Counting Stars

Chapter 1

Ah, shit.

His first thought as he heard the thud of paws rushing at him from the side. He had just been out to stretch his legs after so long holding his wolf back and to examine the area; no way had he intended to start on a negative note so early in the assignment.

But who was he to know the Toretto pack didn't mark their territory as noticeably as many other packs Brian had come across. He hadn't even noticed any signs or markers to show he had entered a pack's territory, unless they were too stubborn or the whole town was their territory and they chose not to mark the far outskirts.

He only just pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind before he felt the wolf barrel into his side, a yelp escaping the blonde wolf as he was sent sprawling on the ground though quickly pushed himself to his feet. Only to be forced back to the ground with a shove and then two paws planted firmly on his shoulder to keep him down. A growl stirred the fur by his ear before jaws clamped down loosely but firmly around his neck in warning, ceasing any further struggle by the blonde with another curse.

Unable to stop the wolf from changing his grip to the scruff of his neck, he allowed himself to be dragged towards the outskirts of the city, a firm shake being delivered before he was released and Brian was alone once more.

❖ ❖ ❖

"I like the tuna here." The scent had his hackles raised even before the container of sugar satchels bumped into his hand, blue eyes soon turning to meet fellow, similar blues. And it was obvious that he too had been recognised from the night before.

So he had gotten up and left as soon as he could in a casual manner so as to stir no trouble, saying a quick goodbye to Mia only to find the Alpha pursuing him in challenge. Even as the Beta he did his best to come across as to everyone, no doubt the male was treating him just as much of a threat as an Alpha. Though he wouldn't be causing much trouble with the Toretto pack, he definitely knew this wasn't the pack alpha pursuing him. No, Brian had spotted Dominic Toretto in the back room, made brief eye contact with him when the Alpha had gotten up to grab a beer before the blonde had tilted his head down in a sign of respect to a pack's alpha, something he had done more so out of instinct than anything else.

With a sigh when the male remained insistent on seeing Brian off for good, he managed to keep himself calm and his demeanor carefree as he shrugged, talking over his shoulder. "Yeah, well I do."

A growl was his only warning before a sharp shove sent him toppling against his car, though he was much quicker than last night to recover and swing around for a return punch to the man's jaw.

❖ ❖ ❖

"What did you put in that sandwich?" Initially, Dom had intended to let the two go and work the hostility out of their systems but, on Mia's insistence, he finally discarded what he was doing and rose to his feet to survey the scene. The new kid was putting up quite a good fight, currently having one of Vince's arms trapped to allow him a couple of punches in past his guard.

Eventually, he headed outside, sensing the rest of the pack except Mia fall into step behind him as he stalked towards the two, a small warning growl rumbling from his chest only to be ignored by Vince. Despite the neutral scent of a Beta he had started to become familiar with over the past three weeks the blonde had been showing up at the shop for his tuna sandwich, Dom had felt like something was off. Or perhaps he was just a bit too guarded around anyone who got close to his little sister.

❖ ❖ ❖

After a short brawl, Brian had finally regained the upper hand as he kneeled above the Alpha, retaliating with a couple more punches of his own. His senses had barely registered the nearing footsteps by the time a hand gripped the back of his shirt and threw him off, drawing a short gasp from him as he landed on his back on the bonnet of one of the nearby cars.

Quickly slipping off and raising his hands in a peace gesture as he steadied himself, he swallowed as he met the angry gaze of Dominic Toretto, biting his lip before he quickly defended himself. "Hey man, he was in my face."

"I'm in your face." The Alpha stepped closer to empathize his point, though Brian soon found his attention turned back to the other Alpha as the man tried to get past Dominic and charge him again. Arms quickly lowering to defend himself, he soon found Toretto twisting around to shove the male away, another soon grabbing his shoulder and hold him back from charging again.

"Relax! Don't push it. You embarrass me!" The blonde watched as Toretto's order got through the struggling Alpha, the man grudgingly backing off with another shove from his friend, anger still on his face as he glanced to Brian. He however had turned back to Toretto as his name was read out, seeing his discarded wallet in the man's hand. "That sounds like a serial killer name, is that what you are?"

Taking a step back as his wallet was held up in an angry move, he glanced down at it before shaking his head. "No man.." Falling quiet when he was warned not to come back, he grabbed the wallet and watched in silence as Toretto headed back into the store before Brian shouted and pointed at his attacker. "Hey man. You know this is bullshit. I have no intentions of trespassing on your territory, I was just after a san-"

He quickly paused as Dominic turned towards him, raising his arm as he walked back to him, pointing towards Brian's car. "You work for Harry yeah?"

The blonde hesitated before nodding, unsure where the conversation was going as he replied with a small frown. "Uh, yeah. I just started.."

"You were just fired."