After taking John back to his apartment, Carter started the drive back toward Forest Hill. He felt relaxed and calm, the tranquility emphasizing just how out of his skin he’d been feeling lately.
His stomach rumbled, and Carter decided to stop by a drive-through for some breakfast before he hit the highway. There was a good donut shop right before his exit that Carter liked, and so when it came up he pulled into the drive-through lane and got in line behind the other cars. It was almost his turn to order when the phone rang.
He was about to answer, but the sight of a Texas area code made him hesitate. Why would anyone from Texas be contacting him?
It could just be a human, he reminded himself. He answered the call.
“Carter Peterson speaking.”
“Mr. Peterson, I have Alpha Tiller from Dallas on the line for you. Are you available to take his call?”
Carter recognized the voice of Alpha Tiller’s assistant, Mary Anne, immediately. He’d talked to her several times over the course of his talks with the Texas pack, though her tone had never been this hostile or curt then.
“Sure thing, Mary Anne. Put him on.”
Grayson would have a fit if he found out that Carter had taken a call from Alpha Tiller, but Carter didn’t care. It wasn’t like Grayson would be his alpha for much longer.
“Carter, I’m fucking pissed at you,” Tiller barked, not wasting any time on pleasantries. “I do not appreciate being used as a fucking pawn in your inter-pack squabbles.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Carter said. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“Bullshit,” Tiller said, though he didn’t sound too angry anymore. “You were trying to show your pack that you could navigate intra-pack matters before you challenged Grayson. He fucked up your plan by attacking us and now we’re heading for war.”
“War?” Carter exclaimed, surprised. Hadn’t Grayson said that things were under control?
“You lured us to your territory on false pretenses and attacked us. Fuck yes we’re going to war. We’re taking your pack down. You think your mangy little city pack can withstand a full frontal attack?”
“But the council—”
“Will let us off with a warning,” Tiller interrupted. “They’re just as disgusted by your behavior as we are.”
Carter tried to process the implications of what Tiller was saying.
“We have two witches—powerful witches—protecting us. How would you deal with that?”
“We have our own witch. She’s confident that she can handle yours.”
Carter’s mind raced. The packs couldn’t go to war. The Texas pack would crush them in an all out conflict. The Forest Hill pack quite simply didn’t have the numbers to go up against a pack the size of the one in Texas.
Why was Tiller calling him? If his pack really was going to attack, giving Carter a warning would be stupid.
“Why are you calling me?” he asked.
“I have a proposition for you.”
“Okay?” Carter was wary. He wasn’t going to go against his pack, no matter what Tiller offered. He wasn’t a traitor.
“I want you to challenge Grayson. If he’s out, we’ll back off. I thought you would have done it by now, which is why I’ve held off so long, so consider this my way of kicking your ass into gear.”
“I need a few months,” Carter said. He didn’t want to explain why.
“A few months? Why not do it now?” Tiller sounded skeptic.
“I’ve got a personal problem that I need to deal with first. I’ve hired a witch to take care of it, but she isn’t available to cast the spell for another two months.”
Carter could challenge Grayson now, and then do the spell after he became alpha, but he needed to be sure the spell worked before doing anything.
“If this is just you stalling, I have another proposition. My little brother is alpha material. I could send him your way and have him take over. With your backing the pack would be forced to accept him.”
