Chapter Nine
It was Sybil who woke them.
“Breakfast’s in ten minutes and then we’re heading out.”
Cade, who’d managed to fall back asleep eventually, sat up and looked around. Next to him, Hunter groaned and turned over, burying his face in the pillow.
“Is it a long journey back to Moonrise Cove?”
He was half expecting to be ignored or have his nose bitten off, but Hunter yawned instead, pushing himself up on his elbows.
“It’s a four-hour drive. We’ll be home by lunchtime.”
Cade was surprised to see the cut on Hunter’s face from the fight with Zane was still visible. He touched Hunter’s chin, the alpha wincing and making a face.
“It’s not as bad as it looks.”
He put his hand over Cade’s, warm and strong, and there was something there, just for a second; a frisson, a sense of connection. Hunter pulled away and it was gone. He wasn’t even sure the alpha had noticed.
Hunter got out of bed and Cade followed him out to the kitchen.
“Well, don’t you two look tired?” Sybil said with a knowing look, doling out plates of food to the people gathered around. “Late night, was it?”
“Mom,” Seth, the alpha’s son, complained, “let them at least wake up before you start interrogating them about their mating night. And, preferably, wait until I’m out of earshot.”
“Fine. Here, dear, have some breakfast.”
She handed Cade the first plate, which surprised him a little, but he took it readily enough and slipped into a seat at the table between Seth and another wolf. A half-second later Hunter moved to stand behind him and the wolf to his left glanced at the alpha over his shoulder before vacating his seat. Hunter sat down and tucked into his meal. Cade was a little slower, still surprised at how well they were feeding him. Bacon, sausages, eggs. He hadn’t had food that good in weeks.
After breakfast, he offered to help Sybil with the washing up but, smiling, she shooed him away. The rest were busy packing things up and getting the vehicles and trailer ready. Cade did a quick headcount. There were about two dozen of the pack there. A sizeable number which probably meant a medium or large pack back home. The more people the better, easier for him to get lost in a crowd, for eyes to forget to watch him.
“Here, you can help sort out the sleeping bags,” Hunter said, pointing him toward the living room. Cade knelt on the floor next to a beta male who was rolling up the bags and started doing the same.
“Maybe we’d be better doing it together?” the beta suggested. “I’m Joe, by the way.”
“Cade,” he replied softly.
“Yeah, I know. I can’t believe Hunter actually went through with it. Angus just about pitched a fit when Hunter told him he’d chosen you.”
“Why’s that?” Cade knew the alpha wasn’t happy with Hunter’s choice of mate, but not the reason why.
“I don’t know all the details, just that Angus lost a brother to a fight with another alpha over a mate.”
“Over an omega.” Things were starting to make more sense.
“Yep. Angus’ father, and then Angus, both forbade omegas in the pack. And secondary mates. And non-wolf pairings.”
“Why?” They were all things that formed a healthy pack, to ban them seemed strange.
“I guess they felt things would be more stable without those elements, especially with omegas being what they are.”
“And what’s that?” Cade asked, more curious than insulted. In Baelon’s pack, he would have been a pretty bauble to decorate the alpha’s living room when they had guests. Joe blushed, seeming to realize what he’d said.
“Wild, I guess. Free spirits that don’t settle and that break hearts along the way. He thinks when you complicate the mating bond, with a third person, or a different shifter species, or an omega, it means more fights and instability and less peace.”
“But we’re shifters. Mating lust, bloodlust, conflict, love, it’s all part of who we are.”
“Maybe that was true in the past but not anymore. Take the Gathering. This is my fourth time going. And there wasn’t a single fight outside of the mating challenge between Zane and Hunter. The stories my grandfather tells from his teenage years are full of fights and passion. All we’re left with is everyone giving Red Fang a wide berth because they’re crazy. I guess maybe it’s a good thing, you know; a stable society.”
Wolf society didn’t sound stable, it sounded stagnant, disintegrating. The core of what made them shifters was their ability to change form, without that, the rest was falling apart.
“It sounds like the previous generation had more fun,” Cade said in an undertone.
Joe laughed. “Yeah, I guess maybe they did.”
“Are you mated?” Cade already knew the answer but it was a good way to get the conversation going. There was something a little different about Joe but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“No, not yet.” Something in the way Joe said that made Cade press a bit harder.
“But there is someone.”
Joe blushed. “I don’t think he even knows I exist.”
“Is he a Cove wolf?”
“No, he’s from our sister pack.”
“That’s Moon Weir, right? One of the alpha’s sons then?” They’d been talking about them over breakfast. What were their names again?
If anything, Joe blushed harder. “No! I mean, they’d never… I’m batting way above my station even thinking about it.”
Shifters didn’t really have stations, not beyond alpha/beta/omega, anyway.
“Well, that depends, doesn’t it? Is it Axel or Dexter?”
“Axel,” Joe admitted softly.
“See, no problem then. He’s not the next alpha, right? There’s zero expectation of kids, so you and he can go at it like rabbits.”
