by Vivian Arend
TJ slapped the man’s hands away and stomped up to Tad. Shaking his finger in Tad’s face, TJ glared at him. “Do you know what you’ve done? Jerk. You cost me twenty bucks.” He clapped Tad on both shoulders and his scowl turned to a grin. “I thought the brown-nosing would require at least a couple of hours to start. You’ve managed to get the suck-ups to show themselves not even fifteen minutes after Keil left the room. Good job, buddy.”
TJ turned and stared back at the gathering crowd. “I suspected some of you were assholes, now I know for sure. Did any of you think to ask my friend who he was? You know, a visitor in town for a special occasion, let’s welcome him, that kind of thing?”
The Queen of Sheba shoved to the front of the group and seemed intent on continuing to stir things up. “Why should we show him any manners? He’s a half-blood. Untriggered. At his age that must mean he’s packless.”
“What’s wrong, TJ?” The pack Beta, Erik, slipped beside them, his solid six-foot-five-inch frame an encouraging wall of safety.
TJ stared at the twenty or so wolves gathered in front of him. “Nothing’s wrong. Tad and I were just reviewing Manners 101 with these morons. Let’s go get something to eat while we wait for Keil and Robyn to return.” He directed them toward the food, speaking over his shoulder. “I know Robyn will be happy to see her brother after she shifts back.”
Stunned silence greeted his words.
“Oh come on, Tad, you knew wolves were just as bad as humans in some areas. Worse in others.” Erik forced away another wolf who tried to pull up a chair and join them. “Ranking means only a little less than breathing to some of these jerks, and now that they know you’re related to the Alpha—”
“—they all want to be my friend. I get it. I just don’t like it. They didn’t even want me in the building before. Is this an Alaskan thing? The Whitehorse pack had no problem accepting me as a half-blood. Untriggered. Heck, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to switch and join your pack, even if Robyn is now Alpha. Even if it’s the closest pack to my work base.” He shoved away his plate. He couldn’t eat if he tried.
What had started as an amazing day had turned dark and cold.
“They’re kissing up to you, are they?” Erik retrieved Tad’s plate and pulled off an untouched chicken drumstick.
“I got accosted when I hit the can. The Queen of Sheba, who must be close to eighty-five, offered me FirstMate.” Tad shuddered. “I know I’ve been waiting a long time, but hell will freeze over before I accept her.”
Erik grimaced. “Nasty. I hear you. Still, I’m sure there’s someone else who’s willing.”
Tad shook his head. “Don’t you see, what’s the point? I don’t want to have sex with someone who’s willing because Robyn is Alpha. I want someone who wants me for, well, me. Is that too much to ask?”
“The issue is no one can sense how strong you are. The girls don’t want to be trapped by a false mating,” Erik pointed out. “And since you continue to turn down offers from mated females, you’re out of luck.”
“I still don’t get why you don’t want to just accept FirstMate,” TJ complained. “The wolf offers, her mate is cool with it. Why aren’t you? I mean, heck I know Keil would never allow it, but if Robyn did offer and he did agree and if I still had FirstMate to complete, which I don’t, but if I did I would have no problem accepting a little loving from Miss Sweetcakes. Oww…” TJ howled as a firm grip on his ear twisted him to face Keil and Robyn, fully clothed and glaring daggers. TJ pulled a face.
Robyn lifted her arms and signed to Tad who hooted out loud. “Um, Robyn says it’s Alpha Sweetcakes to you, TJ.”
TJ grasped Keil’s hand and attempted to rescue his ear. “My apologies, oh most high rulers, but you are one hot babe, Robyn. Just in case Keil ever forgets to tell you.”
Robyn glanced back at Tad with a questioning look. He shook his head. There was no way he was explaining that conversation to her.
Tad pulled her in for a hug and a kiss, embracing her for a minute while he considered his options. Keil had asked him to stick around for a couple of days to help with sign language and make Robyn feel at home in Alaska with the Granite Lake pack. He’d originally said he’d do it, but now he knew it wouldn’t work. Not if the last couple of hours were any indication. There was far too much politics involved, and while he liked to socialize and problem solve, there was no use in trying it here. His lack of official status would make it impossible for him to accomplish anything of value.
