by Lisa Oliver
Chapter Sixteen
Shadow’s hand itched with the urge to slap his mate’s face; it was standard practice against someone who was losing their shit as badly as Rowan was. But he couldn’t bring himself to physically hurt his mate in any way. Rowan had a right to express his pain – a pain Shadow believed went far beyond the events of the day. But he was the root cause of it all. It was him that left his mate ten years before, hell bent on keeping his reputation intact, believing his pack mates would protect his mate. It was his arrogance that caused him to shut his mate out of what he was trying to do to weed out the trouble in his pack now he was home. Rowan’s complete meltdown was his fault.
Which meant he was going to hug his mate through it. It didn’t matter that his ear drums thought they would burst from the pitch coming from Rowan’s mouth. Shadow’s own heart, that felt as though it had cracked and was bleeding from the pain he caused, could be ignored for now. Gathering Rowan’s shaking body close, he deliberately slowed his breathing, willing his heart to pump at a regular rate, projecting as much calm as he could through their frayed bond. I am here for you. I am so sorry I let you down. Shadow wished, with all that he was, that he and his mate enjoyed the mind link so common in alpha and omega pairings, and he had a fair idea why they didn’t share one. His actions, since he claimed his wonderful mate, weren’t those of a man open to their bonding, not to mention they weren’t double claimed.
Rowan struggled in his arms. His poor face was almost purple. When the noise suddenly stopped as though someone had pressed a switch and Rowan’s body went limp, Shadow instinctively raised his hand to the pulse in Rowan’s neck. It was pulsing, harder than it should be, but Rowan was going to be okay. The skin under his fingers suddenly sprouted fur, and Shadow watched in amazement as Rowan’s pure white wolf form came through. His poor wolf’s protecting him.
The wolf was alert, wary, his ears back and his shoulder’s hunched as though expecting an attack. His bright eyes stared up at Shadow’s face, and Shadow could see the caution in them. That, more than anything else, caused Shadow to crack. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, leaning over to press his forehead against that of his mate’s. “I have not treated you like a good alpha should and for that I am truly sorry.”
The wolf whined, but Shadow felt a wet tongue lick up his cheek.
“Would it help if I told you, I didn’t know any other way of handling things? That it’s in my nature to confide in my friends because I’ve always relied on them in the past? That I didn’t tell you about my plans because I was seriously trying to protect you?”
Rowan’s furry side grumbled. It wasn’t a growl as such, but it was the rumblings of an animal who believed in being just as protective as Shadow had been.
“I know, I know. I was treating you like the precious human your other half is to me, but I should’ve known you wanted to protect me too.”
Shadow got another lick for his confession. “This is all new to me, babe. I’m not trying to make excuses.”
The chuff he got, reminded Shadow of when his mate had called him out on that same thing the morning after their first night together. “Okay, okay,” he chuckled. “I get what you’re saying, although at what point does an explanation become an excuse? Do you know? Because I sure as hell don’t.”
The wolf sniffed up his neck, and licked behind his ear, which was slobbery, but Shadow accepted the affectionate gesture for what it was. “It’s the army life,” he explained. “You have to depend on your friends, because if you don’t then you’d be dead. Orders were strictly on a need to know. You reported to your superiors and kept your mouth shut with everyone else.”
Shadow was having a bit of an epiphany. “You, my precious wolf, are a civilian. I mean, you’re my mate,” he added when Rowan nipped his ear lobe. Shadow ran his hand down Rowan’s thick white fur. “You’ll always be my mate, but when I saw the depth of the problem in this pack, I guess my army training kicked in. You should see my dad’s old office. It’s covered in maps, and pictures and…”
Rowan’s whine made him realize what he’d said. “You’re right.” Shadow nodded. “You should have been in the office with me. I had no right to keep anything from you. And the only other explanation I can give you is that you’ve lived in this pack your whole life. I guess I didn’t want you to see how far the corruption has gone among the people you care about.”
