Page 25 of Lone Wolf’s Claim (The Kincaid Werewolves #1)

"W hat the actual fook?"

Brock froze at the sound of the all too familiar voice, a hot flash of fear heating his skin. It couldn't be.

A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that the voice did indeed belong to the person he thought it did, and his heart stalled out in his chest before picking back up to pound rapidly behind his ribs.

There was only one reason that he would be here.

And it wasn’t going to end well for either of them.

Turning back to Heather, he took her face in his large hands and whispered sincerely, "I'm so sorry. I should’ve told you everything." Then he released her and turned around to face the ugliness of the past that he'd been running from since he’d met her.

"Brock? Is tha’ you?" Lucian, the male that had once been his best friend and only family, stood to the side of the kitchen with both a question and a warning in his stormy grey eyes. “What the fook am I doing here?”

Not a “Hey, buddy!” Not a “Good to see ya!” He hadn't changed a bit, Brock was sad to see. Still the same auburn-haired, pretty-boy looks. Still the same selfish, cocky attitude.

Standing beside Lucian was Cedric, the pack leader he had gone to visit to seek permission to stay in Seattle.

He stared at Brock with the icy intelligence and calm, powerful presence that allowed him to retain the position he was in.

It was quite obvious that they’d both been “invited” here the same way he and Heather had just arrived.

Why was Lucian with Cedric?

"Oh good! Our guests are here," the Fae prince crowed with delight.

"Heather dear, come sit over here by me." He patted the seat next to him, a kitchen stool that he’d pulled up to the counter. After a searching look at Brock, which he couldn’t answer, she limped over with obvious reluctance and sat down.

“How was your trip?” he asked Brock with genuine curiosity.

Brock watched her join the prince, half expecting him to hand her some popcorn for the show. “It was…unexpected,” he answered, and then turned to the prince’s "guests". He lowered his head with respect, though not as far as he would have if he were a member of their pack, and greeted the alpha.

"Cedric." Straightening up, he speared Lucian with a resentful stare, all of the undeserved violence and loneliness of the past years converging inside of him. "Lucian." He spit out the name of the male that was once a brother to him.

Cedric gave Brock a slight nod in greeting, glancing between him and Lucian with curious, narrowed eyes.

He then turned to the Fae prince, the slight clenching and unclenching of his jaw the only visible sign that he was at all frazzled by finding himself in someone else’s kitchen so unexpectedly.

"Now that ye 'ave us here, who are ye and what is it exactly that we can dae for ye?

" he asked in his heavy Scottish brogue as he crossed his heavy arms over his wide chest. “Ye interrupted my binge watching on Netflix, and I do nae appreciate it.”

"I'm so glad you asked! And I will get to the answer of that question soon, I promise," the prince responded gleefully, then held up one finger as his expression became serious and just a bit morose.

"But first, let me briefly fill you in on why I interrupted your busy lives to bring you here to my expensive, albeit humble, home. "

“Is that nae wha’ I just asked?” Cedric looked around at the others in the room for confirmation.

The prince waved a hand in Brock's direction. "You know this wolf."

It wasn't a question, but after a pause, Cedric answered anyway. "Aye, I dae, but nae well. We met only briefly upon his arrival in my territory. I got th’ impression he was a braw lad."

Brock felt his face burn at the slight tone of consternation in the alpha’s voice. It was barely discernible, but it was there. Heather's eyes were drilling holes in him, but he refused to look at her. He couldn't. He could only imagine what she must be thinking.

Pushing his long hair back away from his forehead, he half wondered where the prince was going with this by bringing Lucian here and outing him in front of the alpha. But he was afraid he knew.

The question was: Would he give him the answers that he was searching for?

And if he did, would it be worth it to see his old friend brought down a notch or two?

Having the truth out in the open would salvage Brock’s reputation, possibly even open up a spot for him in his old pack again—he glanced at Cedric—or get him an offer to join a new one.

But would it be worth it? Would it make him feel any better to ruin Lucian’s life?

Though he missed the connection of having a pack, Brock was strong enough to survive as a siubhal. Was Lucian?

Brock knew the answer to that was a most definite no. It would destroy him.

The prince continued, "This wolf has been going through a series of tests, of sorts.

