6. Evander

Holy shit.

I want to kiss Briony so badly, it hurts.

I could do it. I could just lean in. It wouldn't take more than a heartbeat to press my lips against hers.

Her lips that are so plump. Inviting. I mean, they even look sweet. Like they'd taste like blackberries…

Those perfect lips part, and she releases a little puff of air. Her green eyes widen, and her cheeks flush.

I think if I leaned forward to kiss her, she'd like it.

I think she would kiss me right back.

I really, really want to test that idea.

I lean forward, and I can taste her breath on my tongue. It's sweet and… yeah.

Definitely blackberries.

I'm inches away from taking her mouth when the sound of a chainsaw shatters the moment.

We both jump back, the van shaking with the force of our movement. My breath is heaving, even more than when I moved the damn tree.

Which, I have to admit, I did because I knew she was watching.

Do I want the kids to get to school? Sure. Do I think they'd also enjoy a freebie day to hang out? Yup.

But I knew Briony wouldn't have it any other way.

Her pupils are wide, and her mouth is rounded in an adorable little ‘o' shape. I can see her breasts rising and falling under her t-shirt.

It takes actual effort to keep my gaze on hers.

The chainsaw rips again, and I look outside. The road crew is getting to work on the tree, chopping it into smaller pieces that I assume will become firewood.

Shit. We need to talk about that. We need to say something about the fact that we were almost kissing.

I gulp. "Briony…"

Her phone rings. With shaking hands, she picks it up. "Hello?"

She's breathless.

Any trace of lust fades from her, though, when the person on the other end of the phone speaks.

Her eyes widen with shock, and her eyebrows pinch with worry. I can't quite make out what the other person is saying, and then Briony nods. "We're coming," she says.

She cuts the call off and motions to the road. "We need to go."

"Where, Briony?"

"The foxes. There's a crowd of people out there harassing them."

"What?"

She waves her hands at me. "Drive!"

I put the van into gear, and we roar out onto the dirt road. "What the hell is going on?"

Briony's fingers run through her hair, her face pinched with worry. "I don't know. Did Thorne clear this whole refugee thing with the pack council?"

I wince. "I don't know. Maybe?"

"What do you mean, maybe?"

"I mean, I'm not sure he took it to the council. He heard about the crisis, he accepted their bid for sanctuary, and we went straight to your house."

Briony's jaw drops. "Are you serious? He didn't put it to a vote?"

"No, of course not. People were in trouble, Briony. Thorne's too soft-hearted to just let them suffer."

"I'm pretty darn soft-hearted too, but I know if I don't go through the proper channels, people in our pack aren't exactly going to welcome them with open arms!"

"Well, that's what you were going to do!" I say, a little louder than I meant.

Briony blinks. "What?"

"You're the social worker. You're supposed to get them settled in!"

"Do you know what a social worker does?"

Oh no. I speed around a corner, and the van creaks. I have no idea what a social worker does, but when Thorne said he wanted someone to help the foxes socialize with our pack, my mind (and his, to be fair) had immediately gone to… our social worker.

"Yes?" I say hopefully.

Briony hisses. "I'm a social worker. I make sure people's basic needs are met, and that they're not suffering. I'm not a politician or a damn wizard!"

"Why would we need a wizard?"

"You two dummies didn't think that introducing a new pack of shifters to a pack that had recently moved across the country, and wasn't quite established yet, would be kind of a big deal?"

Honestly, I hadn't thought about it at all. "Well, we have a social worker…"

Briony laughs, but it's more the laugh of someone who is kind of at their wit's end. "I can't believe you. Both of you."

"Thorne's the alpha," I grumble. "Blame him."

"And you're his beta! It's your job to check all of his shitty ideas and keep him from doing them!"

I snort. "I couldn't control my brother if I tried."

"No, but you definitely could have brought this to the council!"

Okay. She has a point there. I typically don't interact with the council unless absolutely necessary, because it feels a lot like being scolded by multiple grandparents.

And I definitely could have proposed this. I'm the one who attends when Thorne can't, as his proxy.

I just often choose not to attend either.

We come around the curve, to where the fox's cabins are, and I can see the crowd of people. There are about ten of them, wolves who we've picked up along our journey south from Alaska. No one central to the pack, except…

"Zander?"

Briony shoots me a glare that is pure hatred. "He's your friend. You get him first."

"On it," I say.

We exit the van, and I can hear the susurration of voices get louder as we trot up the gravel road to the fox cabins.

Zander, unfortunately, appears to be in the lead. "There's no way the alpha approved of you here," he snarls at Mia, who has kind of taken on the role of the leader of the little group of foxes.

To her credit, Mia stands straight, glaring at him. A younger fox, a teenage boy who looks a lot like her with red hair and green eyes, paces behind her.

Mia throws her shoulders back. "I don't owe you any kind of explanation."

