so he could skin him like he would any werewolf. He’d skin the little prick alive, dry the hide, and then make sure the wolves got the skin as a little present.
He’d work out the details of the delivery later.
Persistence always paid off. After another hour of calling his contacts, he was given the number of a group of younger hunters, still fresh on the idea they were invincible and searching more for a thrill than for the eradication of one of the world’s most dangerous species.
They weren’t too far away from the area, maybe a day’s drive. That was better than Tom could’ve hoped for. He could plan through the night and expect to have his new team in by tomorrow afternoon.
From what Tom has seen so far, there were plenty of werewolves in this area, more than enough to keep a bunch of thrill seekers happy while Tom searched for the pack where that kid came from.
* * * *
Derek was now able to walk more freely around the land now compared to before. It wasn’t as though anyone had been preventing him, but more like he just didn’t feel comfortable going for a stroll around a crowded area filled with strangers who were avoiding him.
Then suddenly, people were smiling at him, inviting him out to their barbecues, shaking his hand, and making him feel like he’d been friends with these people forever.
Somehow he got the feeling that was partly to do with his and
Mason’s getting together.
He doubted Mason had gone around telling everyone they’d had sex and were now a couple. It was more likely that the thin walls of the cottage paired with the stupid smile Mason had sported ever since leaving the small cottage was more the culprit.
He tried to hide his embarrassment to the best of his ability whenever another member of the pack put their arm around his shoulder in a welcome-to-the-family sort of way or smiled at him in a
60 Marcy Jacks
knowing fashion.
Currently, Derek was with a few of the werewolves that had made
him feel the most comfortable.
Adam, Corey, and Tristan.
If Derek remembered this right, Corey was the partner of Mason’s brother, and so the other man had spent as much time as he could making Derek feel welcome, even before the entire pack found out that he and Mason were having sex.
The only difference was that now everything didn’t feel so awkward, so Derek was able to accept the invitations that Corey offered him. He was sort of curious as to how Corey’s hand had become so badly scarred. It looked as though several layers of flesh had been peeled away and never grew back. He didn’t want to be rude, so he didn’t ask and tried not to stare.
Tristan was the most fun, and Derek liked sharing a beer with him, and Adam was an alpha.
Since this was the first time Derek had been able to actually be near any of these amazing people for this long, he allowed himself to be curious about this subject. He wanted to learn everything he could about the place that had once been Mason’s home.
“So, two wolves of the same sex coming together is normal? I mean, no one here seems to have any issues with that,” Derek added when all three pairs of eyes looked at each other.
There were the usual awkward glances at each other before Adam decided to answer that one. “I wouldn’t take what you see in this pack as being the norm for other packs, Derek,” he said. “A lot of the alphas here have mated with omegas. That’s normal, but not that common. In the wild, real alpha wolves tend to mate with other alphas, and only if they’re opposite sex. Nick and I are mated alphas, but we’re werewolves, so that sort of mix isn't common at all. The
fact that we’re both alphas and male is a whole other level of different, actually. A lot of people would’ve thought we’d be too aggressive to make a mated pair, but somehow it works for us.”
Mason Returns to His Mate 61
This new information shocked Derek. “So, you don’t actually see a lot of wolves of the same sex coming together?”
“We have lately,” Tristan said. “I’m mated with a human, though.
He does have that alpha personality, which I guess works out for us.”
“These idiots don’t know what they’re talking about and are just guessing,” Corey said. “I haven’t been a werewolf for very long, only a couple months, but I’ve checked in on this. Yes, in the wild it’s common for two alpha wolves to come together. Not an alpha and an omega like how werewolves do it.”
“Yeah, but how we’ve been mating here is what’ s not common,”
said Tristan.
“Says you and only because you’ve never seen any other pack but
this one and Phil’s.”
“Who?” Derek asked.
“He’s a leading alpha in a neighboring pack.”
Jesus Christ. It wasn’t just James’s pack in the area, but there were more of them? How had Derek lived the last ten years of his life in Brampton and never known this?
Granted, he hadn’t known for certain about werewolves until he
met Mason, but he’d thought he’d developed an eye for them after that. He thought he’d be able to tell when there were more of them in such a small area.
Guess he was wrong.
Tristan had the decency to look sheepish. He crossed his arms and actually pouted. “Doesn’t mean anything,” he muttered.
Corey rolled his eyes and looked back at Derek before bringing the neck of his beer to his lips. “Sometimes these guys’ll forget they’re people first and wolves second.”
“Our wolves are just as much a part of us as any wolf in the wild.”
“Yes, but they don’t change into people and get jobs to bring in money. We’re similar to them, yes, very similar, but we’re still in a whole different league, and that means different rules will apply to us and our instincts.”
62 Marcy Jacks
He had a pretty good point, and from the looks on Adam’s and
