Finding Forgiveness: Poconos Pack, Book 1 (4 page)

“Fairy lights?” Ben’s brows had risen. It had been all he could do not to laugh out loud.

“Isn’t that what they’re called?”

“Yeah, but… I mean, real men don’t say fairy lights. Call them Christmas lights, or, I dunno, string lights.”

The Beta’s eyes had narrowed dangerously. “Are you questioning my masculinity?”

“All I’m saying is, if I see you dancing around in a tutu, I’m not gonna be surprised.”

“Asshole.”

“Fairy.”

Dave’s eyes had twinkled, hope making them brighter. “I’m gonna kick your ass when we get out of the Pack meeting.”

“You can try, Tinkerbell. You can try.”

Belle leaned forward. “Dave?”

“Hmm?” He stopped glaring at Ben long enough to turn towards her.

Belle grinned and kept her voice low, but not so low Ben couldn’t hear her. “I think he likes you.”

She sat back and waited for the explosion.

“Oh no. No way.” Ben’s face was beet red as he pulled up outside the lodge. He couldn’t let this go any further. He already regretted putting that hope on Dave’s face. He’d known it was a hope he could never fulfill. They’d both just have to live on the mate dreams, because until Dave got his drinking under control there was no way Ben could be with him.

Dave had leaned over, an evil look in his eye. One hand fumbled the door open behind him. “Admit it, sweetie. You want my ass.” He blew Ben a kiss before hopping out of the truck, sprinting for the front of the lodge before Ben could even turn the truck off.

Ben had scowled after the Beta as he exited the car, but now, gods, now he wished he’d chased the man down, admitted how much Dave was right, and taken his mate then and there. The weeks and months since then had been pure torture as once again he did his best to keep his distance.

And he had no one to blame but himself. If he could get Dave to forgive him he’d be everything his mate needed, no matter what.

Ben stalked from the lodge, the scowl on his face warning away the few “employees” who attempted to approach him. The scent of spring, of green growing things and raw, rich earth, failed to soothe him. Nothing but Dave, safe and in his arms, could ease him today.

Ben opened his cabin door and headed right for his bedroom. Too bad he wasn’t going to enjoy it for too much longer. If Dave refused him, he had no doubt Rick would see to it that Ben left the Pack.

Permanently.

Chapter Three

Dave sat up in bed and tried not to snarl at the pretty young thing flirting with him. The last thing he needed was some big-breasted Puma thinking he needed some TLC. And even if he
did
have leanings toward the soft and feminine, the fact that he knew who his mate was would have kept him from doing anything about it.

It was the lack of a mating mark. He knew that. He was fair game until Ben decided he was worthy to wear Ben’s mark.

Dave snorted. Yeah. Like
that
was ever going to happen.

“Hey, stranger!”

Dave winced.
Oh, God. Please no. Don’t let it be—

“Move it, sweetie, the man doesn’t swing your way.”

Emma.

Pretty, blunt Emma Cannon, the Curana of the Halle Puma Pride and the only woman he’d ever met strong enough to stand up to Belle, gently pushed the blushing, stammering nurse out the door and shut it firmly behind her. “I brought you some real food.” She held up the white paper bag, the smell filling the room now that the perfumed nurse was gone.

“Oh, God. For that, I’ll switch teams.”

She laughed and handed him the bag of medium-rare burgers fresh off the grill. Frank’s Diner had the
best
burgers in the tri-state area, and Dave was rapidly becoming addicted. “So. Rumor has it that Ben has been sent to New York to negotiate a pass-through treaty with the Coyotes.”

Dave nodded, trying not to feel anything at the sound of his mate’s name. As far as he was concerned, from now on Ben was just another Wolf.

Yeah. Right.
Someday he might even believe that.

“Rumor also has it he thought you were an alcoholic.”

Dave choked on the bite of burger he’d just tried to swallow. Emma pounded on his back with hammer-like blows.

She was dainty, but she was mighty.

“You okay?”

Dave nodded, red-faced for more than one reason. Who had told the Curana that? “I’m not.”

“Psh. Please. I know that.” She waved her hand at him and picked up one of the burgers, checking under the bun for God knew what. When she didn’t find it (or did, Dave had no clue), she bit happily into the sandwich. “Mmm. Damn. These are
so
good.”

Dave eyed the extremely rare, bloody bit of beef between the buns held in her small hands. “Um. Emma? Are you feeling okay?”

