Mr. Tom closed the door behind him with a click. Silence surrounded him as he took a sip of his drink and breathed out another sigh, this time one of relief. He’d been slow to adjust to Ivy House, only moving in when it was renovated and more to his tastes. But now, it felt distinctly like home, especially because he could feel Jess upstairs taking a shower, safe in the confines of the house.
Two fast knocks and the door opened again, admitting Mr. Tom, who was clearly irritated. “Apparently former alphas don’t know thatretiringmeans people are no longer at their beck and call,” he said, his wings fluttering. “Aljoe isinsistingon seeing you, sir. Shall I tell him you have more important things to do than coddle a grown man old enough to look after himself?”
“No, Mr. Tom, thank you. Let him come in.”
Mr. Tom narrowed his eyes at Austin before sweeping his gaze to the drink and food and then around the area. “You see, sir, what happens when you don’t consume so much sugar? No wild mood swings and unexplained tempers. Now do you see why I limit you?” He sniffed and turned for the door.
Home, sweet home.
John walked in a moment later, glancing back down the hall at a retreating Mr. Tom.
“Before being in your company”—John closed the door behind him—“I would never believe an alpha would allow someone to speak to him like that gargoyle just did. I would never believeIwould allow someone to speak to me as he so often does, or that I would ignore a vampire letting himself into my room to wander around, or let the mate of a powerful alpha comfort me by touching my arm.”
He surveyed the room with interest, obviously wanting to look around, but instead walked to the loveseat facing Austin. He noticed the food.
“I apologize,” he said. “I won’t take much of your time.”
“Not at all. You’ll forgive my casualness. This is a room Jess and I wind down in.”
“Of course.” He leaned back, easing himself into relaxing. “I appreciate what you are trying to do for me. There isn’t another alpha in the world who would. They might offer me a place to reside, but they’d ask something from me to get it. Advice on running a territory, maybe, or training.”
He paused. It sounded like he’d decided not to stay. Austin waited for him to go on.
“You haven’t asked,” he said. “Neither has Jessie. I can tell you won’t.”
“Correct. I sought out a rogue, looking to offer help. Nothing has changed.”
John nodded in agreement. “I swore I would never join a pack again, not even one run by my sisters.”
Austin continued to wait, no energy to feel much at all.
“The thing is…” John fell silent as the door opened again, and Mr. Tom entered, carrying another scotch.
“If you insist on hanging around, you might as welltryto relax a little,” he said. “We can’t have you making the whole house jumpy. We’ve got that horrible Irishwoman for that.”
He handed John the drink, fluttered his wings, and left again.
John stared at it blankly for a moment and then started chuckling. “This is actually just the thing.” He took a sip and relaxed a little more. “Austin, I’m going to be frank. I ran my pack like I did, and stuck with it as long as I did, out of duty. My life was about protecting my sisters’ futures. And now I find myself in a world where they are in jeopardy again. If someone can nearly take down a pack like Kingsley’s, there’s nothing to stop them.”
“Except us.”
“Right.” John ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “Except us. I have a duty to my sisters, as I said, and to the magical world at large, as do you. As do we all. I cannot, in good conscience, turn a blind eye when I am able to help.”
Austin felt his confusion show on his face.
John smirked, allowing himself to be just as expressive. “Thought I was about to say thanks, but no thanks, huh?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.”
“The last test, I guess. I just had to make sure, because I don’t really want to be saying this, but I feel I have no choice.” He took a deep breath. “I can help you sway the shifters. I still have pull.”
“I’d imagine you still have a lot of pull, but won’t that be a sticky situation for your former pack? Don’t they think you are exiled or dead?”
John’s lips tweaked into a smile. “Is there no end to your honor? I could greatly help you and you’re more worried about the people of a pack you have no ties with.”
“I’m an alpha. Taking care of others is my job. It doesn’t matter if they are my people or not, they don’t deserve to have their lives ripped apart by having to choose—allegiance to you and this convocation, or to their pack and your sisters.”
John nodded slowly. His gaze was hyper-focused on Austin, reading him. “True. You’re shaping up to be a very good man, Austin Steele, an alpha worthy of the king of the mountain status. Quite the change from the little Barazza boy who terrorized his pack.”
