I grinned at her, then ducked my head when Dare turned a glare on me.
Rua laughed. “Ah, so you’re like that.”
Dare sighed heavily. Rua grinned back at me when Dare looked away, so I figured it couldn’t have been too bad.
Rua approaching us broke the ice, because pack members began to materialize out of the shadows to meet me. They always dipped their heads to Dare first, and I liked that. He deserved their respect. He greeted each one by name, and asked them personal questions. He offered advice to a separated couple about their novus’s custody, and told a young Were he’d meet him in the arena for a training session soon.
When the crowd thinned, a small novus came streaking through the Forum. Dare crouched and the little thing leapt into his arms.
“I missed you,” the novus said, wrapping his thin arms around Dare’s neck. Dare rose to his feet, holding the wriggling, dark-haired child as a petite woman with honey-blonde hair approached us. She smiled at me hesitantly before addressing Dare. “Sorry, he was excited, because it’s been a little bit since he’s seen you.”
“I know,” Dare said, setting the child on his feet. He couldn’t have been more than five, with a thick mop of black hair and green eyes. “I meant to come see him but—”
She shook her head. “No, you were busy, Alpha.”
With a slight bow to me, she said. “I’m Cati.” She wore leather pants and a vest that showed off her slender arms and pale skin. She also wore an elaborate necklace—several strands of beads that stretched between her breasts. She was pretty, with large blue eyes and a small nose.
“And this is Mav,” Dare said. “My son.”
The eyes. I should have noticed the eyes right away. I’d never met anyone with emerald irises that vivid. But son? I glanced between Dare and Cati. “Um, were you mated?”
Dare tickled the boy, who giggled and hid his face against his father’s hip. “When females go into heat in the Silver Tip pack, they get to choose who will get them through it. Cati and I had been friends for years, so she asked me. And I got a son out of it.”
In my old pack, Xan determined who would help the females through their heat. Selene was about to enter her first heat, and Xan had chosen—himself. Goddamn bastard.
My face must have gone pale, because Dare leaned toward me. “Reese?”
I shook my head and pasted a smile on my face. Thoughts of my sister could be like a punch to the gut. I could at least be glad this pack had a great Alpha who treated them all with dignity. I bent down to greet the little one. “Hey there, Mav.”
The boy was cute, wearing a gray T-shirt and black shorts “Hello.”
“I’m Reese.”
“Reethe,” he lisped.
I laughed and ruffled his hair. “Close enough.”
When I stood up, Dare grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “Cati, I’ll be by soon to visit Mav.”
She smiled as she swung a squealing Mav into the air. “No problem. Nice to meet you, Reese.”
“You too.”
She walked away, still swinging the boy in the air.
“Again with the warnings, Dare,” I muttered. “A son? That’s a heads-up kinda thing.”
He sighed. “My excuse is I’m not good at this. You’re my first, last, and only mate.”
Good point. I knew shit about this mating thing too. “It’s fine.”
I watched Cati as she spoke to another female Were, while Mav sat with another novus boy, playing quietly. I looked forward to getting to know the boy. If the Bluefoot pack hadn’t been a hellhole, I might have tried to mate a female to have my own little novuses around. But if I had a say in it, I wasn’t eager to rear a child there. With Dare as my mate, I wouldn’t be free to sire a child with a female, which was fine. It wasn’t like I didn’t have enough to worry about.
But the more pack members I met, and the more I saw how Dare interacted with them, the more conflicted I became. Rescuing my sister as a lone escaped Bluefoot pack member was one thing. But if I arrived with Were backup and an alpha mate? The truce would be blown. And what kind of consequences would that have on this pack? On Cati and Mav and G? Other than Gage, the Silver Tip pack members were peaceful and happy. My heart ached, because this reminded me of Astria. Where we lived under an alpha we respected, who respected us, and we trusted.
What kind of harm would I be doing involving them?
I wanted to go punch something. Hard. But instead, I had to plaster on a smile and be the dutiful mate to the alpha. My acting skills were superb.
