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COLE

One of the many benefits of being a member of a pack was the financial assistance that came along with it.

The alpha and their family typically purchased several buildings and rented them to pack members at highly reduced rates.

Most of the buildings were business premises, but the pack also owned homes for members who had dire money woes and were at risk of being homeless or having to move away.

Our pack was no different. We even had accounts set up to pay the utility bills for these businesses and houses. It had been that way for generations.

Not only did this system help people who needed it, but it kept money circulating through the pack, ensuring the viability and health of the pack finances.

Everyone was more likely to open businesses, hire employees, and invest in the town if they weren’t worried about making rent or being able to afford the electricity bill.

It was a simple yet effective way for the alpha to show the pack that he cared and was taking care of them.

That was what made the morning’s arrival so shocking.

The doorbell rang just after breakfast. When I opened the door, I found Maria Blankenship, a member of the pack, standing outside. We’d gone to school together.

“Hey, what’s up, Maria?”

She licked her lips, her eyes downcast. “Can we talk real quick, Cole?”

That didn’t sound good. My stomach sank. What could be so important that she needed to talk to me in person?

“Come on in,” I said, stepping aside.

We settled at the kitchen table, where I waited for her to speak. After a couple of awkward seconds, she finally lifted her head to meet my gaze.

“Have I done something wrong?” she asked.

All I could do was blink at her for a few seconds. Confusion fogged my mind. Finally, I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, Maria. Why would you think you’ve done something wrong?”

She heaved a sigh and dug into her purse, pulling out a folded paper and sliding it across the table toward me.

“This. Did I do something to upset you or Farrah? Or your father? Things have been tight since Max died, and I was counting on the pack to continue handling this until we got back on our feet.”

I took the paper and cast my mind back to the hours of updates Farrah had given me when I returned home.

Max Blankenship had been Maria’s mate, and he’d died in a car crash eighteen months before I’d come home.

It was one of the biggest tragedies to strike the Harbor Mills pack in years until my father’s death.

The paper was a shutoff notice from the electric company.

Maria’s electric bill was almost three months past due and would be shut off in three days.

I had to read it three times to make sure I understood it right.

The pack hadn’t been paying her electric bill.

I knew I’d seen her name on one of the many spreadsheets that detailed pack finances, and it should have been taken care of.

“Maria, I don’t?—”

“If you guys weren’t going to keep paying it, that’s fine.

I would have liked a heads-up, though. I could have made other arrangements or moved money around.

I don’t have the cash to pay for this. It’s three months past due.

I need over six hundred dollars to pay that.

I called, and they sent the first few notices to the pack’s official PO box.

This was the first I’d heard about it. I guess they got tired of trying you and sent one directly to the resident. ”

Son of a bitch .

The pack accounts were damn near empty. I didn’t know if there was enough to cover this. Most of the utilities we paid were for pack-owned businesses, but we also covered individuals like Maria.

“Maria, I assure you, I had no idea about this,” I said. “You did nothing wrong. I promise.”

The strain in her face eased somewhat, but the worry was still evident. “That’s good to hear, but what am I going to do? Can the pack pay this bill?”

Farrah had told me that many members of the pack had begun to realize the mess we were in, even before Dad died.

Rumors swirled in the pack that he’d done something to bring the pack to near bankruptcy.

It was a point of worry around the entire town.

If everyone started getting these notices, it might evolve into full panic.

“I’ll take care of this,” I said. I’d need to dig into my own savings to do it, but I’d make it happen. No matter what it took, I’d be damned if I let my father’s shitty decisions ruin more lives.

“You will?” She looked both surprised and relieved. She’d probably assumed I’d tell her she needed to figure it out.

“Yeah. I’ll pay it today. Don’t worry about it.” I cleared my throat, heat rising in my neck as I added, “You may want to budget money for this for the next couple months, though. Until Farrah and I get the finances figured out. Can you manage that?”

She nodded. “I can make it work, yeah. It was the surprise of it that got to me.”

I didn’t sigh in relief, but I allowed myself to relax a bit. The last thing I wanted was for this poor woman’s already stressful life to become more untenable.

Maria put her hand on mine. “Cole, I know you’re doing everything you can.

The pack is watching, and we’re really happy you came back.

Everyone saw your father spiraling out of control.

Honestly, a lot of us thought about leaving the way you did all those years ago.

I think I can speak for everyone in the pack when I say we need you.

I know you aren’t officially the new alpha yet, but most of us are already looking at you like you are.

You’re gonna do great. Thank you again for this. ”

Smiling, I said, “It’s the least I can do.”

After she left and I got her bill settled with the electric company, I sat and stewed. This was going to get out of hand soon if I didn’t figure something out. Dallas’s words also echoed through my head. How deep was the shit Dad had gotten us all in?

With nothing else to do, I headed for the office again.

Now that Dallas had informed me of Dad’s gambling problem, I might be able to find some traces of this money issue.

It would also help me get my mind off Avery for a little while.

Since I’d last seen her, she was all I could think about, and I didn’t want the small glimmer of hope I held to become some sort of obsession.

The office, poorly organized to begin with, was even more chaotic since Farrah and I had started going through the paperwork.

As I stood at the door, rubbing a hand along my jaw, I glanced around.

Where would Dad have hidden any files he’d be embarrassed about?

If things were as bad as Dallas had said and the issue was shameful, then I doubted he’d have the proof tucked away nice and neat in a filing cabinet.

People tended to hide their dirty secrets.

My eyes fell on a bookshelf at the back of the room. I’d seen it hundreds of times, but only now did I really see it. The books were not old novels but instead about sports, football magazines, and even a few tomes on gambling.

“Motherfucker,” I hissed as I crossed the room.

It took a few seconds of pulling books and magazines down before I found it. A thick manila folder tucked behind Sports Betting for Dummies . With a heavy heart, I took it over to the desk and opened the folder. A few seconds in, a cold knot formed in my stomach.

The first half of the folder were handwritten bets and wagers on football games, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, even fucking horse racing.

At the bottom of every handwritten receipt was my father’s familiar scribbled signature.

The bets ranged from five hundred dollars all the way to five thousand dollars.

It appeared Dad was dogshit at betting, too.

Most of the receipts had big, angry red exes drawn on them.

From what I could see, he’d only won on about five percent of his bets.

Christ, even by accident, he should have been better than that.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed heavily.

The math didn’t work, though. From what I’d read here, he would have burned through a lot of money, but not all the pack finances.

Not even close. Dallas was right. Dad must have gotten a loan from someone, but there was no way all the money had vanished into a bookie’s purse.

Setting the wager sheets aside, I scanned the pages beneath. My blood ran cold. It was a loan agreement, but not official. It did not look like it had been typed up by a professional.

My eyes landed on the loan amount. A hundred thousand dollars.

“Holy shit, Dad,” I muttered. “What the hell were you thinking?”

At the bottom of the document, Dad’s signature appeared again beside a printed version of his name. Below that was another swooping signature beside two printed words: Kyle Alexander.

I froze, my eyes zeroing in on the name.

The prick who’d accosted Avery in the hardware store.

These were not legally binding contracts, and that was bad news.

Dad had taken money from a fucking loan shark, just like Dallas said.

Now, this prick was sniffing around town, trying to get his cash.

Not only that, but he was making his presence known to an innocent woman.

It was an imitation tactic. This fucker was trying to scare me into paying back money I never borrowed.

Dad was dead, and he was trying to collect, anyway.

The gambling, as stupid as it was, made sense. Even the loan made sense. But what made zero sense was what Dad could have possibly put up as collateral to get this guy to give him a hundred grand.