Chapter 64

The bloodlings and I had crept back through the bedroom and out the front door in search of Hunter before Celia found a way to dislodge her uninvited guest. But apparently this was visiting day at Wolf Landing, because the first thing I heard when I emerged from the community house was the crunch of another vehicle creeping up our gravel driveway. Meanwhile, the scowl on my mate’s face as he eyed the approaching limousine suggested that this second visitor was no more welcome than the first.

Hunter was so intent upon the view, in fact, that he didn’t notice when two thirds of the pack sauntered up behind him. Only after I slipped my slender fingers between his much larger digits did he finally greet me with a brief but tender kiss.

“Trouble?” I asked when I was finally able to breathe again. Then, via the mate bond: Should I take the bloodlings up the trail and out of sight?

“Stay,” my mate answered, evidently not as worried as I was that unpredictable adolescents would be a liability in the middle of a dicey situation. His tone was vague, though, and he appeared to dismiss me as abruptly as he’d initially drawn me into our heated embrace. Yep, the usually calm uber-alpha was definitely on edge.

Not that I blamed him. Because the shiny, black Cadillac currently rolling up in front of our den looked awfully familiar. And the last time Hunter’s mentor had appeared in his big, fancy luxury car, the father figure had proceeded to shred Hunter’s faith in humanity before grinding his heel into my mate’s already tenuous ties to shifter-kind in the process.

It had taken weeks to pull Hunter out of his funk then and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to a replay now. My mate, though, was always willing to cut straight to the punch. Gently disentangling himself from my anxious grip, he marched forward and yanked the passenger door open even before the vehicle had come to a complete stop.

Then he stepped back with brow furrowed, because the shifter who emerged from the dark recesses of the limousine wasn’t the visitor that either of us had expected. Instead, the newcomer was younger than Hunter and nearly as handsome in a hard-edged sort of way. A still healing wound sliced across one high cheekbone and straight dark hair partially obscured the opposite eye. Meanwhile, knives dotted his person—I easily counted five and suspected yet more weapons were secreted away beneath his clothes.

It wasn’t the blades or the laceration that made me shiver and step backwards, though. Instead, as I watched my mate’s eyes latch onto the stranger’s in an instant alpha battle of wills, it was the set of Hunter’s shoulders that gave me pause.

In the past, I’d had utter confidence in my mate’s ability to cow any opponent. After all, to the best of my knowledge, he’d never lost a power struggle, whether that contest consisted of an eye lock, an alpha compulsion, or an actual physical battle.

In contrast, Hunter’s muscles now quivered and his back hunched as a layer of frost formed on the dead grass at the duo’s feet. The extraordinary cold wasn’t unusual since compulsions always sucked energy out of the air whenever an alpha attempted to twist weaker wolves to his will. What was less familiar was the ice crystals’ location—the visual indication of the power’s source formed a perfect circle around the hard-edged stranger rather than around my mate.

Behind me, a bloodling whined and Lupe gasped as Hunter fought back with all of his might. Usually, my favorite uber-alpha didn’t even find it necessary to relinquish his relaxing odor of spicy sassafras when barking an underling into line. As a result, I was jolted by the abrupt aroma of teeth-chattering liquid, the scent so strong my lungs struggled against breathing in what seemed less like air and more like water.

Now Hunter will win, I promised myself once I’d finally managed to inhale a stuttering gasp of air. He’ll definitely come out ahead once he’s truly exerting himself.

But, instead, the knife-wielder’s formerly expressionless face broke out into a surprisingly boyish grin. And, at the same instant, Hunter’s usually unfailing body betrayed him at long last.

Legs that had seemed as sturdy as fence posts abruptly went weak at the knees. A formerly capable hand trembled as Hunter reached out to steady himself against the car’s rounded roof. And finally, unwillingly, my unconquerable mate allowed his eyes to drop to the ground in a show of werewolf surrender.

We might have remained frozen in our shocked tableau for an eternity had another figure not unfolded himself from the back of the limousine in the aftermath of the battle. The older shifter was the one I’d initially expected, his silver hair and jovial laughter reminding me of a kindly gentleman...something that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Grey, meet Hunter, our region’s former enforcer,” Stormwinder said, slipping between the two uber-alphas as if they hadn’t been metaphorically tearing each others’ throats out moments before. “And, Hunter, this is Grey. He’s come to take over your old job.”

***

Before Hunter had time to choose whether or not to take Stormwinder’s bait, though, the screen door behind us slapped shut as Amanda and Celia emerged from the community building. “...have to worry,” Celia said, still soothing a mayor who appeared considerably less distraught than when she’d first arrived. “If it was our dogs, then it won’t happen again. My son-in-law is an excellent tracker, so we’ll get to the bottom of this mess one way or another.”

I glanced over at my mate to see what he thought of being elevated to the status of “son-in-law” despite a complete lack of human marriage ceremonies. Far from being upset, amusement glinted in his eyes and for a moment I thought perhaps he’d thrown the recent contest intentionally. But surely no uber-alpha would ever lose on purpose, not when strangers were potentially threatening his beloved pack?

“Ma’am,” Hunter greeted the women as they walked past, completely ignoring our shifter visitors when there were one-bodies within earshot. If my mate had been wearing a hat, I was sure he would have tipped it out of respect for the older women, and he did leave my side for a moment to hold open the gate separating yard from driveway until the pair had passed through.

