by M H Soars
“Now explain to me what happened to trigger a partial shift in a wolf barely a day old.”
“We don’t know.” Sam shrugs. “She got mad when Tristan told her she couldn’t go home and, well, he got in her face. That’s when she shifted. I thought only alphas and betas were capable of that.”
“Do you think Amelia could potentially be an alpha?” I ask cautiously. First, Dante’s painting shows the woman surrounded by three wolves, and now this? As much as I’d like to dismiss Dante’s episodes as inconsequential, I’m not foolish. Amelia is not an ordinary wolf.
“Well, Lyria would love that.” Sam juts his chin at me, making me bristle. The last thing I want to worry about is the pack’s female beta.
Mom pinches the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes for a brief second. “Did you at least explain the rules of the pack to Amelia?”
“We didn’t get the chance before Tristan went all caveman on her,” Sam said, once again opening his big mouth.
“Are you trying to get me to punch you?” I say, but once I catch Mom’s death glare aimed at me, I lower my gaze, dropping the aggressive stance.
I’m a grown man, and she’s still able to stir fear in me. Mervina Wolfe is the female alpha for good reason.
“I spoke with your father. He’s stuck in Vancouver for three more days, so we’ve decided to introduce Amelia to the pack before his return.”
My spine goes taut. “Do you think that’s wise? What if she loses control and partially shifts again in front of everyone?”
“We’ll have to make sure no one aggravates her enough for that to happen, which means you must control your temper.” Mom shifts her focus to Dante and Sam. “All of you.”
“My temper is fine,” I reply through clenched teeth.
“Clearly,” Sam mutters.
“How long until the sedative wears off?” Dante asks.
“She won’t be up until tomorrow morning. Let’s bring her to the guest room. Dante, please stay with her. I don’t want her to be alone when she wakes up. The poor girl needs answers.”
“Why Dante? I can do it.” Sam takes a step forward, making Dante hold Amelia tighter against his chest. Ah, shit. I hope they don’t start fighting over her. She’s not even a Crimson Hollow wolf for crying out loud.
Mom cuts Sam a glacial stare. “Because I said so.”
Dante clears his throat, commanding everyone’s attention. “I caught Seth snooping right under Red’s window this morning. He knows we have a new wolf in the pack. I’m not sure how long he’ll keep his mouth shut.”
The accusation in Dante’s tone is clear. Never mind that Seth is one my closest friends and I’d trust him with my life. It seems everyone is dead set on pissing me off this week.
“Seth won’t say a word.” I watch Dante through slitted eyes.
“Your trust in him is misplaced, brother. He’s a sneaky bastard.”
“Is that your opinion or is your statement based on facts?” I don’t even attempt to hide my irritation.
“Didn’t I just give you a fact? Why was Seth listening to a conversation not meant for his ears?” Dante raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’m not a fan of the guy either,” Sam adds. “No facts to back it up, though. It’s just a feeling.”
Clenching my jaw, I try to not let my temper get the better of me. Seth has been my best friend since we were young. He was the only shifter in the pack who hadn’t treated me differently because I was the alpha’s son. I know Seth is ambitious and hopes to one day become the pack’s beta, but I don’t see any problem with that.
“Get the wolves ready for an assembly in two hours. I’ll make the announcement about Amelia. It’ll hopefully give the pack enough time to digest the news before we present her to them,” Mom says.
As usual, she doesn’t make any comment about Seth. Dante never hid the fact he disliked my friend, but Mom has always chosen to remain neutral. If Seth was up to no good, she would be the first to point it out. One more reason for me to ignore Dante’s opinion.
“I’m going to spread the word about the assembly,” I say.
Not waiting for a reply, I stride out of my old office. I’ve barely used the room since I moved to the city. The studio apartment above the company’s office is where I spend most of my nights. It allows me the privacy I’ll no longer have if I become the new alpha.
Groaning, I shake my head. I don’t want to think about a future that most likely won’t come to pass for another decade. My father is still in his prime, and I don’t foresee him stepping down any time soon.
As soon as I step out of the alpha’s manor, Lyria finds me. I know immediately that seduction is not part of her game today. On the contrary, she’s pissed.
“Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to train the new enforcers this morning.”
Ah, fuck. I forgot about that. “I was dealing with an emergency.”
“What kind of emergency? I wasn’t told anything.”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Mother has called an assembly in two hours. Call everyone.”
I try to sidestep her, but the woman grabs my arm. “I’m the beta, Tristan. I should know before everyone else.”
Narrowing my eyes, I look down at her hand. “Watch yourself, Lyria. You’re only the beta because all the other females in the pack are too afraid to challenge you. I’m still the stronger wolf here.”
She winces as if I’d slapped her. Implying she’s not as good as she thinks she is was a low blow on my part. But I won’t take it back.
Letting go of my arm, she steps back. “Are you threatening me?”
“No. I’m reminding you of a fact. Now do as I say.”
Lyria watches me through narrowed eyes. “Fine. But you’re wrong about me, Tristan. I’m the beta because I deserve to be.”
