Page 40 of Pack Kasen: Part 1

“She isnotgetting under my skin. This is Troy irritating me with his stupid question that ruined my breakfast.”

“Of course, Alpha.”

“Stop humoring me,” I snarl.

“As you wish.”

His expression is blank. Too blank. My eyes narrow. “I give you too much free rein, don’t I?”

“Perhaps a touch,” he quietly concedes.

Still annoyed but reluctantly amused, I shake my head and lead the way to the meeting I suspect I’m already late for.

Emilio and Joy are waiting for me in my office.

Someone did a good job cleaning up the mess I made because while the room still smells faintly of breakfast, there’s no sign of the carnage from before. The window is open to air out the room,letting in a refreshing waft of pine and the wild freshness I love so much about our remote home.

Both stand in front of my walnut desk, hands folded behind their backs, spines stiff, and too busy glaring at each other to notice I’ve entered the room.

I slam the door shut.

Both jump and snap their heads forward.

I stalk toward my desk as the door swings open and Finan slips in to stand in his usual position with his back to the wall next to the door he gently closes.

“What started it this time?” I drop into my seat.

“She was doing that thing with the?—”

“He said that you told him to?—”

“What. Started.It.” I press my palms flat on the surface of my desk and slide my gaze from one to the other. “Whatis the operative word.”

Neither of them says a word. Their eyes are wary, so although they missed breakfast and what happened to Troy, they must realize I’m in no mood to be fucked with today.

Not by anyone.

“If one of you doesn’t start talking in the next two seconds, neither of you will be an enforcer for much longer.” I steeple my fingers together as I wait for an acceptable answer.

“She wanted to lead the search,” Emilio says, stepping forward.

Our property is large, about sixty acres. I send a pair of my enforcers out to check all our borders on a regular basis. Not just for signs of trouble, though I’m not expecting any, even if Finan keeps warning me about Tagge. For any encroaching hunters, especially during hunting season. One or two have a habit of chopping back hedges to point their rifles at deer and other wild animals that wander onto our property.

“And?” I prompt.

“There was a mule deer,” Emilio adds.

“So?”

“He didn’t think it was a good idea,” Joy says tightly.

“I’m getting bored of this shit. Someone tell me the whole thing.Now.”

Joy lifts her chin. “On our patrol, we came across a deer that was headed toward the house. We chased it back. It was stubborn. We argued about chasing it further away from the house.”

Mule deers, like most other prey, stay away from predators, and that is exactly what we are, whether we are in our human or wolf forms. But they are big, some weighing nearly four hundred pounds, and they can trample someone if they’re startled.

Since Joy has been the lead in one of the patrols—and more than once—not just with Emilio, I can’t see why he would suddenly have a problem with it. And I know Joy. If Emilio told her to get behind him, she absolutely would have been the one to shift first and start a wrestling match that punched a hole through one of the living room walls.

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