* * * *
To say the small pack was excited about moving would be an understatement. A week after River signed the papers on the house, they packed up their belongings, and River led them all outside to a VW bus parked at the curb. Kane walked around it, kicking the tires while Brooks examined the trunk. Leo opened the hood and looked inside, and Sid and David opened the doors to get a glimpse at the interior.
The morning after the pack alpha had returned to the apartment, Josiah had been both surprised and happy to hear his mate admitting to Kane the other alpha had been right. River had been able to claim enough gold from the river to give his pack a chance.
Sophie squealed and reached out from Josiah’s arms toward the bus. “Ride!”
“We’re going to take a ride, sugar,” Josiah promised.
The little girl had been enamored by cars since taking a ride in Mark’s.
“That’s right.” River dangled the keys from one hand, the other holding Sadie.
Jax had put in his notice on the apartment—a big step for him that showed how serious the human was about David and Brooks—and the pack were officially moving to their new home. Almost as exciting, River had announced he’d chosen the name Cascade City Pack. They were truly starting fresh.
The VW bus wasn’t much—old and a puke green color—but it ran, and they would all fit inside if a couple of them sat on their mates’ laps. Jax still had his car, but River didn’t like to use it, feeling it was bad enough they were living in the human’s apartment. Jax could drive his car back and forth to work, but the pack would use the VW bus.
Once River unlocked the doors, no one wasted any time climbing in. River had already installed the girls’ car seats, and he and Josiah quickly buckled in the twins.
“Toby would have loved this,” Sid said quietly.
The two betas had been good friends, and Toby’s and his mate Matthew’s deaths had hit Sid almost as hard as Patrick’s. Josiah’s stomach ached thinking about those they had lost. For him, Trace’s death had been the hardest, and losing X afterward.
“Yeah, he always did admire the old clunkers when we went to the city,” Kane said, bringing chuckles from the backseat, and Josiah was thankful for the humor.
“I couldn’t afford anything better,” River said, “but someday we’ll get a newer vehicle. For now, this is better than walking everywhere, especially with groceries and children.”
Agreement echoed throughout the bus as River pulled away from the curb.
River drove slowly, answering question after question about the house. Although most of the group had seen the exterior, no one except River had seen the interior.
Finally, curiosity exhausted, the conversation turned to Brooks and Foster’s first weeks at work.
“They’ve gotten great tips,” David said.
Jax seemed annoyed. “They’re strippers. And the place is a dump.”
“We wanted to contribute.” Brooks stared at Jax as though daring him to say anything else. Apparently, the job was causing strife in the relationship.
The vehicle drove by a pasture of cows, one of them close to the fence at the roadside.
Sophie pushed her small finger against the window. “A moo!”
“Cow,” Sadie said. “It says moo, it not is moo.”
Everyone broke into laughter, and the tension that had been building died. River turned left at the next street sign. Josiah leaned forward, closely watching for the almost hidden junction leading to the plantation. Briar peered past Kane out the window as they approached the big, white columned house.
“Wow! It’s even better than I imagined. We’ll have plenty of room, even to expand!”
“And there’s a creek on the property,” River said.
Josiah couldn’t help but be thrilled at the sound of pride in his mate’s voice.
“If you follow it, it leads to the base of the Cascade River.”
Everyone watched eagerly from the bus as River drove it up the paved drive leading to the stately old house.
The elderly owners had been glad to get the place off their hands, as they’d already purchased a retirement home in Florida close to their grandchildren. The first and only time River and Josiah had spoken with the couple about the house, meeting them at a downtown coffee shop, it had been obvious the owners had wished they could lower the price for them, but they’d needed every bit of the profit to pay their moving expenses. River had told Josiah they’d been delighted when River had returned ready to buy, and had sold it with most of the furniture still in it. Josiah couldn’t wait to see what it looked like inside.
