Chapter Eleven
Shilo
“A pound. A fucking pound? Your son spent time inside of a goddamn pound?” Councilman Ares, who was somewhat of a cousin to me, wheeled on Godfrey—my new father-in-law. Much to my chagrin.
“I thought him dead.” His father’s expression, deadpan, told me all I needed to know about his feelings for Nico.
“I need a thorough explanation. Your son is dead?” Ares wheeled on Horace, and he winced, nodding as his face twisted into disgust and sadness.
“They had an accident on the way back to the pack after we picked up Nico—” Godfrey halted when I snarled.
“You didn’t just pick him up . You carted him off like an animal on a fucking leash.” I took a deep breath and calmed myself, my breath hissing between my teeth. But I wasn’t done. When I started, I couldn’t stop. I told them about the shelter, the weeks he sat in there in his own filth, the fact that he wasn’t chipped as had been council standard for years , just in case things like that happened. To keep the vulnerable from being locked up and shifting in shelters or getting discovered.
I told Ares about the phone call I’d made, and how they’d left him with me for weeks since then. He’d started a whole new life in as long as they’d kept their distance, and I wanted to know why. My question went unanswered, though. Blake returned, sending a shock of anger coursing through me. He was meant to be guarding my mate. But in a way, he was.
“Add this to their list of fuckups.” Blake caught Ares’s attention and thrusted the leash and collar toward him. The heavy links clanked ominously, and Horace paled while Godfrey kept his expression schooled and flat.
Ares turned the chains over in his hand, upper lip curling. Like me, he didn’t view betas as beneath him. His job was to promote unity and uphold council law and rule. What he held was a threat to our moral codes. “I see. And this was on his neck in the shelter? Where anyone could have seen it?”
Ares turned it over again, eyeing the etchings along the links. “Is it enchanted?”
“Of course not. It’s symbolic. Why would we need that?” Horace spluttered. “It’s our tradition to gift an omega a collar for our pack… And Alpha Warren has no sigma, so how did he get it off intact? It’s symbolic, really.”
“Show me.” Ares thrusted the chain into my hands. Horace had been right; without sigma magic, the thing was near useless, but I had that little spark, as did Ares.
“If Alpha Silvermoon doesn’t mind?” I gestured the collar toward him, and he sneered hesitantly before offering his neck, confident that it wouldn’t latch. I leaned forward, wrapping the chain about his neck before tapping the ends of two links together with my little spark. It clicked and Horace stiffened, all the blood draining from his face.
Godfrey sneered at the display as I handed Ares the end of his tether and shoved my hands in my pockets. Nico’s father kept a decidedly blank face and took a deep breath. “Goddesses…”
Ares jerked the chain and bared fangs before dismissing Blake. “Dinner almost ready, Shilo?”
I nodded. “Taco night.”
“Good. Get us some plates and a place to sit down and discuss things.” Ares followed my gesture down a hall toward my official office. The thing sat relatively unused, as I spent most of my time in my home office.
As we made our way down, footsteps fell sharply, the stink of fear inundating the hall, making my stomach roil. I couldn’t handle fear, but I refused to react. Ares cut his gaze toward me, lips twisting. He knew my detest.
Horace’s chain rattled as we stepped into my office, breaking the silence. The scent of disuse and cedar overwhelmed the scent of fear, and I sidled over to my desk to sit. Three chairs sat before me, and I folded my hands on the blotter as they settled in.
Ares leaned back in his seat, throwing his feet up on the desk. The chain draped lazily across his thighs, boots crossing. I gave him a look that he returned with the flick of a brow, daring me to say anything. I satisfied myself with enjoying the scene of Horace on the very leash he’d locked Nico in. “So. Nico’s doing well here?”
I nodded, sending a text to one of the women in the kitchen for four plates. “He’s got a job he enjoys, his own bank account, money, freedom—well, maybe not that anymore. Needs must and all that.”
I picked at the corner of my mouth with my thumb before inspecting the light crust of blood still there. Godfrey’s expression hardened, and he was either good at hiding his emotion or less concerned with his son’s placement than he was the potential profit. Him, I could probably bargain with—Horace? It was yet to be seen.
“I see where it was necessary. I didn’t scent fear on him until these two numb-nuts showed up. So, he must like you.” Ares tugged on Horace’s chain with a gentle warning.
“I should hope so. He speaks to my wolf.” I made a show of brushing my fingers off, relishing the bitterness growing on Horace’s face. “And he is a wonderful male, so kind and well-mannered. You outdid yourself, Godfrey.”
Nico’s father nodded sagely. “I don’t habituate myself to children. My young are often raised by pack and are a reflection of my people as a whole.”
I didn’t like that one bit, but it made sense. “It makes him appreciate the individual attention quite a bit more, at least. Easy to please, grateful for even the smallest things.”
Ares snorted at the last remark.
I eyed him with dry disapproval before I set my gaze on Godfrey. “So. Misunderstandings aside. I’m sure that it was an oversight that Nico didn’t have a chip.”
“It must have escaped notice. Our pack is quite large.” He tilted his palms up and shrugged.
“Oversights happen. Fortunately, fate had Shilo in the right spot.” Ares nodded in agreement.
“So, what would you accept as his dower? I know those things are custom still in older packs. I’m young and haven’t had the luxury of that sort of example.” I turned my full attention to Godfrey, earning the first positive reaction since he’d arrived. “I want to be amicable, but he is my fated.”
Fated mates were such a powerfully important thing that their discovery trumped any and all. No matter the alpha’s say, if Nico was mine, he’d have to let them go without a cent. It was only courtesy that I offer to pay his fees as a gesture of goodwill.
