by Lisa Oliver
“There might not be many pack members left by the time we’re finished,” Dominic said, opening another beer. “The elders are as corrupt as hell. Shadow’s brother and his cronies are dead, but it doesn’t seem to have made much difference. The only people who’ve tried to do something positive to help are a guy called Harry who lost his son to drugs, Talon, and Rowan’s gran. Personally, I’m all for getting a bulldozer and trashing the whole fucking place. Gives me the heebie-jeebies wandering around here and everyone slinking in the shadows, freaking gossiping among themselves. But they don’t speak to us or tell us what’s wrong so we can fix it.”
Shadow felt much the same way. It would be so easy to walk away with Rowan tucked under his arm. But he wasn’t about to quit just yet. There was still Rowan’s gran to consider, if nothing else. He wasn’t about to leave her on her own. “We’ve been playing nice with them so far, maybe now…” He stopped as Rowan came hobbling into the room, brandishing a stack of papers. His sleep pants were dropping dangerously low over his ass, and the moment his sweet scent hit Shadow’s nose, Shadow’s cock stood up and saluted.
“I found something, I found something,” Rowan said excitedly, waving his papers about. And then, he must have realized there were two strangers in the room, and he stopped, his eyes wide. His papers slapped against his bare chest as he tried to cover himself. “Er… Er…”
“Little red, I thought you’d be sleeping by now. You’ve caught us doing what all good army buddies do best. Gossiping.” Shadow smiled as he dropped his foot from the table back on the floor and patted his thigh. “Come and sit with me. These two new guys are Bernie and Rutig. Bernie’s the guy with the nose stud and earing, Rutig is known for his muscles. But they’re good guys. You can trust them.”
“Nice to meet you.” Rowan bobbed his head as he sidled around the table to where Shadow was sitting. “I didn’t think,” he said quietly as he edged his ass on Shadow’s thigh. “Haven’t you guys been traveling all day?”
“Bernie barely let me stop for a piss break,” Rutig said with a yawn. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll crash when we’ve heard your news. Shadow and the others have already filled us in on most of what’s going on.”
Shadow bit his lip to stop from groaning as his fingers encountered Rowan’s naked belly. It’s just to stop him falling off my lap, he told himself as he pulled his mate close. Rutig was right. I am so damn lucky.
Rowan looked up at him, his green eyes sparkling although they were lined with red. “I think I’ve found our problem,” he said shyly. “I’m fairly sure the pack’s been infiltrated. We’ve got spies in our territory.”
Chapter Eighteen
It turned out the men were more receptive to what Rowan explained than he thought they’d be. It helped that Dominic, who Rowan was starting to see as the brains among his friends, had taken an inventory of who was living in the houses they’d visited as part of the alpha meet and greet done just after the pack meeting. By cross checking Dominic’s list against the established pack record, they quickly found five families who had “extra” family members not on the pack list. In each of those cases Rowan had already flagged the family because their tithe amounts were considerably lower than they should have been.
“What the fuck is going on with this damn pack?” Shadow groaned, shoving the papers away from him and leaning back in his chair.
Rowan had stayed perched on his lap and wondered if he should get off. His mate looked exhausted and out of the window, he could see the first blush of daybreak. He was just about to suggest they all get some sleep, when Craven asked, “What’s the pack policy about non-pack members visiting the territory?”
“I don’t see how that matters,” Bernie said with a yawn. “Maybe this is just a case of some of the families here being close buddies with Percy and getting reduced tithes and special privileges because of it.”
“No, no, Craven’s got a good point,” Rowan said quickly. “This pack never allows non-pack members to stay in the territory overnight. Even visiting members from other packs had to stay in hotels over on the human side of town if they were here for more than a day. I remember specifically, because Gran got real upset when her friend Sandy had a cousin come over from England. The woman was planning to stay for a week, but Percy wouldn’t give her permission to stay in a pack-owned house, so she had to cut her trip short. The hotel fees were more than she’d budgeted for on her trip. Sandy was gutted and wanted to leave the pack, but her husband said she couldn’t take the kids if she did.”
