“That’s very unwise,” River said. He didn’t want Sid to leave the protection of the pack, but the pack alpha couldn’t protect Sid where he was now, either. He should have gone after the beta when Sid first left the plantation, but he’d thought Sid would quickly see his error and return to them. Hell, he should have mated Sid after Patrick died, no matter how Josiah felt. That was what a pack alpha was supposed to do.
“It’s what I want. Without Patrick, I’ve been miserable. School and my new friends have made me happy again. Thanks for everything, but goodbye, River.” The line went dead.
When River returned to the living room, Sam had finished eating and was talking to David and Brooks.
“What did he say?” Josiah asked.
“He said he’s leaving the pack.”
Sam sat up. “What? No!”
“You kicked him out?” Josiah asked, horrified.
“You know me better than that.” River snapped, only marginally mollified when Josiah bared his neck in submission. The pack alpha rarely spoke to his omega that way, but it irked River that Josiah would think he’d force Sid to leave the pack, especially after he’d kept his promise not to take another mate.
“I told Sid to come back here to live. I told him he didn’t have to give up school. He refused and said he was leaving the pack.”
“But…but what will happen to him?” Sam asked, wringing his hands.
Josiah patted his friend’s leg. “He’ll be fine. He’s been doing well for months.”
“But he doesn’t have a pack anymore.” Fresh tears coursed down Sam’s cheeks, and the omega’s features crumpled. Of all the omegas, Sam was the most sensitive. Hell, River was pretty sure Sam still felt hurt the pack alpha didn’t immediately take him into the pack when he was a rogue.
The front door opened, and Leo walked in. The alpha had pulled his jeans back on but hadn’t bothered with his shirt. He looked wind-blown and much more at ease, until he heard his omega sobbing. Leo crossed the room in three strides and plucked Sam from the chair as though the omega weighed nothing. The smaller werewolf wrapped his legs around his alpha’s waist, clinging to him.
“What’s happened now?” Leo demanded, looking accusingly at everyone in the room while he ran a hand over Sam’s head. Remembering back to a time when Leo had kept to himself, River couldn’t help but be touched every time he saw the bond between the big alpha and the little omega who’d stolen Leo’s heart. Glancing at Brooks, Leo’s best and at one point only friend, River could tell by the beta’s soft look he was thinking the same thing.
“Sid’s left the pack,” River said quietly.
Leo stilled with shock. River knew as angry as the alpha had been at Sid for taking Sam to a club, Leo wouldn’t have wanted the beta to leave the pack. In the wilderness, a packless wolf was as good as dead. He wasn’t sure what it meant for Sid in the city, but River sensed that the beta felt more confident than he should.
“Take Sam to bed,” River told Leo. He turned to his second in command. “Have you finished in the barn?”
David nodded.
“Go for a run with me, then.” River stepped out onto the porch and stripped, not waiting for David to follow before shifting and leaping off the porch. A few moments later, the white wolf caught up with him, and they ran side by side into the darkness. As his muscles worked to propel him over the land, the tension flowed from River’s body. The warm night air brushed over his fur, and sounds of the forest calmed him. Everything smelled keener in wolf form—the crispness of pine, the freshness of grass, and the sharp tang of horse manure. River wished he could run all night, but responsibilities called him home.
The two wolves crested a hill and came to a halt to look toward the mountains in the distance. The waning crescent moon sat high in the sky, and River raised his head and howled. David howled after him, and the echoes volleyed through the mountains. Distantly, another pack took up the call—most likely the Hashi Valley wolves.
River tossed his head, indicating to David they would turn back. Learning from Angela something nefarious involving tampering with the werewolves’ physiology was likely going on right under his nose both terrified and enraged the pack alpha, who had had enough in the past few years of feeling uncertain where the safety of his pack was concerned. River knew it was more important than ever for them to stop the faction intent on hurting their species.
Recently, David had reported that Jax had discovered a place where humans were keeping stolen omegas for their sexual pleasure. The idea made River’s blood boil, particularly since Jax had been unable to discover where the building was located, leaving the Congress powerless until he did. Unbelievable how their lives now rested upon the human who, after being invited to the compound by Josiah, had wound up falling in love with David and later Brooks. It seemed likely Trevor, the missing omega from the safe house, had been taken to this place Jax had discovered, and that none of the omegas were safe. News that morning of a missing omega to the east had jangled already taut nerves.
River would die protecting the omegas in his pack, and he knew the others would, too.
The danger made River want to lock Josiah in a closet for safe-keeping, but his mate insisted on spending more and more time at the Congress. While River knew his stubborn and independent omega would never agree to give up his job, having Josiah out of his sight so much of the time made the pack alpha restless and on edge.
Not yet ready to go back inside and face the others, River shifted and sat down on the porch steps. David stood naked, pale body seeming to glow in the darkness, waiting for what his pack alpha had to say.
“You know we’re powerless,” River murmured.
David nodded once.
“Do you think Jax will make headway?” River hated revealing his uncertainty to anyone, but David was his best friend and second-in-command. He knew the other alpha shared his frustration and agitation.
