Chapter Six - Mason

The gloves on my hands formed sweat between my fingers. I’d been at work almost ten hours when the bell signaled for a shift change. I sighed in relief, pushing the last log through the saw until it split into two pieces and fell into the pile at the end. Jacob had left earlier that morning to take Jessica to the airport and hadn’t made it back yet. Our manager, Scotty, had been easy on Jacob because he’d lost his grandmother, but that wasn’t something he did usually. Scotty was hard on us because he had to be. Our work was long, rough and demanded attention. This was never where I saw my life going as a child, but then reality snuck in. I had to stay in this town and protect it. There were only a handful of jobs here that didn’t require you to drive forty miles. I yanked my gloves off and shoved them into my back pocket. The employee lounge that held our lockers was full of chatter when I walked inside. Opening my locker, I shoved my gloves inside, my safety glasses and grabbed my keys. There were no new calls on my cell phone. Not that I expected there to be. We had the same routine every day. We worked and then went back to the pack house. I clocked out and jogged toward my truck in the parking lot. My wolf was on edge all day long since we knew Jessica was coming back to town. It’d been hard to concentrate with her on my mind. My wolf needed to shift but it wasn’t our night for patrol. I started my engine and drove the ten miles down deserted dirt roads to get to the pack house. It’d been passed down over time to the next generation. The three-story home was large and ghostly at night. At one time an entire pack of wolves lived there until they moved to a more secluded spot in southern Louisiana. Liam’s truck sat in the driveway when I parked. The living room light was on which meant he was playing video games or studying. By the glow of the TV when I walked inside, I figured he was playing some game online. “Get up!” he shouted. “We’re going to die.” I smiled to myself at his urgency to beat this game. I’d never been too big on video games. “It’s me!” I shouted. “Pizza is on the table,” he said. I walked into the kitchen which looked plucked from the 1970s, and opened a pizza box. This place had only been remodeled a few times since it was originally built. If any of us ever found a mate, I was sure that would change. Mates lived together, and if a female moved in, they would most likely want to change it. This place was a mess. I took the entire pizza box into the living room. Liam’s short hair was wild, his books sat scattered around the loveseat while he took up half of the couch. I sat down beside him and he scooted over. “Has Jacob made it back yet?” he asked, never looking away from the screen. “Nah,” I said, inhaling a bite. “I think it’s a little drive. Plus, I’m sure he milked the trip for all it was worth. He had no plans on making it back for work today.” Liam tossed his hands up and groaned. “Bastard wouldn’t listen to me. Now we’re dead.” He tossed the game controller to the side and snagged a piece of pizza. "Yeah, well, I don’t blame him. Do you? I know you don’t love the place.” “It pays the bills,” I mumbled. Liam looked over as he began to flip through the streaming channels with the remote. “So, what do you think about Jessica moving here?” I shrugged as if none of it mattered to me when in reality nothing mattered more than her. “I don’t know.” “Hmm,” he said. I looked up at him. “What does hmm mean?” Liam chewed slowly. “It means that I saw the way you looked at her today. I think you’re more excited than you’re acting.” My gaze shifted toward the box of pizza. I shoved in several bites to avoid giving him an answer. I didn’t want Jacob to find out my wolf was reacting to Jessica this way. Finding a mate was serious. It would shift our entire dynamic if my wolf marked a mate. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. This was my alpha’s cousin, my best friend’s cousin, I needed to tread lightly. “Are you going to pretend I didn’t ask that?” Liam asked. I leaned back against the couch and spread my legs. “Is it a sin to find a woman attractive, Liam? Is that what you want to hear?” Liam grinned mischievously. “Attractive? Your wolf went haywire when you saw her sitting there. Not to mention the way she couldn’t look at you for too long. I think something is there.” I waved him off and devoured another slice of pizza. Headlights danced across the room and Seth’s scent snaked through the air. “You better hurry though,” Liam said. “I think Seth has his eyes set on her.” My wolf howled and surprised me by lurching me forward. I caught myself on the arm of the couch. “Don’t tell Jacob,” I said. Liam stared at me and my inability to keep my wolf still. “I won’t, but if he has eyes, it won’t take him long to figure it out. He won’t be mad, Mason. You’re his Beta.” “Exactly,” I mumbled. “He puts a lot of pressure on me. A woman…would distract me from that.” Liam opened his mouth as Seth walked into the pack house dressed in a baseball uniform. He was a part of some softball league, which was completely unfair to the other team. But no one could tell him that. “We won,” Seth said, tossing his bag into the corner. “Go figure,” I said. Seth eyed the pizza box. I shut the lid when he went to grab one. “There are five other boxes, get your own.” He lifted a light eyebrow at me and walked into the kitchen. Liam gave me the side eye. We didn't start fights with one another, but my wolf was hell-bent on showing his dominance. When he came back in, he scooted Liam’s books out of the way and opened a box. “Jacob back yet?” “No,” Liam said, finally landing on a movie. “He has patrol duty with Aaron tonight,” I said. “He’ll be back soon enough.” Silenced settled over the room and I was enjoying it until Seth cleared his throat. “Well, I can’t say I’m not happy about Jessica giving the estate a chance. I just wish Jacob would come off it. I wouldn’t do anything she wouldn’t want to do. I’m not that kind of guy.” The silence grew and my heartbeat hammered in my head. The blood rushed around and had me on edge. Standing up, I tossed the box to the side and walked toward the stairs. “You going to be already?” Seth yelled behind me. “I’m tired,” I said. “See you all in the morning.” I took the stairs two at a time. The long hallway was spooky at night and spanned the length of the entire house. Shoving my shoulder against my door, I shut it behind me. My bed was unmade from that morning but there really wasn’t much else in it. No decor and very little furniture. It was never a priority for me. I tore off my clothes, tossed them into the hamper and walked into my shower. It was the only thing in the house that seemed to have been touched in the last decade. My wolf ran circles inside of me. He was pissed and wanted to confront Seth but I couldn’t without incriminating myself. I’d have to take this easy. If I felt Jessica wanted anything to do with me, I would approach Jacob in a way that wouldn’t catch him off guard. I stepped underneath the water and placed my palms against the shower wall. Shutting my eyes, her blue ones stared back at me. Why was this connection so strong? Was the gray wolf in her dreams me? I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but I something told me it was. Why? Why was she dreaming of me? Did she see me in human form or only wolf? I wanted to ask her the night before, but I didn’t want to seem self-centered. I turned and rested my head against the wall. My wolf ran around in pure chaos which was a relief from the twirling feeling of need in my chest. Jessica would be back in a few days and I could weigh my options better. If she showed the interest I thought she had in me, I would do anything to beat Seth to her heart. I’d fight my pack mate until he realized I was the Beta and not him.