Chapter 10
TEN
LEO
The night wore on. More beer was consumed. Hux eventually excused himself—“Council business waits for no man”—and Wyatt followed shortly after with a curt nod that might have been approval.
That left Leo, Theo, and Beck in the back room, the pool game abandoned in favor of the leather couches.
Beck was on his fourth beer, though he showed no signs of impairment. Wolf metabolism. His easy charm had worn thin as the night progressed, revealing an edge underneath.
“So.” The beta sprawled across the couch, affecting casual in a way that was anything but. “You spent quite a while at Moonrise Mixology the other day.”
“I was conducting an interview. For the investigation.”
“Sure. Investigation.” Beck’s smile had sharpened. “Junie said you helped her figure out the ley line problem. How it’s reacting to emotional magic.”
“It was a logical conclusion based on available data.” He kept his voice even. “She would have reached it herself eventually.”
“Maybe.” Beck’s attention was steady, assessing. “She’s smart. Smarter than people give her credit for, because she hides it behind the jokes. But she’s also stubborn as hell and too proud to ask for help.”
“I noticed.”
“Did you also notice that she’s one of us?” Beck leaned forward, elbows on knees, all trace of easy charm stripped away. “Pack-adjacent. Under our protection. Has been since she was sixteen and showed up at a pack gathering with a broken arm and nowhere else to go.”
Leo’s ribs tightened. He hadn’t known that. The files hadn’t mentioned it, and Junie certainly hadn’t volunteered the information. The image of her at sixteen—young, hurt, desperate enough to seek shelter with wolves—landed like a fist.
“Her mother.” It wasn’t a question.
“Left when Junie was twelve. Came back once when she was sixteen, stayed long enough to cause problems, then vanished again.” Beck’s jaw flexed.
“Junie didn’t have anywhere else to go, so she came to us.
Theo’s father was alpha then. He took her in, made her family.
” His eyes met Leo’s. “She’s still family. Whatever else might be happening.”
The subtext was clear. Beck wasn’t merely being protective of a pack-adjacent witch. There was a personal stake underneath, a possessiveness that made his hackles rise every time Leo’s name came up.
Beck was a beta in good standing with his pack. Whatever feelings he had for Junie were his own business.
“I’m not here to cause problems.” Leo held Beck’s stare without flinching. “I’m here to investigate the surge and protect the Coalition’s investments.”
“Is that all?”
The question hung in the air, loaded with implications.
Before Leo could answer, Theo rose from his chair. “Beck. Give us a minute.”
The beta hesitated, rebellion flashing across his face. Then training kicked in, and he nodded, pushing to his feet with exaggerated casualness.
“I’ll be at the bar.” He clapped Leo on the shoulder as he passed—too hard to be entirely friendly. “Nice chatting with you, Castellan.”
The door closed behind him, and Leo was alone with the wolf alpha.
Theo didn’t waste time on preamble.
“The Reed witch.” He crossed to the bar and poured two fingers of whiskey into a glass. Didn’t offer Leo one. “She’s pack-adjacent. You know what that means.”
“I understand.” Leo stayed where he was, hands loose at his sides, posture deliberately non-threatening. Two alphas in close quarters, one of them issuing a warning. The wrong move could turn this very ugly very fast. “She’s under your protection.”
“She’s under my protection.” Theo turned, whiskey in hand, attention cold enough to freeze. “Avine loves her. Beck loves her—though he’s too much of an idiot to do anything about it. The whole damn pack loves her, because she’s Junie and that’s just what happens when she’s around.”
Leo said nothing. The beast was prowling now, agitated.
“You’ve been in town four days.” Theo took a slow sip of whiskey, watching Leo over the rim of the glass. “In that time, you’ve managed to ruin a suit, interrogate half our business owners, and spend an hour alone with Junie beneath her shop.”
“It was professional—”
“Don’t.” Theo’s voice cut like a blade. “I can smell it on you, Castellan. Whatever’s happening between you two, it’s not professional. It’s not casual. And if you think I can’t recognize mate recognition when I see it, you’re an idiot.”
The words hit like a physical blow. Leo’s carefully constructed defenses cracked, just for a moment.
“I’m not—” He stopped. Started again.
Theo set his glass down with a sharp click. “I care about Junie. And I care about what happens when a powerful alpha rolls into town, recognizes a mate he claims to not want, and proceeds to fight his own instincts so hard, he does something stupid.”
“I wouldn’t—”
“You’re already doing it.” Theo advanced, using his height to full advantage.
