“Dex,” Killian corrected with a smirk. “She liked him the best, I think.”
“Keep your thoughts to yourself,” I told him with a glare. I turned back to the shifter who’d spoken. “Emberfell? Friend or foe?”
He considered it. “They are small?—”
“That doesn’t look small to me,” Diesel cut in. “Does that look small to anyone else?”
“If I may…” the shifter continued. “That seems to be everyone in their pack.”
Killian disrobed and shifted into his wolf, taking a step forward. He assessed the oncoming pack. “He’s right. Not only are the larger males spread out, but there are also smaller wolves there. Children?”
“You feeling inquisitive?”I asked him.
Killian walked out of the tree line and made his way down the slope. He shifted form and while he pulled on theshorts, we watched a larger wolf from the advancing pack do the same. They met in the middle.
“Am I open to you?”Killian asked.
“I’ll tell you when he speaks,”I assured him. We realized I could hear what my pack heard if they opened their minds to me. Of course, Killian was the first to try it, and the ease with which he let me in didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was that some others weren’t as receptive. Not that they wanted to keep me out; they just didn’t view me with the same level of trust as my beta did.
A fact both frustrating and humbling.
“Alpha Wolfe?” the male asked Killian.
“I can hear.”
“Killian,” Killian told him. “I’m his beta.”
The shifter looked past my beta and scanned the tree line. “Ivan. Beta also.”
Killian nodded. “Beta to which alpha?”
From here, I could see him fold his arms, and I didn’t have to see his face to know he would look like he was carved from granite.
“The boundary keeps them out,” Diesel muttered. “Also keeps you and mein.”
I nodded in agreement. I wanted to be down there, listening properly, not hearing it through the mindlink.
The other shifter turned and gestured to his pack. “This is Emberfell, my alpha is Jaxson.”
“Why are you here?” Killian asked in his perfectly blunt way.
“We seek refuge.”
“Report on all movements,”I sent to the rest of the pack, who were still patrolling the other boundaries. When I heardall the “all clears,” I left the tree line. I heard Diesel mutter, and then he was walking beside me. I felt the boundary spell drop as we crossed, and as I walked down, two other Emberfell wolves broke from the pack and shifted.
I recognized the male who had been here. The older male with him was too young to be his father. He must be his brother.
We got to Killian and Ivan at the same time.
“Wolfe,” Dex greeted.
“Who are you?” Diesel growled.
The brother looked Diesel over carefully. “This is my brother Dex. He has spent time in this pack.” The male looked at me. “I am Jaxson, Alpha of Emberfell Pack.”
“Your father passed?” I asked.
Jaxson failed to hide his surprise that I knew his rise was recent, and he shook his head. “He stepped down.”
