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Chapter Two: The Summer of '95
"Horse-shite!" cried the old Irishman. "What arse ya are, Sean Gallagher!" Connor glared at Seamus, but the older man continued. "Daniel Walsh killed your father. Make no mistake about that."
"Walsh may have landed the killing blow, but I put Dad there. I gave Walsh the opening. It was my fault."
"Sean-"
Connor interrupted. "I accept my blame, Seamus. I have lived with the guilt of it every day for the last 27 years. It's made me a better man, driven me to be a fair and just law enforcement officer, and to be the best father to my my sons that I can possibly be. I've accepted it."
Seamus said nothing. He could only look at Sean and wonder how he could believe that. The situation was worse than he had feared. The confrontation with Walsh was coming, and he needed Sean to be in the right frame of mind, or he would lose.
Connor looked to his three sons. He could read the worry on their faces. His wolf could feel the anxiety and fear they felt and knew it was for him.
"But, you are right. It's time to tell you boys some truths about me. These things I have kept from you, I have done that to protect you as a father should protect his sons. I never meant to be dishonest. You boys are my life."
Eddie reached out and put his arm around Connor. "It's okay, Dad. We know, and you know we love you no matter what."
Connor nodded. He started to speak then. At first, in fragments as he tried to find a way into his story. He spoke a bit about Ashburn, the small southern town where he lived. Then a bit more about his father. Some about the pack. After a while, he seemed to find a rhythm, as is the story was coming to life for him.
"I had just wrapped up two years of community college and submitted my application to the police academy. My father was fighting me tooth and nail. He wanted me to follow in his foot steps and go to law school but I wasn't interested."
"Do you remember that summer, Seamus?" The old man nodded, but said nothing more. Connor continued. "It was the summer of 1995, and I was a general disappointment to my father. But I was about to become a much more specific kind of disappointment."
*******
It was early in the afternoon and I was heading home after a long morning shift working at Johnson's feed store. I was tired, sweaty, and ready for a shower and cold drink. Most of my friends couldn't understand why I'd work slinging sacks of feed when my Dad had lots of money. They didn't realize that my dad approached most things in life like a contract negotiation. It's great if you are a lawyer, not so great when you are a parent. I didn't like the strings Dad liked to attach to his money. So I worked 5 days a week at the feed store, hauling grain and helping Ben Johnson keep the farmers happy.
My mind was on other things when I saw an old beat up truck with it's hood open on the side of the road ahead of me. I was about to drive on when something caught my eye. There was a young guy bent over the engine, his jean-clad ass sticking out. It was most definitely the kind of ass that could turn a guy into a good Samaritan. I pulled off the road just behind him. At the sound of my Jeep, he crawled out from under the hood and turned around. What I saw took my breath away.
He looked to be around my age, somewhere in his late teens or early 20s. He had shoulder length dirty blond hair that parted in the middle. Besides those tight jeans he had on a pair of work boots and a white tank top that showed muscular arms. He smiled, and it lit up his entire face. I think I must have sat behind the wheel of my Jeep for a good 20 seconds, not moving. I was just caught up in the beauty of this guy. He kept looking at me, probably wondering what the hell I was doing just sitting there staring at him. Finally I cut the ignition and got out.
"Hey there," I said. "Your truck giving you trouble?"
"Its not exactly mine, but yeah, it's shot."
"Not yours?"
"I'm a mechanic at Chuck's Garage over near Pleasant Hill. I ran it out here cause the owner was saying that it was making a noise. Got all the way out here and damn thing blew a head gasket."
As I walked closer to him, I could take in more details. He wasn't as tall as me, but still tall at six foot. He was clean shaven, and had a handsome square jaw. But what really got me was his eyes. They were the brightest blue I had ever seen on a guy.
"Need a ride?" I didn't even think, I just asked.
"Sure, as long as it's not too out of your way."
Pleasant Hill was the exact opposite direction than the way home, but I'd take this guy wherever he wanted.
I nodded back to my Jeep Wrangler. "Hop on in. My name is Sean."
"Dylan." He held out his hand, and I shook it. He had the callused hands of a working man, and a firm grip. I felt a shiver of desire at his touch. Damn he was sexy.
