Eleven

Aaron pressed the gas pedal to make his truck go faster. The quicker they settled this shit with the wolves, the quicker he could settle things with Lexington. And he needed to make things right, because he was all twisted up inside over her.

There was no denying the bond that was growing between them. Not now, when he could feel her sadness so blatant and strong that it choked him.

He’d been trying to explain how fate had brought the two of them together through tragedy. He could see it like a roadmap leading him to a treasure. Losing his parents, running away, hunting the paranormal, Mina, his war with the Memphis shifters, meeting the Dirt Track Dogs, relinquishing his vengeance. They were all stops along the journey to his destination, guiding him right to her. Right to this bond that threatened to swallow him up.

And Lexington had been on the same journey, fighting for freedom, for her safety and her vixens’, working, training, learning, and hurting. They came from two different directions, but they’d arrived at the treasure at the same time.

The magic of it had Aaron marveling in wonder, and he’d wanted her to see it too. And Mina was part of that magic. He didn’t know if she’d loved him. They hadn’t had time to figure it out. But she’d helped him get here, to this possibility of happiness. Telling Lexington about her was important.

But then the sick feeling of rejection swept over him like a wave that wanted to pull him under, and she’d shut him down with an I understand. What the hell did that even mean? There was no way she could understand, because he hadn’t explained yet.

All he knew was he wanted to get that ugly feeling far away from her. The gut-punching thing he felt through their bond, he wanted it gone.

Staring out the windshield, he marveled at the connection. It was wild, feeling like your emotions and thoughts and dreams were tied to another’s. An invisible chain that connected them in some supernatural way. The feeling couldn’t be explained, though he’d heard many people try in his years. There weren’t right words to describe it. But now that he felt it, he understood why shifter males were so protective of their females. Why they fought wars with the hunters that hurt them, deserved or not.

Why they used females as weapons against hunters the way the Junkyard Dogs had done to him with Mina. They’d been trying their best to hurt him. Except, he’d never felt this connection with her. She mattered. She was a lost life. A star burned out before it was able to burn bright. A friend. More even. But he’d never felt like his life was connected with hers.

Not like he did right now with his fox.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he told her, and he felt the truth of it deep down. He glanced at her, hoping she felt how sure he was the same way he felt how sad she was. “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll keep you…”

He’d meant to follow that with something, but his voice just stopped, because that’s what he meant. He’d keep her. With him. Always. No matter what the wolves said, or what the foxes from her past did. He’d keep her, and one day they’d dig into that treasure together. He’d finally do Gracie proud and become a real Uncle Scrooge rolling and diving in his gold coins, because somehow he knew life with Lexington was going to be rich.

Aaron glanced in his rearview mirror as he turned onto the Dirt Track Dogs’ long driveway. The two vehicles following his, turned as well. Rider’s truck and Rod’s… hot rod. The ’67 Mustang Fastback was slick as night with a midnight pearl paint job and chrome everything, and he’d insisted on driving it, saying the guys from DTD had been drooling over it for months. Aaron didn’t think it would sway Drake any, but he’d take all the help he could get.

Aaron drove around to the side of the club where DTD’s practice track was. They’d gathered there, around two giant sized charcoal grills. A pile of wood was heaped over to the side, waiting to be lit for a bonfire.

He parked the truck and the vixens piled out of the cars, getting their first look at the pack’s property.

Rod slammed his door and strolled forward with a smirk. He didn’t seem even remotely frazzled by the existence of shifters. Which meant he either thought he was drunk as a skunk and trippin’ hard. Or… he already knew about them. There’d be time to get to the bottom of it later.

“Smell that?” He raised his nose high, pulling in a deep breath, and grinned wide. “They’re cookin’ cow. Let’s go get us some. I’m hungry after all that running. And waiting. You girls take a long time to get cleaned up, can I just say.” He hesitated, eyeing Seraphina. “I mean, it’s worth it and all. Like, really fucking worth it, but damn.” With a shrug, he marched off toward the smell of food.

Aaron and the others followed him over to the grills where Annie was expertly flipping steaks on one while Surge grilled hotdogs and baked potatoes on the other. His sunglasses looked like they hadn’t shifted an inch since he’d seen him earlier at the track.

“Heyyyyy,” Annie called out, flashing that warm smile that had the power to put everyone at ease.

He could practically feel the collective sigh among the vixens as they spotted a friendly face. But all the dogs and their mates were there, and not a single one of them looked unfriendly. Not at the moment anyway.

