Ben & Olivia talk to friends.
A swirl of autumn leaves twisted past Ben’s office window. His beta coughed, and the mayor shuffled her feet on the plush carpet. But he ignored them.
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Not ready to reply, Ben kept his hands planted on his desk while he stared across the square at the roof of Town Hall. His eyes traced each arched window as he worked through Mayor Mulligan’s request. Squeals and laughter drifted on the air outside, preceding a gaggle of children who raced into view, heading straight toward the fountain. One of them shifted into furry form and leapt into the water, drenching the rest, who screamed.
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Ben sighed. Yup, the kids did need a teacher. But that teacher needed to be a shifter.
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Like she knew what he was about to say, Mayor Mulligan placed her hands on his desk and leaned in, breaking the silence with an unasked-for counterargument, “Alpha, I was a human before I mated.”
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“Yes, but you met your mate, then you learned about shifters, then you came into town for the first time. You see the difference?” Ben posed the question, and when Janet only stared at him through unyielding hazel eyes, he looked over at his beta, Dennis, for backup.
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Dennis shrugged a meaty shoulder and kept quiet.
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“I don’t want a human in Beckett Falls.”
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“We have humans here every year, Beck.” Janet’s tone bordered on petulant, but she held it together, far more professional than him. She always was.
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“For tourist season, mid-August to mid-October, and done. Not year-round. It’ll be a disaster. Someone will fuck it up and shift in the classroom or call me alpha in front of the teacher.”
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She scrubbed a hand down her olive-toned face, briefly stretching out the wrinkles etched at the corners of her eyes. “If it helps,” Janet offered dryly, “she’ll have no idea what ‘alpha’ means.”
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“Doesn’t help. I don’t want a human in my town.” He scowled.
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“It’s not your town. It belongs to all of us.” She paced before his desk. “Education is under my jurisdiction, and you don’t have to put her in the pack, Alpha. I’m telling you I interviewed a human, as a courtesy, so you can tell everyone that tourist rules are going back into place.”
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Fair enough. He oversaw protection, the people, and managing projects. She handled permits, codes, and education. It was her choice to make. Ben sighed in time with a gust of wind outside, shaking his head and sending a sandy curl tumbling into his eye.
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“This is a horrible idea, Janet.” He swiped his hair away.
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“We’re out of options. Our shifter networks are tapped out, as you know. A few young people from other packs are heading to college to get teaching degrees, but their towns need them. Dennis? Tell him why we need a teacher.” She looked to the beta beseechingly.
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When Dennis stepped up, broad, freckled arms crossed over his barrel chest, Ben sighed and kicked back in his chair. Across from him, Mulligan smoothed her graying bun and sat down primly.
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“My kids are nuts, Ben,” he said in a tired voice. “Heather and I are exhausted.”
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Shit. Denny didn’t pull out a first name unless he was desperate for help. “Ben” was for friend stuff, not pack matters. And Dennis and his wife, Heather, the pack’s other beta, were looking tired lately. Ben figured it was because they were in their forties. Maybe he’d been wrong.
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“We haven’t had a teacher at all this year, or the end of last, not since Todd Whaley mated with that woman over in Gneiss Lake,” Dennis launched his argument. “We’ve been teaching lessons, poorly, ourselves, and all of us parents are tired of the co-op we have going. The hunt for a shifter-teacher went nowhere, and we’re lucky enough to have a human who wants to move here. Her resume’s also impressive. She’s taught it all, Ben. We were ready to settle, and now we don’t have to. I’m all right with this.”
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“The families are all fine with it? What about the ones with younger kids? Will they be able to keep themselves under control?”
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“No one shifts randomly,” Janet said, fixing the lapel of her blazer.
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“Unless they’re in puberty or unintegrated,” Ben replied, knowing full well he was being argumentative.
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His beta took a deep breath and ran a hand over top of his sun-faded red hair. “You know that with puberty, random shifts only happen on bad days, and there is some warning. The kids’ll get out of sight if a change is coming. And there is no one here who’s unintegrated. We survive tourist season every year—that’s hundreds of humans at once, not one.”
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Nodding once, Ben urged Denny to go on.
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“Heather’s talked to all the families. The only reason she’s not here right now is because someone had to watch Callum and Caleigh, or they’d be tearing up Alpha HQ.”
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“Your kids aren’t monsters, Denny.” Ben huffed out a laugh.
