But he’d been living with Bryce… Must have, for him to bring Tristan here.
“Wait, you said Bryce brought Tristan home. Are you and Bryce—?” Not wanting to say it, to acknowledge the yawning pit suddenly opening in his stomach, Jesse instead gestured with his hand, hoping Matt would get what he meant.
Matt’s brows drew down as he stared uncomprehendingly at Jesse’s flailing hand, then he suddenly gave a bark of laughter. “Hell, no! He’s my beta, and my best friend, and that’s where it ends.”
Relief swept through Jesse so hard he thought he might end up on the floor with the way his muscles relaxed.
Laughter was still crinkling the skin around Matt’s eyes as he took Jesse’s mug and refilled it, along with his own. He sat down once again, pushing the mug across the table. And then, he pushedthe sugar container over, too. Jesse’s breath caught. No one ever paid attention to what he wanted.
Nodding in thanks, he glanced up at Matt from beneath his lashes as he stirred sugar into his mug. Mattreallywasn’t what he’d thought. There’d been warmth and pride in him when he spoke about his pack. As for taking in people who needed a place? That—that caused a tug of longing in Jesse. Right up until he realized what he was feeling and squashed it down brutally.
It might be nice for other people to have that, but they’d had to pay for it by surrendering their free will. And that wasn’t a price Jesse was willing to pay.
He was done belonging to anyone except himself.
MATT
This was the most relaxed he’d seen Jesse, and Matt was surprised to find he was enjoying his company. Jesse didn’t see the need to fill silence with chatter, and now that he was no longer focused solely on survival, it was clear how sharp and perceptive he was. Stubborn as hell, but Matt had to admire that. A shifter didn’t survive long on their own without being tough as nails.
He found himself wishing things were different—that he could offer Jesse a place here. As it was, Matt would stick to the plan and send him on his way this afternoon.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, he became aware of a presence at the back door.
“Karl,” he informed Jesse, just as the door opened.
Karl stood silently in the doorway for a moment. Matt knew his keen senses were taking in everything—the way Jesse and Matt were settled comfortably at the table and the smell of coffee in the air.
Jesse had tensed, narrowing his eyes on the new arrival. Karl’s dark gaze rested on Jesse an instant longer before he came inside and prowled across the tiled floor to the pantry.
Jesse’s tension rose further, and honestly, Matt would have been worried about his instincts if he hadn’t reacted. Karl was dangerous. He was in his early thirties, with dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair that brushed past his collar, framing a face that had half Elk Ridge swooning on the occasional visits he made to town. But along with the movie star looks and the powerful muscles, there was also an air of ruthless competence, informing anyone with any kind of awareness that he knew more ways to kill a man than Jason knew how to cook an egg.
Karl didn’t talk about his past, but he’d told Matt just enough for Matt to let him stay, including that he’d done some covert work during his service. Like the rest of them, he’d turned up here through a series of accidents, needing sanctuary, even if he never expressed it like that. Knowing Karl, probably not even to himself.
Now, Matt relied on him to handle security while Matt was down in town. Along with the possible threat from other packs, there were still a few zealots out there who thought shifters were subhuman, leading to occasional instances of packs being attacked on their own territory. Karl had an almost preternatural sense of his surroundings, and Matt was glad of it.
When Tristan had been younger, it had been Karl who had taken him to school as often as not, so that anyone who might be watching the shifter kid knew not to screw with him. Tristan had hated it, partly because he felt he was being treated like a baby, but mainly because half his class kept asking for Karl’s phone number. And Karl, so aware in every other aspect of his life, seemed oblivious to the trail of broken hearts he left in his wake.
Karl heated a bowl of stew in the microwave before bringing it to the table. “Something’s not right,” he said, scooping up somestew with a biscuit. “There’s no scent, no tracks, but someone’s out there watching.”
Matt’s pulse jumped as his body tensed. Someone was spying on his territory. Hispack.A low growl rumbled in his chest, and his wolf shoved against the restraint of his skin, demanding action. He forced himself to keep his breathing even. No sudden reactions. No tells.
He pinned Karl with his gaze. “Any ideas?”
Karl shook his head. He seemed to be concentrating on chasing beef around the bowl, though Matt knew better. Karl was weighing his own words, assessing his alpha’s reaction and keeping half an eye on Jesse, all at the same time. His fingers flexed briefly against the ceramic, as good as announcing his unease.
“They’re too good at staying hidden to be non-shifters, unless they’re pros,” he said. He didn’t look up, as if he were listening for something no one else could hear. “I don’t like it, boss.”
Matt didn’t like it either. The fact Karl didn’t like it was worse, because he rantowarda fight, not away from it. If Karl was this uneasy, it meant whoever was out there posed a lethal threat.
“Call Christian and Dave back if you think it’s necessary.”
Karl nodded and finished off his stew. He always ate fast—efficient, not messy. Like everything else about him, it was fieldwork muscle memory, with no wasted motion.
Matt’s wolf was trembling with the need to join Karl out there and assess the threat for himself, but he couldn’t give in to his instincts, not if he wanted to avoid a repeat of—of the last time his pack had been attacked. Hehadto trust Karl, because his priority was questioning Jesse, who was sitting silent and still. He needed answers about that bite on Jesse’s side. Wherever this threat was coming from, it followed hard on Jesse’s heels. Hell of a coincidence.
He’d made some calls while Jesse was asleep and found that none of their nearest packs had heard about a pack out in the mountains. Neither had any of them recently lost members who wanted to set up their own pack.
As Karl rose to his feet, Matt nodded at him, thankful beyond words for his competence and loyalty. Once he’d stashed his bowl in the dishwasher, Karl left, the door snicking quietly closed behind him rather than banging the way it did behind everyone else.