The body under his hands shimmered, and he was touching skin again. “This is your home too,” Rowan said fiercely, reaching up and framing Shadow’s face with his hands. “This is not a military operation, it’s a pack matter. You are the alpha of this pack. If there’s shit going on here you don’t like, you make those people accountable. Lock them up. Call in the guards and have them jailed. Banish them. Kill them if you have to, but act like an alpha instead of a general.”
“I only made First Lieutenant,” Shadow grinned. “Generals are the big wigs.”
“I don’t care what rank you were in the army. Here, you’re the big wig. You don’t report to anyone. You’re it around here, and yes, we might live in a human world, but this territory is pure wolf and has been for decades. You own all the houses our pack lives in. It’s your land that stretches around these houses allowing us to run. You are responsible for all the people, yes, but they have a responsibility to you too. It’s about time they were reminded of that. The pack is meant to support their alpha.”
“You’re right, I know you’re right.” Shadow shook his head. “I just… it’s just… I swear, I got back as soon as I could when I got the message from your gran telling me things had gone to shit for you. But I didn’t plan for any of this. I never wanted to be alpha here. I wanted to take you away, with my friends and us start up a pack someplace else, quiet, peaceful, away from the fighting.”
“The majority of this pack are good people.” Rowan was deadly serious. “They didn’t ask for the shit from your brother, and they didn’t ask for the drug dealers who are sucking the life from this pack. Which reminds me. What makes you think the dealers are human?”
Shadow frowned. “It was obvious from the start. Paranormals don’t deal in drugs, and besides the informant who set up the meeting told us that’s what they are.”
“That’s the same informant who’s currently sitting in the basement jail, along with his two friends after they kidnapped me and Talon today.”
His mate did have a good point. “But everyone knows paranormals don’t deal in drugs…”
Rowan held up his finger. “Everyone doesn’t know that. Unless you’ve met every paranormal, you can’t say that.” He tapped the finger he was holding up. “One - the informant was working for Simon not humans.” He tapped a second finger. “Two - a human wouldn’t think to mask the scent of explosives at Rogue Alley. Three - humans wouldn’t understand the mating bond between us. To humans at best I’d be nothing more than a boy toy and easily discarded. If they wanted leverage with you, they’d have stolen a pack female or a couple of kids. Four – Harry already told you the drugs that killed his son were laced with wolfsbane, which no typical drug dealers would think to use. And five,” he tapped his little finger.
Fucking hell, my mate’s right on every point. “Five?”
“Five – you said Simon showed real fear when he mentioned this mysterious person who wanted you out of the way. Simon wouldn’t be afraid of a human, no matter how much of a thug the dealer might be. He might have a stick up his ass, and he’s spent too long getting a tan to do this pack any good, but Simon’s still a wolf shifter. An old one. Oh, and incidentally, I doubt Simon is the only elder involved in all of this. I’d say they all are, but I could be wrong about that.”
“You’ve been right so far.” Shadow leaned back against the headboard and slapped his own head. “Why didn’t we see any of this?”
“Because you were thinking with your First Lieutenant brain, not the instincts of a wolf,” Rowan said sharply. “This whole thing has been like a campaign in a war zone
for you, but it’s something much closer to home than that.”
“What do you mean?” Shadow couldn’t believe there was something else he might have missed.
“This is a pack takeover, pure and simple. Percy had been in charge roughly eight years. And in that time this pack has gone downhill badly. No one has any money; the pack members can barely keep themselves fed. The alpha, your father, was sick and barely hanging onto his sanity. Pack morale is at an all time low and that’s without the drugs.”
“I’m still not seeing a scenario for a pack takeover.” Shadow loved the way Rowan’s mind worked, but he had to be wrong on this, surely.
“The only reason your father was still alive when you got home, is because no matter what Percy did to this pack, he was only ever going to be a beta. If the council caught wind of his death, then Percy would have been out.”
“The council would appoint another alpha to take my place if I couldn’t be located,” Shadow nodded, showing he was following Rowan so far.