“Eleven thousand.” Godfrey stared me down, and I nodded. “But I would prefer an alliance.”
“More than reasonable. It’s my understanding that Horace charges sixty thousand for an omega to leave his pack.” I gestured toward Horace, who paled and had Ares sitting up straight. “I have a family here from your pack. Twenty each for a beta couple and sixty for their child, and you graciously allowed them to leave if I guaranteed it.”
Ares uncrossed his legs and planted his feet on the ground in a gesture of interest. “Really? How much have they paid off of it?”
Horace set his jaw but didn’t answer as Godfrey turned his attention to him, feigning interest. He had to have known.
“That’s far beyond what’s allowed for adults unless there’s debt owed on property… And children typically don’t incur fees when they’re leaving… It’s not illegal but highly frowned upon. Answer the question.” Ares tensed his hand on the chain and waited for an explanation.
“I—It’s expensive to run a pack, and members leaving costs us—omegas are rare and—” Horace stuttered as Ares tightened the chain over his knuckles.
“How much have they paid?” Ares’s voice went sharp.
He stammered, unsure of who paid what, but I knew. “Thirty-eight thousand, or a little more, last I checked.”
“And how much did you pay Godfrey for Nico?” Ares took a deep breath and settled himself, the ice in his eyes as arctic as his spirit.
“Nothing. We had an alliance. His firstborn alpha son to my Nico. There are certain business ventures we wished to unite on, but blood doesn’t appear to have won out. It’s a shame.” Godfrey sighed and sagged in his chair. “You own a shipping company. We own significant amounts of land with oil and coal. We could work something out, though.”
I nodded sagely. Oil money was good, but I didn’t have drivers that were hazmat endorsed. “I’ll need some time to get my drivers certified, but I can certainly work closely with your pack. Any idea what that would look like?”
I turned my attention away from an increasingly frustrated Horace. The male had lost from all angles and would leave in council custody unless he was able to make some pretty damn good excuses and accommodations.
“Well, we currently contract with a bear sloth… Sometimes iguanas…” He sighed heavily. “The latter has a problem with lot lizards .”
Wasn’t sure what the last part was, but I nodded. “Well, we may not be the cheapest—we pay our employees very well. Burnout is low and turnover is near zero.”
“We can negotiate at a different time. Now is the time to see that my son is where he needs to be.” Godfrey sat up as the door to my office opened without a knock, one of our women in the way with four stacked paper boxes full of tacos.
I waved to her politely as she dropped off a few bottles of beer with it and left just as quickly. Ares, to no surprise, dug in, while Horace stared at the fare in moderate disgust. Godfrey took a box, sniffed, and decided it was good enough—that or he thought it was rude not to eat.
“So. You’re a very small pack,” Godfrey said between bites, brushing his fingers off on a paper towel stuffed in the box’s side.
“We are. I’m not much for power. We have small resources, but I value strength in happiness.” I didn’t see any reason not to, since Ares and Godfrey were eating, so I ate, too.
“I can tell. And your home—you do not have any other omegas or females?” Godfrey gave me a hard look.
“Not at all. I’m more the sentimental type. I’m not looking to expand, just to thrive. My people can do the expanding.” I took another bite—chicken. Yum.
Godfrey frowned. “How bad off is this pack, financially?
“Well, if he’s not lying on his council taxes—they’re doing about the same as Silvermoon. They’re flush,” Ares said through a mouthful of taco. “And all their pack members are flush, too. Nobody’s in poverty. Not a single member is on government benefits.”
Godfrey sat up, brows raised. “Really?”
“Don’t want the government in pack business,” I said succinctly. While the general public at large didn’t have any idea about shifters—the government had their hands everywhere.
Grunting in approval, Godfrey nodded and took another bite, finishing a taco with a prim brush of his fingers. “That settles that, then. Happy pack. Happy pup. Good resources. Delicious food. Ares, you said they’re honest people, yes?”
Ares nodded, more preoccupied with his taco box. “Yeah. Only pack that’s never had a violation in a generation. Always pay taxes on time, happy members. I only think two members left in the last twenty years…”
“One of them came back. Brought his mate,” I reminded Ares, and he nodded happily. “But it helps that I don’t charge to join or leave the pack. They just have to ask my approval for the release. Everyone knows it.”
“Never expelled a pack member, either,” Ares added.
“Oh, not since my grandfather’s days when he got rid of this old drunk who kept hitting his wife and kids.” I waved my hand dismissively. “We don’t put up with that.”
“And the kids look safe and happy.” Godfrey’s eyes wandered off toward the direction of the communal cafeteria.
“Get this. He buys a present for and comes to the birthday of every kid in the pack. Just any kid he’ll let come talk to him, and they feel safe to. Nothing goes on in this pack without him knowing about it. Do you even have enforcers?” Ares turned his attention to me, and I shrugged.
“I have Blake, but he’s less of an enforcer than he is backup. I don’t have dissent or anything. Anything crops up, it gets fixed, or we talk it out, generally. I guess I really lucked out when it comes to easygoing wolves.” I stretched in my chair and Godfrey remained quiet; expression lost in thought as he continued to eat.
“This isn’t a pack, it’s a trailer park!” Horace finally spoke up and sat up straight.
“Best damn trailer park this side of the Mississippi. Ask any of them out there.” I gestured and Ares snorted.
“Call my son back in. Ultimately, my approval means little. Deals were made and broken.” Godfrey closed the box of his food and sat it on the desk.
I pulled out my phone and stared at it, not really ready to face Nico.