“He will or die trying,” David said, and River’s heart went out to his friend. David missed Jax almost as strongly as if Jax were the second alpha’s bonded mate. River was sure the past year had to have been hell, especially knowing Jax spent his nights in the arms of another man.
“I have to see him again,” David said. “Not only for my mental health, but to assure myself things are moving forward. I could tell when I spoke to Jax the last time that this is killing him—not only being away from us, but also having to see what’s going on in that place and not being able to help the omegas. I’m going to talk to Mark about letting me be the one to meet Jax for the next exchange of information.”
“I hope he agrees,” River said.
David’s brown eyes looked haunted. “If he doesn’t, I’ll find another way to see Jax.”
Chapter 12: Josiah
“Hi.”
The deep, bass voice brought Josiah’s eyes from the reports Kane had brought him that morning. A tall, dark-skinned man stood in the doorway. Josiah tensed.
“Hello. Can I help you?”
The man’s tawny eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled. “I’m Grier Elkins. Sid’s boyfriend. He told me to be sure to come by to meet you.”
Josiah had forgotten all about Sid’s boyfriend working at the Congress. He pushed away from the desk and stood, leaning forward to shake the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you. How’s Sid doing?”
“He’s well, although I know he misses his friends in the pack.”
The man seemed nice enough, but it felt odd for a human to speak so casually about werewolves. Both Mark and Jax had taken some time to get comfortable with the idea of pack mentality and shifting, but this man acted as though the concept was second-nature to him. Josiah didn’t smell werewolf on Grier, other than Sid and those the man had come into contact with at the Congress, but there was something off about him.
“We miss him and wish he’d come back,” Josiah said. He waved his hand toward one of the cushioned chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”
Josiah sat i
n the other chair, resting one ankle on the opposite knee. Grier’s cell phone chimed, and after glancing at the screen, the man excused himself to reply to something, which gave Josiah the opportunity to study him.
He’d already noticed Grier was taller than he, although not as tall as River and the other alphas. Josiah was 5’8 and imagined Grier to be six feet or six one. With skin the color of burnished wood, Grier had close-cropped, curly, dark hair, shaved close at the sides, a mustache, and a beard that became fuller at the chin. His lashes were long and curled at the tips, and his lips were well-shaped, the bottom full and pink. Small diamond earrings glittered in his ears. He wore a crisp white shirt and dark slacks with an ironed crease, and expensive-smelling cologne.
Grier stuffed the phone in his pocket and turned tawny brown eyes to Josiah. “I’m sorry about that. My mother’s been ill, and her care-taker needed information about her meds.”
“No problem. Sid said you’re working here, right?”
Grier nodded. “I’ve been here a while. I’m a liaison at the university for attending shifters—to help them acclimate and meet people and spend most of my time there.”
“Sounds like an important job. I’m sure the shifters at the university find you very helpful.”
“I hope so. I’ve had a lot of good feedback, anyway. I just came from a meeting with the rogues to tell them what the university has to offer.”
“Did anyone seem interested?”
“A few did, yeah.” He smiled, revealing white, almost perfectly straight teeth.
Josiah nodded. He wasn’t sure what else to say. “Well, when you see Sid, tell him we’re thinking about him.”
Grier didn’t seem in any hurry to leave. “He told me about the incident at the club. He feels really badly about it, you know.”
“Yeah, I do,” Josiah said. He wasn’t going to say anything against River’s decision to force Sid back to the pack.
“It wasn’t his fault,” Grier said.
“Sid shouldn’t have taken Sam there.”
“Why not? A lot of shifters go to Bar None. If Sam hadn’t gone into heat, nothing bad would have happened.”
“But he did go into heat, and the whole thing could have ended so much worse than it did.”
Grier tilted his head, studying Josiah for a long moment during which Josiah had to struggle not to squirm uncomfortably. The guy was too smooth; maybe that was what bothered Josiah about him.
“Are you comfortable around humans?” Grier asked.
“Of course. Sid hasn’t told you my story?”
“He has. I was making the point that if you lived here for years without a problem, you should know it’s safe for the others. It was Sam’s responsibility to avoid being in public when he was going into heat, not Sid’s to refrain from inviting a friend out with him.”
Josiah shook his head, annoyed the man was attempting to explain pack responsibility to him. “It’s not the same. Sam isn’t accustomed to humans.”
“And he never will be if you keep him secluded in your pack house.”
“I’m not keeping him anywhere,” Josiah said sharply.
Grier held up a hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean you personally. I just mean if your pack tries to be too careful, they’re denying themselves the opportunity to make a difference by getting out there and being seen, and they’re denying their members a chance to grow. From all I’ve heard and read about omegas, they seem a little oppressed.”
Anger stirred in Josiah’s veins. What Grier was saying was something the first omega had thought himself plenty of times, but it rankled coming from an outsider.
“Sam is an omega and therefore very, very vulnerable. And before you say anything, don’t forget I lived in the human world before I came into my omega. I hadn’t even known I was part werewolf. I know all about how people think, and I also know what it’s like to be an omega in a pack. Certain cautions are necessary.”
