Page 2 of Fae Devoted
The neighboring region’s previously well-respected Alpha’s unlawful entry into ECS territory could be overlooked with a formal petition and a generous bounty paid by Jeremiah’s Clan príoh, Dugan McCoy. The exorbitant fee would return Tucker’s brother to his home in Texas, chastised yet unharmed. But it was harder to forgive Jeremiah’s establishment of a rebel Ferwyn pack within Clan Walker’s borders. The illegal act would have signed his death warrant if not for Samuel’s compassion and the extenuating circumstances involving the Fae.
“We won’t give up on him. I swear it.” The commander rose from his seat and rounded the wooden desk, the circuit-like connections that bound Tucker to his pack Alpha telegraphing his inner turmoil. Samuel gripped him by the nape and halted his pacing. “There is no way you could’ve known about Lord Daimhín’s influence over Jeremiah. Now or in the past.”
“I abandoned my brother when he needed me the most,” Tucker pushed the admission through lengthening canines. Then Ferwyn laws restricting all non-outcast male shifters from crossing rival Clan lines, along with his stubbornness and pride, kept him away for over half a century. He hadn’t spoken to Jeremiah in six decades, but he checked on his birth pack often. If evidence existed that Tucker’s former clanmates did less than thrive under his sibling’s leadership, he never discovered it.
“You didn’t have a choice.”
“I could have stayed.” And dug deeper to discover the cause of Jeremiah’s uncharacteristic behavior instead of walking away.
“You heard what James said in the debriefing. He is convinced that your twin was bound to Príoh McCoyandthe Sídhe Lord at the same time.” A dual state thought impossible for any Ferwyn. Samuel shook his head. “There’s no way to determine when the binding took place or the level of control Daimhín exerted over Jeremiah in the beginning. If you had questioned him too closely, his wolf might have viewed it asa challenge to his status as your pack Alpha and sought to eliminate the threat.”
“It never would’ve gone that far.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
No, he couldn’t. And now that Príoh McCoy severed his connection with Jeremiah and branded him an outcast for his involvement with the Athair, the sole buffer against Daimhín no longer existed. His wolf would eventually break without the stability of a Clan. But did Jeremiah have the usual year like other unbound Ferwyn males, or was his time shorter because of his unnatural tie to the Fae?
“He needs a new príoh.” Jeremiah’s time was running out, and few males were strong enough to gain his brother’s submission. Although no longer a pack’sAlpha, Jeremiah’s wolf was still analphawith a dominance level that exceeded the majority of other shifters.
“I’ve promised to offer him my bond before it’s too late.” Samuel squeezed the back of Tucker’s neck and returned to his desk. “I haven’t changed my mind.”
It was a generous offer considering Jeremiah was culpable in the West South Central’s Dádhe King’s abduction of Samuel’s truemate, Abby. Yet Tucker couldn’t allow his brother to accept the príoh’s gift until they discovered the depths of the Fae’s intrusion, or Lord Daimhín was dead. Whichever came first. Either way, Tucker was determined to save his littermate. No matter the personal cost.
A pair of sparkling hazel eyes and smiling lips flashed in his mind, but he shoved the vision aside.
“I request—”
“Request denied.” Samuel cut him off, correct in the assumption Tucker was about to ask for a leave of absence from his duties with the Guard and Clan to pursue Jeremiah.
“Commander Walker…” A warm wave of brotherly love and pack loyalty brushed his senses. “My Alpha—”
“You don’t have to do this alone, Tucker.”
Tucker—not Grayson.
Samuel was one of a handful of Fae Touched aware his loyalty once belonged to Jeremiah and the Grayson Pack. That he relinquished his birthright, his Clan, and the surname Grayson a human-lifetime ago. Now, almost everyone routinely referred to him as what they thought was his last name. Tucker.
Only one person called him by his given name of Jacob.
Joan Helen Long, Johnnie to her friends, was a spirited she-wolf who joined the Walker Pack a year ago. Tucker called her Jo—and he wanted far more than mere friendship.
But the Fae’s appearance and his brother’s subsequent betrayal made the dream an impossibility for now.
“Johnnie’s birthday is coming up.” Samuel sat, his attention on the computer screen in front of him, voice deceptively bland.
Damn Alpha bond.
“Next week, if I remember correctly,” he said as if making an off-hand remark of little importance.
As her Alpha, Samuel knew exactly when Jo turned twenty-five; the age when a Ferwyn female was old enough to accept the bond of their Ca’anam, their truemate. An event Tucker once anticipated, but now dreaded.
“Lieutenant, about Johnnie,” Samuel closed the laptop with a soft click, his tone no longer teasing, “don’t allow the past and what-ifs to dictate your future.”
“I have no future until Jeremiah does. I owe him that much.” He turned and walked to the exit.
“What happened to your brother wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known about Lord Daimhín, so don’t place blame where it doesn’t belong.”
Tucker opened the door and stepped outside the office without looking back. “Too late.”
