Chapter 2

• Slapping down the phone on his bed after Chase’s call, Fallon went to pull himself into a shower. Turning on the faucet, he just let the steam and warm water flow over his head and down his face, wondering what was so important that Chase was coming to see him. He didn’t much feel like talking but knew his sister’s husband wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t important. He didn’t go anywhere without his wife.
• Thirty minutes later, he leaned over his kitchen table, sipping on his third cup of coffee, black. The clicking of dress shoes on the tile floor told him his brother-in-law had just walked in.
• “I let the fur ball of a dog out. He was about to piss on your floor. I still think it’s odd that a Lycan has such a fu-fu little ankle biter as a pet,” Chase said as he stepped into the kitchen. “Damn, man. You look like shit.”
• Looking up over his coffee cup, he groaned. “What the fuck do you want? I have shit to do today. The grass hasn’t been mowed and my motorcycle needs a new carburetor.”
• Taking himself to the coffee machine, Chase shook his head, finding the pot empty. “Shit, did you drink the whole pot?” he asked, ready to make more.
• “Why are you here, Chase? The only time you come around like this without Allora is when something’s wrong.”
• Putting the empty pot in the sink, Chase knew he had to quit stalling. Going to sit at the table, he glanced at the large, biker-looking Lycan in the eyes and shook his head. “You seriously do look like shit. Your girls are worried sick, and apparently for good reason.”
• “They know I’m just stressed.”
• “Stressed, I get. But you got shit-face drunk last night. You don’t ever get drunk around the girls until the last few weeks, so what happened? The chick that you picked up from the bar walked out of your room last night and was fucking wasted, too. She scared the girls, and they called your brother, crying.”
• “What chick? I wasn’t with anyone last night.”
• “For gosh sake, man. You don’t even know who you slept with last night?”
• Thinking back, he did remember dancing with a woman but didn’t remember bringing her home. “Shit. My girls saw that?”
• “Yeah, they did. Listen, we need to talk about them. They’re teenagers and just lost their mom a few months ago from an infection in her legs. They didn’t exactly have a good life as kids before you and Celeste adopted them. They don’t deserve to have a drunken deadbeat father all over again.”
• “What the fuck, Chase? Are you calling me a bad father?”
• “No. I know you’re a good dad, and normally don’t even drink unless it’s a beer here and there. You’ve been on a downward spiral since you lost Celeste. Then you started dating our rival company’s daughter—daughters, knowing their dad is an Alpha of their pack. He hates our fucking guts since your brother exposed our kind to the humans. You’ve pretty much run out of Rockwell women to go through and really could have screwed up our truce agreement with them with the shit you pulled. You know how protective they are over their little princesses.”
• “I made a mistake, okay? You don’t know the shit I’ve been through.”
• Chase dropped his head with a sigh. “I know, Fallon. You’ve been through more in your life than one man should ever have to. I have to be honest. The depression you’ve been dealing with has been going on for years and I hate seeing you hide it. You can’t hold all that in, brother. I know you’re a tough guy, but no one can just hold in the shit that you have. You’re PTSD from being in the Wolfbane Wars, your parents’ murders, losing the love of your life, then becoming a single dad. That’s a lot to handle.”
• “I’m doing all right,” he grumbled, swishing around the last bit of coffee in his cup.
• “Are you? Because your girls asked Elias if they can live with him and Maggie. Not to mention the pack is worried you can’t handle being the Beta.”
• Fallon’s head whipped up to look at Chase. Instantly he felt the hangover and grabbed his head. “Fuck. Why would they do that? So, my girls don’t want to live with me anymore and now the pack is ready to throw in the towel. What else can go wrong? I might as well fucking end it if I can’t even care for my own kids.”
• “Don’t talk like that. It’s just temporary until you get some help. I have a suggestion to get you out of this rut.”
• Fallon, feeling tears ready to flow, got red-faced from trying to hold back his emotion. That was his way. Other than the obvious love and affection for family, he never let anyone know when he was upset or hurt. He was the provider and protector; weakness wasn’t even an option in his eyes. A trait passed down from his father that was equally a blessing and a curse.
• Chase continued, “We have a staff therapist now at Ritual-X, and you need to get back in the fighting ring. One last big run with the Dark Order would be good for you, and so would talking to someone about your depression.”
• “How the hell can we do that when my brother is now the Alpha? He’s not going to go back to battle fighting, right? He’s a suit and tie man now.”
• “For his brother, he will. Elias decided that Alpha and Beta as celebrity fighters is good for publicity and will show dominance to other packs. You know him. He just took over Alpha so he could help the town get back on its feet after the old Alpha was arrested for siding with the were-pack. He has no real interest in Lycan politics, and we always thought you would be the one to take on the role of Alpha. Things are better now, and he doesn’t need to be so hands-on when the counsel makes all the calls, anyway. Allora and Maggie are ready to bring the Dark Order back as well if it means helping you get out of this funk and get some help. We’re all in, bro. It’s your call.”
• “And my girls?”
• “They will live with Elias until the end of the school year, then they want to go on the road with us and Ritual-X for the summer.” Smiling, Chase added, “They want their dad to train them to be the youngest Lycan female tag team in history. They’re good, Fallon, and Maggie agreed to homeschool them if you let them start training full-time. Your sister has been training them, and I think those teen pups could be the next generation of the Dark Order.”
• “Well, they could get a better education with Maggie than that school they go to. She’s smart as a whip.” With a half-smile, he looked into his coffee cup. “They always wanted to be just like their old dad. I’m not fooling anyone here, Chase. I’m getting older. I don’t have it in me to be doing the shit I did in my heyday.”
• He agreed. Chase wasn’t exactly a young shifter himself, but none of them were getting old. “None of us can do what he did ten years ago, but it’s not like you’re an old man. You’re only in your late thirties.”
• “I’m forty, asshole,” Fallon grumbled over his coffee cup before taking the last drink and slamming it down on the table.
• “Damn, you are old,” Chase teased. “Bro, I think if you do this, you might find a way to get your life back on track. I think it’s what Celeste would want for you. We want to see you happy and have one more run to show you truly are the best there ever was.”
• Nodding, he couldn’t argue with that fact. “How long do I have before I can get back in the ring?”
• “You tell me. I’m just here as moral support.”
• Taking a moment to think, he really did want to get back in the ring. Battle fighting years didn’t last long because it was hard on a fighter's body, but he was as tough as they come.
• Taking a slow breath of reason, he agreed. “Okay. I’ll let the girls finish the school year with my brother. It’s only a month before summer break, anyway. In the meantime,” taking another breath, “I could stand seeing that therapist of yours. If anything, I just want to show my girls I’m not giving up on them. I feel like shit about what happened last night, and I know I can’t keep going like this. I need something to work toward, and tuning up the old bike every day isn’t cutting it.”
• “There you go, brother. You’re a natural-born leader and the strongest guy I know. I know you can do this.”
• “I guess I just needed a kick in the ass, huh?”
• “Kids will do that to ya. Now, get up. We’re heading to the gym.”
• “The hell I am.” He growled. “I am fucking tired and hungover. I’ll go tomorrow.”
• “Nope. I’m the boss and you’re still under a legacy contract. So, get your old ass up, and let’s work the liquor out of you. It’s payback for letting those girls worry about you.”
• “I hate you. You know that, right?”
• Standing to pull Fallon with him, he chuckled. “Eh. You can hate me more when I’m making you run sprints. You can take your anger out on the punching bags later.”