chapter seventeen
That evening, while Sasha made a quick dash over to the den to check on Francine and Kallie, Tabor waited in line to get dinner. Chase cut the line to stand with Tabor.
“Everything okay?” Chase asked.
“Yeah. Why?” Tabor asked suspiciously.
Chase glanced around before leaning closer. “I heard the elders wanted Sasha to claim Wolfrik.” Chase grunted. “The state he’s in, I wouldn’t trust him with any of the hollow’s females. The elders don’t even want him around the general population until they’re certain he’s not a safety threat.”
Tabor squinted at Chase. “What do you mean?”
“Jager doesn’t want him eating at camp or in the den tonight. He’s feeding him at his hut. Sasha’s not there, is she?”
Tabor shook his head. “She’s checking on Kallie and Francine.”
“Good.” Chase elbowed Tabor in the side. “Don’t worry. Hudson and I have your back. Sasha chose you. The council can’t go interfering in stuff like that. It’s time the pack took a stand.”
“Let me guess, starting with me,” Tabor said.
“Way to set an example.” Chase slapped him on the back. “You’ve got balls, man.”
“What’s that?” Hudson stepped over to them.
Several shifters down the line growled when Hudson cut in with Chase and Tabor. Hudson and Chase turned in unison and snarled back. When no returning challenges were issued, Hudson and Chase turned back to Tabor.
“I said our boy Tabor here has balls.”
“You know if Sasha chose him he has to have balls the size of boulders,” Hudson agreed.
Their voices rose as they egged each other on. In front of them, Dylan turned around to glare.
“What?” Chase demanded, leaning inches from his face.
“You’re yelling in my ear,” Dylan said.
Chase put a hand on his hip. “Welcome to community living.”
“Communal fucking bliss,” Hudson added.
Dylan sighed and inched his way closer to the group in front of him. Chase and Hudson looked at one another and laughed. Jordan strode over, rolling her eyes as she joined them and planted herself in their group. She was one of the few females who dressed in jeans and a tank top year round. The look suited her.
“Look who’s disturbing the peace,” she said with a chuckle.
“And look who wandered in,” Chase said, his smile reaching his eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your family waiting to welcome their new addition?”
Jordan stuffed her thumbs in her pockets, rolled her eyes upward, and grumbled, “I couldn’t take it any longer. I swear Francine’s dragging it out. Once her pup’s born she won’t have an excuse to act like a hormonal hell bitch.”
“Until Palmer gets her pregnant again,” Hudson said, elbowing Jordan in the side.
Jordan closed her eyes and groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She ran a hand through her long brown hair. “The only reason I’m looking forward to the full moon celebration is so I can drown myself in Jager’s brew. I need to drink . . . a lot.”
“Why wait?” Hudson said with a twinkle in his eye.
“He decided to serve it early?” Jordan asked, standing on tiptoes to get a look up the line.
“Better,” Hudson said with a grin. “Chase and I snagged a jar from his hut after that sorry excuse of a send-off the elders gave Becks. We’ve been waiting to have our own private ceremony in her honor.” He looked at Chase. “What do you think about tonight?”
“If it involves spirits, I’m game,” Jordan said.
“What about the man of the hour?” Hudson said, turning to Tabor.
“Maybe another time,” Tabor said.
Chase smacked Hudson and laughed. “He’s got a female now, remember? They’re not going to want to spend their evening with us.”
“If you boys didn’t have brew I wouldn’t want to spend it with you either,” Jordan teased.
“Ouch.” Hudson grasped his chest.
As Jordan laughed, Tabor wondered if maybe she’d end up with Hudson or Chase. While she’d never gone out of her way to be friendly to Tabor, she’d never been rude. Personally, Tabor wouldn’t want Palmer for a father-in-law and worse, Francine for a mother-in-law. He shuddered at the thought. Still, Jordan could no more change who her family was than Tabor could. At least her father was still alive, which was more than most of them could say.
Actually, Tabor’s father might be alive too. For some reason the thought filled him with foreboding. His mother had always been adamant he’d meet him one day.
As a young boy, he’d anticipated the day he would finally meet Lazarus, the all-powerful wizard. His pack mates would be sorry they ever teased him after they met his mighty dad. As years passed, Tabor stopped believing his father would ever come for him. Eventually he’d stopped caring. Now he hoped the wizard never showed his face if he was indeed alive.
Tabor didn’t need some sorcerer who’d bewitched then abandoned his mother to come around mucking up his life just as he was planning on becoming a father.
“Hey! Are you going to dish up or just stare at the stew?” a voice griped from behind Tabor.
He blinked several times and saw that while he’d spaced out, Jordan, Chase, and Hudson had all dished up and moved away from the cauldron.
Tabor filled his bowl then joined his friends on their log where they wolfed down their meals. They finished quickly and stood up.
“Brew’s not going to drink itself, my man,” Hudson said, lifting his hand in farewell.
Jordan, who hadn’t paid much attention to Tabor while she ate, smiled warmly at him now. “Congratulations, by the way,” she said. “I haven’t seen Sasha this happy in a long time.”
Her words lingered inside Tabor’s head after the three friends left the clearing. All Sasha had needed was someone to love her. It was all he’d needed too. It was all anyone needed to find happiness in life.
With a sigh of contentment, Tabor took a small bite from his bowl, chewing slowly, and looked around the clearing.
Shifters were talking with their mouths full. There was a lot to discuss with the elders’ announcements and Wolfrik’s return.
Tabor thought again about Wolfrik stealing Francine’s thunder with his untimely arrival and snorted to himself. With no one left to talk to, he finished his stew, in no hurry to run off to the den with Francine’s birth still in progress.
He noticed a group of females who included Lacy, the shifter he’d seen Aden all moon-eyed over about a month ago.
