Chapter 2: Dean

2

DEAN

O pening the top buttons of my shirt with one hand, I push open the front door, desperate to get inside my home and pretend the last few hours didn’t happen.

The launch was wild. Literally. The added drama provided by a female in heat gave me a glimpse of the madness that’s coming my way, and I’m dreading it. All those people, the myriad of scents, my wolf is on edge, and I don’t blame him. This is way outside of our comfort zone.

Alpha Blake Steel is torturing me. It’s the only explanation for choosing me to host these games. I’m not sure what I did to offend him, but he clearly hates me. I used to like him, but I'm not so sure anymore.

“Most people would think that being asked to host the games is an honour,” Callum points out, standing in the pitch-black hallway, big arms folded across his broad chest.

Not bothering to hide my groan at finding him waiting for me, I hang up my jacket and dump my bag on the floor inside the door.

“Then most people are idiots.”

The Grey Ridge pack, who hosted the launch this evening, offered me a place to stay for the night. I was considering it, but I just couldn’t face any more polite conversations.

Callum eyes the bag, knowing that declining their invitation to stay won’t help my efforts to rebuild our pack’s relationships with our neighbours.

He knew I’d be back, or he wouldn’t be here hiding in the dark to ambush me. It irks me that I’m so predictable.

“Don’t say a word. If I’d stayed there in this mood, I definitely wouldn’t have helped us make friends.”

As soon as I got to the brewery and saw the crowds pouring in, I knew I’d be coming home. Everyone else was there to have fun. They came to watch the competitors battling it out on the gruelling obstacle course, whereas I was there to work. And there’s only so much peopling I can do in one day. My social battery was dead after about five minutes. I understand the idea of networking; logically I know the benefit of it, but the mere thought of it has me breaking out in a cold sweat.

“You say that as if you’re ever in any other mood.” Callum leans against the dark wooden doorframe, watching me with barely concealed amusement as I flex my fingers, still sore from punching that idiot wolf.

“Shut up,” I grunt. He’s ruining the best part of the evening for me.

“I didn’t say anything. But if you can’t make it through three hours, how are you going to cope with hundreds of wolves roaming our territory for weeks? You can’t punch everyone who steps out of line. Maggie will be busy enough healing accidental injuries.”

I grunt and turn away. Callum doesn’t expect an answer, because he knows I haven’t got one. It’s a good question, though. How am I going to manage for that length of time, with strange wolves pouring into our lands? Our borders have remained closed to outsiders for decades. When I sought to end our isolation and restart trade and travel with the other packs, I wasn’t expecting to be thrown in the deep end, hosting such a large event.

I’m guessing that’s exactly why Alpha Steel asked me to do it.

It’s a test, to see how serious I am about bringing my pack back into the fold. To see how much things have changed around here.

And it’s a test that I must pass with flying colours if I’m to rehabilitate our pack’s poor reputation.

“I’ll manage. Just make sure we have lots of whiskey, and that nobody gets in here .” My cabin is my sanctuary away from the packhouse. The only space I really have for myself. Everywhere else is still tainted with memories of the past. I can’t have strangers traipsing through here, disrupting the only place I find any peace.

We’ll have a problem on our hands if my wolf doesn’t get a break from all the displays of bravado and dominance I’ll be forced to witness.

“Don’t worry, Lynn is on it. The packhouse has plenty of rooms for visiting dignitaries. We won’t make you take a roommate just yet.”

Callum watches me carefully as I move into the sitting room and lounge back on the couch, arms behind my head.

“I know this is hard, Dean. But we all appreciate what you’re doing here.”

Nodding, I force myself to focus on the positives. The Alpha Games are our big chance to show the other packs, the packs my father alienated during his reign, that I am a different man. That my pack isn’t full of half rabid, vicious wolves who can’t be integrated back into society.

That they can trust us again.

During the games, my wolves can interact with shifters from all different territories without having to take the scary step of leaving our lands for the first time. There could be matings, and babies conceived, all of which would be very welcome in a pack with rapidly dwindling numbers.

And hopefully, by the end of it, I won’t have fallen out with the other alphas. They’ll be more open to doing business with us again, and we can start to rebuild our finances.

A second chance for us all is within reach. It’s a cause for celebration.

And yet, I know it will only work if I can keep my cool and dispel the bad reputation that follows us around. With a beast like mine, that’s easier said than done.

Looking down at my grazed knuckles, I sigh. It’s not exactly a great start. But tonight, my wolf was on edge. If I hadn’t punched that guy, the animal inside me was going to deal with it himself.

And I couldn’t let that happen.

Always quick to assert his dominance after years of being forced to submit to my father, and constantly needing to be on guard, he was waiting for something to happen all evening, but the stubborn beast wouldn’t tell me what.

We were being watched; I knew that the moment they arrived. With the sheer number of wolves around, it was impossible to pinpoint their scent, but whoever it was, didn’t have the nerve to step out of the shadows. Yet.

We’ll see what happens over the coming weeks. There are plenty of people who still hold a grudge against this pack, and by extension, against me, for what my father did in the past. I have no doubt that whoever it is will step forward to air their grievances over the course of the competition.

Great. Can’t wait.

“Try to focus on how much fun it will be putting all these hotshot alphas through endless painful challenges and just generally making their lives hell,” Callum says with a grin, knowing that thought will lift my spirits. “Don’t get mad. Get even.”

