by Shea Balik
Ward didn’t finish, he didn’t have to. Greyson didn’t think he’d ever forget the smell of Kylo’s burning flesh when he’d found him. “We need to check on Kylo injuries.”
Ward nodded. “Same with Elton. Whoever wanted us dead, did a good job making sure the fire would spread quickly.”
“We’re also going to need supplies,” Ward let out a harsh chuckle. “Unless I’m mistaken, Kylo here isn’t wearing any clothes. It will make taking him through a town a little hard to explain.”
Greyson was more worried about medical supplies and food, but Ward was right. They would need to find a way to get all those things. Since they had all been sleeping, it was doubtful any of them had their identification, credit cards or money on them, making buying what they needed impossible.
***
If only Greyson had known how right he’d been, he might have tried to go back through that inferno to at least get his wallet. They’d been on the run for a week with only a few chances to steal clothes off of clotheslines. Their luck with medical supplies was even worse.
Their only saving grace was Greyson’s ability to hunt the food they needed. He was a panther shifter, providing enough food for them was relatively easy. Keeping them warm enough without alerting whoever was chasing them was another matter entirely.
In the beginning, Greyson had believed they’d gotten away without anyone being the wiser they’d survived the fire. He’d been wrong. While hunting two days ago, he’d smelled their pursuers.
It meant no fires, especially at night when the early spring temperatures still dipped to freezing. Greyson and Ward did their best to find them some kind of shelter, but without heat, it didn’t offer much help.
If it wasn’t for Kylo, they would have easily evaded whoever was after them, but Kylo was barely conscious and his burns weren’t healing like they should. They needed help.
“There’s a town not too far ahead that we’ve heard accepts gay shifters.” Greyson wasn’t so sure he believed the stories but they were running out of options.
He’d thought things would get better when the new Council had made it illegal to persecute gay shifters, but too many packs didn’t care what the new Council had to say.
“Are you crazy?” Ward demanded. “We barely made it out alive from the last Alpha and now you want us to beg for help from another one.”
Teddy unwrapped Kylo’s bandages and grimaced. “I don’t think we have a choice, Ward. Kylo’s wounds aren’t healing and he’s barely been conscious since this morning.” Teddy’s soft brown eyes held Greyson’s, then shifted to Ward. “He’s getting worse. We need medical help or he’d going to die.”
“Teddy and Greyson are right, Ward.” Elton reached out to put his hand on Ward’s. His own wince made it painfully obvious, that he could use a doctor, too. Even though Elton’s burn was only to his arm, it had gone to the bone.
He was healing, but exhausted from being on the run with nowhere decent to rest, Elton wasn’t recovering as fast as he should.
If all that wasn’t bad enough, Greyson and his friends didn’t have any way to defend themselves. Greyson’s panther could take out quite a few lowlifes all on his own, but there were at least a dozen chasing them and Greyson had no doubt they all had guns.
As much as it galled him to admit, they needed help. Something that had proven dangerous in the past. If it weren’t for his friends, Greyson would have shifted into his panther long ago and lived in the middle of nowhere, where no one would have been able to find him.
Hell, his friends probably would have joined him if Ward wasn’t an Orca and Kylo a harp seal, making it impossible to find a place they could all live together in their animal form. Greyson still wasn’t even sure how these four men had decided they wanted to be friends with him.
All through his childhood, Greyson hadn’t had any friends. Then again, panthers weren’t exactly social creatures. They preferred to stay away from society as a whole and live in small towns or, if they could get away with it, completely alone in the middle of a forest or jungle.
That had been what Greyson had been planning on doing when he’d been kicked out of his home at the age of thirteen, the age when all panthers were expected to find their own way in the world. At least it was so when Greyson had been a kid. Nowadays, in developed countries, they were allowed to stay until they were eighteen so as not to draw attention to themselves from local governments.
