“Part of it.” He frowned and looked down again. “The gathering ends tomorrow. Where…You said I could stay with you. I guess I need to hear it again.”
“You can stay with me,” I said firmly. “I can make a place for you in my household. We have one cook. Chloe. Those helping her here are temp workers.”
“But they’re human?” He looked confused
I chuckled. “Yeah, some lines get a little blurry, especially where high-ranked werewolves are concerned. The temp workers pledged secrecy about who and what we are. Humans in general don’t know we exist, but the Anax and some arkhons hire humans from time to time, with steps to ensure that they don’t reveal our existence. Anyway, they won’t be around after the gathering. We used to have someone—another werewolf—helping Chloe in our house in Winthrop, where Kyle and I live most of the time, but she left with her mate a few months ago.” Alisa had never officially been put to work as Chloe’s assistant, but she’d taken on the role after I hired Connor as guard. “You could assist Chloe or Luz, our housekeeper. I don’t think I’d be comfortable having you as a guard. You’re too new to being a werewolf. But we could talk about that, too, if you want.”
He rapidly shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to be a guard. I couldn’t even protect myself. But I’ve done cooking and cleaning before. I mean, mostly back home before I got kicked out, but I’ve done some as work, too.”
“This isn’t a job interview, Ren.” I grinned. He seemed actually excited about the idea of doing housework. Then again, it would mean living in a house, and I could see where he would be excited about that after shelters and the streets. “If you want to come back with us to Winthrop and work with Chloe or Luz, we can arrange it. I give them final say over who works with or for them, but I don’t think it will be a problem.”
“Thank you.” His face lit up. “Tobias, you don’t have to do all of that.”
“No, but I’m going to.” His reaction told me I’d made the right decision. “You’ll get paid, too. Everyone who works in my household, whatever their role, gets a paycheck. All of your living expenses will be covered. The pay is so you have money to spend on yourself and, I advise, to save in case you decide you want to leave at some point. You don’t have to spend it. You don’t have to save it. It will be yours to do with as you please, but I want to make sure that everyone who works for me has options.”
Two more werewolves came toward the table.To me, they were a minor annoyance, but Ren inhaled sharply and moved his chair closer to me, his heart pounding loud enough to hear. “Anax, that’s one of them.”
“One who beat you?” Enzo had assured me he’d taken care of those who had harmed Ren. Obviously he’d missed someone. “Which one?”
“The guy in the green flannel.” He shuddered. “He wasn’t…He didn’t actually hit me. He, like, stood guard while the others did.”
“Okay. Stay here.” I got up and walked over to the pair. The man with the green and black flannel shirt flinched and immediately lowered his gaze.
I recognized him, as I should have done the moment he arrived with his Alpha. “Gregory Malkin. And you are?”
The other man, shorter with blue streaks in his hair that I was reasonably sure weren’t natural like Gregory’s blond streak, looked confused. “Arian Davies, Anax.”
“I suggest both of you walk away right now.” I glanced over my shoulder. Ren, trembling, was staring at the table. “Gregory, I will be speaking to your Alpha shortly. It would be advisable to find him yourself and come clean with him before I fill him in.”
“What…” Arian stared at the other man, who turned and hurried away before Arian could finish his question.
“Arian, how long have you been a member of Connecticut Pack?” I asked.
“Seven years, Anax.” He looked past me. “Is that…Oh, shit.” His face went red, and he immediately looked at the floor. “Apologies for the language, Anax. I believe I understand what you need to speak to our Alpha about. I didn’t know Gregory was one of them.”
“Gregory and two other trackers came here only days ago trying to find Ren Torres and return him to Connecticut Pack,” I said. “I sent them away. Ren is my wolf now.”
“Good. He deserves to be safe.” Arian took a couple of shaky breaths. “Anax, I am the one who changed Ren. I didn’t mean to. He startled me. We startled each other. I attacked without thought and tried to minimize the damage when I realized what Iwas doing, but I had already wounded him too badly. I got help, and we brought him to the Alpha to recover.”
“So long as you didn’t intend to change him, you face no consequence from me.” I was reasonably sure Enzo had already dealt with Arian, though I had to wonder what Enzo’s intention was in bringing the werewolf who had changed Ren to this gathering. Then again, given the timing, Enzo must have chosen Arian as one of his guests before Ren’s change. “You were present when Ren awakened from his first shift.”
Arian nodded. “When he was awake, I told him I was sorry. He was still wolf, so I’m not sure if he understood. It’s hard to know what people understand when they’re in wolf form, but the Alpha made most of us leave before Ren shifted back. I was hoping to apologize again.”
“I don’t think Ren is in any shape to talk to you right now, but I’ll extend your apology.” I felt a little bad for this guy. It wasn’t unusual for a werewolf to attack a human when startled. That was how a fairly large number of werewolves came to be. Some of those who caused those changes didn’t give a shit, but it was clear Arian was remorseful. “Do me a favor, Arian.”
“Of course, Anax,” he said quickly.
“Go to your Alpha and tell him I will find him before the meeting.” That wouldn’t give us a whole lot of time, but I needed to follow up with Enzo about Gregory, and it also might be good for Ren to hear directly from the Alpha. “We’ve got about another half hour, forty-five minutes before we have to head to the auditorium.”
“I’ll tell him, Anax.”
Arian didn’t move until I nodded, then he quickly walked away. I went back to the table and sat down. Ren’s elbows were on the table, his hands over his face. “What happened?” he asked, his voice muffled.
“The guy you pointed out was one of the trackers who showed up here the other day,” I said, keeping my voice low to try to calm him. “He shouldn’t have been anywhere near the place. I ordered him to stay away. I’m not sure why the Alphabrought him to the gathering, and I sent him to tell the Alpha that he was one of the ones who basically invaded my territory. The other one…Did you recognize him?”
“I…” He folded his hands on the table and bit his lip. “Something was familiar.”
“This might not be easy to hear.” Maybe I shouldn’t be telling him, but he had the right to know. “He was the one who changed you. He said you startled him and he went on the attack instinctively. He tried to stop when he realized what he was doing, but it was too late. For what it’s worth, he wants you to know he regrets it. He never meant to harm you.”