Drake was being a touch stand-offish, but he always was a little. Punk sat on Beast’s lap, chatting with Ella as she stood near, swigging from a can. Tana, Surge’s mate, hovered over the playards that kept the five babies contained. She was cooing at the newest addition, Aaron’s niece, little Everly. Blister was close by, his gaze moving back and forth between Everly and Annie. Diz lounged on the picnic bench, one arm draped around his mate Destiny. He and the pack’s Elder were parents to three of the googling babies. Their triplets had grown so much since Christmas, Aaron could actually make out little differences between the three.

As he drew closer, Aaron could see Barb off in the distance. She’d shifted and someone had loaned her a set of clothes. She ran around the open field with little Gracie, toddling Artie, and a little girl Aaron didn’t recognize. They giggled as Barb darted in and out of their reach, playing tag. She was fast, letting them come millimeters away before jerking back and making a run for it.

“Mama, can I go?” Kit tugged on Ragan’s hand, staring longingly at the children playing. The pure desire in his eyes pulled at Aaron’s heart. How long since the boy had played with anyone his own age? He was maybe five, and looked like he carried the weight of a world on his tiny shoulders. Aaron wanted him to have what the other young had. Room to run, laughter, love.

Ragan glanced worriedly at Lexington, and then at Drake. Alpha’s gaze narrowed, and his head cocked sideways, as if the deference surprised him.

“He’s never played with other young,” she murmured, guilt and sadness dancing over her features.

There was a long silence before Drake popped his gum and gave a single nod.

“Well,” Ella said, cheerfully. “We’ve got plenty for him to play with here.”

The entire group watched as Kit ran for the field, but halfway there, he slowed to a walk. And then to a complete stop, his shoulders slumping.

Aaron glanced at Ragan. She was shifting from foot to foot, staring on nervously, chewing her lip all to shreds. Kit looked over his shoulder at her, and she instantly plastered a smile on her face and gave him a little wave. This seemed to give him courage, as he set his shoulders and marched toward the young.

Their play had stopped, and Barb had a welcoming grin on her face as he approached. Gracie and Artie stared with their inquisitive expressions, and the girl Aaron didn’t recognize grew a big smile.

Kit stopped a few feet away, and like a gentleman, held his hand out, muttering something and waiting for one of them to shake it. The adults, Aaron included, seemed to hold a collective breath as it continued to just hang there. Once again, Kit looked back at his mom for reassurance. Ragan nodded that he was doing it right, but Aaron could see the pain etched on the shadows of her face.

Then Gracie rushed forward with her arms spread wide, wrapping them around his waist when she reached the little boy. She squeezed him tight, and even though he probably couldn’t breathe his arms fell around her all the same, his head tucking next to her cheek.

Aaron let out the breath he’d been holding and felt the tension shift all around him. Kit was accepted.

“That’s my girl,” Surge murmured, pretending he didn’t feel as mushy as the rest of them. As if the scene wasn’t moving some of them to tears.

As the children and Barb took up their game again, this time with Kit in tow, there was a volley of throat-clearing and grunting.

Drake was the first to speak. “Anyone want to explain to me what the hell happened today at the track?”

Rider crossed his arms, eyeing the alpha. “Maybe one of you wants to explain how the guys we’ve been racing with for years can turn into wolves. Huh? How about we start with that?”

“Ohhhhhh, damn!” Rod hooted, raising his hand to slap Rider a high five. But Rider just glared at him, so he dropped it, nodding with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, okay. I can see how the timing of that might have been a touch inappropriate. But leaving me hanging like that, bro? Uncalled for, man. Uncalled for.”

Diz snickered and Drake cut him a look before turning back to Rider.

“Stop looking at me like that, Daley. I’m still the guy that whoops your ass on the track every weekend. We’re shifters,” Drake said flatly. “Humans that share a body with an animal. Wolves, cats, foxes. As many animals as you can imagine exist in shifter form. We live peacefully among regular humans, and it’s really a non-issue. Or… it was until today.” He tossed an irritated glance at Lexington.

She took a deep breath before answering. Aaron was only baby-crawling when it came to knowing how their bond worked, but he tried anyway to push strength at her through their connection. She must have felt it because, she gave him a soft look just before launching into her explanation.

“We didn’t mean to put your anonymity in danger. I swear, that was never our intention. Far from it. See, Barb shifted because she thought you were someone else. Someone who’d come to hurt us. She was shifting to protect our only young. Just like the others did. The foxes Waldo spotted, it was Ragan and Seraphina.” She gestured to the two females. “We taught the boy to alert us when he senses another shifter close by, in hopes of keeping him safe from others of our kind. But he scented your wolves and called out the code word. We… we didn’t ask questions. We just went into defender mode. It wasn’t the smartest move, I’ll admit, but we get a little crazy when it comes to him. He’s… he’s ours.”

