend every last penny we have left, or worse.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Most wolves would just give up the woman because we’re not worth the cost.”
“Let some asshole tell me my daughter’s not worth it.”
“Oh, you and Lisa found out your baby’s gender?” Nixon asked. Every man in the pack, practically, had a kid or else had one on the way. “I thought you were going to wait until delivery.”
Colt shrugged. “Ultrasound tech had a slip of the tongue. Lisa’s folks are hoping to get to see the baby somehow, but we don’t know how to arrange that. They’re pretty much on lockdown in their pack. Anyway, did you notice anyone tailing you?”
“Nah, there was barely a car on the road the whole way here. Was a damn good thing I filled up the gas tank before we left Albuquerque.”
“I’m sure someone would have driven out to find you if you were taking too long and ended up stalled on a roadside somewhere. Here, let me get you a map. To get to the wolf area, you’ve got to follow the road all the way around town and out toward the desert.”
“What town?”
“You’ll see the commercial district once you pass the fence and go around those boulders. I keep forgetting you haven’t actually been out here yet.” Colt pushed away from the door and strode into the gatehouse, adjusting the firearm holstered at his back as he went.
“What exactly is his job?” Esther whispered.
“Most of the wolf men work in security around the executive mansion or in other parts of the compound.”
“Executive mansion?”
Nixon rubbed his temples. “Shit, that’s right. No one’s explained this to you.” He dropped his hands as Colt passed a map through the open window. “I’m sure after you’re all rested up, Anton and them will tell you all the details. Long story short, though, this place—Norseton—is populated by some kind of witches.”
“Viking witches,” Colt said jovially.
“They know that—”
“That we’re wolves?”
She nodded.
“Yeah, they know. We keep each other’s secrets just fine. I’m sure you’ll meet the clan queen soon enough. She tends to make her way around to say hi whenever we have a newcomer.”
“A queen?”
“Yeah. The Afótama—the witchy ones—their leadership structure is a little unusual. Their women tend to have more magic, so it makes sense that they’d be the ultimate decision makers. Got a few fairies here, too, but you can’t really tell any of them apart for what they are. They look plain-old human for the most part.”
Esther pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stared through the windshield some more.
If she’d been Nixon’s mate, he might have been able to psychically read some agitation off of her or some anxiety, but all he had at the moment was the benefit of his eyes and nose. She looked stressed with her flushed cheeks and fidgeting hands. Smelled stressed, too. Her adrenaline was surging, and he didn’t really understand why. There was no safer place she could be than at Norseton.
But I haven’t been in a pack in forever. Maybe I’ve forgotten what it’s like for a lady to be in one.
He cut his gaze to Colt, who gave his head a slight shake—a don’t stress shake.
Colt tossed his phone from one hand to the next and then leaned into the gatehouse.
The yellow and black arm blocking the roadway cranked up and Colt waved them on.
“Ask Alpha about phones as soon as you get in,” Colt called out.
“Yep.” Nixon motored his window up and inched the truck through the barrel and around the aforementioned boulders.
As he crested the small hill, the town came into view. When Colt had said there’d be a town there, Nixon had pictured a charming little Main Street with some shops and some sweet little houses. He hadn’t expected several rows of blocks, a substantial town square, and little neighborhoods flanking the business area.
“What in the actual hell? There’s a freakin’ town in the middle of the desert, and practically off the grid.”
He glanced down at his map to see if he should turn down Main—and in the process, get a better look at the place—but Colt’s instructions had been to arc around the outside.
“Is that a bookstore?” Esther asked in her typically quiet way.
“Looks like one. Think I saw a coffee shop and a bakery, too. Maybe you won’t have to give up too many of your familiar luxuries.”
“You forget I didn’t have any luxuries.”
He grunted. “Shit. Sorry. I’m sure Anton will show you around later, or Lil, once the kids wake from their sleep of the dead. Whenever that’ll be.”
“I have no way of knowing. I’ve never seen them sleep like this, and I’ve never had a rest quite like it, either.”
“Huh. Have you ever shifted to heal a wound?” He curved around the backside of the large adobe structure that was apparently the executive mansion and pointed the truck toward a small outcropping of single-story homes about a mile away.
“No. I try to avoid shifting as much as I can.”
“That’s right. ’Cause you don’t have to for the full moon. Nice little evolutionary advantage for you.”
“I don’t know how much of an advantage being nearly comatose from exhaustion is.”
“But that’s rare, though. I’ve got to shift every month, whether I want to or not. Full moon is tomorrow, but I’m gonna have to shift tonight just to get the ache out of my bones.” In private, he hoped. Shapeshifting wasn’t going to make his left foot and the lower part of his leg come back. The bone had lengthened some in the three years since the accident, but since he’d been in his human form and not his wolf during the crash, he’d never heal a hundred percent. He hoped to have a talk with Adam about his accident before anyone saw what wasn’t there. He didn’t want anyone to think he’d been keeping secrets.