We met a couple more pack members, but no more secret babies, which was fabulous. I was thinking Gage was just a jealous loser until I spotted him on a balcony about three floors up, standing with four other men who all wore matching scowls aimed at Dare.
When there was a break in the crowd, I nudged Dare with my elbow and jerked my head up toward the Weres.
When he spotted them, his lips pressed into a thin line. He rolled his shoulders and shook his head. “Let’s head outside.” His voice was strained. Tired. The only reason I didn’t glare at Gage and his band of Scowly McScowlersons was because I didn’t think Dare would want me to provoke them.
So I glared at them with my mind. Really hard.
Outside, I shielded my eyes from the sun and stuck close to Dare. Weres were everywhere and instinct raised my hackles. My impression of Weres in their Were form was that they were mindless predators, but the Weres training in the field were organized and disciplined. Still, I remained glued to Dare’s side, knowing the only reason I wasn’t being regarded as inferior was because I reeked of their alpha.
Dare gestured over to a Were in his human form who seemed to be a leader. “Every Were, as soon as they turn sixteen, is required to train for a minimum number of hours a day, which is determined by their age and position in the pack.”
“What are you all training for?” I asked as two Weres slashed at each other with claws the size of my forearms.
“Protection from Noweres when we send our supply team outside the walls. And preparation to defend ourselves from other packs.”
The smaller Were took the larger one out by his legs, and they crashed to the ground. They tussled until the smaller Were clamped his jaws down on the throat of his opponent.
“Bay!” Dare barked.
The smaller Were hopped up, his jaws snapping, and…was that a smile on his Were face?
He shifted quickly as he strode toward us, naked, dirty, and pretty damn hot with his green eyes and smirk. I waited for Dare to move closer to me, touch me in a way that was staking his claim, but instead he watched the approaching Were impassively.
Once he was closer, the family resemblance between him and my mate was clear. Ah, so that was why Dare didn’t react to the smirk. “Yo, Dare. You saw me take down Vaughn, right? Tired of his yapping mouth.”
“Fuck you, Bay!” came a good-natured jibe from the defeated Were.
Bay flipped a bird over his shoulder, and the other Were laughed.
He regarded me with amusement, but I sensed he was studying me beneath the jovial expression. “Hey there, little wolf.”
“I was watching,” Dare said. “Coulda been cleaner.”
I thought he was being harsh on Bay, who’d managed to take down a larger Were, but when I glanced at my mate, his expression was affectionate.
Bay scoffed as he jerked his chin at me. “I’m Dare’s younger brother. I can whoop Vaughn’s ass and Dare’s ass.”
“In your dreams,” Dare muttered.
“I’m Reese,” I said. “Uh, Dare’s mate.”
Bay laughed, the sound booming and infectious. “No shit, you smell just like him.” To Dare he waggled his eyebrows. “Finally let him out of your bed, I guess.”
“Enough,” Dare growled.
Bay seemed entirely unconcerned. “How’s your new home? Heard Xan runs a pretty shit ship.”
I cleared my throat. “You’d be right. Food’s great here, and I’m not required to do
manual labor ten hours a day.” I gave Dare a look out of the corner of my eye. “Well, at least not manual labor I don’t enjoy.”
Bay cackled and Dare rolled his eyes.
The Were who was leading the training approached Dare, waiting nearby silently for his cue to speak. Dare’s relaxed posture changed immediately to what I had begun to think of as his Alpha Stance. “You need something, Nero?”
“Yes, Alpha. Can you take a look at Yare’s training? She’s really showing promise.”
“She’s eighteen, right?”
Nero nodded.
Dare turned to me, but Bay spoke up first. “Are you taking him on a tour?”
“Yes, I was about to show him the crops.”
Bay clapped his hands. “You deal with your pack. I’ll lead him around.” He walked over to a nearby wall and reached into one of the small cubbyholes, pulling out a pair of pants. “Come on, little guy. I’ll take you to the source of all our great food.”
I tried not to take offense at being called little. I glanced at Dare, whose harsh gaze was fixed on his brother. “Bay.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t look up as he finished adjusting the leather waistband of his pants.
