Page 61 of Alpha Chase

I side-eye Gray, expecting him to take the lead here, but he just gives me a subtle nod, hanging back a step.

Great.

“Uh, we received a report that there was some kind of disturbance here last night,” I say, standing taller and folding my arms over my chest in an attempt to appear authoritative.

“And that deserves the Alpha’s attention?” Daryl chuckles snidely. “Didn’t realize we were so important.”

My wolf instinctively pushes forward in response to his condescending tone, spoiling for a fight, but I shove him back quickly, the effort making the muscle in my jaw tick. “It was escalated because it was the third time this week,” I say flatly, leveling him with a glare to let him know I mean business.

“Nah, that can’t be right,” Daryl grumbles, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. His eyes lift over my shoulder, scanning the surrounding houses. “Who called it in, anyways? People need to mind their own fucking business.”

“Not much privacy in pack life,” Gray shrugs, not at all ruffled by Daryl’s clipped tone. I try to take a page out of his book, drawing a slow breath as I recall the details of the summary from the file.

“Is your son around?” I ask, peering over his shoulder into the house. I don’t know a lot about the Millers, but I do know that Daryl’s son Jase was in a few of my classes at school. He’s a nerd, so we didn’t run in the same circles, but he always seemed like a decent enough guy. His mom was a casualty of the war with the shadow pack, so it’s just the two of them living here now.

“Jase!” Daryl barks, not even sparing a glance over his shoulder as I hear the scuffle of approaching footsteps from inside. Jase appears behind his father moments later, his eyes flying wide when he spots me and Gray standing across the threshold. I can feel the anxiety rolling off of him in waves as he moves into the doorway beside his father, his tall, wiry frame dwarfed by his old man’s hulking build.

“What’s going on?” Jase asks nervously, his big blue eyes darting between me and Gray. His messy blonde hair sticks out in all directions, and he’s got dark circles etched underneath his eyes.

“We received a report of a disturbance here last night,” I repeat, eyes focused on Jase this time. He’s avoiding my stare, looking down at his feet. “Wanna tell us what happened?”

“Ah, it was nothin’,” Daryl drawls, raising a heavy hand to clap Jase on the shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Jase?”

The kid flinches. “Right,” he agrees quickly, his eyes briefly lifting to mine before flickering back down.

There’s something eerily familiar about the look in Jase’s eyes that makes my skin crawl.Where have I seen that look before?

Then it hits me. Alec and Dare. Their dad used to beat the crap out of them when we were younger, until my father found out about it and threatened to strip him of his enforcer rank if he didn’t stop. They had that same hollow, haunted look that Jase has right now. They used to avoid eye contact when confronted about what had gone down with their father.

Fuck.I narrow my eyes on Jase, assessing him, realizing that those aren’t dark circles under his eyes- they’re the remnants of bruising, probably from a broken nose. My eyes shift to the hulking man beside him, noting the hard set of his jaw, the way he’s clenching his fists. The tightly coiled rage in his eyes, simmering just beneath the surface. Daryl Miller is known for his hot temper, getting in his fair share of bar fights and scuffles over the years. Whenever that happened, someone would go running to find his mate- Susan Miller was kind, even-keeled, and could bring Daryl back from the brink every time.

She died on the same battlefield that my own father did.

My mind races as I put the pieces together, grappling with how the hell I’m supposed to handle this situation. I know how my dad handled it with Alec and Dare’s father, but Daryl doesn’t have rank in our pack, so I can’t hold anything over his head as a threat to get him to straighten up.

Shit. Think, Chase, think…

What would Dad have done?

“Well if that’s all you guys needed…” Daryl mutters, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. “The game’s on.”

“Aren’t you some sort of computer whiz?” I blurt, and Jase’s eyes snap up to mine.

He wrings his hands in front of him nervously, knuckles going white. “Uh, yeah, I guess. Coding, mostly.”

I turn to Gray, the seed of an idea forming in my mind. “Weren’t you guys looking for someone to pick up the slack at the IT hub now that Quinn and Brooke are being pulled away to fulfill their Luna responsibilities?”

Gray nods, quickly putting together where I’m going with this. “Yeah, we are.”

Daryl’s fake smile falters as his eyes ping between me, Gray, and his son beside him. “Well I’m sure you guys can find someone more qualified to fill that spot,” he scoffs, his hand coming down on Jase’s shoulder again. “Probably have people lining up and down the block.”

“Actually, no, we don’t,” Gray provides, wiping the smug look right off of Daryl’s face. “It’s that way for fighters, but it’s difficult to find skilled candidates for our IT unit.”

I grin, looking to Jase. “Whaddya say?”

Daryl’s fingers pinch Jase’s shoulder in warning, but he’s suddenly emboldened enough to shrug his father’s hand off, nodding enthusiastically. “Yeah, I’d be up for it,” he replies, eyes wide and eager. “When would I start?”

I glance at Gray, deferring to him for the specifics of this arrangement since he’s the head of squad leadership.

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