by CJ Cooke
“Calli got called back to the Council,” I told her, reluctantly sitting down at my desk, my knee jittering up and down with my anxiety.
Holly sighed, looking around the room. “Calli can look after herself. You know that as much as me. This is the whole mate thing, isn’t it?”
I quietly nodded. She was right, and I knew she was. That didn’t exactly help me with my current situation, though.
“If you want to leave, I can cover for you,” she told me.
I shook my head in defeat. “I can’t leave the pups, and I’m skating on thin ice here already.”
“Please, you’re golden. They couldn’t fill your job before you came here. You could walk in there and spit in the principal's face, and he wouldn’t fire you. Plus, how freaking adorable is it that you call the kids pups?” she laughed.
“That’s not a theory I really want to test,” I smiled.
My phone vibrated on the desk, and I snatched it up, sighing in relief when I saw the message from Tanner confirming they were all on the way back, but they needed to talk when I got home. Fuck! That couldn’t be good, but she was on her way home, and that was all that mattered right now.
“So, how’s Nash doing?” she asked, her ‘Nash’ smile spreading across her face.
I rolled my eyes. This was how all of our conversations ended. It was starting to become a hobby of mine, watching Nash and Holly dancing around each other. They were both obsessed with each other, and it was only a matter of time before the causal thing they had going on got a ring put on it.
“So, this pack stuff you’ve got going on…” she started out and then nervously started to shuffle in her seat. “You don’t have like… you know… humans in the pack, do you?”
I could see where this was going, and, to be honest, I was surprised she hadn’t talked to me about it before.
“No, humans cannot take up the pack bond, and our wolves need it to bond at that level with someone.” I knew she already knew this, but I also suspected that since she’d seen Calli as a wolf, she was becoming curious about the process of turning.
“But Jean lives with Blake at the pack,” she pointed out.
“Yes, she’s more of an acquaintance to the pack. She can never be a member while she’s human. Our pack is different to the traditional packs. She isn’t mistreated because she’s human, but there are packs out there where she wouldn’t have the same rights as pack members.”
I didn’t expand on the rumours of breeding camps to her. She didn’t need to be frightened with the seedy underbelly of shifter society, but if she was trying to make the decision I suspected she was, she needed to have the facts.
She looked down at her feet, and I could see the defeat on her face. She’d always said the main reason why she didn’t want to even attempt the turning process was because she didn’t want to turn into the old movie nightmare version of a werewolf. I couldn’t blame her. Everyone wanted the storybook version of running through the forest in true wolf form. We just couldn’t give it to them. But she wanted the pack bond, and she wanted to be with Nash, and I could see just how much it was tearing her up that she was refusing to try because of what she would look like afterwards.
“Holly, you can still be with Nash without attempting to be turned. You don’t have to go through that. He loves you as you are. In fact, I’m not even certain he would want you to try. It’s a long, agonising process, and it’s not even guaranteed to work.”
She nodded sadly, “But if I never tried, there would always be this part of him that I’d never be able to bond with. A part of his life I could never share with him.”
I nodded in agreement with her because, really, what else was there to say. It was cruel if you thought about it. Nash, as a man, would always love Holly. But his wolf would never see her as his mate because she was human. There was nothing I could say that was going to change that for her.
“Talk to him about it, Hols.”
She stood up from her chair, clearing her throat as she did, and I caught the glisten of unshed tears in her eyes. My heart broke for her. I couldn’t even imagine how it must feel to love someone who could never completely love you back. Nash would argue he did, but his wolf was as big a part of him as the man was. And his wolf could never love Holly when she was a human.
The rest of the school day had gone pretty quickly. I checked in with the boys around lunchtime and found them with a group of friends in the cafeteria. They looked to be having fun, so I didn’t disturb them. By the time they made it to my office after classes, they were both beaming with smiles.
“Ready for home, boys?” I asked, already knowing the answer. They’d want to get back to see Abby.
They didn’t even answer me, just turned around and raced out towards the car. Shaking my head, I quickly followed them, grateful I’d at least had the sense to put my coat on and grab my things before I said anything. They were definitely going to keep us on our toes.
The whole ride home, Coby was excitedly filling me in on how he wanted to try out for the soccer team, and Jacob was telling me about how he’d had his first art lesson.
By the time we pulled up at the house, they were practically vibrating with excitement about telling Calli and Abby everything about their day. It was nice to see this side of them. Thankfully, they both waited until I turned off the engine before they unfastened their seatbelts and jumped out of the vehicle. I could totally see Calli’s face if I let them dive out of a still moving truck.
I trailed into the house behind them but then nearly collided with the two of them as they skidded to a halt outside the kitchen.
“Hey there, what’s…” and then I froze as I took in the sight of an unknown shifter sitting at our kitchen table. Pushing both boys behind me, I growled out. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
My wolf simmered at the surface of my mind, and I knew my eyes would be flashing with his presence. The shifter at the table looked up from his coffee, raising his upper lip in distaste as he looked me up and down, clearly finding me lacking.
“I live here,” he sneered at me.