The house and surrounding property was well cared for and needed only slight repair, mostly to the old slave quarters, which for years had been used for storage. River wanted to use them to house pack members in the future and had told Josiah he didn’t think it would take much to get the buildings into good shape.
“I can’t believe the humans once forced their own into slavery,” the alpha had said, and Josiah had had no defense for his race. At that moment, he was more than proud to be only half human.
As they tumbled out of the small bus, eager to look at their new home, Josiah unstrapped the girls as River climbed the steps to unlock the massive front door. Josiah followed and handed Sadie to his mate.
“Ready to see our new house, baby?” River asked.
The little girl nodded, dark curls bouncing and blue eyes huge with wonder and excitement.
River pushed open the door, revealing a large foyer with a high ceiling. The pack poured inside.
“The kitchen is huge!” Sid called from down the hall, and Josiah thought it the happiest the beta had sounded since Patrick had been killed.
Sam stood in front of the large bay window in the dining room. “Look at the back yard!”
“Up, up.” Sophie began half-walking, half-crawling up the wide staircase.
Josiah followed with River, David, and Brooks trailing behind.
“You have two mates. You should take the master bedroom,” River told David when they’d reached the second floor.
“No. You’re the pack alpha. Anyway, that one has a small room off it you can use for the girls. We’ll take this one.” David walked into the next room. “It isn’t much smaller, and all we need is a great big bed in here, anyway.”
Their footfalls on the wood floor echoed throughout the large house.
“We could use the carriage house as an omega den,” Josiah said, looking out the window across the roof of the narrow breezeway at the building in question. He was anxious to have a place again where the omegas could gather. He wasn’t sure River understood the importance of it, but when River walked up behind him and wrapped those oh-so-strong arms around him, Josiah realized that, of course, the pack alpha did.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” River said.
Josiah leaned back against River, happy the alpha wolf sounded more like his old self again and that the riff he’d sometimes felt between them the past couple of months was dissipating now that the pack alpha had made progress in the security of his pack.
Later, when Josiah walked down the hall with Sophie, he saw Jax and Brooks standing outside one of the bedrooms, Jax speaking in a low, apologetic tone. Brooks rested his head briefly on Jax’s shoulder before moving past him to the stairs. Josiah got the feeling he’d just witnessed an apology for Jax’s earlier behavior about Brooks’ job. The whole dynamic among the three men was complicated, to say the least, but Josiah really believed there was love there. River frequently said everything would be so much easier if Jax would just take the bite, but Josiah understood Jax’s reluctance. The transition from human to werewolf hadn’t been easy, and Josiah had balked at it even though he really hadn’t have a choice in the matter. He’d already been half-werewolf and an omega with heats. Still, he’d tried to cling to the human in himself for a long time.
Soon River had the crib set up in the small room, and Sam and Josiah began changing the girls for th
eir nap.
“So weird,” Sam mumbled, too low for the babbling twins to hear. Josiah found it funny the way the shifters reacted to female anatomy, never having seen it in person before. He supposed after looking at cocks and balls all their lives, a vagina must appear unusual to them.
Once they got the twins down for their nap, the two omegas joined the others in a flurry of cleaning and rearranging. The furniture that had been left in the house was both serviceable and in good shape. Josiah and Sam spent some time wiping it down, and a couple of hours later, Josiah went upstairs to check on the girls. They were still sound asleep.
“They must be exhausted,” Josiah said to River as he walked into the bedroom.
River stripped off the navy shirt he was wearing and reached for an old T-shirt from their bag of clothes.
“Sid and Brooks are going to help you get this room ready to sleep in. The others are already done. I’m going to help David and Kane clear out the backyard. We want the girls to be able to play safely out there,” River said.
Josiah smiled, pleased at the thought. “Maybe we can build them a swing. I had one made from a rope and a tire when I was a kid.”
River had asked the owners to leave the lumber they were going to have carted away, and Kane had spoken of building a shed, the original too rickety for use. Along with the furniture, River had purchased the couple’s yard tools, and the four alphas seemed eager to get busy.