Kylo was the first of his friends he’d happened upon. Greyson had grown up on the outskirts of the tiny town of Cutler, Maine. It had been a solitary existence, but Greyson hadn’t minded since his animal had yearned for peace and quiet.
Loving the water, Greyson had decided to try settling on one of the dozens of small uninhibited islands. He’d taken a small boat he’d built when he was ten and rowed out to find his new home. What he hadn’t expected when he landed on a small, lush, wooded island was to find a small boy, about his age, unconscious and bleeding along the rocky shoreline.
He’d instantly scented the kid was a seal shifter, as many of the residents of Cutler were. Greyson hadn’t been sure what to do about the kid. His conscience wouldn’t let him just allow the boy to die, so he loaded him up in his boat and headed back to the mainland.
He’d hoped to drop him off at the wharf and be done with the kid, especially since it would take Greyson two hours to row there and he still wanted to return back to his island to get settled before it turned dark. But when they were halfway to the mainland, the boy had woken up, scared out of his mind.
It wasn’t until Greyson followed the kid’s gaze to the water that he understood why. Greyson had been so intent on making good time rowing that he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. That mistake had almost cost them both their lives. For along the top of the water were a dozen fins of sharks that were closing in on them.
Shifters.
“Why are they trying to kill you?” Greyson demanded even as he put all of his muscle into rowing faster.
The kid’s head whipped around as if finally realizing there was someone else there with him. Terrified grey eyes stared at Grayson for several minutes as his body shook with fear.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Greyson promised when he realized how afraid the kid was not only of the shifters after him, but of Greyson, too.
There were several moments of hesitation in those grey eyes before the kid must have decided Greyson was telling him the truth. That, or he figured Greyson was the lesser of the two evils at the moment.
“I’m gay,” the kid blurted out. He nodded out to where the fins were gaining on them. “They don’t think I should be alive because of that.”
Greyson frowned.
He’d led a fairly solitary life but his mother had warned him to never let anyone know he preferred men. It had stunned him to hear her say it for he’d never actually admitted to anyone, not even himself, that he was attracted to men and not women. He was only thirteen - sex hadn’t been something he’d really thought about much.
“Why would they kill you for that?” Greyson had no idea why it would matter which sex anyone preferred.
A slim shoulder lifted up as the kid shook his head. “No idea. All I know is they caught me kissing another boy.” His head lowered as his lip quivered. “The only reason I got away was because they killed him first.”
Horror had filled Greyson. Their world was a violent one. Shifters had an affinity to their animals and had to control that side of their nature or they’d all be at each other’s throats. It had been the first time Greyson had truly begun to understand the world he lived in.
“I’m Kylo, by the way,” the kid said. Those grey eyes looked at him regretfully. “I’m sorry you are mixed up in this.”
Even though Greyson would have preferred to live the solitary life he’d planned, he’d never once regretted saving Kylo, or Teddy when they found him beaten nearly to death six months later. Two years after that, they had stopped a man from
shooting Ward after he’d caught Ward having sex with the man’s son. Elton had been the last to join them when they’d found him wandering around lost in the Florida Everglades when his family had driven him there and left him for being gay.
Life had taught all of them to not trust anyone, but if they wanted to save Kylo, they didn’t have any other choice.
CHAPTER 3
“Come on, we both know I’m the best person for the job.” Iniko’s gaze traveled to the other two applicants in the room. “Ollie might talk a great game but, let’s face it, he would forget his own head if it weren’t attached.”
Ollie’s face became a storm cloud of rage. As he opened his mouth to obviously refute Iniko’s words, Iniko held up his hand to stop him.
“Seriously?” he said to Ollie as if questioning the man’s sanity at trying to say differently. “You forgot to wear shoes last month.”
Ollie frowned. “So what? I was excited to finally be able to start building the bunks for the bunkhouse.” It had been decided in order to get as many people inside as possible, to build several larger buildings and cram them with bunkbeds. Not an arrangement that Iniko was about to partake in.
