Page 68 of Starting a New Life

My wolf huffed. He didn’t need to pay anyone. I’d take care of it. Once my pack found out exactly why he’d stolen from them, I imagined most would be sympathetic. And even if they weren’t, I’d take care of it. Discreetly.

I sighed.

“What do you want to bring to the packhouse?”

Nix bit his lip, then shook his head.

“You know what? Just leave it here for now. I don’t need any of it.” Nix crossed his arms in front of his chest, his eyes zeroed in on the tent, carefully avoiding my gaze. I wanted to go over and hug him, apologize properly, but his whole stance screamed for me to keep my distance.

So I did. I kept my distance as Nix turned around and started trudging back to the ATV, pace brisk, tension radiating off him.

Levi gave me a long look, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“Go with him. We’ll pack his things. He’ll want them later.”

I gave him a grateful smile and trailed after Nix, keenly aware that I’d just fucked up royally.

Nix had gone up to his room without even so much as looking at me, his shoulders hiking up further and further with every step he’d taken toward the packhouse. His scent had spiked, fear rolling off him in waves, mingling with his natural scent, and then it’d just… stopped. It was gone. Completely.

My wolf howled, thrashing in my chest, the loss of Nix’s scent a visceral pain to him.

And to me.

“Is now a bad time?” Oakley asked, his round cheeks bright red from the cold. He must’ve run here.

“No, not at all,” I reassured him and forced myself to take my eyes off the staircase. Nix wouldn’t come down anytime soon.

Because I’d spooked him.

Fuck.

“Okay. Paul and I talked to Nick and Connie and reviewed the documents Nick’s parents provided. They were thorough. Paul is no lawyer, but he says everything looks good. Then again, from what Nick told me, his parents are fully on board with him living here, so I can’t imagine we’re gonna have problems on that front. Conrad, on the other hand…”

I sighed, raking a hand through my hair.

“Let’s go to my office.”

Oakley snorted. “Paul will be with us shortly, he has to take care of a runaway cat first. Of course he does. What else would a Mountie do in a place like this? It’s not like we have much crime here.”

“Ohh, don’t be so sure about that,” I said, rolling my eyes as I thought back to last spring and a two-month period in which two neighbours had been at war. “Remember Mrs. Connelly and Mr. Sutton?”

Oakley shuddered. “Forgot all about them. I’m so glad they’re not shifters and thus not my problem. I can only imagine playing mediator for them.”

I opened the door to my office and nodded.

“Anyway, you talked to Nick and Connie? I want to check in with them later.”

“Yeah.” Oak nodded, a smile creeping onto his face, the apples of his cheeks glowing. “I introduced them to Danny, Farah, and the lot about an hour ago. They’ve been in the gaming room ever since.”

“That’s good.” I nodded, then sat behind my desk, remembering Nix’s wide eyes as he took everything in last night. My heart dropped, chest aching. He was so close, yet felt so far away, our bond pulling at me, my wolf urging me to give in to the pull.

We’re the Alpha, I told him firmly. We have responsibilities. He huffed in annoyance. Because yeah, when Rhett had found his mate, I’d told him to take time off. To delegate. The problem was, as an Alpha, that wasn’t something I could easily do. Especially now, with two pups seeking refuge and a whole different pack trying to get their disgusting paws on my mage.

“How are they holding up?”

Oak took a minute to think about that. He was good at reading people, his intuition far surpassing mine. Then again, he’d studied psychology. Reading people was kind of his job.

“As well as can be expected. They’re shaken but strong. I think it’s good that they can lean on each other, but we need to be careful about not writing them off as basically adults. No matter how mature they behave, they’re not. They’re kids, and they went through quite a lot of trauma.”