Clint’s parents arrived and greeted me almost reverently. They’d been our guardians when my parents had died. It had been in their will that Tom and Janet take care of us if something happened. Which it had when I’d been only sixteen. For two years, Boyd, Colton and I were under their protection in the eyes of Montana law, but even so, I had been the alpha. Their leader. That had held more power than anything the state could dictate.
Janet carried a casserole dish that smelled delicious for the potluck.
“I sure hope that’s your meat lasagna,” I said, my mouth already salivating for her cooking. She’d had to feed five hungry teenagers… the three of us plus Clint and his younger brother, Rand. Not only did she know what got our butts into chairs around the dinner table every night, she had the calmness of a mother who’d seen it all.
“Of course, it is. Garlic bread, too. I know what you like, Alpha Wolf.” The short, thick-waisted woman beamed up at me as she bustled past to set the dish in the kitchen in the back.
Tom thumped me on the shoulder as we clasped hands. They lived nearby in the mountains and were respected elders of the pack. Besides taking care of us, they’d helped us keep the ranch going on our own and offered gentle encouragement as I stepped into my role at far too young an age.
Karen Clifton, one of the unmated females in the pack, arrived next, wearing short-shorts and a tank top. She’d been shoving her tits under my nose for as long as I could remember. I thought she’d have given it up at some point since I’d never indicated a hint of interest, but as long as I remained unmated, I was fair game in her book, especially since she hadn’t been able to land one of my brothers before they found their mates. She waved a pie under my nose. “Peach. Your favorite.”
It wasn’t my favorite, and I wasn’t nice enough to even pretend. Now that I’d scented Natalie, Karen was even more repugnant. Her own smell, oddly of almonds mixed with the sickly sweet aroma of sugared peaches, was cloying. My wolf practically snarled at her boldness. I hadn’t forgotten how she’d tried to drive Boyd and Audrey apart, either.
I ignored her and reached to shake hands with her father and her younger brother, James, the teen Jett Markle had shot in wolf form earlier this summer. To cover up the incident with the human, Boyd had told Markle he’d shot our dog not a wolf, and Boyd had blackened Markle’s eye for it. It wasn’t the last run-in we had with the annoying neighbor since then, and I expected more. Once an asshole, always an asshole.
And shit, he was pushing for the Shefield property, which meant he’d be paying a visit on Natalie, too. I tensed, not wanting the fucker anywhere near my woman. What if he’d shown up when Clint and I had?
Boyd set his hand on my shoulder for a second. I nodded. He’d sensed my tension but couldn’t ask if I was okay. Everyone here had incredible hearing.
An unfamiliar black pickup parked, and I growled.
“Easy, Alpha,” Nathan Brown said, approaching. The elder, who’d been loitering on the wraparound porch, dropped an unwelcome hand on my shoulder. Unlike Boyd’s reassuring gesture, this was placating. Patronizing.
He was a few inches shorter, with thinning hair that was turning from brown to gray. He had the paunch of a wolf who didn’t run with the pack. “Those are my kin from the Madison Range pack. They were visiting, so I invited them to our meeting. We don’t have anything to hide, do we?”
Another low growl rumbled in my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clint stiffen, but remain in place.
Yeah, I had nothing to fucking hide.
Bringing extended family to pack meetings was done on occasion, so technically Nathan hadn’t done anything wrong, but usually it was with advanced notice out of respect. He hadn’t done it this time. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it, and I didn’t like him.
He was the type who would stab me in the back if he thought he could become alpha. A weasley, slippery type. He’d always been a thorn in this pack’s side. The kind who always caused dissension and trouble. I couldn’t kick him out for being disagreeable, but with Boyd and Colton back, there was no chance in hell he’d ever become alpha. With Audrey pregnant, the line would continue… if the pup could shift.
“A heads up would’ve been appreciated,” I grumbled.
Some of these guys had been testing me since I was sixteen. Every fucking day. Maybe that’s true of any alpha. I wouldn’t know. I’d been barely old enough to even take part in pack meetings before my dad died, and back then, I hadn’t paid much attention. I’d gone from fucking around with my friends in the back row to standing before everyone.