“Show me more pictures!” George hooted as we both stepped out of the ambulance. It had been another relatively calm night. Two cases of someone who had apparent heart failure, one being a false alarm. And another case of a kid sticking their finger in a socket. Thankfully, they had only gotten the tiniest bit of shock and ended up fine. But it was a reminder for me to start putting socket protectors around our new home as soon as Willow was old enough to start crawling on his own. For now, everything was okay. All he did was eat, poop, and sleep.

He sure was livin’ the life.

“I already showed you what was on my phone,” I laughed, as I watched my partner lock up the ambulance. He jogged around the front towards me as I tried to swipe through my smartphone and find some more photos for him to see. Just as George was always shoving photos of his children in my face, he seemed so desperate for me to do the same in return.

“Oh but he is so cute. He’s already getting so fat!” He squealed like a child, holding onto my wrist and swiping through the phone himself to see more pictures of Willow held within Forest’s arms, posing for the camera. “I haven’t seen this one. Look at the happy family!” George cooed, settling on staring at a photo I had taken of the three of us. I wasn’t that good with taking images on a timer via the phone, but it was a nice picture, all in all.

“You’ve seen it now.” I smiled, removing my wrist from his grasp and placing the phone into the pocket of my uniform jacket.

“I guess so. Soon Willow will be old enough to play with my kids too. I’m gonna be an uncle now, not just a father. How awesome is that?” George said, offering a heavy pat on my shoulder that almost made me face-plant. He was a pretty hefty dude, and was so much stronger than he looked.

“Oof. I guess it’s pretty cool. I just wish I had more time to spend at home,” I admitted. I wished these long nights were paying off, but I was getting absolutely sick of spending almost every waking hour at work, aside from the odd day that Forest begged me to take time off so I could spend time with him or with his pack.

Our pack, rather. But Jude had been nagging at me, harping on and on so often that it was beginning to get on my very last nerve.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. You’ve only been working shifts like these for some-odd weeks now. Wait until you’ve done it for years.”

“Oh yeah. You always stay on call, don’t you?”

“Yup. It’s hard when you’ve got more than one brat to take care of. But it’s worth it to make sure they’ve got everything they need. I’d rather go wanting than my kids.”

“I feel the same way.” I smiled at him, beginning to exit from the parking lot and walking over towards the separate garage where we parked our own cars.

“That’s what makes a good man a good father. Not just some random pig shifter trying to breed an army, am I right?”

“Isn’t that offensive to actual swine shifters?” I gave him a shifty look. He shrugged, looking genuinely unfazed.

“Have you ever seen any swine shifters in Solara? No? Then I guess it doesn’t offend them at all.”

His logic was ridiculous, but he didn’t mean anything by it. How could a cross-breed shifter judge others anyway?

“Gonna walk me to my car now, huh? Awfully romantic of you,” I teased him as we got closer to the parking garage. George flipped me off, turning to the left to head towards the elevators that would take him him downstairs towards his own vehicle. “Yeah, yeah. Have a good night, pretty boy. And pinch those cheeks for me, will you?”

“Forest’s or Willow’s?” I laughed, receiving a double flipped bird as he entered the elevator.

I approached my car, sighing heavily as I opened the door and got inside. It had been such a long shift. I felt like I’d been on the clock for a solid fifteen hours. I’d have barely enough time to cook dinner, shower, and sleep for maybe five hours before I would have to get up and start the day all over again.

Just thinking about it made me feel... depressed? I didn’t want my life to constantly revolve around work, but I still hadn’t heard how much this home was going to cost us.

That’s when I heard a ringing from my jacket. I looked down as I retrieved my phone, glancing at the screen.

Declan. Speak of the devil.

“Hey, Declan.” I tried to sound a bit more upbeat rather than how tired I was actually feeling.

“Jason, long time no talk,” the older male replied, obviously more upbeat than I.

“You know I’ve been working really hard lately. Trying to save up money for that down payment on the house you’ve got us. Which I still haven’t heard a final price about...” I trailed off, waiting for him to come back with an actual number this time. The past few times we’d actually spoken, a solid number, rather than a ballpark estimate, was never given to me. Despite the numerous times I’ve texted him for it.

“You’re in luck. I actually have that information ready to go for you right now. Why don’t you stop on by my office so we can go over the leasing documentation. I need your signature on a few things.”

“Oh.”

“Oh? You don’t sound too happy now that I have everything you need to finally move in.”

“It’s just, I got off work only a minute ago and I’m really looking forward to seeing my baby and Forest.”

“I won’t take up much of your time at all, promise.”

“Fine, I’ll head over there right now.”