They were nearly matched in size, but the wolf had the home advantage, the pack backing, the righteous fury of a man defending his people.
“You went to her shop to investigate. You ended up in her private brewing space, seeing secrets she doesn’t share.
You told her to forget about the suit because you couldn’t stand the thought of her worrying about money. ”
Leo’s jaw clenched. “How do you—”
“She told Avine. Avine told me. That’s how it works in a pack.” Theo’s smile was all teeth. “You might want to remember that. Nothing stays secret in Haven Shores.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy and charged. Two predators facing each other, measuring strength and will.
“What do you want from me, Vance?” Leo kept his voice steady by willpower alone. “A promise to stay away from her? Because I can tell you right now, that’s not going to work. Not while she’s a target for whoever’s behind Sable Acquisitions.”
“I want you to figure out what you’re doing before you do it.
” Theo’s anger had banked slightly, replaced by understanding.
“Junie doesn’t trust easily. She hides behind jokes and chaos because it’s safer than being vulnerable.
If you’re going to pursue this—if you’re going to pursue her—you’d better be sure. Because if you hurt her…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Leo met the wolf’s eyes squarely. “I’m here to do a job. Whatever else is happening—” He stopped, frustrated by his own inability to articulate something he barely understood. “I’m not my father.”
Recognition crossed Theo’s expression. Awareness of a man at war with himself.
“Your father was Marius Castellan.” It wasn’t a question. “I heard stories. Charismatic. Reckless. Trusted all the wrong people.”
“That’s a generous summary.”
“I’m not interested in the details. I’m interested in whether you’re the kind of man who learns from his father’s mistakes or the kind who repeats them.
” Theo picked up his whiskey again, some of the tension draining from his shoulders.
“Junie is chaos incarnate.” Theo’s smile was almost sympathetic.
“She’s going to challenge everything you think you know about yourself.
The question is whether you’re strong enough to let her. ”
Leo didn’t have an answer for that. He wasn’t sure one existed.
Theo drained his whiskey and set the glass down with finality.
“The investigation takes priority. Find out who’s behind Sable Acquisitions.
Protect the businesses being targeted. We’ll work with you on that—you’ve earned it tonight.
” He fixed Leo with one last hard stare.
“But if you hurt her, Castellan, I’ll kill you myself. And I won’t be quick about it.”
“Understood.”
Theo nodded once, then headed for the door. He paused with his hand on the knob.
“For what it’s worth—and don’t ever tell her I said this—she’s been different since you showed up. Sharper. More alive.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what that means, and I’m not sure I want to find out. But it says volumes.”
He left before Leo could respond.
Leo sat alone in the back room of the Wolf Moon Brewery, surrounded by empty bottles and the lingering scent of rival predators, and tried to remember how to think clearly.
The investigation had taken a turn he hadn’t anticipated. Sabotage. Targeted attacks. A larger threat lurking behind the convenient cover of the mating surge. That was concrete, actionable, the kind of problem he knew how to solve.
The other thing—the mate thing—was neither.
She’s been different since you showed up, Theo had said. Sharper. More alive.
Leo didn’t know what to do with that information. He’d spent twenty years building walls so high, even he couldn’t see over them. Discipline was safety. Order was strength. Vulnerability was what had destroyed his father and nearly destroyed him.
And yet.
He remembered the basement beneath Moonrise Mixology, bathed in blue light.
The way Junie had looked at him when he’d explained the ley line problem—surprised, almost grateful, like no one had ever taken her seriously before.
The way her attention had dropped to his mouth.
The way his entire body had screamed at him to close the distance.
He remembered the welcome dinner, before the disaster. Catching her across the room. The beast had known before he did. Had recognized her with absolute certainty while his human brain was still cataloging threat assessments and political implications.
He hadn’t closed the distance. He’d stepped back. He’d maintained his grip.
But standing in the empty back room of a wolf-owned brewery, with a death threat still ringing in his ears and the taste of excellent beer on his tongue, Leo had to admit something he’d been refusing to acknowledge.
His restraint was slipping.
Every time he saw her—every time someone mentioned her name—his carefully constructed barriers cracked a little more.
He didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t know if there was anything to do.
But as he walked back to the Siren’s Rest through Haven Shores’s quiet streets, his lion prowling restlessly beneath his skin, Leo made himself a promise.
He would solve the investigation first. Find out who was behind Sable Acquisitions. Protect the businesses being targeted—protect her, whether she wanted protection or not.
And then, perhaps, he would let himself consider what came next.