Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] (3 page)

Maverick waved Malcolm into a seat across from him. His face was grim as he sat behind his desk. Malcolm knew a grim alpha was never a good thing.

“ I asked you here today to talk about the new shifters in town, but it seems we have other matters to discuss.”
Malcolm leaned back, giving the alpha a cautious nod. “Go ahead.”
“I had a visit from Papa Smurf today.”
Malcolm chuckled. Maverick loved messing with people, leaders in particular. He seemed to get a damn adrenaline rush from his follies. Ahm—that was who Maverick was referring to—was the leader of the shadow elves, and his skin was actually blue.“And what did Ahm want?”
Maverick sat back in his chair, kicking his booted feet up onto the desk, and pulled at his soul patch. “He turned white.”
Malcolm’s eyes widened as he sat forward, resting his arms on his thighs. “Say again?”
“I know, weird, huh? But apparently when a shadow elf turns five hundred years old, he loses his blue pigmentation. And let me warn you, he isn’t a happy Keebler Elf.”
He could just imagine, but Malcolm knew there was more to the story than Maverick was telling him. It was in his grey eyes. “And?” he asked.
“And I respect you, Malcolm.”
Oh, jeez
. The man was going to lay a bomb on his lap. Malcolm could see it now. “And?”
“And the wood elves are in an uproar because they are leaderless. Ahm has had to stop a few of the wood elves from trying to join his tribe. They’re desperate, Malcolm.”
Malcolm cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. “As much as I want to help others, and I have, mind you. I don’t think I can bring a whole tribe of wood elves to my ranch. I just don’t have the room.”
When Maverick gave Malcolm a tight grin, he knew he was sunk.
“I don’t want you to bring the elves to you. I want you to send them a temporary leader.”
“I’m not sending Luke!” Malcolm roared before he thought better of it. He was not sending his mate back to those backstabbing bastards. They had tried to take Cole from Luke. What tribe in their right minds would try and separate a papa from his cub? There was no way Malcolm was even going to consider sending his mate. As much as he respected the alpha, this was going too far. He wouldn’t do it.
“Not Luke,” Maverick replied, his eyelids slanting down just a fraction.
Now Malcolm was really confused.“Abe?” That wouldn’t be a wise choice. Abe was a good guy, but a leader he was not.
Maverick chuckled, the sound sliding down Malcolm’s back and sending a cold shiver through his body. “Hardly.”
Did Malcolm really want to know? There was a reason Maverick had mentioned this to Malcolm, but he was sitting there confused. “Then who?”
“Riley.”
Oh, hell.

Riley was angry and shocked at the same time. He was pissed because Sterling had put his life in danger by going into Hell Raiser’s stall. The horse was so ornery that even Riley was leery of the damn beast. The horse had already tried to kick him twice. If he hadn’t been so quick, the damn horse would have broken quite a few of his bones.

Not that he couldn ’t shift and heal them, but fuck if it wouldn’t have hurt. The horse became agitated every time anyone went near him. And his
very
human mate had waltzed right into the stall, as if Hell Raiser was Buster, their gentle quarter horse, and tried to saddle the damn beast.

Scratch that.
Riley knew for a fact that Sterling didn’t think like anyone else. But he didn’t think the man was suicidal. Sterling was this skinny little human who couldn’t weigh any more than a buck fifty, soaking wet and rocks in his pockets, and he had acted as if Hell Raiser was the gentlest creature on earth.

It also shocked him how serene Hell Raiser became once Sterling started petting the damn horse. The black stallion ate the attention up. He not only leaned toward Sterling’s hand, which gave Riley a fucking aneurism, but he had eaten carrots from it as well. He was baffled and amazed at the same time. He had never seen anyone who could tame the wildest of animals, and Riley wasn’t sure he liked it. Hell Raiser could turn on Sterling at any moment, and his mate could be killed by the horse’s hoof alone.

