WE ARRIVE AT the home of the American Alpha. I want to jump out and go to Maiya. The fact that she’s been so distant all the way here doesn’t bode well for me.
I knew she wouldn’t be comfortable near Devon, and I tried to suggest other plans, but Jared seemed determined to get the two females together. Even if it wasn’t what Maiya wanted. So that pissed me off. But we’re here on pack business, so I do my job and stand by my alpha.
A guy named Brody walks up and shakes Jared’s hand. ‘Nice to meet you, sir, heard a lot about you.’
Jared grunts, nodding his head. Making the guy stumble a little on his next words. ‘I’ve been told to show you around and get you comfortable before Max comes down to meet you.’ Max is their pack alpha.
‘Why isn’t he here now?’ Jared demands, and he quakes a little. It’s fucking comical. I’ve never been able to get over the fact that people act like this around him. I mean, sure, he is our alpha, and more now than his dad, I guess. We’d been away long enough from home for that to be official. But he’s just Jared—my best mate.
The guy almost falls over himself.
‘He has a meeting and will be along soon. He sent his apologies.’
Again, Jared grunts. I get a whiff of the guy’s fear, and I see Jared’s nostrils flare too. We do have a name for ourselves, but I don’t get why he’s so fucking scared. We’re not here for them. Howard looks at me, and I know what the look is, something’s off here. I nod and as the guy gestures for us to follow we all move into a formation surrounding Jared and the females. I see Maiya watching me as I move closer to her. I don’t know what she’s watching for, but I don’t pay it any mind. I’m on alert, and my head is in the game. No one is around, and we’re led to a big house at the end of the driveway. Several other houses lead up to it, but there isn’t a soul in sight. Fuck knows where they all are. I’m looking at each one as we pass when I see a curtain twitch. A small head pops up, and little brown eyes meet mine. A kid. I smile, and he waves, right before bigger hands pull him away from the window and correct the curtains. Strange. We get to the main house, and Howard asks where we will be staying.
‘Oh, in the big house at the back. I’ll show you around, and then you can have a rest or whatever you want?’
‘I want to get straight to fucking work, so you can go and get Max now—not fucking later,’ Jared tells him in a don’t fuck with me tone. I’d normally make light of a situation like this, but when we’re on another pack’s turf, you don’t joke with your alpha. You treat him like he’s God. Otherwise, no other pack will take us seriously. And we didn’t get our reputation for being the funny guys.
This guy is nearly pissing his pants as he gets his phone out and dials—for Max I assume. He walks us around the house to another house around the back. There are no other houses around this one like the first. It just stands alone in the middle of what looks like a massive courtyard. Walls surround it on all sides. Brody is getting more and more nervous. He’s about five-eleven and built like a tank. He must be my age or thereabouts, but he seems shit scared. Something is definitely off here, and I don’t like it. When we arrive at the house he stands on the wooden veranda with the door open for us to enter, no one moves. Howard looks at me, and I take up his space as he, Harrison, and Jacob go in without us. I stand in front of Brody with my arms crossed.
‘How about you go in and show the guys around.’ I clench my jaw as I talk.
He jumps to it. ‘Oh. Umm y…yeah sure,’ he says as he enters after them. I hear him telling Howard which way the kitchen is when his phone rings. He answers, and I hear him tell Max that Jared doesn’t want to wait. I strain my ears, but I can’t hear the response. Jared chuckles, and I know he’s heard it too.
‘Yeah, I did… I know… sorry… yeah, it is. Jared wants to get right to work, so wants to see you now… okay… yes, sir.’ I look over at Jared and wrinkle my nose. Fucking sir? He rolls his eyes in agreement. A couple of minutes later, they all come back out.
‘House is clean,’ Howard states and Brody’s eyes widen in realisation at what was actually happening. But he doesn’t say anything.
‘How long have you lived here?’ Devon asks him. He looks embarrassed.
‘Not too long. How did you know?’ he speaks directly to her, smiling. And Jared grumbles his disapproval but doesn’t say anything.
‘Your accent gives you away.’ She smiles.
‘Came here a couple of years ago now, with my mom and sister.’ He doesn’t sound overjoyed about it either. ‘Anyway, I’ll leave you guys to it. Max is on his way. He’s only at my house, so won’t be long,’ he says, and I hear the pitch in his voice change when he says it. I’m not the only one that does either.
‘With your mom and sister?’ Howard asks. Brody looks at him and nods his head, swallowing hard. ‘Your father?’
He shakes his head.
‘He’s dead. Max is just her boyfriend.’ Howard nods his head in acceptance with no further questions. We enter the house, and it’s pretty decent. Nothing to write home about but nice all the same. I make my way around the ground floor, pretty standard: kitchen, dining room and then a formal room and a door to a cellar, or basement, as they say here. I head back to the kitchen to wait to see what Jared wants us to do.
‘Ladies. I want you out of the way for this one,’ I hear him announce as I walk in. Devon, of course, begins to argue. I look over to Maiya and catch her hands shaking. It’s time she had her fix. I know she’s pissed at me and no doubt won’t ask, so I take charge of it and tell Jared I’ll walk the women upstairs and out of the way. Devon is still fucking arguing. But a glare from Jared and she realises he isn’t budging on this. We’ve all had the feeling something is off, and he wants them out of the way. I understood that completely. I’d need to be quick.
‘Zoe, where’s your medical bag?’
She taps the strap of her backpack, and we head up the stairs. There are lots of bedrooms, some bigger than others, but I don’t have time to choose, so I stick my head in through the second door and walk in. There’s only one bed and a chair, and I wasn’t sleeping on that fucking thing so we’d have to sort another room out later. Maybe Zoe could bunk with her or something? I don’t know. Devon and Zoe come in after Maiya and me, and Zoe starts to unzip her backpack while Maiya, now extremely shaky, sits on the bed. I take my hoodie off and sit in the chair while Zoe straps a tourniquet around my arm. I pump my fist, and she sticks the needle in, and I watch as the burgundy looking fluid fills up to the brim. When we started out doing this, she was really careful and always used cotton wool and tape after, now she just leaves me to do it myself. Devon sticks a plaster to my arm as I turn to look for Zoe’s bag. I smile, but she isn’t looking at me. Her eyes are on Maiya and the blissful look she’s now got on her face. The complete opposite to only moments ago. I watch as she gulps back an obvious lump in her throat. Her friend looks like your typical junkie. I feel all kinds of sicko watching her bliss out as a part of me enters her body. I can’t help but fucking like it. I feel the need to touch her for a minute. She’s always really happy and blissful right after she injects. I hold her hand a minute and tell her I’ll be back when we’ve sorted out business. Her eyes focus on mine, and she smiles. Fuck, yeah, I did that. I smile back and move to leave. Devon starts to follow, but I stop her in the hall.
‘Jared wants you to stay here.’
‘I’m not trying to go with you. I just wanted to ask, if you know…’ she gestures towards the door with her head. ‘if she’ll be up for talking? I don’t wanna mess it up with bad timing.’
‘I think now is the best time. You have a small window where she’ll be totally blissed out, so make it count. Give her something to think about.’
Her eyes widen, and she looks worried.
‘Devon, it’s fucking obvious you care, to everyone but her. She just doesn’t see things like we do right now—but she will.’
‘Wow, Brad. You’ve changed lately, you know that?’
‘Nah, I’m still the same fine ass black guy I was when I woke up this morning.’
She smacks me on the arm.
‘Seriously, Brad. I’m glad she has you.’
I don’t know what to say to that because it’s like she can see right through me, so I just nod my head and leave her at the door.