“Well, Lloyd was an asshole and not her true mate, so our mother was miserable, and she ended up having an affair with Christopher. I caught them at it, in the woods.” He shuddered. “God, I still cannot unsee that. Anyway. They didn’t know I’d spotted them. And then nine months later, you were born. Jessica hated you because you reminded her of the man she really wanted and couldn’t have. And my father hated you because he somehow sensed something was off with you.”
“Holy…” Rusty stared at Cliff and then at Austin, his eyes bugging out. “Damn. I feel like I’m watching one of my mate’s soap operas.”
“That’s it,” Savannah said suddenly. “That’s why I was staring at you guys earlier. You two look alike, but Austin…there’s something different about his looks. Subtle, but there.” She patted his arm. “Way more handsome,” she added, and Austin winked at her.
“Jason apparently found out somehow,” Cliff continued. “Maybe his dad told him. And he knew that means that legally, since Christopher is dead, you are now Alpha of the Washborn Pack.”
“I don’t want to be Alpha of anything!” Austin said angrily. “I may have the Dominus gene, but I hate politics, and I barely even know those people. And I would absolutely suck as a leader. I’m hot headed, impatient, and I hate planning ahead.” He shook his head. “I do want to see Jason gone, though, so I have no problem challenging him. It’s just a matter of staying alive long enough to deal with this.”
“Yeah, but from what I gather of their pack charter, as long as you’re alive, Jason is no longer legally the Alpha,” Cliff said, frowning darkly. “You’re going to have to deal with that when you show up. Jason knows that, obviously, now that he’s revealed who you are. His pack Elders are likely preparing some kind of formal motion, and they’ll investigate, and if they get a chance to prove your parentage…well, Jason’s going to do his best to make sure you’re not alive long enough for that to happen.” He chewed his lower lip. “And officially, I can’t do a thing to help you.”
Austin glanced at Savannah, whose face had gone grim and determined. He wanted to tuck her away somewhere safe until he’d resolved all of this.
But she’d never let him do that.
“I’ll find something,” Grant said quickly. “I will study our pack charter inside and out and find a way.”
Austin grimaced. “I appreciate it, Grant, I really do. But I don’t think you’re going to find any way around it.”
“If you don’t want to come back to the property, that’s totally fine. But I’m not giving up contact with my brother. My kids will play with your kids. We will visit. I will be the world’s most annoying houseguest. I’ll blast your TV, drink all your beer and clog up your toilet. And so will Cliff.”
Cliff laughed grimly. “I happen to be an excellent houseguest, but then I’m not an uncultured swine like certain brothers of mine. But we’ve got more pressing problems. You know Jason is leading you into a trap of some type, right? He expects Roy to kill you, but if Roy doesn’t, you’ll never make it off their pack lands alive.”
“Meet him in town, or if he insists you go to pack property, stop at the pack entrance,” Grant said. “Make sure there are witnesses.”
Then Grant flashed a defiant look at the Elders and pulled Austin in to hug him.
When he let go, Cliff threw his arms around Austin. Austin stiffened at first, then relaxed and returned the hug. It felt good to finally be able to hug his asshole brother. Hard. Really hard.
“My ribs,” Cliff grunted.
“Pussy.” Austin grinned and let go of him.
Cliff snorted. “When I figure out a way to come visit you – not if, but when – I will make you eat those words.”
“I think that was just one word, wasn’t it?” Savannah said. “Let’s go, babe. We have a long, hard drive ahead of us.”
Cliff and Grant gave him regretful half-waves as they walked away. Rusty kept pace with them.
And then he and Savannah looked with dismay at the trussed-up killing machine in the back seat of his pickup truck. And Roy peered back at them with a cold, calculating gleam in his eyes.
