by Vivian Arend
Caroline pushed the party invitation again, but Shelley ignored her, methodically placing supplies on the shelves. Her older sister had never seemed to learn the word no. While her determined assaults could be frustrating at times, like now when Shelley was on the wrong end of one, her never give up spirit was also inspiring. Fully human, Caroline managed to hold her own amidst the wolf pack of Whitehorse in a way that Shelley admired.
Wished that she could imitate, to be frank. And planned to imitate.
The rest of the family had left the north looking for more accepting packs. Shelley had left for the longest time as well, but Whitehorse was where she wanted to live.
This time it was going to be on her terms. That was the bottom line. Pack or no pack, this was going to be home.
Caroline sighed, stopped her rambling and slipped into the main area. “Fine. I’ll change the topic since you’re being all Sphinx-like. You hired someone for the front desk?”
Shelley joined her, admiring the tall glass windows that let in the July sunshine. “Not yet. I’m still waiting for a few permits to finish clearing. I’m not going to be able to officially open until mid-August, so there’s no rush. There’s a bit more work to be done in here, like the flooring, and I haven’t completed the surgery area in the back. I also want more shelving, and to finish the boarding and exercise yard. That kind of thing.”
“I can get someone—”
“No.” Seemed as if she was saying that word a lot, but it was necessary. “Caro, I’m doing great. I know you want to help, but I don’t need a big sister fixing things for me and making things easier. There’s tons of time to get the shop ready, and I want to do the work myself. What I want for us is to spend time together. To enjoy life.”
The glint in Caroline’s eyes warned Shelley she’d made a mistake. “Awesome. Then you’re going to come over for supper before the celebration? We can enjoy each other’s company a little before dealing with the crowds. There’s no fireworks, not with how light it is in the evening, but the music they have planned should be great.”
Shoot. Walked into that one. “Oh, Caroline…”
Her sister batted her lashes. “I’ll make your favourites.”
The dinner invite was tempting, and there were positive points to meeting the pack in a public setting, but tonight was too soon. Caroline would be surrounded by wolves, and Shelley wasn’t ready for that yet. “No supper, but…” she raised a hand to stop Caroline’s protests, “…fine, I will come to the Canada Day party. If you’re willing to sit off to the side and avoid pack.”
Caroline’s instant smile lit her eyes. “We can totally do that. They’re all hanging at the Rotary Peace Park. We can sit beside the SS Klondike paddlewheeler and listen to the band from there. The reflections off the Yukon River will be pretty. Deal?”
It was a start. A start to finding her place in the north, which in itself was huge, since she’d never fit in before. “Deal.”
A soft brush against her ankles was followed by a loud insistent purr as Enigma demanded to be picked up. She hoisted the tiny black creature and settled him in her arms for a cuddle.
Caroline gasped, the sound breaking apart into laughter. “Oh my God, Shelley, you have a cat?”
She nodded as Enigma opened his mouth and meowed. “He’s a rescue. Loves to be scratched right—”
“You’ve got to be kidding. A cat. Shell—owning a pet is strange enough, but a cat?”
“You got some weird biases for a human who grew up in a shifter home.” Shelley buried her face in Enigma’s soft fur and breathed deeply. “He’s been nothing but giving to me. Far more than your typical feline. We get along fine.”
Caroline rearranged her face into a semiserious mode with some effort. “Love me, love my cat? Fine, Shelley, he is rather gorgeous.”
She brushed a hand down Enigma’s back, and the feline rewarded her with a rumbling purr.
Shelley smiled as she passed the small ball of fur over to her sister.
It was a start.
Chapter Two
Chase leapt from the high cab of the trucker’s rig and waved his thanks as the man geared up and headed away along the Alaskan highway. The trip into Whitehorse had never taken such a short time before.
He hoisted his backpack and started down the long, steep road that led into town. The fresh air made his nose twitch after being confined for the past four hours, the trucker’s heavy foot on the gas moving them southbound on the Klondike Highway at more than legal speeds.
