Page 27 of Destined Prey
“Mom thought her and Dad were a fluke. She didn’t know of any other destined mates, so no. I didn’t think it’d be an issue. Apparently, I was wrong.”
“Apparently.” Ben needed some time to think about that. “What else do you know about destined mates?”
Please say more than a story, he almost begged, fingers tightening on the wheel until the leather creaked.
“Just what I told you, and that they don’t do well when one of them dies. That’s why Mom explained it, I think, because she’d learned that Dad was dead, and she didn’t want to go on.”
“She didn’t mean to die in a trap,” Ben protested. Casey didn’t reply. Ben’s insides went ice cold. There were few ways to diethat were more horrible than a metal trap crushing one to death. Casey had found their mother, and that had to have been traumatic, yet Casey had never broken down about it.Guess that’s why he’s an alpha. He’s stronger than the rest of us.
“I’ll meet you at the shop. We’ll deal with this.” Casey disconnected the call.
Ben hated the abruptness, but Casey was like that sometimes. Ben set the phone back in the cup holder and concentrated on getting to the shop without getting a ticket for speeding. Case and the rest of his siblings always teased Ben about having a lead foot, and they were right. He liked to speed, partially because it was against the law, and partially because he was generally in a hurry to get to where he was going. “Cruise control is for wimps.” That was his motto, and he had the tickets to prove it.
He worried about what was going to happen when he got to the shop, all the way there. Every version ended badly if he lied. Every version ended worse if he told the whole truth without permission. He picked at that knot and couldn’t find a clean thread to pull.
When he turned onto Sixth Street and saw Rhett’s truck parked in front of the shop, Ben’s fingers and toes went numb, from adrenalin or fear, he didn’t know which. He scanned the street on instinct—exits, cover, human scent—the beast rising just enough to sharpen everything without taking over.
Ben pulled into the parking lot, taking up his usual place around the back. Inside, his coywolf clamored to be out, to run and sniff and lick Jack, to mark him with scent—which made Ben recoil until he realized what his coywolf meant by that last one, rubbing his muzzle all over Jack’s face and neck to spread Ben’s scent and make Jack as his own.
“Not a good idea, killer,” he muttered to his beast. “You freakedmeout, and you’re a part of me.” Jack would likely runfor the hills if Ben shifted and tried to rub on him. And then there would be Rhett to deal with.
Ben shut the truck off and pulled his key from the ignition. He told himself to grow a pair, then unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out. He’d just slammed the door when Jack and Rhett appeared, walking around to the back of the shop.
Rhett looked angry and worried. Jack’s expression matched his brother’s, except, there in Jack’s eyes, Ben saw a glimmer of the same need he felt.
Already, Ben’s body was humming with arousal, his cock doing its best to rise. He dragged in a breath through his nose, forcing the heat to settle lower, quieter. Not here. Not with Rhett’s stare like a loaded gun. Ben was glad he hadn’t tucked his T-shirt in, though it wasn’t long enough to cover his crotch. Unless he tugged on the hem, which he promptly did. He heard something rip but didn’t check to see what had happened.
“Jack,” Ben said, “Rhett.” He nodded in greeting.
Rhett narrowed his eyes at Ben. “What the fuck kind of bullshit lies are you telling my brother?” he snapped.
Ben heard Casey approaching from behind before Rhett and Jack glanced past Ben.He must have parked down the street or had Lacey or one of the others drop him off.Ben turned enough to see Casey strolling out of the alley.
Casey didn’t smile, and Ben could feel that subtle shift of power that Casey held, the one that declared him to be an alpha. When it appeared around humans, it tended to make them uncomfortable, as prey would be around a predator. It rolled off his brother like weather. Humans felt it as threat; shifters felt it as gravity. Ben’s shoulders eased a fraction under the familiar pull.
Casey looked big and bad and every inch the alpha, at least to Ben. Automatically, Ben dipped his head, bowing it for his alpha, but watching him approach.
Casey walked up to him and brushed his fingertips over Ben’s nape. “It’s okay. I’m not mad at you.”
Ben raised his head. “Thanks.”
Casey smiled slightly, then it fell away as he looked toward Jack and Rhett. “Let’s take this discussion inside.”
It wasn’t a request, and Rhett bristled, scowling deeply. “Look here, I don’t—”
“Inside,” Casey repeated with more force. “Or you can both leave.”
Ben caught Jack’s scent as they moved—soap, coffee, a thread of adrenaline—and the edge of his panic smoothed like a hand over ruffled fur.
“Rhett,” Jack whispered. “Please?” Rhett growled wordlessly. Casey tensed. Ben caught a whiff of something unfamiliar from his brother, a spicy, burnt scent he didn’t recognize. Then Casey walked past him. “I have my keys.” All of Ben’s siblings had keys to the shop, just in case. In case of what, he wasn’t certain, but it had seemed like a good idea when he had the keys made.
Ben followed Casey, casting a worried look at Jack. When he heard Jack and Rhett’s footsteps behind him, some of the tension eased in Ben. Jack wasn’t going to leave without giving them a chance. That was what it meant to Ben, at least. Jack had no reason to show up or to stay unless he wanted Ben.
Casey unlocked the door, opened it, then held it, gesturing for everyone else to enter.
Ben went inside and flipped the switch for the lights, then disengaged the alarm. “There’s a small waiting area, kind of a lounge or lobby area, I guess, if you would like to go in there?” he asked, glancing back at Jack.
Jack smiled just a bit, but it made Ben’s heart race to see it.
