Not expecting a reply, when his phone buzzed straight away, it startled him.
I believe I said not to text unless you wanted to meet up.
You did.
Then why are you texting me?
Mark walked through to his bedroom, phone in hand. Because you’re not my beta, I don’t have to do what you say. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Alec was used to people doing what he told them to. That message would probably make his eye twitch. Setting his phone back on the bed, Mark started to get undressed, laughing when his phone buzzed three times where it lay on the bed.
He let it sit there while he laid his clothes over the back of a chair, then sat down and picked it up. All three were from Alec.
If I was your beta, we wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.
And I know what you’re trying to do. Stop it.
The last one made his smile falter, the tone more serious than the others.
Thank you for tonight. I needed it. Stay safe.
Mark stared at the screen for a long time as he read the words again and again. No more messages came through, not that he expected them to. That last one was as good as a ‘Goodnight, Mark.’ He didn’t reply either. It didn’t seem like he needed to.
One thing he knew for sure, Alec Knight was not who Mark had thought him to be. The more he learnt about him, the more he wanted to know. And as exciting as that prospect was, he couldn’t see it ending well. The smart thing to do would be to stop it now before he got any more attached.
But fuck that.
CHAPTER EIGHT
For the first time in ten years, Alec woke up on September twenty-seventh to his alarm and not a nightmare. The heavy dose of guilt swept in, as it usually did, but not as all-consuming as he’d expected. He grabbed his phone, stopping the annoying blare, and was instantly reminded of the reason for his peaceful sleep.
Mark.
What the hell had got into him last night? As much as Alec hated how much he’d let slip, how vulnerable he’d made himself to a member of another pack—P-pack for fuck’s sake—he still couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Not if this was the result. Alec prided himself on being an excellent judge of character, relied on instinct when it came to trusting both shifters and humans, and instinct told him he could trust Mark. They’d been part of the same pack once, after all.
He ignored the part of him that wished they still were.
Usually Alec shied away from pack interaction on this day, not trusting himself to be civil. Most of his pack already thought he was a cold-hearted bastard; he didn’t need to fuel their assumptions. A lot of shifters suffered during the pack wars. Plenty had their own anniversaries to deal with. Alec didn’t know when they were, and he didn’t expect anyone to remember his.
Apart from a select few.
But today he didn’t have the luxury of keeping himself to himself. He had a meeting with Cam, followed by a pack meeting, then he really should check in with his own unit to make sure they were prepared for tomorrow.
After a shower and breakfast, Alec dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and was out the door.
He met the others just outside the meeting room doors. Both rooms had been opened up into one huge room to later accommodate the whole pack.
Daryl smirked at him as they went inside and took an exaggerated inhale. “Good night?” He’d never been one to let Alec wallow in guilt. “You seem less of a testy arsehole than I was expecting.”
Alec growled, but Daryl just laughed at him and took a seat at the table. As the other two betas took their seats, they gave Alec a cursory glance, obviously smelling Mark on him since he’d made no effort to hide it, but said nothing. Because it made no difference to them.
He glanced around the table. “We expecting anyone else besides Cam?”
Gareth sighed and glanced at the door before answering. “Tim and Seb, I think. And also Jared… and Nathan.”
Alec’s gaze shot to Gareth’s. “Nathan?”
“Yes.”
Fuck. The one shifter he never wanted to see on this day. Pack meetings or not. “I assumed he wouldn’t be attending any of today’s meetings, considering…” Considering it’s the fucking ten-year anniversary of his parents’ death, and I’m probably the last person he wants to be in a room with. And the feeling is mutual.
Gareth sighed again. “I know, and normally I’d give him the day off, but—”
Cam breezed in through the open doorway. “But I’m afraid we don’t have that luxury.” He took his seat at the head of the table. “I’m aware how difficult this will be for you both, and you have my sincerest apologies, but I need us to be ready. I promise to make it as quick as possible.” He stopped and tilted his head to the side. “They’re on their way up.”
