Chapter Six
Nico
“That is quite the hole.” I stared down at what must have been a foot-and-a-half-deep indentation in the soil inundated with the scent of vole. “You catch it?”
Kenny shook his head, toeing the dirt at the side. “Keeps getting away.”
“I think you need two people to get this kind.”
“It’s so itty-bitty. How do I need two people to get it?”
I knelt down and scrutinized the holes exposed in the soil, drawing my hand over the dead grass around it. I sniffed, upper lip curling, as I searched the grass for a hidden hole. Finding it, I pointed to the hole. “You get one pup to go in and snuff in the hole and the other waits here.”
“What happens?” Wide eyes stared up at me.
“Wanna see?” I gave him a conspiratorial grin and glanced toward the window where we were being watched.
“OMG, please!” Kenny jumped up and down.
“Ask your dad and I’ll show you. I’ll snuff it out and you catch, ok?” I grinned and Kenny ran off, shouting.
A minute later, I received a thumbs-up from Shilo, and Kenny came bounding back, shifting as he tossed his clothes on the way.
In a blink, a leggy pup appeared in step, its coat a familiar pattern, something I recognized as a common one in the Silvermoon pack. Even his scent was familiar, and I knew right away that I might know his mother. I didn’t know Blake, but he may very well have been a transplant to the community, granted pack status by rite of mating.
I stripped and shifted in a fluid motion, bringing out the gray of my wolf with a shake. Undressing among shifters wasn’t a sexual thing. Bodies were bodies. A few stray hairs flew about, my scent hitting my nose as I groaned in satisfaction.
Cleaaaan. And breath? Minty.
Perhaps not for long, though. The thrill of the hunt had me by the tail as I nosed at the undisturbed hole and motioned for Kenny to stand in wait and ran to the hole he dug, snuffling and digging into the open hole of a tunnel.
The scent of vole hit my nose, fresh little rodent piss and pheromones all in there. I took a deep breath, shoved my muzzle into the hole, and huffed with a soft woof.
A shrill squeak preceded a scrambling noise and the frantic scrabbling and snapping of a pup victorious in the hunt. A soft growl and a shake of his head later and the offending rodent was no more.
Kenny barked excitedly and ran to the fence line before tossing the creature onto a bare patch of earth. He ran back, panting happily as he made for his clothes. I tilted my head curiously as he shifted and dressed, prompting me to do the same, being mindful of the dirt on my hands.
“Why’d you take it over there?”
“I didn’t want to waste a kill and voles taste yucky. So, I leave it for the owl.” He beamed, and I huffed a half laugh, following him back inside.
Shilo met me at the door with a damp paper towel, wordlessly catching my chin with the sweetest smile before wiping my nose and lips. “There.”
Had I been naked, I’d have raised more than questions when my breath hitched, and cheeks heated.
“You’re a natural,” he said, the husk in his voice rough and low.
“Sorry. I—it was my favorite thing as a pup, hunting and digging. We had gophers where I lived, though.” I offered Shilo my best smile, and his lids hooded, his dark eyes darkening further, pupils barely discernible from iris as they expanded.
“Don’t be sorry, he’s been after that critter for a week.” Blake laughed and ruffled Kenny’s hair. “You wanna head on to the community center? We can tell Mom you finally caught it.”
Kenny jumped up and down excitedly before Blake grabbed the cake and headed out.
“That’s our cue,” Shilo said, tugging my sleeve. “I think you’ll learn to like it here. Kenny likes you.”
I already liked it. A lot.
Shilo didn’t push things, letting me walk at my own pace as he gathered gifts and escorted me into his garage, where the rolling door opened to the touch of a button, bathing the space in graying light. A lone utility vehicle, one of those off-road golf carts of an aging variety, sat in the corner next to a worn pickup. The back of it held the gifts easily when Shilo dumped them, and we quietly climbed in.
It started on the second turn of the ignition, purring to life before we lurched out and drove down the road.
The house I’d originally thought was his, which turned out to be the community center, was already bustling with people milling about. Kids hustled, chucking a basketball at the wall of the building at a hoop. Adults milled around, some holding gifts, others with food items. I felt a little self-conscious that I didn’t have anything to bring, but I supposed it was okay since I’d only just met the boy.