"Nice to meet you," I said as we shook hands. His eyes caught mine and I was pulled into those bright blue pools. He had the kind of eyes you muş escort could get lost in.
The moment passed, and we got in my Jeep. Next thing I know I'm on my way to Pleasant Hill with this hottie sitting next to me. I could feel my wolf starting to get restless. Dylan smelled like sweat, grease, and sex. Time for small talk.
"So you seem like you are an awfully long way from work."
"Yeah, I got into an argument with Chuck."
"That doesn't sound good."
"He fired me. Thought this would be a good way to cool off."
"In one of the cars from your now former employer?"
"Sure."
"You don't think that sounds a little...felonious?"
"Nah, Chuck's my uncle. He fires me all the time." Dylan smiled.
"So we don't have to worry about the county mounties coming after us?"
"Nope. He always rehires me. He don't have anybody else half as good as me." Then he gave me an evil grin. "Besides, I know too much about the off the books stuff Chuck gets up to on the side."
"Damn."
"It's sweet that you're worried."
I blushed but inside my wolf growled low and hungry. "Who's worried? I just applied to the police academy. I got to keep my nose clean."
"A narc, huh?" He laughed. "Damn, I guess I should have kept my mouth shut about my uncle."
"Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me." I could smell it now. Attraction. Maybe a little lust. "Any secret."
"How do you know I have secrets, officer?"
"My keen powers of deduction."
He said nothing, but smiled enigmatically.
It was pretty good distance to Pleasant Hill, yet somehow it seemed like the drive was over before it had even begun. Dylan and I fell into an easy conversation that ate up the time. He was smart, funny, and seemed to be just as interested in me as I was in him. I was disappointed when I pulled up in front of Chuck's Garage. I expected that he would jump out, but instead he just sat there.
"Thanks again, Sean. I owe you big time."
"It's no problem at all."
"Hope you will let me make it up to you."
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"Here." He pulled a grease stained business card from from his pocket. "You got a pen?" I handed him one and he scribbled something on the back. "Call me tonight and maybe we can work something out."
He handed me the card and our hands brushed. I smiled. "Sounds good."
He jumped out and shut the door. I watched him walk into the garage and again I marveled at his muscular ass. I started the engine and drove home, thinking about what had just happened. Was this sexy guy as interested in me as I was him?
I was surprised to see Dad's car in the garage when I got home. While it was now late afternoon, it was still too early for him to be home. I walked into the kitchen and heard him on the phone in his office.
"Mr. Tandee, I appreciate the offer...yes, it is quite generous...I can see it would be very lucrative. Mr. Tandee, as I told you three months ago, I only represent the collective who owns that parcel of land. And they have expressed to me that they are not interested in selling at this time."
I wasn't trying to listen in, but I could tell my Dad was pissed about something. He was using his happy lawyer voice, the one he used when I didn't want to express what he was a really feeling.
"Out of curiosity, who told you that there was the possibility of reconsideration? Daniel? I see. Thank you Mr. Tandee. If anything changes you will be the first to know."
"Dad," I called out from the kitchen, letting him know I was home.
"I'm in here," he responded. I wandered into his office.
"You're home early. What's up?"
"Had some pack business to take care of. And you are very late. Everything ok?"
I nodded. "Yeah, everything is fine. I stopped to help a guy that was broke down out on Hillcrest Road."
"Hmmm, that's nice of you." he replied. I could tell that he was already moving on. He had a way of dominating a conversation that drove me nuts. Partially that was due to him being an Alpha, a natural born leader. Partially it was due to him being a lawyer, able to twist a conversation in whatever way he wanted.
"Guess who I saw this morning."
I sighed. "I have no idea."
"Ellie's dad. She'll be home from Boston towards the end of summer."
Oh boy. I knew where this was going. It's like watching a train wreck where you know that nothing can change the outcome. Dad had made up his mind years ago that Ellie and I were going to end up together. There was just one, very serious problem with that. "Yeah, she mentioned that the last time I talked to her."
"You know, she's in her residency now. She'll be a doctor soon. She's a real catch."
I tried to head off the inevitable direction of this conversation. "Dad, we are just friends. We have always been just friends."
"Just friends? Sean, you aren't a teenager anymore. It's obvious that you two are meant for each other."
