Page 7

~Carter~

After we finished dinner, I offered to load up the dishwasher. Estell kissed my cheek and thanked me before heading to her office. I had no idea what she actually did in there, but I figured it had something to do with their dog rescue. We’d visited the pups on our tour, and I’d fallen head over heels for one in particular. Her name was Casey, and she was an adorable mix of what looked like a Pomeranian and a beagle. Estell had called her a PomBee. All of the dogs were cute, but something about Casey just had my heart in knots.

I’d just put the last dish in the dishwasher when the youngest Cross brother walked into the kitchen. Chase yawned and stretched before grabbing a couple of Cokes from the fridge. He handed one to me and motioned toward the living room.

“Join me?”

“Sure.”

I followed him and settled on the couch while he dropped into one of the recliners. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, giving me a chance to study him. He was closer to my age, I think, but I wasn’t sure.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“How old are you? You don’t look any older than about thirty or so.”

He smiled and rolled his head a little to look over at me. “Forty-six. What about you?”

“Thirty-eight. Nobody ever believes me when I tell them.”

Chase chuckled and nodded before taking a sip of Coke. “I get it. All my coworkers are humans, and any time we get a new person, they think everybody’s joking when my age comes up.”

I could believe that. Chase looked like he was in his late twenties like me, but the man had a PhD, I’d found out. He wasn’t a pharmacy tech; he was the actual pharmacist.

“Colt’s pushing ninety,” he said. “Adrian is eighty-six. Hayden and Ian are fifty-three, though Hayden will try to convince you he’s the older one. Only by five minutes, I might add.”

“What’s it like having so many brothers?”

Chase sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “Frustrating but good. When the family found out I had a uterus forming at age ten, my brothers decided I needed to be coddled and protected. I blame Adrian for it, to be honest. His best friend is Ethan Levy. Ethan and his mate Taylor recently joined the Silverthorne pack, and they have this motto: ‘omegas are to be protected at all costs.’”

“Not a bad motto.”

“True.” He glanced over at me. “What’s your story anyway?”

“I, uh, fled my family pack a few years ago. They wanted to use me in their babyfarming scheme.”

Chase scowled. “Seriously? That’s barbaric.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t get a regular job, though, so I resorted to… other methods of making money.”

He nodded. “So did Mom before she met our dad. She’ll be the first to tell you not to be ashamed.”

“She already did,” I said with a smile.

Chase sighed and closed his eyes once more. After a few moments of silence, he asked, “what is it like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Having an alpha mate. I’ve met many guys, have had quite a few lovers, but none of them ever felt right. I used to believe my true mate was out there, but I haven’t met him yet.”

“It’s… well, I’d say it was awesome finally meeting mine, but we didn’t exactly get started out on the right foot.”

Chase snorted. “Color me surprised. Adrian can be an ass. I think it’s probably due to his job, to be honest. He has to take a hard stance sometimes, and it’s kind of jaded his outlook.”

That made sense. I thought about things he had to deal with as a cop and couldn’t really fault him for being abrasive.

“He’s not so bad in private. Hell, I think he’s going to be a great dad.” I caught Chase’s gaze when he looked over at me. “I think you all will be when the times come.”

Chase smiled. “I like to think so. Our dad was awesome. I hope to be even a fraction of what he had been.”

“What happened to him? Your mom didn’t really go into detail.”

“Rival pack,” Chase said. “Ironcrest has been a thorn in our sides for a very long time. There were quite a few clashes even before I was born. I was six when Dad faced off against one of the Ironcrest wolves. Not the pack leader, mind you, but it was a fairly big fight. Dad took the asshole down, but he died from sepsis. We think the Ironcrest wolf used poison.”

I swallowed and tore my gaze from Chase’s. “Knowing them, most likely.” When he didn’t reply, I looked back over at Chase and sighed. “I am—well, was —an Ironcrest.”

“Then I’m really glad you got away,” Chase said. “If they keep giving us grief and trying to encroach on our territory, it’s not going to end well.”

“If I can help, I will. I want them gone—permanently.”

“Understood completely.”

“Question… what happens to the dogs your family rescues?”

“We adopt them out. Obviously, we vet the people who want them. The dogs we take in were either abandoned, strays, or were abused. We’re the ones who rehab them whenever the cops have to remove them from bad situations.” He smiled at me, the expression one of knowing. “So which one?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Am I that obvious?”

Chase shrugged. “The pups are adorable. I don’t blame you.”

“Casey,” I said. “Fairly sure she and I bonded.”

“Tell Mom then. The only reason why the dogs stay in kennels is because she would never be able to rehome any of them. She’d get too attached.”

“I need to talk to Adrian, too. Hell, I’ve never had a pet of any kind.”

“Casey is his favorite,” Chase said with a grin. “For now, though, I’m going to grab me something to eat and then crash. It’s been a long damn day.”

“I don’t blame you.”

We sat there in comfortable silence for another few minutes before Chase finally got up. He wished me goodnight and left the living room. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the couch. It felt weird not worrying about whether or not I’d be mugged… or worse. For the first time in my life, I truly felt safe .