Chapter Six
Ken sat in the passenger seat of Beth’s car.
“You smell like dog. Is your girlfriend a dog?” Beth eyed his outfit. “That’s another male shifter’s clothes. Is it a male dog shifter?”
“Elizabeth Louise Gartner. First, I just spent the morning in a dog rescue.” He counted off his fingers. “Second, don’t call Betty a dog. Ever. Third, these are her dad’s clothes and he’s not a dog shifter.”
“So she still lives with her parents.” She assessed the old house with the rusty chain link fence and crooked windows through the windshield.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. Drive.”
“Yes, beta sir.” Her voice sounded meek, but it was pretend. He knew when Beth was frightened. This wasn’t it. She peeled down the quiet street.
He closed his eyes. The beta job would be easier if it just meant he could crack heads, but Ryota didn’t approve of violence unless it was truly merited. The alpha had plans for their pack. Good plans, ones Ken approved and believed in. That meant he had to take an active role in those plans, like work for Ryota’s company.
Ken wanted to improve New Port. Model the downtown area for shifter families to live and hopefully bring more werewolves to the pack. He wanted to develop the area for their kind. Wide open parks, fountains, possibly a hunting ground if he could get the permits passed by the city council.
“You forgot to mention number four?” Beth continued their conversation as she pulled up to her work place, Scratch Your Itch.
“Hey, I need to get home.”
“Fourth, you’re going to be late for your breakfast meeting with Ryota. I saw the note on your fridge.”
“Shit, I smell like dog and dressed in another shifter’s clothes. I can’t go in like this.” Ken’s heart jack hammered. He’d been so focused on Betty he’d forgotten about his weekly breakfast meeting with his father. One on one powwow about investments and other shit.
“No worries. Your suit is in the back and you can wash up in our bathroom.” She popped out of the driver’s side and unlocked the back-scratching salon he adored while he gathered his stuff from the back of her vehicle. As he passed, she handed him her car keys. “Don’t have an accident with it.”
“You’re the best.” He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
He hurried to the bathroom and cleaned the dog smell off his skin with hand dispenser soap.
“I do.” Beth sang the answer from her desk. “You’re going to tell me every romantic detail about meeting your soulmate.”
He hung his head. “Not now.” He struggled with his tie as he came out.
She helped him with the knot. “Not now, but over dinner.”
“I’m taking her on a date.”
Beth jumped up and down, clapping her hands. “Where?”
“I’m not sure yet.” He slid on his tailored suit coat. Off the rack suits never fit his shoulders.
She tugged his jacket collar, nearly knocking him off his feet. “This is your first date, right?”
Wide-eyed, he stared at the intense omega. “Yes.” When had Beth gotten so strong?
“Then it’s very important you do this right and not duck it up.” She didn’t swear either. It was annoyingly cute.
“I’ll figure it out. I promise to make it nice.”
“No.” She held up her hand. “It has to be perfect. Something she won’t ever forget.”
The weight of responsibility on his shoulders threatened to bend his back. He wanted his first date with Betty to be memorable, but he also wanted to live. If he was late for this meeting, Ryota would hang him out the skyscraper window.
Again.
“Leave the arrangements to me. I’ll text you the details. What time are you supposed to pick her up?”
“Six.”
“Got it. You’re welcome, beta boy.”
“You’re the best.” He squeezed her in a hug until her back popped.
She squirmed free and fixed her hair. “Remind Ryota he has a five o’clock appointment with Angie?”
“You still avoiding him?”
“Like the plague.” She shuffled through some mail, avoiding eye contact.
What had happened between them? She used to worship the alpha.
“Okay.” He rushed to Beth’s car. His office was just a few blocks down the street so it only took a few minutes to travel.
He spotted a white dragon high in the sky on her way to work. Angie, the dragon, was the closest thing he had to a best friend. He honked his horn and waved out the window.
Ken had been raised in an orphanage until the administration had figured out he was a wolf shifter and handed him over to the pack. It hadn’t been long before Ryota decided to adopt him and change his life for the better. He’d gone from a lonely, poor brat to wealthy son of the alpha with a huge pack family overnight. All these things combined with his dominance tendencies made having friends difficult. It was probably why Ken was so lenient with Beth. She was one of the few people who teased him.
The streets were already lined with parked cars. Luckily, he had a reserved spot by the front door of work next to Ryota’s car, which was already parked. That meant he was in his office, waiting. Shit.
Ken rushed through the forest-like decorated lobby of the shifter-owned company. Plant fronds and branches snapped back in his wake as he made it to the empty elevator before the doors closed. He took the time to stop by his office and grab the latest financial reports then went to join his alpha.
The CEO of Ken’ichi Inc. had the top floor of the skyscraper for his office. Ryota sat at a dark, oak table gazing out of the ceiling to floor windows, admiring Angie as she flew.
She’d been his girlfriend before turning into a dragon. A subject Ken avoided at all cost. One didn’t poke a heartbroken alpha unless they wanted to be eaten.
Ken set the file on the table next to the coffee service tray and sat across from his father.
“You smell like dog. Did you adopt more strays?” Ryota still watched the dragon.
Ken sighed. The dispenser soap hadn’t been strong enough apparently. Ryota didn’t approve of pets and he didn’t approve of his father’s choices in women, so they agreed to disagree.
Ken poured the coffee, taking his black. Caffeine kept him alert, which he needed to survive this meeting.
A shadow fell over the room. Eoin, the black dragon of New Port, hovered in front of the window like a terrifying, giant humming bird. He snorted ash at Ryota. Who, in turn raised his cup to the dragon in salute.
