14. Ranger

FOURTEEN

RANGER

Matt shivered as he sat in the kitchen while I made the cocoa.

He had a blanket over his shoulders and was wearing my dad's purple slippers. Shit, I should have come down earlier and built a fire, but I'd been enjoying having Matt beside me. Until his nightmares began.

Mating him was a done deal. I couldn't take that back. But he was free to live his life, with or without me. Perhaps I was kidding myself when I said I mated him to protect him from Dane. Perhaps I'd done it for selfish reasons.

Matt wrapped his hands around the cocoa while I strode toward the fireplace. There was a pitter-pattering behind me as he followed at my heels, dragging the blanket and holding the cocoa. He sat cross-legged on one of the sofas, Dad's purple slippers poking out of the blanket while I got the fire started.

Hunter had brought in and stacked the firewood when we were last here and made sure there was kindling and matches, so I didn't have to venture out to the shed. Matt slurped his hot drink behind me as the fire roared to life.

"That's nice."

I got my cocoa and sat opposite him.

"If I didn't know who you were, I'd never believe you are part of a dark underworld. This house and everything in it, the way you cook dinner, make a fire, and a hot drink suggests a quiet normality."

I wished I could stamp out his belief that we were different. Other than us being shifters, "We're just like any other family."

He didn't respond, and we sat in silence. No snarkiness from Matt, no defensiveness from me, and no avoiding the truth from either of us.

But a trilling from somewhere in the house had Matt shriek and leap up, his cup flying into the air. Dad would have had a fit if the carpets were soaked in hot chocolate, but the cup was empty. I didn't get up but outstretched my hand and caught it.

"No, you're not like other people. Most people, most human beings, can't do what you just did."

"Hold that thought." I tore over to the bottom of the stairs and skidded to a halt as I remembered Matt needing to stay within reach. I yelled over my shoulder, "I'll be back. Going to get my phone."

The ringing stopped before I got to my bedroom. Flint. It was six in the morning, but the dark sky had middle-of-the-night energy. The phone battery was at thirty percent, but it occurred to me I could charge it in the car if I had to. And I had the other phone, the one that stayed with the house.

"Ranger, do you have power?"

I told him we didn't. They did at my place, though half the city was in darkness. He said that despite the awful weather, the crews were out fixing the lines.

"There are rumblings about your wolf destroying Dane's car and injuring him and his bodyguards."

I didn't need that additional complication in my life. But what shifter gave a shit about that. If the injured party had a problem, our beasts would fight, and once one shifter dealt the other a decisive blow, we'd call it a day. For a more serious crime, we'd fight to the death as we had with Emilio and his traitors.

Something fishy was going on.

"Not true. How I described it yesterday is how it went down."

"There's been a complaint made to the Supreme Shifter Council."

The Obsidian Circle didn't have their own council as most packs did. Dane was the law. But the SSC as we called it was an overreaching council, where any shifter, not just wolves, could take their grievances. But Dane had never been inclined to consult with others or abide by their orders.

"They want to talk to you."

"Well, until the flooding subsides, I can't go anywhere."

"Online."

Fuck! I hadn't expected those older shifters to be so tech savvy.

"And here's the kicker."

"There's more?" What else could there be?

"They say you interfered in another pack's business and helped a human intending to bring down the mafia shifter packs."

This was too much, and I dug the heel of my hand in one eye.

Flint continued. "Which you kinda did."

"No. He was undercover with the Obsidian guys. He wasn't aiming for anything else other than Dane and his thugs. You know what they're like. You hate him and his pack. But also, he's my mate."

I was stretching the truth because Matt hadn't said one hundred percent he was only looking at Dane's pack. But that was the impression I got.

"You're going to have to defend your actions. Today. 7 A.M. And Matt will have to be present after you've spoken to them to verify your story."

"That's in less than an hour."

"Ranger!" Matt's plaintive voice reached up the stairs.

"Coming," I yelled back.

"Is that your mate? He sounds kinda needy."

"Hey. I never complained about Tony winning verbal arguments and twisting you in knots, big bro."

"We're not kids, Ranger." Except Flint was using his big-brother voice. "This isn't a competition."

Sure sounded like it.

"Matt doesn't know about us."

"Better get him up to speed." He ended the call, and the phone beeped when he sent the link to the online meeting.

