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No wonder they set each other on edge.
Alphas didn’t tend to spend a lot of time together unless they worked directly under a king. An Alpha wolf might end up playing second fiddle to a king, but otherwise they gravitated towards their own territory. Once a wolf showed Alpha tendencies, they usually went to mentor under an aging Alpha in another territory who had no next of kin or whose children leaned Beta. The fact Wilder had been gone awhile made me think he must have been living with another pack. His return to Callum’s territory wasn’t random, but I didn’t know what had brought him here. Moves between packs weren’t all that common.
All I knew was it had a bee in my brother’s bonnet, and I’d do well to keep some distance between the two.
No big deal. Once my car was fixed, I wouldn’t need to spend any more time with Wilder.
Right?
I jogged away from Ben to where Wilder was standing next to his bike. The look Wilder gave me, both incredulous and impressed, was almost worth defying my brother for. Except I was sure to catch hell once Ben and I were alone. He still treated me like I was thirteen, an unfortunate byproduct of us spending our formative teen years living apart. He mistakenly thought I was fragile, and I knew better.
I reached into my bag, ripped a piece of paper from one of my notebooks and scribbled down my cell phone number. Signal here could be questionable at the best of times, but I could sometimes get texts if I wandered out near the edge of the property line. I added the house number as well, but I wasn’t sure if I’d actually get my messages delivered if he tried to reach me that way.
“For the car,” I explained, handing him the slip. “To…you know…um, let me know when it’s ready?”
“Smooth,” he replied, pocketing the paper.
My cheeks felt flushed, and I stepped back, now having empirical evidence that close proximity to Wilder Shaw turned me into a babbling idiot.
“Eugenia,” Ben scolded, his voice like that of an annoyed teacher. Setting aside us being twins and the fact he had no power over me in the pack, he liked to think he could control me. There might have been a time once when I had let him, but I was getting sick of him pushing me around. He was convinced of his own superiority even though he didn’t really have any yet, and it needed to stop.
“I’m coming.” I hated his insistence on using my full name too. He wasn’t my father.
Before I reached the steps, Amelia had come outside. Her face was pale, and she looked exhausted. She glanced at Ben and me, offering me a small smile with what little warmth Amelia could convey. When she spotted Wilder, she crooked a finger at him.
“Callum wants to see you.” Before Ben could protest, she added, “All of you.”
Chapter Six
If getting berated by Ben was akin to a lecture from a teacher, being in Callum’s office was like being sent to see the principal. I sat in the armchair across from his desk, while Wilder loitered near the window. Ben had started out sitting beside me, but he didn’t like Wilder standing above him, so he got up and stood next to Callum’s desk.
And people wondered why I dated a nice, normal, human guy.
At least Cash never felt threatened if I stood taller than him in heels.
“Well done, Benjamin.” I crossed my arms tightly across my chest and gave my brother an impertinent glare.
“Me? How do you figure on this being my fault?”
“It’s nobody’s fault.” Callum was in the room so suddenly I had to wonder if he hadn’t been studying the movement of vampires. I hadn’t heard the door open, and his office wasn’t particularly big. “Ben, sit.”
“But—”
“Sit.” My uncle’s voice made it quite apparent he wasn’t in the mood to listen to arguments. “As long as I’m still king here, I don’t care if someone stands taller than you, is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Ben looked abashed and sat beside me. Amelia came through the door carrying one of the wood dining room chairs and sat it between us, giving a wave to Wilder that indicated he should take a seat.
So Callum didn’t mind lesser wolves standing above Ben, but it was another story entirely if they stood above him. I knew how the pack dynamics worked, and I understood why Callum needed Wilder to sit, but I still found it funny he would call Ben out on the power play and then do the same thing himself.
I didn’t want to think of Callum as a hypocrite, so I stopped dwelling on it.
“Mr. Shaw, I want to thank you for returning Eugenia to us safely. We appreciate it. Please forward the bill for her car onto Amelia, and she will be sure you’re paid promptly.”
“I can pay—”
Callum waved off my offer, and for good reason. All the money in my bank account was his anyway, by way of a well-stocked trust fund. Even if I did pay the bill for my car, it would be coming out of his pocket. Still, I didn’t like him taking the illusion of my independence away from me. It made me feel weak and incapable, and I hated for Ben and Wilder to see me as a spoiled princess.
I bit my lip to keep from saying anything snarky and silently wished my sister was here to stand up for me.
