Book 1: Chapter 12

Driving down the road, I planned on heading to the place we played pool at but I found myself pulling into The Wayward Tap. There were a few cars and even a motorcycle parked next to Solaris’ ride.

Opening the door, I looked around. There were a couple of booths being taken up by some college kids, a group of old men huddled in the corner playing a game of cards, and an older gentleman sitting at the bar. Solaris was cleaning a glass, talking with the gentleman at the bar. She looked up at me and frowned.

“Finn, can you bring down the First Aid kit?”

My eyes furrowed but then I touched my cheek, forgetting that’s where Silas decided to throw me into the wall. My shoulder hurt more and I had forgotten that he even hit me in the face. The gentleman at the bar turned and whistled. He was a werewolf but not a rogue. His scent was dulled though.

“It’s fine, Solaris. Don’t worry about it.”

I chose a couple seats away from the wolf at the bar. She shook her head as Finn came down. He eyed me and sat down next to me. Opening up the box, he took out some alcohol wipes. A felt a sharp sting as he wiped the side of my cheek.

“It’s rare that someone hits you so good they cut you. The hell happened?”

“Had a disagreement, that’s all.”

Solaris snorted. “Sure. Fucking Alphas.”

“Hey, you are one dear.” The werewolf spoke up, pointing her. 

She stuck her tongue out. “So are you, old man.”

Finn put a bandage on my chin and leaned back. “Anywhere else?”

“My shoulder but I think that’s just going to have to heal.”

Finn lifted my sleeve and pressed his thumbs into my shoulder. “Fuck. You’ve got multiple fractures.” He looked over at Solaris. “Sol…”

She sighed and put down the glass. Reaching under the bar, she pulled out a black leather glove. Pulling it in her good hand, she came over and replaced Finn’s hands with hers. The gloves and the metal were cold but as soon as she pressed into my shoulder, I felt a shock of heat. Her one eye was gold and the other blue looked like it was one fire. I started to hiss, her fingers feeling more like she was burning my skin now.

Then, the sensation was gone. Backing up, Solaris walked back around the bar and took off the glove.

“Give it a stretch. See how that feels.”

I nodded and moved my arm, tentatively at first. There was no pain as I took moved it more. Looking at her, she was washing her hands.

“You can heal?”

She shrugged but the wolf sitting at the bar snorted. “She can do more than that.”

“Shut it.” Solaris snapped at him.

Finn chuckled, closing the First Aid kit. “You came at the wrong time. The two of them bicker like old maids.”

“There is only one ‘old man’ here and he’s the one shirking his responsibilities.”

“Yes, well, if my daughter didn’t decide to run and hide to the most remote part of the state…”

My eyes widened. “Your daughter?”

Solaris chuckled but was interrupted as a couple of the college kids came forward, asking for refills. The werewolf at the bar turned, his hand held out.

“The name’s Jack, not old man. I mean, I’m her old man but ‘my old man’ and ‘the old man’ have different meanings to it.”

I shook his hand and was surprised by the amount of strength in his aura. “I’m Nathaniel, well…Nate.”

“You’re the Beta of the pack that’s closest, I’m assuming.”

Nodding, I looked down. “Should I call you Alpha or…”

He chuckled. “Not while I’m here…as she says…shirking my responsibilities.”

Solaris finished with their orders and came back over. “What will be it today, Beta?”

“Something hard but smooth. The harder the better.”

Turning, she squatted down and you could hear bottles rattling against one another. “Must have been a hell of a disagreement.”

Standing up, she had pulled out an unmarked bottle. Grabbing a wide-rimmed glass, she poured the dark amber liquid into the glass. Sliding it in front of me, I was about to take it but she slid it back a couple inches.

“This shit is hard. Real hard. It’s got a pretty high alcohol percentage for a bourbon but it’s smooth. It’s easy to forget the proof. Just as a heads up.”

I nodded and she released the glass. “It’s actually this assholes favorite.” Her finger jabbed in the direction of Jack.

“Dear, try not to be so mean. You’re going to hurt my feelings one of these days.”

“The only person who can hurt you is mother, and I would love to know by which fingers or toes she’s going to string you up by this time.”

I couldn’t hold it back this time and I laughed. “You guys are definitely family, even if you don’t look anything like one another.”

“She is my adopted daughter, actually. So while we aren’t blood…”

“We annoy each other like blood.”

Looking down at my glass, I smiled absently. I knew what that felt like. Taking a sip of the bourbon, I almost coughed. It was smooth but that didn’t stop it from burning with the level of alcohol in it. The notes of oak and berries that was very nice once you got over the initial bite.

“Damn, I was not expecting that.”

Jack chuckled. “It’s a good one. It’s my go-to when I have to drink in front of others.”

“Yeah, leave your dirty secret drinks for your personal bartender.” Solaris chimed in, giggling.

“Look, I like my margaritas! What’s wrong with that?” Jack huffed, drinking his beer that had been sitting in front of him.

Taking another sip, I placed it down gently. “Really, the only thing that makes it un-manly is the glass that it’s put in. Same as a cosmo or whatever. They just put a perfectly fine drink in a dainty glass or stick an umbrella in it and suddenly it’s not manly.”

“See! Exactly! The drink isn’t bad! It’s how they serve it!” Jack slapped the table.

Solaris rolled her eyes. “They serve it that way for a reason.”

“Yeah, but how much does it really add to it? I mean, put a margarita in a stein and it’s still a margarita. It’s just a little German now too.”

Jack burst out laughing. “I like this wolf! I’m going to ask for all my margarita’s in steins from now on.”