“ Are you mad at me?” Sterling asked solemnly as he walked Buster from the barn, fully saddled.
After getting some damn clothes on, Riley had agreed to teach Sterling how to ride. If he didn’t, he had a feeling Sterling would try and teach himself. And Riley knew that was a disaster waiting to happen. One coronary a day was enough. So the only way to keep Sterling safe was to teach the man how to ride.
“I’m not happy, Sterling,” he admitted as he pulled Warrior closer, hating the sad look on his mate’s face. Riley may throw a fit about Sterling, but he wasn’t a complete asshole. He didn’t want his mate to look so unhappy. It tugged at a spot deep inside Riley. A spot he wasn’t sure he wanted to examine.
“Hell Raiser could have seriously hurt you, or worse.” And it was the
worse
part that scared Riley to death. Sterling really seemed to have no concept of how much danger he had been in.
He thought Hell Raiser was just a damn horse and not the spawn of Satan like everyone else knew he was.
Riley doubted the man would last much longer on the ranch and he couldn’t figure out if he was glad about that or sad. There were so many things that could happen to the human. Sterling was way too— “Sterling?” Riley spun around in a circle when he lost sight of his mate. “Where in the hell are you?”
Riley spun around again and then squatted down to look under the horse’s belly. He saw a set of jean-clad legs sticking out of a stall at the other end of the barn. Riley closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of his horse.
Sterling was driving him mad.
“Sterling, what are you doing?”
When he received no answer, Riley walked around his horse and over to the stall Sterling was half lying in. Riley paused at the edge of the stall and looked over the top railing. Sterling had squirmed his way under the bottom railing and lay on the straw floor, halfway inside the stall.
Oh hell, he was cooing softly to a pile of piglets as he stroked his fingers down their backs. Surprisingly, the mama sow was just lying there. In Riley’s experience, mama pigs with new piglets didn’t let anyone near them.
“Can I have one, Riley?”
The eagerness and hope in Sterling’s voice cut him to the bone. Riley was surprised at the feeling. He knew he had to say no. He needed to say no. Pigs were for meat. They were not pets. But the pleading in the light-grey eyes staring back up at him stripped away any of Riley’s intelligent thoughts. He found himself nodding even though he knew it wasn’t a good idea.
Whether Riley wanted to openly admit it or not, Sterling was worming his way inside Riley’s heart. How, he wasn’t sure. But he could feel the soft emotions fighting to surface, and Riley felt powerless to stop them.
“Really?”
Riley’s breath stuttered in his throat at the glowing smile Sterling sent him. He was so busy basking in it that he was totally unprepared for Sterling to jump to his feet and hug him. Riley awkwardly patted Sterling on the back while trying to ignore how good Sterling felt in his arms.
He especially didn’t want to think about how Sterling’s jumping and bouncing made his cock harden in his jeans. Every time Sterling bounced, he brushed up against Riley. It was driving him crazy.
Damn piglet.
“Okay, pick one out, and I’ll tell Pa that it’s yours.” Riley couldn’t believe he was doing this. It was so…un-Riley. He was giving in to his mate just because Sterling had looked so breathtaking when he smiled up at Riley.
Sterling whirled around with a happy little squeal. Riley rolled his eyes when Sterling dropped to the floor again and scooted under the lowest railing. When he started talking to the little buggers, Riley had had enough. They were farm animals for crying out loud. You didn’t croon to them.
“Can I have this one, Riley?” Sterling asked as he held one of the little piglets up into the air.
Riley didn’t even look. He just couldn’t. “Pick out whichever one you want, Sterling.”
“Yes!”
Riley blinked when Sterling scooted back out from under the railing, a small pink piglet cradled to his chest. Oh good lord, he’d picked the runt of the litter. The damn piglet couldn’t weigh more than two or three pounds at best. He was baby pink from head to toe except for his corkscrew tail and a patch over one eye, and those were both as black as midnight.
“Isn’t he adorable?”
“Yeah.” Riley grimaced as he glanced around, making sure none of his family members were listening, especially one of the twins. He would be razzed until the end of time if they heard him right now. “Adorable.”
“I’m going to go show Darcy.”
Riley’s mouth dropped as he watched Sterling race out of the barn with the damn pig clutched to his chest. What in the hell happened to learning to ride the damn horse?

Sterling was so happy he could have done cartwheels right there in the front lawn as he ran toward the house. Not only did he finally have his first pet ever, but Riley had given it to him. That had to mean that the guy was interested.

A guy didn ’t give a gift unless he liked somebody.
Right?
Sterling had started to give up hope. There was only so much

rejection a man could take before he started getting the idea that he wasn’t wanted. Sterling was almost there, but this little piglet proved that he had been wrong. Riley did like him.