“Before my husband, I—”
Nixon cut a look rightward to find Esther looking out the window beside her and wringing her hands.
“When he was alive, he tended to leave me alone when I shifted. Eurasian wolves are supposed to be so feral and so terrible, I guess. He didn’t want me to shift at all. I guess he thought I’d overpower him. I don’t know if I could have, but I didn’t want to shift, anyway. I preferred being on two legs. At home, with the kids. I can’t remember the last time I was in my wolf form. I think the kids have only seen me furry a few times in their whole lives.”
“You’re gonna have to. In order to get good rest, I mean. You’re gonna have to shift.”
She let out a quiet scoff, and then sighed. “The fact that I might actually be safe enough to shift in peace blows my mind.”
Nixon slowed as the road wound past a cluster of single-story houses situated around what looked like a courtyard. He figured he’d just keep going until he saw Ada
m’s old van—if he still had it—or saw the alpha waving from the driveway or something. He couldn’t exactly call, seeing as how his phone had no cellular service.
By the time Nixon had driven half the loop, a few familiar faces appeared in the courtyard. Waving wolves.
Esther clutched Nixon’s arm briefly before releasing him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. What’s got you spooked?” He stopped the truck at the curb, barely out of the paths of the twin driveways near the only vacant spot.
“Who’s that?” She barely lifted her left hand, so she wasn’t pointing at anything he could make out, but her gaze was out her window at the wolves descending on the truck.
“You’d recognize your aunt and uncle, wouldn’t you? I don’t imagine they’ve changed all that much since you were a kid.”
She let out another of those breaths and gripped the armrest tightly. “Not them. The man with the eye patch. He’s—he’s not Anton, is he?”
Shit.
Nixon rubbed a hand through his hair and then unfastened his seatbelt. He’d seen Anton enough since he’d started wearing the patch—going on two years—but he hadn’t considered that he’d had full vision in both eyes the last time Esther had seen him.
“That’s your big brother, honey. Same old Anton, I bet.”
Fuck. Why didn’t I warn her?
He wondered what else he should have warned her about. There were probably so many things.
He opened his door and cautiously put down his bum leg. When he was certain blood was flowing well enough to his thigh and knee, he put some weight on his prosthesis and reached inside the truck to grab the keys. “Hold tight. Don’t get out yet. I’ll keep ’em from swarming ya.”
They were damned close—standing on the walkway peering into the truck, but hadn’t gone so far as to open her door yet.
She hadn’t tried to open it, either. Her hands were on her lap, her stare cast downward.
Her heart beat loudly enough for him to hear.
Poor thing. Scared as a rabbit.
By the time he made the walk around the front of the truck, he had his gait more or less natural-looking and had gotten the grimace of pain off his face. He hoped the damned rain would move in and then get right out of the way so the throbbing would stop.
“Kids are out cold,” he said to Lil, who was craning her neck to see into the backseat. “Colt probably called and told you. I don’t get a phone signal out here.”
She pressed her hands to the back passenger window and pulled in an indulgent draw of air. “Babies,” she whispered. “Might as well be babies.”
Adam stepped between Anton and Nixon and the truck, and turned his back to the vehicle, effectively blocking Esther from Nixon’s sight.
He suppressed the powerful compulsion to take a step back to pin her in his gaze again. He didn’t like her being out of his sight, but he didn’t have to keep an eye on her anymore. Her family was right there, and they’d see to her.
Not my job.
“She all right?” Anton asked in a low murmur. “Aunt Lil thought we should send out a welcoming party with just the girls, but I thought she was overreacting a little.”
Nixon grunted. “Not overreacting. Wouldn’t have been a bad idea. She’s been through something, but I didn’t ask her too many questions. Maybe she’ll tell you what’s happening.”
“Not for a while,” Adam said in a near whisper. “Female wolves tend to learn to hold their tongues. They never say what’s bugging them because they’ve been taught to keep their troubles to themselves.”
Lil had one hand on the door handle and was giving Esther a little wave with her free one.
Esther’s eyes were round and wary. Wet brown pools.
Come on, honey. Don’t cry.
“Hey.” He reached over and gave Lil’s shoulder a squeeze. When she turned, he bent and whispered, “She’s tired. You got a place for her to crash?”
Lil furrowed her brow, but slowly moved away from the door. “Oh. Well, the girls are still trying to get the place straightened up. I think the beds are made, though.”
“Let her sleep. You can have the reunion when she gets up. She’s too sensitive right now, ’kay?”
Lil leaned back and pinned a narrowed, suspicious stare on him.
“Hold on, now. I promise, I didn’t do a thing to her.” He shrugged. “I feel bad for her. I hate seeing a wolf so low.”
More than that.
He didn’t know how to articulate exactly what was bothering him so much. He wasn’t even sure why he cared so much.