A few minutes later, the heavy scent of sex wafted in through the open doors. Alec rolled his eyes. Newly bonded shifters were insatiable.
Not that he had a leg to stand on this morning.
Tim blushed as all eyes landed on him and Seb, but Seb glared back, shoulders straight, and if Alec wasn’t mistaken, he caught the white flash of fang.
Possessive and protective.
Alec felt a curl of satisfaction knowing Tim had that in his corner. Seb’s feelings might be amplified by being newly changed, but Alec would bet they wouldn’t lessen all that much.
Good.
Tim deserved someone to watch out for him.
Jared came through the doors next, giving off much the same vibes as Seb. He might not be a full shifter, but the bite had left him with enough of the traits to carry it off. He oozed protectiveness, the bond between him and Nathan so strong, Alec could feel it in the air. Nathan followed close behind him, head down, subdued.
Alec’s chest constricted, a tight, invisible band around his ribcage. For a second Nathan became that heartbroken eighteen-year-old boy again, angry and lost, looking for someone to blame. His words flooded Alec’s mind, forever burned in his memory.
A myriad of emotions surged through him: anger at Nathan for calling him out like that in front of the whole pack and still making him relive it ten years later, followed by a wave of crushing guilt, because deep down he knew Nathan was right.
As Nathan took his seat, he glanced up and met Alec’s gaze, just for a second. His expression was unreadable, but the small nod he gave seemed like an acknowledgement. Of what, exactly, Alec wasn’t too sure, but the atmosphere in the room seemed to settle, and Cam cleared his throat.
“Right, let’s get started.”
The rest of the pack slowly filed into the room for the pack meeting. The earlier meeting with Cam had been quick, as promised. He’d had the names of the council members visiting tomorrow and a list of who they wanted to talk to first. Basically they just had to tell the truth. Cam might have broken the law with Nathan and Jared, but the council should turn a blind eye since all the paperwork was now in place and the human authorities hadn’t been involved.
Alec watched four of his unit come through the door and walk over to him. He nodded in acknowledgement, his wolf settling at their presence. The remaining two were guarding the prisoner, who was also on Alec’s list of people to see today. As his unit took their seats beside him, Alec’s phone vibrated with either a message or a call.
He slid it out quickly, not all that surprised to see a message from Mark.
Pack meetings are boring as fuck.
Looking around at the full meeting room, knowing that Cam was just going to repeat everything Alec already knew, he smiled. Couldn’t agree more.
His phone buzzed again, twice in quick succession.
Wow, I thought you’d tell me to pay more attention to my alpha.
And Will wants to know why I smell all minty.
The thought of Will scenting Mark set Alec’s teeth on edge. Tell Will to mind his own business. As soon as he hit Send, Alec cursed silently. What did he care if Will scented Mark or not? Fuck. And pay more attention to your alpha. Although that was probably ha
rd to do with Newell. He did tend to drone on and talk bollocks. Alec could only imagine the shit he was saying to explain the upcoming presence of the alpha council.
The closing of the meeting room doors signalled for quiet, and Cam moved to the front of the room. Alec listened along with everyone else as Cam explained what would be happening over the next week.
As he finished up, Cam asked, “Any questions?”
Kirk, one of Alec’s unit, raised his hand. Cam nodded for him to speak. “How long do you expect the investigation to take? And what’ll happen with the rogue?”
Good question. Alec knew some of that answer, but it wouldn’t hurt for the rest of the pack to know it.
Cam smiled. “Hopefully the council will find the answers they need within a week—the sooner the better as far as I’m concerned—but your guess is as good as mine.” He glanced over to the side of the room, in the direction of the flat where the rogue shifter, Felix, was being held. “As for the other matter, that’s up to the council. I’ve done all I can on his behalf.”
“Anybody else?” Cam looked around the room, but no one else spoke. “Okay then. The four council members will arrive tomorrow morning. If you see them around the pack buildings, please be courteous and respectful at all times.” A murmur of assent went around the room, then the doors were opened and the space began to empty.
