What he did want to do, though, was find a way to buy the house for her so there was no chance that someone might take it from her. And he needed a job. She worked, and although he would rather she did nothing but stay in bed with him all day, he recognized that things were different in the Mortal Realm and often both males and females in this realm worked.

They arrived at the alphas' home, and there were several other vehicles parked in front of the big house. She took his hand as they walked up the front porch and entered the home, Lindy calling out for her alpha female, who answered they were in the kitchen.

A group of women stood in the kitchen while two young children played on a blanket nearby with a pile of toys. The males were outside on the deck.

"Come and meet everyone," the alpha female, Cades, said. And then she began to introduce the mates of the males. Karly, Shyne, Reika, and Jenna all smiled and greeted him warmly and hugged Lindy. Faith and McKenna were also in the kitchen and joined them. "The guys are outside, Crimson, if you want to join them for a few minutes before the meal."

He kissed Lindy on the cheek and walked out to the deck and greeted Jason, who introduced him officially to the other males. Michael, who he had met previously, was mated to the human female, Shyne, and was pack second. Linus was fourth in rank and was mated to Karly, who was not human or wolf, but something called an Angel Mate. Reika was the pack healer and mated to Bo, who was pack third. Logan was the fifth ranked, a huge male with tribal tattoos covering his arms, and Crimson could smell the fae on him and knew that his mate was the she-fae, Jenna.

Drake, who looked thrilled to be included in the hunt with the older males, said, "We were just talking about the male you roughed up last night."

Crimson growled.

Jason chuckled. "He's still in the hospital. Michael contacted his family, who are not from around here, and they're coming to take him home. When he's conscious, I'll exclude him officially from the pack, and he can be some other alpha's problem."

Linus said, "The single females in the pack will want to throw a parade for you for helping to get rid of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"He was unpleasant to females other than my Lindy?"

Bo nodded. "He's always been very aggressive. He settled down some once Cades took over as alpha female, but the females in the pack will definitely breathe easier with him gone."

Crimson was glad the male was going to be leaving. He had not been joking when he said he would kill him if he saw him again. As it was, he was currently tempted to find the hospital and break his other leg.

He looked at the alpha and said, "May I speak with you privately?"

"Sure," Jason said and led him to the other side of the deck.

"I want to buy the house that Lindy is renting so that no one will take it from her."

Jason looked confused. "No one is going to take it from her."

"She told me about renting it; that it doesn't belong to her. I want to change that."

He grinned. "I get that. Sure, you just need money. I have no idea if you guys have the same money system as we do."

"I have gold and gems to exchange, but I don't know where to do it, and I want to surprise her so I haven't asked."

"There's a place about a half hour from here that does exchanges like that, and the owner is a friend of my dad's and will give you a fair deal. We can go tomorrow if you'd like. I'll just tell your mate that I'm talking to you about a job."

Crimson frowned. "I don't want to lie to her."

"Oh, it won't be a lie. I was asked by the retirement community director to find out if you'd like to be in charge of the security guards. Lindy told Cades you were a soldier in the military in the Fae Realm, and Jenna said that you're even more powerful than a normal fae because you're a wulfen. The male who was in charge of the guards moved away about a year ago, and the position was never filled, so the director's husband is handling things, but he's b.i.t.c.hing because he's retired and doesn't want to work anymore. After we go to the exchange place, we can stop by the retirement community. It's important to me that the security is managed well. My parents and grandfather live there. Our kid stays over sometimes." Jason sighed and glanced out over the yard and into the woods. "It's safe in Allen, but times are changing. Someone is laying traps inside our territory. It's not a far leap to know that our retirement community, although gated, is vulnerable because the security force is not well trained or led properly."

"I'd be honored. I was captain in the military and have been training since I was a child."

"Maybe you can teach some self-defense cla.s.ses and that kind of thing at the community center after you guys get settled." He cleared his throat, and Michael appeared next to him. "On the full moon, we'll join you and Lindy as official mates. You'll be inducted into the pack. Normally, when a male joins the pack, there are ranking fights held on the following full moon so you can find your place in the pack. But I'd like to ask you if you'd be willing to take a special place within the pack."

"What did you have in mind?"

Jason looked at Michael, who said, "In the old days - by which I mean old old days - the mates who weren't able to partic.i.p.ate in the hunt for whatever reason - age, pregnancy, injury - were guarded by a Fylax. He was a personal guard to the mates, the fiercest and deadliest male."

