Chapter 4
Braun
Humans were odd.
Just glancing back at Dorian following in his car was enough to make me sigh and got a huffing laugh from the pup.
“He’s odd.” The pup wasn’t technically mine, so I couldn’t hear him answer. But I could feel some of his emotions and understand his reactions enough to keep me talking.
The pup was fucking curious and the silence had been making him twitchy.
Teenagers.
“He didn’t freak out about the whole werewolf thing but you shifting without privacy had him nearly calling the cops.
” I was grateful that our 911 was manned by a variety of locals so that wouldn’t have been an issue.
“It means he’s good at taking care of people, though, and he’ll watch out for the pack. ”
Alpha mates were usually badass women who scared the fuck out of everyone around them, so I was glad mine was a bit more relaxed when he went into defensive mode. It’d be safer for me in the long run and he had the parts I’d always preferred, making it even better.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pup cock his head before he turned and focused on the car behind us. He was clearly looking for more information about Dorian, so I kept rambling as we made our way back to the pack.
Not compound.
We weren’t crackpots looking for aliens to beam us up.
“He said he’s a math teacher.” The pup wasn’t local enough to know where that was, so I kept going.
It was more like talking to myself than having a conversation, but it couldn’t be helped.
“It’s about half an hour from here and is a mix of human and nonhuman, but clearly no one clued our math teacher in on that fact, so they must’ve thought he was really human. ”
The oblivious kind.
He was not and the pup huffed out another laugh.
“Yeah, he’s figured out more than average.” That was odd in itself, but it wasn’t what I was worried about at the moment.
That honor went to the pup.
He wasn’t stressed and was nearly doing a happy dance in my car, getting fur fucking everywhere, but his reaction said he wasn’t scared of me or my math teacher.
“I’ve got to figure out who his neighbors are and have a chat with the council or something.
Did he tell you that his postman keeps bitching about humans…
around a human?” We’d gotten a bit too relaxed about a lot of stuff over the past generation, but that was taking it too far.
“Someone needs to have a talk with all of them.”
Including whoever had rented him the fucking house to begin with.
“And the staff at the high school too.” They were only supposed to be hiring people that actually knew about how interesting the local community was. “I don’t know how he got hired.”
He seemed like a good teacher, but his mix of knowing and not knowing had to be causing chaos.
“We’ll straighten that out, though.” I sighed, getting another laugh from the pup. “He’s going to have questions.”
That wonderful understatement had the pup nearly in stitches and I had to fight to keep a straight face.
“Or he’ll report us…he’s a mandatory reporter, you know.”
Yeah, I was teasing the pup to get more laughter out of him, but I was going to have to make sure my little math teacher knew who to report problems to if the student in question didn’t seem to be human.
Which was one of the reasons the school district only hired teachers for the schools that understood what was going on in the district.
I must’ve answered the pup’s question because he quickly shifted to looking out the front and he looked even more curious.
Gesturing toward the left side of the car, I slowed down as we approached the dirt road that led to the village. “If you head this way you get to the main pack area, not compound, geez. It’s barely something you could call a village and that’s mostly where the local Bigfoot community lives.”
And more laughter.
“But if you turn back at that road that was paved then you’d end up at the ranger station and it heads to the trails and stuff.
” I wasn’t sure what he’d need to know but the information would make him feel more confident at the very least. “That’s got humans in and out all day, though, so no shifting or funny business unless it’s absolutely necessary. ”
There were rumors that we had wolves in the area but we’d been careful enough that they were mostly seen as urban legends.
“This road has a spell that discourages humans from going past it, so most of the visitors don’t come this direction.” Explaining that to the pup had me glancing back at Dorian again.
Nope.
He was still singing along with something on the radio and hadn’t noticed the spell at all.
What was he?
“There are also cameras and more human tech shit to monitor this part of the property. It’s a pain in the ass but it’s made it easier to keep our privacy.” And it would let me know if a pup with a penchant for trouble snuck out in the middle of the night.
“I’m not sure how far away you’re from, but we do have a variety of creatures in the area and not just regular gators, so do not go wandering toward the swamp in the dark.
” Jerking my head behind us toward the main road, I frowned.
“The border for the swamp is on the other side of the road and there is dangerous shit and weird shit in there. No one goes in the swamp alone. Not even me. Got it?”
He must’ve at least felt how firm I was going to be on that part because he gave a low whine and understanding radiated from him.
“Good. If I have to explain to Dorian that you got eaten by a gator or whatever the fuck is messing with the gators, he’ll kill me.” And that wasn’t my goal when it came to the little math teacher. “I’m not going to be the one to piss him off, or protect you if he goes feral on your ass.”
That got more laughter from the pup but also a smile that felt warmer. He liked how protective Dorian was at the very least.
“Alright, almost home.” Thank the ancestors. “We’re going to head inside and skip introductions right off the bat.”
Because I wasn’t going to flash either of them around until I knew what the fuck had happened to the pup.
“Once you’ve had a chance to shift and get some clothes on to protect your sensibilities, then we’ll figure shit out and make sure Dorian knows you’re safe.” Then I could make him focus on me and not the pup.
I laughed when hunger radiated from the dramatic pup.
“Yes, food too.” I wasn’t sure how long it’d been since he’d eaten, but the kibble they’d given him in the shelter had been untouched. “We’ll start with something quick and then grill burgers later if you want.”
He wanted.
Nothing in his behavior said he was worried about jumping into a new pack or being around strangers, making me wonder where the fuck he’d come from. Jessen’s last texts had made it clear we still hadn’t gotten any notifications about a missing pup, which was shady as fuck for a variety of reasons.
