Page 35 of Pack Ruin
“Thanks.” I reached around to rub his lower back again. “All better now?”
“Mostly. It would feel even better if you rubbed a little lower, and around to the front…”
A flannel shirt landed on his face, and I was sailing through the air the next second as Brand picked me up and handed me my clothing, “Dean’s got everything ready. It’s time to go.”
Dean came up to us once we were dressed, shaking hands with Glen, giving a little bow to me, and handing over a set of keys to his truck. It was weird seeing him next to Glen. The two were wearing the same outfit, from the identical work boots to the Denver Broncos baseball caps that obscured their features from above.
I’d been confused about some parts of the plan, until Samuel had admitted that the Eastern pack was modern, which meant drones and maybe even satellites. “For all we know, they’ll have eyes on the front door of the Den.” That made sense, even if the idea of shifters using technology like humans made my wolf curl her lip. He went on. “Dean will be seen walking in. Then it’ll look like Dean is the one leaving, with Ida.”
“Ida?”
“You.”
My disguise was minimal, but effective, and it made me laugh when Dean handed me the pieces to pull on in the middle of the upstairs hall.
In less than a minute, I had one of Ida’s broad-brimmed straw sunhats covering my red hair, and a long-sleeved cotton dress over my own clothes. Apparently, Dean took Ida into a nearby town every week on this day to get baking supplies. We would leave the truck in the town and switch to another, older truck that Samuel had unearthed from somewhere on the packlands, and donated to the cause.
Dean bowed to Brand, murmuring, “Alpha.” Brand nodded back. I was glad Brand would have him as his Head Enforcer, or whatever they called it at Mountain.
Wait.Samuel wasn’t Alpha, so I wasn’t sure what Dean’s position was now. Had he lost his job?
“Brand? Who is your Head Enforcer going to be? Is it still Dean?”
“Mountain only ever used those titles in war, and when the Council insisted we have one for full Council votes. I’ve decided not to have one at all.”
Glen gave him a surprised look as we walked to the side door of the Den together. “Weareat war, brother.”
Brand growled. “When we go to war, I may name officers. But I think those positions will be temporary.”
From our matching scowls, I knew we were all remembering the clusterfuck at Northern, when Glen’s parents had adopted wartime measures and kept them going, creating a permanent lower-class tier of vulnerable shifters who had no hope of rising to the rank their wolves deserved.
Still, the logistics of it confused me. Who would hold down the fort if Brand needed to leave the Den? “Won’t you need other shifters to help lead, when you’re not around or?—”
His grin stopped my words. “Flor, if everything works out, I’ll have plenty of help leading the pack. You, Glen, Finn, and Luke.”
I hummed, thinking,And Grigor,then winced as his smile turned into a frown.
“Do not bring that one back to the Mountain packlands. I know he claimed to be a suitor; I know he’s fascinated with you. But he’s a mass murderer, a conscienceless monster. Some of those books in your bag will tell you more about what he’s done. Read them. He’s not safe for you to be around. And I sure as hell don’t want him near our pack.”
My wolf bristled. Safe for me to be around? He was acting like I was some weak-ass bitch who needed a mate to protect her. Him calling it our pack was all that kept me from giving him a quick kidney jab as a goodbye present.
“Our pack,” Glen chimed in, opening the door. “I like that. I’ll pick my own title. Not Head Enforcer. Maybe… Chief Provider of Flor’s Orgasms? Senior Wolf in Charge of Flor’s Bliss? He Whose Name is Screamed Loudest by the Shared Queen—ow!Damnit, Brand! Now my shirt’s wrecked.”
I had to muffle my laughter as Brand pulled back his hand, the claws already retracting. Glen’s shirt sleeve was torn, and he was bleeding the tiniest bit, but when I pressed a kiss to his forearm, the cuts healed up instantly.
Brand pulled Glen close and murmured something in his ear, as they hugged in that way males did, where I wasn’t sure if it was an affectionate touch or if they were trying to break ribs. Our embrace was far more intimate, and painful in a way I had never encountered.
“I’ll miss you,” I croaked, when he pulled away, my face still tingling from his beard rubbing my skin as he kissed me.
“I’ll be right here,” he replied, tapping my head, and then my heart. “I’ll never be more than a thought away.” I noddedbrusquely, then followed Glen out the door, fighting to keep my tears from flowing until I was outside of the pack’s borders.
17
Parting Gifts
FLOR
“You ready, Dream Girl?”
