* * *
Cain paced in front of his brothers, who wisely sat silent and waited for him to begin speaking.
Since the twins had been pups, Cain had adopted the policy of allowing his anger to cool before he dealt with their antics. He had never struck them as pups, or even as juveniles, though he had wanted to on many occasions. As they had matured into adulthood, Hale in particular could no longer be reined in with a long speech and a firm tone.
The object of Cain’s ire was sitting on a large stone, gingerly rubbing his jaw. Unlike Alder, who had adopted a slumped, submissive posture beside him, Hale sat with his spine erect. Catching Cain’s hard stare, he matched it defiantly.
Cain said, “I told you the last time that if you ran off again, you were out of the pack.”
Alder’s head shot up. “Cain…”
Hale held up a hand to silence his twin. “You don’t speak for me,” he told Alder. Fixing Cain with a glare, he said, “Are you even going to ask me what I was doing, or are you just going to assume that I was fucking off?”
His words did nothing to sway Cain’s anger. “Fine. Tell me what was so important that you saw fit to leave the pack—to leave my son and Snow unprotected.”
“The females were here to watch after them,” Hale protested, though his voice lacked some of its earlier conviction.
Cain did not bother dignifying that with a response. The females, Clover and Meadow notwithstanding, were capable hunters and each could hold her own in a fight. They were by no means weak, but if another pack, or even a capable alpha male had come along, they could easily have been overpowered. There were no laws in the realms of werebeasts, as the humans referred to them. Nothing stood between the dangers of the wilderness and Cain’s small pack, except for him and those whom he trusted to keep it safe.
“I’m sorry, Cain,” Alder said, remorse in his eyes. “When Hale left, I was supposed to stay and guard the pack. If anything, you should be mad at me.”
Alder always knew the words that would ease his older brother’s fury, and right now, it wasn’t what Cain wanted. He wanted to be angry and to fight, but he knew that this was not the time.
Between the humans encroaching on his territory and the possibility of having a pregnant mate, he could not afford to lose Hale. While he could not be relied on to always be there, when he was, there was no one Cain trusted more to defend the pack.
To Hale, he said, “Speak.”
Hale sighed with annoyance, but complied. “After I made sure that the pack was secure at Greystone, I went back to scout the hills.”
His eyes became unfocused as he thought back. “I followed a few trails, but didn’t find anything. Just when I was about to turn back, I ran into one of the foxes who live in the eastern lowlands. She said that their forest is being leveled by some logging company. Everyone is heading for the western mountains and we should probably do the same.”
“We do not have a den there,” Alder said, stating the obvious.
“Well, if it’s true, we can’t stay here,” said Hale.
Cain tuned them out as he considered all of the new information his brother had given him. The western mountains were already a highly-contested area. Large packs of various species were constantly embroiled in territory wars over the limited hunting grounds. Moving his small pack there would be dangerous, even if they had the security of a den.
Rubbing at his temple, Cain decided he would wait until later that night to decide. He was far too drained to be making such a major decision.
“Go inside,” he told them. “We will discuss this at length later.”
Hale stood and left, not needing to be told twice, but Alder lingered. Once his brother had gone inside, he asked, “Who is the female?”
Cain sat beside Alder, giving his brother a weary look. “My new mate, though she does not yet know it.”
Cain recounted the events of the past few weeks, from meeting Sarah, to the mating thrall. It had not been his intention to divulge his mistakes, but if Hale was the brother he could trust in a fight, Alder was the one he could trust with his indiscretions. Alder listened stoically and without judgment, and that was exactly what Cain had needed.
When Cain finished, Alder simply asked, “Do you care about her?”
“It would be much easier if I did not.”
Chapter 9
Things fell into a comfortable routine at Greystone. The wolves slept in the mornings. In the afternoons, while most of the pack was preoccupied with hunting and chores, Sarah took on the job of minding the ‘pups’, which had previously been Clover’s responsibility. Clover was overjoyed at finally being able to join the hunt, and Sarah was pretty sure that the only reason the girl wanted her to stay was so that she no longer had to be the pack babysitter.