Page 25 of Fated to the Alpha

Dominic’s expression grew tight. “We haven’t heard back from their alpha. Maybe they realized it was a false alarm and decided to stay. Even if they do show up tomorrow without warning, we can make do.”

Shane folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. “Thanks.”

Dominic’s eyes narrowed, and his body seemed to tense in defense. “Anything wrong in your pack?”

Shane refused to react in kind and eased his shoulders a little to show he wasn’t bothered. “Not that I’m aware of. Why?”

“Hank told me about a little fight that broke out at Howling Bones last night between one of your pack and Cole’s pack. It was Cody. Did you know about it?”

Inside, Shane’s wolf growled at the indication in such a question, while his more human side was ready to drop what he was doing and go tear into Cody. The guy never could hold his liquor, and with a toddler at home, he had no business being at a bar on a weeknight. But for Dominic to bring it up meant word had passed through several people before it ever reached Shane. Why hadn’t anyone told him yet? Not even Cody’s wife, who had always been concerned about her husband’s tendency to get into fights, had texted him.

Being caught unaware triggered Shane. Made him feel stupid, inept, incompetent. He should have been the first to know about this issue, but his pack—or specifically Cody and Thea—kept a secret from him. Secrets meant mistrust. Mistrust could lead to betrayal. Betrayal was what brought them to Tolstone.

Take control of your pack. Make them respect you. Make Dominic respect you.

The toxic blend of anger and shame galvanized his nerves, and he glared at the Prime Alpha. “You expect me to babysit everyone?”

“No, but I expect you to make the rules clear to your pack. No fighting. Not in public. The risk of exposure is too high.”

“I ain’t stupid. I know that.”

“Then you need to make sure your pack knows it. If you had picked a beta—”

Shane popped off a shot of dominance at the Prime Alpha, out of impulse rather than sense. “Don’t tell me what to do with my pack.”

Two things occurred to Shane in the half-second after he all but threatened the Prime Alpha. The first was that he knew for a fact those exact words came out of his father’s mouth on countless occasions, but Shane had never strung together that same sentence before. Second, he recalled too late the difference in their levels of dominance. Shane might as well have been a chihuahua yapping at a Doberman. Dominic could chew him up and spit him out faster than it took for Shane to squeak out an apology for forgetting his place.

Yet, Dominic didn’t pound him into the dirt. He stood, solid and stoic, as if Shane hadn’t just taken a potshot at him. He stared and waited for Shane to take it back. He didn’t and held his ground with his shoulders back and chin steady. All the while, a tinge of anxious expectancy curled around his guts. It would have been better if Dominic said something or lashed out with his own dominance, instead of holding him with those cold, icy blue eyes.

“It’s your pack.” Dominic dropped his voice into a growl. “But this is my town. I’ll give you one pass since you’re new.” He took one step forward, and Shane maintained a wall of confidence. “Find your feet. Get your pack in order. If you don’t, I will.”

That wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.

Shane ground his teeth, then lowered his chin in a reluctant sign of acceptance. He should have been grateful for Dominic’s benevolence, but his insides still burned.

The tension between the shifters cracked when Dominic gestured toward Shane’s pocket. “Check out those towns. Let me know if you need more suggestions or any other help.”

The Prime Alpha turned and left for his truck. Shane never took his eyes off Dominic until he was completely out of sight.

The tight ball of rage under his ribs didn’t go away instantly, no matter how much time passed or how far Dominic drove away. He snatched up a scrap piece of framing wood and waited for the scream of the power saw before breaking it in half over his thigh. He held the two jagged two-by-four halves and felt the release he needed wash through his core. The needle on his pressure gauge spun out of the red and he could breathe without growling again.

His wolf, though far from satisfied, quit its snarling long enough to calm down with him and think straight. No alpha liked to be told what to do with their pack, and he got riled just as easily as his father would have. That understanding was like a bucket of water over a glowing brand. Shane forced himself to fizzle out. This wasn’t something to fight the Prime Alpha over, but it was a legitimate concern he would take up with Cody.

Shane pulled out his phone and shot off two texts. The first was to Cody and said that he would stop by his house that evening to talk about the incident. The second was to Paul, the wolf he believed would be the best beta out of his current options, asking that he meet Shane for a quick lunch. He didn’t disclose the purpose of the meeting. He’d save that for the conversation after their bellies were full.

As he sent those texts, he felt as if the timer in his head began to tick just a little faster. Dominic might have assured him that there was no rush, but Shane wasn’t so sure of that anymore. Pulling the trigger on asking Paul to be his beta, and then this conflict between a member of his pack and another in Tolstone made it a little more real that this was a temporary stop. They were here on borrowed time, at the mercy of the Prime Alpha. He had to decide on a new home and fast before the Tolstone hospitality wore out. The trouble was, Shane didn’t know how much was left, and he didn’t want to wait too long to find out. In the same train of thought, the idea of leaving Kimberly in his dust again was agonizing. Another missed opportunity. A second chance spoiled. Maybe Friday night’s date was a mistake, but he would never know until he gave it a try. Gave them another try.

Chapter Six

Kimberly surveyed the living room and kitchen, looking for anything out of place. She had worked for the last couple of hours to cultivate the space to put off just the right vibe for this date, if it could be called that. Minimal lighting, everything smelling fresh and clean, and few distractions. This evening was for them.

She glanced at the bedroom door and bit her lips together. A visit to her bed was not in her plans, but what about his? The clock reminded her that she didn’t have time to spruce up that area anyway. She shook her head. It wouldn’t go that far. It couldn’t. Her heart would be in danger if it did.

She heard Shane’s truck pull up in the complex’s parking lot, and Kimberly inspected her clothes one last time. Her light, layered skirt reached her knees in flaps of thin, colorful fabric, and her sleeveless cotton blouse hung off her frame just right. She didn’t see the point in putting on shoes and decided to show off her dainty, shapely feet. She recalled something about Shane liking her feet but couldn’t remember when or the context of why he said it. Not in a fetish way, but she never asked him for a reason. Back then, he could have said he liked her ears, and she wouldn’t have questioned it. Just for him to admire anything about her thrilled her.

Kimberly heard Shane make his way up the metal stairs and she detected the faint whiff of cheese and garlic. Her stomach rumbled, and she hastened to open the door before he set foot in the breezeway. It made her look maybe a little desperate, but she didn’t have time to check herself before doing it.

Earlier that week, she had resolved to act as if this date was their first, as if they were starting fresh, as if the past was more context than trauma. She would have to set aside the way he had practically abandoned her in order to take full advantage of this night. She and her wolf needed this to go well and sniping about the way things fell apart for them was not an option.