“Sandy and her husband aren’t true mates, are they?” Shadow asked.
“No. Very few couples in this pack are,” Rowan said with a sigh. “I mean, no one really gets the chance to interact with anyone other than the humans they might work with and non-pack members aren’t encouraged to visit this territory either. The big parties over on Rogue Alley were the only times anyone could wander around here, and that was all so Percy could sell his drugs.”
“This place sounds more like a cult than a pack every day,” Marco said covering his yawn. The men were all showing signs of exhaustion. “Our problem is going to be fucking manpower. We’re going to have to hit all these five families at the same time, otherwise we’re going to lose some of them and it’s clear whoever’s behind all of this is too scared to show his fucking face.”
“And we still haven’t worked out where my late brother was getting his drugs from in the first place,” Shadow snapped. “I half expect some heavy to turn up, pounding on the door and demanding money because Percy stiffed him for his cut or something.”
“They’d be banging on some door in Rogue Alley,” Rowan said quietly. “I told you, Percy never allowed anyone in this house.”
“And from the state of this place, it’s not surprising.” Dominic grabbed some of the empties off the table and stood up. “We can talk forever and still not get anywhere. I say we sleep in shifts – two hours rotation guarding the house, then bed. Reconvene at six tonight and go and drag in five more families for a fucking interrogation. Craven and I can take first guard shift, then Marco and Shadow. You and Rutig can take the last shift, Bernie, seeing as you guys haven’t slept since you got here and by then me and Craven should be awake.”
“I can’t leave the elders sitting down in the cells for too long or I’ll have a riot on my hands,” Shadow said firmly. “You five work out the guard duty among yourselves and make sure all of you get some sleep. Call in Harry and Talon if you need to. They’ll both be awake soon. I’m going to get my sweet mate tucked up in bed, and then I’m going to pull Simon out of his cell and start interrogating him.”
“You are not doing that without me.” Rowan was gutted. He really thought he’d done something positive for his mate, finding out about the interlopers and the reduced tithe payments. He was stung to the core Shadow thought he should stay in bed when there was still work to be done.
The hands resting around his waist firmed against his skin. “Little red,” Shadow crooned in that low sexy voice that made Rowan’s insides melt and his cock perk up despite how tired he was. “I’m not saying you can’t be there, babe. It’s just you’re going to need your sleep when I’m done putting you to bed.” His cocky grin was guaranteed to make a man drop his pants.
“Seriously?” Rowan jumped off Shadow’s lap, grabbing at the waist band of his sleep pants as they threatened to fall off. He turned to his mate and fixed him with his best glare. “You’re planning to sex me up to shut me up, so you can go and rough up that sleazy elder while I’m sleeping apparently being tired out from all your alpha attentions? What the hell were you thinking, saying something like that?”
Someone laughed, but Rowan only had eyes for his mate. Was he blushing? If he isn’t, he damn should be. Treating me like a concubine.
“I didn’t mean it quite like that,” Shadow said quickly, reaching out as if to pull him close again. When Rowan evaded his grabby hands, Shadow pouted. He actually pouted like a teenager and
Rowan would have laughed, but he was too pissed off.
“That’s how it came across. Maybe you need to work on your delivery. I’m going to get some clothes on,” he said, sticking his nose in the air. “There’d better be fresh coffee made for me by the time I get back, and if you go near any of those prisoners before I’m ready, you’ll be sleeping on the couch for a month. Alone!” he added for emphasis as he stomped out of the kitchen.
Stalking through the house as best he could with his leg aching, Rowan fumed. He was tired. He was so damn tired he could barely see straight, but he’d been just as exhausted before and pulled through it. If those rugged muscle-men with their buzz cuts thought he needed to be tucked up in bed while they did all the heavy work, they had a lot to learn about their alpha mate.
Damn alpha, trying to use his alpha hormones to side line me, Rowan continued his inner rant as he grabbed his clothes. He wouldn’t have minded so much – it was heady being seen as sexually desirable by such a strong male – but his damned mate used their natural attraction to each other to achieve his own ends.
