“Would you stop calling it that?” Ox growled, eyes flashing red.
“Well, that’s what it was,” Chris said.
“He bit you and everything,” Tanner pointed out.
“And then you came out smelling like a whorehouse with a weird smile on your face,” Rico said. “And bam! Zen Alpha by way of mystical moon magic sex. That must have been one hell of an orgasm.”
That… wasn’t far from the truth. As disturbing as it felt, there’d been a singular moment when we’d all been hit with a wave of something while Ox, the kid I’d watched grow up right before my eyes, and another Alpha wolf fucked and—
“Oh, Jesus,” I groaned, wishing I was anywhere else.
“Yeah,” Rico said. “I’m thinking about it now too. I mean, butt sex and whatever, but no homo, right?” He frowned as he looked at Ox. “I mean, that’s not a prerequisite for being in a pack, right? Because I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but I’m pretty freaking hetero. Even if I’ve seen more naked men in the past few years than I’ve seen my entire life. Because werewolves.”
“Well,” Chris said. “There was that one time that you—”
“Oh, that’s right,” Tanner said. “That time that you—”
“Tequila,” Rico said with a shudder.
“What time where you did what with who?” Robbie asked.
Rico frowned at him. “Why do you sound so surprised? I could get any guy I wanted!”
“I mean, you guys are attractive, I guess. For old people.”
We all glared at him except for Zen Alpha, who stood with his arms crossed, exuding serene.
“Old?” Rico said slowly. “Little wolf, I might not like you right now.”
“Maybe get you some tequila and see if you change your mind,” Robbie said, waggling his eyebrows. “Is this shop talk? Am I doing shop talk right now? Beers and boobs!”
“Your fault,” I told Ox again. “All of this. Every single person in this room aside from myself is your fault.”
Ox smiled calmly. It was infuriating. “You’re being a fucking idiot.”
Dammit. I thought they’d been distracted enough. “I’m actually working right now, in case you couldn’t tell. Which is something you should consider doing.”
No one moved.
“You’re all fired,” I tried instead.
They just stood there.
I tried a different route. “Fuck you all very much.”
“Just tell him you love him,” Robbie said. “Even old people like you deserve to get your head out of your ass.”
“How’s Kelly? And take off those glasses. You don’t need them and they make you look stupid.”
He immediately turned red and began to sputter.
Ox put his hand on Robbie’s shoulder, and there was hush a
nd calm and packpackpack, and Robbie started breathing evenly. Even my anger at their intrusion faded slightly, which was unfair. In less than a year, Ox had become as strong an Alpha as I’d ever seen. Maybe even more so than Thomas or Abel Bennett. We thought it had to do with him having been a human Alpha before Joe had been forced to bite him.
Whatever the reason, Ox was unlike any werewolf I’d known. And since he and Joe had officially mated, their reach extended over all of us, the packs combining, though not without difficulties. Carter and Kelly still tended to defer to Joe and the others to Ox, but they were both our Alphas when it came down to it. I’d never heard of a pack headed by two Alphas before, but I was used to witnessing the impossible in Green Creek.
Ox was careful, though, because there came a point where the question of free will arose. If Ox or Joe wanted to, they could force their own will upon their Betas or their humans and make them act as they saw fit. It was a thin line to walk, being an Alpha versus exerting their control. If they wanted to, both of them combined could make us mindless drones.