Chapter Three #2
Cole, along with Hank, had been an invaluable asset in training Dominic to take on his role as Prime Alpha.
As an alpha himself, he knew a thing or two about how to best protect a pack in danger.
His own pack had survived a hunter epidemic almost twenty-five years ago.
Dominic remembered those months when Tolstone was flooded with imperiled packs and his father had to make tough choices.
Cole and his pack of three were permitted to seek refuge, but from what he remembered, at a steep cost. The pack never left, which was unheard of, but Cole proved himself to be useful in helping to enforce order in Tolstone, so he was permitted to stay.
Unlike other alphas, Cole was content with his lot and never gave any hint that he’d want to challenge for the title of Prime Alpha.
He had always been an ally to Dominic’s father, and now he was an ally to him.
“Larson Caves.”
He heard the click as Cole unlocked the car doors. “Hop in. I’ll give you a lift.”
Dominic hadn’t expected that. He almost tripped to a stop, and the squad car screeched to a halt. Cole’s brakes were in desperate need of replacement. The passenger door flew open, and Dominic was too stunned to refuse.
Hank would have told him that running off to Larson Caves alone was a dumbass move.
He’d be away from his phone, out in the open, and though the park was secluded enough for a shifter, it was too secluded for the Prime Alpha unaccompanied by his pack.
If an incident like last night with Madison happened again, no one would have been able to reach Dominic, who always had to be available.
However, that suited him just fine right about now.
Cole didn’t seem to mind the risks. Dominic buckled in and saw the discarded chili dog wrapper on the floorboard at his feet. Cole sped down Highland Road and turned off onto the County Highway that led toward Larson Caves.
“Rough day?”
Dominic adjusted the duffel bag in his lap and sighed. “Rough week.”
“I heard about what happened with Madison last night,” he said. “Maybe you should take a break so you don’t burn out like your dad did.”
Dominic didn’t want to touch that subject with a ten-foot pole.
The doctors and autopsy said his dad died from heart failure.
Decades of driving himself to exhaustion, taking care of Tolstone took its toll.
Cole had told him another theory, but Dominic didn’t want to give it any credence.
He didn’t want to believe that he was to blame for his own father’s death.
He couldn’t speak a word about why he really wanted to go to Larson Caves.
A good night running around would certainly release a fraction of the pressure he was under, but his reasons were far deeper and more complex than that.
He might hold Cole in high esteem, but he was just as likely to talk about women trouble with him as he was Hank.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the new human taking the Donaldson house next to mine?”
Cole glanced at him. “I knew someone bought the place, but they weren’t a wolf, so it didn’t seem important. I thought Hank would have told you.”
Dominic glared out the windshield. “He didn’t.”
“Well, now you know,” Cole replied with a humorous lilt to his voice. He didn’t have to look to know the cop was smiling. “Do you at least know who it is? Hank didn’t give me much to go on, though I’m sure I can send Ronan out to take a look if you didn’t want to introduce yourself personally.”
“No,” Dominic barked. Just the thought of sending Cole’s deputy out to bother Erica set him on edge, and he wasn’t sure why.
Ronan was trustworthy, one of Cole’s original pack from when he arrived in Tolstone, but allowing the tattooed police officer to show up on her doorstep was not the way to welcome her to Tolstone. “I’ve … I’ve met her.”
He hated the self-conscious way the words seemed to stutter out. Once more, his father’s ghost harped in his ear about the importance of confidence, especially speaking with another alpha.
“Oh? And what’s she like?” Cole didn’t seem bothered but intrigued. Dominic didn’t know whether to appreciate this moment of candidness or let a bit of the wolf come out and tell Cole that it was none of his business.
Mine, his wolf snarled once more, and Dominic shook it off.
“Fine, I guess.” Dominic scratched distractedly against the nylon strap on his bag with his thumbnail. “She came into the shop just before closing and bought the Rolleiflex in the window.”
The sheriff chuckled. “That old thing? I’m surprised. Your father told me it didn’t have any film.”
“It doesn’t, but she seems to know a lot about cameras. She’ll probably buy some film online or something.”
The squad car slowed as it turned off the highway.
