“Maybe so,” Nicky said softly. “But something tells me there’s more to this than meets the eye. ”
The next morning, Rory was at the common room early, by six forty-five. He half-hoped Casey would be early too, but he was nowhere to be seen. Rory got a cup of coffee and stood by the fire, warming himself before going out in the cold March morning. He’d dreamed about Casey the night before, just like he’d told him he would. Crazy, disjointed dreams making no sense, except for one of them. In that dream, he lost his mate and couldn’t find him, no matter how hard he searched. He was alone in the forest, roaming the trails as a wolf, howling for his mate, lifting his face to the indifferent moon and crying out for him.
With a headache, he was feeling irritable and out of sorts. When the men finally started filing in a few minutes before seven, Casey was among them with a scowl on his face. Rory had smelled them coming across the courtyard because of Casey and that damn cotton candy scent of his.
The evening before, Rory’s lack of acknowledgment had irritated Casey. Rory planned today to ignore him completely, and what he would say to that? He had to show the larger wolf he was not about to be dominated or told what to do. He was a wolf, not a submissive. He would not, could not be anything but a wolf. So why were his palms damp just thinking about Casey’s possible displeasure?
As they came over, Casey was right up front. Oddly, he didn’t make eye contact with Rory, and Rory felt a tug of disappointment.
Rory spoke to the group, assuming a confidence he didn’t really feel. “Is everyone ready to work? The alpha wants us to do the unskilled labor, just general clean-up of the work site, picking up nails and discarded lumber, and so forth, pretty much whatever the beta tells us. We’ll break for lunch around noon for an hour and get off at three o’clock. Any questions?”
“Yes, I have one. ”
Rory knew without even looking who was speaking. He tightened his lips and turned toward Casey. “Yes? Still need to know how old I am before you can go to work?”
Casey raised his eyebrows innocently and said, “No. Although you never did say, come to think of it. But no, I was just going to ask about bathroom breaks. Do we get those? I was just wondering. ”
Knowing he was being a smartass, Rory tried to answer calmly, not letting Casey rattle him. “Just as many as you need, uh…Connor, isn’t it?”
Casey’s eyes narrowed, promising payback for pretending to forget his name, and Rory got a stomach full of butterflies.
“The name’s Casey. Not a hard name to remember, but maybe after you shout it out a few times, it’ll stick with you. ”
Rory felt the hot blood staining his cheeks. He lifted his chin, walked quickly past him and out the door to the worksite, hearing a soft chuckle behind him.
Ian already had a construction crew on site, getting started. Rory introduced him to the new crew and then stood aside for Ian to tell them what needed to be done. Ian, a quiet person, carefully considered his words before he ever spoke, the sign of a good advisor and a good beta. His mate had died in childbirth over two years ago, and he had almost grieved himself to death. Sorrow to such a degree was another drawback to mating for life. When your mate was unavailable to you, for whatever reason, there was no backup plan. If you were very lucky, you might find a love match, but that was difficult and rare for wolves.
Jobs were assigned, and Rory was happy to see his crew working hard and doing a good job. Casey stayed near the back of the new addition, working with some of the roofers, sparing Rory his remarks and sidelong looks. He could still smell him though, even from so far away, and he was really becoming used to that smell, clogging his nostrils and setting up a deep craving in him. All he wanted to do was go find Casey, step into his arms, and breathe him in deeply. He could see Nicky in his mind’s eye, always putting his nose against Marco’s neck. Now he understood why.
As the morning wore on, the sun became very warm, with only the cool southwesterly breeze keeping it from being uncomfortable. Unusually warm weather for March, but it made for ideal working conditions. At lunchtime, Casey came around the building, minus his shirt, and Rory caught his breath. His body was sculpted and cut with muscles, skin was tanned and brown. His abs were washboard flat, and he had almost no hair on his chest at all, just a little treasure trail below his navel, disappearing into his jeans. Perfect, of course, Rory thought bitterly, and dropped his gaze quickly when Casey caught him looking.
Casey walked over to where he was making notes. He was sweating a little, and the cool breeze picked up the scent and waved it temptingly under Rory’s nose, begging him to take a bite of those enticing abs.
He stood for a moment until Rory looked up at him. “I changed my mind, you know. You’re not my mate, after all. ”
Momentarily shocked by the sharp pain slashing through him at the words, Rory dropped his gaze for a moment before raising his head again. “Good. Then we agree, so leave me alone. ”
“Not a problem. ” Casey shot him a furious look and stalked off to stand a few feet away talking to one of the other gammas, his back firmly turned to Rory.
Rory clenched his fists, determined not to let this man get to him, but he’d crawled under his skin with ease. To Rory’s shame, his cock jumped to attention, rigid and ready, at the sound of Casey’s voice. He couldn’t let Casey see how much he wanted him, and he definitely couldn’t let Casey see how much his words hurt.
Wanting to get away from him, Rory jumped to his feet and turned, running into one of the day laborers brought onto the job from the nearby town of Brevard. The big, burly man was carrying a large sheet of plywood. Rory knocked the sheet from the man’s hand, almost knocking him over as well. The man turned on Rory angrily.
“Hey, watch where you’re going! Dammit!” A meaty hand on Rory’s chest shoved him backward. Caught off balance, Rory fell hard, smashed his elbow against the ground and yelped out in pain.
Before Rory could react, Casey crossed the short distance between them and was in the man’s face, his expression murderous. “You got a problem, buddy, take it up with me. Keep your fucking hands off him! It was an accident, and you’re fixing to have a bad one if you touch him again!”
“Okay, okay, sorry!” His nerve breaking at the sight of the furious, massive young wolf in his face, the man picked up his piece of plywood and moved quickly away.
Rory watched the exchange with his mouth open and the strangest warm tingling he’d ever had swept over him.
Casey turned to Rory and stood over him looking down. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, no, I’m fine. ”
“What about your elbow?”
Rory realized he was cradling his elbow in his hand. He dropped it quickly. “No, no. I’m okay, really. ”