“You texted?”
I looked a bit past them to see a semi-familiar man emerge from behind a crowded booth that looked to be selling all sorts of minty plant starts. I recognized him as none other than Salvador Ramirez, the alpha of the rival pack.
He was younger than me by a couple of years, and had only recently taken over as alpha after his older brother was sent off to Mexico for repeatedly getting in trouble with the fairies. Naturally, he had something to prove. I understood the feeling, but I wished it wasn’t currently directed in my direction.
“Eh, what are you doing here?” he said, and to his credit, his expression was much more neutral than his two friends’. “It’s not your day.”
“I realize that now, and I apologize. I got a bit mixed up on when it was. I swear, I just want a couple of pounds of dates for a friend, then I’ll be on my way.”
Was I stupid to keep arguing about the dates? Perhaps. But they’d already seen me, so turning around and walking away empty-handed wouldn’t do me any good.
“You know, I’m sure the fairies would love to hear about you shirking their rules. Last I heard, they ain’t too happy since your papi took over, yeah?” And there it was. The one threat I was hoping to avoid.
My first instinct was to snarl. The man was threatening everyone I knew and loved because of an accidental foible? It was only my dedication to protecting them that kept me even-keeled. I couldn’t afford to fly off the handle. That was something Barris would have done, and likely would have lost us even more land. It wouldn’t benefit the Ramirezes because the fairies would keep it rather than returning it to its original owners.
“I think you’re probably right about that,” I answered as calmly as I could, keeping my alpha rumble in check. “But I ask that you do me the favor and don’t.”
“And what possible reason would I have to grant you any sort of favor? Your people’s foot have been on our necks ever since you colonists came to this land. If it weren’t for our Mexican ancestors coming up here, y’all would have wiped all of us Natives out.”
He was right, in a way, but it was so incredibly frustrating that I couldn’t do anything about it. I wasn’t one of the people who had persecuted and hunted down his forefathers, but I was directly related to them. I’d benefited from their evil. It wasn’t like I could give up the land. The fairy contract had bound it to my pack’s blood. We took care of it and lived by their rules, paying them in physical protection and wolf soldiers when they needed them, and they used their magic to protect us from humanity. It went beyond just the McCallister pack being homeless. If we gave up the contract, then we’d be eradicated.
Even if the humans didn’t find out about us, the fairies would have to wipe us out as threats of exposure. That was how they kept their power. No one was willing to go against them because the magical isolation meant certain death.
“Because I offered the same grace to you,” I answered calmly.
Sal narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Just last week, little Daniella had a school event that brought her here. Selling cookies, I believe. Naturally, she wasn’t here alone, but I let your pack members be. Even though they were in violation of the same rule I am right now.”
Sal’s face went carefully blank while one of the two in front of me puffed up his chest. “Bullshit! He’s lying.”
“Ask your packmates.” I willed my scent to remain neutral. Difficult to do when all my instincts were screaming at me to rip out their throats.
God, why did everything have to be so complicated? I’d just wanted to pick up some dates for the woman I was dating, and somehow, I’d ended up in a diplomatic incident. I couldn’t help but think that maybe things would be better without the strict fairy oversight, but then again, that would leave us on our own with the humans.
“I’m gonna make some calls,” Sal said after a beat. “Go get your dates. But don’t leave. You won’t like it if you try to split before we resolve this. Alpha to alpha.”
Was he about to challenge me? Although I’d prefer to avoid a fight, a not-so-small part of me wanted to bury my teeth in Salvador’s shoulder and shake. Not enough to kill him, no, but enough to hurt him real bad. To make him submit to me, the stronger, mightier?-
I cut off that line of thinking. I had no problem throwing down when the occasion called for it, but this wasn’t it.
“Thanks. I’m parked all the way in the back lot if you want to discuss things there. Away from prying eyes.”
“Si.
Too many humans around here anyway.”
I refrained from remarking that, of course, there were tons of humans in a human city at a human market, but the temptation was there. Nodding to the trio, I walked around them to the date stall. Naturally, one of them tried to shoulder-check me as I passed, but that didn’t work out well for him.
I wasn’t some sort of juggernaut among alphas, but I was strong, and he bounced off me slightly. It was actually a valid excuse by wolf laws to fight him, but I simply tipped my head to him.
“Apologies,” I said with just enough alpha tone to be a warning.
The muscled shifter turned red, and I wondered if he was about to escalate this, which was the last thing I wanted. Sure, I was risking my pack by violating the treaty, but that was a relatively minor offense compared to getting into an actual physical brawl in front of far too many humans.
Thankfully, Sal’s hand dropped onto his underling’s shoulder. “Take a walk, Keokuk. You need to breathe.”
The shifter looked like he wanted to argue, but after a moment, he wilted. “Yeah,” he said simply before heading off.
And that was that. I went to get my dates, internally dreading the situation that I had just put myself into. I had to hope that Sal would be reasonable, but I also had no reason to believe he might be.
What a pickle.
That was probably the mildest way I could put it. As much as the back of my mind would love to give in to the panic, I knew it wasn’t an option for me. I was an alpha first and foremost, and my people needed me to keep a level head.
Still, I was almost in a fugue state as I made my way to the stall with the dates. I was so distracted by trying to stay calm and also trying to anticipate anything that Sal could do that I ended up with three pounds of dates instead of two, some baklava, hummus, and honey mangoes. Well, at least I could afford it.
I kept my head high as I completed the transaction and headed back to my car, trying to appear as relaxed as I could under the circumstances. I didn’t want them to think that I was trying to escape or that they’d succeeded in intimidating me. I had no interest in rolling over and showing my belly.
Even with my leisurely pace, I made it to my car far too soon. I put my bags in the back seat, then leaned against the side of my car to wait. It was excruciating, and I was reminded that patience wasn’t my strong suit. Hopefully, Felicia wasn’t too worried about me. I wasn’t overly delayed yet, but I had no guarantee that the situation would end anytime soon.
The more I waited, the more irritated I got. Each minute grated against my nerves, making it harder to maintain my cool. By the time I spotted five of the Ramirez pack casually strolling toward me, I was breathing deeply through my nose and exhaling slowly through my mouth.
“You were telling the truth,” Sal said once he was close enough, standing in the center of his line-up, arms crossed and face carefully blank again.
“I’m sure you could smell as much.”
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