It was pitch black by the time we reached Wolfie’s pack along the side of the highway, but the werewolves were still on full alert. While I was gone, they’d traded off wolf duty, with three of the yahoos sprawling out asleep in human form in the bed of the pickup truck so that Quetzalli and Oscar were the ones to greet us four-footed this time. Despite the collapse of the rest of the yahoos, Blaze came bounding along close behind the older adults, still in wolf form, and he immediately wrestled Keith to the ground in a show of male affection that transcended species boundaries.
“No sign of Wolfie?” I asked, having shifted back to human form the instant my toes hit pavement. Now that I was so close to Haven, every hair on my body seemed to be standing on end, itching to hotfoot it back to the village and check on my mate. Keith and I had been gone long enough that the pool-game challenge should have been long over, and I knew that no news wasn’t good news. If Wolfie had won and the change of leadership had gone smoothly, Haven’s new alpha should have come out by now to collect his original pack. The fact that they were all still present and waiting made me shiver.
“Nothing,” Chase said quietly without getting up from the driver’s seat of one of the cars. A plume of smoke rose into the night air, and I was shocked to realize that the beta was smoking. I’d never known a member of Wolfie’s pack to partake of the habit previously, and to see the beta smoking now was a clear sign that I wasn’t the only one with nerves. The realization only made me more worried.
“Okay,” I said, taking command of the situation. I hadn’t meant to, but I realized I was using the pack leader voice, which immediately pulled every eye to me. “I’ll see what’s going on,” I told Wolfie’s pack. “The rest of you wait here for half an hour, then go home if you don’t hear from us.”
“Go home?!” Glen asked from the bed of the pickup truck, our voices having pulled him out of his light slumber. “No way are we going home without you and Wolfie.” A murmur of assent proved that the other yahoos had woken and were in accord.
Chase and I exchanged glances, and in that moment I knew the two of us were on the same page, just as we had been about my betrayal the last time Wolfie’s pack had come to Haven. Whatever was holding Wolfie up couldn’t be good, and we both knew there was no reason to risk the rest of the pack by sending them in after their leader. If my father had won the challenge, it was better for Wolfie’s pack to go home and regroup without me, and I knew the pack’s beta would make that happen. I nodded my thanks to my mate’s milk brother, and he bowed his head in acquiescence.
“At least put on some clothes,” said Galena quietly, handing over a t-shirt and jogging pants. As much as I hated to waste time by walking back to the village in human form, I had to admit that she was right—running around naked was a bit of a juvenile thing to do even in a werewolf village, and I needed all the gravitas I could muster if I wanted to get Wolfie out of whatever hot water he was in. I just hoped my mate was alive and waiting for me.
“Thanks,” I said quietly, pulling on the clothes Galena had given me.
Keith got to his feet and began to follow as I turned away from the pack, so I figured I might as well start using my new-found alpha status now rather than later. “Stay,” I told the young wolf, putting the full force of command beneath my voice, and my nephew plopped down onto his tail so fast I was a bit concerned he might never move again. Well, that worked better than I’d thought it would. Deciding to take my nephew’s unusual obedience as a good sign, I broke into a run up the dark gravel road leading to my family home.
Chapter 22
As soon as I reached the village green, I could hear the raised voices pouring out the windows of my father’s house. I couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was angry, and my wolf extended our senses out to their limits, seeking clues about the situation we were walking into. Leaf mold and pine needles entered our nose, with no hint of the blood I’d been secretly expecting—Wolfie was alive. Although my new alpha leanings tried to make me care about the health of the Haven pack as well, if I was honest, Wolfie was all I’d really thought about for the last half hour, so the knowledge that he was unharmed gave me strength to enter what seemed poised to turn into a riot.
“Haven’s been led by a Wilder for three generations,” one of my uncles roared as I pushed open the back door and slipped into the heart of the pack. It seemed as if every man and half the women who lived in Haven had crammed themselves into my family home, and although the house wasn’t small, it definitely wasn’t big enough to host a town meeting. I began to push my way through the crowd, but the werewolves parted to let me through before I could shove anyone aside, creating a clear path leading toward the heart of the conflict. Sooner than I really wanted, I was standing in the open doorway of the pool room.