, a green Ford with a cracked windshield, and I watched him in the side mirror the whole way. The fog had lifted enough to show the mine tipple on the left

the childre

ld the families to keep them

m settled,

ad a broad face and red hair that stuck

and a padlock on the door. Six men stood along the fence with their hands in their pockets. Silas stood on the porch wi

u look well for a woman who h

erit anything," I sai

d not move.

randmother owned in this valley. I want to sel

and then at Wade, who had come up behind

"I will sign them and you can open th

wool, and he smelled of pipe smoke and something sharper underneath.

ed to my g

the pack, and pack land can only be sold by a sitting Alpha with the consent of the Council of Alphas. You are not a sitting Alpha. You have not been co

ot beli

sk the Alpha of the Calloway Pack whether pack la

cannot," he said. "No

men along the fence turned his head. "I have eleven families in this valley who cannot buy

first shift before the Council, a mate bond to a recognized Alpha, and the claim is se

ee w

alley stays empty, and you may sit in your diner and thi

see the small scar under his eye. "Why

ce. "I have fed these people out of my own pocket for nine years. You think I enjoy it? I am offering th

rging them f

e water." He turned away and walked back up the porch steps. "The road closes at noon. If you want it open before

ed with him, and for a moment the two

quietly. "Silas, th

and it made my skin crawl. "I am fond of you, Ret. D

shut the door and t

rning off the tipple and the six men along the fence not

ow," I

or

ot in and slammed the door, and I sat there with my

e me. He did not

ou should know," he s

abou

yone it is closed, and the families believe him because he is the one who brings the flour." Ret stared at the windshield. "My sister died in this valley eight

were still on the wheel and there

u telling m

n to his face." He turned the key. "The gate will be locked tonight. He will do it to prove

e mouth of the deep shaft with its black timber frame. Wade's truck followed the whole w

ift," he said. "Three weeks is not enough time for a

have to be a

ght. "There is another way. The bond would confirm you without the Council, because a mated Alp

e persi

ference, and I would like you t

nside with her apron on, and the smell of bacon came out through the door. I turned to s

ad cleared enough to see it plainly. There was a new truck parked across it, a black one with a company seal on