Tabor was surprised to see Aden standing alone against a tree holding his bowl. The werewolf shifter’s expression was relaxed and unreadable. He could have been pondering the state of the world or spacing out. There was no telling.
Maybe Tabor should push himself to mingle more. Although Aden was a respected and well-liked member of the pack, he didn’t seem to have close friends to joke around with like Chase and Hudson.
Now that Tabor and Sasha were together, he was more inclined to be friendly to the werewolf. He should have made an effort a long time ago, now that he thought about it. They were the only two real outsiders in the hollow. It made sense they should bond and have each other’s back.
Why not?
As soon as Aden saw Tabor walking up to him, he flashed him a warm smile and moved away from the tree.
They looked out over the clearing.
“I heard you and Sasha were the first to spot Wolfrik coming in from the valley.”
Tabor nodded. “Didn’t recognize him at first. His wolf ran in and, well, it’s been a while.”
“Not smart having his wolf run at you that way. He’s lucky he didn’t end up with an arrow between his eyes,” Aden said.
“I didn’t have my bow and arrow with me today,” Tabor said.
“Lucky for him.”
“Who knows what he’s been through?” Tabor said with a shrug. He might have sympathized more if the wolf-man hadn’t left thumbprints on Sasha.
Aden frowned into the clearing, brows slanting. “There are worse things than vulhena out there. Those lashings on Wolfrik’s back could have only come from humans. They must have gotten him after he left the hollow.”
A shiver crawled up Tabor’s spine. He’d been assigned to go into the wasteland every couple years on supply runs, but he’d never seen any signs of surviving humans. He shuddered to think of Sasha running into them.
“At least they stick to their crumbling cities,” Aden said. “Have enough sense not to venture too far into the woods where beasts reside.” The smile returned briefly to Aden’s lips. As he swept his gaze around the clearing, his smile vanished.
Tabor followed the direction of Aden’s eyes to where Lacy sat. Almost as though feeling his gaze, she turned her head away to face one of her friends.
What happened to the flirtatious banter and smiles? Lacy didn’t seem like the kind of shifter who would cruelly rebuff Aden, but something must have happened to drive a wedge between them.
“Are you claiming anyone anytime soon?” Tabor asked.
“The elders don’t want me claiming anyone ever,” Aden answered gruffly, turning his attention away from Lacy and her friends.
Tabor did a double take. He didn’t know how Aden could stand there calmly and not punch a hole in the nearest tree trunk. Here he thought the elders had been hard on him. They didn’t want him taking the pack’s only pure-blooded female, but they’d never forbade him from claiming a mate.
Tabor’s fingers curled into fists on Aden’s behalf. His jaw ached from clenching his teeth. Chase was right; it was time the pack stood up to the elders. Hell, they should vote in a whole new set of council members, get more women on board.
Aden studied Tabor’s expression as though watching the gears turn inside his brain. “They said I’m one of the hollow’s strongest protectors and that my pack needs me on duty.”
Aden shrugged as though he didn’t care, not fooling Tabor for an instant.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s the way of the hollow,” Aden said. “Don’t worry about it.”
Relief flooded Tabor when he saw Sasha enter the clearing. “There’s Sasha,” he said. “I bet she’s hungry.”
“Thanks for coming over to chat,” Aden said. “And congratulations.” A genuine smile appeared on his lips. It was full of warmth and friendliness . . . and it made Tabor want to slap every single one of the elders for forbidding such a decent pack member from claiming a mate.
Aden disappeared into the forest before Sasha reached them. Her eyes slid away from Tabor as she stared into the woods with a frown.
“Everything okay with Aden?” she asked.
A momentary pang of jealousy formed inside Tabor’s gut as he recalled it wasn’t that long ago Sasha had pined for the werewolf. He quickly reminded himself Sasha had chosen him. But that still didn’t make the hollow a utopian world.
Tabor folded his arms over his chest, looking off in the direction Aden had gone. “Did you know the elders forbade Aden from ever claiming a mate?”
Sasha ought to know—she was part of the council, after all. A hideous voice inside Tabor’s head suggested perhaps Sasha didn’t want Aden with another she-wolf, that deep down she couldn’t bear to see the pack member she’d longed for claim a mate.
The drop of her jaw said otherwise as shock and outrage filled her eyes.
“They did what?” Her fingers curled into fists. “The elders can only forbid a pack member from claiming a mate if a serious wrong has been committed. They’re deranged!”
Tabor chuckled as Sasha shook her head from side to side, eyes wide and unfocused.
“I need to get the council back under control,” she said.
Tabor uncrossed his arms and placed one hand on his chest. “May I make a suggestion?”
Sasha raised her brows and waited as a mischievous grin spread over Tabor’s lips.
“Banishment.”
Sasha snorted. “Nice try, though it would certainly feel good to throw their threats back at them.” Her body relaxed as she smiled.
The hem of her short dress fluttered as she turned and walked toward the cauldron. Tabor watched her for several heartbeats, feeling as though he’d stepped into a dream, not quite believing this woman, this she-wolf, would soon be his mate.
Once Sasha had helped herself to dinner, Tabor asked, “How’s Kallie?”
“I’m not really sure. She was actually busy helping Trish.”
“Trish?” Tabor asked, his brows rising.
Sasha swallowed down a bite of stew and nodded. “Trish hasn’t been feeling well since becoming pregnant. Nauseous all the time. Requires a bland diet and sometimes even that doesn’t stick. Palmer’s with Francine tonight, so Kallie graciously volunteered to stay with Trish.” Sasha gave a low growl. “Yet another foolish reason for having two mates. Palmer can’t be in two places at once.”
“And thank goodness for that,” Tabor said. “It’s bad enough when he’s in one place.”