Tad stepped back and lifted his hands to talk to Robyn in American Sign Language, glad to have a way to enjoy a private conversation in the middle of the crowded room.
“You look amazing,” he told her.
“I feel amazing. Oh, Tad, wait until you can shift. It’s so…” She stopped and wrinkled her nose at him. “You don’t feel comfortable here. You’re leaving.”
Tad dropped his hands in amazement. She really was a powerful wolf. “I see your damn Alpha insight is working already.”
Robyn stuck her tongue out him briefly. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m happy for you, sis. Really I am. In fact, this whole evening has helped me realize it’s time to move on. I need to stop waiting for something to happen to make me satisfied and go make it happen.”
Robyn frowned, her dark eyes staring into his. “Explain. You feel like you’re a bubble ready to burst.”
Tad sighed. It wasn’t really time for this conversation, but it needed to be said. She deserved to know he’d finally arrived at a decision. “I don’t want to mess up your celebration. It’s just I’m not going to worry about trying to trigger my wolf anymore, okay? Keil explained to you it’s tough for a half-blood like me to get triggered, and I’ve decided that I’m going to just ignore my wolf side and go make my human side happy instead.”
A myriad of emotions flickered across Robyn face. Confusion, disbelief, sadness. Then a hint of amusement. “What if you can have both? What you want as a human and what your wolf needs?”
Tad shook his head. “It’s not possible. You were lucky. You found Keil and you weren’t even looking for him. It’s better if I just forget the whole wolf thing.”
Robyn stomped her foot. “Bullshit. You can’t ignore your wolf and still be happy. That’s what was wrong with me before. I knew something was missing, and you will not believe how big a difference I feel now that my wolf is a complete part of me. Don’t give up. You really can be happy with yourself and trigger your wolf. I know it.”
“Making a proclamation as my Alpha?”
She rested her hands on her hips for a second, the gold flecks in her eyes swirling as she stared at him. Power rolled from her and his spine tingled. Holy shit, she was strong.
She raised her hands to sign again. “As both your Alpha and your sister. You’ve always looked out for me. I haven’t said thank you nearly enough. I love you, and I want you to be happy. It’s going to work out in the end.”
She punched him in the shoulder and pulled him in for another hug. She held on to both sides of his head and stared deep into his eyes for a moment. The wolf within her was beautiful to see, but he wasn’t the type to seize advantage of her good fortune. He wasn’t going to ride her coattails to get triggered. As much as the idea there was one special someone out there for him excited him, being with Missy was not a bad alternative. Partners for life was what he wanted, even if it meant his wolf remained trapped.
“Tad, hang on.” Erik placed a restraining hand on Tad’s door. “Keil needs to talk to you before you go.”
Tad was tired, fed up and ready to go home to collapse and dream about Missy. “Can it wait?”
Erik froze. He turned and raised a brow at Tad.
“Oh shit. Sorry.” Damn, damn, damn. He really needed to remember who he was talking to at times. The whole werewolf code was like some kind of mystical Ten Commandments, and Tad seemed to constantly break the rules, one way or another. He relocked his door and fell into step with the giant man.
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Erik spoke softly. “You can get away with a lot, being related to Robyn and all, but it’s not a good idea—”
“I know, I know, the whole ‘Alpha is King’ thing. I have trouble remembering at times. It doesn’t seem real, maybe because I can’t shift. I guess I’m not a very good wolf.” Tad had to walk double-quick to keep up with the strides of his new Beta.
“How can you not remember?” Erik asked. “Don’t you feel like you’ve got to listen when Keil talks? Or your previous Alpha in Whitehorse?”
Tad shrugged. “I guess. Well, sometimes. Sometimes I just feel annoyed.”
“Annoyed?” Erik sounded strange, like he had swallowed something the wrong way.