Shadow was just as tired as he was. Rowan had seen that in the dark smudges under his mate’s eyes and the weary slump of his shoulders. There was a tiny part of him that felt guilty for adding more stress to his mate’s shoulders, but he shoved that feeling aside. The one thing he had decided for himself, while he was trapped in that water tower was if he got out, he was going to meet life head on, and that included the problems his pack was having. He’d thought, after the talk Shadow and he shared, that his mate agreed, but clearly that was a five minute aberration spoken in the heat of a moment that didn’t last.
Buttoning up his shirt, Rowan pushed his sleep pants off his hips and left them on the floor. He sat on the edge of the bed, his back aching as he bent over to tug a pair of jeans over his feet. The scars on his bad leg were red and angry looking, and he rubbed over them, willing the aches away.
The mattress under his butt was so soft and all Rowan wanted to do was lie back and ignore the world for at least ten hours. But he couldn’t do it. I have to get my mate to see me as an equal in this relationship or it’s never going to work. And that meant ignoring his tiredness, just as Shadow was doing and forging onwards. Pulling his jeans up, Rowan stood so he could get the material over his bare ass, zipping up quickly. Jacket or no jacket? It wasn’t that cold in the house, but Rowan found the one he wore when he was interviewed for his degree and shrugged it over his shoulders.
He caught sight of himself in the mirror. His curls were all over the place, but the rest of him looked clean and casually smart. He straightened his back and gave himself a nod. “I’m definitely alpha mate material,” he told his reflection, “and I’ll kick anyone who tries to suggest otherwise.” Which reminded him. Rowan found his boots and slipped them on. Now, I just need coffee, he thought as he tried to keep his balance even as he walked out to find Shadow.
Chapter Nineteen
Shadow knew he’d fucked up big time with his mate and he wasn’t sure the large mug of coffee he’d prepared would qualify as an apology. He imagined Rowan would have more to say to him, as he hovered at the foot of the stairs, but his mate just accepted the coffee he offered and took a long sip, before saying, “Shall we get this over with?”
“This could get ugly,” Shadow warned in a low voice as he led his mate towards the basement door. The padlock was already open, the hinges creaking as he swung the door wide. “Simon was terrified when I hassled him about your whereabouts. He could do something stupid.”
“Stupid is his middle name,” Rowan said curtly. “Don’t hold back from tearing his throat out on my account. I’m too tired to give a damn.”
Which is why you should be in bed. But then, Shadow knew they both should be. The army had trained him to go without sleep for days, but the previous twenty-four hours had been an emotional tornado. The only thing burning in Shadow’s mind was the desire to know the name and nature of the danger that was threatening his pack and then he wanted some serious time to grovel to his mate.
He nodded at Marco who was standing outside the interview room. “I put him in here,” Marco said gruffly. “Talon’s awake, and Harry’s on his way over. They’re both going on guard duty while the others get some shut eye. I’ll stay out here and watch that none of the other elders get mouthy, until you’re done. Simon’s yells woke them up.”
Shadow could’ve hugged his intuitive friend. Marco was well aware Shadow could hold his own against any wolf, but the same couldn’t be said for the alpha mate and moving Simon to the interview room meant at least his mate could sit down. He nodded instead, opening the door and striding inside, feeling Rowan’s presence behind him. The door slammed with a clunk.
The room was bare except for a small wooden table that was listing on one side, and four straight-backed chairs. Simon was sitting in one of them, a glower on his face that was marred by a huge red mark about the size of Marco’s fist. Shadow inwardly smirked. Marco had never been known for his diplomacy skills, especially at five in the morning.
Dragging a chair away from the table for Rowan to sit on, Shadow stayed standing, his face expressionless. He’d often used silence as an interrogation tool, especially with someone as weak willed as the man in front of him. But it seemed his mate had other ideas. Sitting down and taking a long sip of his coffee, Rowan said brightly, “I hear you had me kidnapped and were planning to give me to some mastermind who’s threatening my mate and the pack. Want to tell me what that’s about?”
“I don’t have to say anything to you,” Simon turned his focus on Rowan and snarled. Shadow was ready to beat him then and there, but it seemed Rowan wasn’t finished.