I scoff at his gleeful expression but can’t help smiling back as I picture the first task they must complete. He’s right. I am going to enjoy that part.

Nobody competing in the competition has been here before. They don’t know the terrain; they have no idea what challenges we will throw at them. It’s another part of the reason Steel selected us to host. Nobody knows what to expect.

“You should have seen them. Most were idiots. High-fiving each other for running a fifty-yard obstacle course.” That was child’s play compared to the elaborate endurance test that I’ve planned for the first round.

“Do they think that jumping through some tires and climbing a wall will be enough to deserve a pack? It’s going to be interesting to see who rises to the top.” Callum’s loving this as much as me.

In my opinion, my loyal beta would have as good a chance as any of the shifters coming, but so far, he’s refused to enter. I’ve given up pestering him because I get that being the top dog isn’t for everyone. I barely want this job myself some days, but my wolf would never tolerate submitting to another wolf, so here we are.

“They have no idea what’s coming. Although the winner tonight was good, Ryan something-or-other . He’s one to watch.” He was cocky as hell, though. The kind of guy it’d be hard to be happy for if he wins. I grimace at the thought of sitting opposite his smug face at one of Blake’s alpha meetings.

Callum nods, knowing exactly who I’m talking about. “Ryan Williams. Third in line to his pack. Annoying as fuck.”

I grin. That’s a pretty accurate assessment. A bit blunter than I’m allowed to call it, given I’m supposed to be impartial to these proceedings.

“He didn’t even have to compete tonight; just did it to be a dick and stop someone else from getting a pass to round two.” Callum continues his character assassination, looking like he’s just getting going. There must be some bad blood there but now’s not the time to delve into it.

“Let’s go over the plan in the morning and get an update from Beckett.”

My wolf is restless. Maybe scenting the female in heat is what has him so tense. I was surprised at how easy it was to get him out of there.

“I saw the changes. It wasn’t evil enough for you already?” With a dark chuckle, Callum drags a hand down his tanned face, the rasp of his palm over coarse stubble, telling of the hours he's been putting in lately. He’s normally clean shaven and fresh faced. The bags under his eyes tell me he needs a rest as badly as I do.

“I might have had some new ideas.” I admit, kicking my feet up onto the coffee table and resting my head on the back of the sofa to ease the ache building inside my skull.

Everyone is tired. When the competition is over, and I get to kick the last person off my territory, I'll give everyone in the pack a couple of days off and a huge party. It's the least I can do. Everyone’s been working their asses off to get things ready.

My eyes slide closed, and I sink down deeper, melting into the cushions.

“Don’t fall asleep there. You need a proper night’s rest,” Callum says, pointing toward my bedroom like the mother hen that he is.

“Close the door on your way out,” I mumble, longing for a few moments of silence and alone time before the madness of the games begins. And not appreciating being told what to do. Even if he’s right.

“Night, boss.” There’s a smile in Callum’s voice at my rude dismissal. He knows me too well to get offended. Only when he presses a twenty into my open hand do I realise he’s not quite gone yet. “Give that to Lynn for me. I bet her twenty you’d meet your mate at the launch. Since you’re home and all alone, I guess I was wrong.”

Growling, I scrunch the note up and toss it at him. “Give it to her yourself.”

The prospect of my fated mate walking straight onto my territory and turning my life upside down is a source of endless amusement for my two best friends. As if I don’t already have enough on my plate.

“I have a hundred bucks on the table with her that you’ll fall for some pack princess who arrives to watch the second round. We need to run a book for all these bets she’s making before she robs us blind.”

Callum tips his head back and laughs. “Ah, but the difference here is I want to meet my mate, Dean. Pack princess or not.”

Solid and always in control, Callum will make a great mate and husband. Unlike me.

“Then you’re a bigger fool.” The wolf inside me snarls at my disrespectful comments. This is the only topic we’re divided on. To wolves, fated mates are sacred, and should be treasured and revered. He longs for his but given the messed-up home life I had, and the endless work I have ahead of me rebuilding the pack, all I can picture is hassle.

“Yes, yes. You don’t want a mate. You’re far too busy and important.” Callum mocks me by repeating what I’ve been telling him for weeks, ever since Blake Steel dropped the bombshell that the Alpha Games would be held here. “Remember, fate has a cruel way of giving us exactly what we need , not what we want . Which means you, my friend, are right in the cross hairs. Because you badly need to live a little.”

I scowl at him before resting my head back on the cushions again and willing an end to this irritating conversation. “I don’t need a mate. Or partying. I need a quiet house, and for the next few weeks to be over.”

Striding toward the door, Callum tosses me an infuriatingly smug grin. He knows me better than anyone, and he knows that while I crave solitude, I’m not truly happy alone. No wolf is. I’ve considered taking a chosen mate before, with no contact with the outside world that’s become the norm in our pack, but I have no interest in dating, and even less in making small talk, so it feels like I’d be faking it.

Plus, the pack needs me to provide a stable atmosphere. I don’t need dramatic break-ups or gossip about who I’m involved with and whether they’ll make a good luna distracting from the work I’m doing.

Temporarily forsaking my love life is a sacrifice I need to make to protect my pack. Or at least, that’s what I tell my wolf when he sulks about me not trying to find her. My fated mate.

“Whatever you say, boss. Whatever. You. Say.”