3. Briony

Ugh.

Memories of the Blue Moon Bash haunt me like a hangover when I wake up the next morning. I left the party pretty much right after the incident with Evander, and I refused to cry until I got home.

I made it through my front door before the tears flowed down my face.

Now, I feel puffy and empty, and a little embarrassed.

Evander Alderwood does not deserve my tears.

To be fair, neither does the guy who grabbed my ass and made me feel awful on the dance floor, either. I don't even remember his name… Leonard? Leo? Whoever he was, he was a fucking loser. I was well on the way to handling that situation when Evander punched him in the face.

Seeing him go down had been pretty nice, though.

But then, Evander had to open his stupid mouth and ruin everything.

I wonder, not for the first time, if Will asked Evander to spy on me. I'm sure that Will told the whole Frat Pack some awful version of our breakup that frames me as the villain. He probably told them that I dumped him for no reason… blah blah blah.

Definitely not that I found him and Kelly in Will's house together, naked as the day they were born.

He probably told them that I broke his heart.

And not that I wanted to break his penis, but it was so far inside Kelly I could never have done that.

Ugh.

I roll over again and toss my pillow over my face. I need to get into the office and update my case notes, then see if I can arrange some assisted living care for Mrs. Bortles. I need to shower and get the makeup that's smeared across my face off of it, and I need to eat some breakfast.

Instead, I let myself lean back on the bed and wallow for just a little longer.

The party really had started well.

Amira and I had gotten ready together at her house before heading to the alpha's. He and his new mate, Iris, who is an amazing human with ermine shifter in her blood that just found out about her heritage, greeted us at the door. Thorne is the polar opposite of Evander. He's thoughtful, kind, and steady. Dutiful. Diligent. He's a great alpha, and I'm so glad we have him.

It's so unfortunate that Evander comes with him.

A couple of drinks and some dinner later, and Amira and I had hit the dance floor. Being asked to dance by the nameless loser (Leander? What the hell had his name been?) from a different pack felt almost… promising.

Like my instinct to join a new pack was the right one.

There are many more mates out there than the ones who exist in Oakwood. Hell, I could meet someone like Iris, who doesn't know that they're a shifter.

The fact that they're fated mates… I shake it off.

There have been two instances of fated mates recently. Two. Both in the Alderwood family. A distant cousin of theirs back in Montana found his fated mate, and so did Thorne.

It will just be cruel if the universe gives Evander a fated mate, too.

As a little girl, I always loved the idea of fated mates. Someone who the universe meant for you? Your perfect match?

It's… nice.

I'm not close with my family, as both my parents have drifted apart. They both live back in Alaska, choosing to stay behind when the Oakwood pack moved to Colorado. We talk on the phone, but they're mates in name only. Wolves mate for life, so they can't separate or anything, but they're definitely not together.

That feels… cold.

Not what I want for myself.

I sigh and glance at my watch. I really need to get up and get going, since the caretaking facility that I want to use to work with Mrs. Bortles is only on the human side of town, and they're a little strict when it comes to time. I think their business hours for external folks like me are only in the morning, and only for a two-hour window, and it's about a forty-minute drive…

Mentally, I calculate the time, then I shoot out of bed.

Ugh.

I shower, then dress, opting for a semi-professional-looking wrap dress that's the same emerald color as my eyes. I like how it accentuates my curves too, and when I see my reflection, I smile.

Will always acted like I was trying to pick up guys when I dressed like this. I wasn't, of course, and I ended up wearing a lot of baggy stuff at his request.

But I like how this looks.

So, I'm going to wear it.

I'm just grabbing my keys when there's a knock at the door. Unsure of who it could be this early in the morning, I open it, purse on my shoulder.

"Briony," the alpha's voice rumbles. "Glad we caught you."

I blink. "We?"

Then, from behind him, Evander steps out.

Ugh.

I need to leave,but unfortunately, one can't say no to one's alpha. "Come in. Can I get you coffee or anything?" I say, gesturing to my dining room table.

Thorne and Evander trail in. "Coffee would be marvelous," Thorne rumbles.

I nod and get out my little instant coffee machine with three cups. I need some as well, so this is actually fine, as long as I can still get out the door at a relatively good time.

For some reason, having Evander in my house feels… invasive. I can practically feel his eyes looking over all my things, and the thought makes me shudder.

It makes me nervous, like I'm afraid of what he's going to say.

I straighten.

Evander Alderwood is not going to make me nervous. Especially not in my own home.

"What can I help you with today, Alpha?"

Thorne settles into a chair. I hand him the coffee, and he sips. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I don't push Evander's cup to him, but it is in the middle of the table.

He raises an eyebrow at me, and I narrow my eyes at him.

Oh, you wanted me to serve it to you? No way, asshole. Grab it yourself.

"Let me know if this is something I should task someone else with," Thorne says, looking between Evander and me with interest. "But I'd like to consult with you on a potential refugee case that I'm willing to take on."

"Refugee?"

He nods. "There's a small group of fox shifters from New Mexico who have reached out. Their territory was taken over by lions, and they lost the battle for their home."