This was well worn escort muş territory. There was a pretty big divide between Dad's vision for my life and what I actually wanted for my life. "Dad, it's not like that."
"Well. I just hope you don't wake up one day and realize how much time you wasted just being friends. You never know how much time any of us get. You know, your mother and I..."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. This wasn't about my mother. She died when I was five. This was about him, and his expectations for me: married with children, a junior partner in his firm, pack Alpha-in-waiting. If I hadn't had such an unexpectedly good afternoon I would have probably gotten into it with him. Instead, I let it go, and interrupted him before he could really build up a head of steam.
"Dad, I need to shower. I'll talk to you later."
Honestly, I knew that walking away would make him madder than any argument.
I spent the rest of the early evening in my room. At some point, I heard Dad talking on the phone, then he left. More pack business. The full moon was still a week away, but my encounter with Dylan and left my wolf restless. I decided that I would shift and go for a run, but first I needed to make a call. I dialed the number on the grease stained business card.
"Hello, is Dylan there?"
"You got me. This Sean?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks for calling."
"So how pissed was your uncle?"
"Much like Abe Shelton's truck, he blew a gasket."
I laughed. "And are you still unemployed?"
"Of course not! It all worked out. I went out with one of our wreckers and brought in the damn thing. I'll have it fixed in no time."
"That's good."
"Except, I still owe a certain someone an as yet undetermined favor for roadside assistance."
His voice made me grin like a fool. "You really don't. I mean, I was happy to help."
"Oh no. I'm gonna get on your good side now before you have the ability to arrest me.
"And why would I have to arrest you?"
"Pleadin' the 5th on that question! How about you let me take you out."
"Dinner?"
"Sure, we got Molly's here in town. About the best burger in the tristate area."
"Okay. When are you thinking?"
"How about tomorrow night?"
The next day was a Saturday, and I was off work. "Sounds good."
"You twenty one?"
"No, not for another year."
"No worries. We can still cruise around, see what sort of trouble we can get into."
I laughed. "Okay. It's a date."
My heart leaped into my throat. Fuck! I didn't mean to say that, it just slipped out.
But he either didn't catch it or he didn't mind me saying it. He just continued. "Well alright. Why don't you meet me at the garage around 6:00 on Saturday?"
"Sounds good, I'll see you then."
Freudian slip aside, I was hopeful that it was a date. In the meantime, I stripped off and headed downstairs. My wolf was as excited about the day's developments as I was. By the time I reached the back door I was already shifting. First my were form, tall and powerful. Then my wolf form, thick dark fur on a massive canine frame. We were out the door and running through the night, trying to burn off some excess energy.
The next day was relatively uneventful. I slept in late, which was nice. Dad was gone when I woke up, so I just bummed around the house. We had a pretty nice home gym, and I tried to get a work out in, but my mind kept drifting to my plans with Dylan. I took a shower in the afternoon, and spent some time figuring out what to wear. I finally settled on a pair of shorts and a back t-shirt that I thought looked particularly good on me.
I was getting ready to head out when I heard the garage door open and voices talking in the kitchen.
I headed in and saw my dad and Seamus in the kitchen, deep in conversation.
"Hey son." Dad looked troubled, but Seamus broke into a grin.
"Sean, m'boy! Haven't seen ya in donkey's years."
I had to laugh. It had only been a few weeks since the last time I had seen him, but he always greeted me the same way. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the way he spoke, with his accent and weird Irish sayings. "Hey Seamus."
Seamus was dad's right hand man. He had moved to the states sometime in the 70s, one of the last members of the pack to leave Ireland. Apparently he might have stayed longer if he hadn't been running from some sort of trouble. At some point, he fell in with my Dad and they were best friends from then on. I had known him all my life, and he was one of my favorite people. He always had a smile, a dirty joke, some old story from Ireland, or good gossip. It always felt like nothing bad could happen when Seamus was around.
"Lord, Connor, what are you feeding this lad?" He poked me in the chest. "They do grow em big here in America, I'll give you that."
Dad didn't seem like he was in the mood for jokes.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes, everything is fine, son."
Seamus gave a muş escort bayan sarcastic laugh. "Why not tell him he truth, Connor? Tell him how the mayor is a miserable little pox."