“Never better,” she moaned. “You gotta try this.”

Even for a Wolf that was some pretty rare meat. He wondered if Frank had even bothered to sear the outside or just slapped it raw onto a bun. The only time Dave ate meat that rare was when he wore his fur. “Will it moo at me?”

Emma giggled. “I thought that’s the way Wolves liked it.”

“Only in my fur. My human taste buds prefer medium-rare.” He took a bite of his own burger, happy to note that it had definitely had some intimate moments with a grill.

“Anyway, he’ll be there for a few days, so you should be able to return home without him bothering you. After that, you’re on your own.”

Dave shrugged. He wouldn’t worry about it. His trip to Disney World was coming up in a few weeks. With some luck and careful planning, he’d probably be able to avoid Ben for that short amount of time. The distance would help keep Dave from assaulting the man. If he did, he didn’t know if he’d mark him or beat the shit out of him.

How could Ben think so little of him? And why hadn’t the man ever
asked
him if he drank? All of the pain and sorrow of the last nine years could have been avoided if Ben had only
spoken
to him. But no. Ben had chosen his path, and now it was time for Dave to choose his.

Starting with Gay Pride Week at Disney World.

With luck, Dave would find that he was one of the rare Wolves who had more than one mate. It was so far from common that most Wolves looked only for one, but if Dave was one of the fortunate few, he’d find someone who loved him. Someone who didn’t have the emotional baggage he and Ben had.

It didn’t matter that he still carried around that stupid shirt, hoping Ben would come to his senses. It definitely didn’t matter that, even if Ben
did
, he’d never have the balls to wear it. It had become the symbol of Dave’s hopes and dreams, and he took it everywhere he went. It was under his pillow at night, in his desk drawer during the day. Hell, he’d even taken it on vacation before, but not this time. Dave reminded himself not to pack it. He wouldn’t need it. The odds of Ben showing up in Disney World, looking for his ass and ready to apologize, were pretty damn slim.

His fingers dove under the covers, his hand clenching around the soft material of the T-shirt.

God, he was such an idiot.

“What’s your plan? Going to torture him? Going to make him beg for forgiveness?”

“Rick told him about the migraines?”

Emma snorted. “Rick was all set to Outcast him.”

Dave froze. Oh
hell
no. No. No matter how pissed he was at Ben, he couldn’t picture putting his mate through that torture. Ben would be stripped of his powers as Marshall and sent down the mountain. He would be fair game to any Wolf who thought they could take him. Odds were good he’d be dead within a year or two if he didn’t find a new Pack and Alpha willing to take a chance on him.

Most wouldn’t. Most would assume he’d been Outcast with good reason and would drive him away with prejudice. That new Wolf living in Halle, the pretty one with the green hair and the
huge
Bear mate, was the exception to the rule, and the only way she’d managed was by staying wolf for years at a time.

“Please tell me he didn’t.” Because if Ben had been Outcast Dave would go to him, rejected or not. Dave would protect his mate until they found a new place, a new home.

Dave would kill Rick if his mate died.

“He didn’t.”

Dave collapsed, his fingers once more brushing over the material of that goddamn shirt. “Fuck. Don’t scare me like that.”

When he looked over at the Curana, he saw that she’d had every intention of scaring him just like that. “Honey, you need to claim him.”

Dave snorted. Yeah. No shit. Just the thought of Ben in danger was enough to send his wolf howling for the door, any thought of protecting himself or his heart gone in an instant.

Maybe that was what was needed. Maybe, instead of waiting for Ben to take matters into his own hands, Dave should do the claiming. Ben might be older, but apparently he was nowhere near wiser.

Maybe, just maybe, the trip to Disney would restore Dave’s spirits and make approaching Ben easier. He grinned and bit into his burger.

Maybe it was just what the doctor ordered.

Ben dropped the package of meat at the back door of Dave’s cabin. Flowers hadn’t worked. He’d found them strewn across Dave’s back yard. The chocolates he’d left had melted into a gooey mess. Ben had caught sight of Dave rinsing the back porch off and muttering dire threats about whoever had left them there.

That left his wolf’s suggestion of meat. Maybe this would win Dave’s attention in a way the more feminine offerings hadn’t. Besides, he had to replace the hot dogs he’d filched from Dave’s refrigerator when the man was off working. If Rick saw them there he’d tear the Beta a new one.