Declan’s house was quite out of the way. I’d never even been to this side of town before. The outskirts of Solara, far to the west, that took an annoyingly long thirty-minute drive just to get to. I was probably going to have to skip either the shower or dinner before I fell asleep at this rate.

I was already annoyed as my GPS signaled to turn to the right. Hopefully, this conversation wouldn’t have to last too long and I could sign the papers and get out as quickly as possible. Plus, Forest would probably be worried and call me soon if I took too long to get home.

I turned off into the long smooth drive way through already open gates. There were small streetlights on the side of the path that lit the way up, but even after entering, I couldn’t quite find the house I was headed to. Was I going the right way?

“I swear to the Gods if I’m lost, I’m going home. This is ridiculous,” I grumbled to myself, focusing on the winding path that led up a hill.

Soon, the path swerved to an immediate right, which I narrowly missed, with the now far scattered streetlights no longer illuminating the way and hedges that were so tall they practically blocked out the moonlight.

“Oh, I forgot to turn my headlights on.” I was embarrassed and far too tired to be going to such a late-night meeting.

Another minute or two passed before I saw bright lights overhead, just over the top of the giant bushes that blocked the view of the home.

Why did he live so far out in the middle of nowhere?

I continued to speculate exactly what branch of the Grey Brotherhood he was a part of, as all I’d seen from them was that they were drug dealers and murderers, until I saw the actual house itself, the bushes now giving way to a beautiful view. My jaw dropped, seeing what looked to be an actual mansion sitting at the very tip-top of a hill, with a rounded driveway for one to park right up close to the front door.

“Wow.” Was all I found myself saying as I finally drove up the remainder of the hill in surprise.

Outside stood a very tall man with dark slicked back hair in a three-piece suit.

I pressed on the brakes, putting my car into park. Before I could even open the door for myself, the man ran around to the driver side, reaching for my handle and opening it up for me.

“You must be Mr. Jason. Declan is waiting for you,” he said with a bright smile. For some reason, his overbearing hospitality made me feel even more anxious, rather than relieved.

“Uhm, thank you.” I stepped out, handing him the keys that he waited for expectantly with an outstretched hand.

The valet bowed, placing himself in the car and waiting for me to cross the path so he wouldn’t accidentally run me over with my own vehicle.

This home was even more massive up close, and the steps were about two feet tall each. A good workout for my calf muscles as I made my way up towards the front doors. There was a large brass knocker on the front, shaped into the head of a wolf. With a gulp, I grabbed onto it and gave the heavy thing a few knocks.

Within moments, another man opened the door. Not Declan, but dressed in the same attire as the valet had been wearing. However, his demeanor was nowhere near as nice as the other man.

“Jason, I presume,” he stated with a dour look on his face.

“Yeah, that’s me.” I nodded. He bowed, extending his arm outward to enter the home.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, the cold air from outside disappeared almost immediately. Instead, I felt extremely warm, almost too warm for my jacket, though I chose to keep it on. The floors were a beautiful marbled design in blacks and whites, the walls a deep mahogany wood that strangely gave off a welcoming pine scent.

“This way.” The man, who I assumed to be a butler, ushered me forward, guiding me throughout the home and past the massive stairwell that led to the second and third levels from the foyer. If I was totally honest, I felt like an utter and complete peasant to be treading these halls. This home was beautiful beyond compare, although I couldn’t have imagined that Declan would live here. Even if he did have some weight to pull around within the Grey Brotherhood, I never would have imagined it would lead him to such a lavish and wealthy life.

We walked even farther, through the hallways that were more like a maze, each leading off and branching towards even more hallways. This place looked like it was designed specifically to make someone get lost here, and it was making me feel even more sketched-out about things. But in a matter of minutes, turning right, then left, and right again, the butler who was acting as my guide finally came to a halt. I stopped just behind him, waiting to see what he would do.

He leaned forward, pressing his ear against the door, listening for just a few seconds.

“Sir, Mr. Jason is here for you.”

I couldn’t hear anything else that was said behind the door, however the butler bowed to the voice from behind it and passed right by me without another word. I squeezed my fists together at my sides, taking in a deep breath before I grabbed the cool iron handle. It wasn’t in the shape of a regular handle either, but more heart-like in its design. With a soft, gradual turn, it clicked, and I swung it open to peer inside.

The room was lit low, and was even more warm than the rest of the house, I noted, from the blazing fire that roared in the fireplace behind a desk. The floor was made of dark wood panels, rather than the marble that had decorated the floor of the rest of the house, the walls of a deep purple wood I wasn’t familiar with, stained perfectly in their hue. I felt hesitant to enter but I sucked up the courage I had left within me, exhaling and walking inside. Around the corner of the wall, I finally could see the full space of the room. The massive chair that sat just behind the desk, made of oak and a beautiful tan leather.