She strides away with tense shoulders, head held high. I shouldn’t have mentioned anything about her status. I’ve never once contested she was the beta by merit and not by default. But once Amelia is presented to the pack, Lyria will no doubt make the connection. She’ll know Amelia is a threat to her position.
Way to go, Tristan. You just put a target on Amelia’s back.
Chapter 10
Samuel
For the first time in months, Tristan slept in his old room. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out he doesn’t want to be too far from Red no matter how much he acts like a total douche-canoe around the woman. He’s ensnared by her just like Dante and I are, but he’s fighting the pull like crazy. Idiot.
Deep in my bones, I feel there’s something different about her. She’s a pretty sexy thing—I would have totally banged her before if given the chance—but now that she’s a wolf, it’s more than mere lust, which makes things complicated.
Curse the wolves and their hierarchy. No wonder Mom asked Dante to keep an eye on Red; he’s the one she trusts the most to keep his dick in his pants.
Stopping in front of Red’s door, I press my ear against it. It’s dead silent on the other side. She must still be sleeping. It’s an effort to walk away, but I have things to do, so I continue down the corridor until I’m banging on Tristan’s door.
“Yo, Tristan! Open up.”
There’s a grumble, then the sound of sheets rubbing together. After a few moments, Tristan opens the door in a brusque movement and glowers. “What do you want, Sam?”
Pushing him out of the way, I go straight for the curtains in his room, yanking them apart so the morning sunlight can come through.
“Rise up bright and sunny, sunshine.”
“Fuck off.” In jerky motions, Tristan heads to the chair in the corner on the room and grabs the T-shirt he left there. “Since when do you wake up before noon?”
“I didn’t sleep at all last night, and we have shit to do.”
When Tristan’s head pops through the neck hole of his shirt, his eyes are narrowed to slits.
“How many cups of coffee have you had already?”
�
�Five, but who’s counting?”
“Is our guest up yet?” I don’t miss Tristan’s contemptuous tone. He won’t be winning the Mr. Congeniality title any time soon.
“I don’t think so.” Moving to his dresser, I randomly grab one of Tristan’s cologne bottles. After I remove the cap, I take a whiff, grimacing when the scent hits my nose.
“Then what do you want?” Tristan grabs the bottle from my hand, placing it back on the dresser.
“You mentioned the kid from the hardware store might be able to help identify the tracking device.”
Tristan freezes, his jaw locking tight. “Let me guess. You want to go there now.”
I nod, bouncing on the balls of my feet. Maybe I did have one too many cups of coffee. Sex would have been able to take care of the jitters, but I’d have to go into town for that. I hadn’t wanted to—nor had I been able to, if I were being honest—leave the compound last night.
Tristan stares out the window, rubbing his jaw. “I suppose we should take care of this sooner rather than later. Carpe diem and all.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s seize the day.”
I swing around, ready to leave his room, but stop in my tracks when I don’t sense Tristan following me. He’s gazing at the wall to his right, the one separating his room from Red’s. Ah, fuck. I knew he wasn’t immune to the woman.
“Are you coming or what?” I ask.
“Yes, give me a minute, will you? I’ll meet you outside.”
“Hell to the fucking no. I’m not waiting an hour for you to finish your beauty rituals. Let’s go.”
“I don’t have beauty rituals,” Tristan replies through clenched teeth.
“Really? Shall I go into your bathroom and count how many creams and hair products you have?”
Tristan glares with jaw locked tight. I maintain eye contact despite his stupid expression. It’s like when we used to play games as children to see who could go longer without blinking.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with. Being in your presence this early is already giving me a headache.”
It’s been ages since I drove into town this early in the morning. I’m a nocturnal person, preferring to stay up all night and not wake up until the middle of the afternoon. It’s a preference that suits my lifestyle as the lead singer of a rock band, or maybe I picked that career because I enjoy the nightlife so much. Who cares? The truth is nothing really exciting happens in this town during the day. Most shenanigans—caused by human or supes—happen at night ninety-nine percent of the time.
The hardware store sits in the corner of the main street facing the square. It used to be a hole-in-the-wall store when it first opened more than thirty years ago. It has now expanded to take up three large retail spaces, but that’s not surprising. What are people to do in such a small town besides fix things in their houses?
It’s not even nine, yet it’s already open while most other businesses don’t start welcoming customers until ten. I follow Tristan in, the bell chiming as he swings the door open. I do a quick once over, feeling bad for the people who work here. I’m already bored by all the merchandise and the neutral color scheme of the place.
Tristan continues toward the back of the store, so I increase my pace to keep up. There’s a guy wearing thick-rimmed glasses behind the customer service counter. His head is down as he stares at his phone. He glances up when we approach, then he straightens his spine and hastily puts his phone away. I drop my eyes to his name tag. Peter.
“Mr. Wolfe, how can I help you?” he asks.
“Hi, Peter. I was wondering if you could help with some technical stuff.” Tristan rests his hands casually on the counter. He’s trying his best to turn the menacing-wolf vibe down a notch. It’s something we all have to do when dealing with non-supes, because even in human form, the otherness energy surrounds us. Tristan has always had trouble keeping his beast in check.
