Chapter 4
Chapter four
Fin
When Fowler left work, he told me to come by the house for dinner to discuss something.
Since I had a customer come in and tell me Jed MacTaryn was in the hospital and in critical condition, I knew it was about a certain rumor circulating town he was likely to die.
The man wanted to talk synthetic versus mineral oil and wet-clutch compatibility, so I told Fowler I’d be over after closing up.
Fowler and I couldn’t let on in front of the human that the MacTaryns were more than drug dealers from Lakeland, or that we cared about him dying for the pack politics of it all. So when I finally closed the shop and drove my bike up Wolf Creek Road, I knew what we’d be discussing.
Fowler rubbed his beard and leaned back in the wooden chair in the pack kitchen. We’d eaten dinner and were still gathered around the old dining table. The house was built to house a dozen people, so the four of us sat at one end, our plates of casserole empty before us.
The plan had been for us to talk about everything over dinner with Fowler’s grandpa, Merle, since the former Alpha had a lot of insight on the MacTaryns from when Jed’s dad and grandfather were in charge of the bear shifters.
We didn’t know what it was about Blue Lake, but shifters had been living around it for centuries.
The bears had the west bank since around when the Spanish arrived, the wolves coming from up north even earlier, and the coyote-shifters taking up residence above the lake where the tribe had been since humans existed, according to the tribal elders' stories.
In short, it was a delicate balance between all three groups.
When I was in charge by-proxy, between David King’s drinking and his illness in the end, I didn’t have to do much with the bears. The MacTaryns used the illegal products they sold, and we had an uneasy truce with them not to sell in our territory if we stayed out of theirs.
With the patriarch sick, possibly dying, there was cause for concern. Jedediah had three children who were alphas. The twins, Zacarias & Zedediah, and their younger sister, Janessa. She was in her mid-twenties, and third in line.
“I can’t see them letting a younger female of the pack be alpha, no matter if she wants it or not,” King pointed out. His father had rejected him for being trans, but he came back and found out our pack was more progressive than when he was a teenager.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to be in charge of those two,” Fowler’s mate, Riley, shivered from his seat beside the Alpha. “Or even live near them.”
Merle nodded, “Whether they want to or not, someone will take charge in the power vacuum.”
Thank goodness Fowler’s sister, Channing, was away at college. She’d have words about a woman being able to be in charge of a pack. Despite being an omega wolf, Channing was strong-willed and I was glad to see how strong she grew up to be. A lot like her mother, smart and no one’s pushover.
“Do we think there will actually be a fight?” I asked, hoping for the easy solution instead. “Maybe the twins will run the pack jointly?”
“It’s a possibility,” Fowler nodded. “Probably the best outcome we can hope for.”
“They do everything together,” Riley commented, and I thought back to last June when the twins came after Riley when he had his first heat.
“They’re impulsive and stupid together,” I pointed out. “Though maybe only dangerous around an omega in heat?”
“I’m not due to go into heat again for a month,” Riley added. Wolf omegas had their heats about once a year. “But Channing–”
Riley stopped talking and we all perked up at the signal our pack mates gave when they were shifted and entering pack land. I couldn’t really tell from so far away, but my wolf said it was Ricky. Likely with Rel by his side.
“We should have them join the conversation,” Fowler said.
He must have assumed it was Ricky and Rel like I did. Besides Channing, they were the only pack members not already at the table besides Rowen, who couldn’t shift into an octopus on land. But we thought the two of them both had work tonight. We shouldn’t have assumed.
“Call ‘em in,” Merle commented, rolling his wheelchair back from the table. “I’m going to take my pills.”
It still made me sad that the alpha from my youth was chair-bound after a car accident he chose not to shift after, but he was healthier and happier now that his grandson was home to take over the pack.
Fowler nodded and stood, opening the back door to holler the signal we used to get a pack member to come our way when in human form. He learned these signals as a child, and I was surprised that he remembered them all after ten years away.
Riley and I moved to clear the table while Fowler went to grab spare clothes. It only took a few minutes before the sound of Ricky’s laughter reached me through the screened-door.
Speaking of impulsive and stupid…I willed myself not to think about how Ricky looked when shirtless and sweaty earlier in the day. No reason to imagine it when he was walking into the house in loose shorts and nothing else. Less sweaty, but still exposed and sexy as sin.
“What’s up, King?” Rel asked, coming in similarly dressed behind Ricky.
Couldn’t Fowler have found the men some shirts? Not that I was attracted to Rel, even if he was the only single male omega in the pack. Nope, my traitorous dick only had eyes for a certain beta wolf.
“We have some news regarding the bears,” Fowler started, before Riley stepped up to offer them food and drinks. They turned down the food, but took water and joined me at the table. “Jed MacTaryn is in critical condition and is not likely to wake up.”
“That’s good news, right?” Ricky asked before taking a big gulp of his cold water. His throat bobbed and I watched the movement before looking down at my hands. “He’s a miserable old mad and a bad Alpha.”
“True, but we don’t know who will be in charge next,” I pointed out. The bear population was down to only their family in California, as far as we knew. “With the twins both being the oldest alpha in their pack, there might be a power struggle.”
“They are the exact same age, unless you count the minutes they were born apart,” Rel commented in his soft, quiet voice, the opposite of Ricky’s excited tone. “And that they’re practically joined at the hip.”
Fowler sat at the head of the table and took Riley’s hand. “There’s also the fact that I’ll be traveling with Riley to Mexico next week. He’s doing a story that requires research on the cartels and being out of cell range. I don’t want him going alone, especially with his next heat approaching.”
“Of course,” I agreed. No way should mates be separated in a dangerous situation. “You’d be no use to us thinking about him out there alone.”
“Exactly,” Fowler nodded and looked at me and then Ricky.
For a second, I had the wild idea that he knew about my little slip with the younger man.
That Fowler would chastise us for doing something so stupid.
Pack mates shouldn’t be fooling around when we need to focus on the danger at hand.
And especially not someone as old as me with the beta.
But of course, Fowler didn’t know about our indiscretion.
“I want you and Ricky to look out for the pack while I’m gone.”
The weight of another alpha relying on me wasn’t new, even though I’d given up my position as Alpha’s second in command. Looking at Ricky, I saw his eyes widen in surprise. Was he really so shocked Fowler wanted to rely on him? He was the pack enforcer. It was his job to protect us.
Narrowing my eyes, I cleared my throat and looked back at Fowler. “We won’t let you down, Alpha.”
Fowler reached out and I took his rough, outstretched hand in mine. “I know you won’t. Thank you, Uncle Clark.”
Whether Ricky was up for the job or not, I would protect this pack to my dying breath.