by Athena Blaez
“It’s more than that. We have seen increased poacher activity along Nelson Ridge. It’s making a lot of people nervous in the park service. That brings more eyes on us, places us under greater scrutiny, which makes our movements harder to hide. Now we have a wolf sighting that was killed in town.”
Ryder winced. “It normally wouldn’t have gotten out of hand. My people know to stay out of sight better than that.”
“I heard it was a wild animal fight. I’m sorry about your loss, by the way.”
“Two funeral services to plan. With the fees we pay Dr. Stewart, we are getting our money’s worth.”
Devan chuckled. “No shit. I’m having my people lay low for a bit. I was going to call McBride later and give him a heads-up. Unless he’s already heard. But I will be in meetings all day.”
“I just have tours,” Ryder said with a cheeky grin.
“Then you can call and let him know. What did you find out from Ted?”
Ryder’s mouth dropped open. “How do you know about that?”
Devan gave him a look. “Please.”
“Anyway, nothing, actually.”
“Either he doesn’t know any more or he’s keeping things tight.”
Ryder combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I’d vote keeping it tight. I would hate to think that none of us know what’s going on.”
Devan’s phone chimed and he glanced at it. “Looks like I’m starting work early. Give McBride a call, see what he knows and give him the lowdown. Three packs covering the ground and sharing information is better than being lone wolves. You can pay.”
“Asshole,” Ryder said with a laugh.
“That will show you to gloat about having an easy job.” Devan settled his hat on his head, clapped Ryder on the shoulder and headed out to his truck.
Ryder watched Devan go, contemplating how immensely complicated his life had gotten.
Charlene startled him by setting a coffee in front of him. “Did he stiff you with the bill again?”
“Yeah. So you might as well bring me the usual.”
“You got it, honey.” She paused before walking away and held a hand out. “And I’m sorry to hear about another one of your clan.”
He gripped it and pulled it to his mouth for a quick kiss. “Thanks. And…if you hear anything…let me know, okay?”
Who better to pick up on gossip than a waitress?
It was all Ryder had to go on. If he was restricted from running his pack through town to find information, he had to rely on other means.
Whatever game this Charlie Adler thought he was playing, it was seriously beginning to piss him off.
Ryder finished his breakfast and motioned Charlene for the bill. Customers were starting their steady stream in for the breakfast rush and it was time for Ryder to get to work.
He pulled his wallet and scooted to the edge of the bench when a man sat down across the table from him.
At first, Ryder didn’t recognize him. He felt like he knew most of the town on sight, even if their paths never crossed. This was a new face. A moment to study the man brought realization. He had Sean’s eyes. Ryder’s lip curled. “You’re Ernie Hastings.”
“Heh, I guess I should be flattered you know me.”
“Don’t be. I only recognize you because, unfortunately, your son looks a little like you. But I don’t hold that against him.”
“I see Sean’s poisoned you against me already. And we just met.”
“What do you want, Hastings?”
“I was just here to get break—”
“In Aurora. You have no business here.”
“I do. My wife, she’s sick, you see. I’m here to see what comfort I can provide.”
Ryder sat back. “Wow. You know, for a lowlife criminal, you’re actually not bad at the whole feigning concern thing. Except I bet it’s not something you can keep up for long.”
“I just want to spend time with my wife.”
“Yeah, I don’t see that happening.”
Hastings slammed his hands on the table. “You don’t get a say, wolf.”
Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “You are keeping dangerous company. It could get you killed if you’re not careful.”
“Are you threatening me?” The other man leaned in and that’s when Ryder smelled it. Beneath the layer of booze and cigarettes was the faintest tint of silver. The man was carrying silver on him.
“Are you here to pick a fight? Like, maybe, get me to swing first, you pull that silver knife you’re carrying, gut me with it. All you have to do is nick an artery and I’m dead. Then you claim it was self-defense.” Ryder met him halfway across the table. “Is that the best plan you can come up with? Surely you don’t think the sheriff is that stupid.”
The mask of anger on Hastings’ face smoothed away and he sat back. A glance around showed they had an audience. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryder watched Charlene backing towards the phone.
“I’m just here to get to know the man who has my son’s affections. Fatherly concern, making sure you check out.”
“I’m pretty sure Sean doesn’t need you looking out for him now.”
Hastings reclined casually in the seat. The man’s presence was seriously pissing Ryder off. No wonder Sean wanted him out of his and his mother’s life.
“So tell me, does my son like taking it up the ass from a dog?”
Ryder considered himself a reasonable man. One of the reasons he was desired as the alpha of his pack was his ability to be balanced, sane, rational and evenhanded in his dealings.
How was it that one man was so easily able to strip all that away from him with one sentence designed to obviously bait him into a fight? One easy flip of the switch turned Ryder from tolerant to raging in bloodlust that was reserved for only the most egregious of situations.
Ryder was up and had two fistfuls of the man’s shirt, jerking him out of the bench and half-way across the table. “You watch your filthy mouth, you degenerate lowlife.”
People surrounding them scattered away. Charlene shouted at him, rushing to the table. She grabbed Ryder’s wrists. “Ryder, you need to take it easy.”