Peter quickly spares me a glance, and I catch a hint of surprise in his eyes. He turns his attention back to Tristan almost immediately and asks, “Computer related?”
“Not exactly.” Tristan reaches inside his jacket pocket, then pulls out the tracking device we found on the rogue. “I was wondering if you could tell me what this is.”
The guy takes the device from Tristan, and begins to inspect it. After a moment, he says. “This is high-tech stuff. I believe Australian ranchers were working on something similar.”
“Please explain,” Tristan replies.
“With consumers more and more focused on the quality of the food they eat, free-range livestock is the way of the future. But letting a two-ton animal go wandering can cause a lot of stress to ranchers. So they came up with something similar to this. It’s basically a combination of GPS technology and biometric sensors.”
“Biometric sensors? Like what? A Fitbit for cows?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Something like that.” Peter examines the device more closely, frowning. “Except this apparatus looks a little different than the stuff I’ve read about. Actually, holy shit!” Peter’s eyebrow shoots up to the heavens, and his mouth hangs open.
“What?” Tristan almost growls.
“Give me a second.” Peter reaches down to a drawer, then pulls out a pair of small pliers. With care, he eases free a couple of thin wires that were hidden under a plastic round circle. “I’ve seen something like this on a TV show once. Scientists were trying to find a way to control certain behavior on animals. They’d attach a small device like this on the back of their heads, and electrical conduits would send pulses of energy to the animal’s brain. Depending on the frequency, it could tell a lab rat to eat, run, and even attack.”
“What the fuck! How is that legal?” I ask.
Peter shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Are you sure we’re looking at the same thing?” Tristan chimes in.
The guy turns the device again, scrutinizing it carefully. “Well, not one-hundred percent sure. But it sure looks like it. Do you see these two round bumps?” He points at the small protuberance on the back of the device, and Tristan and I lean forward to see it. “Well, this is what made me think of the stuff I saw on that show, plus the little wires.”
“I see.” Tristan’s eyebrows are furrowed as he stares hard at the mysterious gadget. His mind is probably going a hundred miles an hour thinking of all the ramifications if Peter is correct on his assessment.
“Where did you get this, if you don’t mind me asking?” Peter pushes his glasses back up his nose, trying to look and sound innocent.
Yeah, I’m not buying it. No geeky guy would just answer questions without wanting to know more.
“It was a gift from a fan.” I make a motion for Peter to hand over the device.
“Strange gift,” he says, still eyeing the object too intently as he hands it over.
I curl my fingers around the little box, then shove it in my pocket and away from the guy’s curious eyes. “Well, maybe she saw the same show you did and was hoping to control me.”
Jesus, that was lame. I don’t think I could have sold that story to a five-year-old. But what was I supposed to say? If I told Peter we found the device in the forest, he could get ideas. We definitely don’t need a curious human poking around pack business.
Chapter 11
Red
My mouth tastes like ashes, and my head feels like it’s going to explode. When I open my eyes, the little illumination in the room only makes my headache ten times worse. My forehead is clammy, and I’m unbearably hot. With a groan, I push the covers off my body, but that does little to cool me down. I get rid of the sweatshirt next, breathing a sigh of relief when the cool air from the AC hits my naked skin.
“Good morning,” someone says from the corner of the room.
I scream, pulling the sheet over my body to cover myself. Dante is sitting on a chair in the darkness.
“What the hell are you doing in my room?”
“Mom asked me to keep an eye on you.”
My
jaw slackens, and it takes me a moment to find my voice. “You spent the night here?”
“Yup.” He nods, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward.
“That’s an invasion of my privacy.”
“I’m sorry. She didn’t want you waking up alone.”
“Because she thought I would try to escape again.” I don’t make any attempt to hide the bitterness in my tone.
I’m in a different room. The walls are covered by a paisley-print wallpaper. Heavy curtains block the light coming from outside, and only a few rays manage to pass through the barrier.
“What happened to me last night?” I ask.
“You got mad at Tristan. Somehow managed a partial shift. Then you freaked out. Mom had to give you a sedative.”
Closing my eyes for a moment, I pinch the bridge of my nose. Now I know why I feel hungover.
“You could have warned me of your presence before I took my clothes off.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I dozed off. When I woke up, you were already naked.”
I study Dante’s face. I don’t think he’s lying. If that statement had come from Samuel, it would have been another story.
“Right. Well, it’s not like you haven’t seen me without my clothes anyway.”
Dante eases back on the chair, rubbing his jaw. His hair is still as messy as I remember from last night, but he’s sporting a five o’clock shadow now, too.
“You need to get over your issues with nakedness. Since our clothes don’t magically appear and disappear when we shift, we often have to take them off in front of others. Trust me, nobody cares. It’s a natural thing.”
“Well, I haven’t embraced the wolf life yet. It’s only been a day. And I don’t believe you guys don’t stare.”
“We don’t. Believe me. We’re used to it by now.”
A crazy impulse takes over me. Deliberately dropping the sheet covering my upper body, I reveal my breasts to Dante. My nipples turn hard in an instant, but I’m not sure if it’s just because of the cold air. “So, this does nothing for you?” I ask, voice low and sultry.