“Bay!” Dare barked.
His brother jerked his head up, and once he caught Dare’s tight expression, immediately bowed his head. “Yes, Alpha.”
Dare walked over to him and clamped a hand on his shoulder, speaking quietly. “This is my mate, and you will guard him with your life.”
Bay lifted his head, blinking up at his big brother. “I will take care of your mate, brother.”
After holding his eyes for another thirty seconds, Dare walked to me and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him. “My brother will show you around. Respect him as if he were me. Okay?”
I nodded.
Dare’s gaze fell to my lips, and then he swiped his thumb across them. “See you soon, Mate,” he said, then pushed me gently toward Bay.
I followed Bay, and when I glanced over my shoulder, Dare was watching us walk away. Why did I feel like every step aware from Dare was the wrong one? Was this the mate pull? Because fuck, it was strong.
I took a deep breath, and shook my head, focusing on Bay’s broad back in front of me. The sun was shining, and I was outside without being forced to repair a roof while the threat of a whip loomed over my head.
I kicked my feet through the grass, the long blades wrapping around my ankles. Dare had given me a pair of sandals, and I wriggled my toes, enjoying the breeze on my skin. I hadn’t worn shoes since I’d arrived at Xan’s gates. It felt a little odd to wear something on my feet, but it made me feel…more civilized.
This was the first time I’d seen the Hive from outside, and it was damn impressive. Six stories of solid stone. Most of the windows were barred, but there were several that were bare at the end of what looked to be hallways. We passed by a couple of novuses playing tag, while a group of elders stood in a shaded alcove, talking quietly and smoking something out of pipes.
I hurried ahead to keep up with Bay. Even though he was smaller than Dare, he was still larger than me, his long legs eating up the ground much faster than mine.
We rounded a bend where the grassy field narrowed between the Hive and an outer wall, then set off down a small dirt path. Around the bend, the field opened up again. In front of me was a large fenced area. Bay made his way over to it, propping a foot on the bottom rung of the fence, folding his arms on the top. “So this is where we get you that fancy food you like so much. The Silver Tip Farm.”
I approached the fence slowly, one foot in front of the other, barely able to believe what was in front of me. I hadn’t seen a full farm since I lived in Astria. Inside the fence roamed a herd of cattle, off to the side I heard the snorting of pigs, and to the other side was a large coop of chickens.
“In this pack, the novuses start working our farm and crops at ten. They milk the cows, gather the eggs, and take care of the animals on rotating shifts of two hours each day. They go to school for five hours, and then train another two.”
A young pair of Weres emerged from the chicken coop. One was a teenager and at the sight of Bay, her cheeks pinked, and she waved. “Hi, Bay.”
“Hey there, Una. Liking your new shift?”
She nodded eagerly.
Bay slapped his hand on top of the fence and led me farther along until we reached the crops. The field was double the size of the Hive, and there were several Weres bent over rows of leafy vegetables while some picked apples from trees in the far corner. “Damn,” I muttered. “This is incredible.”
“Mom,” Bay said quietly.
“What?”
“This is all my mom. She was the alpha before Dare. This was all her plan. She was brilliant.”
“You say was like…”
“I say was like she’s dead, because she is.” Bay’s voice was tight, his fists clenched. “Our uncle challenged her, because he thought we should be a war pack. Go on raids rather than work to sustain ourselves. He won the challenge. And he was Alpha for exactly one hour before Dare tore his head off.”
I choked on my own tongue.
“You know about Gage?”
I nodded. “He said some shit to Dare in front of me that Dare didn’t like too much. Dare partially shifted and gave him a warning.”
Bay’s eyes hardened. “Yeah, he has it out for Dare because Dare killed his dad. His father was a piece of shit just like ours, but Gage inherited the asshole gene, while it managed to avoid us. Thank fuck for our mom.”
“Has Gage challenged Dare?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. Matter of time, though.”
“Is Dare worried?”