“I don’t think he’s even looked twice at me,” Joe replied. “Besides, his parents are going to want him to have kids, in case something happens to his brother.”
Cade shook his head. Why was everything so overcomplicated here? They were shifters, for heaven’s sake, not humans.
“That’s what second mates are for. If it came down to it, and he needed to produce heirs, the two of you would pick a third mate to join you and have your many babies. If the dynamic was right, you could even choose an omega.” It sounded like wolf society could do with a few omegas to spice things up.
Joe looked bewildered at the idea.
“But… why would an omega want to be a second mate? Wouldn’t they muscle the primary mate out of position?”
Cade was starting to wonder if their knowledge of omegas was solely from old stories. Not to mention their knowledge of shifter society in general.
“No. A second mate isn’t supposed to be lesser. It’s meant to be an extension of the relationship. That’s why the alpha and primary mate do the choosing together. You pick a third equally loved by both to complete your family.”
Joe considered that for a moment before dismissing it. “Neither of our packs’ alphas would agree to that.”
Cade swallowed a huff of frustration. The wolves were all going crazy, that was the only explanation.
“At least you don’t have to worry about that,” Joe said, “there’ll be no issue with you producing heirs.” If anything, Joe sounded a little envious.
Hunter appeared in the doorway, interrupting them. “Get a move on, Angus wants us on the road in five.”
“We’re done,” Joe offered, picking up the last of the rolled bags. Cade carried the one in his arms out, following behind Hunter. They put them with the rest in the trailer before Seth fastened the plastic rain cover over it.
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.”
Everyone seemed excited to be leaving, even Hunter. He caught Cade’s elbow, guiding him over to two motorcycles sitting side by side.
“You’re riding with me, there’s no space in the cars.”
Cade glanced a little forlornly at the comfortable looking four-wheel-drives that the others were piling into. He was stiff and sore from three days in a cage. A night in a real bed hadn’t been enough to let him heal. It would be hard to object though. As Hunter’s new mate, it would be expected that he’d be territorial with other unmated wolves around Hunter and that would extend to someone pressed against him for a four-hour bike ride. Ditto for Hunter with Cade squished between two other wolves in one of the cars. He had to face facts. They were stuck with each other for the moment.
Cade quickly decided he wasn’t a fan of motorcycles. Maybe it was the cold wind biting at him as they drove, maybe it was the noise of the road. The one thing he knew it wasn’t, was the forced proximity to the alpha. There was something solid and reassuring about Hunter’s presence and after a few sharp turns and bumps in the road, he found himself wrapping his arms around the alpha’s waist and clinging to him.
The convoy didn’t stop, seeming comfortable with making the journey in one go. But since he hadn’t seen any kids with them, he guessed they could manage a four-hour journey without a pause. Cade felt a little disappointed. If he knew the ground they were covering better, he might have been able to make his escape during the rest stop, avoiding having to make nice with Hunter’s pack.
Despite the uncomfortable method of travel, which only got worse when it started to rain, he never voiced a complaint to Hunter. The alpha seemed grumpy enough at the best of times. Cade had to work at not being too much of a jerk back to him.
Still, four hours was a long journey. He was very glad when Hunter shouted back that they were almost there. They reached a turning and followed a long path, houses dotted here and there. Children ran ahead of them, toward what Cade guessed was Angus’ house. They drove right up to it and Cade was surprised to see that it wasn’t what he’d expected. Baelon’s house had been large and lavish, standing out from the rest of the pack’s houses in both its size and decoration. In contrast, this pack house, while large, looked homely and welcoming.
As they pulled up, people came out to greet them, including a handful of teenagers and younger children that Cade guessed were the rest of Angus and Sybil’s kids. None were part of a single litter as far as he could see.
He climbed off the bike, catching the scent of the sea on the wind and licking his lips, the taste of salt familiar and comforting. The Cove lived up to its name.
“How far are we from the coast?”
Hunter turned to him, seeming surprised that he’d spoken.
“Five minutes’ walk, east.” The alpha pointed through the trees. Cade longed to run right there, the sea calling to him.
“Hunter,” Angus said, climbing out of the first car. “We’ve had the old enforcer’s cottage done up for you and your new mate. We put Andy in charge of the decorating while we were gone.”
Cade turned to see another beta male, who looked very like Joe, giving them an awkward smile.
“I know flashy isn’t your thing,” he said quietly. “So, I kept it simple.”
Hunter stepped forward to shake his hand. “Thanks, Andy.”
The alpha leaned closer to the beta, and Cade only just caught the whispered words. “Thank god we brought Elena with us or it would have been wall to wall white carpet, and pink tiles in the bathroom.”
Andy sputtered a laugh as Joe came up and slung an arm over his shoulders. Their closeness only reinforced the similarity Cade had seen. Littermates, maybe?
The cold and wet was getting to him and he couldn’t stop a shiver running through him from head to toe.
“Hunter, never mind dilly-dallying out here. Your poor mate is half-frozen. Get him inside!” Sybil to his rescue, like the den mother he’d never had.
His alpha chuckled. “Come on, let’s go take a look at home sweet home.”