I practically slid down the stairs. Matt was waiting at the bottom, the end of the quilt twisted in his hand.

"Why you'd take so long?

I reached out, and after a slight hesitation, he walked into my arms as though he belonged there. "My brother likes to talk."

"Oh."

I sat him on the couch. "There's been a complication."

"Dane?" His voice was decibels higher than normal.

"No." How did I explain this? "There's a governing body that we answer to, and they expect me to explain my actions regarding Dane's accident."

"The mafia have a system of government? I thought if you were good, you kept your head, and if not." He slid a finger across his throat.

"No, there are rules." I got on my knees at his feet and picked up his right hand, the one with my mark. "You won't understand much of what's about to happen."

"To me?" he squeaked.

"No, this is about me."

"Why do you keep saying I won't understand? Tell me. Just lay it all out."

"I will." I had to. But not before the conference call. "After we speak to the elders." I rushed on, not wanting my mate to question me about the use of the word elders. "All you have to do is tell the truth about what happened in the car."

"But I was unconscious for some of it."

I explained he could relate what happened before and after that.

He picked at his robe. "I'll need to change."

"Me too."

Neither of us wanted to shower, as upstairs was so cold, so I left Matt to brush teeth and dress in Dad's clothes. I met him at his door, and we went downstairs where it was warm. The phone was at 25%, so it should last for the length of the conference call.

"I'm nervous." Matt's knees were shaking and he gripped them.

"They won't be able to see your hands."

"Can I hold yours?" He reached out. Was that a first?

I explained I had to give my testimony in a separate room. "But I'll be nearby when you speak."

He gave me an odd look. "I'm not sure why having you close makes me feel better, but it does."

My wolf awww-ed at that, thinking Matt was warming to us. I didn't disagree, because perhaps. But my mind was on the upcoming meeting and how Matt hadn't had coffee or anything to eat. The SSC elders wouldn't look kindly at us slurping drinks and stuffing toast in our mouths, so we'd have to eat later.

"Ready?" I nudged Matt with my knee, and he nodded. "I'll be in the study."

It would have been easier to do this on a laptop, but the phone would have to do.

The ominous ringing had Matt press his thigh on mine. I kissed his marked palm, and he didn't yank his hand away.

With a finger to my lips, I traipsed into the study, the low temperature enough to make my wolf shiver.

"Excellency." I bobbed my head as the face of Ambrose, the head SSC shifter appeared on my phone.

"Ranger. I expected to be drinking my first coffee, but here I am talking to you." Four additional windows popped up with the faces of four council elders, a total of three wolves, one bear, and a dragon. They groused about being roused from their beds, and the dragon complained the weather had dampened his fire.

When my grandfather was our pack Alpha, the SSC had been created and was above reproach. There had never been a hint they had accepted bribes to ignore shifter misdeeds. Not that I'd committed a crime.

"Speak, Ranger. I wish to go back to bed," Ambrose instructed.

"Yesterday I was near The Obsidian Circle headquarters. Traffic was backed up. The rain made it impossible to see much and the water was rising. There was a crash, and I went to offer assistance. There were three shifters in the car and a human. Matt."

"How did a shifter cause an accident? Surely he would have hit the brakes?" elder, Ervin noted.

"I can't answer that." That was true. He should have, but it wasn't my job to come up with possible scenarios. From what Matt had said, it was because the guy wasn't familiar with the vehicle.

"Matt was unconscious when I reached the car, and knowing the other three were alive but would recover, I rescued him."

"That's it? Some fool made a complaint and got me out of bed for this?" Ambrose growled.

I stayed quiet, allowing the elders' anger and frustration to fester.

"We need to hear from the human." Ambrose adjusted the angle of his computer.

"I'll get him."

Back in the main room, I introduced Matt to the elders and five heads peered close to the screen. Matt took the phone, and I made myself scarce. Unlike my mate, I'd be able to hear what they were saying.

"H-H-Hello. I'm M-Matt."

My mate's stuttering upset both me and my beast.

We should be with him .

Not yet , I told him.

"Please relate your experience yesterday." That was Ambrose's voice.

"I was in the car with Dane and two bodyguards. The one driving… his foot must have slipped and the car charged forward, hitting another one. The next thing I remember is Ranger carrying me."

"Hmmm. And why were you in Dane's car?"

That was Clyde, and I hadn't expected them to ask that.

"He was going to kill me?"