After the bedroom was finished, Josiah heard the twins’ voices and got them out of their crib. He decided he’d pull weeds and let them play outside. Leo was already busy trimming the branches of low-hanging trees, and Kane and Briar had started clearing the yard.
By the time dusk fell, Josiah’s shoulders were sore and the twins were filthy, but the yard looked good. River stepped onto the back porch, sweaty and dirty from his work.
“I’m starved. Did someone scrape up something to eat?”
“Kane drove to the small store down the road and got some groceries. Briar’s making some beef stew,” Josiah said, wrestling a wiggling Sadie out of her jacket. The twins weren’t as warm-natured as the rest of them, and Josiah wasn’t sure if it meant they never would be, or if they’d grow into it as he did when he went into heat at nineteen. They had no real way of knowing if the girls were alpha, beta, or omega, or if they had any werewolf traits at all.
The girls wanted to play with their dolls on the floor, but Josiah insisted on wiping their hands and faces with a wet cloth first. When he finally let them go, they rushed to the dollhouse River had bought at a second hand store and happily began to play. Josiah enjoyed listening to the conversations they made up.
“You’re not allowed to be here, ‘scilla. You not a wolf, you a girl.” Sadie’s tone was imperious as she waved her doll she’d named Priscilla at Sophie’s doll.
“Me nodda girl,” Sophie said furiously. “I’m wolf like you!”
Brow furrowed, Josiah glanced at River to see if the alpha was listening. Josiah had been unaware how tuned in the twins were to what went on back at the compound, and from the look on River’s face, his mate had been, too.
Rather than making River see the importance of mending relations with the humans, the girls’ play brought a hardness to the pack alpha’s eyes. Josiah understood why his mate resented the way their daughters had been rejected by the larger pack; what he couldn’t fathom was why it didn’t make River more resolved to fix things. With everything that had been happening, Josiah still had not told his mate about the omega refuge. Seeing River’s face at that moment made Josiah even more reluctant to bring it up. Josiah had only been back to the refuge once since his initial visit, but it had been enough for him to make up his mind about wanting to be a part of it. The omegas there needed support and understanding, and Josiah felt himself well equipped to give it to them. River would understand, but Josiah wasn’t going to bring that up when they were all adjusting to their new home. He’d tell River later and take the alpha to meet the omegas. River was a good pack leader and had a big heart; he’d want to help the rogue omegas and the other rogues, too, in time. Josiah really believed that. Until then, Josiah would continue to help when he could.
Chapter 5: Foster
Foster circled the stables and looked out at the expanse of land now glowing by the light of the moon. The pack had been in the house over a week. Foster was happy for them; but he couldn’t let himself be distracted from what was most important to him—his true mate. Although he’d been accepted by the pack alpha and the others, he’d never felt a part of the pack because out there somewhere was the man he was supposed to be with. Foster hadn’t detected his mate’s presence since they’d moved, and it worried him. Standing looking up at the starry expanse of sky, he let loose a haunting call into the night that seemed to hang for long moments before dissipating into the air.
No call drifted back to him.
The coyote shifter lowered himself to sit on the cool ground, his back to the rough wood of the stables. The pull was getting stronger. Foster could feel it all the time now, like a constant tug that wouldn’t let him rest. He knew his mate was nearby, waiting.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he said out loud. “The werewolves are nice. They took me in when I had nowhere to go. They’re my family now. I know they’ll welcome you.” He took a breath, listening. All he heard was the hum of the cicadas. “But I’ll leave with you, if that’s what you want. I’ve been waiting for you. Please.”
Foster sat a long time after the cicadas stopped their song, listening to the wind in the trees. Finally, he stood and brushed off his pants. With a sigh, he turned and headed back to the house. When he rounded the stables, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Several feet away a shape moved from the shadow of the barn to stand under the light of the moon. Foster’s breath caught in his throat.
