Chapter Two
Angus
After checking to make sure Heath had returned for socks—something Angus had noticed he wasn't wearing when he left but knew saying something about it would have just made Heath angrier—he waited to be sure Heath took off on a safe path.
"You're pushing, pushing," Gaia said from the passenger seat of the pack's jeep.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Angus replied. Satisfied Heath would be safe on his jog, he pulled the jeep onto the main road.
"The way you sniff around the guy, we can all see it."
Angus clenched his jaw, better than saying what he thought Gaia could do with the things she thought she saw.
"Calm down, Angus, I'm not getting in the way. If anything, I gave you an assist, inviting them to dinner tonight."
"You invited them so you can snuggle with your girlfriend afterward, so don't pretend it was for me."
Gaia reached into the back seat and settled a bag that had been disrupted by the air flow from the open sides of the jeep. They'd gone into Noel for groceries, but the stop at Maggie's Sleep Inn had been for fun. "You sure are grumpy when you want something you can't have."
Angus tightened his hold on the steering wheel, his knuckles white. "Why do you think I can't have him?" he asked.
"Uh, because he is straight? I believe the term used was, 'the straightest man I know.' Like, not even mostly straight except for when I drink too much at a party, but legit straight. I know because I asked Maggie when I had the idea to set Heath up with Garth."
"Garth?" Angus barked, half-amused and half- irritated that Gaia had done anything that might have taken Heath from him. "He's no alpha. And don't get me started on his feelings towards humans. He barely tolerates Sawyer."
Gaia growled as she did when someone other than her pack master said anything less than glowing about her brother, Garth. The truth of it was, Garth was so disagreeable that back when someone had kidnapped Roscoe's mate, Sawyer, everyone happily assumed it was the grumpiest bear in their pack. He'd been framed, of course, which explained why he was still walking and breathing, but he wasn't any more likable.
"We don't all need to be alphas. Whatever Garth's faults may be, at least he isn't scratching up the wrong tree," Gaia retorted. "You should have seen Maggie's face when I asked about Heath. It was like I asked her if she thought he would enjoy playing hide and seek in the freeway. I'm telling you, Angus, because I care. That boy is as straight as a telephone pole."
Angus snorted his reply. There was no use arguing with Gaia. He knew what Heath wanted other people to think about him, but there was more there. The jock- head, dude-bro impersonation Heath did to perfection was just that, an impersonation. He had a heart big enough to travel across the country and move to an isolated town to help his sister. Then, stayed so she wouldn't be lonely. That didn't make him gay, but it did make him loyal.
There were also all the lingering looks, flushed cheeks and Heath's body language, all signals and clues that he didn't even know he was giving off.
If Heath wasn't attracted to him, then Angus would willfully sit on a cactus.
Gaia laughed. "It's just so hard for you to come to terms with the fact that someone doesn't want you."
"Shush, kitten," Angus replied with a half-smile. He took the near-invisible turn off the main road so fast the tires squealed, and Gaia had to reach up to hold on or else topple over. "You know you're my number one girl," he said with a wink, fully expecting the punch he got on the arm as her reply. They'd grown up in the same pack, and while Angus was older, that didn't stop Gaia from harboring a crush on him for years. She may have been promised to their former pack master—the cruel alpha who Roscoe, Angus' brother, had defeated to gain control of the pack—but her teenage heart had thumped only for Angus.
"You're a dick," she muttered as he pulled the jeep to a stop at the trailhead that would take them to their campsite.
Their home could hardly be called a camp anymore since they'd erected so many permanent structures. Angus had been impressed to see all the work his brother had done while he was off negotiating for supplies. With the new lumber and metal Angus had brought back with him, they had even more resources and had used them well. Their little wannabe town had a stationary school, community meeting area and a hospital, even though they didn't have an official doctor. That was coming next.
When Angus and Roscoe's other brothers returned, they would have everything they needed to make their slice of the forest a home.
Angus pulled the groceries out, covered the car with a camouflaged tarp and foliage and then lined his arms with grocery bags for the hike back.
"You can't take them all," Gaia said, hastily snatching the last two bags that were left. "Show off."
"I'm simply trying to make your life easier. I feel bad for reminding you of your awkward past."
"I was not awkward!" Gaia replied with a near screech.
"I might actually have a picture from back then. You were always in the background, looking up at me with wide, star-filled eyes. I could show Maggie." He skipped forward, avoiding the violence that would spill out of the feisty bear shifter.
"You show Maggie anything, and you'll lose something," Gaia threatened. "Something you are very proud of."
"Okay, okay, I won't risk little Angy's livelihood by teasing you any longer. I'll simply recite the poem you wrote for me when we were children after everyone has finished eating. Dinner and a show."
Angus took off running through the thick forest with Gaia on his heels. Weighed down with grocery bags, he was still faster. But Gaia had determination and did not stop until they stumbled into their camp, laughing by that point.
Angus helped her put away the food and supplies that they were still not able to make themselves. Glad that for now, he'd gotten her mind off Angus and the plans he had for Heath.