Chapter 2

Sheppard

I’d just sat back down at my desk after slamming the door when I heard a commotion and scuffling outside. I stood, cursing time and space while I did, and walked to the window to see what the hell was going on out there.

Holt and Ren and the man I distinctly remembered telling to leave and not come back approached the alpha house. The man was flanked by my betas, and though they were just walking, I didn’t appreciate the positioning nonetheless. He should be walking behind them or in front of them, anything but between them.

Like a deer more than a bear, I ducked when Ren looked upward to my office and hustled back to my desk to make sure it looked like zero fucks were given that they not only disobeyed my orders but were blatantly being assholes.

I listened, poised over the paperwork to look like I was working. Their footsteps pounded against the stairs that led to the meeting room, the security room, and my office, all located on the second floor. The first floor was a common area, and the third was the bedrooms of the alpha and his betas. It was intended for the alpha and his children, but we already knew the situation with that little fairy tale not come true.

At a knock, I growled, sending some of my alpha power right into it so they knew they were entering the lion’s den and should act accordingly.

“Come in,” I ground out after making them wait a minute because I could.

Ren and Holt came in first and then the omega who kept his eyes on the floor but then raised them. I met him second for second, but he never dropped his stare.

You could tell so much about a man’s stare. He was an omega of worth for sure.

He might be one deserving of an alpha. It just wasn’t me.

“You are dismissed, betas. We will discuss your disobedience and repercussions later.”

Ren and Holt left, and I was alone with this man. I cleared my throat and sat down, looking him over as he stared out my window. My first impressions were wrong, or at least understatements. He wasn’t just attractive, he was downright gorgeous.

Someone should photograph him for one of those hot men magazines, gorgeous. Crystal-clear blue eyes seemed to glimmer and made me want to know things. Like was his skin a gleaming bronze from hard outdoor work, or did genetics gift it to him?

“Toklo is it?” I asked, already knowing. The name was engraved on my brain.

He nodded and turned his attention to me.

“Why don’t you take a seat.” I waved my hand toward the chair in front of me, and he sat down. They must’ve left his bags downstairs.

He was dressed in dark-green cargo pants and a gray thermal that fit him like a second skin, showing the leanness of his frame along with biceps and pecs that almost defied the fabric that covered them by stretching them so thin.

Work boots were on his feet. They weren’t dirty, per se, but I could tell they were well-used and not for hiking.

Fuck, I had to take the high road here, which was something I hated to do. “Toklo, I need to apologize to you on behalf of my betas. They were wrong for not only getting on whatever app…”

He cleared his throat. “The Male-Order app.”

“Oh…okay. The Male-Order app. Anyhow, they were completely out of line to get on there and pretend to be me and speak to you as such. I’m sorry they have wasted your time.”

The whole time I was speaking, he wrung his hands in his lap. Something was wrong beyond this app and my stupid friends.

“Sir, alpha, I understand the predicament, but I have nowhere else to go.” I raised my hand to stop him there. “I understand but—”

“Alpha, I have nowhere to live.” The tone in his voice gave no hint of dishonesty, and I could smell none on him either. In fact, he scented of forest and aspen trees with something underneath it, something sweet and smoky I couldn’t quite place.

“We don’t usually take species outside our own.”

He jutted his thumb over his shoulder. “But someone said there is a Lynx who may become a member of this pack?”

Loudmouth betas.

I breathed in and let out a heavy exhale, taking the moment to think of what to do and only came up with one plan. “Fine, you want to stay here?”

He nodded.

“You may remain here for the time being. You will be put to work outside just as the other low-level shifters are, and you will live in the bunkhouse with them as well. We don’t give handouts in this pack, and there are no freeloaders.”

“I understand, alpha. Thank you.”

“Go out the same door you came into my house, and I will have someone meet you there and show you your new job and accommodations. Be sure to ask about the rules of our pack. I don’t want or need any more trouble than you’ve already brought.”

I cursed as he left the office. Gossip would flow like a river about me letting him stay. I would be made a mockery among my own people. But even with that knowledge, I couldn’t deny him. The look on his face. The glint in his eyes. His scent that begged me to pay attention. I couldn't deny any of it.

I got on the phone as he left and called down to Ralph who worked in the fields.

“Yes, alpha,” he answered.

“I want the polar bear on cutting wood. With the axe only. We’ll teach him what it means to be pack. And he’s last on the feeding line. Understood?”

Silence answered me.

“I said, is that understood?” “Yes, alpha. Understood.”

That would teach the polar bear. He would be gone soon enough.