24
BRANDON
I find Lonnie sitting on my front porch, drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. “Where the hell have you been?” he demands. “I’ve been looking for you, Alicia is up to something.”
“And when you saw I wasn’t here, you just decided to camp out on my porch?”
“It’s not like I’m in the house,” he says. “Besides, this house is in pack territory, and I’m going to be the alpha of this pack. So in a way, it’s really mine.”
I built this house with my own hands. I could just punch his lights out for that. But a brawl between me and Lonnie doesn’t help anybody. It’s important that I stay on his good side. He’s got authority over me as future alpha. More to the point, I want to be the person he trusts to hang around with Alicia, because if it isn’t me, he’s going to give that job to somebody else, and that would definitely be worse for her.
“I was doing what you told me to do,” I tell him. “I’ve been hanging around your sister.”
The unpleasant look on his face disappears. “Oh, yeah?” he says. “How’s that working out? Have you found out any new information yet?”
“Yes, actually,” I say. “Her baby’s a girl.” “A fucking girl, huh?”
“So that’s good news then, you don’t have to worry about a new threat to the alpha seat,” I say. “She won’t be eligible for it.”
“She could always find a mate when she’s older, and he could claim it.”
I shake my head. “That’s not going to happen. Alicia isn’t going to be here that long. She’s serious about going back to the human world as soon as she can-I asked her. You don’t need to worry about wasting your time running her off the pack lands. She’s going to leave of her own accord.”
Lonnie gets to his feet and starts pacing back and forth on the porch. “That’s what she told you? She’s going to take the brat with her?”
“You don’t need to be that way. We’re talking about a harmless little baby girl here.”
“We’re talking about a half-human brat who could easily open the door to a new bloodline taking my family out of power,” Lonnie says. “I can’t have that, and you should understand why.”
“I do understand,” I tell him. I understand Lonnie’s obsession with power all too well, even if I do think he’s a megalomaniac. “I’m just saying I don’t think you need to worry about any threats from that direction. Alicia’s going to go back to the human world years before that kid is old enough to cause you any trouble, and she’s never going to come back here in any kind of permanent way. She doesn’t like it here. This isn’t where she’s built her life, and it’s not where she wants to be.”
Lonnie nods. “You may be right,” he says. “Maybe I should just let her go her own way.”
It’s the first encouraging thing he’s said to me since Alicia got back. If he’s willing to let her be, that means the information I’ve given him has actually done Alicia some good. It means I don’t need to feel guilty for the things I’ve shared, even though I technically did it behind her back. I’ve helped her by letting Lonnie know these details about her life. I’ve kept him from coming after her.
It’s one of the things I’ve come to understand as I’ve gotten older-not all fights are won with fangs. Sometimes you can just outsmart the other guy.
Lonnie turns to face me. “I’m going back up to the Boneyard for about a week.”
The Boneyard. It’s where certain men from certain packs in the northwestern US meet up to exchange-and often use-drugs. I’ve been once or twice, as backup for Lonnie when he’s needed extra muscle. It’s the kind of place I might have enjoyed more when I was younger-loud, violent, and full of aggressive men venting their excess energy on each other. “What are you going for?” I ask. “Business or pleasure?”
“Little bit of both. A guy in Montana intercepted a stash of crystal from the human cops, and he’s distributing all around this area.”
“Do we have money for that?” I’m not in love with the fact that the guy who’s tapped to be my new alpha does crystal meth, but actually, he’s a pretty high-functioning user, so I take it in stride. My bigger concern is pack resources. There are only a few guys here who are going to go anywhere near that stuff, and pack money is meant to be spent on things that will benefit everyone equally.
“You let me worry about the money,” Lonnie says. “I’m the one who’s in charge of the treasury.”
“I know that.” Vern signed it over to him a month ago, which was
probably smart, since he’s having trouble remembering things day-to-day. I just wish I could get a look at what we’ve got and reassure myself that Lonnie hasn’t already spent us out of house and home.
“Anyway,” Lonnie says, “I need you to run things while I’m gone. Dad’s still alpha, but we all know that’s in name only. You’ll need to be the acting leader of the pack while I’m at the Boneyard.”
I’m surprised he’s willing to cede any power at all to me, even on a temporary basis. But then, Lonnie doesn’t see me as a threat to him. He never has, not since Alicia rejected me.
But I like the idea of handling things while he’s away, because it means I’ll be free to spend as much time as I want with Alicia, and I won’t have to worry about Lonnie interfering.
“Okay,” I tell him. “Nothing to worry about. I’ll keep things under control on this end.”