To my dismay, the resultant gooey feeling in my belly had nothing to do with my recent fall and everything to do with the sheer perfection of my mate. Darn you, Hunter. How am I supposed to keep my eye on the ball when you’re just so dang irresistible?

As if in response to my internal dialogue, strong fingers once again slipped into mine, then I was being tucked underneath my returning mate’s shoulder as he visibly claimed me before all and sundry. Finally, Hunter’s lips spread wide into what Amanda would probably think was a jovial smile but what I knew was a warning for Stormwinder to keep his trap shut until the mayor was safely inside her car and rolling away in the opposite direction.

Only when Amanda was gone and Celia had obeyed my chin jerk and removed herself from the proceedings did my mate speak at last. “I’m afraid we have business to attend to....”

“Business relating to a slaughtered sheep?” Stormwinder interjected, one eyebrow raised. “I hope I don’t have to inform you that a landed pack must make every effort to stay on good terms with its human neighbors. You won’t be able to move away from any problems, and shifters can’t afford to air their dirty laundry in public.”

A heated glance passed between the two males, Hunter’s metaphorical hackles rising even as his fingers tightened around mine. “If our pack was involved—which it wasn’t—then I’d deal with the issue as alpha...” he began, only to be interrupted for a second time by his former mentor.

“But this isn’t an official pack, now is it?” Stormwinder said smoothly. “Not yet. So perhaps the help of an enforcer and a Tribunal member would be justified. Just to get you off on the right foot, of course.”

Around us, the last few members of our clan were drawing closer, intent upon joining ranks against the two courteous yet ill-intentioned invaders. Glen and Lia had been stacking newly split firewood at the edge of the yard, but now they drifted over to stand beside Lupe and the other bloodlings. Meanwhile, the trouble twins popped out of the tree line as if they’d been called.

And maybe I had alerted the other shifters to the potential danger. I didn’t like seeing my mate’s feelings stamped on by someone he used to think of as a friend. Meanwhile, our pack bond had become more visible to me lately, the lines of connection that bound us all together easier to tweak both intentionally or—as I now had done—subliminally. Glancing around at the alert but quiet pack members, I couldn’t help but feel lucky to have them standing by my side.

“Ah, the gang’s all here,” Stormwinder continued, taking in our enlarged audience. “Perfect timing. Now Grey can ask these fine folks what sort of alibi they have for the time when Silas Lerner’s ram was killed.”

“We were running as a pack,” Cinnamon answered, not waiting for the implied compulsion. The usually laid-back male bristled as he stepped forward to take point while wearing nothing but jeans and a baseball cap. The twin had likely been in lupine form when I tugged at his tether and hadn’t taken the time to pull on more clothes than absolutely necessary before grabbing his sister and running in our general direction.

Our pack is strong. The words might have been picked out of my own brain, but as Hunter met my gaze I realized the observation had originated from my life partner instead. And he was very much right. Our pack was strong. Stormwinder was going to make a fool of himself questioning our companions...and then I was going to enjoy laughing in the older gentleman’s face before I booted him off our newly claimed land once and for all.

“Yes, that sounds nice,” Stormwinder said agreeably. “But perhaps someone slipped off into the night while the others were intent upon the evening’s prey. Luckily, Grey here is able to pull forth the truth.”

Stormwinder’s fatherly benevolence grated on my nerves, but I still smirked into Hunter’s shoulder. The Tribunal member was so sure he had the noose wrapped around our necks and the box ready to kick out from beneath our feet. Wouldn’t he be surprised when his precious new enforcer hit us with a compulsion and came up empty?

Grey had hung back behind his boss ever since winning the recent battle of wills, but now the young enforcer obediently stepped forward and imbued his words with power. “Speak if you weren’t with the pack all of yesterday evening and night,” he intoned, the words sending a gust of wintry wind blasting up against our faces and slipping down our collars.

I shivered, glad my own inner wolf was resting off her argumentative streak of the day before. Because, technically, I hadn’t been running with the pack during the time in question. Instead, I’d collapsed onto the sofa at sunset, unable to so much as pry my eyes open for the rest of the night.

Equally technically, Grey’s compulsion should have forced me to reveal that fact, giving Stormwinder a fissure into which he could wedge his Tribunal justice. But I was a halfie. My piss-poor excuse for a wolf meant that everyone and his brother could bark my inner beast in line...and it also meant that even my human half could squash the wolf so thoroughly that alpha compulsions rolled off my pseudo-one-body back with ease.

Hunter’s fingers squeezed around mine again and I took my eyes off our aggressor long enough to meet my mate’s approving gaze. Yes, we’d once again wiggled out of that trap, all thanks to my half-breed nature. I’d have to remember to give my inner animal a resounding thank-you for evacuating from our shared consciousness at just the right moment. Once it’s safe again, I promised the emptiness in my belly, then we’ll shift and run.

“If that’s all...” I began. But someone else’s voice was struggling against itself to speak into the same lull. Someone whose wolf was more alert and who had been caught up in the trap that I’d so deftly sidestepped.

“I left the hunt early,” Lupe admitted at last, each word as sharp as a splinter of broken glass. “I came home alone. But I did not kill that effin’ sheep!”