“You are going to pay for this, just so you know.” Solaris glared at me but there was a smirk on her face.

“Hey, now you have a new Christmas present you can give. Just a bunch of steins.” I smiled.

Something flashed across her face but it was gone in an instant. “I don’t need your two cents, Beta! He’s incorrigible enough on his own.”

“Speaking of me being incorrigible, do you want me to speak to your Alpha for you? Sol here might be a rogue and not allowed on territories but I’m not. I can teach your Alpha a thing or two about respect.” Jack winked.

“As much as I would love for someone to pull the stick out of his ass, it wouldn’t do much good now. We both got heated. We are both to blame so I can’t very well have someone kick his ass without getting mine kicked first.”

Jack finished off his beer, smiling as he handed the empty bottle to Solaris. “Spoken like a true leader. You sure you’re a Beta?”

“My Grandfather had some Alpha in him I think but I’m not sure. The lines pretty much a mess now after my parents died.”

He hummed, nodding. “It does tend to be like that. Well, keep it up son. Your Alpha will see the value you have. If he doesn’t, then you don’t need him. Look at Sol here, she’s made a statement by not joining any pack. Even with being an Alpha, having Beta’s and even a Gamma.”

My eyes widened and I looked over at Solaris. She looked annoyed. Slamming a fresh beer down on the bar, she growled at him.

“Is there a reason you’re here? Or you just asking to get flogged by mother? Shall I call her now? I wonder which army she would send.”

His eyes widened in fear and I snorted, trying to stop myself from laughing.

“No no! I had a reason! Well, two! See! I…”

“We could have talked over the phone.”

“You never pick up.”

“Because I know it’s you.”

“See this is why…”

Noah cleared his throat, his eyebrow raised and a folder in his hand. “You two just gonna hash it out in the bar or do we need to take this outside?”

Solaris snatched the folder out of his hands and put it in front of Jack. “Here, this is what you wanted. The notes from the last meeting. Now fuck off before I get in trouble with mother too.”

“That was just one of things, there was some news. It was hush hush but it’s been circulating more and more…”

She crossed arms as she stared at Jack, unimpressed. I took another sip of my drink. In a blink of an eye though, I saw Jack change. He went from silly father to Alpha. Even Solaris dropped her arms and stood up straighter.

“We have reports more and more Hunters are coming above ground. Not in one place but all over the place. It’s worse in the bigger cities but even some of the packs in the smaller areas are seeing not just the death toll rise but also actually seeing them walk around.”

Solaris’ magic, the blue flared for a moment. “What the fuck are they doing out of their holes?”

“I think the rumor that you’ve settled down here has circulated and they feel a little safer knowing that you can’t be in all places at once. Sol, this confirms not only that they have been waiting for something, but their ranks were growing in the mean time.”

The glass that Solaris was holding shattered in her hand. It made everyone look her way but she just shook out her hand, giving a quick smile to the patrons, allowing them to go back to whatever they were talking about.

“If I get a whiff of anything close by, the streets are going to run red. Them, their families, their children. All of them. If they are planning something, I want to know what. I will fucking destroy them if it’s the last thing I do.”

He nodded and finished off his beer in one fell swoop. “I know, sweetheart. I wanted to give you a heads up. I know sometimes you get tossed other places so you might run into them. Just don’t go too far. It’s not worth the time you have left.”

“It is, Dad. It’s worth it if I can rid the world of their kind.”

“You will never be able to wipe them out completely. They are like cockroaches. You step on one and three more run by. I’ll keep my head in the rumors, see if we can’t figure out if they are planning something. At the very least, if they are, we can try to get them all at once.”

Solaris was shaking, her hands holding tight to the bars edge. “Thanks…for telling me.”

Jack nodded and the hard face of the Alpha disappeared, softening. “If your mother calls, cover for me.”

“Fat chance, old man.”

He chuckled and got up. Leaning over the bar, Solaris leaned and let him kiss her on cheek. She did the same. Jack came over and slammed a hand down on my shoulder with so much force I almost fell out of my chair.

“Hang tough there, Beta. Don’t let that Alpha get the last word. Don’t be afraid to step up. He might have Alpha genes but that doesn’t make him right all the time.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Alpha.”

“Bah. I hate being called Alpha. Makes me feel like I’m old.”

“You are old. Fucking retire already.” Solaris shot back at him.

I laughed along with Jack. He turned and give a wave goodbye before he headed out of the bar. Finn came back down, kissing Solaris on the head before helping her clean up the shattered glass.

“He didn’t stay that long this time.”

“He didn’t have permission to leave. So, everyone is going to be up in arms.”

Peeling my eyes away from the door, I smiled. “He must be pretty important if people will come storming after him if he leaves unannounced.

Finn snorted. “Yeah. Something about losing your Alpha King really drives his advisors up the wall.

I spit out the drink I had just tried to swallow. “Alpha…King?”

Solaris giggled, wiping the bar in front of me before washing her hands. “We didn’t mention that did we? Alpha King Jackson Ulrich is my adoptive father. I’m Solaris Ulrich, First Alpha Prince and pain in his ass most of the time.”

My jaw dropped and I looked back at the door the Alpha King just walked through. Then back at Solaris, who was the First Alpha Prince, first in line for the throne as Alpha King. The size of her wolf suddenly made sense but now all the things I had previously thought about her being a rogue went out the window. Solaris was so much more and Silas was playing with fucking fire. A fire that could potentially send him straight to the castle on the knees in front of the Alpha King.