Tad flicked a glance up at him. “Annoyed or even pissed off. Usually when I think it’s a thing stupid for them to ask. I don’t think Keil’s ordered me to do anything yet, so I’m not sure, but my Alpha in Whitehorse, heck, I ignored him all the time.”
Erik was no longer at his side and Tad turned back to look at the man who was several paces behind making the weirdest face. This night was turning truly bizarre. “What?” Tad watched as the Beta walked a slow circle around him, sniffing the air. “Sod off—I hate it when people do that.” Tad forced him away. Not an easy task since Erik was built like a brick shithouse with reinforced metal corners.
Erik shook his head slowly. “Keil’s gonna blow a gasket.”
“Tad’s going to pitch a fit if he doesn’t get to go home soon. Stop with the wolfy mumbo jumbo and let’s go see the Big Cheese.” Tad stormed into the hall, Erik trailing behind him chuckling.
Keil met them at the front foyer and motioned for his Beta to stand watch.
“You’re making me nervous. Is something wrong?” Tad asked, glancing around the empty space. He didn’t see any trouble but something was odd about the way Keil looked at him.
Keil put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and led them to some overstuffed chairs at the side of the area. “No, you’re fine, Robyn’s fine, all that kind of stuff. I need to talk to you about something serious before you leave.”
Tad waited.
“It’s kind of a delicate subject with you, and I didn’t think I should mention it in front of the others.”
Tad waited.
Keil rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
Tad grinned at the big man. It was the most entertainment he’d had all night. Then his smile faded as he got an inkling of the topic at hand. “Oh crap, you’re not going to tell me someone’s offered me FirstMate, are you?”
Keil frowned. “I thought you’d be pleased. You’ve been waiting forever—”
Tad’s blood started to boil. Enough was enough. “Keil, I don’t want to fuck someone who’s brown-nosing for you. Forget it.”
“She’s not trying to impress me.”
“Yeah. Right. Let me guess. Is she a skinny blonde with a tan?”
Keil sat back. “Well, I wouldn’t call her skinny, but she is blonde. You know who offered?”
Tad pulled a sour expression. “She offered herself to me already and I thought I would lose my dinner. You don’t really think I should accept her, do you? I know it’s not forever but I do have to look at her for a couple days. And touch her…” He shivered. The thought of being intimate with the Queen of Sheba turned his stomach. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Anger flared across Keil’s face. “If this is how picky you are, no wonder you’ve never been triggered. I thought we finally found a solution you’d be pleased with.” Keil picked up one of the cushions from the couch and smacked it with his fist. He raised his dark eyes to glare at Tad.
He glared back until he remembered this was both his new Alpha and his new brother-in-law. Tad sighed and lowered his gaze. “I don’t think I’m being picky.”
“Who are you waiting for, Miss Wolf Canada?” Keil demanded.
Tad gaped at him. No way. “Is there such a thing?”
“Arghhh!” Keil threw the pillow at him.
Tad held up his hands, trying to calm Keil down. “Look, I’m not trying to be difficult.”
“Well, you’re managing to piss me off and you’re going to get me in shit with my mate. Robyn was so excited at the possibility you’d get triggered soon.”
Like that was going to change Tad’s mind about the whole thing. “I’m not fucking someone for Robyn’s sake.”
“It’s just FirstMate. Get over it.”
Tad shook his head.
Keil crossed his arms over his chest. “Then you get to explain yourself to Robyn because she thought you’d be thrilled. She said Missy was one of the—”
“What?” Tad leapt forward in his seat. Who did Keil say? “Wait a second, rewind. Who are we talking about here? Did you say Missy?”
“Damn right. Gorgeous woman like that offers you—”
“She’s a wolf?” Holy crap, Missy offered FirstMate? Sweet, beautiful, sexy-as-all-get-out Missy who turned him inside out with longing? His heart pounded harder and suddenly it was difficult to breath.
