Chapter 38
Dorian
“I thought you said you wanted to teach,” Atlas grumbled as I tried and failed to show him how to tie his tie.
“Willing students and not bumbling idiots like you.” I smacked his hand away. “Here. Let me do it.”
We were gathered in the library of the resort the Omega council had rented up in the Appalachian Mountains, waiting for our cue to go outside.
A few members of our packs sat sipping drinks on the lounging couches. Aunt Sunny and Ma were on opposite ends of the room from Jeannette and a few other women on Atlas’s side.
Mean old dam is what she is.
Jeannette eyed us sideways as I finished with Atlas’s tie, but she loved Opal, so I ignored her hatred of me and my pack.
“Dorian, my boy!” Somehow, Jay Renfro had squeezed his way back into the dusty room set aside for family and friends only. “I have someone I want you to meet.”
The Alpha shifter who walked in wore all black, but that didn’t make him blend into the background. With his sharp jaw and even sharper eyes, he was instantly recognizable, having graced the cover of almost every shifter magazine in the past few years.
To his left stood another Alpha with a full beard and rough features, who looked like he spent more time in wolf form than human. To his right was a Beta wolf dressed like he’d just walked off an indie design fashion shoot where suspenders were all the rage.
And right behind them was the brute of a wolf shifter who’d worked security on the show.
My eyes narrowed.
His eyes narrowed in return.
Then he broke into a grin and waved.
What the fuck?
The dark leader Alpha radiated power as he came to a stop in front of Atlas. Both of them were of equal size, and just like the wolves they were, each sized the other one up.
I wasn’t sure who I’d put money on in this fight, but Opal would be pissed if Atlas didn’t look pretty today.
“Ranger McCaw,” I stepped in between the two of them before Jay could give his introduction and held out my hand. “Dorian Bailey.”
“I’m assuming the big guy is Atlas Volk.” Ranger gripped my hand and hiked his other thumb over his shoulder. “That’s my brother-in-law John, my Beta Mattox, and my good friend Ivan, who you’ve had a few run-ins with. You already know the Hollywood wolf.”
Jay Renfro wasn’t even paying attention to us anymore anyway, but I saw why he’d weaseled his way back here, and by the look on Aunt Sunny’s face, she saw it too.
Ranger’s grip was punishing, redirecting my attention to him. “But it’s good to finally meet the famous Dorian Bailey. Ava has told us a lot about you.”
Why are his hands so big?
“I heard she ended up in your pack.” I returned his handshake with a firm one of my own, secretly wincing. Some of these Alpha tendencies were a bit over the top.
Atlas frowned. “Ava?”
The Beta wolf beside Ranger took a step back, motioning for a female shifter to come forward. “Ava Volk or it’s Ava McCaw now. I’m assuming you remember my mate.”
She’d put on some needed weight and muscle since I’d last seen her making the rounds out in western Oregon, but she still had the same toothy grin that stole hearts when she’d sang onstage.
“It’s good to see you again, Dorian. Or should I say Alpha Dorian?” Ava was careful not to crease my suit as she pressed an air kiss to my cheek.
“And you,” I said.
“Is that… my Ava?” Jeannette cried from her corner rocking chair, pushing herself to her feet.
“Hey Mom.” Ava captured Mattox’s hand and dragged him over. “I’d like you to meet my mate.”
Atlas was still blinking in shock as he took in the scene. “You knew where she was this whole time?”
“Yes…” I arched a brow at him. “If I’d have known you were looking for her, then I’d have told you.”
“I didn’t…” Atlas sputtered. “How…”
“You want my advice?” Ivan broke his stoic silence. “Communication is key to any long-term relationship.”
“We’re not in a relationship with each other.” Atlas looked at me from the corner of his eye.
“No, we are not.” I slapped his hand. “Now stop messing with that tie.”
John and Ranger shared a look.
I’d have defended myself from the accusations, but the only person whose opinion I cared about in the bedroom was Opal.
“Thanks for making the trip out here, I know it means a lot to our mate,” I said.
“Aspen wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Ranger said, getting that same lovesick look in his eyes when he spoke of his mate that I saw in the mirror every day.
“Fallon would’ve missed it.” John grinned through his massive beard. “But it’s probably the last trip we’re taking for a while. Might as well live it up while we can.”
Ranger laughed as he shook his head. “Speaking of trips, on the road over here, we were talking about how funny it is that fate works like it does.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Atlas asked.
“Pairing the two of you up.” He motioned between me and Atlas. “What are the odds?”
“We’re not a pair,” Atlas and I said at the same time.
“Sure thing.” John gave a mock salute.
“Anyway,” Ranger was still grinning, “I’m always looking for good investment projects and Aspen has a whole humanitarian—or shifter-itarian—fund set up for causes like the two of yours. Let me know if you ever need some help.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
Atlas stood beside me, shaking his head. “Me either.”
Ranger stilled as his brow furrowed, then he gave us both a knowing look. “I see. Well, the offer still stands.”
“As if I’d ever!” Aunt Sunny’s scream was followed by the sound of a slap.
We all turned to watch her and my ma storm off, while Jay Renfro stood there with a handprint burning on his cheek.
And the bastard still had the nerve to give me a cheeky grin. “Dorian, my boy, I think I’ve got a job offer for you.”
“No thanks.” I waved him off. “I’m working on something big.”
“How big?” Jay zoomed in, going in for the kill. Maybe there was still some wolf in that old dog after all.
Not that the job was that big or worth sniffing around.
But working for Ken on Mating Season and doing the choreography for the talent show number had given me an idea.
We planned to teach classes for fitness and budding acrobats right in the main tent on my territory.
Ma and Sunny and a few more of the pack loved the idea.
The lion shifters and monkeys felt better with our part two of what we were calling the retirement act.
“Massively big,” Atlas answered for me.
He’s only saying that because it was his idea.
I rolled my eyes, knowing my wolf was right.
Atlas had proposed a trade-off. In showing our shifters how to run patrol, we’d help extend security on his borders a little bit, and they’d get their own paychecks. It was a win for both our packs.
“It’s not that big.” I sighed.
Honestly the whole thing sounded simple when we put it on paper, but I liked the idea of simple after the last few years.
“It is big,” Atlas said.
“Is not—”
“Are you sure you guys aren’t a couple?” John smirked.
“No,” we said.
The door to the library opened. A member of the camera crew poked her head inside. “Five minutes until we need you out here.”
“We better get going, then.” The guests all stood to leave, giving us pats of encouragement as they went. Most shocking of all was when Jeannette stopped in front of us.
“Don’t mess this up for our Luna,” she told Atlas, kissing his cheek. And then she turned to me with tears in her eyes and planted a kiss on my cheek too. “Don’t you mess up either.”
“Did she just…” I stared after her, stunned as Ava and Mattock helped the old dam outside.
“That was about as good an apology as you’re going to get.” Atlas chuckled.
Right.
I blew out a deep breath. “You ready for this?”
“Not at all.” He yanked at his neck.
“Stop messing with that tie,” I growled.
“We need you out here.” The production team opened the outside doors, letting a rush of fresh air and sunlight into the dusty room.
My wolf flexed his muscles as he prepared for the grandest event of our life. It’s showtime.