Jason said, "We'd like to ask you to become our Fylax. It's a position of honor, unranked within the pack, so you wouldn't have to fight for position. The Tressel Pack hasn't had a Fylax in several generations. It used to be that a male was chosen each generation to be trained especially for the position, but like many of our traditions, it fell to the wayside. We'd be honored if you would accept the position."

Currently, Jason said, the mates and children were guarded by a small group of females who waited for a few hours until the males came home, and then they went out and hunted for the remainder of the night. Lindy had mentioned she had been guarding the alpha female the night he had spelled for her.

"Instead of having rotating guards, we want to implement permanent guards. Lindy can become one, as can Drake and his mate, McKenna, and Faith. Until Faith finds a mate, my mom has offered to become the sixth guard."

The other males joined them, and Logan said, "It makes my wolf crazy to be away from Jenna on the full moon, but if I don't hunt, then I get agitated, and that's not good for anyone. I'll feel safer knowing that a well-trained male like you is watching over her and the other non-shifting mates."

An overwhelming sense of belonging filtered through him. Emotion welled up inside him. His whole life he'd wanted to be with people like himself, but he hadn't thought that would ever be possible.

"I'd like to talk to Lindy about it, but I'd be honored."

The males whooped a cheer, and Crimson laughed. Jason clapped him on the back. "f.u.c.king awesome."

Logan said, "Resh, Jason. Faes say 'resh'."

"Right, right," Jason said. "Resh."

He went into the house to find Lindy and shared the news with her. "Really?" she asked in surprise. "That's wonderful! Do you want to do it?"

Snaking his arms around her, he looked down into her pretty blue eyes and said, "If you're okay with it, then I am. We'll get to guard the mates and pups together, and when you're carrying my pups, I'll get to watch over you. Sounds like a win-win situation to me."

"Me, too." She snuggled into him with a happy sigh. "Just how many pups are we talking about?"

"I don't know," he said, "is tons a good number?"

She laughed and tipped her face up to his for a kiss, which he gladly gave.

After their meal, the group headed out to hunt. The mates wished them a good hunt, and he held Lindy's hand as they walked back to what she referred to as the "full moon meeting place." The large clearing had a firepit in the center that was lit on the full moon. Darkness had descended, but wolves could see better in the dark than humans, and they had no trouble navigating the woods.

When the group began to strip, Crimson pushed Lindy behind a large tree. "I don't want anyone to see you naked but me."

"They're my pack. We've been seeing each other naked for years, it's no big deal."

His wolf didn't much care for that, and he snarled. "It's a big deal now."

She laid her hand on his neck and stroked her thumb on his pulse. "I'm sorry, you're right. I don't really want anyone to see you naked either."

He watched her strip behind the safety of the tree and was mesmerized as her body changed from beautiful human to lovely wolf. He'd never watched another wolf shift before. She shook herself out and made a soft, growling sound, b.u.mping his leg. Quickly stripping, he shifted into his form. He was much bigger than she was, and he made a mental note to his wolf not to outrun her because his legs were so much longer than hers.

With a chuff, he nuzzled her neck and inhaled her scent. The sweet scent of her made his wolf salivate, and he wanted to sink his fangs into her neck to mark her in this form, too. But he had no idea if wolves did that. She licked his cheek and motioned with her head to follow her, and they met up with the other wolves in the center of the clearing. The wolves all froze and stared at him, and he realized that some of them had not seen him in his shift.

The silence was broken after a long moment when Jason barked sharply, and the wolves snapped to attention and took off as a group. Crimson kept his stride short so he didn't pa.s.s Lindy by and stayed close to her as they followed Jason, who led the pack on the hunt. The scents and sounds of the woods surrounded him. He smelled birds and small animals and heard the sound of the packs' paws. .h.i.tting the ground rhythmically as bushes and tree limbs rustled with animals making their getaways. Jason increased his stride, so Lindy and Crimson did as well, as the group twisted and turned through the woods.

The pack wheeled to the right as Crimson heard the distant sound of hoof beats and knew they were following deer, and his heart rejoiced at a real hunt with wolves. He couldn't wait to show Lindy that he was a worthy mate in both forms.

