“I trust you, Nate, and I want you to be my beta. Think about it.”
He started down the steps then paused and turned, pinning Nate in place with a look that was so intense, he felt it right down to the core of his being.
“Let it go. If there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that Rick wouldn’t want you to live with all this guilt. He loved you, more than he loved anybody in this world, and he’d want you to get on with your life. He’d want you to be happy.”
Nate couldn’t get his throat to work, couldn’t choke out a reply.
Fortunately, Kelan didn’t require one.
He walked down the steps then crossed the yard to the main house without looking back. Thoughts whirled around Nate’s mind so quickly he couldn’t concentrate on a single one, couldn’t make sense of any of them.
Kelan had made him realize some things, at least—Nate wasn’t the only one who was angry at his brother, he wasn’t the only one who felt guilty about his death, and he wasn’t the only one who was hurting.
And maybe, just as Kelan had done, it was time for Nate to let go of the guilt and get on with his life. Trouble was, he’d been holding on to that guilt for so long now, it felt like it was part of him, and he didn’t have the first fucking clue how to relinquish it.
Chapter Nine
The words on the screen of the temperamental old computer started to blur together. Leaning back in his chair, Jared massaged his temple and let out a long, frustrated sigh. If he had to fill out another Goddamn form today, he was going to throw the dark ages monitor straight out of the window.
He’d already had to fill out a couple of the forms twice after the computer had decided it had done enough work for the day and had shut itself down. Why the department couldn’t cough up the few hundred bucks it would take to get a new machine, Jared had no idea.
If he were being frank, his mind wasn’t on his work today, anyway. He’d grabbed exactly ninety minutes of sleep before he’d had to get up and go into the Realtor’s office to sign off on the paperwork that made the purchase of the farm legal.
In exactly two weeks, Jared and Tristan would be able to move into their new home. That had been exactly what they’d both wanted, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to be excited about it. The mood he was in now, Jared wasn’t sure that he’d ever feel excited about anything again.
A knock on the office door ripped him from his morose thoughts and brought him swiftly back to the present. He sat up straighter in his chair and ran a hand through his hair to tame his thick, unruly curls.
“Come in,” he called out.
The door opened partially and Seth, the receptionist and database administrator, poked his head into the room. Seth was one of only three wolves, including Jared, who worked for the sheriff’s department in Wolf Creek.
His mother Molly ran the convenience store in town while his father stayed home. The word on the street was that Seth’s father was a domineering and abusive jerk. Seth had often come into work with bruises, but he swore they were self-inflicted. Seth was a klutz, but Jared wasn’t stupid—he knew what a punch to the eye looked like when he saw one.
He’d tried to talk to Seth about his father once but the wolf had quickly changed the subject and then shut down completely.
Today, thankfully, he was free of bruises.
“Sir? There are two men from the FBI here to see you.”
Jared frowned.
What the hell were the feds doing there?
“Oh? Is Sheriff Ferguson here?”
“No, sir, not yet. He got called to Joe Walker’s place on his way back. Joe’s had another bull go missing.”
Jared frowned.
Another bull?
That made four in total.
What the hell was going on over there?
“Okay, thanks Seth, you can show them in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Seth ducked out of the room and a few moments later the door opened and two men strode inside. If his senses were correct, both men were shifters, but not wolves. So, not the run of the mill feds, then. Jared suspected they were members of the supernatural council.
“Deputy Ambrose?” the larger of the two asked as he approached the desk.
Jared nodded.
He got up from his seat then leaned across the desk to shake the man’s hand. Now that he was closer Jared could tell he was some sort of cat shifter, although he couldn’t be certain of the species.
“Please, call me Jared.”
The man nodded and showed Jared a badge. “I’m Gregory Hale and this is my partner, Ashton Monroe. We’re from the supernatural council. We spoke on the phone once when you took on the position of deputy here in Wolf Creek.”
“I remember.” Jared shook Ashton’s hand.
His eyes widened when he took in the man’s scent. He was some sort of bird shifter if Jared was correct. Ashton must have noticed the surprise in his eyes because his face broke out in a knowing smile.
“Hawk,” he clarified.
Jared whistled. “Wow, never met a hawk shifter before. I’ve heard you’re pretty rare.”
Ashton nodded. “Sadly, we are. I know of only five other hawks in the entire state of Texas and two of those are my parents.”
“Must make finding your mate extremely difficult,” Jared mused.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jared regretted them.
His thoughts instantly turned to Nate, and a deep sadness crept into the pit of his stomach. But it was the haunted look in Ashton’s eyes that gave Jared pause for thought, making him wish he could take back what he’d said. Ashton didn’t reply and, thankfully, Gregory got the conversation back on track.
“We’ve come to talk to you about the disturbances around town recently. In the last six months, the council has been informed of more violent incidents involving wolves than there have been in the last six years.”
Jared nodded. “Please, take a seat.” He waited until both men were seated before responding to Gregory’s statement. “I’m afraid to say there have been a lot of problems involving shifters recently.”
Gregory nodded. “Why do you think that is?”
