Page 50 of Wolf Found

Graham didn’t know anything about interpack law, let alone human law. He hadn’t ever had a chance to learn it.

“Are you okay?” Ash asked as they reached the back of the house.

Graham shrugged and then cringed and clutched his side. “Think maybe I broke something other than just my wrist,” he admitted. Then he sighed and looked at the floor. “And being back here reminds me of all the people stuck here, who might prefer not to be.”

Ash’s eyes filled with worry, then sympathy, and he nodded. He reached up under Graham’s shirt and felt around, which almost made him jump in surprise, and then distracted him quite nicely from the fact that Ash was searching for broken bones.

After a moment, he pulled back. “I don’t feel anything out of place. Doesn’t mean it’s not broken, but if we don’t jostle you too much, it should heal okay. We’ll stop and get you something to eat before we go home.”

He stopped talking but didn’t turn to head out, just stared at a spot below Graham’s chin for a moment.

Finally, he took a deep breath. “We can’t just take them. That would be a pack war at best. But I’ll talk to Gavin. There must be something we can do, someone who’ll intervene, even if it’s the human authorities.”

Graham wanted to hug him, but he thought better of it. Swift motion seemed like the sort of thing that might put his ribs out of place if they were broken but healing correctly. Instead, he leaned in and kissed Ash. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Ash said with a wry smile. “We have a long walk out of here.” He opened the door.

Graham was struck by the urge to throw up, and not because of his ribs.

“I think you’ll find it’s a considerably longer walk than you realized, outcast,” came the alpha’s voice.

He stood outside, all the lights in the back area on, and the place was lit up almost as bright as daylight. The alpha was surrounded by his enforcers, minus Amos, and a small crowd of betas was gathering around on either side of the house.

In short, they were trapped. The nasty smile on the alpha’s face didn’t bode well for whether they were going to make it out alive.

28

Not Ready to Make Nice

It had been eight years since Ash had laid eyes on Ezekiel Martingale, and those years hadn’t been kind to the man. He’d lost at least as much weight as Ash had gained in that time. His cheeks were hollow and his eyes hollower.

How had people not noticed this?

The door banged open behind them, and Ash’s father burst out, like he was in a rush because he was afraid he’d missed them. When he saw the welcoming party, he got a nasty smile on his face and pushed past Ash to join them, jostling his shoulder on the way.

Without warning, he fell down the last two stairs and landed face down in the muddy patch at the bottom.

Graham casually pulled back the foot he’d used to trip him and declared loudly, “I’m so sorry. How clumsy of me. Must have been just as much of an accident as you shovingmy alpha.”

There was a collective intake of breath from the pack members on either side of them. That was when Ash realized that they weren’t surrounded, not really.

He didn’t know if the betas had noticed Ezekiel’s physical degradation, but clearly at least some of them had realized something was wrong with him. Regardless, they weren’t grumbling angrily at Graham declaring Ash his alpha.

Ash looked around, and there was avid fascination on a lot of faces. Curious people glancing back and forth between the two groups. Worry for Graham writ large on a few people, including an older woman who stood with the two omega boys from the kitchen.

One of the boys lifted his hand to wave at Ash, and the old woman caught it and held it, as though that had been the intention all along. Ash was glad someone was looking out for them, at least.

Amos sputtered and stood. For a second, he looked at Graham as though he would come back up the stairs after them, such loathing in his eyes that Ash prepared for attack. Then he took a step back, eyes glued to Graham’s hand. The pepper spray, no doubt. Ash grinned. His mate was the cleverest.

“You should go join your keeper, Amos,” Ash said aloud, without bothering to look at the man. As far as he was concerned, he’d acknowledged the man as his father for the last time. Attacking Ash was shitty enough. Attacking Graham was entirely unforgivable.

“I’m so honored you’ve invited the pack to see me off this time, Zeke,” he told his former alpha. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to them last time, when you told me I could either change who I was or leave.”

“Who you are is no alpha,” Zeke answered, lip curled in an angry sneer. Once upon a time, that statement, that sneer, would have hurt Ash.

Now, it barely even registered. Even if Ash didn’t have a whole pack of friends and family to disagree with that, he had himself. He knew it was wrong. And something about seeing Ezekiel now changed him too. If one of them was alpha and one wasn’t, Ash didn’t have any doubt which was which.

“What I am is my own man,” he answered. He didn’t need to get in a pissing contest with Zeke. He had nothing to prove to him.

---