At the moment the deer came into view, a tingling sensation descended Crimson's spine, and every nerve ending in his body screamed danger! He scanned the area quickly, and he sensed something was out of the ordinary in the dark woods. Leaning to the left, he snagged Lindy's scruff and pulled her to a quick stop with a loud growl. She whined and then went still as Crimson's eyes roamed around the area. The wolves had left them behind, but not for long, as he heard the sound of them coming back toward them. Crimson shifted into his human form and raised his hand. His palm glowed brightly as his fire abilities allowed him to hold a small flame in his hand to shed light on the area.

Glinting under some leaves was a trap. The same kind of deadly trap that had almost killed his mate. Rage boiled up inside him as he realized that Lindy had almost run into the trap the others had miraculously missed.

Jason shifted. "f.u.c.k me, how did you know that was there?" He lifted the leaves from the trap carefully to expose it.

"I sensed it."

Lindy leaned against his leg, whining softly. He rested his free hand on the top of her head.

"We can't figure out who's leaving the traps. It smells like the woods. I think they're coating it with some kind of artificial scent that keeps us from detecting it. The first trap we found had fresh meat on it, but the trap that caught Lindy and this one are empty."

Michael, who had also shifted, said, "The traps keep getting closer and closer to our full moon meeting place, Jas. Who the f.u.c.k is leaving them?"

Jason looked at Crimson. "Do you want to help us capture the f.u.c.k that's leaving these things?"

"Of course."

"Good. Logan and Linus, take the others and head back to the house. Be careful." Logan, still in his wolf form, chuffed and waited for Faith, McKenna, and Drake to join him. Crimson squatted down and kissed Lindy's snout. "Stay close to them. I'll be back soon when the threat is gone." He didn't want her to be apart from him, but he knew that Logan and Linus were fierce males and would see them safely back to the alphas' home.

She whined in protest but seemed to accept what he said, and after licking his chin, she trotted over to the others and left. Jason said, "You can shift back into your form again, right? Because I've got an idea."

Jason relayed his plan to them, and after some preparations, the plan went into action. Crimson disabled the trap the same way he had manipulated the one that had captured Lindy. Then he shifted into his wolf form and lay down on his side, and Jason carefully arranged the broken trap around his back leg to make it appear that he had been caught.

Bo appeared a few minutes later with a dead rabbit between his jaws. Jason ripped the flesh of the rabbit open and rubbed its blood along Crimson's white fur to mimic a wound.

"However long it takes, we'll be right here," Jason said. He and Michael turned to the nearby trees. Each one scaled a tree on either side of Crimson and climbed high until they were obscured by the leaves. Bo slinked back into the shadows and slipped underneath a thick bush. As instructed, Crimson began to howl in distress.

The night pa.s.sed slowly. Crimson howled a few times each hour, but otherwise listened intently for the sounds of someone approaching. Dawn came, the sun cutting through the trees and warming him as he lay p.r.o.ne with the trap around his leg. He was restless and wanted to shift back into his human form, but he knew how important it was to find whoever was laying the traps and put a stop to it. He couldn't abide his mate or his pack being harmed.

He smiled inwardly. He had a pack now. Resh.

He distantly heard a twig snap and made himself appear to be unconscious. He hadn't raised his voice to howl in about an hour.

"Well, well," a rough male voice said, "lookie what the trap caught."

Three males came into the clearing. Their bodies stank of alcohol mixed with body odor, and it took all his willpower not to wrinkle his nose in disgust.

"I ain't never seen such a big wolf before," a thin, reedy voice said.

"No matter. We'll call him a rare species and get a good price for the pelt."

"But I thought there was people inside them wolves?" another, younger voice said.

"Not when they're dead. The law says if they die in their wolf forms that they're wolves and we can do what we want to with them. Skeet, go check his pulse," the rough voice said.

"You go do it!" the reedy-voiced one said.

"Harry said we was supposed to leave the dead wolves in the traps as a warning," the younger voice said.

"I need the money," the rough voice said. "And they'll get the hint anyway when one of their animals goes missing."

A bird sounded high above them and Crimson knew it was not a real bird, but Jason's signal. In a blink, Crimson shifted into his fae form, his wings sprouting from his back quickly as he manifested his sword. Jason and Michael landed on the ground on either side of the small group of hunters, and Bo joined them, growling angrily.