Keil pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit, are you never going to learn how to pick up a scent? Yes, Missy is a wolf. She came by yesterday to tell me she was in the area. As the nearest pack, it’s a courtesy thing to check in. She caught the whole hullabaloo about me and Robyn taking over leadership, and you not being triggered, and she said she’d be delighted to offer you FirstMate. Seems she’s had a soft spot for you since high school. Since you aren’t interested and the mere thought of touching her causes your face to turn green I guess I should just—”
“Will you slow down?” Tad hopped from his chair and began to pace. His nerves jangled for a second then relaxed as a faint trail of hope began to build. But why had Missy not mentioned anything? “I didn’t know she was a wolf. We went on a date the other day and she never said a word to me.”
“She wasn’t sure you knew about your wolf genes until she met Robyn.” Keil looked puzzled. “Just who did you think I was suggesting?”
Missy wanted to have sex with him. Tad fought down the images that flared in his mind to concentrate on answering Keil. “I thought you were talking about the chick with the shimmery pink highlights in her hair.”
Keil laughed and shook his head. “Okay, now your reaction makes sense. So now that we’re talking the same language, what do you think? Missy’s a widow, so your little issue about not doing the deed with a married woman is a moot point. Plus she’s excessively easy on the eyes. Not that I would notice, being totally enamored by your sister and all.”
Tad snorted. “I think the expression is ‘married, not dead’. Missy is flipping gorgeous and you know it. Robyn would say the same.”
“So…”
“Man, this still seems so forced and weird. Like a prearranged trip to the local brothel.” He’d learned to be a lot more open about discussing sex over the past two years, but the upfront and in-your-face wolf method still made him squirm. Fine, he and Missy would do FirstMate. Now he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Keil smirked. “I think you can get over that little problem. From what Missy told me you seemed interested enough in her the other day, so get together and—”
“Shit, she told you what we did?” And was Robyn in the room to hear it? That’s all he needed, his sister knowing he was a sex fiend.
Damn, Robyn already knew Missy had offered. That was the point of her whole mysterious conversation about getting what both his human and wolf sides wanted. He couldn’t stop the heat that rose to his face.
“No, but you’ve got me curious. You want to tell me what you did that’s got you going from zero-to-sixty in three seconds flat? I’ve never seen a guy react like that before.”
“Shut up, Keil.” His new brother-in-law’s hearty laugh rang out and Tad gave him a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I’m interested. Only, let me set the pace, please. I’ll be working with her for the next while, and I don’t think it’s good if we hit the sack and have at it.�
�� As much as he’d like to.
Holy smoke, Missy was a wolf. She’d offered FirstMate. They were going to have sex. He’d been waiting for years to find someone to trigger him, and now it wasn’t only going to happen, it was going to happen with Missy.
Wow. High school dreams could come true.
Chapter Six
Tad made a final check of the aircraft instruments and tucked away the flight plan and weather reports. There were only eight hours of daylight to play with and they needed to head out soon.
The meteorologist, Missy’s working partner in the project, detained them. Tad had flown the man for hours the day before and discovered Dan was anal when it came to details. Today he not only fussed with last-minute changes, he wasn’t feeling well, disappearing every ten minutes on a bathroom run.
“Missy, can we get started and at least put the first of the relays into place?” Tad suggested, chomping at the bit to get moving. “Then we can contact Dan and let him do his thing with the base unit at camp. It’s going to require at least twenty minutes to get to the first drop spot before you can even turn anything on to start linking the receivers.”
It was the first time he’d seen Missy since he and Keil spoke on Saturday. She looked breathtaking as usual, but he imagined there was a little something extra in her smile when she responded to him. Heat flared between them, and he forced himself to turn away before he did something too wolfish—like pounce on her in public.
By the time they were in the air wearing headsets so they could communicate, he thought he’d worked out what he wanted to say. It needed to be something tender and sweet, yet let her know he was interested in her not only for FirstMate reasons but because he really liked her as a person. It wasn’t just about sex, even though she was hot enough to cause spring thaw to set in early—
“Tad?” Missy’s smooth voice came through the speakers fuzzy with static. His cock still stood up and paid attention.
“Yes?”
“When we’re done today would you like me to come back to your apartment or do you want to get a hotel room? Because all my stuff is at the camp and I don’t think we should have sex there.”
