Page 44 of Brutal Alpha

“For fuck’s sake,” barked Ethan, “who let him out?”

The Beta shrugged.

“He just wandered off while Sadie’s back was turned. You know what he’s like.”

Ethan sighed as though he knew exactly what Joe was like, pinching the bridge of his nose. I personally wasn’t sure what the problem was with a shifter going into the forest. It was kind of our whole thing.

“Do you have a track on him?” Ethan asked, and the Beta nodded.

“He didn’t go far, just up to the lake.”

Ethan nodded, running a hand through his hair. I was absolutely not admiring the way it made the muscles of his arms and torso flex. That would have been tasteless. He was in distress.

“Sorry, I have to go deal with this,” he told me. “You go back to town with Harris, get settled in the house. One of our elders, his mind’s going. He keeps wandering off and refusing to come back. Says he’s waiting for his mate, but she died last year.”

It was a familiar enough scenario. Shifters were less susceptible to degeneration and disease than humans, but it became more common among the elders when their mates had passed on.

“I’ll come with you,” I said. I might not know Joe, but I had always been good at calming Patricia Elms when she started talking in circles and forgetting her son’s face.

“You don’t need to—” Ethan started, but I held up a hand to silence him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harris’s jaw drop.

“Elders are my whole job back home,” I reminded him. “Let me help.”

“Fine. It’s not far from the lake.”

As we walked, Ethan filled me in: Joe was coming up on ninety, his mate Minnie having passed in her sleep the previous winter. Minnie had, according to Ethan, been something of a community pillar, warm and funny and absolutely not to be messed with. The two of them had a daughter, Sadie, with whom Joe now lived, but he was prone to wandering off in search of his mate, and this wasn’t the first time Ethan had been called in to help get him back.

“The Alpha command is usually the only thing that can get him to move,” Ethan confessed. “I don’t like doing it, though. He’s a respected Elder. He deserves better than that.”

“Well, you’ve got me now,” I told him. I wished I were as confident as I pretended, but it was clear that Ethan was uncomfortable with the task; if nothing else, I could lend him a little support.

It wasn’t long before the forest began to thin out, and we found ourselves on the shore of a small lake, rimmed by redwoods. Not far from us, an elderly man sat at the base of a tree, waving as he saw us approach.

“Hey, Joe,” said Ethan, and the old man gave him a little salute.

“Matthew,” said Joe. “Nice day we’re having, huh?”

Matthew had been Ethan’s father, which was about what I expected. Ethan looked uncomfortable, but I could tell he was trying his best not to show it.

“It sure is,” he agreed, “but it’ll be dark soon. Wanna come back to town?”

Joe shook his head.

“Naw, I’m meeting my Minnie here for a date.” His attention turned to me, his watery blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. “Who’s your lady friend?”

“I’m Julia,” I said, crouching down and giving a little wave of my own. “It’s nice to meet you, Joe. I’ve heard a lot about your Minnie.”

His whole face lit up, splitting into a wide, gap-toothed smile.

“Yeah, she’s a swell girl, just swell. Sometimes I can’t believe fate gave her to me, but I sure am grateful.”

“What’s your favorite thing about her?” I asked. As sad as it sometimes made me, I loved to hear the Elders talk about their mates. That kind of enduring love was something that I’d dreamed of as a girl: to have someone who loved me so entirely, for everything I was.

“Oh, her sense of humor for sure,” Joe answered quickly. “She’s whip-smart, always got something to say.”

“You must be really proud of her,” I said, “and your daughter, too.”

I’d hoped that mention of his daughter might bring Joe back to the present, but I had no such luck. He only shook his head, looking confused.

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