Chapter Twenty-Six
“What is that supposed to mean?” Betty blocked Ryota’s path to Ken. “And why are you both following me?” Was this some weird dominant hunter thing that she didn’t understand? Couldn’t a girl get some space to think? Mind you, letting her friends convince her to come to a crowded and noisy bar wasn’t an ideal spot for pondering either.
Ryota lifted an eyebrow and tilted his head. “Follow you? I was driving Prince Charming home when he jumped out of my moving car.” He pointed to Ken and shook his head in what looked like pity. “He must have caught your scent.”
She ran her hands over Ken looking for injuries. “You idiot. Couldn’t you wait until he stopped the car?” All limbs appeared intact.
Ken gave her a crooked smile and looked less wolf-like than a minute ago. “You still care.” He brushed her hair from her face and leaned unsteadily forward for a kiss.
She stopped him with a hand to the chest. “You just puked and I’m still angry.”
Ryota rolled his eyes so far up inside his head, she thought they might get stuck.
“Come on, Romeo.” He slung Ken over his shoulder as if he were still a child.
“How can you let him drink so much?” She followed on his heels. Ken had hurt her but apparently she’d done just as much damage. That hadn’t been her intention.
“Blame that on my father,” Ryota grumbled and kicked a trash can out of his way. “No matter what I do, he manages to smuggle full-moon shine into the city. I’ll text you his number later. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
She gasped. “Ken Birch, you are in so much trouble.” Her teeth ached from the force she used to grind them. Of all the things to ingest, that stuff could make a shifter do really stupid things, like jump out of moving vehicles.
Ryota tossed her an amused glance over his shoulder. “He’s unconscious.”
“What!” She pulled Ken’s head back and stared at his slack expression. “Shouldn’t we take him to the hospital so they can pump his stomach or something?” Her heart raced and sweat slicked her hands. She’d never heard of a shifter overdosing but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.
“I think he managed the job on his own.” The alpha gestured back toward the alley where Ken had vomited.
She grimaced. “Will he be okay?” She ran her fingers through her mate’s golden-blond hair.
“He’ll be fine.” They reached Ryota’s parked car a few blocks away and he folded Ken into the small back seat.
“Maybe we should roll him on his side so he won’t swallow his tongue.” That was a thing, right? She tried to maneuver around Ryota to check on Ken’s breathing.
The alpha stopped every attempt. “Betty.” He sounded exasperated. “I tried to stay out of pack matings, but considering that Ken is my son, I am going to break this rule.” He closed the back door and all access to Ken. “What are your intentions?”
She retreated a step and shut her mouth with a painful click.
Ryota set his hands on his hips, eyes narrowed and sharp. She didn’t know what frightened her more—his being alpha or being Ken’s adopted dad. He snapped his fingers. “Speak.”
She jumped. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Are you, or are you not his soulmate?”
“I—I am.” She clutched her hands and tried to peer around him at her unconscious mate. “You should open a window.”
The alpha growled. “Focus, Betty.”
“I’m trying.” She barked back. “It’s kind of hard with Ken sick and you getting in my face. What do want from me? Of course I’m his soulmate. Do you not see me losing my fucking mind here?”
Ryota crossed his arms, not budging from the car door. “So why break his heart today? You told him you never wanted to see him again.”
Her heart dropped between her ankles and got road rash. She had done exactly what Ryota had accused her of.
“Are you playing games? Because I won’t let you. The pack needs Ken whole. If you try to break him, I will do worse to you.” He loomed over her. Alpha power in his glare.
“It’s not like that,” she whispered, her mouth drier than a popcorn fart.
“Then what’s the problem? He didn’t tell you about handling your eviction? Do you think we’d stop an entire pack project for your falling apart building? Do you think you’re so special that he’ll put your needs above the pack’s?”
Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the right words. The eviction was just the tipping point. “No.” Though deep down inside she suspected Ken would put her needs first. She didn’t want him to, which was why she needed room to breathe. They’d been moving at warp speed and she was losing everything in the process, including who she was.
“I don’t fit.” It popped out. The heart of her panic.
The fury coming off Ryota in waves cooled. He seemed to shrink to normal size, though he hadn’t actually changed physically.
“There’s no place for me in Ken’s life. No matter how much I want to be part of it. I’m a square peg and no amount of hammering is going to make me fit in the circle. He’s smart and professional, I’m—I’m a hot mess. I can’t be the mate he deserves, especially as the pack’s beta. I’m as subtle and diplomatic as-as…”
“A cactus,” he finished for her.
Betty gazed down at her shoes. “Yeah. You don’t want me to wreck things for Ken and neither do I.”
Ryota leaned against his vehicle, hands searching inside his jacket pocket. He pulled out a check book and scribbled something. He handed her the slip with a lot of zeros on it.
“I don’t want this.”
“I know, but you need it. Go home. Take your animals. Move back to Riverbend. Be close to your family. I’m sure Christopher will be very happy to see you. He seemed very determined to have you back. Maybe he can help you shift shape.” He gave her the alpha look again. “If you choose to leave, don’t ever come back.”
She stared at the check. The amount made her lightheaded. “If I don’t leave?”
“I’m not responsible for the consequences of your actions, Betty.” He buttoned his jacket and gave her a little nod. “I’m only an alpha, not a god.”
Ken woke to the taste of road kill in his mouth. Blinking his vision clear, he was surprised not to see the barred door of Betty’s kennel again. He raised his head and the room spun. Moaning, he clung to the mattress of his childhood bed. He lay on his stomach in his old bedroom. The walls were still decorated with Godzilla movie posters.
The vertigo settled. Sitting on the edge of the queen-sized bed, Ken rubbed his aching head. It felt like the monster had sat on his skull. He and Ryota used to stay up late watching the movies together. What was he doing here?
He finally recalled sharing a bottle of shifter strength alcohol with his grandfather. The fact that he was in Ryota’s home did not bode well for Ken’s day. His father didn’t approve of drinking, but the full-moon shine had seemed like a good idea at the time.
Today, he’d hunt down Betty and ask for her forgiveness. Once he could manage to stand. This was such a small hurdle for them to stumble over. He had a lifetime to make it up to her.
He rubbed his temple as memories flashed through the pain. An alley. Vomiting. Betty.
He hung his head. Shit. He had chased her down in a club, publicly threatened a human, then puked on his shoes. She had called him her hero, but her tone had said the opposite. He glanced at the clock.
“Ah, double shit.” Ken jumped to his feet. He was late for the orphanage fundraiser without a car. He rushed out of his bedroom to find Benny, his assistant, sitting in the living room, flipping through a magazine.
He set it aside. “The alpha told me to not wake you.”
“Benny, I’m late!” How could Ryota do this? He knew how important this day was for him every year. The orphanage had saved him. They’d found him a pack and, most importantly, convinced Ryota to adopt him instead of giving him to some random shifter couple. He owed them. Ken rushed to the shower, knowing he reeked.
Benny handed him clothes from home.
Ken paused. “Do you have a car?”
“The alpha is at the fundraiser in your place until you quote unquote ‘get your shit together’.”
He closed his eyes. The potential disasters flashed before his eyes. Ryota didn’t do fundraisers. He just signed the checks.
“Do you want me to make some breakfast?” asked Benny.
“Sure, something to-go though.” Ken hesitated at the bathroom door. “Did Betty call?”
“No, would you like me to phone her?”
He shook his head. She’d be at the fundraiser.