“I thought I called you master.”
“You can call us both master.”
“Oh.” Will said. “OH!” He continued, lifting his brows. “You mean like a three…”
“I do not mean like a three anything,” Maddox corrected him.
“Why is this happening, exactly?”
“You need protection from Ivan, and some way out of the cage. Master Henry will provide that for you. He can also provide you with the instruction and education you need in the ways of becoming a good wolf citizen. A vampire cannot teach a wolf the way a wolf can. Just as every fledgling needs a maker, you need a master.”
“I really don’t,” Will said, though. “I’m not interested in another master. I’ve got you. You’re all I need.”
“Very sweet, boy, but if I turn my back and you murder someone and eat them, then…”
“Oh what, I go back to prison?”
“You die.”
The pack master said his first words to Will. Two short, heavy, threatening words.
“Fuck off,” Will laughed. He looked back at Maddox. “Yeah, I don’t need this guy. He’s a fucking joke. I’m going to my cage. He better be gone when you next let me out. For his sake.” With that, Will left the room.
Maddox glanced over at the pack master to see what his reaction was. He had attempted to warn Henry of the work ahead, but there was no substitute for actually meeting Will. The man’s expression had not changed in the slightest. He had clearly perfected the art of the inscrutable stare.
“He’s a little shit,” Henry said when they heard the door to Will’s cage slam shut upstairs.
“Yes,” Maddox agreed.
“Most wolves are raised to be part of the pack from the time they’re born. He’s full grown. He’s going to be a mouthful. You have to be prepared for some bloodshed. His, and likely mine. Do you have a house surgeon?”
“I have one on call.”
“Move him closer. Or her closer.” Henry allowed for the possibility of a female. “He’s not going to like what I do. You might not either. But I’m not here to waste my time.”
“I understand.”
The pack master was still not done laying out problems. “His father’s reputation would have made him an outcast even if he hadn’t been raised as an orphan. My pack has learned how to live peacefully and most importantly, privately. Killing people is strictly against the laws of our pack.”
“You are aware Will has several charges for murder. He kills easily.”
“Not anymore, he doesn’t. He needs boundaries. He needs to learn to submit.”
“He knows how to submit very well.”
“To you, maybe. He needs to learn to submit to a code of laws and behaviors, not to one creature capable of destroying him. He needs to respect his elders and betters. All of them. Vampire, werewolf, human. He needs to feel shame when he behaves the way he just did.”
“I am certain Will feels a great deal of shame,” Maddox said. “And misery. And pain.”
“He has more in his future.” Henry predicted. “Much more.”
Will was waiting for Maddox upstairs when Maddox finished negotiations with their guest. He’d locked himself into the cage, as he did every night. The key was over on Maddox’s bedside table. It was a level of submission Maddox had never imagined he’d get from Will, but that was before Will was forced to do battle with an internal monster that seemed to rise every time he slept.
“You did not make a good impression on Master Henry.”
“I really don’t give a fuck,” Will said, his hands on the bars, arms out, back stretched in a muscular way, as if he was limbering up to prepare for a fight. “He seemed like an asshole. I’m not interested in pleasing anyone besides you.”
“And that is sweet, boy. But I am not the only creature in the world. And you have to learn how to be what you are. You need a pack.”
“No. I fucking don’t. Did you make him leave?”
“He’s gone,” Maddox said.
“Good. Fuck him.”
“But he will be coming back in the morning. And you will need to adjust your attitude.”
Will stared at him with that rebellious blue gaze.
“I really don’t want to have anything to do with him. I didn’t like the way he smelled. I didn’t like the way he looked. I didn’t like the way he looked at me.”
“Of course not,” Maddox said. “He’s an alpha. And so are you.”
“I am?” Will’s expression was somewhat brighter than before.
“Yes. Of course you are. Or you will be one day if you survive this transition. Give Master Henry a chance to teach you something.”
“Why would you trust some random guy you didn’t even know existed last week to touch me?”
“He has survived for a long time with a level of secrecy our kind envy. He has an entire pack who depend on him. Men. Women. Whelps. He has many vulnerabilities and he knows I have access to all of them. This is not a single deal, William. This, as everything I do, functions on many levels.”