Page 1 of The Stars of the Pack

Around the Hearth

“They are mine!”

The way Ray snarled at his sister would have been appropriate only if she’d suggested slow cooking one of the kids.

Marisa took a hasty step back. Josh himself remained frozen behind her—he’d just got back from an ‘emergency’ trip to the grocery store. Half the bags were still in the car, but the ice cream could melt, this was a real emergency.

He was pretty sure Marisa had just asked about cutting a tree for Christmas.

But Ray’s teeth were gritted and his arms had come up around the considerable girth of his middle—only twins this time, but they were close. Josh found himself crossing the distance between them, putting his body in front of the absolutely safe beta girl, tough as nails but audibly upset. He wasn’t quite sure who he was protecting, but the wolf must have known.

His hands on Rays upper arms were enough for his omega to exhale and slump a little. He was shaking his head. “I...”

His brown eyes were still too dilated when he met Josh’s, but he swallowed and took a step to the side to look at his little sister. “Mari...” His voice caught.

“What the fuck, Ray?” She was on the verge of tears, red faced and clenching her own teeth. He’d scared her, but now she was mad, Josh felt it deeply and he had to bite his tongue to keep out of it.

“Sorry,” their First Omega told her. “It... I’m sorry, I don’t know what got over me.”

***

IT TURNED OUT, AFTERsome calls to their birth pack, that it wasn’t uncommon for a First Omega to become protective of their land.

“It’s a feature, not a bug?” Iesu summarised.

“Not exactly,” Josh explained. Ray had decreed he should tell everyone at once. Josh was First Alpha and he could have argued and even overridden the command. Ray was just punishing himself for snapping at his sister. But no one could hurt Ray with the information and Josh knew his partner well enough to let him take the lead when he was scared. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t going to cause permanent harm.

He’d had to ask Ray to submit to him before, to trust him absolutely. Ray had done it but it all depended on him knowing Josh would only ask if he had to.

It was a fine balance. Most days he didn’t even have to think about it, and days like today were getting easier as time went by. He wasn’t counting on it ever becoming easy, and he was more than fine with that.

“Obviously a First Omega is the last line of defence for any pack so when they are triggered...” He shrugged, offering Marisa an apologetic grimace. “It’s intense.”

Ray’s eyes had been stuck to the ground, he’d apologised to her already—at length, and for the proud Halleys that meant a lot. Now he braced his shoulders and looked up, “How can the territory be more important than a member of the pack?” His voice was a little rough, but steady nonetheless. He wasn’t the kid who’d gone catatonic when he’d first hooked up to the territory’s ley lines.

But he was still learning, they all were.

“It’s made more intense if the omega doesn’t ever leave the territory,” Josh told him. It was the only explanation the elders had offered, at least, and it made perfect sense to him—other than being a male omega, it wasn’t like Ray was a mystically powerful werewolf, after all.

He saw Ray’s expression turn sour. The information had put Josh in a particularly awkward position; being right.

By the silence reigning in their dining room, every other member of the pack knew it too.

Ray huffed, which did little to disguise the fear he felt as annoyance. It was clear as day in the bond, wide open between them despite the tension. “Okay,” he said at last. “Let’s go.”

It was Marisa who asked, “Go where?”

“Out,” Ray said after a beat. He was trying to keep a hold of his temper this time.

It was just like him, too, the moment his pain could solve a problem, Ray proved quite happy to do whatever it took. He’d stamped over his own feelings again and again before Josh had become his First Alpha and got a direct line to his feelings. “Ray,” Josh said, firm but nowhere near an order.

Ray’s eyes returned to him at once, wary, steeled for more bad news, he thought. Josh just shook his head. “Nothing’s about to explode, let’s go for a walk.”

Not long ago, Ray would have resisted the suggestion simply because Josh could make it an order; today he gave a nod and turned toward the door instead. Josh followed him, not looking at anyone else in the room.

It was a delicate balance, not unlike presenting a united front for your kids, he thought sometimes. It wasn’t like anyone didn’t know Josh was soft for Ray as could be, but Josh wasn’t Ray’s friend anymore, not even his boyfriend, he was his First Alpha and he owed it to both Ray and the pack to steer them true.

***

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