Crimson pointed his sword at the center male. All three were as white as sheets, their mouths gaped open in shock.

Jason growled, "Why are you laying traps in my pack's territory?"

The center one gathered himself and made a disgusted face. "You animals don't own property. These here woods are for anyone to hunt in."

"The law," Jason ground out through clenched teeth, "states that my pack's territory is private property and no humans may hunt on it without my express permission as Alpha. Since I've never seen your ugly face before, I know you didn't get my permission."

Bo snarled loudly and lunged at the younger male, who fell backward onto his b.u.t.t and started to cry. "Don't let him kill me, please! It was Harry Smith who hired us."

The center male kicked at the young male. "Shut your hole, Jerry."

"I don't want to get eaten!" the young male wailed.

Crimson stepped closer and sent a flame up the blade of the sword that swirled and danced along the metal. He could see the sweat beading up on the male's skin as he closed the distance between them.

"You will tell my alpha everything, or I will carve you into pieces and leave them on your mother's porch."

The fire along the blade began to blister the male's skin, and although he appeared to want to stand firm, he shouted, "Okay, okay! I'll tell, just don't kill me!"

Jason said, "Stand down, Crimson. I think you made your point."

Crimson stepped back so Jason could get in front of the three males, raising his flaming sword high enough to light the area well. Within minutes, the males had shared the story of the traps, that they had been hired by a local farmer who wanted to scare the pack away from town and force them to settle in another area.

"For what purpose?" Jason demanded.

The center male, who had lost all his bravado, said, "I don't know, Harry never said. He just said that if a few of you got hurt you'd take off."

Jason stepped closer and gripped both males who stood before him around their throats. They struggled, but Jason's grip was far too tight. Their faces turned red, and their eyes bulged as he cut off their air. "You came onto my territory. You terrorized my people. You injured my wolf. By rights, I could kill you now." The threat hung heavily in the air for several moments as the hunters' eyes widened with fear, and the scent of urine filled the air as their bladders emptied. One of the males' eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted. Jason dropped him to the ground, and Crimson saw his fingers flex tighter on the throat of the remaining male. As his face turned purple, he stopped struggling, and Jason dropped him.

The youngest of the three was still on the ground, blubbering that he didn't want to die and he was sorry. Jason told the male to shut up, and he did with a squeaking sound, trembling from head to toe as he curled up into a ball.

Jason said to Crimson, "Can you get back to my house quickly and have Cades call Trick at the police station and then lead him and his people out here? I don't want to take these a.s.sholes anywhere near my house."

Crimson nodded, released his sword so it disappeared, and lifted into the air with a flap of his wings. He moved through the woods quickly, stopping at the clearing and picking up his pants, and racing on to the alphas' home. He landed behind a tree at the edge of the backyard and tugged the pants on, and then walked the rest of the way to the house. Lindy, dressed in borrowed clothes, was waiting on the porch for him and leapt into his arms. He carried her into the house and relayed the message to Cades, who pulled her cell from her pocket and dialed.

Standing inside the kitchen, Crimson waited with Lindy, Cades, Linus, Faith, McKenna, Drake, and Logan. The mates and the two children were still sleeping, camped out in the front room. The police showed up, and Crimson led them to the hunters in the woods where the males were arrested and then taken to jail, while the farmer who'd hired them, Harry Smith, was arrested as well.

Crimson and Lindy went home after the males were arrested and taken away, and Jason called later in the afternoon to share the story of the hunters.

"Harry spilled his guts pretty quickly when faced with jail. His brother-in-law is a developer and said that the pack's territory is prime real estate and could be turned into upscale homes on small parcels of land. Apparently there is a market for luxury homes in small towns. At any rate, the territory belongs to the Tressel Pack, and the only way it can be purchased is if the pack leaves the area. Then we would forfeit the land, and it would be sold at auction. His brother-in-law told him that if he could get us to leave, Harry could buy up the land and then sell it to his brother for a tidy profit."

"So he hired the hunters to set the traps, knowing that wolves could be killed by them," Crimson said.

"Pretty much. He told Trick he didn't know the traps were deadly, but no one believes him. The hunters are trying to roll on Harry to get less time in jail, and Harry is trying to lay the blame on the hunters, but they're all going away for a long time. It's a federal offense to lay traps on shifter territory."

Crimson didn't understand the male's desire for money that could blind him to hurting innocents.