He may as well have punched me in the face. The shock would have been the same. Had the Council forced another guard on us?
“Boys, go upstairs and stay there until one of us comes to find you.”
I tried to keep my voice calm and level, but Jacob clutched the back of my shirt, and I could feel him shivering in fear, absolutely terrified.
“It’s okay, bud,” I told him, keeping my eyes on the strange shifter but wrapping an arm behind me so I could pull him against my back. “Go with Coby upstairs. I’ll be up in just a minute, okay?”
I felt Jacob’s head nod against my back before Coby took his hand, and they both sprinted towards the stairs.
The shifter at the table looked intrigued by Jacob’s response, and something flashed through his eyes that looked like pain. I wasn’t about to let my guard down, though, not until someone explained to me what the fuck was going on. This guy was obviously the something Tanner had wanted to talk about. A bit of a fucking heads up would have been nice, though.
I found myself in a stand-off. I didn’t want to leave this shifter alone to go and find the rest of the pack, and my wolf was pushing hard to get him out of our den and away from the pups. He smirked at me, shifting to lean back in his seat and watch me as he realised the predicament I was in. It was almost like he was silently goading me to do something, and my wolf was urging me to just attack this threat in front of us already.
My mind kicked into gear as I took in his appearance. He was drinking coffee and reading something on a tablet. He must have been sitting there a while, and unless he had somehow managed to incapacitate the entire pack, they must be aware of his presence. They wouldn’t leave him alone in here if they thought he would be any kind of threat. But they would remain close by just in case.
As the thought came to the front of my mind, Tanner strode into the kitchen, his face showing he was al
l kinds of pissed off about this situation as well.
With a look of absolute triumph, the shifter locked eyes with me and said, “Ah, brother, so good of you to join us. You should introduce me to my new packmate.”
And my world dropped out from around me. I looked at Tanner in confusion, and he sighed, “You missed a lot at the Council meeting. Come on. Grey is going to want to talk to you.”
Tanner gently laid a hand on my shoulder, and I shrugged it off before turning and walking out of the room. If he couldn’t even have the decency to warn me about this, I wasn’t going to tiptoe around his feelings about it. They knew what time I got home with the boys. One of them could have met me outside rather than letting me walk in and find out this way.
Tanner sighed and followed me out of the kitchen, “He’s in Nash’s office,” he told me quietly as I stormed away from him. I’d figured that was where he was going to be. We’d hardly set up any of the rooms downstairs in the house because we didn’t need them yet. There was only really the office or the living room, and I didn’t see my brother kicking back and watching a game right now.
Storming into the office, I flung the door open and marched inside. Grey glanced up from where he was sat. Nash was at the computer doing whatever the fuck he did in here, and Calli and the others were nowhere in sight.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” I all but shouted at him.
Grey’s nostrils flared as he heaved in a breath. I knew he only did it when he was trying to stay calm, but fuck that and fuck him. I deserved better than this.
“I am your alpha,” he growled at me. “I will discuss the situation with you, but you will remember that.”
“You should’ve had the decency to warn me about what was going on. One of you could have sent me a message, called, even fucking waited for me outside. But instead, you let me get blindsided by some fucking random shifter. Did you even think about how Jacob would take it, walking into the house and finding a stranger there? Did you even consider how the last time someone unfamiliar came into his home, they took him?”
I was angrier than I’d ever been before. I could feel my wolf pushing to shift. He wanted to rage, and I was on the verge of losing control of him. I could still feel the echo of Jacob’s fear as he clung to me, and it was pushing my wolf to the edge of control.
Grey sighed and dropped his head into his hands. “I’m sorry, you’re right. A lot has happened in just a few hours, and we’re all still reeling from it. But you’re right. I should have considered you and the boys more than I did. Sit down, brother. We need to talk about our latest shit show.”
I dropped down into one of the empty chairs, feeling myself deflate at Grey’s apology. Yes, I was still pissed, but now wasn’t the time to rage out of control. From the look on Grey’s face, this was another problem the pack was facing, and it was currently sitting in our kitchen. We couldn’t put off dealing with it.
“Maverick is Tanner’s brother,” Grey told me. “But he’s also another of Calli’s mates.”
It took a moment for my brain to even catch up with what he was trying to tell me. “What the fuck?”
“Apparently, when my father saw that you were both Calli’s mates he had a theory my baby brother, who none of us knew even existed and had assumed died with my mother, could be her mate too.”
I could tell Tanner was pissed and that he was walking his own fine line of losing control.
“It was all a setup,” Grey sighed. “There was no formal Council summons. It was just Stone dicking us about. He’s put his own spy in the pack, but we have a way around to try and make it more difficult for them. We have to bring him into the pack bond.”
I nodded as I thought it through. It was a good idea. Once he was part of the bond, his wolf would recognise Grey as his alpha and not Stone. We would have the allegiance of his wolf, and anything he tried to do against the pack’s interest, he’d have to fight his wolf every step of the way. Plus, once he was part of our pack, it would be so much easier to kill the fucker. But he was Calli’s mate. How was she going to feel about that?
“How is Calli taking this?” I asked. “What does she think of him?”
