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Patrick was the chef at the diner. He was also the owner, but really, he just liked to cook. As far as I could tell, the paperwork, the schedule—and everything else that had to be done to manage a business—was a goddamn mess. I knew it drove Aydan insane. Maybe his accountant brother could help with that, too.
My phone rang just as Nate and Russ were leaving. Speak of he devil. It was Aydan.
“Alpha.”
I could practically hear the eye roll and see the steam rolling out of Aydan’s ears. “Listen, man, when we’re on the phone, and most certainly when we’re not around people, you can just call me Aydan.”
“Yes, sir,” I said. I wasn’t even that kind of rule-following guy. It’d started out as trying to figure out my role and morphed into an ongoing joke.
He chuckled. “Smartass. How are things going there?”
“Good. Damn Chevy still won’t start. But we’re close.” We were not any closer than we had been two weeks ago when I last tried it, but I still considered that close.
“Awesome. Listen, my brother should be there today, and you should know that I’m moving forward with this arranged mating idea. Corey has agreed to it.”
My eyebrows shot up my forehead. I’d assumed this old-fashioned notion was going to fall by the wayside. Looked like I was wrong. His brother wasn’t mine, but if he were…
“Really? I know you want to bring in more people to the den, but this is how you want to do it?” An arranged mating wasn’t something I’d agree to. I hadn’t given much thought to settling down, but I’d always assumed I’d find my fated mate or none at all. Why accept less than the goddess was offering, right? But this wasn’t about me. This was about my Alpha and his brother, and Aydan’s mission to establish our den.
“Corey agreed. It’s what’s best for the den. It really is.” Was he trying to convince me or himself?
“I trust you, man.” We had talked about it at length. I didn’t like the idea, but several of the other Betas didn’t hate it. And really, it was his brother whose opinion mattered the most.
Who knew, it might be a good thing. This arrangement would bring more people here, especially if an alpha from another den mated with Aydan’s brother the way it looked like he was going to. This guy was a “buy one, get three free.” He was a package deal, bringing along his three omega brothers with him to start their lives here as well, with the hopes of finding their own mates.
“Can you show Corey around for me? I feel bad leaving him on his own after he moved all that way. He is going to need a friend.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Good. He’s moving into the house next to us.”
“He’s not moving in with you?”
I didn’t say “us,” even though I did live in Aydan’s home officially. I liked staying at the apartment above my garage. It was small, but it was mine. Officially, though, my residence was with the den Alpha. But it wasn’t really living with him, not the way I had assumed his brother would.
“He wanted his own space, and so he’s got it.”
That made me smile. It meant that his brother didn’t let him walk all over him and that this truly was his agreement. Aydan wasn’t a dick, but he could be persuasive, and mating wasn’t something to be persuaded into.
“All right, then. Sure. I can show him around.” I didn’t necessarily love the idea of babysitting the Alpha’s younger brother, but I would do what I had to. It was my job.
“And Zane, you know the rules. Keep your hands to yourself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, man. He’s practically engaged. And I am most certainly not looking for any sort of relationship. Least of all with your brother.” That was a fast route to getting my ass challenged in front of the entire den. I was so not in the mood to be bled out all because I wanted to get a piece of ass. Heck no to that one.
“Hey, you don’t even know him.” Leave it to Aydan to be offended on his brother’s behalf when I just promised to do exactly what he wanted me to.
I chuckled. “Trust me. I won’t be interested.”
Chapter 3
Corey
I was more tired than I had any reason to be. Sure, I had an emotional good-bye with my bestie, but it wasn’t a forever good-bye. Still, I was starting to run on fumes, to the point where I considered pulling over and grabbing a nap.
After getting off the phone with my brother and assuming I had only a little bit longer to go on my journey, I ran into some traffic caused by an accident. It looked like it wasn’t too bad and that everyone was probably fine, but it slowed me down. The way people stopped to look at accidents like they were a blockbuster movie or something had us backed up on the highway for miles.
Then there was the construction. That had me hitting a top speed of 35. Worst of all, my tire picked up a nail as I had to hit the shoulder to allow a construction vehicle through, and it blew. I could’ve called my brother or someone from his den to help me out, but he taught me well, and I knew how to change my own tire. But it also meant that I was driving the rest of the way on the donut-size spare at half speed, adding several more hours to my trip.