Alec waited with the rest of his unit; it’d be easier to get where they needed to be when everyone had gone.
Cam walked over to them and stood in front of Alec. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” Alec smiled up at him, it probably didn’t reach his eyes, but for today it was the best he could do. “We’re going to go check on Felix now. Want to join us?”
“No, I’ll leave that to you. I have a few things to prepare for tomorrow.” He turned and left.
The room was almost empty, so Alec gestured for his unit to stand. “Kirk, Seline, you’re with me. Grace, Niall, go get some rest, you’ll be on guard duty at midnight.”
They filed out through the double doors and along the corridor to the stairwell. Felix was on the floor below in a specially converted flat at the end of the corridor. Alec led the way, his two shifters close behind.
Seline cleared her throat and Alec glanced at her over his shoulder. “Are the council members as formidable as they say?”
A very vivid image of Alpha Karin Wallace popped into his head, and Alec offered Seline a wry smile. “Yes.”
She seemed to like that answer, but Kirk, next to her, bit his lip and met Alec’s gaze. “And how many are coming here?”
“Four, I believe.” They came to a stop in front of a heavy-looking dark wood door—thicker than all the rest on that floor. Alec turned and put a hand first on Seline’s neck, then Kirk’s. “Don’t worry about the alpha council. If they request to talk to you, just answer their questions and be honest. We have nothing to hide.” They both nodded, visibly relaxing under Alec’s touch. Even with the heaviness of the day weighing on him, they were his unit, his responsibility. When they looked to him for reassurance, he’d do his damnedest not to let them down.
Turning back to the door, he fished out his set of keys and unlocked it.
Alec led the way down into the living room. Most of the furniture had been removed, leaving space for the steel cage that now took up over half the room. They’d installed it in such a way that it backed onto the bathroom. The door to the bathroom had been removed and the window bricked up. The layout of it afforded some privacy but also allowed whoever guarded Felix to check on him if they needed to.
Felix lay on his back, stretched out on the single bed inside the cage. He glanced over when Alec walked in but didn’t speak. The other two members of Alec’s unit, Callum and Zac, were in the kitchen area, cups of coffee in hand. They stood up a little straighter when Alec looked at them.
“Everything okay?” he asked, giving the room a quick scan. Nothing seemed out of place, the contents of the room all safely out of reach of the cage. Felix appeared to be in one piece, if bored, judging by the looks of him. Not that Alec gave a shit. He’d have happily let Felix die from his injuries.
Walking over to the cage, Alec gestured for the rest of his unit to stay where they were. He pulled one of the chairs close to the bars and sat down, gaze focused on Felix, watching his every move. They’d taken all the precautions they could to keep him contained, but shifters were slippery fuckers. If it were Alec, he’d be looking for the slightest opportunity to escape. “The alpha council arrive tomorrow.”
Like Alec knew it would, the mention of the council got Felix’s attention. He rolled over onto his side, then pushed himself up into a sitting position, matching Alec. “And what happens then? To me, I mean. Obviously I don’t care about your pack.”
Alec glared at him, eyes narrowed. “Obviously.” He took a moment to arrange his thoughts. The temptation to play with him a while, make him squirm and worry, was too hard to ignore. Felix had tried to kill a member of Alec’s pack, after all, and Alec wasn’t feeling especially charitable today. “Your fate is in the hands of the council. Maybe they’ll let you live, maybe they’ll have you executed, or maybe they’ll just let the human police put you in shifter jail and throw away the key.”
Felix shot up off the bed and grabbed hold of the bars, claws out. “Fuck you! You promised you’d get me put in a pack outside the city if I told you everything.”
Alec laughed. “I believe my alpha said he’d let the council know you cooperated and were helpful in finding the human. There are no promises he could make on the council’s behalf.”