The alpha coyote had been downwind, or Foster would have scented him. How long had he been watching? He was large, not quite as large as an alpha werewolf, but larger by far than Foster. His fur was mostly black mixed with some brown and white. Foster stood mesmerized, unable to breathe until darkness crowded the edges of his vision and forced him to gulp air. Lightheaded, Foster swayed. The next thing he knew, he was staring up into the face of the man he’d been waiting for his entire life.
Foster blinked. Then blinked again. “Are you…”
The man crouched naked beside where Foster lay on the ground, and Foster’s eyes greedily took him in. Dark hair with reddish highlights; gorgeous cinnamon skin; a straight, long nose; sharp cheekbones and jawline.
A row of straight, white teeth bit into a full lower lip as nearly black eyes stared down at Foster.
“Your true mate?” the man finished for Foster.
Foster nodded.
The man smiled, eyes crinkling at the sides, and Foster’s heart flipped over.
“I’m Crow.”
Foster slowly sat up. “Foster.”
Crow smiled wider. “I know. I’ve gotten pretty close lately.”
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“Before, when you were at the compound, I couldn’t enter the territory. When you left in the small group, I followed, but I was unsure about how you would feel about me. The big alpha wolf with the long blond hair seems possessive of you.” A snarl lifted the corner of Crow’s wide mouth. “I don’t like him.”
Foster couldn’t help but chuckle. It would be tempting to be angry at Leo for inadvertently keeping his true mate at bay all this time, but Foster couldn’t manage it. “Leo’s a good guy. He tries to take care of me. He would have mated me if I’d let him.”
A low growl rumbled from Crow’s throat as he helped Foster to his feet. The touch of his hand was electric, igniting Foster’s veins. “I wouldn’t have let that happen. I’ve been waiting for an opening, and tonight I heard you talking to me and decided this was it.”
“I’m so glad.” Being this close to his true mate was doing things to Foster. He w
as shaking, nerves fizzling like water-drenched wires, and he felt hot all over. He wanted to stand closer to Crow…as close as he could get. Crow seemed of the same mind, for he pulled Foster against his chest. Pressing his nose to Crow’s sternum, Foster caught the scent that had sometimes come to him over the breeze the past few months. It was intoxicating. He breathed it into his lungs until he sagged with dizziness, and Crow had to hold him up.
As the world righted itself again, Foster became aware his hands were pressed to the soft, warm skin of Crow’s back as his mate looked down into his eyes. He let one hand slide down to the small of the alpha’s back, just above the swell of Crow’s buttocks.
“Were you being truthful when you said your friends will welcome me?” Crow asked softly, eyes never leaving Foster’s face.
Foster nodded and licked his lips. “Will you kiss me?”
Crow didn’t hesitate. The moment their lips touched, Foster’s blood began to tingle in his veins, and when their tongues slid over one another, fire ripped through Foster like nothing he’d ever felt before. His heart thumped fast and hard against his rib cage, Crow’s bare chest heating Foster’s thin shirt and the skin beneath. Wanting so much more, Foster clutched Crow’s back and whimpered. Foster could feel how aroused the alpha coyote was, heavy breaths warm on his skin.
“Let’s go inside,” Crow whispered into Foster’s ear. “Unless they don’t have room for us.” He looked over his shoulder at the stables as though contemplating taking Foster in there.
“I have my own room.”
Crow clasped Foster’s hand, and they walked together toward the dark house, their steps hurried and clumsy in their desire to be alone together.
This is really happening, Foster thought. I’ve found my true mate, and we’re going to consummate our bond. Foster tugged on Crow’s hand as they entered the porch door, hurrying him through the great room to the back stairs. By the time they reached the top, Foster thought he would burst with arousal. He was so excited, he didn’t see the figure in the hallway, but Crow did. Putting a hand on Foster’s arm, the alpha stopped him. Foster blinked, peering into the darkness.