Drake eyed the group, but Ella spoke up first.

“Some of you have met already, but how about we have a round of introductions before we go digging into the whats and whys. Sound good?”

Drake rolled his eyes and gestured for her to go on.

She muttered under her breath, “You’ll pay for that later, sir.” Smiling at the others, she introduced the dogs and their mates. “This grouchy muffin is our alpha, Drake. Then you have Beast and Punk (human), Blister and Annie (also human), Surge and Tana, Diz and Destiny.” She pointed to each in turn. “The babies are Mandrake, Manny for short, the triplets, and our newest little bundle of yeehaw, Everly. The ones out there with your boy are Gracie and Artie. And our little human guest is Megan.”

“Speaking of Megan,” Rider cut in. “Does her daddy know what you are?”

Aaron frowned. “Who’s her daddy?”

But no one answered him.

“He doesn’t,” Drake said. “And I’d appreciate the chance to tell him personally, if it’s all the same.”

Rider knew the human who played with Gracie? Aaron stared out at the field watching the little girl. Something about her seemed familiar.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Lexington murmured before making her own introductions. “You know Ragan and Sera.” The both gave a little wave. “This is Sally, I’m Lexington, and our young out there, he’s Kit. I met three of you the other night, and a couple more earlier at the track. I wish I could have met the rest of you under better terms, but this is where we are. So it’ll have to do.”

“Alright, enough with the formalities. Who’s after you?” Drake demanded.

“People who want to force us into a future not of our own choosing.”

Sally added her own version. “The asshole people we used to be part of. A group of foxes who want to mate and breed us. And raise Kit to be an asshole just like them. We can’t let that happen.”

“Mate you. Without your consent?” Tana asked, frowning. She was a panther shifter, and Aaron knew many of the werecat females had seen forced matings in the past. Surge was a wolf, so maybe she’d never had to deal with that. But her haunted face told him perhaps she had.

“We don’t know exactly,” Lexington admitted. “But they’ve tried before, and we won’t take the chance of it happening again.” She glanced at Ragan, her statement sounding more like a vow.

“The truth is,” Seraphina added, “they have to find us first. And when they do, we intend to be already claimed.”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “That right?”

Seraphina shrugged with her mouth. “In a manner of speaking. We believe if we’re under the protection of a powerful alpha, such as yourself, they’ll leave us alone.”

Sally nodded, running her hands through her windblown hair and locking them behind her head. “If we belong to someone else, if we’re no longer their people, they’ll move on. At least, that’s what we’re hanging all this on.”

Aaron didn’t miss Tana’s whole body shiver. She didn’t like how the vixens were talking. Going by the expressions on the rest of the dogs, neither did the others.

“Are you saying you want to join our club?” Destiny the Elder asked, but she didn’t seem extremely curious. She sounded like she was confirming something she already knew. And since many Elders had the gift of foresight, perhaps she’d expected this.

Lexington let out a heavy breath. “That’s exactly what we’re saying. We want to pledge our allegiance to the Dirt Track Dogs and become contributing members of your pack, in exchange for protection if it’s needed.”

Everyone went quiet. With it all laid out on the table like that, there was nothing left to do but wait for Drake’s answer. Aaron hadn’t meant for it to happen like this, but you couldn’t control the way the wind blew. All you could do was wait to see where everything landed once the storm was over.

This fate shit was growing on him.

Drake rubbed his whiskered jaw with calloused fingers. “What if we’re the ones you need protecting from? Did you consider that? You don’t know us from the mailman.”

A tiny smile creeped up Lexington’s face.

“We did consider it. But your fruits bear witness to your deeds. Look at little Gracie, how welcoming she is. How kind. Same with Annie.”

“Oh, Annie’s nice to everyone,” Punk cut in.

“And your reputation precedes you. Ask anyone in this town—and trust me, we did ask—they’d say DTD is a group of honest, hard-working, good ‘ol boys and gals. Not an evil bone in them, as long as you don’t jerk ‘em around. That sound about right?”

Beast raised an eyebrow. “Sounds right to me.”

Surge nodded, twirling his grilling tongs between his fingers like a baton.

“Damn it. Think our cover’s blown,” Diz said. “Now no one will believe we’re outlaw badasses.”

Punk stared at him skeptically. “Is that what you were going for, Dizzy? Because if so, you’re missing some crucial tattoos and piercings.”

He grinned like a shark. “I’m a work in progress.”

“Look,” Lexington said. “I know this isn’t how things usually happen around here, but you’re known for taking in shifters of all types, and we don’t want anything from you that we can’t give back. There is strength in numbers and you’re gaining six. We’ll fight for DTD, whether it be on the track or in battle. We just want a place to call home, and good people to raise Kit with.”