Almost like my words had summoned her, Calli strode into the room with a look of thunder on her face. “He’s an absolute fucking wanker, is what Calli thinks,” she huffed. “He keeps calling me female like it’s my fucking name!”
I smiled wryly at her as she came to my side and then leant down to kiss my cheek. “I missed you today,” she whispered as she reached for my hand to hold.
My wolf instantly calmed at her touch, and probably a little because she really didn’t seem to like this Maverick guy, which was giving me a huge amount of satisfaction right now. I pulled her down onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her, nuzzling my face into her neck and inhaling her amazing scent. Lilacs and jasmine would forever be the most calming scent in the world for me.
“So where do we go from here?” I asked.
“We bring him into the pack bond tonight when the kids are asleep at the same time as Hunter.”
“Hunter?” I interrupted in question.
“Shit, you weren’t there for that either,” Tanner sighed, and my annoyance simmered to the surface slightly again.
“Hunter has finally admitted Cassia is his mate, and he’s asked if he can join your pack,” Calli chirped happily.
“Our pack,” I corrected her, and she startled as she realised what she’d said. Did she not think of us as her pack yet?
“There’s also a problem with that plan,” she pointed out, quickly changing the subject. “You said before that everyone in the pack needs to be present when you do the bitey bond thing?”
Grey nodded in agreement as Tanner, and I chuckled at her phrasing.
“Well, Jacob is in the pack bond.”
“Oh, fuck!” Tanner swore. “We can’t let him know Jacob can shift until we know if we can at least trust him, which, I don’t know about everyone else here, but I’d be massively surprised if we could.”
“So, we need to bring him into the bond because we don’t trust him, but we don’t trust him, so we can’t bring him into the bond,” Calli laughed, and I looked at her incredulously. “What? You have to admit it’s pretty funny. Do you think shit like this happens to everyone, or is it just us?”
Shaking my head in exasperation, I started to say, “I have an idea…” when a loud shriek barrelled through the air from upstairs.
We were all immediately on our feet, running to the stairs.
“It came from the direction of the kids’ rooms,” Calli panted, her eyes wild with panic.
Grey and Tanner immediately shifted, sprinting ahead as Calli and I quickly followed them. Racing into the boys’ rooms, we found them empty. Maverick sprinted inside a fraction of a second behind us.
Calli was on the verge of losing control, but I could see her trying to hold her wolf at bay. When it came to Jacob’s safety, there was nothing that would push Calli quicker to the edge of her shifting.
Coby’s head suddenly popped out of the door to the room across the hall, his eyes wide as he took us in, and we all flooded into the room, ready to take on whatever threat was after our pack this time.
The scene we found inside was confusing to say the least. I had so many questions, but I couldn’t say a thing with Maverick standing amongst us. Grey and Tanner shifted back to their humans forms so we could crowd inside better, not quite believing our eyes.
Jean was sitting up on the bed, both arms wrapped around Jacob and Abby as she held them to her, rocking them back and forth. Blake was wrapped around the three of them, tears streaming down his face, repeating the words ‘thank you’ over and over again.
“Big spiders in this house,” Nash suddenly said, slapping Maverick on the back. “Did someone give you the tour? I’m Nash, by the way. You’re probably hungry. You haven’t eaten anything since you got here,” he babbled away, ushering Maverick out of the room.
&
nbsp; Maverick looked back at us with a raised eyebrow because it was so obvious he was being taken away so we could talk without him listening. I didn’t have it in me to care right now, though.
As soon as he was gone, Calli leapt on the bed, wrapping one hand around Jean’s forehead and closing her eyes in concentration. Tanner had told me she’d drained her magic on purpose before meeting with the Council. She wouldn’t have enough to save Jean again.
“You’re fine,” Calli said, rearing back in shock just as the feeling of dread had started to wash over me.
Blake managed to get himself under control and pulled back from Jean as she stared down at the two children sitting on her lap.
“I don’t know who you are, but I cannot thank you enough,” she whispered to them, her voice cracking at the end.
“What’s going on? Someone needs to explain now and quickly before Nash loses Maverick, and he ends up back here.” I could tell Grey was annoyed about being in the dark. Yeah, fucking stings, doesn’t it.
“We woke the princess,” Abby said proudly, and Jean held on to her tightly.
Grey opened his mouth to say something but then closed it and looked to Blake, probably realising a four-year-old wouldn’t be able to give him the answers he wanted.
“I don’t know, man. I was coming to see if the kids needed anything when they got back from school. Abby wasn’t in her room, and then I heard them talking in here. Just as I opened the door, Jean just sat up awake and then shrieked like a banshee when she saw me.”
“I did not,” she denied, playfully slapping his arm.
“I hate to tell you, but we heard it all the way downstairs,” Calli laughed.
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side! Us girls need to stick together.”
“You’re right. It was probably Blake we heard,” Calli said, nodding seriously.
“Say what you want. I don’t have it in me to care right now.” Blake sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Jean against him. “I missed you so much, baby,” he murmured into her hair, rubbing his hand across her pregnant belly.