“I hate him.”
The ash never touched his alpha since the windows were shatter proof.
Eoin dived to the street, setting off car alarms and rattling windows. Another normal day in New Port.
The butler entered with a trolley heaped with food.
Ken’s mouth watered as the scent of breakfast hit his senses. The burgers had been just a snack. He waited as the alpha served himself first then gestured for him to fill his plate.
As Ryota ate, he asked, “Why are you late?”
“I’m not. I’m on time.” He gestured to the clock on the wall to prove his point.
“Being on time, for you, is late. You’re normally ten minutes early.”
Sometimes, he thought working for a dumb alpha would be nicer. Ryota was sharp. All claws and teeth and scrutiny. No wiggle room to fuck up, even a little bit. He made Ken’s life difficult, but it was never boring.
He hesitated, not sure if he should tell Ryota about Betty just yet, considering his foul mood. Ryota’s stand regarding half-breeds reflected the rest of the country. If they couldn’t shift, they were legally human and not pack. Ken knew Ryota had been grooming him as his heir since the day they met. Claiming Betty wouldn’t be easy.
Yet not saying anything could be misunderstood. Ryota and the pack might think he was ashamed of Betty. That was the farthest from the truth. He’d been searching years for her and wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Eyes focused on his alpha. Never letting him out of his sight. “I met my soulmate this morning.” Ken shoveled eggs in his mouth.
Ryota set his silverware aside. “Congratulations. Who is the lucky she-wolf?” His wolfish smile always set Ken on edge. It made Ryota look on the verge of attack.
“She’s from out of town and owns Almost Home Animal Rescue.”
Ryota’s smile faded. “Betty Newman?”
Ken’s fork of spicy potatoes hung mid-way to his mouth. He didn’t know her last name. He hadn’t asked. Nice. How many Bettys could own a dog shelter in this city?
“You know her?” He fought a growl building in his chest and shoved more food in his mouth before dangerous words popped out. Exactly why did Ryota know his mate’s name and who she was? The alpha was a known player. Ken had witnessed it firsthand as a parade of females went in and out of their home as he had grown up. Ken would skin his alpha alive if Betty had been one of his women. Their family ties wouldn’t matter.
“She’s a half-breed that can’t shift from the Riverbend Pack. You must be mistaken. Soulmates are always shifters, not human.”
He set his fork down, unable to control the growl in his voice. “How do you know her?”
Ryota raised his eyebrow. “Her alpha was worried about her mental state when she left the pack. He asked me to keep an eye on her.”
Ken’s growl turned into a cough. “Oh.”
Ryota leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Does she shift now?”
“Not that I know.” She’d admitted to being unable to change shape, but Father had a point. Only shifters could develop into soulmates.
“Did she admit to being human?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t change anything. She smells like a shifter.” His vision glazed over at the memory. “And like mine.” He couldn’t wait to see her tonight and bury his—
Ryota banged the table with his fist. “Snap out of it.”
Ken blinked, clearing his mind of Betty dreams.
“I can’t allow this mating if she can’t change shape.” Ryota rubbed his temples as if fighting off a headache. “What are you thinking, claiming her as a soulmate? Like I don’t have enough issues to deal with.” He bared his teeth, not in his version of a pleasant smile this time. “Every human with a drop of shifter blood will be demanding pack rights across the country if I allow you to claim her. The other packs will fucking descend on us like a nuclear warhead.”
Ryota jumped to his feet, crossing to Ken’s side of the table.
He rose to meet the attack, heart in throat. “I’m not giving her up. We just met. I haven’t even had the time to find out her last name.”
Ryota paused. “Can she smell it? The soulmate bond.”
Ken grimaced. “No.”
The alpha snarled. “The dragon I have no control over, but you.” He smacked Ken upside the head in the same place Betty had. “You should know better.”
His head ached from the abuse and the drugs and the lack of real sleep.
Ryota straightened his jacket and smoothed his dark hair in place. “You’ve wrecked my appetite.” He returned to his seat and sipped coffee.
Ken had wrecked his own as well. If Ryota didn’t acknowledge Betty as a shifter, she would never be considered his soulmate. He could claim her as a human wife. It was mocking what they had—something rare and special—but pack well-being came first.
“You stink of rebellion.” Ryota stared out the window.
Ken leaned back in his chair and rolled the tension out of his shoulders.
“You’re an excellent beta.” Ryota kept sipping his coffee. “The pack loves and respects you. We’ll all be unhappy if you break the law. Take the girl as a lover.” He grimaced. “Even a wife.” Leveling an amber glare in Ken’s direction, Ryota fisted his clawed hands. The muscles in his shoulders expanded, straining the seams of his expensive tailored suit. “Not a soulmate.”
Ken thumped his chest. “I can’t turn how I feel off like a tap. I’ve never experienced something this strong and you want me to lie? Nobody is going to fall for it.”
His alpha massaged the bridge of his nose. “Have you told anyone?”
Ken swallowed with a throat gone dry. “Beth.”
Ryota closed his eyes and counted to ten out loud. “That means everyone in the pack already knows.” He shoved away from the table. “If she’s truly your soulmate, then Betty must be a shifter. We don’t bond to humans. Teach her to change shape.”
“Or?”
The cold look his father aimed his way chilled Ken to the marrow. “The welfare of the pack always comes first, son. You’ve cornered me by publicly claiming a human as a soulmate.”
“She smells like shifter.”
“Then prove it before news of this spreads and I’m forced to kill her.”