Both men curled their lips.
“You wolves and the pack. I swear. Aren’t you the alpha? Just change it,” Tristan said.
Ethan’s appetite apparently gone, he tossed the plate into the garbage.
“Yeah. Thanks for the little reminder.”
“It's been three years man. Your dad would want this for you. You need to accept you're the alpha even if you want different. Nothing will change the past. Move the pack forward.”
Ethan
“You don't get it. I've tried to do things differently and look where it got me. The packs here are no closer to peace, my dad’s gone, and I have a daughter. Don't get me wrong. That last one is amazing. But seriously. What kind of alpha am I?”
The word Alpha was a damn sucker punch. A pain like a toe you kept stubbing every damn time you went to the bathroom. He was alpha, and it was all by accident or well genetics probably. Whatever. He hadn’t wanted it.
“Have you heard from Amelia’s mom?” Kian asked.
Ethan backed up and leaned against the counter. “No, and I pray I never do. She used my little girl as a bargaining chip. Or well, she allowed her to be used as one.”
He crossed his arms over his chest.
“I don't know how I ever thought she’d be my mate. Who uses a child as a pawn in a pack war? Amelia doesn’t even know her mom’s freedom from that pack was all because of her life. If my daughter doesn't grow up with some fucked up complex, well I'd be shocked.”
Tristan shrugged. “I don't know much about kids, but I think we all have issues. That little girl is so spoiled by you and your mom. She’ll know who did right by her. She’s smart.”
Kian laughed. “Yeah, she told Ethan you weren’t her daddy’s ‘goodest’ friend. I would say that kid has some instincts.”
God, Ethan hoped that were all true. He wished she knew he loved her regardless of the shit that followed.
“Alright, well if you need help you know we have your back. Pack or not.”
Ethan nodded at Kian. “Yeah. I do. And thanks. I just need to get a mate. Supposedly, if we go by pack law, my claim to both packs will all fall into place once I find her.”
Kian and Tristan nodded. Neither were wolf shifters, and neither were pack shifters for that matter. It wasn't a traditional friendship, but Ethan wasn't exactly normal.
“I don't know about the pack voodoo stuff, but I know everything seemed so clear once I finally accepted my mate,” said Tristan.
A nod of his head was all he bothered with. Ethan tried to rationalize his feelings for Olivia. She wasn't even a damn shifter. How did pack law deal with that? He couldn't go against the magic either. Shifters were all cut from demon blood centuries and millennia in the making. Their histories were sordid, but the facts were shifters were bound to instinct first and foremost. Their animals, their souls, knew when they've met their other half. The half that controls the anger, the aggression, the demon magic within them.
He rubbed at the center of his chest. Times had changed. He accepted a job that allowed himself adrenaline rushes and freedom outside his world, outside pack lands. He took a job to find a mate beyond the borders of his past. His pack needed to change.
Pushing away from the counter, Ethan had one last thought.
“This has got to end regardless of finding a mate or not. I know you guys are aware of the crap that pack is pulling in the neighboring city. That pack is nothing but trouble. They’ve poached on my land one too many times. If they ever threatened Amelia...” he couldn’t say the words. But he’d kill them all regardless of some stupid fucking treaty. He’d do exactly what he should do, thin the garbage out of the pack. But he couldn’t do that out of respect for his daughter. No matter what, she had their blood running through her just as she had his.
Regardless of what was going on right now, he had to stay focused on his job. He needed this job, or he’d go fucking insane. There was only so much you could do all day in secluded mountains.
“Alright sweetheart. Now that we’ve solved world peace, let’s head down to the gym and work off some of this estrogen you’ve apparently decided to drape around yourself like perfume,” said Tristan.
“You’re an asshole. How you found someone to mate you is beyond me,” said Ethan.
As he unfurled his hands, the muscles stretched sore and angry. He fell in step behind Tristan who was bellowing in laughter.
Their footsteps pounded against low pile carpet over wooden steps. Ethan tried to stand up straight, but his chest muscles fought against his shoulders. He took a hand and rubbed at a muscle.
Fuck.
He didn’t know what to do. His body needed to unwind like a spring compressed so far down it threatened to burst through the roof.
Gravel cracked under the tires of his truck, and he pulled up the long driveway. The little white house was dark, and the only light was that of a nearly full moon.
Through the open driver’s side window, he pulled in a long breath scenting the night air. Ethan’s lip curled.
Throwing the truck into park, he scanned the familiar pitch black surrounding the house. Nothing out of place except a sprinkling of fireflies here and there.
The metal of the door creaked as he pushed it open. A heavy clang shot through the night as he slammed it.
“Get off my land,” Ethan yelled gravel crunched with each step. A shadowy figure appeared around the side of the house. Ethan's senses honed in on the exact location of the intruder. His wolf sight, the only thing keeping his from running blind.
Anger
