Chapter 10 Bryden
brYDEN
“Thanks for the lift.”
We waved goodbye to our ride and trudged upward along the dusty road. I sniffed the air, but there was no hint of my brother. If he wasn’t here yet, I was certain he’d come.
“What if the Alpha and the rest of the pack don’t accept us?” We were sitting by the side of the road, sipping our dwindling water supply.
“We’ll have to go farther up the mountain and find a patch of land for ourselves.” Roland screwed the top on the water bottle.
We could both be farmers I supposed, or Roland could open a small clinic. But being by ourselves didn’t sound secure because without pack protection, we’d be on constant lookout for poachers.
“And if we’re close enough to the pack, maybe we can wear down their resistance.”
“That would be no better than what we have now, which is nothing.”
The only solution was to become members of the Stoney River pack. I refused to accept a deferred enrollment. We’d heard the Alpha was a reasonable guy, and the pack itself was still in its infancy.
Roland got up and offered me his hand. I kissed it, like the gallant gentleman I was, and he laughed.
“We’re on a dusty roadside and grimy with dirt in our ears and nose and on our clothes, but your kiss gave me hope that we’re going to be okay.”
“I should do it more often.”
He heaved me up, and we continued higher up the mountain.
There was no surprise when we rounded a corner and came upon the pack because we’d scented them and picked up on the chatter and laughter for the last three hundred yards.
We’d been led to believe there was no formal entrance to the pack, but as we surveyed the buildings through a large open gate, the land was surrounded by a wooden fence.
Or the part we could see. The fence trailed into the woods, and we’d been told the pack had recently acquired more land.
The fence wouldn’t keep out anyone intent on causing trouble, but it defined their boundaries, saying “This is us.”
“Here goes.” Roland took my hand, and we strolled through the gate and asked where to find the Alpha.
We were directed to a small building. There was a guy outside chatting on the phone, and he told us to knock if we had business with Alpha.
He introduced himself as Torin and seemed friendly enough.
Once inside, I was taken aback by how young the Alpha was sitting behind a desk. But there was an older grizzled guy sitting in the corner reading a newspaper. I was about to direct my greetings to him, but Roland nudged me and jerked his head toward the younger man.
Both men stared, open-mouthed, not at me but at my mate. If I hadn’t been close to unconscious when Roland and I met, that would have been my reaction too because unicorn shifters weren’t common.
“Welcome. I’m Creven, the Stoney River Alpha.”
Roland and I introduced ourselves, and my mate added that we’d heard the pack extended membership to shifters who had nowhere to call home.
“We pride ourselves on not asking too many questions about a person’s past.” Creven held up his hand. “Except where it may affect the pack.”
“A unicorn shifter with no herd suggests you’re running from something.” That was the older guy who told us his name was Auden. He tapped his lips. “And the only thing that comes to mind is you have something people want.”
He was a wily alpha, and his years of living in a group made up of renegades and rogues must have taught him to sum up people quickly.
Roland nodded but didn’t say anything, and it wasn’t my place to fill the pair in on possible poachers. But if anyone intent on taking my mate captive—making him shift and stealing his horn—came to Stoney River, everyone would be in danger.
“Torin, come here, please.” Creven didn’t raise his voice, but the guy we’d spoken to was outside the window with the phone tucked under his ear. He now had a toddler on his hip who was babbling about his friend.
Torin poked his head inside. “Yes, Creven.”
Alpha instructed him to take my mate to the dining hall.
Roland and I shared a glance, knowing Alpha was going to grill me about our situation.
I tilted my head in my mate’s direction as he left, letting him know I’d handle his story with care.
The toddler's attention was diverted from talking about his friend, and he asked Roland who he was.
When the door closed, I crossed my hands and rested them above my crotch, waiting for Alpha to speak.
“Now I need you to fill me in on why you both have no den or herd.”
I told him about my brother and how I hoped he’d be here in the mountains, but I hadn’t scented him.
“He may find his way here in the future.”
“But you’ve been injured recently?” Auden stated.
“That was how I met my mate.”
The pair nodded as I spoke, saying my reason for being rogue was straightforward, and while the den may be searching for my brother, they’d probably ignore Stoney River because he wasn’t here.
But Roland had a price on his head. Auden told me how much poachers earned for a horn in pristine condition, and I was dumbfounded. A family could live on that amount of money for years.
“And as you’re aware, unless Roland has his shifter skin, the poachers might kidnap him and force him to shift.”
“How would they do that?” No one could make a shifter take their beast form except for the candy Roland had talked about. But it was doubtful they’d have any because it was made by his herd. They might not like him, but they wouldn’t set poachers on him.
Two sets of eyes were on me, and I shivered as if I had something to do with the poaching. Did they know about the candy?
“You, Bryden.”
“Me?” I flapped my hands at them. “This has nothing to do with me. I’ve never met any poachers.” Or if I had, I hadn’t recognized them as such.
“They’d kidnap you instead and tell Roland they’d harm you unless he shifted and allowed them to cut off his horn.” Auden folded the newspaper.
I collapsed into a chair, not bothering to ask if I could sit in Alpha’s presence.
My mate and I had discussed what might happen if his horn was removed.
First, there was the danger to his life.
Like with rhinos, his beast could survive, but again, similar to those wild beasts, poachers only cared about the horn and often killed the animal to make the theft easier.
But assuming Roland lived, he’d have no control over how his beast reacted with his most prominent feature removed, the part of him with healing properties.
He might curl up inside my mate and never shift again, and his depression would seep into Roland.
And there would be no modern medicine that could cure him.
Even the special candy would be of no help.
“Poachers care about money. They don’t give a damn about property damage or children’s safety.” Creven walked to the window. “They trample everything in their path. And that has serious consequences for Stoney River.”
I’d been worried for my mate since he told me his predicament, and I’d give up my life to protect him, but I wouldn’t endanger the pack, and I suspected neither would the Alpha.
“I will allow you to stay for a few days to regain your strength before making a decision about your future.”
I thanked Alpha, and he asked how my wounds had responded when touched by Roland’s horn. I pulled up my pantleg and showed him the scars.
“It had life-saving properties,” he agreed. “You were lucky.”
“I’m so scared for my mate,” I told them.
They nodded. There was little they could say because bar cutting off my mate’s own horn myself, there was no guarantee that he’d ever be safe. He needed full-time bodyguards, and while the Stoney River pack didn’t provide those, being part of the group would give us some protection.
“Join your mate in the dining hall, and afterward, I’ll have someone show you to your cabin.” Creven ushered me toward the door.
“Thank you. We didn’t intend to bring danger to your doorstep.”
“We’ve dealt with similar circumstances in the past. It comes with the territory of accepting rogues.” Creven put a hand on my shoulder and told me to forget about anything except eating and sleeping for the next few days.