Doc smiled helplessly, his mask crinkling against his face. Ottis smiled back.
“Aww,” Crush said.
“Shut up,” Ottis muttered, elbowing his brother. Crush laughed and ruffled his hair, leaning in to make faces at Marcie.
Doc followed them deeper into pack territory. Ottis behaved differently around his brother, less laid-back and more antagonistic. Then again, Doc remembered what it was like to tussle with his own siblings. His brothers had left the ancestral lair centuries ago, just like him, and he wanted to know how they were doing now.
He thumbed a quick text as he trailed after Ottis and Crush, then shoved his phone into his pocket and paid attention to his surroundings.
Ottis’ pack lived in several small cabins scattered around a central clearing, near a large house that was probably wherethe pack gathered. When Doc reached out with his hearing, he picked up several heartbeats—the stronger pulses of adults, the fast, fluttery beats of children, and the slower rhythms of older folk.
Would they want him to remove his mask to prove himself? Would they say he was too ugly, too scarred for Ottis? Doc winced.I haven’t thought this through. What am I doing here?
Then they were in the middle of the cabins, in front of the pack house, and Doc tried to keep his pulse steady.
Ottis slipped away from Crush, tucking himself and Marcie under Doc’s arm. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. How’s Marcie?” Doc asked. Having Ottis against him helped, a lot.
“She recognizes this place.” Marcie was looking around, her nose twitching. “Smells like pack.”
“I’m glad she knows she’s safe.”
Ottis beamed. Then he stiffened, his gaze growing sharp.
Doc had a split second to be wary. Then he heard the footsteps too, somanyof them, a second before the pack house’s front door burst open.
People began to pour out. When they saw Doc and Ottis, they began to yell. “Ottis!”
Doc’s fingers tightened on Ottis’ shoulder. Ottis patted his hand reassuringly. Then there was nothing he could do but wait for the wolf shifters to gather around them—several alphas, but also some alpha-omega pairs, some children and the elderly. Docheld still under their curious gazes, while Ottis stepped forward into their arms.
The pack pulled Ottis into several hug, brushing their hands over his head and shoulders. Ottis smiled and sank into their welcome.
It was nice, the sort of warmth Ottis had waiting for him here. Doc almost felt bad for keeping Ottis in his lair.
Scarcely had he thought that when the pack’s attention returned to him.
“Hi,” he said.
Ottis backed up to stand in front of Doc, as though he was shielding him from them. “Hey guys. This is Doc. Don’t be an asshole to him, or I willeat your face.”
Doc couldn’t help smiling.
“You can’t eat our faces. Your mouth’s not big enough,” one of the alphas said.
“I will eat your face if it takes me a thousand years,” Ottis growled.
“He smells like you,” another alpha said.
Ottis rolled his eyes. “Well, yes. Because he’s my alpha.”
He declared it firmly, loudly, so there could be no mistake about it. But more alpha voices joined in.
“You shouldn’t let him be your alpha, just like that. We need to test him first,” a third alpha said. More alphas nodded along with this statement.
“How can we be sure he won’t hurt you? He needs to be under our observation.”
“We should search him.”
