Page 2 of Tempest
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Myles said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. “But come on, man. I know now not to just say random spells. I’ll be careful. Isn’t it better to train me than to be worried about what I’m learning on the internet behind your backs?”
Jorge sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, the black-and-gray rose on the back of his hand catching Cash’s eyes. “¡Dios mío! You just won’t quit, will you?”
Cash did his best to suppress his amusement. He was honestly glad they weren’t paying much attention to him because he didn’t want to have to give his opinion. Technically, as a pack Enforcer, he had the authority to overrule Fern, but he would never do that. None of them would. The only person in the pack who could really tell Fern what to do was their alpha, Liam.
And even then, their relationship was more of a partnership than him dictating to her. Liam trusted her and sought her advice quite often. She’d been a part of the Silver Oak Pack long before Liam had moved there and taken over and was very protective of all of them.
“Magic, spellwork, and being a witch are more complicated than just getting to say a few fancy spells to make your life easier,” Jorge said, staring Myles down, but he wasn’t giving up.
“I know that. I promise,” Myles said urgently. “I read the books that Fern gave me. I understand. You have to be respectful, and I am. Please, Jorge. At least help me convince her to give me another chance.”
Cash looked away.
Now he wished he wasn’t there to witness what was happening. He could scent the desperation on Myles. For whatever reason, this was important to him, and Cash’s panther wanted to soothe their packmate.
Maybe he could gently suggest to Fern that she should ease up on the poor kid.
He was just thinking he’d slip out, maybe go and get some lunch before coming back to get Jorge to recharge his tattoo, when his phone started vibrating in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he saw Liam’s name on the screen and frowned.
He’d just come from a meeting at the Alpha House.
Glancing up, he caught Jorge’s eyes and tipped his head toward the back door he’d come in through. Jorge nodded and waved him off, but Myles barely even glanced at him as he slipped back out into the late-spring heat.
“Alpha,” Cash answered, instincts prickling and raising the hair on the back of his neck.
“I need you to go check something out,” Liam said, his voice carrying a barely perceptive urgency.
Cash jogged toward his truck. He’d parked on the street since Myles’s car was taking up the extra space in Jorge’s driveway, but it only took him a few seconds to get there and wrench the door open. “What happened?”
“Fern just texted me. There was a breach through one of the wards.”
His heart lurched. It could be nothing more than some stray hikers, but his instincts were rarely wrong. “Where?”
“She’s going to send you the location,” Liam said as his phone vibrated against his face, “but I know it was the western border, somewhere deep in the woods.”
Cash nodded as he jumped into his vehicle. “Okay. Does she know what broke through?”
They kept their borders locked down tight. Unexpected visitors were not welcome and were usually sent back the way they’d come. Whoever it was, Cash would deal with them. It was his main job as an Enforcer. He shared the responsibility of patrolling the territory with the betas, but border security fell to him and the coven.
“She’s not sure,” Liam said, “but she thought that it was probably a shifter. At the speed they passed through, she thinks they were flying. It’s possible they might not have realized they’d trespassed into our territory until they hit the warding.”
Breaking through it would have hurt like a bitch too. Humans could pass through without issue, and it would just alert Fern of the intrusion, but parahumans had to counteract the repellant aspect of the spells used in the protective warding that encircled their territory.
Though maybe a bird shifter could fly through fast enough to beat it? He’d have to ask Fern about that.
Cash fired up his truck and started down the street. Jorge lived close to the center of town, his house attached to his tattoo shop, so it was a straight shot for him to head west. “All right. I’ll check it out and let you know if I need any backup. They probably just need to get turned back around. I doubt it’ll take much to scare them off.”
Liam chuckled in his ear. “That is the reason I’m sending you.”
Cash rolled his eyes and hung up. He didn’t think he was that scary-looking, but the other Enforcers and betas disagreed. Whenever somebody needed threatening or scaring out of their territory, Cash was the one they sent. It usually worked too. A hard stare and stern growl and the intruder was on their way again.
Silver Oak, Kansas, was a bit off the beaten path—just the way they liked it—but their tiny town had grown on a smallpeninsula that jut into Silver Oak Lake. It drew humans who thought it’d be a nice place to camp or hike. Most packs wouldn’t bother driving them off—hell, the little bit of tourism would probably be good for them—but their pack laws were clear, so Cash shooed them away.
Whenever he thought about suggesting they update the law, he reminded himself that the cubs in the pack liked to run around in their shifted forms as soon as they learned how. That alone was reason enough for him to get on board with keeping nosy humans away.
He took the main road out of town, heading straight for the western edge of their territory. When he reached it, he pulled his truck over to the side of the road and turned it off.
The text from Fern showed a location a couple of miles north of where he was. There weren’t any roads near that area, so he’d have to go the rest of the way on foot. Just to be sure he was still headed in the right direction, he sent Fern a quick reply.