You see, in spite of the perils of such an act, he has his cap set on my daughter here, but we needed to be certain that not only are their feelings for each other genuine, but that he is worthy of being the mate of someone such as she. "

"She is nae a wolf," Cedric stated needlessly and with a final “there is nothing more to discuss” tone.

"No," the prince confirmed. "She is something much more."

Cedric looked around Lucian as he studied her with mild curiosity, his dark ponytail sliding over his shoulder. He automatically flipped it back again, and asked, "What dae this 'ave to dae with me? Or Lucian?"

The prince directed his next question to the young wolf standing next to his alpha. "Lucian, you were Brock's friend once, correct? Practically his only family?"

Brock waited for him to deign to give the Fae prince his attention.

In typical Lucian fashion, he kept his eyes on some distant point until Cedric reached over and smacked him on the shoulder like an errant teenager.

His head snapped around and he glared at his pack master for a brief second before remembering who it was that he was glowering at.

He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Sorry,” he said flippantly to Cedric before giving the Fae prince his attention. “Wha’ was that?"

The prince narrowed his eyes at him and repeated his question. "You are Brock's friend, are you not?"

“Why should I tell ye anything?”

“Because,” the prince said with a less than tolerant tone. “I asked.”

“Just answer him, lad,” Cedric ordered. “Afore ye get us into a situation.”

"Aye," he answered mulishly with the briefest of glances at Brock. “I was.”

He could see the nervousness in his old friend's eyes, hiding behind the cloak of the arrogant demeanor that he’d been wearing for the world in general ever since their parents had died.

Lucian had always been an ass, and most people didn't care for him or his personality.

But they had grown up together, inseparable since they were nothing but young pups.

They'd gone through their first change together, their first experiences with girls together, had learned to hunt together and had fought their way into their first pack together when they'd come of age. Brock knew him better than anyone, and he knew that his outward attitude hid a kind, but insecure young male on the inside. But that didn’t make it any easier to forgive him.

"You are no longer friends then?" the prince asked innocently.

As if he didn’t know.

Lucian crossed his arms in a defensive gesture and shook his head.

"Why is that?" He looked genuinely confused.

Lucian fidgeted under the prince's steady gaze, sticking his hands back in his pockets and shifting his weight from foot to foot. "He left our old pack."

One silver eyebrow lifted in question. "'Left' your pack?"

Lucian glanced at Cedric, but received no help from that corner. Brock wondered what he’d told his new pack master about his past, because it was obvious now why Cedric was here. Was this crazy Fae actually trying to help him by exposing Lucian in front of his new alpha?

Lucian crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive gesture and lifted his chin. "Aye. He was kicked out."

“Ah yes. I remember it well.” The prince tapped his finger against his chin, staring off into the distance.

Brock stared at him in confusion. He remembered it? What the hell was he talking about?

The prince glanced over at Heather, who hadn’t torn her eyes away from Brock this entire time, and nodded in mock sympathy.

He patted her hand with his and turned his attention to Cedric.

"He was not only kicked out, but he was beaten to within an inch of his long life.

Isn't that the normal way of it with you canines? "

Brock heard Heather's intake of breath and his own lungs tightened in response, making it hard for him to breathe. Her concern warmed his insides, but she wouldn't be so sympathetic toward him when she found out why it had happened.

"The infraction he committed was severe," the prince continued without waiting for Cedric to answer. "They only did what was required for a crime of such severity. Is that not so?"

Cedric stared at him calmly, refusing to rise to the bait. “I would nae know, as I don’t ken what he did.”

"As a matter of fact, he did something so shameful and unforgivable…" the prince continued as if he hadn’t spoken. Leaning forward toward the alpha, he divulged this shameful secret like he was gossiping with a girlfriend. "That he had to be ousted from his own pack."

Cedric was looking a little wary now as he eyed the Fae prince. “Aye. I got tha’ part.”

Brock watched the proceedings with a growing feeling of unease.

Perhaps he’d been wrong. The bastard wasn’t trying to help him; he was exposing him , not Lucian.

He tightened his jaw. This was such bullshit.

This stuff was in his past. It had nothing to do with him now, or with him wanting to be with Heather.