“Give me one good reason not to serve his guts up for breakfast to replace the sausage.”
Hastings hung limply from Ryder’s grasp, his smile wide, showing rotten and missing teeth.
Red and blue lights flashed from the parking lot.
Chapter 13
“What are you doing here?” Jeremy raced into the shop and stopped breathlessly at the counter.
Sean sighed and started counting the till again. “Getting ready to open? You?”
“You’re kidding.” Jeremy drew back in surprise. “You’re not kidding. You didn’t hear?”
After losing count a third time, Sean put the money back into the drawer and gave Jeremy his undivided attention. “I guess not. What have I missed?”
“You really need to do more than come to work and go home.” Dropping the bag of donuts and the coffee on the counter, Jeremy divvied up the spoils and waved a piece of donut around before popping it in his mouth. “Ryder got arrested.”
Sean took a soft breath. He suddenly felt dizzy. Concern creased his brow. “Arrested? Doing what?”
“Almost giving a beatdown to some bum at the diner.” Jeremy opened his coffee and blew on it. “Apparently they were calmly talking, then next thing you know, Ryder lunged across the table and dragged this guy out of his seat. They called the sheriff and the bum hightailed it out of the diner before the uniforms could catch him and the sheriff was stuffing Ryder in the back of his car. Looks like wolf-boy has a bit of a temper on him.”
“Don’t call him that,” Sean said absently. What would have caused Ryder to react that way? The man had been nothing but polite and calm, even when Sean was the one freaking out. “This guy must have said something to push him over the line. Do you know who it was?”
“Sorry, man; no one that I talked to knew who it was.”
“
That just doesn’t sound like Ryder.” Sean eyed his friend. “Can you find out who it was?”
“I’ll see what I can do but if Charlene, she’s the waitress at the di—”
“I know who she is.”
“Well, she pretty much knows anyone who is anyone in this town and if she didn’t know who it was, then he must be new.”
Sean rubbed at his face. He had a very bad feeling about it. The feeling sat like a bad meal in the pit of his stomach. He pulled his phone and sent a text to Ryder’s phone.
Where are you now? Plz respond asap.
“Did he post bail? Is he out?”
“You know as much as I do now,” Jeremy said.
Setting the phone to the side, he left it face up so he’d see the moment Ryder’s text came through.
“Here. Have breakfast.” Jeremy pushed the donuts over to Sean.
Absently, Sean ate, his mind turning this revelation over in his head. The longer the silence went on, the more anxious it made him. He gave up waiting and picked his phone up. The buzz and chime of a text startled Sean and he jumped.
Work. Had hell of morning.
Sean let out the breath he was holding. So he was out. That was good.
I heard. My father?
There was a long pause before Ryder returned the text. Yeah.
Are you where you can talk?
I have errands. I’ll drop by at lunch. Hoagie House?
Text me your order. I’ll call it in. You pick up.
“Well?” Jeremy demanded. He stood on the stool rung to read Sean’s phone upside down. “Holy shit, your dad was the bum?”
“Apparently.” Sean set his phone down again. He stared warily at the door. It would be just like his father to come in at that time. If he could afford to close for the day, he would.
“Wow, man. That’s some balls to chase down your boyfriend like that.”
“He’s not my boyfriend—Never mind.” Sean forced his attention to his work. He still had a shop to run.
“Sean, he’s totally your boyfriend.” Jeremy rested a hand on Sean’s. “It’s okay to admit it. He’s a good guy from what you tell me. Except for this temper…but that’s understandable if it had to do with you.”
Sean paused in his counting. “Why would you think it’s about me?”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “I need to think about opening myself. I’ll see you later?”
“After lunch,” Sean said.
“Riiight.” With an obscene eyebrow wiggle, Jeremy bounced out of the shop, leaving Sean alone.
The moment the door shut, he wished he weren’t alone.
Mostly, he actually missed having Ryder close by. Should he be concerned that Ryder was pushed to physical violence? The man wasn’t the type to lose control like that. Oddly enough, knowing that Ryder might have actually been defending Sean was a good feeling. For all of his life, he never had anyone other than his mother to come to his defense on anything. It drove his feelings of isolation from the world.
Then Ryder Cole came along and managed to insert himself in every way possible until Sean was actually getting used to his presence. So much so that Sean missed him. Ryder’s physical presence made Sean feel safe for the first time in his life.
Now, knowing his father was out there and causing trouble made him uneasy. He wished Ryder could be there to tell him that it would all be okay.
Maybe he could talk Ryder into having one of his pack sit in the shop with him. Make it less uncomfortable to be alone.
Once the shop was officially reopen, Sean was able to put his mind off of his concerns and back to the day. It flew past so quickly that neither he nor Katrina said more than a handful of words to each other. Her furtive looks in his direction indicated she had also heard about Ryder’s altercation. She wanted to talk about it but the foot traffic through the shop didn’t allow any downtime.
At lunch, he got the text from Ryder for what he wanted for lunch and Sean made the call for pickup.
