“He hasn’t been joining us for drinks after work,” he muttered. “I thought… I thought maybe he just needed space.”
“He’s good at hiding the worst of it.” I looked down. “But the interest rates Avery slapped on him are absurd. I don’t think he can make it another few months without something giving out.”
The alpha’s eyes flashed gold, just for a second. I didn’t blame him. I’d felt the same fury boil up in me when I saw that gooncorner James. When I tasted the fear on him and wanted to break something.
“You should’ve come to me sooner,” Callum said, voice low.
I shook my head. “It wasn’t my place. James didn’t want anyone to know. He didn’t want to be a burden.”
Callum’s silence was louder than any shout.
“He sees you,” I added quietly, “and the rest of the pack, as family. You know that, right? After Joel… after everything, James thought he was doing the right thing by not dragging you all into this.”
Callum looked away, jaw still clenched. “And what do you know about Avery?”
“I’ve been asking around. Quietly,” I said. “Some of the other shifters and paranormals in town have heard whispers. Avery and his crew showed up maybe two months ago. Kept low at first. But lately, he’s been working more aggressively. He’s targeting desperate folks. Debt offers, fast money, off-the-books deals.”
“Of course,” Callum muttered. “The rats always know where to scurry.”
“He’s careful, though,” I added. “He knows about you. About Beau. He’s not dumb enough to confront either of you head-on.”
Callum nodded slowly. “Because he knows he’ll lose.”
I didn’t respond. He was right. If Avery tried to go toe-to-toe with either of the two local alphas, he’d be flattened. But Avery was a bottom-feeder. He didn’t need to win a fight.
He only needed to avoid one long enough to worm his way into people’s lives and make it hard to pull him out.
“This town…” Callum rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not officially claimed by either me or Beau. We’ve made it work. Balanced it. But that means we’ve also been limited in how much territory-wide law we can lay down. We’re not the enforcers. We’re just… the ones people trust to keep the peace.”
“Which Avery’s trying to test,” I said with a nod.
Callum’s eyes narrowed. “And now James is caught in the middle.”
I hesitated, then said, “Will you talk to Beau? I think we need to coordinate. Quietly. Before this spreads.”
Callum’s lips thinned. But he nodded. “Yeah. This needs to be nipped in the bud. If Avery thinks he can use this town like his own personal ATM, we’ll make sure he thinks twice.”
We both stood there for a moment, the early afternoon wind gusting down the street, ruffling our jackets.
Then Callum turned to me. “And Rafael?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For watching out for him. Even if I wish it had gone differently,” Callum said.
I gave a stiff nod. “He means something to me.”
Callum’s eyes softened just slightly. “Then don’t let this ruin him.”
He didn’t say more. Didn’t need to. He turned and headed back toward the bakery. And I… I stood there, stuck in place, heart pounding.
James meant something to me. Hell, that wasn’t even the whole of it. He mattered.
And now that everything was out in the open- his debt, his struggle, the way Avery had slithered into his life like a poison vine- I wanted to shield him even more.
But I also had to ask myself: was I doing this for James? Or was I trying to rewrite a chapter of my own life I still regretted?
Maybe both. I dragged a hand over my face and let out a breath. No matter the reason, one thing was clear, James had me. He had Callum and the other wolves.
