One of the tables had a group of beefy men I assumed were enforcers playing a game of cards. Another had a couple of women picking at plates full of food in between talking and laughing. The last occupied table had one lone woman at it, and for some reason, she interested me most.
Her slender shoulders were hunched over a book, her nose almost literally stuck in it. Her wild chestnut curls framed a pale face, but that was about all I could see from where I was. I stood there watching her for a long minute, trying to figure out why, out of every person in that room, she caught and held my attention.
With a shake of my head, I turned to find Aubrey and my brother halfway up the first set of stairs and jogged to catch up with them. On the way up the next flight, a set of large men passed us by with a wave and smile for Aubrey.
I hurried to catch up to her, curious about what I’d seen so far. “How many people live here?”
Aubrey turned to me with a smile. “Currently about fifteen.”
My eyes widened at the number. “Fifteen? Why?”
Aubrey shrugged. “Most of Abraham’s enforcers live here, and then, of course, there’s him and his family.”
“He lives with all his enforcers?”
I guess that would explain the surplus of tables in the kitchen. If you had to feed fifteen werewolves every day, you definitely needed the space. Especially if most of them were enforcers.
“Yeah. That’s the way he likes it. They have the option of living in one of the pack houses if they want, but most are single and prefer to live in the lodge. Personally, I think it’s because they don’t have to worry about things like housekeeping and cooking if they live here, but they’ll never admit that.”
“So, Abraham houses, feeds, and takes care of all his enforcers here?”
The more she spoke, the more unbelievable I found what she was saying.
“Yep,” she said, popping the last letter of the word. “He’s a pretty decent alpha. You guys will like it here.”
I already kind of did.
Now we just had to hope we didn’t screw it up.
Once we reached the third floor, Aubrey walked us down a short hallway and knocked on one of the doors. We heard a gruff male voice call for us to come in and she opened the door.
“This is where I leave you, but feel free to come find me later,” she said with a wink before spinning around and strutting off.
I shook my head, the ghost of a smile on my face. I wondered if everyone else was going to be as friendly as Aubrey. My brother shot me a smirk and I knew he was thinking the same thing.
We turned together and walked into what looked like an office and came face to face with the alpha.
Abraham was tall, as expected, with the broad shoulders and heavy build you’d expect from a man who could attain and then retain a position like alpha. What was unexpected was the wide smile across his face. What was even more surprising was when he walked around his desk to greet us.
“You must be Wyatt and Wesley Carter. I’m Abraham McCoy. It’s nice to meet you two. I hope you found the place all right.” He held out a hand for each of us to shake and we did, although hesitantly. Truthfully, I wasn’t used to alphas being this friendly. At least not to strange wolves that showed up on their doorstep asking for a place in their pack.
I cleared my throat and finally found my tongue. “Hi. Yes. I’m Wyatt, and this is my brother, Wes. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to meet with us.”
Abraham waved my thanks away. “It’s my pleasure. Why don’t you two come in and have a seat and we can talk some?”
Surprising me yet again, instead of inviting us to sit in front of his desk, he gestured toward a leather couch off to one side. He took a chair opposite the sofa and crossed one jeaned leg over the other as he waited for us to take our seats.
Whenever we’d met with alphas in the past, they’d always had us sit in front of their giant ornate desks while they reclined in expensive-looking office chairs. It served to make us uncomfortable and worked every time. Abraham though, seemed to want to speak in a more relaxed atmosphere, and that put me at ease right away.
When Wes and I were seated, Abraham smiled at us again. “So, you two are coming all the way from Tennessee, is that right?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Wes answered.
Abraham frowned and shook his head. “Call me Abraham.”
Wes shot me a quizzical look before nodding. “Okay then, Abraham.”
The alpha smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Tell me about yourselves.”
I looked at Wes briefly before speaking up. “We’re just two pretty average guys who are looking for a new pack. We were enforcers in our old one and would be interested in doing that here too.”
“We can always use more enforcers.” He rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “Tell me what brings you to North Carolina.”
I met Wes’ eyes quickly again and saw the same resignation there that I felt. This was a question we always dreaded answering. The more packs we interviewed with and got turned down by, the worse it looked to the next alpha. I didn’t want to admit that he was our sixth choice, but knew lying would probably be worse. Alphas communicated frequently and Abraham probably knew the answer to this question already.
“We, uh, weren’t having any luck joining a pack in Tennessee so we
