I didn’t argue. I did want Declan to feel at home here. He was staying for now to learn magic from Elwood, and maybe a little bit for me, at least I hoped so anyway. I still worried that since I couldn’t mark him and make him mine, he might decide to go back to the city someday, and unlike someone who was properly mated, there wouldn’t be anything keeping him here. Not to mention the fact that his douche bag of an ex had been texting him nonstop, making it clear he wanted him back.
Declan thought there were too many financial and contractual things to resolve before he felt comfortable blocking the asshat. I didn’t agree. The sooner Declan tossed Josh from his life, the better.
A door upstairs slammed shut, and we both glanced up. The footsteps were too light to be Perry’s, so it must be my other tenant. Tate was a wolf from my old pack who’d gotten crossways with our old Alpha. He’d shown up looking for a job and a place to stay. I’d given him a job working here at the pub, and for now, anyway, he was living in one of the rooms I had available upstairs.
“Hey, boss,” he said as he rounded the stairs.
“Tate.” When he’d first shown up, he kept calling me Alpha, but I made it clear I wasn’t anyone’s Alpha. He’d given me a weird look but nodded. After that, he’d settled on boss, which I guess was at least accurate.
“I don’t work till this evening, so I’m going to go see if there’s anything interesting to do in this town.”
He rushed out the door, and I shook my head. “Oh, to be that young again.”
“Would you want to be?” Az asked.
“No way.”
We were both still laughing as the door to the pub opened, and Roy backed in pulling a dolly with a keg on it. The dolly wheel caught the edge of the threshold with a dull thunk.Roy stumbled forward, shoulder clipping the doorframe hard enough to rattle the hinges. The keg tipped sideways with a metallic groan, and for one horrifying second, I thought he was going to lose it. Roy flailed, windmilling an arm, and somehow managed to body-check the keg back upright.
He looked back over his shoulder to find both of us watching him. He gave Az a nervous smile and a small nod of the head—Az tended to have that effect on people—before turning to look at me and giving me a sheepish grin.
“Hello, Gideon. I have the keg here for you to put on tap. I wasn’t sure how many to bring, but I wanted to get you at least one so you could get it going. I can have Caesar drop off a couple more if you need them. Just let me know.”
Leon had pushed hard for me to be a judge for the festival, but I’d refused. I might not be the alpha here in Ravenstone, but many people viewed me that way, and I didn’t want anyone to think I was playing favorites. That could lead to all kinds of hurt feelings. So I’d offered to put the top three brews on tap here at the pub to make him happy.
“One keg will cover around 125 pints, so this will get us started, but you should probably send another over in a day or two.”
Roy nodded. “I appreciate you doing this. I think this new ale is going to be the one that makes a name for Black Feather Brewery.”
“Getting the distribution deal sure won’t hurt,” I said.
“It’s going to change everything for us. It’s going to allow us to expand production. Shoot, by this time next year, half the state will have Black Feather Brewery products on tap.”
“I’m happy for you, Roy. I just hope nothing comes of those allegations Beckett made.”
Roy rolled his eyes and waved my words away. “It's just sour grapes. That recipe was created while he was employed at BlackFeather Brewery, using my ingredients and my equipment. He knows anything developed while he worked there is property of the brewery.”
I noticed he wasn’t denying the recipe was Beckett’s, and I was about to say so when my wolf stirred. It was like he came to attention, not because of a threat, but out of excitement. I grinned and inhaled deeply.
Sure enough, Declan entered the pub from the back. Az chuckled and muttered, “Puppy,” under his breath, but I didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, I turned to Declan and gave him a smile. I was concerned he might be feeling a little rough today, but to my surprise, he looked like his normal chipper self.
“You don’t look any worse for wear. I expected you to be hungover this morning,” I said.
“Oh, I was. I woke up, and my head felt like someone was using a jackhammer inside it, but Elwood gave me a special cup of tea. It was as awful as his other teas, but he said it’d help, so I choked it down, and suddenly I was right as rain again.” He gave me one of his big smiles. The kind that made my wolf wag its tail and heart do a little flip.
At least that was the case until he glanced over my shoulder and saw Roy. His smile dimmed, and his eyes narrowed. My little witch had a real issue with people who lied and cheated, and with good reason, but with no evidence, now wasn’t the time for him to voice that opinion.
I moved to stand between him and Roy and turned to look at the brewmaster. “Thanks for dropping that off, Roy. I’ll be sure and let you or Caesar know if we’re getting low before you bring in another keg.”
He took the dismissal for what it was and nodded, heading out the door.
Declan scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re going to put his beer on tap in here. Something fishy is up with that whole contest.”
“We don’t know that for sure, and all three winners were promised a spot on tap here in the pub,” I said calmly.
Declan glanced around to make sure no one was listening and said, “But we do know that for sure. Remember that growler Ivan took to Elwood? Well, sure enough, there was something wrong with it.”
“Really? What was it?”
