Brother Wolf

Ch 18 lunch

The boys bustled out of their SUV. When they started to line up in the parking lot, Mac and Lone Wolf walked through their formation, putting arms over shoulders, pulling some of them forward toward the road-side diner we had parked in front of. I did the same for Maximus, only I held him back, making sure we walked in behind his group.

"Out in the world," I reminded Maximus, "you can't expect your pack to be so formal. You have to let them go, to be free."

"Yes, lord... Brother," Maximus replied, pulling his eyes from Jax, who was getting shoved forward by Michael.

I noticed Stan the man trying to hang back. Cherokee leaned against his truck, waiting for Stan. Cherokee had decided to stay close to the man, ready to distract him if necessary. We'd already agreed the others in our group would eat somewhere else, so the boys wouldn't be overwhelmed. I saw Derrick and Running Elk head into the small grocery store across the street. Knowing Anna, she'd fix up a meal for everyone left in the RV.

I made a point to sit next to Maximus, stepping quickly to cut off the guard who tried to position himself at Maximus's side. The guard just stood behind me, unsure of where to sit.

"There is a seat here, Alpha Guard Ghan," one of the other guards offered, pointing to the chair next to Carl.

Jax scowled. "Everything I did, a frigging waste," he complained.

"And what did you do?" I asked, adjusting my chair. Looking around the table, I noticed all of the boys had their heads down. I wasn't sure how we were going to break that ingrained habit of theirs.

Jax glanced at Max, then lowered his head like the rest of the boys. Jax was saved from answering as the waitress came over to take everyone's drink orders. I could imagine Derrick's snicker when I asked for a cup of hot water, even though he was still in the RV. I'd long been used to bringing my own tea along when I went out.

"Can I get a soda, lo, um..." Carl reined in his excitement, suddenly nervous.

"Sure," Mac drawled from a nearby table. "You boys order whatever you want. I got the bill."

I gave Maximus's thigh a bump, shaking my head no when he started to protest. I wasn't sure the teen even understood how money worked.

"May we go off-duty, Alpha Maximus?" the guard that spoke up earlier asked after the waitress left.

"You may," Maximus replied stiffly.

The guard gave Maximus a head bow, turning his head to expose his neck. I watched as a shiver ran through the young man. He stretched and smiled at me as his shiver echoed in the other boys around the table like a wave. I could only look at them in wonder, unsure of what just happened but knowing something had.

Jax gave a little snort, earning him a bump from Michael. Several guards chuckled. Jax gave them a self-deprecating smile, leaning back, acting relaxed, but I saw the tension in him. Manipulator and actor, I thought, taking in the smug look Jax tried to hide. With just a comment and few motions, he'd achieved the results he wanted.

"Off-duty?" I turned to the guard who had spoken. "What is your name, my brother?" It didn't feel right calling him "little brother," considering he sported a thin mustache. The young man looked to be the oldest of the guards, which, according to the information we had on the kidnapped boys, would make him twenty-one and just slightly younger than me.

His eyes dipped, his whole body trembling before he managed to look up at me. "I am Nathan," he replied with a slight catch in his voice, "captain of the regular guard. Lord Scout, our previous beta, taught us how to go off-duty, to return to our human state." Nathan gave me a slight smile. "It takes effort, sometimes, to become what we once were. It's easier when everyone is secure."