Chapter 10 #2
When Tristan had been younger, it had been Karl who had taken him to school as often as not, so that anyone who might be watching the shifter kid knew not to screw with him.
Tristan had hated it, partly because he felt he was being treated like a baby, but mainly because half his class kept asking for Karl’s phone number.
And Karl, so aware in every other aspect of his life, seemed oblivious to the trail of broken hearts he left in his wake.
Karl heated a bowl of stew in the microwave before bringing it to the table. “Something’s not right,” he said, scooping up some stew with a biscuit. “There’s no scent, no tracks, but someone’s out there watching.”
Matt’s pulse jumped as his body tensed. Someone was spying on his territory. His pack. A low growl rumbled in his chest, and his wolf shoved against the restraint of his skin, demanding action. He forced himself to keep his breathing even. No sudden reactions. No tells.
He pinned Karl with his gaze. “Any ideas?”
Karl shook his head. He seemed to be concentrating on chasing beef around the bowl, though Matt knew better.
Karl was weighing his own words, assessing his alpha’s reaction and keeping half an eye on Jesse, all at the same time.
His fingers flexed briefly against the ceramic, as good as announcing his unease.
“They’re too good at staying hidden to be non-shifters, unless they’re pros,” he said. He didn’t look up, as if he were listening for something no one else could hear. “I don’t like it, boss.”
Matt didn’t like it either. The fact Karl didn’t like it was worse, because he ran toward a fight, not away from it. If Karl was this uneasy, it meant whoever was out there posed a lethal threat.
“Call Christian and Dave back if you think it’s necessary.”
Karl nodded and finished off his stew. He always ate fast—efficient, not messy. Like everything else about him, it was fieldwork muscle memory, with no wasted motion.
Matt’s wolf was trembling with the need to join Karl out there and assess the threat for himself, but he couldn’t give in to his instincts, not if he wanted to avoid a repeat of—of the last time his pack had been attacked.
He had to trust Karl, because his priority was questioning Jesse, who was sitting silent and still.
He needed answers about that bite on Jesse’s side.
Wherever this threat was coming from, it followed hard on Jesse’s heels. Hell of a coincidence.
He’d made some calls while Jesse was asleep and found that none of their nearest packs had heard about a pack out in the mountains. Neither had any of them recently lost members who wanted to set up their own pack.
As Karl rose to his feet, Matt nodded at him, thankful beyond words for his competence and loyalty. Once he’d stashed his bowl in the dishwasher, Karl left, the door snicking quietly closed behind him rather than banging the way it did behind everyone else.
Jesse hadn’t relaxed, even with Karl gone. If anything, he was tenser, his silence unreadable as he examined the table in front of him, his hands clenched into fists.
Belatedly, Matt wondered if Jesse were reacting to his response to Karl’s news.
Karl had a dominant streak that he’d had to learn to tame when he came to the pack, and while he respected Matt, he was never intimidated by him.
Jesse, though, was already wary of Matt, and he was perceptive enough to have read Matt’s reaction, no matter how tightly he’d locked it down.
Well, Jesse was right to be wary, because Matt was beginning to think he had been somewhat economical with the truth.
“What is it you didn’t tell me about that pack you ran into?” His words were hard and inflexible, just like he felt right now. He wasn’t going to lose people again. Not this pack.
Jesse sat in silence for a beat longer, like he was thinking, before he looked at Matt.
“It didn’t make no sense, and then it stopped,” he said. “But after I had that run-in with them, there were times I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched.”
There was no hint of deceit in his eyes, but Matt had to be certain. He couldn’t take any risks. “Tell me exactly what happened when you met them.”
Jesse stiffened, defiance his natural reaction to being ordered around. But after what looked like an intense struggle with himself, he gave a small sigh and his fists unclenched.
“Was minding my own business one night, running the fidgets out of my legs, y’know?
” His voice was quiet. “I guess I must have been upwind because there was no warning, just all of a sudden, these wolves in my way. I thought I must be on their territory, so I didn’t argue, just tried to light out of there, but they didn’t let me.
Herded me like I was a goddamn sheep.” Indignation threaded through his voice.
“Course, I turned on them, but there was more of them than me and they knew what they were doing. Then he appeared from out of the trees.”
Jesse paused, his eyes distant as if seeing that moment all over again.
“Biggest damn wolf there ever was, black, powerful, and downright mean,” he said.
“Way meaner than a typical alpha—no offense. Something about him gave me a bad feeling. I thought if I didn’t get out then and there, I might never get out, so I ran over the top of one of them. ”
He pressed his hand against the wound on his side.
Healed now, from all Matt could tell, but he’d be left with one hell of a scar.
“Not before the bastard took a lump out of my flank. I don’t know how I made it, but I guess if you spend enough of your life sneaking around to avoid being noticed, you get good at it, and I had the feeling I was running for my life. That’ll give you speed, y’know?”
Matt was frowning. Jesse was right—it made no sense. Any pack would run an interloper off, maybe after teaching him a lesson first, but herding him? Then again, criminality wasn’t restricted to non-shifters. “Did you see something you shouldn’t have? Stumbled across a pot farm, maybe.”
“Figure I might have spotted a pot farm for myself.”
“Maybe they think you saw something, and they’re following you to silence you.”
Matt rubbed at his temples, tension spiking again. Jesse had brought trouble to his doorstep, and he had plenty he wanted to say about that, but he couldn’t set him loose on his own with a pack like that on his heels.
Jesse would have to stay, at least until Matt dealt with the threat. He glanced at Jesse, who was staring back, blue eyes sharp and wary. Like a wolf scenting a trap.
Yeah. This was going to go down real well.