Dad looked thoughtful for a moment. Seamus continued. "Weren't you just sayin that it was time that Sean took on more pack responsibly?"
"What's going on with Walsh?" I asked.
Daniel Walsh was the mayor of our town. The thing about him was that he wasn't much older than me. He had graduated the year before I entered high school. His Dad, George, had been mayor and a member of our pack. He'd been killed in a car accident two years ago. His son ran for his Dad's office and to the surprise of the town, was elected.
Having a pack member as mayor had always been beneficial to the pack. It helped us exist alongside regular humans and not be discovered. Unlike his father, Daniel was proving to be difficult to work with. He seemed to have his own ideas about running the town that didn't always line up with the needs of the pack. Daniel and my father had butted heads a few times, but something about this seemed different.
There was genuine anger in my dad's eyes.
"He defied me."
That was unexpected. In the pack, you can have different opinions, arguments, even fights. But the one thing you never do, you don't defy your Alpha outright.
"Why?"
"Seamus nodded approvingly. That's a proper question. Not 'what did he do' but 'why did he do it?' The what don't matter when then why is the root of he issue."
I loved Seamus, but sometimes I had no idea what he was talking about. Dad could see my confusion.
"Son, a few months back Walsh brought in a land development company. They want to develop a parcel of land on the northwestern part of Yamacraw forest, closest to town."
"But that's pack lands."
"Yes. Walsh pushed hard. Development there would add a sizable number of homes to the town."
"But we use those woods when we shift. We run there."
"Of course. I turned them down. Then something strange happened. A few pack members approached me, each saying that I should reconsider. Then a few more came to me saying that Walsh was putting pressure on them to talk to me."
It still didn't make sense. "But why?"
Seamus broke in. "Cause Walsh would sell his own mother it there was profit in it, lad."
My dad shook his head. "It's not about the money. He's thinking about his political ambitions."
"So what are you going to do?"
"We are having a little meeting tonight. Us, Walsh, a few others. We are all going to get on the same page. No more going behind my back. You should stay, son."
There was a small part of me that would have loved to see my Dad put Daniel Walsh in his place. There was a smugness about him that had always bothered me. But my wolf and I had other plans. "I can't Dad. I already have something tonight. I was just heading out."
Dad nodded. I could tell he was disappointed. Seamus just laughed.
"Too right. Let us old men eat the head off Daniel Walsh. You got a hot date, lad?"
"Nah, just meeting up with a friend." I tried to play it off but Seamus's wolf was very astute. He could tell I wasn't being completely forthcoming. He was giving me a look, like he was peering into my head.
"Friend, eh?" He smiled slyly. "What's her name, and does she have an older sister?"
Dad shook his head and grinned. "For you, maybe an old spinster aunt."
"Feck you, Connor Gallagher. I'll have you know that the American female finds my witty Irish charm nigh irresistible."
I left them to bicker and headed out before I revealed more than I intended. Letting them think I was out with some girl was fine. I would't, couldn't tell them the truth.
In the pack, the most important thing was family. Since our ancestors immigrated to the states back in the 1800s, our pack had grown from a handful of disparate farmers to group of over 200. We were a thriving community within the community. Wolves both male and female would carefully choose mates, ones that could keep our secrets and bare our young. This was especially important for the pack Alpha.
My problem was simple. I wasn't interested in finding a girl and making babies. While I loved the idea of having kids of my own someday, I wasn't interested in girls at all. No one knew my secret except for Ellie. I think that is the reason we were able to stay friends even though I knew how she felt about me. It was the only real secret I kept from my Dad. I knew that he was already disappointed that I wasn't following the carefully constructed plan he had made for my life. I couldn't add my sexual identity to that. Not yet.
I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I drove to Pleasant Hill. By the time I pulled up in front of Chuck's Garage, my mind was on one thing: my evening with Dylan. He was waiting out front wearing a t-shirt for some metal band and a tight pair of jeans. In that moment, he was the hottest guy I had ever seen. My wolf agreed. I could feel myself getting hard just looking at him. I knew then that I was in trouble.
I finally got out of my Jeep. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "Hey there," I said.
"Hey yourself. You hungry?"
I was most definitely hungry, and not just for food. "I could eat."