by Lisa Oliver
Karl chewed the inside of his lip. “I’m just not sure why Allan was so adamant about me staying with the family. It’s not like I visited much before that at all. I hadn’t been on runs. I only went to the dinner, which kicked this whole ‘leaving the family’ thing off, because Uncle kept going on about how I’d barely been seen in months. Then that turned out to be another freaking push into mating me with a prominent bitch. He even had an engagement ring for me to give her, which I returned to him as I left the party. I didn’t even know the woman. I’d never even met her before.”
Tanner didn’t know about any of that either, but then he reasoned, he’d only been with Karl four days, and both of them had busy complete lives before they did finally get together.
“All right,” Tanner said, keeping his voice calm, because Karl was clearly upset. “So what we’ve got, and you might have to fill in a few holes for me if I get this wrong, but you have an uncle who more recently has become more demanding in private areas of your life, evidence of theft from your company accounts over the past year at least, a payoff check you gave your uncle which would keep most families in dog chow for at least ten years that doesn’t appear to be enough, and a PA with a pathological hatred of people like me, who’s insisting you maintain the status quo, or even go along with your uncle’s plans for you.”
“Sounds about right.” Karl reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out his wallet. “Let’s get out of here. I feel the need for some air.”
Leaving more than enough money on the table for the food and a double tip for Sophia, Tanner and Karl left the diner, Karl taking his arm the moment they were outside.
“Why now?” Tanner asked, picking up their conversation as they started walking down the street. “Can you think of any reason why all this is happening now?”
“I’m worth more now…?” Karl shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe my uncle’s tired of being in his position. Maybe he realizes it’s not all he thought it would be. But that doesn’t fit with him trying to ruin me. And one thing keeps bugging me about this morning’s fucking drama – how the hell did Allan get away from Rockface?”
“The enforcer at the park on Saturday?” Tanner thought about it. “In theory, he shouldn’t have been able to. Rockface,” Tanner had a private snigger at Karl’s name for him, “is a lot stronger spirited, Allan should have cowered in front of him.”
“But it was almost as though Allan got off bossing the other men around in the park.”
“Allan doesn’t seem scared of you either,” Tanner reminded.
“He should be.”
They walked around some more, no specific destination, just two men arm in arm, out for a stroll in the mild autumn afternoon. Tanner was happy to let Karl think. His own nerves were ragged from being so brutally accused. Allan’s “get him” took his mind back to places he’d rather forget. It wasn’t until they got back to the car, and Karl was unlocking the passenger door for him, that Karl said, “this all comes back to my uncle, doesn’t it? Allan’s unnatural courage, the accusations about you, the thefts, and my uncle’s desire to mate me off to some random female.”
Resting his elbows on the roof of the car, Tanner tried to play devil’s advocate. “The pack could be in trouble. I can’t see an alpha wanting to admit that to anyone, if he could keep the trouble hidden and solve it in some other way without anyone knowing about it.”
“Or my uncle could be a controlling asshole, who stuck Allan in my office to keep tabs on me, and when he saw how much money I was making, decided he needed other ways to control me and it, by marrying me off to someone of his choosing.”
Tanner could see where that scenario could be true too. Unfortunately, all the speculation in the world wasn’t going to give them answers. They needed to confront the alpha uncle.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Karl dithered about confronting his uncle for two long days. Should he call him, or confront him in person? That was an easy decision. Karl wanted to see his uncle’s face when the man tried to lie his way out of his mess.
The problem was where to meet the man. Karl remembered Rockface saying that so long as he hadn’t been banished, and he hadn’t been, then he could petition to visit the pack. But that would give his uncle too much power and after what had happened with Allan, Karl didn’t trust the alpha.
So, the pack grounds were out. Ideally, Karl would have to find a way to get his uncle to visit his territory. It was the safest for Tanner, and Karl would have home turf advantage. Now all he needed to do was have a plausible enough excuse to get his uncle out of his home pack grounds.