Declan looked up from his writing desk, standing up from the chair that practically swallowed even his larger frame within it.

“Jason, my boy, how wonderful to finally see you. Please, take a seat.” He smiled and gestured towards the rather plain wooden seat in front of him. I gave a nod, carefully stepping over towards the seat and admiring the decorations in the room: Large picture frames of various species of wolves upon the mantle of the fireplace, as well as across the walls. I tried not to show the shocked look on my face as I cringed to see hunted animal heads on display as well, now that I had a better view around the room. Deer, boars, that was typical. But there were even wolf heads. And on the floor, I noticed, as I took cautious steps with my squeaky shoes, a massive throw fur that seemed to be patched up from various pelts. Wolf pelts.

Declan must have noticed, despite how well I thought I hid that look of surprise. He cleared his throat as I finally sat down across from him. “I see you’ve noticed the lovely decorum of the room. It’s beautiful, wouldn’t you agree?”

I gulped. “There sure are a lot of dead wolves on display.”

He waved his hand and arranged some documents that were spread out over the table in front of us. “Fear not. They’re actual wolves, not shifters. I like to collect various parts of wolves. Our bestial side is more impressive than the human impostor we disguise ourselves as. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I guess so,” I started, watching him continue shuffling the papers. “Is that what we’re here for? These documents?”

“Why, yes. We are. Here is some of the paperwork I actually think that you’ll find most appealing.”

He slid the stack of paper towards me after carefully stacking it on the desk, twisting it around to face me, so the text wasn’t upside down when I peered down at it. The photo of the house, that I still hadn’t actually even seen, in full color on the glossed top document had my jaw dropping yet again. It was massive, nowhere near the extensive and immaculate design of Declan’s mansion, but damn was it an upgrade from my own house.

“This has to be ridiculously expensive.” I frowned, flipping open the page to read through the first parts of the lease terms. I scanned over it, trying to find the more important pieces, like the percentage interest, APR for the mortgage, etc. But as I flipped through, page after page, the only thing I could find was small text and several places for me to fill in my signature.

“Anything wrong?” Declan asked, leaning forward and placing his elbows upon the desk. His hands folded underneath his chin as he watched me pace through each document, one after another.

“I can’t find how much the mortgage is.” I squinted my eyes as though that would help me see better and find the small numbers that were surely there.

“That’s because there isn’t one.”

I nearly ripped the paper out of its staple, giving Declan a dumbfounded look. “What do you mean?”

“Jason, there’s no documentation on how much the mortgage is because I’ve taken care of it. If you would just read the print, you would see exactly what I’m talking about. All I need is your signature, and we can get the moving process started.”

“Why are you doing this for me? I don’t even really know you,” I said, looking over the text again. It was the basic stipulations, about being indebted to the proprietor of the house, the down payment, but the actual prices weren’t given. I reached for the pen that was on the desk, going off and signing each line that was in need of said signature on each page, hoping that I didn’t just sign my life away to Satan.

“I’ve bought you a drink; how can you say you don’t know me.” Declan chuckled, but I didn’t join in his laughter. “How about this then. A gift, from me to you. To assure you that I will make sure that you and your new beau are safe.”

I watched Declan as he raised his hands into the air, clapping loudly two times, staring at the front door. It wasn’t long until the butler from before came into the room with a wrapped box, a humongous red bow sitting across the top. The red paper used to keep it intact was metallic foil, but almost seemed wet and soggy at the bottom, as though something in the box was very wet. That didn’t seem to bother the butler, nor Declan. The manservant approached the desk with his head lowered, setting the gift on top of it before retreating from the room once more.

“This is for me?” I eyed it carefully. What more was he trying to do that he hadn’t done already?

“It is. Go ahead; open it up. I think you’ll find its contents to your liking. Then we’ll discuss repayment for the home.”

He watched me intently, but I couldn’t be so rude as to reject the gift. Not after he seemed so insistent on helping me, regardless of his reasons. I grabbed hold of the sides, sliding the box towards me. It was indeed wet, some strange runny liquid leaking from the bottom as I dragged it across the desk, rather than lifting it. The lid, I noticed wasn’t really wrapped around the entire box, so the lid would slide of rather easily. As I tucked my fingers underneath the gift’s lid, and lifted it just ever so slightly, the smell from inside was absolutely rank.

I gagged, dropping the lid back down as I coughed, completely disgusted by the scent that I had just inhaled. What the fuck was that?!