Still, Chase couldn’t complain too hard. He’d grabbed all the needed information and paperwork from the men double-quick this time around. Arriving in Whitehorse on July first meant he could possibly be out of town by the fourth, if all went well. He adjusted his pack to stop the strap’s weight from hitting the raw parts of the claw wound on his shoulder.
One of the downsides of being a Good Samaritan. The loners he cared for were prone to be wilder than your average shifter. The puma he’d accidentally cornered had slashed first, asked questions later. After the fact, the man had been very apologetic, but that hadn’t removed the four long gouges Chase carried over his scapula. Worse, the damn wound didn’t seem to get any better, no matter how many times he shifted.
The scent of coffee drew him forward like a siren’s call. He stopped in the doorway of a small café, checking the occupants with his nose and eyes before fully committing to entering.
There was a reason he didn’t live in town on a regular basis.
Two wolves looked up at him from where they sat in the corner. They narrowed their eyes but stayed put, staring intently as if judging him. Chase nodded politely, and that seemed enough to put them at ease.
He took the chance and strode forward.
The blinding smile he received from the pretty girl behind the counter was as enjoyable as the lingering deep roast of the coffee beans in the air.
“What can I get you?” She was checking him out. Hot damn. Chase pushed down the urges that had no right to be rising in a public place, even if it had been a long time since he’d been with a lady.
Another good reason to come to town. Maybe he should try for more than once a year.
“Coffee.” He dug in his pocket as he checked the baked goods on the counter, secretly checking out the goods behind the counter at the same time. Oh yeah, there was one bonus to being in the big city that he fully intended to take advantage of. “Couple brownies, three of them gingersnaps and a piece of the apple pie.”
She laughed softly. “You’ve got a sweet tooth.”
Chase leaned his hip against the counter and admired the soft swell of her breasts peeking from the low scoop of her top. “Some things are sweeter than others.”
Another giggle escaped, and he grinned as she turned to get his order together. Maybe the extra days in town wouldn’t be a hardship after all.
There was a tap on his shoulder, and Chase stiffened, cursing inside that he’d lost focus and ignored that he was in unsafe territory.
Women were distracting creatures.
He twisted slowly to see one of the wolves standing nearby. The man slouched lazily, his body language screaming friend, not enemy.
“Hey. Come and join us once you’ve got your things.” The dark-haired man leaned past him and whistled softly at the server. “Carly, put his order on my tab.”
She slipped apple pie onto a plate and nodded. “Sure, Shaun. You and Evan want anything else?”
“Well, if you’re offering…” He winked, and she shook her head at him, a smirk on her face.
“Your fiancée is going to tear your ears off if she hears about you flirting.”
“Who’s flirting? I just want some pie.” Shaun’s outraged tone made Chase smile. Okay, not all wolves were assholes, and it seemed he’d found a couple of the good ones.
Shaun slipped away, and Chase took a moment to look around more closely as he waited for his order. The walls of the coffee shop were covered with artwork, price t
ags attached to each one. Local artists, from the looks of it. Some good, some not so good. The rest of the place was an eclectic mix. Straight-backed chairs sat at sturdy tables—people with open laptops clicking madly through colourful screens. Overstuffed chairs tucked into the places between, people reading books or staring at thin metal book-shaped objects. Low music played in the background.
He accepted the tray of goodies from Carly and joined the wolves in the corner. He didn’t recognize either of them from his previous trips into Whitehorse—must be new to the pack. Maybe he could get a hint of the way things were operating from these two before he had to approach the current leadership.
Once he’d lowered the tray to the table, the second wolf rose to his feet and offered a hand. “Evan Stone. You look as if you could use a bit more than a coffee and a few snacks.”
Chase shrugged. He might be leaner than your average wolf, but he wasn’t about to explain his specific shifter metabolism problems to anyone on a first meeting. “It’s as good a place as any to start. I can get steaks aplenty back home. Baked goods? Not so much.”
