As soon as he shut the door behind them, Mark grabbed Will by the arm and ushered him through his flat to his bedroom, closing them in and ensuring their conversation was private.
Taking a seat on Mark’s unmade bed, Will looked up at him, his expression a mix of confusion and amusement. “You know you’re not my type, right?”
Mark ignored him. “You need to be more careful. Saying stuff like that where anyone could hear you is just asking for trouble.”
Will frowned. “Who’s going to hear me? Half the building is at work, and the rest wouldn’t give a shit. It’s not like we haveWesor any of his unit living alongside us.”
God, he wanted to explain, wanted to tell Will everything that Alpha Harley had said that morning, but Jason had told him not to. For Will’s safety as much as his own, and Mark didn’t want to go against his beta. “Please watch what you say, Will. You don’t know who’s listening.”
This time Will stood and walked over to where Mark leaned against the door. He put a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? What happened over at R-pack this morning?”
Mark shook his head. “I can’t talk about it. Don’t ask me to.”
“I saw Jason earlier. He told me to keep quiet about the jackets we got, said since it wasn’t Newell’s usual way of doing things, he’d prefer we didn’t disclose how we got them.” Squeezing Mark’s shoulder, he met his gaze. “I thought it was a bit weird, and Jason was unusually tight-lipped about it. Nothing like his normal, laid-back self. Does that have something to do with what happened?”
“Fuck, I want to tell you, but—”
“But you can’t, I get it.”
It’s for your own safety.I don’t want to put you in danger.
Will turned and went back over to sit on Mark’s bed. He flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what Newell’s hoping to achieve by keeping it all quiet. I mean, it’s not like R-pack are going to sit on it. Sooner or later it’s bound to get out. He should have a pack meeting, let his own fucking pack know what’s going on so we don’t have to find out from someone else.”
The lack of respect Will had for his alpha was no secret to anyone in their unit. The six shifters under Jason were a tight-knit group, and Mark trusted all of them with his life. Thankfully Will had the good sense not to mention it outside of their group.
Mark sat down beside him and leaned back on his hands. He thought of all the R-pack members who’d witnessed Alpha Harley’s accusations. Unless told otherwise, he couldn’t imagine Nathan keeping quiet; he hated Newell and with good reason. “It was Jason who told me not to talk about it.”
“Oh?”
“Yep. I’m not sure why, because like you say, it’ll all come out soon enough.”Especially when members of the council arrive and start asking questions.“But I’m sure he has his reasons.”
“Fair enough.” Will fell quiet for a few moments, then poked Mark in the side. “That means whatever happened was pretty fucking bad, yeah?”
Mark sighed and tried not to relive his near-death experience again. “Yeah.” That train of thought inevitably led him back to the R-pack beta who’d saved his life.
Alec Knight.
Tall, dark, and menacing.
At five feet eleven, Mark wasn’t short, but Alec had about five inches on him and broad shoulders that filled out his clothes with no room to spare. Alec didn’t have that over-bulked look that some shifters got. He was a solid guy but kind of lean too. Mark shivered just thinking about how fast he’d moved and how strong he must be to hold back a newly bonded shifter in full protection mode. Yes, he’d had help, but still….
“What the fuck are you thinking about?”
Mark glanced down to see Will glaring at him, nose wrinkled. “What?”
“Some serious shit is happening in our pack. How can you be thinking about sex?”
“I wasn’t!” Mark’s protests fell on deaf ears, and Will just tapped the side of his nose.
“Liar. Like I can’t tell after all these years. Subtle it might be, but I can still smell it.”
Mark shrugged. “You should also know I can’t help what thoughts pop into my head.”
Will studied him closely. “We weren’t exactly talking about a topic that warranted it. Unless….” His eyes lit up with realisation. “Ahh, I get it.”
“What? There is nothingtoget.”
Pointing his finger in Mark’s face, Will’s smile widened. “You might not be able to tell me what happened this morning, but I can hazard a guess as to who was there.” Mark kept his expression neutral. “So, I’m thinking Harley had all four of his betas there. Probably Seb, as he’s the one who’s been in the middle of it all, and where there’s Seb, there’ll be the sexy pack doctor. And maybe Nathan Kohl, since everything’s about him these days where Newell’s concerned. And that would mean Jared too.”