Sean waited for the last customer in the store to leave before putting up the clock indicating they’d open again in two hours. “Why don’t you go to lunch, Kat? I’m closing the store for a bit.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. Hesitation slowed her down from grabbing her purse. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I guess you heard about Ryder this morning.”
“It’s all over town.”
“I hope he loves notoriety.”
She hooked her hand on his arm before he walked away. “Are you okay? I hear he was pretty scary before the sheriff got there.”
“I’m not afraid of him, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sean said. “I feel safer with him than I’ve felt in a very long time. I am positive he won’t get rough with me.”
Kat gazed a long time into his eyes before she nodded in satisfaction. “Not unless you want him to, that is.”
“Ugh, my virgin ears. Go to lunch. Enjoy it and don’t rush back to the shop.”
“I see,” she drawled out slowly. “Maybe I’ll take two hours and only get paid for one.”
“I can let that slide this time. Go.”
“You got it, boss.” She made a beeline for the door. “Come lock it behind me.”
Katrina wasn’t gone five minutes before a tapping on the glass brought Sean’s attention out of getting the deposit started.
Ryder stood outside the door. He held up two bags.
Sean went to let him in and locked the door behind him. Ryder waited patiently before he stole a kiss from Sean. “Hey.”
Sean’s lips tingled from where their mouths touched. “Hey. You came just in time. I was about to start eating my shoe.”
“Can’t have that. Are we eating out here or in the office?”
“Office. I don’t want people looking in the window and making faces for me to let them in while I’m trying to eat.”
Sean guided Ryder to the small office. He shuffled some files around and slid a box out of the way so Ryder could set the bags down. “I rarely close the shop and take a lunch.”
Ryder set the bags down. He pulled out the hoagies and placed one in front of Sean. The other bag held drinks. “But you made an exception for me. I’m flattered.”
“I wouldn’t be. I actually wanted to hear about what happened this morning, uninterrupted.”
“Yeah. That.” Ryder gave Sean an embarrassed smile. “I kind of blew my cool. Threatened an asshole. Frightened the locals. Pissed off the cops. Standard morning for someone who hadn’t had his first cup of coffee for the day.”
“What did my father say to you that pissed you off?” Sean held up a hand. “On second thought, I can imagine that my father’s presence was enough.”
“You’d be right. Cheeky asshole sat down uninvited. Talk about bad manners. He had silver on him. I think he was looking to pick a fight so he could use it.”
“He still managed to push your buttons. I’m sorry. I…wish he’d go away now. He already took stuff from me which helped him get the cash infusion he was looking for. Can’t he just leave me alone?”
“I think he’s fallen in with some rough company. This guy…I don’t know what his angle is yet, but we believe he’s using your father for something.”
Sean unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. “You can bet it’s illegal, whatever it is. My father doesn’t know how to stay out of trouble. He has some low-level mob connections in Chicago. Maybe that’s the key?”
Ryder joined him, taking larger bites. That was a huge turn-on, to see the man’s voracious appetite. It was like watching a wild animal eat.
That’s what Ryder was, right? Deep down, he was a wild wolf. Sean realized that was part of what made Ryder so attractive to him.
“The sheriff will learn all that soon enough,” Ryder said between bites. “They’ll find him. He can’t stay hidden forever. The town is too small and the gossip is too fast for him to continue sneaking around.”
Sean nodded. He supposed that was true. Now that his father
had gotten mostly what he wanted, Ernie was just sticking around to torment him and his mother. He had done it countless times over the years. “I haven’t thanked you for offering your pack to keep an eye on Mom. And I’m sorry one of them was killed on our lawn. Jeremy said he and Mom didn’t hear a thing.”
“I bet it happened away from the house and the body dumped back on your property. We won’t know until we hear back from the crime scene report.” Ryder got a faraway look on his face. “Anyway, it wasn’t your fault. I am determined to keep you safe, Sean.”
“It’s hard not to feel responsible,” Sean said. “It happened because of me.”
“There’s more going on that we don’t understand.” Ryder finished his sandwich. He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair with a groan. That one sound drilled through Sean’s ears down directly into his dick. It was the same satisfied groan he heard when they were in bed.
Sean liked hearing it. Especially when he was responsible. There was something thrilling about having that kind of control in bed to cause someone to lose themselves. Although, in this case, it was a big sandwich.
Not one to be out done by a damn sub, Sean set the rest of his sandwich aside.
“Not hungry?” Ryder asked, cracking one eye open.
“I’ll get back to it. There was something else I wanted to do.” Sean slid to the floor and walked over on his knees to Ryder’s legs. He pushed them apart, so he could get tightly between Ryder’s thighs.
Ryder’s eyebrow lifted. “And what would that be?”
Sean fiddled with Ryder’s belt and jeans to open the fly. He urged Ryder to lift his hips so Sean could get easy access to his cock. “If I have to explain it, it kind of ruins it, don’t you think?”
Complying, Ryder helped get his jeans pushed far enough down his hips to expose his cock. Why didn’t it surprise Sean that Ryder wasn’t wearing underwear?
He pursed his lips in appreciation. Ryder wasn’t completely hard but he watched as it began to magically firm at the promise of a blow job. His hand rested on Sean’s shoulder. “You don’t have to do this.”