“It’s only been two days!” I exclaimed, the sentence popping out of my mouth before I could think it through. I could already feel my father yanking me back to Haven, and the tug of his command terrified me. In fact, my father scared me far more than the alpha beside me did, I realized as Wolfie laid a possessive arm loosely around my waist. I would have thought the contact would feel confining, but instead I relaxed slightly, my wolf retreating out of my eyes at the alpha’s touch.
I knew that my accidental words would have repercussions, but, wolf-like, the man beside me seemed willing to deal with the present danger first. Wolfie kept his gaze trained on my cousin as he coldly bared his teeth in what would look like a smile to humans … but wasn’t. “You’ve delivered your message,” the alpha said coldly. “Now go.” Milo jerked his head in a farewell, as if he’d meant to leave anyway, but it was clear that the alpha’s command spurred his quick exit.
The two of us stood in silence until my cousin was out of sight, then Wolfie turned toward me and raised that eyebrow that was getting such a workout today. “We need to talk,” he began.
“We do,” I agreed. “After I check on Keith.”
***
I didn’t slow down until I’d rushed around to the back of the building and could see the beta and my nephew through the dirt-encrusted windows. There was more work getting done now that Chase was Keith’s partner, but the kid still seemed to be having fun, if the huge smile on his face was any indication. I could feel the tension in my back easing at the sight.
“They’re fine,” Wolfie said, grabbing my shoulder to spin me around to face him. Despite my previous conclusions about his good intentions, I instantly shrank back from the alpha’s firm grasp, and he let me go as if I were on fire. A wolf-like growl burst up from his chest, and I took another step backwards even though I was at least partially sure the bloodling’s reaction was pure frustration.
Unlike every other alpha-leaning male I’d ever met, though, Wolfie seemed to instinctively know how to defuse his dominance. He dropped into a sitting position so I was towering over him rather than vice versa, and I slowly joined him on the ground. The lawn was chilly, but the sun felt good on my face, so I sat silently for a minute, collecting myself, and Wolfie let me take the time I needed.
“That was a lie about Keith being your heir,” I started tentatively, once the sun had driven away most of my earlier chill.
“I do consider him part of my pack,” Wolfie answered, his correction sufficing as confirmation of my earlier statement. Now it was the alpha’s turn to pause as he worked his mind around an undemanding way to ask me what my intentions were toward my nephew. Because my accidental word choice with Milo made it clear that I hadn’t showed up simply to help Keith through his first shift.
When I didn’t offer any explanation, Wolfie suggested, “Chief Wilder sent you to bring Keith back into the fold.” Ashamed of my own willingness to consider the plan, but figuring lying was no longer an option, I nodded agreement. “But you aren’t going to bring Keith to Haven,” Wolfie continued as if this second statement was as obvious as the first.
“What am I supposed to do instead?” I burst out. “Father said it was Keith or me … .” I let my voice trail off, though, as I realized that Wolfie was right. I’d only known my nephew for twenty-four hours, but already I realized that my father would chew the boy up and spit him out. I couldn’t set up such a good-natured kid for that kind of soul-crushing. Better that I suck it up and go back to Haven myself—after all, I’d already enjoyed a decade of freedom. I probably had been tougher than Keith even when I was his age, and unlike my nephew, I would survive my father’s attention. I sighed, accepting the inevitable.
Wolfie had no such fatalism. “We’ll think of a way to fix it.” He reached out and took my hand in his massive paw, which woke my wolf up with a jolt. Instead of the pain I’d felt recently whenever my wolf was present, though, a tremor of pleasure rushed through my body. The innocent skin-on-skin contact suddenly felt thoroughly erotic, and my breath caught in my throat. Breathe, demanded my wolf. I want to smell him.
Wolfie’s mouth turned up into a smile, almost as if he’d heard my wolf’s reaction, and I blushed furiously. “There’s just one more thing we need to talk about right now,” the alpha rumbled gently.
“What?” I asked, trying to figure out which other disaster had attracted Wolfie’s attention.
“Whether you’ll go out on a date with me tomorrow,” the alpha replied.
***
It was a day of interruptions, but this was one I was grateful for. “There you are,” Dale called toward us as he strolled around the corner of the building. “The clinic’s looking great, isn’t it?”