"Oh, that's terrible," I murmur. Turf wars happen fairly frequently among shifters. It's a process that's regulated by the Shifter Bureau, but regulations among groups of animals are… tough. They often result in physical violence, and they're usually pretty bad if the groups are physically the sizes of foxes and mountain lions. On top of that, lions can be really nasty when they've set their mind to it.

My heart is automatically with the fox shifters. "Did they… is everyone coming?"

I'm trying to ask if the whole pack made it out alive.

Thorne shakes his head. "I'm under the impression that we will be housing the fifteen remaining shifters in the group."

"Oh, okay. Gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that," I murmur.

Ugh. That's brutal. Losing your home is one thing, but losing the people you call home as well?

I can't imagine.

Thorne nods. "Naturally, I agreed to take them in. They'll become part of our pack, but I'm willing to give them some space for a while. The northwest corner of our land is pretty remote, and the elk herd on the other side won't care about some foxes. I think there's a pair of sisters, moose shifters, who live on that side as well, but I wouldn't worry about them with the foxes either."

I nod. Thorne has pretty carefully thought this through. The town of Oakwood has a significant human presence, and he manages our interactions carefully, but further to the south is Steamboat, which has even more humans. To the north there's more big game shifters like elk and deer, and the moose in question are a very nice duo, sisters who run a glass blowing shop in the middle of nowhere. I have some of their vases, they really do make incredible stuff. "The northwest corner would be a nice place to settle in."

"Yes. I was hoping that you could help them get settled in when they get here. Get the kids enrolled in school, follow up with them about getting positions in the pack. Maybe some of them could help with the Jeep tour business that we're putting together."

Will had been one of the people working on the Jeep tour idea. "Sure, I can help get the kids in school," I say quietly.

Thorne grins. "That's great. Evander here is the one in charge of getting them from the airport out in Aspen, and bringing them up here."

"Airport?"

He shrugs. "I think the lions took a lot of stuff from them, including their vehicles."

That's even worse than I thought. "Okay…"

"So, Evander will be your primary contact, and he's in charge of getting them here and settled and in your hands."

Great.

That's just… freaking….

Great.

A few days later,Evander pulls up with a van, and foxes filter out of it.

We haven't talked much, unless it's directly related to the case. But even then, he's been a bossy asshole. I've done my best to set up the little group of cabins we built for the foxes in the northwest corner of the territory as a home that they can come to love, and Evander has annoyed me every step of the way.

Today, though, he looks like he might have met his match.

Of the fifteen foxes, seven are kids.

The kids tumble out of the bus, bright red hair flashing in the sun. I smile as some of them blink up at me, and others start to drift toward the houses.

"Welcome to your new homes," I say with a smile.

A female fox gets off the van and sighs. She looks out at the passel of kids and shakes her head. "I swear, they usually have better manners than this."

"It's not a problem. They're welcome to explore wherever they want. We marked the edges of the yards though, and you might want to warn them…"

"Kids!" she hollers.

Every one of the fox kits stills.

"This nice lady says the edges of the yards are marked with…" she looks over at me.

"With paint and sticks," I clarify.

"With some paint lines and sticks! Don't one of y'all run past that, or there will be consequences, you understand?"

As one unit, the kits nod, then skitter off toward the yards.

"I put some play sets back there," I say to the female fox shifter.

"That's nice of you. Thank you," she says with a tired smile. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mia," she sticks out her hand.

"Briony."

"And the sour-faced guy who drove us?"

I roll my eyes. "He didn't even introduce himself to you?"

Mia grimaces. "I kinda wanted to ask, but… his general fuck-off face made it pretty clear he didn't want to answer."

"Evander… Okay, I think he's an asshole, but I thought he'd at least be nice to a stranger!"

"He was okay with the kits," she nods.

More adult foxes are pulling stuff off of the van, and Mia and I wander over to help. "Okay with them?"

"Yeah. One of ‘em took a shine to him. Look," she whispers.

I glance over.

Evander has a tiny fox kit, a girl no more than three, trailing him as he moves the boxes and bags from the pack into their houses. Every now and then he turns around, then seems somewhat surprised she's still there.

He makes a funny face at her, and she giggles.

The motion is… shocking. I've never seen Evander be anything except a total dick, so for him to be nice to this little kid?

I mean, it's nice.

But it's the bare minimum. Only a monster is an asshole to kids.

"Well. Glad he's at least playing nice," I mutter.

"He didn't say boo to me, if that helps confirm your suspicions," Mia laughs.

"That it does."

"Briony," Evander growls, gesturing for me to come over.

I sigh and give Mia a look. "Be right back."

I jog over to Evander. "What's up?"

"Keep those kids out of the way," he rumbles.

"I'm not a babysitter, Evander," I snap. "I'm doing my job."

"Are you? Or are you just chit-chatting?"

"I'm being polite," I sneer. "Something you know nothing about."

"Something I know nothing about? You're the one who blew up at me the other day!"

"You're the one who decided to save me for no damn reason!" I shout back.

Evander and I glare at each other. I'm vaguely aware that the foxes are staring at us, but I refuse to be the one who looks away first.

"Fine," Evander mutters. "Get this shit out of here, and we'll see about the rest of this tomorrow."

With that, he stalks away, leaving me and the foxes staring as he goes.