“Because of your heats,” Grier said, and Josiah felt the hot blush of shame crawl into his cheeks because this man was human and didn’t understand. He concentrated on returning the man’s steady gaze.
“Sorry, that’s personal,” Grier said, softening Josiah somewhat. He reminded himself many humans didn’t seem to connect that talking about an omega’s heat was talking about his sexual needs and desires. Being half human, Josiah was more prone to embarrassment about sex than other omegas and didn’t like talking about his heats.
“Look, I get what Sid’s feeling,” Josiah said. “I really do. But River feels Sid would be better off with the pack, and I stand behind him.” He arose from his chair, ready for the conversation to be over. “Please let him know he’s welcome back anytime.”
Grier got to his feet and walked to the door where he turned to look at Josiah. “I’ll tell him, but don’t expect him back. Sid’s happy to live among humans, and honestly, I feel he can do the most for your cause where he is. I hope your pack won’t allow one negative experience that wouldn’t have happened with a little planning to keep all of you from getting out there. Until we unite humans and werewolves, the two will never make headway in their differences. I feel very strongly about that.”
“I can see you do,” Josiah said. He watched Grier stride down the hall, adding to himself, “But until humans stop destroying packs and trying to poison the werewolves, we’ll keep our own safe.”
Josiah was aware that a couple of years ago, he would have been arguing Grier’s side. But lately, with all they’d learned, the omega keenly felt the responsibility he’d taken on as first omega of the pack, and he wanted to keep those under his protection safe. Knowing his mate felt this even more strongly, Josiah decided to go home early and relieve River of the worry the alpha felt when Josiah wasn’t with him.
The mention of Josiah’s heat reminded him the moon would be full the following night and the pack would run. Once again, Josiah’s heat would fall close to that time. His body itched to run under the full moon, but it appeared he’d have to remain at the pack house again, as River was adamant that Josiah not run unless he was feeling one hundred percent aware. What might have happened to Sam on the last moon run was in the forefront of the pack alpha’s mind, as well as every other member of the pack’s. Josiah comforted himself with the knowledge that within a few cycles his heat would move away from the full moon, and he’d be able to enjoy runs again.
Josiah cleared his desk and headed down the hall where raised voices brought him to the doorway to Mark’s office.
“What’s going on?” Josiah asked.
David turned to him, features tight with anger.
“I want to be the one to go meet Jax tomorrow night.”
“And I said it’s a bad idea.” Mark glanced at David and then turned his attention to Josiah. “He’s too emotionally involved.”
“I’m the one who brought you information last time,” David said angrily.
“You should never have talked to Jax on the street. If anyone had seen—”
“No one did. I don’t see why I can’t meet Jax just as well as you can. I need to see him, Mark.”
Mark’s gaze asked Josiah for help.
“Why are you so against David going?” the omega asked.
“Because he has reasons for wanting to see Jax that have nothing to do with our goal. Reasons that could cloud his good judgment.”
David ran a hand through his blond hair. “So, just because I want to see Jax, I shouldn’t be the one to do it? Do you know how fucking hard it’s been being away from him?”
“The emotion you’re showing right now proves what a bad idea it is.”
“Fuck you, Mark. Fuck you.”
David walked across the room, back stiff as he looked out the window.
“I think you should let him go,” Josiah said. “And Brooks should go, too.”
David turned, surprise and hope in his eyes.
“Dammit, Josiah.” Mark ran his hand over his face.
“Someone has to meet
with Jax. David and Brooks both want to see him. Spend time with him. They both know how important this all is—in fact, I suspect they know it better than most. I don’t see the problem.” Josiah looked at David. “You’ll be careful, right?”
“Of course. I don’t want to put Jax or Brooks’ life in danger.”
Mark heaved a sigh. “If something goes wrong, this is on you, Josiah.”
A smile spread over David’s face. “Brooks is going to be on top of the world.”
“I’ll watch Jarrod-Grant for you,” Josiah offered. “Did you say tomorrow night?”
“Yeah. You’ll miss the moon run.”
“I can’t go anyway. My heat’s too close. Did you take a cab here? I’ll drive you home. I just need to get the girls.”
Josiah smiled at Mark before leaving, knowing he was probably on his friend’s shit list.
“Thanks for being on my side,” David said when they’d collected Sadie and Sophie and were walking out to the car.
“Just don’t make me regret it.”
David frowned. “You think something will go wrong?”
“No, not if you don’t let excitement keep you from being careful.”
“There’s no way I’m putting my mates in danger,” David said.
“I know. I want the three of you to have this time together.”
“Can we get ice cream?” Sadie asked, tugging on Josiah’s hand.
“Maybe after dinner,” Josiah said, mind returning to his conversation with Grier as he helped his daughters get situated in the backseat of the car.
He told David a little about Sid’s boyfriend on the drive home.
“You don’t like him?” David asked.
Josiah shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s nice enough, just really gung-ho about ‘the cause,’ just like Sid. And it seems weird coming from a human.”
“I guess so, unless he’s in love with Sid, and that’s what’s driving it.”
“You’re thinking of Jax,” Josiah said.
“Yeah. I mean, he wouldn’t be doing what he’s doing if it weren’t for me and Brooks.”