“Which Percy definitely didn’t want. But if another alpha, pride leader, or similar, made a deal with Percy to help run the pack with him, when your father did die…”
“Or was threatening Percy with a pack takeover, once my father was gone.” Shadow’s eyes widened as he stared at his mate – his very naked mate, who’d never looked more beautiful than he did when his smarts were showing.
Rowan shrugged. “I don’t know the specifics. But there’s another strong paranormal involved in all this somewhere, I’m sure of it. What I do know is, that no one knew the extent of your father’s mental demise. Percy never let anyone see him, ever. Not even the elders.”
“But the elders knew something was going wrong. They’d have to be blind to just keep accepting Percy’s excuses for why he wasn’t available all the time.”
“True. But then why did you think they went on so many holidays?” Rowan rolled over and rubbed his stomach. “I need to see the tithe bank statements again, and a record of all the pack members. Food would be good too.”
Shit. Shadow tore his eyes from Rowan’s attractive junk and looked at his face instead. “You’re tired. This can wait until tomorrow. Nothing’s going to happen tonight.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, mate of mine. Talon and I were rescued. Simon hasn’t got anyone to hand over to whoever’s behind this, unless he sacrifices his own wife and kids, and he won’t do that. If he wasn’t in jail, he’d be packing right now. If I were you, I’d find out why that food is taking so long and get it up here along with the papers I’ve asked for. And I’d also round up the other elders and put them in protective custody too.”
Shadow double blinked. “Protective custody? That’s what you’re calling it?”
“If Simon was afraid, then you can bet the other elders are too. Taken out of their homes, separated so they can’t collude…”
“You, my mate, are fucking brilliant.” Shadow rolled over and pressed a hot kiss on his mate’s head and then rolled the other way off the bed. “But I am going to insist, as your mate and alpha, that at some point in the very near future, you’re going to allow me to explore that lovely body you’re so happy to lay out in front of me.”
Rowan’s look could only be called sultry and Shadow felt the heat from it run throughout his whole body. “Given your alpha tendencies I’m thinking the next time we’re intimate, you’re going to agree to being tied to this bed, and to me doing the exploring. Now find me some pants.”
“Yes, sir.” Shadow grinned as he reached for the nearest dresser. Strangely enough, the idea of being tied up, perked his cock up even more. I do hope my mate finds what he’s looking for in those papers before he flakes out on me.
Chapter Seventeen
Rowan hadn’t been so wired since he was studying for his final exams at college. Sleep was impossible. His skin was so sensitive he felt a jolt every time Shadow brushed against him. He was almost relieved when Shadow got called downstairs to greet even more friends of his from the army. At least now he didn’t have to contend with wanting to sink his teeth into the man every five minutes. His wolf had gotten quite pushy about his mate since he’d shifted, and Rowan could only assume it was because of his near-death experience – at least that was what he was telling himself.
Reaching for his cup of coffee sitting on the bedside table, Rowan scowled when he saw it was empty and the pot beside it was just as dry. The bed was littered with papers – three years’ worth of bank statements printed out, which Rowan was cross checking against his list of pack members.
“There’s something off here, I freaking know there is,” he muttered to himself as he checked the list again. For the most part, the figures added up. The pack member file wasn’t just a list of names. It included the age, mated status of any couples, the number of children in the household, as well as income earnings for each person which was updated annually. The latest figures related to three months before.
Rowan shook his head. Even little Tommy Sanderson had been hit up for tithes when he took on a paper round earlier that year, which Rowan thought was shit considering the boy was only twelve. Tommy earned the princely sum of $18.40 a week, and $3.70 of that was taken for tithe. Rowan’s own modest income was based on his highest earning month over the past year, at $1222.20. As he was paid royalties, there were some months when he was lucky if he made five hundred dollars, but his tithe was still $244.44 every single month, regardless of what went into his own bank account on a monthly basis.
Thank the Fates my lump sum from my game sale was being held in a trust until the game launches, Rowan thought with a sigh. With the release still two months away, he would have been stung for a huge amount of money in tithes if Percy caught wind of just how much that sale was worth. If I’d been allowed to keep any of it at all.