Jared leaned back in his chair and pursed his lips. “I suppose it comes down to numbers. A lot of wolves have moved into the area recently and I think it’s inevitable that the more shifters there are, the more problems are likely to occur.”
“Would you say that Alpha Morgan is doing his job correctly?”
Jared thought back to the incident at Jessie’s and how Kelan had got the situation under control.
“I don’t know Kelan all that well, but from what I’ve seen he’s a good leader. He handles the pack to the best of his ability. He’s well respected around town, and feared just enough to keep most wolves on the straight and narrow.”
“Most wolves?” Ashton asked.
“There are a few names that keep cropping up time and again—troublemakers from what I’ve seen. No respect for authority, be it the law, or the wolf hierarchy.”
Ashton pulled a small notepad out of his pocket and flipped it open. “Neil Rafferty, the wolf you called us about last night…is he one of the wolves you’re referring to?”
“Yeah, he’s one of them. Lives on the Jackson ranch a few miles out of town with a whole bunch of other wolves.”
Gregory and Ashton turned to look at each other, and something passed between them. If Jared didn’t know better, he would say they had been communicating silently.
“A whole bunch of wolves, you say?” Gregory’s gaze shifted back to Jared’s.
“Yeah, he lives there with his mother, a cousin, and I think there are a few teenagers on the property too. Might even be a couple of cubs.”
“We were only informed of Neil and his mother Ellie. Does Kelan know they are all living there?”
“I don’t know.”
Gregory nodded to Ashton and the hawk pulled a cell phone from his pocket and went to st
and in the corner of the room to make a call.
“Can you take us there?” Gregory asked. “I think we need to have a chat with Mrs. Rafferty.”
Jared nodded. “Of course, when would you like to go?”
Gregory grinned and raised one of his eyebrows.
There was something about the wicked glint in his eye that made him look every inch the crafty cat.
“No time like the present.”
Chapter Ten
“Jesus, it’s a hot one today.” Kelan tipped his Stetson lower to shield his eyes from the glare of the midday sun.
“Sure is.” Nate pulled on the reins of his horse to veer left.
After spending the morning checking on the herd in the far pasture, Nate and Kelan were making their way back to the house to grab lunch before they went back out to mend a few holes they’d noticed in the fence along the way.
Kelan chuckled. “Not much of a talker, are you, Nate?”
Nate shrugged, even though Kelan wasn’t looking at him and couldn’t see the gesture.
“Not much to say, I guess.”
“You thought any more about becoming my beta?”
Nate frowned and chewed on his lip.
He hadn’t thought much about Kelan’s request, as it happened. The talk about Rick that morning had played on his mind and he’d spent a lot of time thinking about his brother’s motivations.
Then, of course, there was Jared, who was never far from his thoughts. Even though Nate had tried to banish all notions of the deputy from his mind, his mate had pretty much consumed his every waking moment.
He opened his mouth to answer Kelan, even though he wasn’t sure what that answer was going to be, when Kelan’s cell phone starting ringing, interrupting their conversation.
Kelan grinned. “Hold that thought a minute, will ya?”
While Kelan picked up the call, Nate turned to study the landscape.
He loved the Morgans’ spread—the vast open spaces were pure heaven for a wolf—especially on and around the full moon. Nate had to admit he loved the town, too, even though Wolf Creek didn’t much feel like home anymore. But, he supposed it wasn’t the land that made somewhere home or the buildings that stood on it—it was the people that filled those buildings.
It was family.
“No, I most certainly did not!” Kelan replied to whomever he was talking to on his cell phone. “Okay, sure. Thirty minutes. I’ll meet you there.”
“Problems?” Nate asked after Kelan had hung up the call and shoved the phone into the back pocket of his jeans.
Kelan turned and met Nate’s gaze. “Yeah. I think this might be something I need help with, too.”
“Anything I can do?”
Kelan frowned. “I wouldn’t ask, only Stefan and Cody have got the day off and have gone out of town. Luke or Mark wouldn’t be any good in this situation. This is something that will probably be difficult for you, though, Nate.”
“What do you mean? Difficult how?”
“A couple of months ago I had a woman come pay me a visit—Ellie Rafferty. She petitioned for rights to stay in Wolf Creek with her son, Neil.”
“Neil Rafferty…” Nate said. “Where do I know that name from?”
“He was one of the troublemakers last night at Jessie’s. Picked the fight with Tristan.”
“Oh, of course…Neil. He seemed like a nasty piece of work.”
“Yeah, I didn’t like him much when I met him—arrogant and bigoted young wolf. I couldn’t find anything redeeming in him. But I allowed them to stay here because it was just the two of them—there was no father figure around, ya know?
“I didn’t figure one young wolf like him could cause much trouble. But that call was from the council who informed me there are a lot more than two wolves staying at the ranch now.
“I need to go and have a chat with them—see what’s what.”
“Doesn’t sound like a problem,” Nate said. “I’ll come with you.”
Kelan scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “That’s not the whole of it,” he said, his tone grave. “There’s something else you need to know.”
Nate narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
“The Rafferty’s are living on a farm just the other side of these woods. It’s the old Jackson place.”
