Slate's Mistake (10 page)

“Thank you for coming. I’ll try to get through this as
fast as possible. First, I’d like to quickly do a recap and update. As you
know, I’m the new alpha, but some of you may not know that I had the herd’s
accounts frozen as soon as I won the alpha challenge. I had also killed the
three enforcers, so the remaining supporters were quite upset. That is why they
ransacked the houses. They were trying to get as many valuables as possible
before they ran. They were by no means poor. Once we arrived and looked into
their finances, we discovered just how much the alpha and his supporters had
been taking from you.

“We froze all of their accounts and reported their
misdeeds to the council. They had no place to go, so last night, with a mix of
shifter and human mercenaries, they broke into this house. Their plan was to
kidnap my mate and her mother, holding them for ransom.” Alphy paused as the
shocked gasps and murmurs spread around the room.

After they died down a bit, he continued. “Five
members
were
missing, but now four
are dead. We are still missing one member. You need to keep your eyes out for
former beta Damon Miller.” Katie had been kept away from the herd, so she
wouldn’t recognize the man, but from the groans, she knew he wasn’t unknown to
the others.

“The next big bit of news I need to discuss with you,”
Alphy continued but with a more pleasant tone, “is that I am, and will stay,
the alpha of the
Kaska
pack in Ontario. You can
petition to join my pack, or another herd or pack, but if you choose to stay
here then you will need to find another alpha.” Katie didn’t need to be a
shifter to sense the alarm and near panic at suddenly being left to fend for
themselves
. But Alphy wasn’t done yet.

“Now I know none of you have the funds to move, but I
have made arrangements for the funds gathered from the former alpha, the three
enforcers, the beta, and the four trackers, to be divided equally among you.”
Alphy had to stop talking for a little bit to let the herd calm from the
excitement the news brought. Many asked questions, but Alphy just stood there
until the room quieted again.

“We are placing all their homes and properties,
including this alpha house, up for sale. That money will also be divided
equally. Now, as for the moving options; if you plan to petition to join my
pack, first you need to know that we will not tolerate
any
form of bigotry, prejudice, or intolerance. We have humans and
many different kinds of paranormals in our pack—predator or prey, straight or
gay, they are all welcome. If you would still like to join our pack, I will
personally view each request and make a decision. Should you be accepted, we
will gladly do what we can to help you move.

“If you wish to join another herd, and you need
assistance, be it paperwork or whatever, feel free to come and ask and we will
see what we can do. Now, are there any questions?”

The room was loud and busy with questions and
conversations in groups. People were excited about the money, how it would be divided
equally and what kind of figures would that be. They were also discussing with
each other whether or not they wanted to move and what needed to be done.

Katie was talking to her dad and sister when Gale came
over to join them. She had a pad and pen and was writing down people’s
information on the topics they had discussed.

“Hi, guys, do you have any idea if you are going to
move or not?” Katie didn’t miss the curious interest that was directed at her.

“Actually,” Katie began, “I haven’t talked to Slate
yet, but I was hoping to return home with him. You know him better than I do.” And
didn’t that
rankle
her insides to admit. “What do you
think?”

Gale threw her arms around her. “I’m so relieved to
hear you say that.” She backed up, and Katie could see her expression was
genuine. “I don’t know him as much as you may think, but he’s a good man and
we’ve been awfully worried about him. We were worried he would have been forced
to choose between us and you, and we all know you would win. Oh!” Gale briefly
slapped a hand over her mouth, and a concerned looked crossed her face. “I just
heard Seamus make arrangements with Alphy to send Slate home tonight.”

Katie felt positively ill. Her stomach wanted to twist
and empty itself.
Tonight?
Both her sister and her dad reached to her to give her their support. Her dad
rubbed her back, and her sister held her hand. “Why? He shouldn’t be moved.”

“With both Slate and Kace injured, he’s sending them
home to recuperate and having two of the others flown back here to take their
place and finish helping out.”

 
“What time are
they leaving, and will we be able to get her on that flight?” Henry asked.

Katie was still too sick to speak, so she let the
conversation continue and just tried to follow what it was they were
saying.
 

“I don’t know. Let me go check, and I’ll be right
back.”

Katie watched as Gale weaved her body through the
crowded room. Sara grabbed Katie’s face and turned it to look at her.

“We’ll get you on that flight or another one, tonight.
Dad and I are going to petition to move to the pack, so we can get your stuff
while we pack up ours. Let us handle everything. You just focus on that mate,
get him better.”

“Thank you.” Her words were breathy and full of
emotion. Katie racked her brain over all that she needed to do. “There’s a
colleague at work whose apartment building burnt down last month, and he still
hasn’t found a place. I’ll offer him mine, furniture and all. I don’t have
much, so if you’ll help me, I can just grab the few personal items I have and
my clothes and I should be good to go.”

“Wow, you’re willing to give all your stuff away?” Her
sister’s voice was awed.

Katie felt her dad hug her from the back, his voice
choked with emotions. “I’m so proud of you Katie.”

Gale returned with an affirmative thumbs up. The three
told Gale of what they had decided then headed out in a rush to get everything
done in the very few hours they were given. Katie didn’t think to tell Slate
what she was planning or even that she was leaving the house. Her mind was too
cluttered with what she needed to do.

****

Gale watched Slate’s mate leave with her dad and
sister. She choked up when they told her about what they were going to do with
the apartment. That coworker was in for a very happy surprise, and she kind of
wished she could see his face when they tell him.

