words, absolutely adorable. Even if Zac had to do this job for the council, at least it was on the way home. He was still worried about Matt being in harm’s way. At least the target’s location was known. Hopefully, the target didn’t know a Delta had been called in.
According to the elders, Beta Aiden Kane was a twenty-five-year-old wolf. He stood six-three, 235 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. He was also trying to overthrow the Alpha of his pack.
It would be one thing if the Beta challenged the Alpha in a fight for the pack, but it had been confirmed Aiden was trying to take the Alpha dishonorably. Zac was disturbed by the call. He didn’t normally get called in for power struggles.
That made this a very volatile situation. Zac suspected that Alpha Issacar had friends in high places, or he never would have been called in to solve it. Either way, he wanted Matt safe. Stopping at a motel two towns over and paying with cash under a false name would be enough to protect him. Zac could only hope, at least.
“Baby,” Zac said, trying to wake up his sleeping mate. He hated to wake Matt up, but he needed food and to stretch his legs before the last couple hours of the drive. “Matt, wake up, sleepyhead.”
“Huh? What?” Matt answered, wiping his eyes. “Are we there?”
“No, baby, but I’m hungry. Could you eat?”
“Yeah, I could eat,” Matt replied with a yawn. “How much more do we have?”
“A couple more hours, but we’re going to grab a motel in a different town. I want to stash you somewhere safe since I don’t know anything about this pack.”
“You know what’s best in this situation, Zac,” Matt answered after a moment. “But I’m not a baby.”
“Matt, I know that,” Zac replied, sighing. “This guy is a big-ass Beta. If something goes wrong, I don’t want you involved.”
Matt nodded, seeming to understand it wasn’t a reflection on him.
It was about the target.
Pulling off the expressway, Zac found a burger chain restaurant and parked. They stretched their legs, used the washroom, got their food, and were back in the truck in under ten minutes.
Zac was surprised at how well his mate went with the flow of things and didn’t complain. He was incredibly grateful for that. Zac’s tolerance of whiney people was pretty low. Still, when they got home, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Matt had everything he could ever dream of. Matt was going to have one of the spare bedrooms for his office, but maybe Zac could get wireless Internet for his laptop.
“Hey, Matt?” Zac asked, having an idea of something his mate might like.
“What’s up?” Matt asked with his mouthful of burger.
“What else do you like to do besides cook? You know, I have some land if you wanted to do something with it. Not a lot, mind you, but a few acres anyway.”
“Really?”
“Sure, baby, it’s your home now, too. If there’s something you want, within reason, of course, I don’t see why you can’t have it.”
“Okay, well, there is one thing. But don’t laugh, promise?”
“I promise to try not to laugh,” Zac replied. He braced himself for some crazy idea.
“Well, I have few memories of my grandparents. When I was very little, though, I remember helping my grandpa in his vegetable garden. It was our special time together, and it meant the world to me.
I always thought when I got older, I would have one, too. I mean, I couldn’t have one at my apartment, of course. But if you’d be okay with it, I’d really love to have one of my own?”
“I think that’s a great idea, Matt!” Zac replied enthusiastically.
“Really? You don’t think it’s too girly?”
“Not at all! That can be hard work. I admit I don’t know anything about vegetables or gardening, but I’d be more than happy to help you if you teach me? I mean, I know my way around a shovel and can do manual labor.”
“I’d like that, Zac,” Matt said with a huge grin on his