“Last night I was talking to a few of the more mature people in the pack. They told me Nimway could have been alpha if she wanted, only she didn’t want to fight her brother.”
“Because fighting is a brilliant way to choose a leader.”
“Would you feel better if I said that the battle includes a knowledge portion?”
Unbidden, his lip quirked. “A test? I can see why she wouldn’t want to do it.”
“All this to say, she’s not someone you should be fucking around with.” Mom expelled a rare expletive.
“I’m well aware.” He already knew she held rank by the way people deferred to her. She was assertive. Controlling. Sexy as fuck.
“Are you? Because, while you were busy making googly eyes with her, some of us were gathering intel. Did you know they rule in threes? Alpha, beta, and the omega, who is an older member considered the wisest in the pack. In this case, Magda, no relation to Gwayne or Nimway, seventy-nine but looking forty. Those three set policy and handle the running of the group. To enforce the laws of the pack, they have quints.”
“What the fuck is that?” The strange word made no sense to him.
“What you’d call protective units. At any given time, there is at least one quint on duty. Five people on shift for eight hours, guarding the neighborhood. Two on foot patrol. Another pair stationary on the outskirts of their residential zone. And then, in an unknown location, a fifth person acting as the hub.”
“You learned this with the old ladies?”
“Expect a cuff for that next time I see you,” Mom snapped.
There wasn’t enough caffeine in the world to deal with his mom’s regurgitation of information this morning. “It is too fucking early for this, Mom.”
“Too bad. We need to be informed, or are you somehow completely oblivious to the fact we can’t ask normal people for help?”
“Help with what?”
“You’re being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.”
He was. Blame the hot girl. He made another cup of coffee. He really should invest in an espresso machine for the bigger caffeine jolt.
“Yeah, I’m being stubborn because I am not ready to accept these strangers as our saviors. Excuse me for being a little suspicious.”
“Suspicious should have been you in the face of that odd-colored macaroni salad. And don’t deny the huge spoonful you scooped. I can’t believe you managed to fill two plates from that merely adequate spread.” Mom sniffed.
“Excuse me. While you were learning new words, I was finding out about the people watching us.”
“And? What did you learn?”
That Nimway was sexier than ever.
11
No way would Stefan admit to his mom he liked Nimway. However, he couldn’t say nothing.
“I learned that Tyson needs his social media taken away.”
“Why? What has he done?”
“More like what hasn’t he. Tyson’s been indiscreet.” He threw his brother under the bus rather than admit he’d just talked with Nimway. About food. Listening to her concise and sarcastic remarks about people at the party—all of whom she knew.
The biggest family he could have imagined. For as long as he could remember, it had only ever been the kids and Mom. No aunts, uncles, grandparents, or cousins. No one but themselves. The wolf pack might not be related by blood, but they’d chosen to be tight knit for another reason. Just like the Hubbard family.
“Do you really believe all those people we saw last night can shift?” Which sounded less alien than morph. And anything sounded better than huanimorph, a stupid phrase coined by Mom’s brother, Johan Philips. Their creator coined it to signify a human to animal morph. He should have run it by a PR department first.
“I think that enough of them actually do that it would be beneficial for the family to pursue ties with them. After all, wouldn’t it be nice to date someone that knows your secret?” Mom slyly suggested.
It did tempt a little. Imagine no fear of discovery. Had that been what held him back from true intimacy this entire time? A terror that someone would discover his secret and sell him out? That he would be rejected once more. The little boy who’d been cast aside because he wasn’t good enough.
Never mind the fact he had a better life with Mom. Knowing you’re flawed hurts.
“Assuming they’d date us. We’re not like them,” he reminded his mom.
“You both change shapes.”
She reduced it to a very generic denominator. “Even if we ignore the opposite species thing, you’re forgetting the fact that, while we were made, the people in that pack were born that way.”
“And so will your children.”
The very idea froze the blood in his veins. “I’m not having kids.” Not passing on this strange affliction.
“You say that now, but when you meet the right person, you’ll change your mind.”
His mind flashed to Nimway and then stalled. “No. I’ll never be ready for that level of commitment. Hell, why do you think I’ve held off on getting a pet?” Although it should be noted he’d enjoyed petting Nim.
“You’re so cute when you’re wrong. One day, you’ll remember saying that and laugh.”
“I’m not ever getting married, Mom.”
“If you say so.” His mom sang it.
He hated it when she did that. “Are you done shitting on my morning because I think I need a very greasy, high-carb breakfast. From a diner.”
Rather than rail about his choices in food, his mom got quiet then said, “Enjoy your breakfast. I’ll call your brothers and let them know the news.”
“What news?”
“The other reason for Gwayne’s call. The Valley Pack is willing to accept us into their group.”
“They are?” Then he added a more suspicious. “What are they demanding in return?”
“A pledge of fealty.”
He snorted. “I am not bending a knee just cause some hairball has shown up in our lives with delusions of ruling the city.”
“Not a delusion. You saw all the people at the party. We’re just peanuts compared to them.”
The reminder creased his brow. The pack outnumbered his family, and should they decide to oust them...people would get hurt. People he loved.
“I don’t understand why they can’t just let us live quietly.”
“You know why. Because we were indiscreet. It’s time to admit we don’t know what we’re doing, Stefan. We are in over our heads.” Her tone softened as she added, “I can’t afford for us to be hasty and reject them outright. Keep in mind it’s not the older kids we need to worry about. What about Tyson and Daphne?”
“I’ll take care of us,” he promised.
“We never even knew or suspected we were being watched.”
A reminder of his failure. “I’ll move back in.”
“That won’t solve anything. You know we need more than that.”
He did, and it pissed him off. “What makes you think shaking dog paws will keep us safe?”
“I don’t, but I have no other ideas. Do you?”