No thank you. He would continue to sleep on a cot in his office at the store. Nothing sounded worse than sleeping with several dozen men snoring and farting in a room. Iniko would have rather slept outside than that and he hated the outdoors.
“So what?” Iniko threw up his hands in exasperation. “There was two feet of snow on the ground. Your feet had turned fucking blue by the time someone noticed.”
Ollie blushed bright red. “It wasn’t that bad. Nole said I only had a mild case of frostbite,” he grumbled. “And I keep telling you, my name is Oliver, not Ollie.”
Iniko rolled his eyes. Like it mattered what name he used. The man was still a moron. He flicked his gaze back toward Edrick. “The guy could have lost his feet because he couldn’t remember to put on shoes but you’re considering putting him in charge of the day to day operations of Miracle.”
It was too bad Iniko’s self-preservation wasn’t able to control his mouth because he didn’t stop at insulting Ollie. No. He had to actually point an accusing finger directly at one of the many in Miracle who not only would like to pound Iniko into the ground, but could do it without even trying.
“I’m not even sure Blaze would know how to open a laptop, much less use a spreadsheet.” It wasn’t until he’d actually said the words that Iniko realized he’d once again stepped in it. Blaze was a great fighter and leader but he wasn’t exactly known for his patience, especially when it came to Iniko.
That was probably why Iniko’s jaw dropped when Blaze chuckled instead of punching Iniko in the face. “I hate to admit it, but Iniko’s right, Alpha. I’m honored you thought of me to help those who now call Miracle home to find jobs that will help us build our town, but it isn’t me.”
Blaze held up a hand. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m more than happy to help give orders but you need someone who’s organized and recognizes each person’s talents to make this town into something everyone feels comfortable calling home.” Blaze’s bald head dipped toward Iniko. “As much as I hate giving Iniko any credit, he’s the best man for the job.”
Nole, who stood next to his mate, Edrick, nudged the Alpha with his shoulder. “Told you,” Nole said with a smirk. “Iniko might be a pain in the ass, but even you have to admit he knows how to get things up and running. Just look at his general store.”
A smile tugged at Iniko’s lips. He actually hated running that damn store, but he couldn’t deny he was proud of what he’d created. It needed to be expanded, which was why he’d stopped by the Alpha’s house, which, apparently, was a good thing, since Edrick had been about to make a terrible decision to make either Blaze or Ollie in charge of coordinating the residents of Miracle in order to get things accomplished, preferably before next winter set in.
“I know everyone in this town and can set up a system for everyone to do what they enjoy with one hand tied behind my back.” The same sense of not belonging that he’d dealt with his whole life rose inside of him causing him to once more speak before his brain had a chance to catch up. “I shouldn’t be surprised that an underhanded, devious cat would exclude a mouse for the position. It’s not like your kind have ever given our kind a fair break in life,” Iniko groused irritably.
Edrick’s blue eyes stared hard at Iniko. The muscle along the Alpha’s strong jaw pulsed in agitation. “As true as that might be, the fact remains, you insult everyone you talk to.” Iniko’s heart dropped when the Alpha shook his head. He’d blown it again because of his stupid mouth. “I’m sorry, Iniko, but I can’t put you in a position where I’ll have the town at my door bitching about what you said to them.”
Nole laughed outright. “Seriously, Edrick? They already are.” Nole’s arm stretched to the front door where, sure enough, there were already five people waiting for Edrick’s time. “And they’re not just complaining about Iniko,” Nole pointed out.
For a moment Nole eyed Iniko critically, his thumb and forefinger rubbing along his chin. “In fact,” he said when another pair of knuckles rapped at the door. “I’d say you get more bitching about what they are being made to do than anything else.”
When Blaze nodded right along with Nole’s words, Iniko felt his first ray of hope. Maybe Iniko still had a chance with Nole and Blaze on his side. “Nole’s right. It seems to me all everyone does is complain about their assigned tasks.” A small patch of pink crept into Blaze’s cheeks. “To be honest, if you made me do this job, I’d be one of them.”