"Yeah, you do. You're on our land. If we find out you're squatting in these cabins, there will be hell to pay," Zander glares at her.

I step in. "Yo, Zan. They're supposed to be here. Thorne himself approved of the plan."

"What fucking plan, Ev?" Zander snarls. "They're taking resources from the pack."

"They're part of the pack, bro," I say.

I can practically feel Briony vibrating behind me, and I realize that I have absolutely confirmed the name she has for my friend group.

Frat Pack.

I fold my arms and straighten. "The foxes made a request for sanctuary. We honored that request. End of story."

"Okay. And did you do any verification? Did you run background checks? Ask the other packs in the area about them?" Zander's eyes glint with suspicion. "Seems to me like someone heard that there was a new alpha in town and decided to take advantage."

"Fuck you," the teenage fox shouts. He's turning much redder, like he's having some trouble controlling the shift. "You don't know us!"

"You're right. I don't," Zander says coolly. "But I do know that foxes are dirty thieves who…"

He doesn't get to finish that.

The teenage fox shifts, and a large, very red fox lunges for Zander's throat.

Unfortunately, foxes are significantly smaller than both humans and wolves.

And Zander is not exactly a small guy.

I see his fist come up like he's going to whack the juvenile fox on the head. Given the size of Zander's fist, that's a very, very bad idea.

So, I step forward, and I whack my friend right between the eyes.

Startled, the juvenile fox drops, and Mia gathers him up. He's snarling and spitting in her arms, but he doesn't try to bite her. She's glaring daggers at Zander.

The crowd is completely still, staring at us like they're waiting to see what will happen next.

Briony's words in the car echo in my ears.

You're the beta.

Well.

Time to do some beta shit, I guess.

I stand forward, partially shifting so my eyes are full wolf as I glare at Zander. "You are a fucking pack enforcer," I growl at him. "Your job is to protect the members of the pack. You fucking swing on one of them?"

Zander snarls back. "He attacked…"

"He is a juvenile fox shifter, asshole. You're the one who needed to be less of a dick in this situation. As your beta, I am commanding you to twenty-four-seven guard duty of the fox leash. Until we can bring the pack up to speed with how to integrate our new members, you're responsible for making sure every single last fucking one of them is happy, healthy, and safe. If I hear from her," I jab my thumb at Mia, "that you so much as made one of them mildly unhappy, you will be court-martialed. Understood?"

Zander bristles. I can tell that he wants to disagree, to say no. To do anything except say yes.

But then he gives me a curt nod. "Yes, Beta," he grunts.

He shifts, his clothes shredding off of him in a cloud, then sits, glaring at us.

I turn to everyone else. "Our alpha heard these people ask for help and responded. They are part of our pack now. I will make sure that we do everything in our power to help them be successful pack members. But let me be clear, if you have an issue with them, you take it up with me or with Thorne. Understood?"

There's a lot of murmuring, but everyone nods.

"Good. Go back to your jobs. Get out of here," I bark.

The crowd slowly disperses.

Mia lets the juvenile fox down and sighs. "Sorry. He just started shifting. And our dad was the alpha, so… he kind of thinks he's in charge."

"But he's not," Briony says. "You are."

"Yeah. Still. It's not exactly the welcome we were hoping for," she says softly.

I look around at their group. Seven kids, a couple who are still babies. Mia. The brother. Some elderly foxes.

"Zander is a dick, but he won't disobey orders," I say to the group. "He's going to keep you safe. In a week there's a town council meeting, and I'd like to introduce you formally as part of the pack, if you still want to join our pack," I add, looking at Mia.

She studies me, her green eyes serious. "We'll talk about it," she says quietly.

Mia nods at Briony, then turns to go back into her cabin.

Briony grabs my hand. "That's our cue to leave. You're sure Zander will do what you asked?"

"Yeah. Because if he doesn't, I'll fucking beat his ass," I grunt.

"You said you'd court-martial him," she says sternly.

"Yes. With my fists. And maybe my teeth."

"Evander…"

"Listen. You don't have to like it. It isn't nice. But that's kind of the way things are done in the Frat Pack."

As we get into the van, Briony raises an eyebrow. "So, you admit, you're part of a group of assholes, and the name fits."

"The name fits. But we're young male wolves, Bri. We need to keep each other in line, and sometimes we fuck it up. I'm trying to do better. I'm trying to be the beta for this pack," I add. "But I'm not… I'm not Thorne. I don't know how to do things right sometimes."

She doesn't answer.

I start the van, and we rumble back toward the wolf side of the territory. Briony keeps running her fingers through her hair, which I notice is something of a nervous habit. When we're about two minutes away from Briony's house, she turns to me.

"Thank you for helping."

Then she gets out.

Leaving me confused, and a little shell-shocked.

And still thinking of her lips.