Page 62 of Tempting Frey
“This is private property, sir,” he said. “Either you show us a warrant and charge us with a crime, or you leave. We’ll have to take legal action, sir.”
“I’m the mayor of Beauville,” I said loudly. “This is just a misunderstanding. I’m sure it can all be resolved without violence or lawyers.”
“I said fuck off, Frey!” Chickie growled.
One of the alphas rolled his eyes. The middle one, who seemed to be the boss, pointed at Chickie angrily. “Your sheriff has been threatening us for no reason.”
“I don’t care who you work for. You don’t have a permit to build anything on this land!” Chickie’s voice boomed, echoing through the forest.
The door to the truck banged behind me. Of course my mate didn’t listen.
For a horrifying moment, the leader reached under his jacket. But when he saw Oliver, a beautiful young omega with a curious smile on his face, he froze.
“What’s going on here?” Oliver asked, his tone and expression the definition of calm.
The men looked at each other. “We’re being threatened,” the leader said.
Oliver eyed his father. “Dad, hand off the gun. Seriously.”
Chickie’s jaw tightened, but he folded his arms across his chest.
“Gentlemen?” Oliver said expectantly, raising his eyebrows at the strangers.
Reluctantly, the alphas each took a step back, and the one in the middle lifted his palms in an appeasing gesture.
“Great. Can we talk now?”
“Um. Hi, Oliver,” one of the lumberjacks said before craning his head to look at Chickie. “Mr. Klondike, can I say something? We’re not supposed to take down any trees. Just clearing out fallen timber. I don’t think they’re gonna build here right away.”
“Do you have a building permit?” I asked the alpha in the middle. It was a useless question. I knew they couldn’t have one because the sale of the land had just been finalized.
“We’re only putting a couple of trailers on the property. We don’t need a permit for that.”
Oliver paused in front of Chickie, folding his arms across his chest, creating a mirror image of his father. Was he aware of that?
“Dad, these people aren’t doing anything illegal, and you know it. The person who bought the land is a good guy.”
Chickie pinched his lips together, shooting daggers at Oliver, but then his expression crumbled into a painful grimace. “Why, Ollie?”
“He’s my mate.” Oliver gestured to me. “Which I would have told you if you’d answered my calls.”
Chickie wavered, blinking. Then he glowered at me. “How long?” he spat.
“I’ve had a suspicion for a while but didn’t act on it. I’ve only known for sure since last Friday.”
One of the alphas cleared his throat loudly, but everyone ignored him.
My friend gave me a long, withering look, then turned back to Oliver. “Did you lie to me?”
“Can we do this somewhere private?” Oliver asked.
Chickie didn’t spare the strangers another word. He spun around and stomped toward the cruiser.
“Great. Let’s go home,” Oliver said. “Pa must be worried.”
The human alphas observed the proceedings like a tennis match. Oliver nodded at them, giving them a sweet smile. “My apologies, gentlemen. It was all just a big misunderstanding. Say hi to your boss from me.”
They watched us climb into the truck and leave after Chickie’s cruiser.