“Me too,” Ollie admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, Iniko is a royal pain in the ass, but he’s right. Not only is he the most organized person I’ve met, he does know every person in this town.”
Edrick gave a harsh laugh. “Insulting everyone isn’t exactly getting to know them.”
“Love, really?” Nole asked. “You think that’s all Iniko does?”
Edrick wasn’t exactly wrong in saying what he said. But that didn’t make the words hurt any less. Iniko prided himself in getting to know everyone who came through his store, including any friends and family of whoever was doing the shopping.
Maybe the reason Edrick didn’t realize Iniko’s contributions was because he hadn’t stepped foot inside the store since opening day. “How would you even know what I do?” he lashed out stupidly against the only person who had the power to give him the job of a lifetime. “It isn’t as if the big, bad Alpha would ever lower himself to go to the store.”
The others snickered but Iniko knew he’d blown it by the annoyed look on Edrick’s face. He was never going to give Iniko a chance to prove himself, something Iniko was desperate to do. He was tired of being treated like a leper everywhere he went.
Was it so hard for people to just accept him as he was, flaws and all? It wasn’t like Iniko meant to say half the things that came out of his mouth. Considering all the times he’d been beaten, locked up and… No. Iniko wasn’t going to wallow in the past. He’d made himself a promise to never dwell on the horrific things he’d had to endure at the hands of his old Alpha if he ever managed to be free.
Of course, he’d also sworn to stop his runaway mouth and that hadn’t happened. He’d tried everything he could think of, even read books about how to change, yet, somehow, his mouth would just open and the often hurtful words would come spewing out.
The muscle along Edrick’s jaw throbbed faster and for a moment, Iniko feared the retribution. The alpha hadn’t punished Iniko in the past for his wayward mouth, but Iniko knew, when it came to alphas, it was only a matter of time.
Knuckles rapped once more on the front door. All four pairs of eyes glanced to the window overlooking the porch to find at least fifteen people now waiting to speak with their alpha. Edrick gave a defeated sigh as he stared at the growing crowd outside his house.
“You know what?” he said with his gaze fixed back onto Iniko. “If you can deal with…�
�� his gaze flicked to the window to see another four people walking up the steps of the porch and shook his head. “If you can handle all of them, and anyone else who shows up without bothering me, you’ve got the job.”
Stunned that he was being given a chance, Iniko felt his jaw drop for a full minute. A fist pounded on the door, breaking the spell of disbelief. “Deal,” Iniko said before heading to the door. By the time he opened it, his smile was as wide as his face.
“Listen up, bitches. Alpha Edrick no longer has time to listen to all of your petty whining so you’ll be dealing with me.” There were several grumbles of complaint both from those on the porch and those in the house, but Iniko ignored them. This was who he was. He might wish he was different, but if life in his old mouse colony hadn’t been able to change him, nothing would, so they might as well all get used to it now.
“I will hear all of you out, but no more of this just stopping by to bitch about things, got it?” He eyed the now twenty men who were standing on the porch and the five that had been about to climb the steps but decided against it when Iniko made his announcement.
“You will need to make appointments with me. To make this easy for you, I will meet with each of you in an hour, in fifteen minute increments, at Mousetrap.” His grin grew wider. “The first one of you to bitch about having to go through me, has to buy me lunch for the next month, got it?”
As one, all the men’s shoulders seemed to drop in defeat as they nodded their heads. Iniko glanced at his phone. “Good. Now that we got that out of the way. The first appointment will be at two. Don’t be late.”
Then Iniko walked back into the alpha’s house. “By any chance do you have a computer and printer I could use real quick? I want to put up signs about the change before anyone else comes knocking on your door.”
Edrick’s eyes bulged, as he watched in shock all the men that had been standing on his porch slowly make their way down the steps without saying a word. Well, they were grumbling a bit, but not loud enough to hear what they were saying. Iniko was taking that as a good sign.