When Shilo parked outside, people waved to him casually. Nods of respect followed him, but no fear or deference. Shilo was another wolf—the one that called the shots—but a wolf all the same. My father would have never stood for it, and I found it refreshing.
As I followed Shilo into the building, I carried one of the bags for him to feel like I was doing something and was pleasantly surprised to see some cheap decorations plastered up, a well-used bouncy castle swayed in the corner, and Kenny’s shrill laughter came from it as well as another pup’s.
A few banners and streamers lay about—some reusable balloons. Everything looked like it’d been used a few times, like Kenny had said earlier. The alpha did something for all the kids’ birthdays.
We put the presents on the table and, lacking anything better to do, I followed Shilo around. I didn’t feel too excluded as he spoke to the odd man and woman, giving a few hugs. A few curious gazes flitted toward me, coy smiles with insinuations hidden in them.
A woman I recognized from my tour of the Silvermoon pack some time ago met my gaze, her face a mirror of Kenny’s. I thought she’d been a schoolteacher at the time. She seemed to mirror my recognition, finger bobbing as she furrowed her brow in thought.
“Nico,” I supplied helpfully.
“Nico! I don’t think we were ever introduced. I’m Hannah. Weren’t you set to mate Alpha Silvermoon’s son?” She gave me an up and down look. “I think I like this arrangement better, honestly. Shilo is a very good alpha.”
Heat shot across my cheeks at the mention, and I stuttered, mouth opening and closing before Shilo rested a hand on my shoulder. “There was a car accident and Horace’s son didn’t make it before they were mated. He’s here for a while to figure out where he’s going.”
“If you ask me, you can’t do better than Shilo, then.” Hannah gave me another look up and down before turning, running into her mate. Blake leaned over her shoulder to whisper in her ear, winking at me before patting her back.
Her eyes brightened. “You helped Kenny get that damned vole. He’s been after it for a week. Thank you. I couldn’t keep him out of that dang hole for the life of me.”
“I’m sure he’ll find another one to go after.” I patted at one of my cheeks a bit, trying to rid myself of the flush.
Shilo kept his hand there and chuckled. “I dunno about that. Nico is a Wolfson and very attractive. He could have any number of more influential alphas.”
“That’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” I couldn’t help leaning into Shilo’s touch. “Besides, I really—I think I want something real, not an arrangement.”
“Well, fate has funny ways.” Hannah reached over and squeezed Shilo’s arm before sauntering off to gather people for cake.
I waited around as Shilo helped to round up the kids and adults. Kenny had to open presents and for a small pack, he got nice things. Games and toys—shoes. Everything was well thought out, and Kenny squealed happily with each item.
“The shoes are a little big,” Kenny said, wiggling his feet as the glittered things caught the light.
“You’ll grow into them, and they’ll last longer. Wear an extra pair of socks in the meantime.” Shilo ruffled Kenny’s hair and shuffled over to the table with the cake to pop the plastic lid off the pink confection.
“Whoa! Kenny got a meat cake!” A little beta boy with mousy-brown hair that stuck up at all angles ran up, blue eyes bright and wide.
Cheers for the meat cake ran about as Hannah cut a prime slice for Kenny and doled out slices to everyone as they made a line. I stood back and waited, unsure of when I should go, but Shilo solved that for me. When he approached with a slice of cake on a plate, I settled.
Strawberry cake, cherry frosting, and I was relatively certain a raspberry filling. So much pink, but it did have a meat-like appearance-ish. I took a bite and exhaled sharply, overwhelmed by the flavors. “This is a lot.”
“Yep, but it’s what Kenny wanted.” Shilo took a bite and grinned, pink staining his teeth.
“Party pup gets what he wants!” One of the kids ran by, pink streaked over his face as an adult chased them with a napkin.
I chuckled, snorting as I held a plastic forkful of the pink abomination. But it seemed like the kid’s parent wasn’t the only one looking out for stray icing. I jumped when Shilo leaned into my space and brought a napkin up to my chin, gently wiping with such a slow and gentle motion. “There we go. All clean.”
When the evening progressed and the party games ran thin while Kenny broke in his new toys, the adults with kids coaxed the kids into rounding up for a run through the neighborhood. Under the dim light of the full moon coming out, they’d grow tired and be easier to put to bed.