His headlights illuminated the gold lettering on the sign that read Larson Caves Park with a giant arrow pointing down the dirt road, and some of the gravel parking lot beyond.
Trees closed in the dirt trail that rocked the squad car.
Cole also needed his suspension replaced.
“Do you think she’ll fix up the place?” the sheriff asked.
From what he could assess of Erica’s character, he wasn’t quite sure.
Repairmen and inspectors would have made the house habitable per the occupancy codes, so the hardest work was already done, but he wondered how she would manage mowing the lawn and trimming the overgrown gardenia bushes around the porch.
An image came to mind of Erica laboring in the yard, a pair of shorts showing off her shapely legs and a white T-shirt drenched in sweat.
In the fantasy, her long brown hair was pulled back, and a few flyaway strands escaped out of her ponytail and stuck to her damp face.
Dominic pictured her pushing a lawnmower, panting and working that perfect body of hers.
He cut himself off when the vision produced a water bottle, and Erica took a long drink.
He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, as if that would make his boner go away. “I don’t know,” he replied. “We didn’t talk about the house at all.”
“What did you talk about?”
Dominic could feel Cole’s curious gaze pin him in the chair, and that’s when his wolf took over to compensate for his vulnerability. “Nothing much. You can just let me out here.”
Cole obeyed and eased the squad car to a stop. The path was just wide enough that he could open the door without hitting a tree. Dominic had to restrain himself from opening the door too fast or slamming it on the way out.
The heady scent of grasses, tree bark, and the residual trails of other forest creatures wrapped around his mind, inviting him to strip right there and run.
He could never forsake the company of these pines, spruces, and dogwoods.
The park wasn’t just a place to run as a wolf, but also a second home, a refuge within a refuge ever since he was a teenager and was just getting the hang of his shifting abilities.
His father hated it when he went to run alone without permission.
“Are you going to be ready for the alpha meeting tomorrow night?” Cole asked before Dominic had a chance to make his final retreat.
Dominic let out a heavy sigh and nodded without looking back at the car. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
The alpha meeting came twice a month on a Friday and served as a time for all the alphas and betas of the packs in Tolstone to meet and talk.
Alphas who were visiting were to give their progress report on how soon they could leave, and it was Dominic’s job to tell them of any pertinent news in the town.
He wasn’t sure if he wanted to share about Erica or not just yet.
With the recent departure of one pack, Hank and Cole were to give their reports on what addresses were now available, what jobs were left open, and any new pack applicants that were up for consideration.
The whole meeting usually took a couple of hours and was held at the antique shop’s upstairs apartment just after closing.
After two nights of running on fumes, Dominic was tempted to keep the store closed for the whole day and stay home to recover.
That wouldn’t have worked well because Erica would still be next door. Her presence would distract him from any possible rest. Maybe he could go to the shop, but keep it closed so he could take a nap or two. No doubt Hank would keep his phone ringing, though.
Dominic suddenly felt trapped, without escape or reprieve, and his wolf clawed for release.
“If you’re not feeling up to it, you know you don’t have to be there.”
Cole’s assurance was laughable. He could never get away with missing an alpha meeting. His father never did, and everyone expected him to run Tolstone in the same way. Hank would drag him kicking and screaming to the meeting if he tried to skip out of it.
Dominic forced his tone to stay neutral, even when he was far from calm. “I’ll be fine, Cole. You don’t have to worry about me.”
A pause of silence made Dominic turn and look at Cole, who stared back at him, evidently unconvinced.
“It hasn’t even been a year yet,” the alpha said severely. “You’re allowed to—”
“No, I’m not,” Dominic snapped. He didn’t need Cole’s attempt at encouragement, and it wasn’t true. “Tolstone still needs a Prime Alpha, and right now, that’s me. I’ll own up to this, and I don’t need anyone to make exceptions for me.”
That harsh admonition seemed to silence whatever Cole had planned to say next, and he nodded. “Just be careful out there. Do you want me to pick you up in the morning?”
Dominic shook his head, turned, and bolted into the woods before the sheriff could say any more. With his inhuman speed putting more and more distance between him and the road, he could feel a bit of the tension slip away.