“That’s true,” he said in the same bright tone. “You don’t have to say anything despite the fact I am this pack’s alpha mate, Simon. I mean, it’s not as though you’re going to be allowed to stay with the pack, that’s if you’re still breathing when this interview is over. Shadow’s pretty mad about the whole water tower incident, and frankly, I rank your chances of getting out of here alive at about twenty percent at best. Of course, that ranking is subject to change but that depends entirely on anything you may or may not say. It’s up to you.”
Shadow watched Simon’s eyes flicker between Rowan and himself. Yeah, you know who the bigger threat is, asshole, he thought, although he made sure his expression didn’t change. Rowan was still sipping his coffee, watching Simon as if he was a curiosity.
“I’m not saying anything.” Simon folded his arms across his chest.
Rowan shrugged. Shadow didn’t move. After a few long moments, Simon started to fidget.
“He’ll know, you know,” Simon said at last. “This guy you’re up against has been determined to get this pack one way or another for years. He only let Percy stick around and act like he’s the boss because he knew you’d come out of the woodwork eventually. I mean, there’s no point in killing a beta son, if an alpha son is still in the wings, is there?”
“Oh, we know all about him,” Rowan said airily as if he and Simon were just gossiping about the weather. “We’ve already traced the other members of his rogue gang. No, no, all we want to know is about the drugs. Why does this guy of yours want a pack full of druggies? I mean, if everyone is under the influence it’s not as though they can fight, work, or do anything positive for the alpha or the rest of the pack. Look at Harry’s son for example. He was one of the fittest wolves I knew, and he died from using drugs.”
Smart mate, Shadow thought approvingly. Rowan hadn’t actually lied, something that could be scented by any paranormal if he did. He also admired the fact that Rowan was talking to Simon, with just the right amount of omega concern. It’s remarkably effective.
“That boy wasn’t meant to die. That was all Percy’s doing,” Simon lifted the corner of his lip. “The drugs Percy was peddling were all human based. Bart resisted… resisted big time and didn’t want a bar of Percy or what he was doing. He became a challenge and wh
en Percy told Bart the drugs were for humans and wouldn’t even impact them, he dared Bart to try it. The poor sod didn’t know it was laced. By the time he did, it was already too late. Percy crowed about it for weeks and held the whole thing over our heads, showing us what would happen if we crossed him.”
“It was a shame. Bart was a nice guy,” Rowan agreed. “He definitely didn’t deserve to die like that, but then drugs will fuck up anyone, users and sellers alike. It’s weird though, don’t you think? I mean you’re an elder. Have you ever seen any pack be interested in drug distribution before? I just can’t see the point myself.”
Shadow was stunned. While he was struggling with the urge to rip Simon a new asshole, Rowan was chatting to him like the trusted advisor Simon was supposed to be. The skill, that ability to talk to a person and make them feel as though they were the only person of importance, was amazing. And Simon was lapping it up.
“We’ve become infected by a consumer-based society, always wanting more, more, more.” Simon leaned his elbows on the table, his defensive posture from before completely gone. “Wolves of old never bothered about such things. But then, they didn’t live and work among humans either. They had their hierarchy, every wolf knew what was expected of them, they lived off the land, and all looked after each other.”
“I see,” Rowan nodded eagerly. “So, this whole drug dealing proposition is like a revenge thing. I mean, humans took over the lands we used to run free on, decimated our hunting grounds, built cities in the huge tracts of forest we used to live on, and shifters had no choice but to assimilate or die.”
“Exactly.” Simon slammed his open palm on the table. “I mean, I wasn’t keen on the idea at first. But I remember when this pack was completely surrounded by land, streams, and forests. The odd human came around and he was either avoided or gently persuaded to leave. But then the rail line came through. Honestly, it was like you blinked and there was a fucking town where our lands used to be. And there was nothing we could do. The old alpha back then – Percy’s grandfather – he tried to stop the progress, but we didn’t know about land ownership or things like that. We were lucky to keep a hold of the houses we did have.”