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Dennis offered him a flat look. “The kids have already been promised extra desserts to keep their shifting to designated spaces and with their parents only. Please, man. Heather and I need some of our life back. We need to get the kids back in school. Put tourist rules in place.” Dennis’s pale eyes pleaded with him over rounded, ruddy cheeks.
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“All this happened while I was visiting the city?” Waving a hand between the two of them, he could feel himself softening. “Should I be worried about how quickly you worked while I was away?”
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Janet laughed, her shoulders relaxing. “You should be impressed by your pack, Alpha. Look at us go.”
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“I am.”
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“Plus, odds are she’ll end up mated to someone anyway, and it won’t have to be a secret for long.” Dennis grinned and rested a hand on his belly.
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“Fair enough. I’m on board. When are you planning to make an offer?”
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“I already hired her.” Janet jumped up, tossed him a jaunty wave, and darted from the room before he could say anything negative in response.
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With a quiet smile, Dennis slunk out too.
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***
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Ben’s frustration at the pack’s actions and the town’s choices waned further on his walk home. Being alpha came with a certain level of automatic respect; when that was missing, a blast of alpha energy was always an option. But did they respect him as a person? That was a different problem. He was so young compared to most of his enforcers and to Janet. Even his betas had a dozen years on him.
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It was tough now, but Ben was still new to the role. Once he hit five years, he’d feel better about it, he was certain. All he needed to do was keep his head clear and stay focused on the pack’s well-being. They elected him, they chose him, and he would make the town proud.
With a hot latte from Reads & Roasts in one hand and his phone in the other, he reached out to his friend group chat for their opinions, under no illusion that they didn’t already know the details.
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Ben
A human. Really?
Noa Spratt
It’ll be fine. My sister thinks it’s a great idea
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Noa ran the flower shop in town. Her sister and husband had wolf shifter triplets in the fourth grade. Their opinions were valid. Noa’s—who had no kids and was a discreet little fox—not so much.
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Adam Ableman
It’s going to be fine, Beck
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Elliott Fitzpatrick
It’ll be fine dude
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Dennis McKenzie
Told you
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No one was going to support him on this one. Great.
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Ben
Fine isn’t good. You’re all jerks
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Elliott Fitzpatrick
LMAO
Noa Spratt
Stop being such a baby
The conversation continued with Able inviting everyone out to the bar. Dennis couldn’t make it because of his kids, Fitz couldn’t make it because of his personality, but Noa said she’d go, and Ben was happy for the distraction.
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Already on Beech Street, Ben walked past his own house, hidden from the road up a long drive that wound through the trees. His place was a historical landmark, and named accordingly, with “Northrop House” emblazoned on a plaque at the end of his driveway. It was a beautiful place, he just wished he had a partner to share it with. Someone to be the other alpha, someone who’d understand the demands.
Taking another right on Pine, Ben looped back into town and headed to the Waning Wolf. A breeze floated up from the valley below, bringing with it the scent of autumn and crisp mist from the waterfall.
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He was about to tap into his wolfy sense of smell for a better sniff when his phone buzzed in his pocket with the quick, repetitive vibrations of a call rather than a text. It was Janet.
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He bet she wanted to talk details and felt more comfortable on the phone, where he couldn’t blast her with alpha energy.
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The teacher, Olivia Montclair, would start her new role in three weeks, arriving while Janet was away with her family on vacation.
“You don’t mind meeting her to show her the school, right?”
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“It’s fine,” he said flatly, stomping an orange maple leaf that had the misfortune of fluttering across his path.
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“Good!” He could hear her chipper smile as she ignored his clear annoyance. “I’ll let her know. I imagine she’ll want to get in there over the weekend so she can set the place up to start on Monday. Dennis said he’ll do it if you don’t want to.”
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“No, I’ve got it. I need to introduce myself anyway, explain how the town council president acts as principal, et cetera.” Town council president. He sniffed. Probably an insult to the title of alpha, it was sort of funny when it came down to it. Ben was used to the moniker since it’s what the pack told humans he was during tourist season. As much as he tried to lie low, his office was in the middle of the town he shared a name with. It came up. “She’s staying in one of the Tomlinsons’ apartments, right?”
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“Yep. We’ll be back on Founders’ Day, in the morning. You think you can keep things under control until then?” She chortled at her own bad joke.
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If he didn’t like her so much, he’d call her out for insubordination. But Janet was only kidding. Plus, she’d been mayor longer than he’d been alpha—longer than he’d been alive. He respected her position, even if they disagreed from time to time. While every resident was also a member of the pack, Ben and Janet had their distinct domains. It kept things running smoothly. That was the way of Beckett Falls.
