Chapter 6 Rey
REY
Rey headed back to the Senaka pack lodge to change his clothes.
Anger still seethed inside of him at the memory of the way Carter had looked when he’d entered the other lodge last night.
Traumatized didn’t even begin to describe his mate.
He’d been shell-shocked, unaware of what was happening around him.
He didn’t know what Darryl had said to his mate, but it must have been bad.
Before he’d taken Carter into Nick and Thayne’s room, Nick had told him what Darryl had said about Carter being his and how he’d find Carter no matter where they hid him.
Rey would bury the fucker before he came within a mile of Carter.
There was no doubt in his mind that when they left to return home tomorrow, Carter would go with him back to Wyoming.
Rey didn’t linger at his pack’s cabin. He didn’t want to leave Carter alone longer than he had to. Not that Nick and Thayne wouldn’t protect Carter, but Rey wouldn’t feel settled until he’d claimed Carter and Darryl was no longer a threat.
They served breakfast at the Emerald Lake Hills lodge because dinner had been near the Senaka pack’s. Carter sat with Nick and Thayne, looking better than he had the night before.
Rey stopped at the food table to fill a plate and then dropped onto the bench next to Carter. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” Nick said. “What are you guys up to today?”
“Figured since Carter is doing better, we’d shift and go for a run together. Then maybe spend more time getting to know each other. I’m also going to call the airline to get Carter a ticket back to Senaka and change around my flight.”
“You are?” Carter asked, surprised. Rey brushed a strand of hair back from Carter’s cheek.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go back to Emerald Lake Hills right now.” He hated to remind Carter of Darryl’s threat, but he wouldn’t put his mate at risk by lying. “Not with your ex being out of jail and the threats he made last night.”
Carter’s face fell. Rey attributed it to the mention of his ex. “And I want to show you around Senaka, show you my home, and try to convince you to move to Senaka.”
Carter’s eyes widened. “You want me to move there?”
Rey huffed a laugh. “Well, what else do mates do, Carter? Of course I want you to move to Senaka.”
“I agree with not going back to Emerald Lake Hills, Carter,” Nick said.
“It’s safer to stay away until Darryl’s caught and they need you there for the trial.
I tried calling the prosecutor in charge of the case, but he hasn’t returned my message yet.
He needs to know Darryl’s out of jail, if they don’t know already, and about his threats. ”
Carter flinched and shoved the food on his plate around with his fork. Rey slid his arm around Carter’s waist, pulling him flush to his side. “You need to eat, sweetheart. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can shift and go for that run.”
Sighing, Carter started eating again, but Rey could see he really didn’t want to.
He bit his tongue, almost telling Carter to stop, but he knew Carter would need the calories for their shift.
Once they’d both finished, Rey emptied his coffee mug, noting that Carter had a glass of orange juice instead. “No caffeine this morning?” he asked.
Carter wrinkled his nose and gave his cousin a glare. “No. Nick kept taking my mug away.”
“Hey, if you didn’t act like a little kid on a sugar high after one cup, I’d let you drink it, but you seriously can’t control yourself once the caffeine hits your system,” Nick said.
Rolling his eyes, Carter drained the juice from his glass and stood. “I don’t act like that. I am just naturally energetic.”
Nick snorted. “Sure.”
“Is he really that bad?” Rey asked.
“You’ve no idea,” Nick said.
Carter scowled. “It’s not nice to tell stories, Nick. I am not that bad!”
“Like when you had three cups and you almost burned down Alpha Elijah’s house during a pack meeting because you decided you absolutely had to have s’mores?”
“I didn’t almost set his house on fire!” Carter pouted. Rey chuckled, loving the cuteness of Carter’s bottom lip sticking out.
“He turned on the gas stove, skewered a marshmallow, set it over the open flame, and left it there because he got distracted. By the idea of sliding down the railing of the alpha’s staircase.
More than once. If Sara hadn’t come into the kitchen when she did, there probably would have been a need to call out the firefighters.
” Nick laughed and shook his head. “Heed my words of warning, Rey. Don’t let him have any coffee. ”
“I didn’t mean to forget the marshmallow,” Carter said.
“I only intended on running down to the bathroom for a second to pee. It’s not my fault that Alpha Elijah has an amazing railing just perfect for sliding down.
I bet Cole did it a lot when he was a kid.
It was all shiny and beautiful and straight down.
How could I resist? And who can only do it just once when it’s that perfect?
