Chapter 14 Bryden
brYDEN
Creven has sent word that Roland and I needed to work and to choose where we wanted to be. It wasn’t a permanent decision. Besides, we weren’t yet members of the pack and we might never be, but he wanted to see how we fit in.
I chose the library, and Roland wanted to assist the healer who was new to the pack herself.
Otto welcomed me as I walked in. The Stoney River pack library was barely bigger than a closet, though that was a slight exaggeration.
It covered the space of three cabins having been extended recently, and it’d been Otto’s concept from start to finish.
He’d recently handed over the day-to-day running to another shifter.
Evelyn was the pack’s librarian. It was a grand-sounding title, but she was the only employee, and she also greeted me with a smile on my arrival.
“It’s a tiny space,” Otto told me, but he was beaming with pride as he surveyed his creation.
“It’s beautiful, and remember, good things come in small packages.”
“I’ll leave you to it.” Otto left with a wave.
Evelyn pointed to a cart stacked with returns. “I’d like you to shelve those. We do them in alphabetical order by author, not title. You can’t really make a mistake.”
I could, but I doubted I would, as I knew my ABCs.
Evelyn was almost seventy, and while I longed to know why she’d joined the Stoney River pack, it was rude to ask the pack members what was so horrible in their life that they'd been left without a home or anyone to protect them.
But Evelyn was a force to be reckoned with as she hovered over me while I replaced the books.
She reminded me of a woman who’d mentored me in the den, if she’s been a wolf shifter librarian who had her glasses hanging on a chain around her neck.
Shifters didn’t usually need glasses, so perhaps Evelyn thought they made her look more librarian-like.
Evelyn had rearranged the library with the extended floor space, and she told me there were more shelves than at the beginning. When Otto started the library, all the books came from pack members.
I kept looking at the kids’ corner where the beanbags and cushions were and longed to sit there and read. But there were three children curled up on one beanbag and arguing about whether dragons and unicorns existed.
“Unicorns are just horses with a traffic cone on their nose,” one child said.
The other pair made a face, and one scoffed at the first kid. “Don’t be silly. Those cones are orange. We saw some last week when we went down the mountain to do shopping.”
“And my dad told me he’s seen a unicorn and they were all sparkly. He never mentioned an orange cone on their nose,” the third kid replied.
I was pleased Creven hadn’t advertised Roland’s arrival. Not that we’d secreted ourselves away, but Alpha hadn’t made a big deal about a mythical animal shifter being on pack land.
I left them to their disagreement and returned to the book cart. I found my rhythm when I picked up a book, found the author, and slid it into its proper place on the shelf. My bear and I both enjoyed putting things back where they belonged.
“Hello.”
I turned to find an older man waving a book at me.
“You don’t have a name tag.”
“I’m the temp. Bryden.”
“Well, I hope you know your stuff. I finished this one, and I need another one.”
Evelyn was wrangling the three kids who’d decided to play dragons and unicorns, and one was swooping over the others, trying to eat them.
The man held out the book. It was a murder mystery, maybe one of the original books that had been donated by pack members because it was well-worn.
“What did you enjoy most about the book?”
He turned the book over and studied the cover. “The detective. She was feisty, and she didn’t take any crap.”
“Oh, that man said a bad word.” The child pretending to be a dragon stopped attacking the others.
“Sorry, kids.” The guy leaned toward me. “My children are long grown up, and I sometimes forget about young impressionable ears.”
“I saw a couple more books from that series on the third shelf.”
His face lit up. “There’s a series? Oh my goodness. Lead me to them.”
He plucked three books off the shelf and tucked one into his coat. He put a finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet. No, no, he was planning on checking out two and hiding the third one. I held out my hand, and he rolled his eyes and gave me the third book.
“Henry, you know there’s a two-book rule.” Evelyn was standing behind him, and Henry’s legs quaked.
“I forgot.” His cheeks were pink with embarrassment.
“Of course. That’s why you hid one.”
Evelyn shook her head as Henry left, saying if anyone borrowed the third book before he read it, he’d shift and demand they fight it out.
“He doesn’t mean it.” Evelyn took the book from me and replaced it on the shelf. “He loves reading since he retired. This is his happy place.”
I spent the rest of the morning making book recommendations, putting returned books on the shelf, and reminding the kids to use their inside voices when they demonstrated how dragons breathed fire.
I met so many pack members, and some told me, after I found them the perfect book, they hoped I was sticking around.
Evelyn explained what she expected of me tomorrow after Roland poked his head in and asked if I was done. I had no idea if I’d be back the following day, but I hoped so. And when I left, I thought I might get an answer as to our future because Creven and Auden were with my mate.
“We’ve come up with some ideas as to how to handle the possibility of poachers.” My mate put a hand under my elbow. “I’ve already told them my methods of mingling other scents with mine and sprinkling urine to confuse any trackers.”
“My idea was to perpetuate a rumor that the horn loses its power when it’s removed from the unicorn,” Auden said.
The poachers would know that was a lie. But the older shifter said, while it might not help Roland, if it got enough traction, it may prevent other unicorn shifters from losing their horn. I loved the idea that we might be helping future generations of shifters.
“And if we could get the authorities involved, perhaps they can dismantle the buyer networks,” Auden added. “But again, that’s far into the future.”
“We could hunt them, I suppose.” Creven rubbed his chin. “But that would take a lot of manpower.”
“No, I'd prefer that no one lose their life in this process.”
I didn’t want there to be a process. I wanted us tucked away in the pack but free to go outside whenever we chose. Neither of us wanted to be hiding away forever.
“For the moment, I’d double the guards, especially at night, and we need to plan an escape route in case you need it.” Creven was aware of the danger, but us escaping would make us more vulnerable than now. “Coming onto pack land without an invitation would leave them open to trouble.”
“But we’d just waltzed in on the day we arrived.”
“But my scouts had already noted you getting out of the old truck and trudging up the hill toward us.”
If Emerson were here, I’d feel more secure.
He was a fighter, and despite what my mate said, I’d decapitate a poacher before I let him take Roland’s horn.
I’d asked newcomers to the pack if they’d seen or heard of him and Dex, but no one had.
If our Alpha had caught them, would I have heard or sensed it? Probably not.
I tried and failed to hide a yawn. How could I be tired after putting books away?
Roland and I shared a glance, and he suggested to Alpha and Auden that we talk more tomorrow.
They went toward the dining hall, but we decided to return to the cabin and eat later.
The Stoney River pack tended to dine earlier than we did, though Roland complained the vegetarian options disappeared early, so perhaps we should change our eating habits.
“I’m not happy with any of those suggestions, other than us staying on pack land and never leaving.” We’d be like the princess who was confined to the tower. She was safe inside, and she could see the world from the top of the tower but never venture into it.
“We’ll come up with something. The more we talk, the more brainstorming we’ll do, and from there we’ll get a viable plan.” Roland stripped off his clothes and strode into the shower. “Want to join me?”
I had my clothes off and raced past him into the tiny bathroom. “Who gives who a blowjob first?”