As for the adults?
Full moons were sacred.
“You’ve been wolfed out for far too long. If you don’t want to run, want to make an excuse and head back home?” Shilo offered me a hand, and I took it.
“But you need to run with your pack and—”
He held up a hand and grinned. “I wouldn’t mind sitting at home and watching TV just this once.”
“What if I want to run, too? I’ve been cooped up.” Besides, the sugar from the cake coursing through me hadn’t had real food to balance it out in a while.
“Then feel free to join us.” He wrapped his arms around his waist, crossed as he grabbed the hem of his shirt. Lifting, his chest blossomed before me and if I wasn’t smitten before, I was then. That heat returned to my cheeks with a vengeance. His eyes drifted down my frame. “May want to step around the corner to shift. Ahem?”
The traitorous erection I sported warranted me tugging on my shirt discreetly. “Fair enough.”
Wolves held no qualms with our bodies, nor attraction. It was natural, and as an alpha, it was only instinct that I be attracted to him in that way. I’d been aroused by Branden the first time I met him, our wolves crossing paths as our fathers bartered blood. This was different though. Shilo had stronger blood and was so much larger than other alphas I’d sniffed out. Far more tanned and tattooed over his chest with a pack marking I’d never seen before.
Wanting to match his energy, I slipped away with a polite cough, going around the corner of the building to stash my clothes some place safe and shift into my wolf. Then, on four feet, the world blossomed into view of evening colors, sepia tones spreading as light became easier to see. Smells bloomed around me, the scent of cake and pups all around me. Above that, though? Thick, bestial alpha. I inhaled deeply and strode forward, my breath catching as I made eye contact with my alpha’s dark eyes, which had gone more silvery, his coat a striking brown black and light-gray saddleback, indicating that he too may have had some arctic blood in him. I couldn’t tell by scent alone.
He stepped forward toward me, making my tail involuntarily wag in a submissive gesture, ceding to my alpha. My alpha. The thought gave me pause. I didn’t know if I viewed him as my keeper or mine in the visceral sense.
Beautiful. The word rang through my head as I stared Shilo down. Not my own.
My ears twitched, and I matched his step, dismissing the word as an intrusive thought.
My omega. I must keep. Earn trust. That thought was not my own, I was certain.
I tilted my head. Thinking, my mind buzzed with his presence. Your omega?
The stern set of his eyes widened, tail lifting. You hear me?
I nodded, dipping my head once. I didn’t feel like addressing his declaration of ownership, for alpha wolves could have one-track minds, couldn’t they? A thought of mine could mean anything. I believe so.
His tail wagged madly as he approached, stroking his side along my body, an exchange of scent as if I were already pack. He’d shown me sigma magic earlier, taking my collar off. My father had never spoken to me like that before, nor had our pack’s sigma. You will stay. I will treat you well when you are ready.
I leaned into his scenting and rubbed my muzzle into the ruff of his fur. His scent, sharp and leafy, like fall and the first pounce into a fresh leaf pile, enraptured me. I curled my tail, careful of scenting him, as an omega did not mark an alpha as an alpha marked those they protected. To my surprise, he didn’t hesitate to lean into me, forcing my scent onto him with a groan of appreciation.
And in the way of playfulness, the instinct of wolves told me he was safe, and not only safe but trustworthy and playful. So, in testing it, I glided against him again, nipping at his ear playfully, earning a yip and playful growl in response, mouthing at him happily.
He whipped around and nosed at me until he tripped me up, licking at my face. Say you will stay.
I wanted to avoid saying I would, wanted to wait and see, but his hot breath nosed over my ear. There, rather than a nip, he nuzzled into the shell and licked before waiting to see my reaction. As I froze, he licked once more. Eventually, I went limp to his licks as they grew more purposeful. I’ll stay.
My back leg kicked, body slackening. Weeks of stress had taken its toll on me, and the oddness of what was happening didn’t faze me as much as the friendly way other wolves came by to sniff and greet me in a polite way while Shilo lavished me with affection.
Good. You belong. With a final lick, Shilo had me limp and complacent.
For the time, Pine Warren would do.