Karl might have been dithering about the uncle question, but he and Tanner had been busy. The rescheduled staff meeting had gone ahead. Karl explained to the staff that the police had determined that Allan suffered a mental breakdown and had inflicted his injuries on himself. Karl told his staff that Allan had been referred to an undisclosed medical facility for an indefinite period of time, and that he personally would be absorbing the cost of the treatment and the loss of the money Allan was proven to have stolen from company funds.
Not many of the staff were interested in following up with Allan’s welfare after learning he’d stolen from what they considered their company, and Karl hoped that the gossip surrounding the events of Monday morning would quickly die down. One of his coders had come up with another idea to create enhancements to their logistical software to track specific groups of goods, and the meeting ended on a high note with the various planning teams eager to get onto another project.
Karl had also been in touch with the shifter council in his capacity of alpha. Tanner was all for the idea, although it would mean they’d have to stay in San Diego for the foreseeable future. As Tanner predicted, the council was happy to hear a mature alpha was prepared to claim San Diego and by the end of the call, Karl was alpha of all the territory from the coast, down highway 52 to Santee, then from there south down highway 125 to the Mexican border. It was a huge territory for such a small pack, but the council explained there had been precious little interest in the area due to its development and coast line, and Karl was quick to assure them he had no problem with other paranormal groups moving into what was effectively his area.
The only sticking point was when the representative he was talking to asked Karl for the name of his new pack – one thing Karl hadn’t talked to Tanner about.
“We will be calling it the Corban pack,” Karl said firmly, winking at his shocked mate, who’d been busy on a laptop beside him.
“Corban?” The representative seemed shocked as well. “Er… no disrespect, alpha, but if you’re using your surnames to identify your pack, shouldn’t that be the Jacobs pack? From what you’ve itemized to me here, Corban is the surname of your omega.”
“I’m well aware of the surname of my fated mate,” Karl snapped. “I’m naming the pack after him, a position the council will surely support after learning he’d been badly beaten out of his home pack on the event of his first shift. The man I’ve been blessed with by the Fates hasn’t had the care and security a pack can offer ever in his life. The care every omega deserves. It seems only fitting that our pack is named after him, to give him that respect and security now.”
After mumbling something about how times were different back when Tanner was a teenager, the call ended quickly after that. Karl was now the alpha of San Diego and all that entailed. And because they’d gone to all the trouble to set up a pack territory, Tanner and Karl decided to sell both their houses and move out towards Lake Murray which was still in their territory, but where they would be less likely to bump into any of Karl’s employees, or Tanner’s human friends. They had two ‘leaving’ parties to attend, after the business with Karl’s uncle had been resolved.
“You could just call him and ask him to meet you to discuss the situation with Allan,” Tanner suggested. They were in the car heading for the real estate agent’s office. George Booker had an offer on Tanner’s aunt’s ho
use and wanted to discuss it. Personally, Karl was used to lawyers dealing with that sort of thing, but as Tanner had agreed to put his house on the market as well, it was a good time to hand over keys and do the paperwork.
“If my uncle has any commonsense, and he has lashings of it, he’ll be disavowing any knowledge of Allan’s wrongdoing and claiming the man acted on his own initiative, especially over the phone. I need to see him face to face.” Karl deftly overtook an SUV filled with kids and a harassed looking mother.
“Does he keep up with shifter council news?” Tanner was relaxed in his seat, texting his friend Toby who apparently wanted to know if strippers were appropriate for a leaving party. “Would he call if he knew you had formed your own pack?”
“He might, if he thinks he can get anything out of it.” Karl flicked the indicator switch and pulled into the mall parking lot where the agent’s office was located. As he parked the car, his phone vibrated, and Karl checked the screen. “Speak of the devil,” he said as he accepted the call.