Strong arms wrapped around her, and she felt muscular
planes press against her back. The touch and his natural scent were familiar to
her, so she didn’t even look up as she leaned back against him.

Alphy voice rumbled against her skin as he nuzzled her
neck, “So what’s going on with Katie and her family?”

“They are rushing to pack so she can fly back to
Ontario with Slate tonight. She’s just taking a few personal items and giving
her entire apartment away to some guy whose home burnt down recently.”

She felt her hair move from his puff of surprise.
“Wow, I didn’t expect that. I was starting to worry for Slate when she kept pushing
him away.”

“Me, too.
Henry and Sara are going to petition to join our pack, so please tell me they
are already approved.”

The vibrations of his low voice tickled her neck,
eliciting goosebumps.
“Of course.
We still need their
information, but if you want to tell them the good news when you see them next,
you’re welcome to. I bet knowing she’s going with him has raised his spirits. That’s
going to contribute positively to his healing.”

“Yup, when he finds out.
But I’m not going to tell him. He’s just going to
have to find out when he gets on the plane.”

“Ouch, Honey-bear, that’s mean.”

Gale turned in his arms and looked up into his face,
“I told
ya
I was
gonna
get
him back for scaring me the other night when he discovered his mate. Besides,
this will do him good.”

“
Mmm
,” Alphy groaned. “I
hope I never get on your bad side.”

Chapter Seven

“Damn it, Slate! Get rid of your fur and back into
your skin!” Alphy’s command was too strong to deny. Slate’s lion groaned his
protest right before he began to shift. He was just told that he was going to
be taken to the airport and flown home, but being told
this
moments
after he was told his mate had left the house without even a
word of good-bye caused him to lose his control over his lion. Did he scare her
with his declaration?

The shift was painful because of his injuries, so when
it was completed, he was panting and his skin was lightly moistened with sweat.

Alphy’s voice quieted down, speaking just loud enough
for his shifter hearing to pick up. “I know exactly what I’m asking you. I need
you to trust me, Slate.”

Slate pursed his lips and clenched his jaw. He trusted
Alphy, but to physically accept what he was asking was painful. His lion roared
inside his head in protest. He didn’t trust his voice to not disrespect his
alpha, so he looked away and nodded his response. Slate closed himself down,
only talking when he needed to answer a question.

He had to be helped in the shower, on and off the
toilet and anything else that required him to get up with everything he needed
to do before the flight. He was weak from loss of blood, and no matter how fast
shifters healed they just couldn’t bounce back in a day from what he had just
endured. It
rankled
his pride, and his lion was
temperamental, causing him to be outwardly as well. Closing himself up was the
best way to keep from mauling one of his friends.

Slate was moved to a couch in the living room. Around
him, people were busy with one thing or another. Tom and Connie were allowed to
return to their home and start to salvage what they could. He heard talk of
many who wanted to join the pack and move, while others made arrangements to
move elsewhere. However, the members receiving their settlements dominated
every conversation. No matter what the subject was, it would always drift back
to that.

People were cautious at first until they witnessed the
first transaction, but then the energy and excitement could be tasted in the
air, it was so thick. The sum wasn’t a small amount either. Alphy had a
difficult time figuring out how much each family would get because of so many
variables, but in the end, each family received a good eight figures. Slate was
a little bit envious of them. He didn’t have near that much to offer his mate. A
twinge stabbed through his torso with the ache from thinking about her.

After being painfully loaded up into a van, he had to
endure an agonizing ride to the airport that wasn’t all that close. Each dip in
the road jarred his injuries, making the trip feel that much longer.

Kace was returning with him, but his injuries were not
as severe, so he obviously felt the need to tease Slate. “Hey, let’s play the
alphabet game.”

“No.”

“The license plate game?”

“No.”

“I know, we can sing a song.
How
‘bout that song by
OneRepublic
, ‘Ordinary Human’?”

Slate partially shifted and bared his canines and
claws at the ill-timed wolf.

Kace huffed out irritably.
“Party-pooper.”

Slate closed his eyes and tried to focus on keeping
relaxed, it really didn’t bother him what Kace called him so long as the
irritating shifter would stop pushing his buttons.

He was given help up into the plane but only into the
first available seat before his helper—some herd member whose name he didn’t
remember—turned around and headed back out of the plane to help load their
luggage. The chairs were comfortable, but being in so much pain made it
feel
more like a torture device.

How in the hell am I going
to survive this flight?

With everything loaded, the pilot, some kind of avian
shifter, took his time going down his checklist.
Why couldn’t Seamus have given me something for the pain? Oh yeah
, Slate
thought sarcastically,
shifters burned
through them too fast. Fuck!

The pilot sat in his captain’s chair in the cockpit
and looked over the list he just completed.
Really?
How many more times do you need to go over it?
Slate really tried
hard not to ask “What else could go wrong” because that was a sure jinx to make
things worse, and things were already intolerable.

After twenty minutes of hell, he was about to yell at
the pilot when he heard a vehicle approaching. Looking over, he saw Kace was
propped back and asleep … comfortably, the
bastard
,
so he was of no use. Slate turned back and peered through the tiny window and
saw a truck ramble up to the plane. The pilot exited the plane, but Slate
couldn’t see who was in the truck. It had parked in front of the plane, just
out of his vision.