Felix curled his lip but didn’t reply because he knew as well as Alec did, Cam had no sway with the council. None of the pack alphas did. That was the whole point.
Alec sat back in his chair and met Felix’s gaze. “They’ll want to talk to you, ask you about Newell and what you did for him. For your sake, I hope everything you told us is the truth. If I find out you lied or you change your story and lie to the council….”
In the blink of an eye, Alec shifted—half-shift only since he still needed to talk. His bones cracked as they lengthened and realigned in a blaze of pain that lasted less than a second but still took his breath away every time. It left him with an elongated jaw, hunched-over shoulders that bulged with muscle, and a set of razor-sharp claws on each hand. He spared a glance at the tattered remains of his shirt, ripped across his shoulder blades, then took the two remaining steps to the bars and wrapped his clawed fingers around them.
To his credit, Felix held his ground, rightly assuming Alec wouldn’t kill him.
Yet.
But there was no mistaking the tense set to his shoulders, the bead of sweat that ran down from his temple, or the faint trace of fear coming off him.
Alec grinned wide, all his monstrous teeth on display, and Felix paled. Talking wasn’t easy in this form, but if Alec spoke slowly and carefully, he could just about make himself understood. It was worth it for the look on Felix’s face. “If you do either of those things, then the only thing in your future will be my claws ripping your throat out.”
Felix’s voice shook, but he held his head high, defiant. “You won’t hurt me now the council know you have me.”
Alec wanted to reach between the bars and snap his neck. “Accidents happen. You tried to escape, I deemed our lives in danger, it was you or us. Problem solved.” Who knew how many of his pack Felix had injured or killed along with the rest of his rogue pack? The fight at the warehouse had been bloody, some of it still fresh in Alec’s mind. There might have been too many shifters that day to pick out individual members, but Alec had no doubt Felix had been there. They should have killed him for that alone, never mind his attack on Seb, but unfortunately Felix was vital to their accusations against Newell.
Alec hated the fact that they needed him, but they did.
As quickly as he’d shifted, Alec shifted back. He stepped away from the bars. “The council will be here first thing i
n the morning. Be ready.”
Now done with Felix, Alec joined Callum and Zac in the kitchen. “Keep a close eye on him. I don’t trust him not to try something.”
Zac set his mug on the worktop. “One of us watches him at all times.”
“Good.” Alec stepped close and placed his hand on Zac’s neck. “Be on your guard. Always.” He gave his shoulder a hard squeeze to make sure Zac knew he was serious.
Zac nodded. “Of course.”
He did the same to Callum.
If any of his unit thought his behaviour a little over the top, no one mentioned it. Maybe they did know what today was, after all. He hadn’t lost a member of his unit since he’d been a beta, and he didn’t intend to now either. “Grace and Niall will relieve you at twelve o’clock. Let me know if there’s any problems before then. I don’t care how small or insignificant you think they are. I want to know.”
Satisfied, Alec said his goodbyes, ignored Felix, and left. Once in the corridor outside, the door to the flat safely locked again, he faced Kirk and Seline. Neither of them commented on his ripped shirt.
They’d come to the meeting straight from finishing their shift. Neither one of them seemed tired, but Alec knew how deceptive shifter genes could be. “Go get some sleep. I want you sharp and focused when you’re next in with Felix.”
He watched them go with more than a little pride. Yes, he was hard on them at times, and he didn’t have the easy, comforting way about him that Gareth had, but Alec was fiercely protective and loyal. Those six shifters were his to train, prepare, and guide. Respect was earned, and Alec had worked hard to make sure he’d earned theirs.
In return they’d all earned his.
His stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him he should probably eat while he had the chance. He walked along the corridor to his flat and let himself in. Familiar scents curled around him, welcoming him back, and Alec closed the door and leant against it for a second. The day felt like the longest ever. He pulled his phone out to check the time, surprised to see it was two o’clock already. Fuck, no wonder he was starving.
Bitten By Desire (Regent's Park Pack Book 3) Page 10