/~/~/~/~/
Bevan Jacobs wanted to meet at Karl’s home immediately and hadn’t been impressed to hear they had appointments to attend first. Karl probably didn’t make the situation any better by insisting they stop for dinner first as well, but Karl was determined to act like the alpha he was, and it was almost fully dark by the time he pulled the car into his driveway. The big trees lining his yard threw familiar shadows across the lawn. The only thing out of place was the large black SUV parked by the front steps.
“Uncle is prompt, I see.” Karl’s face was grim. “TC…”
“I’m not hiding out in the car like a teenager. Unless you’re prepared to disavow our mating, then my place is by your side.” Tanner unsnapped his seat belt and unlatched his door, ready to get out.
But Karl’s hand stopped him. “I would never disavow you, to anyone, but shit… I know it’s only been a matter of a week, not even that… I feel as though I’ve known you forever and…”
“You’re going to talk to your uncle, that’s it.” Tanner leaned over, brushing Karl’s cheek with his lips. “I’m sure he’s a reasonable… What the fuck?”
The partially open door was ripped from Tanner’s hand and Tanner was grabbed – four hands, maybe six – dragging him from the car. As he fell, Tanner lashed out, claws extended, the scent of unfamiliar wolves filling his nose. There were grunts, and yells. A couple of the hands fell away, and Tanner scrambled to his feet, doubling over as a fist caught him in the gut.
Karl’s growl was loud and menacing, but it was from the other side of the car. With no help coming, Tanner could only assume he was fighting off his own wolves. Stumbling away from the vehicle, as though hurt, Tanner caught the scent of someone getting closer, and swung his fist around, as he swung his leg out in the opposite direction. Grunts, someone fell back, but then another two came in, still in human form, and Tanner kept swinging. His height gave him a long reach and his bulk protected him from many of the blows that glanced off him, but the fighters weren’t backing off.
Someone swore and yelled, as Tanner’s fist sent a man reeling. “I thought this was supposed to be an omega?”
I might be an omega, but I’ve got to get back to my mate. Redoubling his efforts, Tanner didn’t hold back, years of fighting druggies and idiots paying off for him now. One man down, then another. Tanner faced the other two and snarled, showing his teeth.
“Back down, Omega,” one of his assailants sneered. “We’re higher ranked than you.”
Tanner didn’t bother to reply. Pack position meant nothing when his mate’s safety was involved. He charged, sending the man to the ground and knocking him out with a single punch. Jumping to his feet, he felt the last one jump on his back, his arms like a vice around Tanner’s neck. “Damn puppy.” Tanner pulled the man’s arms away, keeping a firm hold on the offending wrists. Opening his arms as wide as they could go, Tanner winced as he heard a couple of shoulder joints pop. Not his. Dropping his assailant behind him, Tanner turned to see Karl finishing off the last man who dared to attack him. Blood spurted from the man’s neck as Karl’s claws sent him to the ground.
“You okay?” Karl hurried around the car and hugged him tight enough to break a rib. “Fuck. I would’ve got to you sooner but…”
“I made less mess than you. Mine are still breathing.” Tanner caught the hint of movement up on the front porch. “It’s not over yet.”
“Oh, yes it is.” Karl’s eyes were feral as he faced the porch. “I’ve taken all I can stand. Come and clean up your trash, Uncle.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Karl finally understood what it meant to be an alpha – someone who protects his territory and those he cared about with every last drop of blood in his body. Seeing Tanner fighting almost stopped his heart, but his mate had held his own. Karl might have been rusty – he couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever fought another wolf shifter, but it had to have been almost fifty years before.
But instincts don’t die and as Karl pulled on the power of his wolf and his rage, he let loose with a fury he’d never felt before. His mate was threatened, his home, his territory… and now there was just one more piece of trash to remove.
“I said, come and pick up your trash, Uncle.” One of the men Tanner had knocked out, groaned and rolled over. Karl was there, kicking him in the head before he could even attempt to get up. Stalking towards the house he snarled again. “You come into my territory, attack me and my mate at my home… there’s nothing you can say to justify that, so get this mess off my lawn before I call the shifter council and report nine murders instead of four.”