Nate sucked in a sharp breath, which did nothing to alleviate his feeling of light-headedness. “But that’s—”
“Yeah,” Kelan nodded, lowering his gaze. “It’s the place where Rick was killed.”
Nate’s heart thumped frantically inside his chest.
He hadn’t been able to go by the Jackson place since he’d arrived back in Wolf Creek, even though he’d wanted to visit many times—wanted to see the place his brother had died in with his own eyes.
He hadn’t been able to face it.
He wasn’t even sure he was ready to go now, but this was something he needed to do, so he found himself nodding his agreement.
“It’s okay. I’ll come with you.”
It took them twenty minutes to ride back to the ranch, feed and water the horses and lead them out to the corral. As soon as they were done, they jumped in Kelan’s truck then headed over to the Jackson ranch.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Kelan asked just as they were pulling into the dirt drive that ran up to the neighboring property.
Nate sighed and turned to look out the passenger window—taking in the tall, bald cypress trees that led all the way down to the river.
“As sure as I’ll ever be, I guess. It’s just a place, right? It can’t hurt me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What the fuck is going on?”
Kelan screeched the truck to a halt in the yard outside the old farmhouse.
As soon as they stopped, Kelan hopped out then sprinted across the yard.
Nate got out after him and immediately saw what had caught Kelan’s attention. Out front, to the left of the house, there were two young wolves, fully shifted and currently tearing lumps out of one another.
“Aww…fuck.”
Nate started running towards the wolves, too.
He reached the wolves seconds after Kelan and tried to get a hold on one while Kelan grabbed the other. It wasn’t an easy task—even though the wolves were young, no older than twenty, they were fully grown and strong.
Both wolves were covered in gashes, their tawny fur matted with gloopy, thick blood. The metallic odor of it hung heavy in the air. They snarled, their huge paws lashing out and scrabbling to find purchase, to tear at any piece of flesh they encountered. Nate’s cowboy hat was knocked from his head in the scuffle as he tried to get a tighter grip on the wolf and pull him back.
“Enough!” Kelan roared.
The sound boomed out, and the force behind it was enough to make even Nate want to whimper. But the wolves were senseless, like rabid dogs, crazed and unable to be reasoned with.
There was one thing able to get through to them it seemed.
While Nate struggled to keep hold of the smaller of the two wolves, a shot was fired. The larger wolf whined when a petite woman stepped forward, rifle raised and trained on Nate and Kelan.
“Let go of my boys!” she warned. The wolves quieted but they still fought against their restraints. “You won’t get another warning, step away, now!”
Nate looked to his alpha for confirmation, when Kelan gave a quick nod and let go of the wolf he was holding, Nate reluctantly complied.
“There’s no need for the rifle, Mrs. Rafferty,” Kelan said. “We were only trying to stop them from tearing each other apart.”
“Y’all needn’t have bothered. It’s nothing serious, just boys being boys.”
Nate snorted. “Boys being boys? If we hadn’t come along there’d be nothing left of your boys.”
The two wolves had moved to flank Mrs. Rafferty. Kelan looked at each of them in turn. His eyes glowed a deep amber color, and Nate could feel the power he projected from where he stood as the alpha ord
ered, “Shift!”
The smaller of the two whined and immediately lowered his gaze. He lay down on the ground and rolled to his back, bearing his stomach and neck to the alpha but the older wolf stood his ground, eyeing Kelan defiantly. He curled his upper lip in what looked like a sneer before sitting down, his body contorting and shifting into its human form. The smaller wolf started his transformation, too.
Mrs. Rafferty still held the rifle high.
While the wolves were shifting, a car pulled up in the drive. He turned out of instinct and saw Jared exit his cruiser with Gregory and Ashton in tow. His stomach lurched and his breath caught in his chest as he stared at his beautiful mate. Jared’s face was as white as snow and there was real fear in his eyes…panic.
“Drop the rifle!” Jared commanded. It was only then Nate noticed the deputy had his own gun drawn and pointed at Mrs. Rafferty. “Now!”
Chapter Eleven
Jared’s hand shook as he held tight to his gun, his gaze fixed on Ellie Rafferty. “I said, drop your weapon!”
He edged closer to Nate and Kelan, keeping the woman in his sights. When Jared had seen the rifle pointed at Nate as they had pulled up to the house, he’d had to fight to keep his wolf contained and he didn’t know if it was a battle he was going to win. His wolf was frenzied, snarling and struggling to be set free so that it could kill the person that was threatening his mate.
“This is your last warning.”
“I ain’t done nothing!” Ellie shouted.
To Jared’s relief, she lowered the rifle before letting it fall to the ground.
Gregory and Ashton walked over to Mrs. Rafferty and Gregory kicked the rifle out of her reach. The two naked young wolves at her side scowled at the council members but remained quiet.
Finally, Jared chanced a look at his mate. Nate’s hands, arms, chest, and stomach were covered in blood. Jared nearly threw up. Without warning, his eyes shifted to their wolf form and his incisors tore from his gums. Jared was dimly aware of a heated discussion between Kelan, Gregory, Ashton and Mrs. Rafferty, but he had no idea what was being said.
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