He managed to avoid Leon for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Although he kept an eye out while patrolling, he chose not to watch for him specifically. He wasn’t sure he could answer for the consequences if he did. That smug, superior feline got under his skin like no one else, and ultimately, cooperation with the cats was important.
He kept telling himself that. Didn’t much help.
Karl wasn’t surprised when Matt came to find him after supper. Matt looked out for every member of his pack, and Karl knew his behavior recently had been out of whack. No way would Matt have missed it.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Matt had found him sitting in his favorite spot, just inside the trees, looking down the hillside toward the house. He’d sat beside Karl and said nothing for ten minutes or so. It had been too good to last.
“Meaning?” Karl knew he was being obstructive and skirting disrespect toward his alpha, but all he could think was how damn tired he was of everything. All the strangers on their territory, the fact that the safety of this pack lay on his shoulders, and the old anger, guilt, and remembered helplessness that Jax’s visit had stirred up. Jax had known about Karl’s service, had heard the rumors of things going bad at the end, and his prying questions had brought memories roaring back that Karl had thought long buried.
“Meaning, you always keep calm and stay in control, no matter what shit’s been going down. That wasn’t the case today. It’s been building for a while, from what I see. I was wondering why.”
Karl’s shrug was jerky. “I’m tired,” he admitted at last. “So fucking tired. And I can’t stop, because I need to keep you all safe.”
It was a measure of how tired he was that those last words spilled out of him. He closed his mouth firmly and stared through the gathering dusk to where warm light glowed through the windows of the house.
Matt moved as if to touch him but swiftly stilled, seeming to realize that wouldn’t be welcome at the moment.
“Okay then,” he said. “First thing, we take some of that load off your shoulders. We’ve got Tom here now, Colby too. They can take more responsibility for security. You know they’re both good enough.”
Well, they were good. Good enough that he could entrust the safety of the pack to them? That was another matter.
“I’m wondering what it is that’s changed,” Matt said. “Even when there were only seven of us trying to fight Cale’s entire pack, it didn’t get to you like this. What’s happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Karl pushed to his feet, brushed off his jeans, then looked at Matt. If he was tired, he didn’t even want to think about theburden Matt was laboring under. And like everything else Matt had picked up, he’d simply done it. No complaints, no swerving from something he saw as the right thing to do. He hadn’t wanted a pack, but he’d taken in a whole bunch of people who were lost in their own ways and given them a home.
“Thanks, boss,” Karl said softly. “I didn’t mean to lose it about that cat today, but something about him… He pushes buttons I didn’t even know I had. He’s so damnsmugall the time.”
“I don’t disagree,” Matt said, climbing to his feet. “Unfortunately, diplomatic immunity applies even to insufferable cats in tight jeans, so you can’t take him out into the wilderness and quietly dispose of him without anyone noticing.”
Karl’s lips lifted slightly. “Shame.”
It said something that Leon’s jeans were skinny enough for Matt to comment. They looked more like Leon was about to go clubbing than act as a professional bodyguard. Didn’t seem to impede him though, and as Karl thought of the slinking grace with which he moved, he felt that annoyance rise in him all over again. Damn cat was soinfuriating.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” Matt said. “Once the cats are gone, both Bryce and I can step up more, but till then—let the others take more responsibility. Tom, definitely, and Colby if he’s ready. It’ll be good for them.”
Tom was good. Colby could be even better than Tom, in time, but Karl couldn’t just stand down. Not after all these years, all the threats that had come their way.
“Is that an order, boss?”
“Call it a firm recommendation,” Matt said, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. “Want to see if Jesse’s left us any of Jason’s muffins?”
Karl snorted. “I don’t believe in miracles.”
Matt’s quiet company steadied him as they walked back to the house, but the calm didn’t settle like it usually did. That cat had shaken something loose, and Karl didn’t like not knowing what it was.
LEON
Leon was amused but unsurprised when all the other cats—except Luna—asked him to arrange their duties so that they missed wolf mealtimes. Sucked to be queen, he guessed.
But even supper with wolves didn’t distract her from seeking him out later that evening. He’d been waiting for it, and obediently followed her over to the big tree in the middle of the yard, which had a table and benches underneath. No one could approach without being seen, so it was probably as private a place as they could get, unless they were willing to stand in a field full of horses or cattle.
Leon was glad they weren’t going to go and stand out in any fields. He wasn’t a country boy and didn’t much like the horses he’d seen so far, which were big andsmelled. They’d seemed to have the same opinion of him, unless horses always snorted and turned their backs when someone walked past.
He sat on the bench opposite Luna, his elbows on the table. She’d had to chew him out in front of the wolves, but now was his chance to get her to understand why he’d done it.
He didn’t have a chance to speak before she started. “You really thought it was a good idea to jump on top of a wolf? On theyoungestone at that, the one they’re most protective of?”
