The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,13

of the pack, it is not reason enough to reveal ourselves to him. Teresa herself has said she can’t be sure how he would react to the news.”

Marcus nodded and dropped his eyes to his half-empty plate, appetite gone. He couldn’t get the scent of Robson’s terror out of his nose; it followed him everywhere, reminding him of how badly he and Tashmica had fucked up.

“Rick,” he heard Rick’s mate, Kai, whisper, but Rick cut him off.

“Pup, don’t give me those disappointed eyes. The law is clear on when non-knowing humans can be brought into the fold, and this does not count.”

Someone snorted, but Marcus kept his eyes down. His alpha was right, and he knew that. He’d known that before he’d even broached the subject, but something in him had made him try, knowing it would probably end in his alpha upset with him. Again.

“But you’re considering telling the city council, despite the circumstances not meeting the requirement for them to know? Hell, the fact that the chief and mayor know are technically violations,” Bennett Young said. He was the pack’s second, the alpha’s right hand, and the only one who could get away with pointing that out and probably not getting his ass handed to him.

Alpha Kincaid slammed a hand down on the table right on the folder Marcus had found on his porch that morning, silencing all the muttering happening around the table. Marcus didn’t flinch—on the outside—but the muscles in his neck tightened automatically, too ingrained not to even though he knew down to the marrow in his bones that Rick would never raise a hand to him in anger.

“The fact that this deputy knows so much about us after two weeks is disconcerting enough. Despite him misunderstanding Marcus and his belief his sister was targeted, I truly believe he’ll move on if we all stay away from him and his family. Do not approach Teresa and Patrick in public for a while, and his suspicions will die down.”

Marcus glanced up without raising his head and found Rick staring right at him. He dropped his eyes back to his half-eaten pork chop. “Yes, Alpha.”

There were other murmurs of agreement, and then the conversation shifted, but he couldn’t focus on what was being said. Trusting in Rick had saved his life, but his decision about Robson felt… wrong. It was causing a sort of itch between his shoulder blades, the idea that his alpha was making the wrong decision. He knew Garrick Kincaid wasn’t a perfect man, but he’d always done the best for his pack and his mate, and Marcus trusted him implicitly.

So why did he feel the urge to argue his point further?

Marcus hadn’t argued with his alpha since long before that role was held by Rick. The pack he was born in didn’t allow for speaking against the alpha. They’d been a tiny pack on the southern tip of Ohio, barely more than a dozen families, but it was all Marcus knew until he was sixteen and… sent away.

“Hey, wanna go for a run after dinner?” Nico asked, nudging him with his elbow, then shoving more green beans in his mouth.

Despite a lack of any verbal or demonstrable actions on Marcus’s part, Nico had decided they would be best friends as soon as Marcus had arrived in Meyerville to join the infamous Kincaid Pack. Nico had also just joined after spending the previous few years as basically a nomadic shifter, visiting different packs but never staying in one place long enough to truly join.

Marcus had been sent—against his wishes—by his mentor on the Council because the councilman had felt it was time for Marcus to “join a real pack.”

It was, without question, the best thing to ever happen to him—even if most of the other members of the pack refused to follow tradition and show the deference to Alpha Kincaid that was his due as the leader of such a large and powerful pack. Marcus had given up some time ago in trying to convince the other Enforcers at least to set an example of respect, but since it didn’t bother Rick when they bucked traditional shifter norms or mores, the others just ignored him.

“Marcus?” Nico poked him with his elbow again.

“Not tonight, thank you.” His wolf was eager to stretch his legs, but Marcus had something else he had to do. An itch to scratch.

Nico just shrugged good-naturedly and went back to his food, chiming in on the conversation happening across from them