“I know it doesn’t smell that great, but just take a peek,” Declan continued to insist, an eerie grin on his face. Was he giving me a piece of dead wolf that he liked to collect? It was foul.

I took a deep inhale, holding my breath as I moved back to the box, opening it up with one quick motion and tossing the lid to the ground as I peeked in. The so-called gift inside stared right back at me.

It was a head.

Thorn’s head.

I screamed, knocking the box to the side and falling backwards in the chair, hitting the floor and the back of my head hard. “Holy fuck!” I shouted, scrambling up to my feet. “What is that?!”

“It’s your gift,” Declan stated in a matter-of-fact tone, that creepy smile still on his face, the corners of his lips pulled just a bit too far back. “Don’t you like it?”

“Why would you give me his head?!” I shouted, trying to keep my eyes focused solely on Declan and not on the dismembered body part that had rolled out of the box, and now laid upon his wolf pelt rug.

“It’s my way of apologizing. I told you before, I will not tolerate his actions, or any actions of wolves who go out of their way to stir up trouble within our pack. The Grey Brotherhood knows the consequences of their actions. And his were appalling. The consequences were well deserved.”

I didn’t know what to say. Thorn did try to kidnap Forest, and he did kill Mark. He deserved the worst punishment imaginable, which I thought would simply be life in prison. But for Declan and his pack to go out of his way to actually kill him, I didn’t know if that was right.

“Now you won’t have to worry about him bothering you all, ever again.” Declan sighed, his shoulders falling lax as he leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest, watching me. Analyzing my reaction.

“I wouldn’t have had to worry about him if he was locked up in prison forever, either. This... this is going too far.” I watched him carefully, feeling my heart starting to race. Would he try to kill me next if I didn’t subscribe to his demands about this house?

“That’s unfortunate. It’s a sign of trust, no? I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

“What can I possibly offer you that you’d do this for me? First the house, now... Thorn’s head. I have nothing.” I took another step back towards the doorway, should he turn shit on me.

“You do have something, many things, to be used as payment for my kind efforts on your behalf.”

Efforts that I never asked for.

“What’s that?” I barked at him.

“A life for a life. Your new pack owes me a little something, and you can give it to me in exchange for my gifts.”

Another step back towards the door, I reached my hands behind me so I could grab that heart-shaped handle and bolt out of here. However, Declan didn’t even seem the least bit fazed that I was trying to escape. His demeanor was still very relaxed and casual, watching me take steps away from him. “What do you want from me?” I asked again.

“Your new little lover was unwillingly dragged in on a drug deal, and my pack mate, Leon, didn’t seem too happy about how that situation turned out. Especially as it ended in the death of one of our better bodyguards.”

“I wasn’t a member of their pack when that happened.” Just a few more steps and I’d get out of here.

“But you are now, and you’ve taken up as Forest’s protector. So here’s my proposition. You give me one of your pack’s lives, and this entire thing will go away. You’ll have a brand-new home, no more worries about Thorn, and a peaceful, happy life.”

Finally, I was backed up enough to reach the handle. But as I gave it a turn, it wouldn’t budge.

Locked in. Fuck.

“Who are you asking me to kill?” I gulped, continuing to jiggle the handle as though it would let me escape.

“I know you wouldn’t harm Forest—“

“Of course I wouldn’t!” I shouted at him, baring my teeth.

“So how about your child? You needn’t kill it, but bring it to me for us to raise as a... replacement. You’ve barely any attachment to the thing; he hasn’t been in this world very long at all.”

I gnashed my fangs at him for even suggesting it, but Declan raised a hand cooly to keep me from continuing to bark out in anger.

“Or you can pull the plug on Alfie. I know he’s still on life support. But it’s been hard to get to him. Is that much of a life, anyways?” Finally, Declan stood from his seat, though he didn’t approach me, both hands now raised in a sign of peace. “If you end his miserable existence, everything will be fine, and you’ll never be bothered by the Grey Brotherhood again. Sound fair?”

I felt almost disgusted with myself for ever entering this home. But even more disgusted at the fact that I... almost agreed with him. Alfie had been on life support for so long, and the doctors had no idea whether he would wake up anytime soon or not. And if he did, would he just be a vegetable?

Would he be fine?

“I’ll think about it,” I mumbled.

“That’s good enough for me. Just remember, if you don’t... well, let’s not even imagine that, because you will. Because you care about your family.” Declan smirked, snapping his fingers. As he did, I could feel the back side of the handle click, the door opening ever so slightly. I didn’t wait or speak on any farewells, instead turning and running out of the room. I shoulder-checked the butler, sending him into the wall as I fled.

My family was the most important thing in the world for me.

But the cost of a life, of one of our pack mates. Would it be worth it?