by J. L. Wilder
Victor got to his feet. “It’s bad enough that my father is gone,” he said. “The fact that he died without having the opportunity to resolve this matter, though...I don’t know how I’m supposed to live with that. It was the one thing he wanted to do before he died.”
“Why didn’t he do it?” Pax asked.
Victor glared at him. “Are you trying to be a dick?”
“I’m just trying to understand,” Pax said. “If your father wanted the Arctic Wolves brought down so badly, why didn’t he go north and fight them?”
“He tried to,” Victor said. “They beat him back. They routed him. And after that—” He shook his head. “They said they would kill us all if we came into their land again. Father couldn’t risk that. He had his family to protect.”
“It sounds like he did the wise thing by choosing to stand down,” Pax said.
“But that omega of theirs was pregnant,” Victor said. “If she passed her abnormality along to her children...it could change the nature of shifters forever, if something like that is allowed to spread.”
“What are you saying?” Pax said.
“I’m saying that I’m going to need to do what my father never could,” Victor said. “A funeral is nice, but it’s not the best way to really honor his legacy. I’m going to have to go north, find the Arctic Wolves, and put an end to their line. That’s what my father would want me to do.”
“You’re the only alpha your pack has, Victor,” Pax protested. “You can’t leave them alone.”
“I won’t leave them alone. You’re here.”
“I’m leaving in a few days.”
“You can’t leave,” Victor said. “I need you to do this for me. I need you to stay and look after the house and the pack.”
“Victor. Be serious. I have my own life to get back to.”
“You don’t have a pack,” Victor said. “You’re on your own.”
It was true. Though Pax had grown up among a pack of wolves that Victor’s father had found to take him in, he had never really belonged to them. One of his adoptive brothers, Donovan, had been the alpha of that pack, and he had never grown comfortable with the fact that Pax was an alpha by birth. The adults of the pack had theorized that Pax would learn to submit to Donovan in time, but that hadn’t happened, and as soon as he’d come of age, Pax had gone his own way.
But being on his own didn’t mean that he could be called into service by other alphas to suit their convenience. “I came here to pay my respects to your father,” he said. “But you’re not my alpha, Victor. I don’t take orders from you.”
“My father would want you to stay,” Victor said. “You owe him for saving your life.”
“There’s only so many times that favor can be called in,” Pax said.
“Consider this the last time, then,” Victor said. “Stay here and protect my family while I go north. If you do, your debt is paid, and I’ll never bother you again.”
Pax sighed. “Fine,” he said. “I suppose the things I’d planned to do in the coming weeks can wait. But I hope you’re not planning to be gone for too long. I don’t want to spend months here waiting for you to get back.”
“This is just reconnaissance,” Victor said. “I know better than to think I can take them on alone. I’ll find out what I can about their activities, and then I’ll come home and put a hunting party together. It shouldn’t take me more than a week. And maybe you’ll join my hunting party when the time comes.”
“Don’t count on it,” Pax said. “Remember, you said the debt would be paid after this week.”
“And it will,” Victor said. “I won’t try to compel you to come with me. But think about it, Pax. This is going to be one of the biggest battles between wolf packs that our generation will see. Do you really want to sit it out?”
“Yes, I do,” Pax said firmly. “I’ve never had a bloodlust, as you seem to. I don’t want to put my life on the line over something like this. I know you think it’s what your father would want. But your father spent his life protecting your family. He saved my life. He wouldn’t want us to throw our futures away.”
“You didn’t know him like I did,” Victor said.
“No, I didn’t,” Pax agreed. “You’ll do what you feel you have to. I understand that.”
Victor turned. “I’d better go inside,” he said. “If my brothers find out I’ve been out here drinking all morning, they’ll question my ability as a leader.”
Pax nodded. He wasn’t sorry to see Victor go. He had never gotten along all that well with the man. The fact that he was now the alpha of the Vancouver Pack was worrying, and Pax was determined to go east as soon as he could and leave Vancouver far behind him. He would seek his fortune in Quebec, maybe. But he was ready to be done with this part of the world. This funeral was the last bit of business he had to attend to.
He went to the bottle Victor had thrown across the yard and picked it up. There was no sense in leaving it to deface the landscape. Besides, Victor hadn’t wanted his packmates to know that he had begun drinking early. Pax didn’t much like the guy, but he was happy to keep that secret for him.
Donovan now emerged from the log cabin and jogged over to his side.
Pax hadn’t seen his adoptive brother in three years. The time had been good to Donovan. He was a head taller than Pax now, his skin sun-darkened, his dark blond hair thick and long. “Are you coming inside?” he asked.
“Do they need me?” Pax asked.
“They need pallbearers,” Donovan said.
“I thought Josh’s sons would do that,” Pax said. “Hasn’t he got several?”
“Most of them are pretty drunk,” Donovan said. “At this point, they’re looking for anyone who can walk in a straight line.”
Pax snorted. And Victor didn’t want them to know he’d had one beer. “All right,” he said. “I’ve got it.”
He followed Donovan into the house, and the two of them took up positions on either side of the rough, unpolished coffin that Josh’s pack had spent the last few days making. Donovan counted to three, and the men surrounding the box lifted it to shoulder height and walked it out into the yard.
They eased it into the ground slowly. Victor approached with a shovel and began to heap dirt back into the hole. After he had dropped a few spades full of dirt on his father’s coffin, he passed the shovel off to one of his brothers, who continued the process.
Pax stepped back, away from the grave. Rather than standing next to Donovan, he moved away from the crowd and stood by himself. He had come here to pay his respects, yes, but he didn’t belong to any of these groups. He wasn’t part of any pack. As Victor had so kindly reminded him, he was alone.
He found himself wishing, as the last of the dirt was deposited into the grave, that he had not agreed to stay here while Victor completed his reconnaissance mission. He wanted to get away. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. It had only been his respect for Josh’s strength that had brought him here. But Pax was a man who was most comfortable when he was on his own. He always had been, and he suspected that he always would be.
As the assembled group made their way back to the house to get something to eat and relax after the stress of having laid their old alpha to rest, Pax instead walked across the lawn toward the tree line. He wouldn’t be missed right now. It was an ideal time to try to steal a few moments alone, to relax.
He gazed into the woods, wishing that he could shift and run off in his wolf form. That would really be relaxing.
Then he frowned.
He thought he had seen something move in the trees. And had he heard the sound of footsteps?
“Is someone there?” he called.
There was no answer.
Pax jogged a few paces into the woods, looking around as he did so, but there was no one to be seen. The forest was empty.
And hadn’t he seen everyone go back up to the house? He was the only one who was still outside.
I must have imagined it.....<
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About The Author
J.L. Wilder likes wild things! Her alpha shifters are gruff and tough, with a pinch of tenderness. Curl up with these bad boy book boyfriends, and they will have you howling at the moon!
When not writing shifter smut, J.L. spends as much time as possible exploring the outdoors. She loves getting into trouble with Ace, her Siberian Husky.
You can grab a free shifter romance and join her email here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/mvci9dryz6