Lil gave him a hard poke to the shoulder. “If she wakes up and tells me you were nasty to her—”
“I wasn’t. I swear, I wasn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes even more.
“Come on. I’ll prove it to you.”
He nudged Lil out of the way and opened Esther’s door.
She gripped her seatbelt buckle tightly, and her breathing suddenly started to race.
“Aw, don’t be like that. Come on down so you can get the kids into some pajamas and into bed. They’ve got a place made up for you.”
“Your own house,” Lil said. “I hope it’s okay. We didn’t have a lot of time to pull things together, but we’ll finish up after you’ve rested.”
She extended a hand slowly and rested her fingertips on Esther’s cheek.
Esther flinched, but didn’t move away.
“You’re tired, aren’t you? A wolf’s gotta sleep, girl. You’ll be all right now.”
She pressed her hand atop her aunt’s, but still, she didn’t move.
She looked to Nixon—for what, he didn’t know—but he nodded anyway, just in case she needed the encouragement.
“Can hardly think,” she said quietly. “Instincts aren’t—aren’t so good.”
“You need to sleep,” Lil said. “Come on. Ignore Anton, staring and gawking at you like he doesn’t know you.”
Anton sighed, but respectfully kept his distance.
“I’ll get Seven,” Nixon offered. “You can get Miss Darla. She doesn’t look like she weighs more than a sack of flour. I reckon you can manage that.”
“I have been since she was born.” Esther gulped and swiped a hand across her eyes. She drew in a deep breath, unfastened her seatbelt, and let Lil help her down.
That was Nixon’s sign to get moving.
He prayed to the goddess that his leg would behave its damn self and motioned Anton around to the other side of the truck. As he pulled open the back door, he said, “Their bags are the ones closest to the gate. Rest of the crap back there’s mine. It’ll be all right in there until tomorrow, probably.”
“I think it’s going to rain.”
Nixon grimaced. “Trust me, I know. That tarp back there has saved my bacon more time times than I can count. If the stuff gets left in there overnight, I assure you, the bags’ll be just fine come morning.”
“We’ll round up the boys and get everything out, anyway. Are you going to have to shift tonight?”
“Probably.” Nixon released Kevin’s seatbelt and lifted him out of the seat.
He was like a ragdoll. Dead to the world.
“I can wait a little while, though. I need to run, but not urgently.”
“We’ll get you unloaded before then.” Anton shut the door and continued around to the back of the truck, where he let down the gate and lifted the edge of the tarp.
“Those four right there are theirs. That’s all they brought.”
“They’ll have more shit than they’ll know what to do with when the time the ladies are done with them.” Anton put one bag on his back and carried the other three in his hands.
Nixon followed, slowly and carefully placing his steps, mindful of the precious cargo sleeping in his arms. He wouldn’t have been so cautious if he weren’t carrying Kevin and if hadn’t had an audience. The last thing he needed was for anyone to ask him if he was all right. Wolves didn�
�t stumble unless they’d gone out and gotten themselves shitfaced. They’d know something was wrong if he tripped.
“Never really noticed,” he said to Anton’s back. He took a long pull of breath and itemized the notes. Kevin smelled like cheeseburger. That was about it. “The kids—they don’t really carry much of a scent, do they?”
Anton grunted, nearly catching up to Esther and the others on the path. “Kevin will have his own after puberty.”
“Yeah, but, I dunno. I guess I’d forgotten about that. I’ve been out of a pack for so long. I haven’t been around kids. I guess I remembered wrong that they were supposed to smell like their father.”
That same annoying-ass scent Esther carried. The one that marked her as her husband’s, even after death.
“Nah,” Anton said. “Kevin won’t have one for a few years, and his likely won’t smell like his father’s.”
“’Cause he’s a mutt.”
Anton stopped moving, and Nixon damn near plowed into him.
“Is that what you’re calling them?”
Nixon would have been stupid not to use restraint in his response. Anton, like most of the wolves in Norseton, was exceedingly laid back most of the time, but there was no mistaking why Adam had chosen him as the pack’s next alpha. Anton wasn’t a man to be crossed, and especially not concerning his family.
“I didn’t call him that,” Nixon said quietly.
Up ahead, the Carbones and Esther crossed the threshold into a house in the center of the cluster.
“She said that was what their father called them.”
“Who was he? What was her mate’s name?”
“I didn’t ask that shit, Anton. I told you—I didn’t ask too many questions. She wasn’t in a good place to be answering them.”
“I’d fuck him up if he weren’t already dead.”
“Yeah, well, being a mutt myself, the thought had crossed my mind. One of the few things I’m sensitive about, I guess.”
Anton stared down at his nephew, whose head dangled over Nixon’s arm and mouth hung open in a snore. “At least he won’t get sent away like we were.”
“I guess that’s one good thing to come out of this mess.” Nixon shifted his weight and adjusted Kevin in his arms. “I’m surprised she let me pick him up, to be honest.”