His eyes flicked up the list and he frowned as it landed on a name he knew reasonably well. Melissa Joy, aged twenty-four, was listed with one dependent, her son Brandon who was three years old. Under Percy’s tithe rule, she should have been paying forty percent of her $750 per month income. Rowan checked back on the bank statements. It was only showing $50 payments from her account instead of the $300 she should have been paying. Not only that, but Rowan knew she had a partner living with her. He’d seen the guy on Melissa’s stoop one morning and his grandmother confirmed Melissa was mated now and had been for some time.
But mated to who? There was no partner name against Melissa’s family, although she was listed as mated. Rowan glanced over at the clock, keen to call his grandmother and ask. But the digits showed it was after two in the morning and she would be asleep. Just like I should be, Rowan thought as he rubbed his eyes and winced as they stung. What the fuck is taking Shadow so long? Those men must be gossiping like old women.
Picking up his pen, he made a notation against Melissa’s name and started looking through the pack list with a more critical eye. Percy wasn’t known for cutting anyone any slack when it came to tithe payments. Maybe there were other “special cases,” Shadow would want to know about.
/~/~/~/~/
Leaning back in his chair, Shadow rested the edge of his foot on the kitchen table, a beer in his hand and a smile on his face. Bernie was busy telling a tall tale that involved two red heads and a pissed off captain, while Rutig was egging him on. Dominic, Marco and Craven were similarly relaxed with the remains of their meal still cluttering the table. The scene reminded Shadow of the years spent in the army. The six wolf shifters had gravitated to each other during Shadow’s first deployment and they’d been solid friends ever since.
He chuckled as Bernie yelled, “she held out her beer bottle and said ‘stick it in that’. I mean, I said, ‘what the hell darling, if you think any dick will fit down the neck of that, you’ve been deprived your whole life’. Total crack up, I tell you. Rutig was in the process of pulling out his dick, to prove my point you understand, when we got thrown out.”
“It’s good to have supportive friends.�
�� Shadow waved his beer in salute as the others laughed.
“So,” Rutig said, nursing his own beer. A beta wolf, Rutig had muscles on top of muscles, but his dark eyes were as sharp as they ever were, regardless of the number of empty bottles scattered across the tables. “By my reckoning, we’re one short in our band of merry men this evening. Don’t tell me curly-locks refused your claim.”
“Rowan’s resting, in our bed,” Shadow said more sharply than he intended. “He was kidnapped, badly injured, and rescued all in the past twenty-four hours, in case you forgot. You can both meet him in the morning when you cook us all breakfast.”
“And you’re down here, talking to us, instead of in bed with that little hottie?” Rutig rubbed behind his ear as he shook his head. “Man, Shadow, you’ve changed. Shit, when you showed us that little cutie’s graduation photo, I was ready to hop on a plane and get over here and claim him before you did. A sweet omega wolf, with no need to prep him beyond a finger or two. Fuck man, I wish I could be so lucky.”
Shadow snarled as Bernie slapped his friend around the head, hard. “Cut it out, Rut. That’s not how mates are meant to be talked about. You’ll see for yourself when you find your own. Now zip it.”
Leaning his elbows on the table, Craven said quietly, “Our illustrious alpha has had a few teething problems with his mating, but a lot of that has to do with the state of this pack. Shadow can’t be expected to woo his mate and weed out the troubles here all at the same time. This is not the home sweet home Shadow used to talk about, and Rowan is…” Craven bit his lip, looking at Shadow.
“Rowan was hurt, and I don’t just mean today,” Shadow said, grateful for Craven’s discretion, but keen for his friends to understand the true depth of the situation. “My brother beat him badly, and I think that’s why Rowan’s gran got in touch with me although she never said specifically. He walks with a limp. It’s permanent.”
The silence was respectful. It was Bernie who spoke up first. “I guess that means we’re all going to have to be on our A-game then, doesn’t it? If there are shits in this pack, then we clean them out. No omega deserves to be abused by the people who’re supposed to protect them.”