“You know…I’m not sure what we’ll do if our math teacher turns out to be vegan.” We’d never had one in the pack but too many stupid internet stories had turned them into the boogie man that elders threatened pups with…be careful or the ancestors will give you a vegan as a mate.
They were all ridiculous but so was the internet.
The pup thought that was hilarious too and ended up huffing and snickering as we parked in front of the main packhouse. “Come on. Let’s make sure Dorian knows you’re safe.”
He was going to have to learn to trust me, but I was willing to be patient for a few more days while he got used to how things worked.
“Let’s go.” Opening my door, I moved to the side so the pup could jump out. I knew he wouldn’t wait until I could go around and open the other door, and I chuckled as he immediately made a quick circle around the car.
Dorian found it just as funny as he climbed out of his car, shaking his head. “Part of me wants to tell him to be careful.”
I didn’t respond to it, but whatever he saw on my face had him crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at me. “I didn’t say it to him. I just confessed it to you. So unless you want me to censor my thoughts, you’ll get that look off your face.”
He may have had a point…but he was adorable when he was basically growling at me.
“Yes, Wolfchen, you are correct.” I was smart enough to understand reaching out to touch him would be a dangerous decision, but I was also wolf enough to struggle with the decision. “However, in my defense, most of the humans I interact with on a personal level understand all about our world.”
All of them basically.
That had him pausing and ignoring the pup’s circles. “Really?”
“Yes.” Reminding myself he wasn’t challenging me, I nodded. “There are human mates here but they have grown up knowing about our people. I think the last mate who came from completely outside of our world was when I was a teenager?”
Even with all the amazing technology we had access to, most of our mates still came from other packs or the people we delt with on a regular basis.
“Last month one of our younger pack members met his mate while working at the ranger station. She was from out of state but grew up around another pack.” It was just how things usually worked. “You already being able to sense the differences around you is probably how you found me.”
Dorian scrunched up his face but it faded quickly. “Let’s go take care of our new friend.”
Humans were interesting.
“Alright.” We could discuss other topics later once we knew where the pup had come from. “Let’s go inside.”
Hearing that had the pup coming to a screeching halt. Unfortunately he’d been taking a corner at the time and nearly ran headfirst into my bumper. “Hey. Careful.”
Dorian huffed at my barked-out order. “Yes, he could end up with a concussion. See? This is why we’re careful.”
Since I’d been more worried about my car, I glared at the nearly laughing pup. “Stop making him mad at me.”
The pup thought that was hilarious and nearly fell over laughing, but my favorite part was the way Dorian rolled his eyes. “Ridiculous.”
Yep, he was definitely ridiculous.
But it was cute how protective he was and I was going to have fun watching the chaos it caused.
“Just because I’m human doesn’t mean I’m wrong.” Shaking his head, he started marching toward the front door. “Am I going to run into anyone defending your home? You really should have someone defending it. It’s where you live as well as run pack business, correct?”
“How many romance novels have you been reading?” That was the only reason a human made so many accurate guesses. “Which authors?”
I needed to know what facts and nonsense I was up against.
Dorian turned a wonderful shade of red as the pup snorted out another laugh and almost tripped over his own paws. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
He seemed to think I was always ridiculous, so I knew he wasn’t serious about it.
“That wasn’t an answer, Wolfchen.” That got an adorably grumbling sound like he was a pissed-off pup who was stomping in anger. “Communication is important, Wolfchen.”
The pup was going to end up in dangerous situations if he didn’t learn when to laugh and when to keep his sense of humor to himself.
Our human teacher decided that ignoring us was the best choice of action and headed up the steps to the porch.
And walked right into my house.
“Humans usually don’t do that.”
The pup nodded, watching us both curiously.
“Come on. Before he claims a room and starts redecorating.” Humans just seemed to do that no matter what gender they were. “I like blue, so I really hope he’s not going to complain like my mother.”
Ugh.
The pup was going to love my mother too.
All the shenanigan-prone pups in the pack did.
“Let’s go.”
He liked the blue.
We found Dorian in my living room, halfway through the first floor like he’d just started exploring without thinking about it. He didn’t seem to feel any of it was odd, so I didn’t point it out. “The navy is a good choice. Your house is lovely but there’s less seating than I pictured.”
Yep, romance novels.
“There’s a walk-out basement with a large bonus room. That’s where the pack meets if we’re doing something inside.” He just hadn’t seen the stairs for that because they were at the back of the house. “Most of the time the weather is good enough that we meet outside.”
“That makes sense.” Doing another slow circle, he appraised the room one more time before he turned back to us. “Where should our new friend change?”
He was a pup.
“There’s a small guest room just down that hallway.” Pointing to the far side of the living room, I gestured toward the right. “There are clothes in the dresser. Just shorts and T-shirts but something should fit.”
The pup took that as his cue and bounded toward the guest room, not looking worried at all about being in a strange packhouse.
Maybe he was…well…wasn’t that smart?
Dorian frowned before walking over and getting entirely too close to me considering he was human. “Shouldn’t he be more worried about…well…you’re a stranger.”
So was he.
Moving my lips to his ear, I nodded and whispered as low as I thought I could with him seeming to have human hearing. “Yes. Normally he would have more reservations around a strange pack.”
Nodding like he knew he’d been right, Dorian sighed. “So what’s going on?”
That was a very good question…on several levels…because I wasn’t sure if he knew what was going on with us either.
It was entirely possible that my mate didn’t know he’d found his mate.