The ringing phone woke Tom Harding from his sleep. Groaning at the fourth time it rang, Tom untangled himself from his latest conquest. Seeing the night sky through the view of his penthouse bedroom suite, he growled. Plucking the cordless phone, he snarled his displeasure through the receiver.
“Whoever the hell you are, calling at three in the morning, you better have a good reason.”
“Tom? This is Buck Mosley, don’t know if you remember me—”
“Little Buck? Of course I do.” Tom straightened up in bed at the familiar sound of Buck’s voice.
He was decidedly, but not surprisingly, awake. Before moving into the city and running the R&D branch of his father’s multi-million dollar industry, Tom and his two brothers, Dick and Harry, were raised in the small town of Cherry Harding. Buck is two years younger, but they went to the same school. God. It had been eight years since he last saw Buck. Almost a decade and Tom still wondered how the little firecracker’s lips would taste like. Did Buck still have that damn fine and tight little ass?
Last Tom heard, Buck ran the chain of local restaurants his father acquired. Not surprising, given the town was named after Tom’s ancestors. The Harding family was practically royalty back in Cherry Harding. Buck, Tom remembered, didn’t give a flying fuck Tom carried the family name—which made Tom want him even more.
“Please don’t call me that,” Buck sounded annoyed on the phone, and then fell silent. He took a deep breath. “Tom, I don’t know any easy way to say this, but Mr. Harding passed away last night in his sleep.”
There was only one Mr. Harding Buck was referring to. Diagnosed with lung cancer a few years back, Burl Harding finally decided to leave the running of his business empire to his three sons and return to the family hometown. Tom’s stomach clenched. His father looked better the last time he visited—only a week ago.
“Tom, are you still there?” Buck asked.
Burl Harding didn’t raise fools. He always taught his sons to set their priorities straight. Tom breathed in and out. Panic later, do what needs to be done.
“I’ll call Dick and Harry—”
“I already called them earlier. Dick’s flying in this morning and helping with the arrangements.”
“Called me last, eh? I see your dislike of me hasn’t changed,” Tom joked. Poor form to put that bit in, but he always used humor when he was sad or depressed. It seemed like Buck knew it too, because Buck became all quiet again.
“I never disliked you, Tom. Just come home.”
“Thanks, Buck. I’ll take the first flight out.” Tom put the receiver down. For a moment, he looked around his bedroom. As a werewolf, he didn’t need the lights to make out all his lavish and pricey furnishings. Even the model in his bed screamed hard to maintain. A guy whose name Tom couldn’t remember.
Was Tom so far in the glitz and glam, he couldn’t remember his roots? He ran a hand over his hair and padded out of the room, cell phone in hand. Tom made all the necessary calls, quickly telling his business partners he wouldn’t be available the next few days.
News of his father’s death shook him to the core. Lately, with so many things going on with the company, all he did was work. Work and insert one-night stands here and there. Hard not to be focused on the business his grandfather and father built, especially with the economic recession. Still, it was no excuse. Tom was ashamed of not being there in his father’s room during his dying moments.
Hearing his phone ring and seeing Harry’s name, Tom picked up.
“Hey, bro. Guess you heard, huh?” Harry sounded hoarse on the other end. He wouldn’t cry, none of them would, because Burl raised them all to be hard. As three lone Alphas without a pack, they made the business their pack instead. Their father wasn’t the greatest dad in the world, but Burl Harding raised them the only way he knew how.
“When are you flying to Cherry Harding?” Tom asked.
“This afternoon, I’ve just got a few things to clear up.”
Tom heard an unfamiliar moan on the other end, probably Harry’s latest boy toy. Growing up in a world full of adults and tutors, Tom and his brothers only had each other. They were close, despite living in different cities to run the different branches of Alpha Industries.
“I’ll meet you and Dick there then,” Harry said.
“Yeah, save all the funny stories for the funeral,” Tom joked.
Although what funny stories, Tom didn’t know. Burl raised them as heirs to a multi-million dollar business, and treated every rare outing as an opportunity to learn the ropes of Alpha Industries. They had no funny or heart-warming stories to tell. Not that Tom or his brothers were bitter.
No, they learned the other stuff on their own. Child rearing was difficult business, especially for a single parent. Their mother, Jenna, died giving birth to Harry. Jenna met their father during a local pack meeting. The couple eloped, eventually leaving the pack to make their own way. Well, Tom hoped his father was reunited with the woman he loved. Not much could be said for him and his brothers.
As eligible Alphas, they had no trouble attracting men, women, take your pick, but no one interested Tom long enough. Besides, with his hands full handling the family business, Tom had no time to date. Relationships took work, he knew, but he was nearing twenty-eight. Perhaps it was time to make his own den and find a suitable mate to keep his mind off business all the time.
Strangely, the image of Buck sprang to his mind. Limber, lean, and tall, Buck looked like he did when they were teenagers, complete with inquisitive green eyes and disheveled orange hair. Tom grinned at the memory of Buck snarling at him eight years ago, telling Tom to go fuck himself when Tom announced he was leaving town.
“Maybe something good can come out of this,” Tom murmured.