Evan nodded, and they all sat, pulling plates forward and digging in enthusiastically. When shifters were hungry, there was not much that stopped them from enjoying their food.
The pie and one of the brownies went down first as a base. Two cups of coffee later, Chase came up for air to find both wolves grinning at him. Damn, he’d done it again—totally lost track of where he was. This wasn’t his style. If he’d been this inattentive in the bush, he never would have lasted.
“Thank you for the food.” Chase nodded at Evan who seemed to be the one in charge.
Evan leaned back, tilting his chair until the top rail hit the wall. “No worries. Like I said, you look as if you could use it. You north Yukon?”
“Mid. Keno area is home.”
That was all it took. Shaun whistled, long and low. “You don’t look like a crazed maniac—no offense meant. I thought most of that area was pack-less. Pretty dangerous territory for your average wolf.”
The tension between them didn’t exactly rise, but Chase made sure he had a clear space to defend himself, just in case. “Packless doesn’t always mean without morals. And pack living doesn’t suit everyone. That’s all.”
Evan and Shaun glanced at each other, as if making some kind of decision. Chase was ready to grab his things and head out—if there were going to be any issues he’d prefer to be dealing with the right people. He wasn’t making trouble, wasn’t doing anything unusual.
He buried the dry comment in his head that muttered you are unusual.
“Why do you smell different?” Evan eased back again, Shaun leaning away this time as well. Somehow they’d made a decision in his favour, which seemed odd, but hell if he was going to argue.
The cause for his unusual scent wasn’t a secret—he just didn’t share until asked. “Métis ancestry.”
“Holy shit.” Evan came to life. “What’s your second form? Because I can smell your wolf, but he’s buried deep. The other side seems stronger.”
“You know about Métis?” Chase wasn’t sure if this was good or stunk to high heaven. “I’ve only met three people I didn’t have to explain it to.”
“And I’m not one of them,” Shaun complained. “What the hell does that mean? I thought you were a wolf.”
Evan shook his head, the look of delight on his face as bizarre as it was reassuring. “Dual nature. I heard of a wolf/wolverine once, and there were rumors of a wolf/polar bear crossbreed back in my old pack territory by Hudson Bay. The French Voyageurs who married the First Nations mixed the shifter blood, and for some reason the European strain breed true. Well, not true—instead of the kids being one kind of shifter or the other like usual, the next generation could shift into either of their parents’ clans.”
Shaun’s mouth gaped open.
Evan elbowed him in the side. “You never take history in school? Louis Riel? Red River Rebellion?”
“Fuck you. That was a long time ago.”
“The rebellion, or your schooling? Because maybe you need to head back and get a refresher. Doesn’t look good in front of visitors, you being a dumb-ass and all.”
Chase watched silently as the two of them bantered. Not your typical pack, that’s for sure. And definitely not like the solitude-loving men he’d just touched base with far to the north.
The unorthodox bitch session was entertaining to say the least. He considered sneaking away before they concluded, but the cut-downs were too comical to leave.
They both stopped in mid-sentence and turned to face him, two dark-haired men who radiated power, and Chase swallowed his amusement. Shit. He’d made another mistake in judgment. Stuck out in the bush for so long where authority was often imposed with a tree branch instead of shifter hierarchy, he’d missed the now all-too-noticeable clues. “You guys are leadership.”
Evan nodded curtly. “I took over Takhini last August. You got a specific need, you ask me.” He tilted his head to the left to indicate the other man whose eyes were still a little wild. “Shaun’s Beta, new to the role. We’re just getting a few things established. I take it you haven’t been out this way for a while.”
The damn Alpha of Takhini sat across from him. Sheesh, Chase had lost all his hard-learned civilization skills. “I came out last July. Same reason as this time. I’ll only be in town for a few days, and I’m not looking for trouble.”
Shaun frowned. “We never said you were. You need a ride anywhere, though? A place to stay while in town?”
