Page 8 of Watch Me

Riley and I moved to clear the table while Fowler went to grab spare clothes. It only took a few minutes before the sound of Ricky’s laughter reached me through the screened-door.

Speaking of impulsive and stupid…I willed myself not to think about how Ricky looked when shirtless and sweaty earlier in the day. No reason to imagine it when he was walking into the house in loose shorts and nothing else. Less sweaty, but still exposed and sexy as sin.

“What’s up, King?” Rel asked, coming in similarly dressed behind Ricky.

Couldn’t Fowler have found the men some shirts? Not that I was attracted to Rel, even if he was the only single male omega in the pack. Nope, my traitorous dick only had eyes for a certain beta wolf.

“We have some news regarding the bears,” Fowler started, before Riley stepped up to offer them food and drinks. They turned down the food, but took water and joined me at the table. “Jed MacTaryn is in critical condition and is not likely to wake up.”

“That’s good news, right?” Ricky asked before taking a big gulp of his cold water. His throat bobbed and I watched the movement before looking down at my hands. “He’s a miserable old mad and a bad Alpha.”

“True, but we don’t know who will be in charge next,” I pointed out. The bear population was down to only their family in California, as far as we knew. “With the twins both being the oldest alpha in their pack, there might be a power struggle.”

“They are the exact same age, unless you count the minutes they were born apart,” Rel commented in his soft, quiet voice, the opposite of Ricky’s excited tone. “And that they’re practically joined at the hip.”

Fowler sat at the head of the table and took Riley’s hand. “There’s also the fact that I’ll be traveling with Riley to Mexico next week. He’s doing a story that requires research on the cartels and being out of cell range. I don’t want him going alone, especially with his next heat approaching.”

“Of course,” I agreed. No way should mates be separated in a dangerous situation. “You’d be no use to us thinking about him out there alone.”

“Exactly,” Fowler nodded and looked at me and then Ricky.

For a second, I had the wild idea that he knew about my little slip with the younger man. That Fowler would chastise us for doing something so stupid. Pack mates shouldn’t be fooling around when we need to focus on the danger at hand. And especially not someone as old as me with the beta. But of course, Fowler didn’t know about our indiscretion.

“I want you and Ricky to look out for the pack while I’m gone.”

The weight of another alpha relying on me wasn’t new, even though I’d given up my position as Alpha’s second in command. Looking at Ricky, I saw his eyes widen in surprise. Was he really so shocked Fowler wanted to rely on him? He was the pack enforcer. It was his job to protect us.

Narrowing my eyes, I cleared my throat and looked back at Fowler. “We won’t let you down, Alpha.”

Fowler reached out and I took his rough, outstretched hand in mine. “I know you won’t. Thank you, Uncle Clark.”

Whether Ricky was up for the job or not, I would protect this pack to my dying breath.

Chapter five

Ricky

Sometimes,beingabetawolf made me feel…irrelevant. Alphas were leaders and omegas were caretakers. Sometimes they were breeders, too, contributing to the next generation. Betas were not quite as strong as Alphas, not as nurturing as omegas. So when King singled me out to help protect the pack? I was proud.

My club jacket named me as Sergeant at Arms, the enforcer, but this task felt like I was actually fulfilling the role.

Glancing at Fin to see if he was proud of me, I saw an odd look in his eyes. Was it judgement? Fin looked at me like I was too immature. Did he think I was going to let the pack down? No. I was going to prove him wrong.

“Rel, we should head home,” I stood from the table and my friend nodded. Despite his insistence he napped his shift away, Rel still needed sleep. Looking toward Fin, I caught his green eyes in my gaze. “But we should discuss logistics first.”

Fin gave me a wary glance before mumbling and standing up, “It can wait until tomorrow.”

“No, it can’t,” I insisted, stepping toe-to-toe with him. “We don’t know when old Jed will kick the bucket.”

“He’s right,” Merle King agreed, rolling into the room. He likely heard the whole conversation from his bedroom around the corner. “Best to make a plan sooner rather than after it happens.”

“Alright.” Fin cleared his throat. “I’ll meet you back at the shop?”

“Your bike is here. I’ll ride bitch,” I told him while grinning.

“Don’t let Channing hear you use that term,” Riley called out with a laugh from where he was doing dishes.

“Fine, pillion,” I amended.