“I already went to see Korbin.” There was a snap of defensiveness to Austin’s tone. “He’s a legend among healers. He said that it was hopeless. He gave me some meditation techniques to try to push back against these dark visions that I’m having, to slow things down a little, but they didn’t work.”
Tully scowled. “Shit. Jason didn’t tell me that.”
“What does Jason have to do with this?” Austin demanded. Jason Washborn was the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack – the pack that Korbin belonged to as well. The wealthiest, most powerful pack on the West Coast. Jason had inherited the pack recently when his father Christopher died, and he’d been doing a shit job of running it, but he was also a Dominus with a psychotic streak and a lot of money, so nobody wanted to cross him.
Tully grimaced. “He’s the one who took out the hit on you. And he wants my pack to do it. As he put it, you’re our pack member, you’re our problem, so he formally requested that we be the ones to bring you in. And he also says that we’re the only ones who even have a shot at getting close to you. Harris agreed, and he said that if we didn’t agree to take on the hit, he’d never give us another bounty.”
And that was how Tully’s pack made their living. He’d backed them right into a corner. It was unheard of for a specific pack to be ordered to go after a mark, tradition always held that the call went out to all licensed bounty hunters in the territory, but Austin was an unusual case.
Rage swelled up inside him – rage at Harris and Jason both.
“Go on,” he ground out as his wolf snarled and paced, itching to break free.
“Apparently Jason also had his own men out looking for you, trying to take you out from a distance, but you keep sensing them, even when they’re half a mile away, and evading them.”
Austin snorted in contempt. “Figures. Jason has never been one of my fans.”
Six months earlier, right after Christopher died, Jason had tried to pick a fight with Austin when they were both at a state-wide pack gathering.
The Crescent Moon was the largest, most powerful pack in the territory. They held an annual get-together, and all the smaller packs came and brought gifts, a symbolic gesture showing their submission. It was a common practice throughout the country. The largest pack in the territory protected the smaller packs and ruled over disputes, the smaller packs paid them for their protection.
It was also the first pack gathering where Jason had been Alpha. He’d wanted to establish his dominance. Prove he was a big, bad wolf. So he’d picked the only other shifter there with Dominus power, which was Austin, and bumped into him, hard, then challenged him on the spot.
Jason’s little crowd of groupies, both male and female, had clapped and cheered. The rest of his packmates had just stood back silently, warily, watching.
Unfortunately for Jason, Austin had whipped Jason’s ass. Then, instead of killing him, he’d just held Jason down and drooled in his face for a long time until Jason waved his paws in surrender. Yeah, Austin could be a douche like that.
Austin could have sworn he’d seen disappointment on the faces of some of Jason’s packmates. They’d wanted him to kill Jason.
Jason’s pack, list most packs, had a Council of Elders. The 7 oldest members of the pack ensured that the pack’s charter – the original set of rules written to guide the pack, usually hundreds of years old – were enforced, and even the Alpha couldn’t violate those rules.
Except his pack’s council was notoriously weak, and they let Jason’s father step all over them all the time, and now Jason was doing the same thing. Jason was a schoolyard bully in a grownup’s body.
Austin probably should have taken Jason out when he had the chance, but then there was always the risk that his pack would insist he be their new Alpha, which was not Austin’s thing at all. The mere thought of dealing with pack politics made him break out in hives, and he’d be a terrible leader.
But now, Austin’s descending madness was providing the perfect opportunity for Jason’s revenge. As Alpha of the largest pack in Washington, Jason could say that he had the right to order Austin’s execution. Korbin the Healer would back Jason up on this one. He’d tell everyone what he’d told Austin – that sooner or later, Austin was going to lose his mind.
Forget the fact that Austin hadn’t actually caused anyone any harm yet; forget that Austin was still rational and in control ninety-nine percent of the time.
Feral shifters were a danger that needed to be eliminated. They had no control over themselves and their actions, and there was always the risk that they’d shift in front of humans.
Austin let out a rumbling growl of frustration and started pacing in the dirt.Shit, shit, shit.The last thing he wanted to do was have this come back on Tully and his pack.
“Here’s the problem,” he said, spinning to face Tully, who stood with his arms folded across his chest, watching Austin warily. “I’m not suicidal. And my wolf won’t let me just lie down and die without a fight. If you attack me and try to kill me, I’ll end up killing you. I won’t be able to help myself.”
“I know that. And I’m not going to try to kill you,” Tully said with exasperation. “But I can’t just ignore the hit. We have to figure something out here, bro. I can’t go back to Jason empty-handed.”
“I’ll leave Washington State today. You can even say that you tried to take me out. We can get in a fight, if you want to make it look better.” He bared his teeth in a fierce grin. “You’d look pretty with a black eye.”
Tully snorted. “And you’d look sexy with my boot up your ass. Pass on the fight, thanks.”
“Too bad, would have been fun.” He shrugged. “So I guess you just got here too late. You missed me. I’m already gone, friend. I’m going to run back to my house, pack up a few things, and head out of town.” An image of Savannah flashed in front of his face, and he felt a surprisingly sharp twinge at the thought of never seeing her again. Even though she’d all but ordered him out of her territory.
She hadn’t meant it, though, had she? He felt such a strong pull toward her, an increasingly urgent desire to be with her. If he weren’t losing his mind, could there be something between them?
But Tully was his best friend, his non-blood-brother, his packmate. He couldn’t expose him to Jason’s wrath.
“Later days,” he said, and started to walk back to his truck.