Maybe the bear was just shy.
“Darcy!” Sterling shouted as he pulled the back door open and raced into the house. He quickly scanned the kitchen and then ran for the living room. He had to show his brother what Riley had given him.
“Whoa, slow down, little man,” Olsen said as he caught Sterling’s arm and pulled him to a stop. “Where’s the fire?”
“I wanted to show Darcy my piggy.” Sterling beamed as he looked down at the little guy. “Riley gave him to me.”
Olsen’s eyebrows shot up. “Riley gave you a…piggy?”
Sterling nodded so hard that his bangs flopped against his forehead. “He said I could pick any one that I wanted.”
“Does Pa know about this?”
“Riley said he would tell Pa.”
“Uh-huh.” A smile curved up the corners of Olsen’s mouth. “He is kind of cute.”
“He’s adorable. Riley said so.” Sterling’s smile grew so wide his face hurt. “I’m going to call him Bacon.”
Olsen made a small noise like he was being strangled and then started coughing. Sterling looked at him in concern. “Are you okay? Do you need some water?”
“No.” Olsen’s smile grew until both sides of his mouth curved up. “No, I’m fine. But Bacon might need a little something. He’s kind of young to be away from his mama. Maybe you should take him back.”
“No.” Sterling shook his head emphatically. “Riley said I can keep him.”
“I think he meant you could keep him in the barn, Sterling.”
Sterling’s mouth dropped. “He’s just a baby. He can’t live out in the barn. He’ll freeze to death.”
Olsen looked like he wanted to argue. He even opened his mouth, but then he shook his head, a small chuckle coming from his lips. “Okay, Sterling, but if you’re going to take on the responsibility of having a piggy, you need to know how to take care of him. Pa has a book in his study you can read. It should tell you everything you need to know.”
“That would be great,” Sterling said as he followed Olsen into Pa’s study. He crooned and stroked his piglet while Olsen searched around for whatever book he was looking for. It was actually smaller than he had thought it would be when Olsen handed it to him.
“Read this, Sterling. It should tell you most everything you need to know about raising piglets. If you have any questions, I’m sure Riley can answer them for you.”
Olsen looked pleased as punch, and Sterling knew there was more to his offer of help than just being friendly. He suspected that it had something to do with Riley. He just couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
“Thanks, Olsen. If anyone comes looking for me, I’ll be upstairs reading this and giving Bacon a bath.” Sterling wrinkled his nose. “He’s kind of stinky.”
Whatever he said sent Olsen into peals of laughter. Sterling didn’t know why. The piglet had been living in a barn with nine brothers and sisters. He smelled like, well, he lived in a barn.
Sterling took the book upstairs to his bedroom, careful not to jostle the pig too much. It was a baby after all. He laid Bacon on the bed, piling pillows all around the piglet, and then rested his back against the headboard as he turned to page one.
“Okay, Bacon, let’s see what needs to be done to take real good care of you.”

“ Where’s your help?” Pa called out as he climbed out of the truck. He closed the door and headed toward Riley. “You better not have snapped at him again, Riley.”

Riley sat in the saddle, glancing down at his pa and wondering if he even wanted to tell the man where his mate was. He knew he was going to catch some shit over this. No one in the house was going to let him live this down.

