Chapter Three

Bram hated full-moon duty, even if it was part and parcel of being a pack member. When he was alpha he wouldn’t have to take part in it, but who the hell knew how long it would be until he could take over. Alphaship in their pack passed from father to son. Peter had stepped down when Jason was in his early twenties after being injured. But Jason was only in his forties and didn’t seem to be slowing down or even be thinking of retiring.

Which was fine with Bram, really.

Every full moon, the bonfire pit had to be cleaned of debris and filled with fresh wood. Pack members were assigned full-moon duty once they either shifted or turned sixteen. High-ranking pack members, like his dad’s second-in-command Michael, never did full-moon duty, it was left to the others, particularly the ones at the lowest ranks. But Bram’s generation wasn’t kept out of that loop even though they were all high in the ranking system as well. Technically, since Bram was next in line for alpha, he wasn’t in the ranking system and wouldn’t have to fight his way up to take over, but he was unofficially ranked as seventh, just under Logan.

Since the forecast called for snow, they had to cut the wood and bring it back to his parents’ house for storage, so it didn’t get wet. The area around the bonfire needed to be cleared as well, with logs set up for those who wished to sit around the fire.

“I one-hundred-percent hate this,” Remy said as he swung an ax smoothly and cut through a thick log.

Bram nodded. “Me too. Just think, though, one day our kids will be bitching about it while we hang out in the warmth of the house.”

Remy chucked one of the smaller pieces onto the pile to be taken back to the house and hefted the ax again. “Well, not for me. Not here, anyway.”

As he swung the ax down and the thud echoed in the quiet afternoon, Bram stared at his friend. Remy was a born alpha like Bram, destined to take over a pack someday. But unlike Bram, who was going to take over because his dad was the alpha and it passed through the generations, Remy was the son of a wolf and an Angel Mate. Any children of Angel Mates became alphas if they were males or Angel Mates if they were females. Angel Mates left home at twenty-one and traveled to packs looking for their mate. Remy had a younger brother, Lennox, and three sisters, who were waiting for the youngest to turn twenty-one and then they were going to start traveling together.

“You feeling the pull to leave?” Bram asked. He stopped shoveling the debris from last month’s bonfire into a wheelbarrow and rested his arm on the handle.

“Of course. I have been for a while now. I think it’s partly because Lennox is twenty-one now and he’s starting to chafe against your dad, so his wolf’s unease is making mine go a little nuts.”

“I’m sorry you have to go. It would’ve been cool for us to take over the pack as the new high-ranked.”

Remy slammed the ax down into another section of stump and then tossed the pieces onto the pile, then called for the younger wolves to start hauling it away.

“My parents always told me to not get too close, because I’d have to leave. It would’ve been one thing if your dad never had kids, but I’ve always known Allen wasn’t going to be my permanent home.”

“When do you think you’ll leave?”

“I’m not sure. I might try to stretch it out until spring. My wolf is really hassling me to leave. If I go, then it’ll give Lennox some breathing room. Can’t have so many alphas in one pack.” He arched a brow. “Is Gideon going to leave at some point?”

“I don’t know. I always pictured me and him like my dad and his brother, number one and number two.” Bram shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. My dad’s not in any hurry to retire, so it’s a moot point.” Bram figured Jason wouldn’t step down for another decade or so. Once the alpha stepped down, those in his generation would retire as well, making way for a whole new ranked group. Retired wolves didn’t hold rank within the pack, instead becoming elders.

By the time the work was done, they had an hour before they’d need to report back to the alpha’s house ahead of the gathering for the full moon.

In warmer months, there would be a big meal and everyone would hang around outside before the hunt. In the winter, there was food to be had inside the alpha’s house, but many pack members stayed home and only showed up before nightfall.

Bram stood at his truck and stared at his childhood home, where the pack would meet up ahead of the cold night’s hunt. He was tempted to just stay, to sit in the warm kitchen and talk to his dad and help his mom with the mac and cheese she made every full moon, but he just wasn’t feeling it.

He realized his wolf was agitated when he was talking to Remy. Whenever Bram thought about taking over, his wolf would howl happily in his head. He’d been training his entire life to lead the Tressel Pack, but he didn’t think the agitation was coming from that. Yes, he wanted to take over, but not until the time was right. He couldn’t imagine what his dad had gone through when his own father had been injured and he’d had to step into the leadership role before he was ready.

No, what Bram was feeling didn’t really have anything to do with the alpha chat he’d had with Remy, there was something else going on with his wolf.

Something was coming tonight; he could feel it.

 

* * *

 

Bram walked with his friends toward the full moon meeting place as the sun was setting. Gideon was on his left and Remy on his right. Around them were Micah, Kash, Luke, Lennox, and several other males that Bram wasn’t as close to. Aside from Remy and Lennox, the others would be taking over the high-ranking positions once the current members retired. It was a good, solid group that he knew would be perfect to take over.

He rubbed his chest where a snarl vibrated. He hadn’t felt right since he’d left earlier that evening.

“You okay?” Gideon asked, his breath puffing in front of him as they walked.

“Yeah. No. I’m not sure.” Bram sighed. “Something’s bugging me.”

“What?”

“Not sure. Just feel strange.”

“Full moon madness,” Micah, Bram’s cousin, quipped. “Your wolf is slowly going insane because you suck at pool.”

The night before, they’d met up at the bar and played a few rounds of pool. It was definitely not Bram’s strong suit.

“It’s not that,” he said irritably.

“Maybe you need to get laid,” Gideon said.

“Ugh, could you not, man?” Bram said. “I’m not talking about my sex life in the woods with a ton of super-sensitive-hearing wolves around.”

“There’s no sex life to talk about,” Gideon said.

Bram stopped walking and glared at his brother, who paused mid-step and gave him an irritating grin.

With a war cry straight out of hell, Bram lunged at his brother and swung him around into a headlock. “Say it. Say it.”

“Damn it, it’s the full moon!” Gideon said. “Lemme go!”

“Say. It.”

“Fine,” Gideon said with a grunt. “Bram’s the best brother and best alpha. And he totally doesn’t suck.”

Bram shoved his brother away with a chuckle. “Don’t forget it.”

He hadn’t made his brother say that little phrase in ages. The males around them laughed and Gideon grinned. “I was lying and now I’m going to run to Dad for protection.” The whole group shot away, laughing and leaping, yelling, “parkour” as they went to mimic a tv show they all enjoyed.

Remy stared after them. “They’re idiots, but they’ll be great as high-ranking males for you.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“You’re rubbing your heart again. Everything cool?”

Bram glanced down, surprised to see it happening. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I’m okay, I just feel unsettled.”

“Maybe it’s the full moon. Makes us all think about things: life, mating, the pack.”

“True. I’m sure I’ll feel better when I shift.”

Remy clapped him on the shoulder. “The more I think about it, the more I think this might be my last full moon with the pack. So let’s make it count.”

Bram nodded. “You bet.”

They joined up with the rest of the pack, taking their place with the other next-generation pack members behind the ring of high-ranking males. Even though Bram’s mom, Cadence, couldn’t shift, she stood with Jason in the center of the clearing. Non-shifting mates and younger children generally stayed at the alpha’s house during the full moon, guarded by Crimson, Lindy, and a few others. Cadence was the only one who joined with the pack each full moon in her rightful place as alpha female.

Someday, Bram and his mate would be standing in front of the fire, calling the pack together and wishing them a good hunt.

He hoped he met his mate soon.