“And steak,” Rod spoke up. “We want steak. They smell reeeeeal good.”

Drake pursed his lips, but Surge nodded like it was serious business, as he traded spots with Annie and forked a hunk of meat. “You like it rare, Hot Rod.”

“Slightly mooing please.”

“Coming right up.”

Drake eyed his mate considering the vixens’ request, but Ella wasn’t giving anything away with her expression.

“I don’t know,” he said. “This isn’t sitting right with me. I don’t like this indentured servant feel. It gets my wolf all twitching.”

“Ditto,” Tana muttered, another shiver evident.

“Each of you should get a future of your choosing without needing the protection of an alpha or a pack. It should be your choice what to do with your lives. Goddamn it, I hate what our animals do to some of us. Takes the humanity right out of a male.” The alpha shook his head, troubled. And Aaron knew how he felt. He’d seen shifters with very little humanity left at all. Some breeds were worse than others.

Destiny cleared her throat and raised one hand delicately in the air. “I have a suggestion.”

“Aw, yeah baby,” Diz murmured. “I love it when her brains get problem solve-y. Ideas are so damn sexy.”

She blew him a quick kiss before laying out her plan.

“Might I suggest a sister-pack type situation as a solution that could satisfy all involved.”

Aaron wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Diz’s eyes actually flared with animal emotion just at her words. Before, maybe Aaron wouldn’t have understood feeling that way about another, but now he was beginning to. Watching Lexington negotiate with the wolves made him proud.

Which also made him hard. Shit.

“Explain,” Drake murmured.

“Like a tree,” Destiny said. “DTD is the trunk and the vixens would be a branch. As for business, they would be our bike team, separate from the cars. As a pack, they would be their own group, have their own leader, their own rules… but under the ultimate protection of our people. A pack within a pack so to speak. Part of the family, but under their own authority. It also gives us all time to get to know each other. Work together, grow together.”

The vixens’ gazes swung to Lexington, and Aaron could practically feel their relief like it was palpable. His fox chewed her lip as if the deal was too good to be true. A bargain.

“But how does an arrangement like this benefit the dogs?” she asked.

“Well, like I said, you’ll race for us and take jobs around the club. But also...”

Destiny glanced at Drake and some kind of lightbulb went off in his head. “Old man Hubbard,” he murmured, and the Elder nodded, her mouth curving into an anxious grin.

Seraphina frowned. “The man who owns the motel we’re staying in?”

Drake nodded. “We’ve taken him under our wing for a spell. We’ve dedicated this racing season to helping the old man get back on his feet.”

“Sweetest fella you ever met,” Annie said. “He’d give the shirt off his back if he knew ya needed it.”

“His wife passed away just after Christmas and he’s got it rough right now,” Blister added. “Works hard as anyone you ever seen, but he’s up to his eyeballs in debt and his place needs fixing.”

“And as members of DTD, you’d like us to help him?” Lexington asked.

Drake tilted his head. “We’re pooling our winnings for him, but having a crew around to help him with his day-to-day shit would probably be worth gold.”

Lexington glanced at her vixens.

Sally shrugged. “I kinda like the old guy. I threatened to goose him and he told me he’d put me in the corner for a time out.”

“I caught him schooling Kit on how to hook a worm for fishing,” Ragan murmured.

Seraphina agreed. “He gave me extra towels and I didn’t even have to ask. Said I’d probably need them for my hair.”

Sally arched an eyebrow. “Thoughtful of him.”

Seraphina nodded.

Lexington glanced at Aaron, and then out to the field where Barb was surely listening in. Just before Kit tagged her, she held up a thumbs-up for Lexington, letting her know she was on board with the idea.

“Well, what do you say?” Drake asked.

Lexington smiled, a little unsure, and Aaron could feel the relief through their bond.

“I say, hell yeah. Just call us Dirt Track Vixens.”

Drake’s mouth curved up in a sideways grin.

“I like it. What do you think, boys?” Nods from each of the dogs confirmed they were on board. “Mates?” Another round of nods from the females. “Alright then,” he murmured, strolling forward and holding his fist out. “Get ‘em in there.”

Lexington added her hand on top of his as each of the dogs and their mates followed suit. The vixens fell in as well, until there were so many hands they were a mountain. Strength in numbers.

“Dirt track life,” Drake barked.

“Huh!” the dogs said in unison. The growing smiles on the vixens was like watching a sunrise.

“Dirt track love.”

“Huh!” This time the foxes joined in.

“Dirt track daaaaawgs.”

“Win!”

“Dirt Track Dogs.”

“Win!”

Then, as one voice, the pack howled.

“Owoooooooooo!”