Ben bounded back into the woods, pleased with himself. He knew Dave was home, but from the smell of things his mate wasn’t alone. That didn’t bother Ben. He knew the person Dave was with and trusted him implicitly. Rick would take care of Dave in a way Ben couldn’t, not yet anyway. He just hoped his mate hadn’t developed another one of those debilitating headaches. It would just about kill him to know his mate hurt and wouldn’t let Ben near.

He’d tried a few times to get Dave’s attention in the week since he’d been back from New York, but Dave was avoiding him like…well, like Ben had once avoided him. Aggressively polite when cornered once, Dave had calmly waited, arms crossed, for whatever Ben wanted to say. Before Ben could even begin his apology, Chela had arrived and dragged the Beta off. The only reason Ben wasn’t pissed was because it had to do with Dave’s job as an event coordinator with the Lodge. Chela had actually apologized to him for dragging Dave away, but the relief on Dave’s face was unmistakable.

He was
happy
to be dragged away, even if it meant working just before a Pack meeting.

Ben trotted through the trees until he came to his own cabin. He slipped back into his human skin, changing easily from wolf to man. He strode into his cabin and prayed that this time, his offering to his mate would be accepted.

If it wasn’t, neither man nor wolf had a clue what to do next.

Chapter Four

“Did you scent him?”

Dave nodded. What kind of teenage hell was this? Ben was leaving things—nasty, flowery, melty,
bleeding
things—on his back porch and then slinking away like a terrified Scooby-Doo. “The man needs a clue.”

“Then give him one.” Rick picked up the meat, his brows rising in surprise. “Fresh venison. Straight off the deer.”

Dave wrinkled his nose. “Ew.” He darted back into the house and grabbed his bottle of Mr. Clean. He doused the back porch and grabbed the hose. “I’d move if I were you.”

Rick moved. He knew Dave meant it.

Dave started the hose and rinsed off the blood and disinfectant. “Has he ever heard of ‘I’m sorry’?”

“Rumor has it he’s been trying to say it, but the women have decided he needs to grovel more.”

Dave stopped the flow of water and stared at his Alpha. “What?”

“Yup. They want you to go on vacation and come home, calm, rested and ready to claim your mate. They want Ben to suffer while you’re gone. And they want to have a hand in it so later they can whisper and smirk and look all smug when you two snuggle-bunnies coo at each other.” Rick rolled his eyes. “Hey, I tried to stop them.”

“But stopping Belle and Chela when they’re on a roll is like trying to stop a hurricane with tissue paper.” Dave leaned against the back wall of his cabin and sighed. “They’re more likely to drive him off than drive him closer. Ben hates games.”

Rick held up the bloody slab of meat.

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know what the fuck that’s about.” Dave threw up his hands and got dripped on. He ignored Rick’s chuckles and coiled up the hose. “If he really wants to apologize, why didn’t he knock on the door? Why this stupid-ass shit?”

“Maybe he thinks it’s romantic.”

The two men eyed the blood dripping to the ground from Ben’s latest “present”.

“Nah.”

Rick laughed and threw the meat in the garbage. Dave had no idea how long it had been sitting out in the sun before they found it, but the scent was already beginning to turn sour. “He gave you flowers and candy and venison steaks. What more does a guy need?”

“How about actually talking to me?”

“How about a fifty-two-inch LCD flat screen with surround sound and a vibrating recliner to sit in while watching Jessica Alba in that skin-tight Fantastic Four outfit?”

Dave blinked. “That’s oddly specific.”

“Thanks. I’m warming Belle up for our anniversary. Think it’ll work?”

“Not if you mention Jessica Alba.” Rick had claimed Belle the previous February; it was now nearly June. She’d been Luna for over a year now, and Dave had a good idea how she’d react to her mate’s obsession with Ms. Alba. “You’ve got a ways to go before then.”

“I know, but maybe I’ll get one of them for Christmas.” Rick winked, as happy and carefree as Dave ever got to see his best friend. But that carefree expression didn’t last long. “Listen. Whatever Ben’s planning, he’s obviously not ready to claim you yet. Go and enjoy your vacation. The women will torture him, you’ll get some sun, and maybe he’ll have gotten his head out of his ass by then.”

Dave shook his head. “I don’t know. At this point I’m not sure if I want his head on straight or if I should just look for a second mate.”