He just knew it.
“I didn’t snap at him, Pa,” Riley said as he swung his leg over the saddle and dismounted. “Sterling is in the house with his pig.” The words were spoken so low that Riley prayed his pa didn’t hear him.
His pa stopped dead in his tracks, cocking his head as he studied Riley intently. Yep, the man had heard him.
Damn shifter hearing.
“Did you hit your head, boy?”
And
it began.
“No,” he grumbled. “Sterling found the sow and her piglets.”
Pa’s eyes lit up and a grin formed on his face, spreading until the smile reached from ear to ear. He gave a deep chuckle as he shook his head. “You have one interesting mate, Riley. Strange, but interesting.”
“Who said he was my mate?” Riley winced. He wasn’t trying to deny Sterling. Even saying the words tasted bitter in his mouth. He just wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the man. Sterling was a walking, talking paradox to Riley. The man baffled Riley from head to toe, and everywhere in between. But he knew that Sterling was beginning to make a chink in Riley’s armor. All he had thought about in the barn was making the man smile.
“Son,” Pa began and then sighed, looking as if he was letting whatever argument he was gearing up for fade away. “Very well. We have other matters to discuss right now anyway.”
Riley didn’t like the solemn look on his pa’s face. That look never boded well for any of them. He’d grown up at the man’s side, and Riley had gotten pretty damn good at reading his pa. He didn’t like where this story was going.
“Let’s talk inside,” his pa said and then climbed the front steps, leaving Riley standing there for a moment wondering if he wanted to follow. Sighing deeply, Riley trotted up the front steps and walked inside. He found his pa in the kitchen, making a pot of coffee. He looked tired, weary, and Riley wasn’t sure what to think.
His father had always been strong, a force to be reckoned with. But today, Malcolm Lakeland looked his age. Riley took a seat at the table, glancing at his pa as the man made two cups of coffee and set one down in front of Riley.
The man was starting to worry Riley.
“Is everything okay?” Riley asked as he picked the mug up, taking a small sip.
“You know, son. There are some days when I wonder why I even get out of bed,” Pa said as he took a seat at the table.
That sentence scared him. Riley wasn’t used his pa talking like this. It just wasn’t him. The man was an unyielding force that Riley relied on for guidance and reassurance. Riley was a grown man, but even grown men needed a shoulder to lean on once in a while. And his pa was that shoulder.
“What happened at Maverick’s?”
His pa stared into his cup for so long that Riley didn’t think the man was going to answer him. He had a faraway look, like something was troubling him. Whatever it was, Riley wanted to find out so he could dismantle it and take that look off of his pa’s face.
“Maverick asked me to do something today that I’m not sure I want to do.”
“Then I’ll do it for you,” Riley instantly said. “Just tell me.”
Malcolm’s eyes rose slowly, the steel grey looking more like soft wisps of cloud. The fire wasn’t in his pa’s eyes, and Riley wanted to kill whatever was upsetting his pa.
“The wood elves don’t have a leader. Not since Luke killed Shanta. Maverick needs someone to bring back order to their tribe until Ahm can find them someone suitable for the position.”
“And he wants you to be their temporary leader?” Riley was shocked. The man had a ranch to run, people who relied on him. His pa had decided to open his ranch to those in need, and he wouldn’t be able to do that from the wood elf tribe. Maverick was nuts. What had he been thinking?
And Riley couldn’t imagine a day of working without his pa somewhere close by. He was his pa’s right-hand man, his best friend. “Why would he do that?”
Malcolm shook his head, the worry in his eyes deepening. “No, son. Maverick wants you to be their temporary leader.”
Riley sat there stunned.
“He wants you to settle them down and let them know that they haven’t been abandoned. It was my mate who took their leader away, no matter how much Shanta deserved to die. So if you don’t want to do this, I understand.” Pa reached over, laying his heavy hand on Riley’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “I created this mess, so I should be the one to clean it up.”
Riley couldn’t let his pa shoulder such a big responsibility. The man had already raised seven sons, on his own no less. And now he had a mate, and a new son, who wasn’t even a year old yet. He knew that if his pa went to the village, so would Luke and Cole, and that would defeat the purpose of Luke running from them in the first place. Shanta may be dead, but Riley was quite sure there was more than one fey harboring ill feelings toward the elf.
“No,” Riley shook his head, balling his fists up in his lap. “I’ll go.”
“What about Sterling? He has never lived in a tribe, Riley. He wouldn’t know how to live without modern conveniences.”
“My mate is stronger than he looks.” Although Riley wasn’t sure he wanted to take Sterling. It was hostile territory over at the wood elf tribe. He didn’t know one person over there and wasn’t sure he could keep his mate safe. Sterling was safest here where Riley’s family could watch over him.
Pa grinned. “So you finally admit he’s your mate.”
Riley blew out a long breath, running a hand over his head. “Yeah, I just don’t know what to do with him, Pa. He’s the opposite of everything that I am.”
Malcolm stood, patting Riley on the shoulder.“You just have to love him, son. Everything else will fall into place.”
It couldn’t be that easy. Riley had seen how his brothers were total goobers around their mates, and he wasn’t going to fawn after Sterling. Just because Riley had found his mate, it didn’t mean instant love or instant trust.
And it especially did not mean instant dick-whipped.
His pa leaned his hip into the counter, taking a drink from his coffee before speaking. “And if you don’t let Sterling in, Riley, you are going to lose the best part of your life. Trust me, I know.”
Riley didn’t know about that, but he had to admit, he had been a little standoffish with the man. Maybe he should get to know the peculiar human. There had to be something they had in common.
Riley left his pa in the kitchen, going in search of his mate. He still felt like he was too old for the guy, but Riley wasn’t stupid. Stubborn, but not stupid. He didn’t want to lose his mate.
He just had to figure out what to do with the man.
Riley knocked on Sterling’s bedroom door. He heard his mate talking quietly, so he opened the door and stuck his head inside. To his amazement, and utter disbelief, his mate was reading to the damn pig. And it honest to god looked like the pig was listening. Its little head was tilted up toward Sterling as his mate read.
Riley listened for a moment and realized that Sterling was reading a book about how to care for pigs.
He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching his mate. A slow, warm tingling sensation started in his gut and reached up, the feeling wrapping itself around Riley’s heart. He felt a small smile tugging at his lips as he listened to his mate read.
His mate had changed shirts, and was wearing one without sleeves. Riley had never noticed how tanned Sterling’s skin was before, or how well-defined his upper body looked. He didn’t have huge muscles like Riley, but he wasn’t a runt either. The man had a gorgeous six-pack from what he could see behind the tight ribbed tank top.
Sterling may only be twenty-one, but as Riley watched his mate, he saw years of weariness in the man’s light-grey eyes. He wondered what exactly Sterling had been through in such a short time.
Sterling’s brother Darcy had claimed that Sterling was immature and never took anything seriously, but Riley was starting to wonder if that wasn’t a façade. He hoped not. As quirky as his mate was, Riley didn’t want the man to change.
“Is there something you need?” Sterling asked as he looked up at Riley.
You.