This was so not happening. “You’re serious?”
Evan snorted. “You’ve been packless for too long. A Beta just offered you a place to stay. You want it or not?”
This was as fine a moment as any to test the waters. “What if I say not?”
Shaun shrugged. “No hair off my chest.”
The remembrance of leaving poor Jones lashed to the chair stole through his mind, and Chase winced. In hindsight, he might have been a touch rough on the boy. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I’m not interested in staying in a pack house. It wouldn’t be a good idea.”
Shaun’s indifference slid away as his attention sharpened. “If you’re worried about troubles because you’re from out of town, don’t be. The pack’s not about to go around our authority.”
Just what he wanted. “And maybe having people ordered to tolerate me isn’t something I enjoy. So, not to seem ungrateful, but I’ll take care of myself for the night.”
Evan’s firm pat on his shoulder reassured him there was no harm caused by his insistence. “A ride though? We can drop you anywhere. By the way, you didn’t mention the specifics of your reason to visit Whitehorse.”
That wasn’t a secret either. Chase pulled out his papers, including his shopping list, and showed it to Evan. He kept the others’ to-do lists tucked aside—it was one thing to share his personal information and another to let a virtual stranger, Alpha or not, know exactly how many men were scattered through the bush in the Keno area.
Evan scanned the stack, his expression unreadable. “I can’t imagine. Supplies for an entire year all at one go. How the hell you know how much to buy?”
“Stays about the same. If I guess wrong, I can always radio for someone from Dawson to do a drop, but Whitehorse is far cheaper to deal with. Plus my bank is here.”
The papers were passed back without another word, near indolence in Evan’s attitude now. “And that’s more than I need to know. I’m not interested in your finances. Not unless you ask for help, and that seems to be low on your list of things to do—the asking-for-help business.”
Chase remained still, waiting for the next question.
Shaun whooped as he shot to his feet, turning to flick a salute Chase’s direction. “Lovely to meet you. Drop by the Moonshine Inn if you decide you need anything. Later.”
He rushed out the door without a second glance.
Evan and Chase exchanged puzzled lo
oks before turning streetward. Shaun raced up to a pretty African American, swept her off her feet, and kissed her madly.
Evan laughed. “It’s okay. We’re not all insane. That’s his mate—she’s been gone for a week, and he didn’t expect her to be back for a few more days.”
An itch tickled up the back of Chase’s spine. The mention of mates was enough to make most of his type twitchy.
After one final nod, the Takhini Alpha rose and left. Chase sat alone in the corner of the café, the remains of their repast cleared away quickly by the efficient Carly.
“Can I get you anything else?” She smiled at him again, that flirtatious lilt to her voice, but for some reason he wasn’t interested anymore.
He shook his head. If he wanted a little female companionship this week, he’d have to look elsewhere. She wasn’t a wolf, not by her scent, so it was safe enough in terms of avoiding pack.
But something wasn’t sitting right. Maybe the visit had been too much companionship after all his time alone. Even Delton wasn’t real intrusive company. Heck, often the man was so quiet the two of them could be in the same room for an entire day and not get in each other’s way.
The Takhini leaders vibrated with life and energy. Power of an entirely different type than mere hierarchy. The kind of vitality that was scary on a whole different level to a man who after years of isolation felt at home staring at the side of a mountain for days on end.
Solitude called to him like a wild creature, and he could hardly wait to discharge his duties and return to the bush. He picked up his pack, carefully draped it over his left shoulder and escaped into the street to find his room for the night.
Evan watched the Métis from a distance, not wanting to crowd the man, but not willing yet to drop his curiosity. And with Shaun distracted by Gem’s early return, there was no use in trying to do any more planning for the Grand Master Plan, as Shaun had taken to calling it. Evan laughed as he tracked Chase. Hell, he could hear his Beta using capital letters every time he said the words, like some freaky Pooh Bear imitation.
