Page 2 of Midnight Whispers
“I’d be better if you hadn’t wasted the better part of an hour.”
Cass tried not to laugh but barely contained himself.
Miller smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. If one stared too long into his gaze, they’d see he was lacking something. Cass thought it might just be a soul. “I apologize. I can be long winded, especially when I’m passionate about something.”
“Best get a little less passionate about telling my boy here to take a mate. Our family doesn’t arrange matings.” Even though Gran intended to challenge the alpha’s leadership, the alpha didn’t take it as such. “That’s why you came over here, isn’t it?”
“I intended to make a mere suggestion, ma’am.” He met Cass’s gaze. “As an unmated male past his prime, I would think you’d want to find a mate.”
“Not everyone wants to couple up, Alpha.” Cass didn’t subscribe to the notion that everyone needed a mate. But he very much wanted one. He just wanted it to be the right person. The perfect person for him was out there somewhere. He’d rather wait for his fated mate. “And besides that, I’m gay. I won’t have cubs unless I adopt them.”
“It’s not just about adding children. Just adding another wolf to the pack is enough.” The alpha shook his head and sighed. “Tensions are high with the Timeston Pack—”
“That’s not my boy’s fault, Miller.” Gran stuck her finger in the alpha’s face. It gained the attention of several people around them.
His eyes changed from human to wolf and back again. Instead of asserting dominance over a small but feisty old lady, he smiled in his dead-eyed way. “I have the pack’s longevity in mind. Nothing more.”
Cass put an arm around Gran’s shoulder before she could get going again. “I appreciate that, Alpha. I’ll do my best to speed up finding my Fated mate.”
He didn’t wait for the alpha to reply but steered his grandmother toward his car. “I could have handled that on my own, you know.”
“By promising to find your Fated mate, Cassius?”
Cass hid a grin. “It let him know I won’t mate just anyone.”
“We’ll see if he listens.” Gran was right. The conversation wasn’t over as far as the alpha was concerned. He wanted to populate Fortune Falls with as many wolf shifters as possible. The more he could boast of being the alpha of the biggest pack in the area, the more his ego grew. Despite how he didn’t react to Gran when she baited him, even though as alpha he couldhave, Cass was under no delusion about the kind of person the alpha was. They voted in a cold, self-serving asshole. There were consequences none of them wanted to face.
“Don’t underestimate him, Cass. It will be a mistake.” Gran didn’t have to tell Cass to keep an eye on the alpha. He already knew Miller was just getting started in wreaking havoc within the pack.
Chapter Two
The funeral was a blur. Riley Palmer remembered sitting on the hard folding chair in the funeral home next to his cousin Leanne and his Aunt Shelly. He couldn’t even paraphrase part of the sermon. After the funeral, people told him what a lovely job the pastor had done. But all Riley remembered thinking about was how numb he felt. He’d wondered when it would wear off. He was still waiting to feel something.
Riley lay in bed. He didn’t know what time it was. It was late enough in the day to get a phone call. Not super early in the morning. He could hear the music of his ringtone from wherever his phone was. He couldn’t remember where he’d left it. All he knew was that it wasn’t in his bedroom. It wasn’t the first time he’d let a call go to voicemail.
He told himself he should roll out of bed. He needed to be an adult. The rent was due soon and he might be late paying the light bill. He wasn’t even sure how much money was in his account. He hadn’t checked it since his mother landed in the hospital. He hadn’t been to work since then, either.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay there. It could have been an hour since his phone rang, or even longer. When someone pounded on the door, it startled him.
He pushed the covers off and sat up on the bed.
When someone knocked again and a deep voice said, “Welfare check”, he answered the door.
A police officer stood on his stoop. “Your family called for a welfare check. Do you need help?”
He didn’t, but he understood someone had been worried about Riley enough to ask for a welfare check. Riley thought he knew who it might have been. “I’m fine.”
“Are you unharmed?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need mental health services?”
Probably, but he wouldn’t tell the cops that. All the cop was really asking was if Riley was a danger to himself. He wasn’t. He just couldn’t work through the grief. Not that the electric company, his landlord, or his boss at the appliance store cared. “No, sir.”
The cop nodded. “Call your family. They’re worried.”
“I will, sir. Thank you.” Riley shut the door after the cop left and went to the kitchen. He started a pot of coffee.