“Karl. Nephew. Hell, you’ve been almost like a son to me.” Bevan stood at the top of the stairs, framed by the porch light. “I just came to talk. I’d had reports you were consorting with a male omega, and that you’d been brainwashed by the creature.”
“This creature, you mean? My fated mate?” Karl waved to Tanner who stood stoically by his side, his fists still clenched. “This is the one who you think brainwashed me? Brainwashed me into what? Being an alpha?”
“There’s clearly been some misunderstanding.” Bevan stepped down the first two steps. “What happened to Allan? He can set this straight.”
“He’s Bear food.” Karl lifted his lips to show his fangs. “That’s what you get for threatening my mate and stealing from my company. Money that went into your pack accounts.”
“If Allan did anything untoward, I assure you, that was his doing, not mine.” Bevan came down another two steps, his hands in his pockets. “But we should go inside, talk like civilized people. You’ve more than proven you are the alpha I always knew you could be.”
“Civilized people don’t have enforcers attacking innocents before they even get out of the car.” Karl refused to move. He didn’t want Bevan to step one foot in his house.
“Your behavior has hardly been rational.” Bevan was now two steps from the bottom. “If you wanted a pack, you could’ve stayed in your home pack. If you were that desperate for a mate, there are a dozen women I’ve introduced you to who would be perfectly suitable and give you a litter of pups to continue on the family line.”
“But none of them would’ve been my fated mate, would they, Uncle?” Karl moved forward, desperate to be a block between his uncle and his mate.
“I blame myself.” Bevan shook his head. “I thought it was for the best that you leave the pack to work out your anger when your parents died, but it was never meant to be long term. I thought you’d see a bit of the world, realize how much pack life meant to you and then you’d come home. Instead, you adapted.” The sneer was evident.
“I made a life for myself.” Karl strode over, nose to nose with his uncle, even though his uncle was still standing on the steps. “A life I’m proud of, with my mate, money I earned, and a territory the shifter council were happy to allocate to me because I’ve proven my worth. I have a pack of my own. I don’t need yours. I have my fated mate, I’ll
never bed another person as long as I live and I’m happy about that. I have everything I could possibly want or need here. So, I’m going to ask this of you once. After this, I never want to see you again. But why the hell did you need all my money? Because goodness knows, there’s no familial or pack bonds between us anymore and hasn’t been for years. Why did you steal from me?”
“I would’ve thought you’d have worked it out by now,” Bevan sneered. “Someone had to pay for your father’s medical care all these years.” He looked over Karl’s shoulder and yelled, “Hey you. Catch.”
Stunned by the revelation that his father could still be alive, Karl barely registered Bevan throwing something. But he heard a whack and then a boom, and as he turned, Karl was just in time to see Tanner’s whole body go flying backwards, his suit and hair alight with flames.
“Tanner!” Karl howled, his every instinct moving him forward. But there was a fucking lump holding him back.
“Leave him,” Bevan yelled, clutching onto Karl’s arm as though his life depended on it – and it did. Karl didn’t have any problems killing his uncle if it meant he could save his mate. “He can go into the bed beside your father. A useless drain on resources but alive enough to keep you going. Don’t you see? This is for the best. You can have kids – I can find someone to take your sperm, even if you have to jack off into a cup. I can run the pack until your son can take over. All you have to do…”
“You liar.” Karl swiped backwards, but Bevan jumped, tugging Karl with him. “I’m aiming for your throat. Let me go.” He glanced over. The Tanner shaped lump wasn’t moving, but his wolf wasn’t howling yet, meaning his mate was still alive.
“Don’t you see? I did this for my brother.” Bevan crouched, still holding onto Karl, but his other arm up protecting his head. “Your FATHER. The one who counts on your money to keep him alive.”