He inhaled sharply. “Dare is stronger by far, but Gage…plays dirty. Who knows what kind of tricks he’ll pull to win, just like his dad did to conquer Mom.”
I was done looking at crops. I was done with it all. I wanted to get back to Dare, in his arms, on our bed. I didn’t want to think about challenges and bloody throats. I’d told myself I’d check for escape routes on this tour, but I couldn’t even think straight right now.
Bay must have sensed my stress. He cocked his head. “You all right?”
I rubbed my neck where Dare had bitten me. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
He began to walk back the way we came. “It’s okay to crave his presence. He’s probably hurting a little right now.”
“Hurting?”
Bay nodded as I drew even with his long strides. “Yeah, didn’t you know? Were mates ache when separated from their mates.”
This was absolutely new information to me. Dare was…hurting? “Wait, what? Like in pain?”
“Yeah.”
“But, I’ve been gone for ten minutes. We’re only on the other side of the Hive from him.”
“Damn, did you two talk at all?” Bay shook his head. “The Mate Pain is sharper now when your bond is new. Once you’re together longer, you can be separated for longer distances and time without him feeling too much pain. But right now, yeah, he’s probably feeling sore.”
My heart began pumping an odd staccato, and hot blood rushed through my veins along with what felt like needle pricks. I stopped walking and I rubbed my hands on my arms, trying to stop the feeling. The thought of Dare in pain shot off alarm bells in my brain. My instincts screamed for me to stop it, to ease his pain. Mate. Hurt. Stop. “I can’t—” I sucked in a gasp of air. “I can’t do this. I can’t walk away if he’s suffering. I—”
“Whoa, whoa,” Bay crouched down, his face even with mine, kind green eyes less intense than Dare’s. “It’s okay. I swear. Dare knows he can’t be around you all the time, so this is his way of weaning himself off you.”
My stomach was queasy. This was…so not good. Me leaving would hurt Dare? “What happens if we’re separated for too long?”
Bay studied me closely. “He’ll be in pain. But he’ll live as long as you do.”
Wait… “What do you mean? What happe
ns if I die?”
Bay’s voice shook a little. “If an alpha’s True Mate dies, so do they. Within hours.”
Oh hell no. I tried to keep my expression blank even though I was panicking inside. How the fuck could I leave knowing if a member of his pack didn’t kill him, he’d still live his entire life in pain?
Chapter Eight
Dare
* * *
I watched Yare spar with her training partner, and agreed with Nero that she was showing a lot of promise. I’d have to speak to her parents about giving her some additional training hours. I rolled my shoulders to ease the dull ache that had taken up residence in my muscles since my mate had left my sight. I’d have to get used to it, though. My absence had been felt by my pack the last week. They needed the presence of their alpha—my guidance, my leadership. The honeymoon with my mate was over.
A howl pricked my ears, and I knew immediately it was Reese. The howl was low, pained, and mournful. I whirled around in time to see a gray wolf with a white throat galloping around the corner of the Hive, Bay on his heels.
I took off on a sprint and met Reese halfway. He shifted mid-air as he leaped into my arms, his limbs wrapping around me tightly. He shoved his face into my neck, his chest heaving against mine.
I turned furious eyes onto Bay, wondering what had Reese trembling and terrified. My brother pulled up to a stop in front of me, breathing hard. “Dude, did you read that book? Or talk at all? He didn’t know about the Mate Pain.”
Oh. Shit. I closed my eyes and held onto Reese tighter. I hadn’t thought to tell him. What did it matter? He wasn’t affected by it.
I wasn’t comfortable dealing with Reese when he was like this in front of my pack. “I’m going to take him up to my room.”
“Sure, Dare. Hey, I’m sorry, I thought he knew.”
I shook my head. “Not your fault. We’ll talk later.”
Bay’s smile was wobbly. “Sure. I’ll be around.”
With my arms locked around Reese, I leapt in the air, landing on a large cutout window on the fifth floor. I climbed inside, then made my way down the hallway and up the stairs to my room.
Daring Fate: Silver Tip Pack series Page 8
