“You okay?” Caleb’s worried voice came to me privately over our link, and managed to pierce the haze of anger. I took a few shallow breaths, controlling the sudden possessive rage coursing through me, grateful he could only sense the anger and not the reason behind it.
“Fine,” I answered him telepathically, as I refocused my attention on the Alpha. “She’s ignorant of our ways, sir. I think it’s a little soon to start pairing her off. Especially to someone who isn’t old enough to mate.”
The Alpha gave me a disgruntled stare. “Caleb is only a couple of years away from full maturity. Now is the perfect time. Especially since a breeding female just happened to show up on our doorstep.” My jaw locked at his next words. “Makes up for the loss of your sister.”
Dad stepped in front of me as I started to lunge, stopping my forward momentum. “That’s my daughter you’re referring to,” he told the Alpha, who recoiled at the menace in my father’s voice. “We won’t make the same mistakes with this girl,” he added warningly and a heaviness settled over the room, only broken when the Alpha nodded grudgingly.
“Keep an eye on her,” he ordered, not looking at either of us. “Make nice with her if that’s how you want it.” He lifted his head, pinning us with the force of his stare. “But understand me, under no circumstances will she be allowed to fall into the Hanley’s grasp.” Our heads lowered at the edict, the double cadence in his voice impressing the order on both our human and wolf. We nodded as we slowly backed from the room.
Neither of us took a deep breath until we were out of earshot, and then Dad spun on me, his hand gripping my shoulder tightly as he stared me down. “What the hell was that?”
I purposely misunderstood him, shaking my head. “He was talking about Sam,” I muttered, anger flaring at the memory.
“Not what I meant,” he replied, squeezing my shoulder hard enough to make the bones grind together. I managed not to wince at the intense pressure as I answered him.
“Nothing,” I mumbled unconvincingly. “It was nothing.” We both recognized the lie, knowing my reaction to the Alpha suggesting Caleb as a mate for Jess was extreme.
Dad’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing has a tendency to come back and bite us on the ass, boy. Remember that.” He released me with a shove, his eyes glinting with a warning I wasn’t going to heed, as he strode to his own small cabin.
“Did my old ears hear correctly?” I turned my head at the quiet words as our eldest member padded toward me on silent feet. “A breeding female raised by humans?”
“So it appears,” I answered shortly, but kept my tone respectful. Gregory was well respected among the Pack, and I considered him a friend.
He took a deep breath, smiling faintly. “Her scent lingers around you,” he marveled, his eyes crinkling within the deep folds of his copper skin. “She’s special.”
I swallowed, my skin practically itching at my intense desire to see her again. “She’s important to the Pack, to the Alpha,” I said reluctantly, almost snarling the next words. “He wishes her to be a mate to Caleb.”
Gregory smiled enigmatically. “I think it’s a little late for that.” He waved me off. “Go, you seem eager to be somewhere.” I ducked my head, about to deny the truth he could so clearly see. “I understand, Dominic. I was once young and eager.” He laughed under his breath. “Difficult as it must be for you to imagine I was ever young.”
“You don’t look a day over a hundred,” I joked wryly and he chuckled. He caught my gaze straying to the woods again and shooed me away.
“Go. Keep an eye on her,” he repeated. “She’s going to need all the protection she can get.” He disappeared into the growing darkness with that disconcerting admission.
I hurried toward the woods, an unfamiliar anxiety crawling through me. It came as no surprise when Caleb met me at the edge of the forest, his apprehension easy to recognize.
“I wouldn’t – ” he started to say before I cut him off.
“Don’t,” I warned. “Don’t say it,” I said gruffly, knowing I might snap if I heard him refer to Jess as a potential mate. “You’re not your father.”
Caleb nodded, relief relaxing his lanky shoulders. “Thank God.” He gave a relieved chuckle. “I thought you might actually think…..”
“Do not say it,” I repeated tightly and he nodded rapidly. “You don’t have to come.”
“Yeah, I do,” he replied, knocking me in the shoulder. “Brothers have each other’s back.”
We fell into an easy run, staying in our human form as we darted between trees, slowing only when we came to the border of the trees.
Caleb nodded to the east. “I’ll check the perimeter.” He didn’t wait for a response, already sensing he’d lost my attention as I stared up at the second floor. I stepped from the protection of the forest, the darkness only broken by a single floodlight, which I effortlessly skirted. I assessed the security, shaking my head at how easy it was to circumvent. There wasn’t a single lock I couldn’t break with a twist of my wrist, and plenty of shadows to hide my movements.