Page 18 of Lost and Pound

“I thought him dead.” His father’s expression, deadpan, told me all I needed to know about his feelings for Nico.

“I need a thorough explanation. Your son is dead?” Ares wheeled on Horace, and he winced, nodding as his face twisted into disgust and sadness.

“They had an accident on the way back to the pack after we picked up Nico—” Godfrey halted when I snarled.

“You didn’t justpick him up. You carted him off like an animal on a fucking leash.” I took a deep breath and calmed myself, my breath hissing between my teeth. But I wasn’t done. When I started, I couldn’t stop. I told them about the shelter, the weeks he sat in there in his own filth, the fact that he wasn’t chipped as had been council standard foryears, just in case things like that happened. To keep the vulnerable from being locked up and shifting in shelters or getting discovered.

I told Ares about the phone call I’d made, and how they’d left him with me for weeks since then. He’d started a whole new life in as long as they’d kept their distance, and I wanted to know why. My question went unanswered, though. Blake returned, sending a shock of anger coursing through me. He was meant to be guarding my mate. But in a way, he was.

“Add this to their list of fuckups.” Blake caught Ares’s attention and thrusted the leash and collar toward him. The heavy links clanked ominously, and Horace paled while Godfrey kept his expression schooled and flat.

Ares turned the chains over in his hand, upper lip curling. Like me, he didn’t view betas as beneath him. His job was to promote unity and uphold council law and rule. What he held was a threat to our moral codes. “I see. And this was on his neck in the shelter? Where anyone could have seen it?”

Ares turned it over again, eyeing the etchings along the links. “Is it enchanted?”

“Of course not. It’s symbolic. Why would we need that?” Horace spluttered. “It’s our tradition to gift an omega a collar for our pack… And Alpha Warren has no sigma, so how did he get it off intact? It’s symbolic, really.”

“Show me.” Ares thrusted the chain into my hands. Horace had been right; without sigma magic, the thing was near useless, but I had that little spark, as did Ares.

“If Alpha Silvermoon doesn’t mind?” I gestured the collar toward him, and he sneered hesitantly before offering his neck, confident that it wouldn’t latch. I leaned forward, wrapping the chain about his neck before tapping the ends of two links together with my little spark. It clicked and Horace stiffened, all the blood draining from his face.

Godfrey sneered at the display as I handed Ares the end of his tether and shoved my hands in my pockets. Nico’s father kept a decidedly blank face and took a deep breath. “Goddesses…”

Ares jerked the chain and bared fangs before dismissing Blake. “Dinner almost ready, Shilo?”

I nodded. “Taco night.”

“Good. Get us some plates and a place to sit down and discuss things.” Ares followed my gesture down a hall toward myofficialoffice. The thing sat relatively unused, as I spent most of my time in my home office.

As we made our way down, footsteps fell sharply, the stink of fear inundating the hall, making my stomach roil. I couldn’thandle fear, but I refused to react. Ares cut his gaze toward me, lips twisting. He knew my detest.

Horace’s chain rattled as we stepped into my office, breaking the silence. The scent of disuse and cedar overwhelmed the scent of fear, and I sidled over to my desk to sit. Three chairs sat before me, and I folded my hands on the blotter as they settled in.

Ares leaned back in his seat, throwing his feet up on the desk. The chain draped lazily across his thighs, boots crossing. I gave him a look that he returned with the flick of a brow, daring me to say anything. I satisfied myself with enjoying the scene of Horace on the very leash he’d locked Nico in. “So. Nico’s doing well here?”

I nodded, sending a text to one of the women in the kitchen for four plates. “He’s got a job he enjoys, his own bank account, money, freedom—well, maybe not that anymore. Needs must and all that.”

I picked at the corner of my mouth with my thumb before inspecting the light crust of blood still there. Godfrey’s expression hardened, and he was either good at hiding his emotion or less concerned with his son’s placement than he was the potential profit. Him, I could probably bargain with—Horace? It was yet to be seen.

“I see where it was necessary. I didn’t scent fear on him until these two numb-nuts showed up. So, he must like you.” Ares tugged on Horace’s chain with a gentle warning.

“I should hope so. He speaks to my wolf.” I made a show of brushing my fingers off, relishing the bitterness growing on Horace’s face. “And he is a wonderful male, so kind and well-mannered. You outdid yourself, Godfrey.”

Nico’s father nodded sagely. “I don’t habituate myself to children. My young are often raised by pack and are a reflection of my people as a whole.”

I didn’t like that one bit, but it made sense. “It makes him appreciate the individual attention quite a bit more, at least. Easy to please, grateful for even the smallest things.”

Ares snorted at the last remark.

I eyed him with dry disapproval before I set my gaze on Godfrey. “So. Misunderstandings aside. I’m sure that it was an oversight that Nico didn’t have a chip.”

“It must have escaped notice. Our pack is quite large.” He tilted his palms up and shrugged.

“Oversights happen. Fortunately, fate had Shilo in the right spot.” Ares nodded in agreement.

“So, what would you accept as his dower? I know those things are custom still in older packs. I’m young and haven’t had the luxury of that sort of example.” I turned my full attention to Godfrey, earning the first positive reaction since he’d arrived. “I want to be amicable, but heismy fated.”

Fated mates were such a powerfully important thing that their discovery trumped any and all. No matter the alpha’s say, if Nico was mine, he’d have to let them go without a cent. It was only courtesy that I offer to pay his fees as a gesture of goodwill.

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