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***
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A misty rainfall harassed Olivia as she wound her way toward her new home. There was too much water to keep the wipers off but not enough to keep them from squeaking, and her music wasn’t drowning it out. Still, the annoyance couldn’t dampen her excitement. Liv couldn’t wait to start her new teaching job, her new life, in a teeny tiny little town tucked away in a wooded valley so far north, it was practically in Canada. Her phone buzzed with an incoming call, and after a quick glance at the old photo of her bestie, she blindly tapped the answer button without taking her left hand off the wheel.
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“Fern, my lovey, how are you?”
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“You left me.” The whine that came through her speakerphone harmonized with the squeak of her wipers. “What was that? What am I looking at? It’s pitch black.”
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“That’s my car ceiling. I’m driving.”
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With a dramatic sigh, Fern continued, “I have no one! I can’t believe you fled.”
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Still going strong on its third week, Fern’s now-familiar rant had undergone a tense change. Olivia wasn’t going to leave, she’d left. She wasn’t planning to flee, she’d fled. With a sigh, Liv argued, “I didn’t flee. Plus, you have Renata. Didn’t you get brunch today?”
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“No. She’s busy with Scott, always. This is just like when you were with ... him.”
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It wasn’t precisely the same, Liv didn’t think. She hoped not. Scott was a little bit of an asshole, but Kadin, her shitbag ex, had been truly horrendous in hindsight. He was also the city pack’s alpha, which didn’t help. Rejoining her parents’ pack, after her relationship with Kadin ended, transferred her magical connection to her hometown, but Liv still lived in the city for two more years. Until now. She supposed she had fled.
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Fern couldn’t know about that side of Olivia’s life, not as a human. But Liv had a multitude of reasons for leaving—things she could talk about. There was her shitty school administration, and of course, her parents. Fern had no idea they were alphas, but she knew them as the owners of a real estate development firm, so their entitlement and success-driven decision making still made sense in conversation.
Someday, Liv would find someone, a shifter friend, to talk through her issues with. For now, she had Fern. Tough parents and crummy exes were something she and her best friend had in common. Liv was so disconnected from her own mom and dad, she hadn’t even told them she was moving. She’d mentioned it to her brother, though. It was fine.
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“It’s not too late to turn around, Livvy.”
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“Fern! I’m excited about this.”
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“Ugh, I know,” she scoffed, and Olivia chuckled. “I’m worried. That tiny-ass town has you dropping everything for them. They’re paying for a place for you to live, and you’ll teach all—what—twenty of their kids?”
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“Twelve, actually.” Slowing as the rain picked up again, Liv scanned the dark highway for her turn.
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“Twelve?! I can’t wrap my head around that.”
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“I promise it’s going to be good. It’s just ... small-town things. I’m used to them. My family traveled north a lot when I was younger.” Though she hadn’t been to this town specifically, she’d been to similar places. Liv could make the culture shift work, in fact, she craved it. She needed the change of pace, affirmed by the dark woods and empty roads around her.
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“If you say so.”
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“Listen, lovey, I should get going. The weather sucks.”
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“Oh, you really want to get rid of me, huh?”
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Olivia laughed, picking up her phone and propping it on the steering wheel. “Absolutely not, I need my GPS, and your beautiful face is hogging my screen.”
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Rolling her eyes so hard her hair tossed, Fern asked, “You’ll have cell service up there?”
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“Yes. It’s not the middle of nowhere.” Liv grimaced. “Actually, it kind of is. That’s why I wanted the job. But they live in the twenty-first century, just like us.” She was pretty sure the shifters of Beckett Falls were the modern sort. But she hadn’t thought to ask. They wouldn’t be seeking an outsider if they were ultra-traditional. At the very least, she knew they had Wi-Fi.
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A long street sign reflected her headlights back at her, and Liv slowed to a crawl before making a left on Wrentham River Road. She couldn’t be far from town now.
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“Lovey—”
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“I know, I know. Text me or call me back as soon as you get to your new place.”
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“Of course. I miss you.”
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“I miss you too. Byeeee!” With that, Fern ended the call.
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Olivia switched back to her navigation app and was informed she had four miles to her destination, a gatehouse at the entrance to town. Beyond that point, she’d been warned, her GPS wouldn’t function.
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Read the rest of Beck and Call starting July 24, 2025 (earlier, if you read an ARC).​