And I haven’t had any coffee yet this morning! ”
Nick coughed and swallowed the sip of coffee he’d taken. “You think I didn’t see that cup you snuck in the lodge? Before coming out here?”
Carter huffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was water. Nothing but water.”
Rey could tell Carter was fibbing. The difference between the sleepy Carter he’d left and the one sitting beside him right then was a complete 180-degree about-face. Nudging Carter with his shoulder, he said, “Come on, little wolf. Tell the truth. Did you have a cup of coffee already this morning?”
“You’re supposed to be on my side,” Carter said, scrunching his nose in displeasure before sighing. “Yes, I had a cup of coffee in the kitchen.”
“I knew it,” Nick said, grinning.
“I just love coffee,” Carter said, once again sticking out his lower lip. “It’s not my fault the caffeine gives me so much energy. I drink soda, too, but it doesn’t do the same thing to me. I’ve never understood why. I mainline Mountain Dew when I’m raiding in WoW. Keeps me focused.”
“Raiding?” Rey asked.
“Yeah, it’s when a bunch of us get together to go into a dungeon that’s usually larger than the regular dungeons.
Our guild was the server first to take down Chrome King Gallywax in the Liberation of Undermine’s twenty-five-man heroic raid.
” The longer Carter talked, the more excited he became.
Rey watched him with an indulgent smile.
He didn’t have a goddamn clue what Carter was talking about, but he would listen to anything Carter wanted to say if it made him that happy.
“I got the best drop from it, too. I only need one more piece to complete my tier set of gear. My friend LightBringer has another raid set up for next Friday night. Because of my hand I haven’t been able to play well for a while.
So, they’ve been bringing an alternate from my guild.
I’m excited I get to tell them I’ll be back this week! ” Carter vibrated in his seat.
Rey bussed Carter’s temple. “We’ll have to see about getting my home office desk cleaned off so you can set up your computer for your game.”
Carter frowned. “Shoot. I didn’t bring my laptop with me here because I didn’t think I’d need it. I always worry about it getting lost. You don’t have a computer at home?”
“No, I’m not really that great with computers. I only have one at the shop, which is kind of the bane of my existence right now.”
“Oh.” Disappointment edged into Carter’s voice. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll have Nick send me my laptop and I’ll just play next week instead.”
Rey didn’t enjoy seeing Carter so downtrodden. “What if we buy you one when we get home?”
Carter’s brow furrowed. “I don’t have the money for that right now. Especially because I haven’t been working since…”
“I’ll buy it for you,” Rey said. “The shop is doing well, and I don’t really buy myself much more than clothes and food.”
“I can’t let you do that!” Carter exclaimed. “Gaming computers aren’t cheap.”
Rey shrugged. “That’s okay. There’s a Best Buy close to the airport. We’ll stop in before we make the drive to Senaka.”
Senaka was a small town. They had a decent population, but it lacked some of the bigger stores that the cities had.
They had a small grocery store, a diner and another, fancier restaurant, a small used bookstore, a couple of clothing stores, and other useful ones like a hardware store, but nothing that sold much in the way of electronics.
For things like that, they either had to order online or go to the nearby bigger cities.
Carter tried to protest again, but Rey stopped him with a glance. “You said you’d teach me how to play, too, right?”
Rey knew he probably wouldn’t really play—he had little spare time between the auto shop and being an enforcer for the pack—but if it made Carter happy, he’d give it a shot.
“You really want to?” Carter asked.
“Sure. I can’t say I’ll be any good at it. Computers and I don’t get along too well. But I’d like to see what you enjoy so much about it.”
Carter beamed, and Rey’s heart swelled in his chest. “It’s a lot of fun! Really. The best part is creating your character. You can be a paladin, a warrior, a druid—”
“Are you still going on about that dumb game? When are you going to learn no one wants to hear about it?” Rey panned his gaze to the speaker, a young shifter who didn’t look older than his early twenties, with dark brown hair and green eyes.
A low growl rumbled in Rey’s chest when Carter cut off his excited chatter and tilted his head forward dejectedly.
“Who are you?” Rey demanded.
The guy looked at Rey, pure lust flaring in his eyes. Maybe in the past Rey would have given the guy the time of day, but now that he’d found his true mate, the male was nothing more than an annoyance. “Hello there, gorgeous. I’m Josh.”
“He’s the son of one of our betas,” Carter said.