“With the trench coat in eighty-degree weather…”

“And the glasses. What’s with the glasses?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “He’s lost his touch.”

I calmed down a little and wiped my eyes. “You said he was a gremlin?”

“Shall we?” Austin opened the door for me. “Gargoyle,” he whispered, following me inside.

A couple of groups were tasting wine, one of them much merrier than the other. The latter group listened to the attendant in polite boredom as he described the wine he was about to pour.

I led Austin to the edge of the counter and looked over the list of available wines to taste.

“I cannot see how his kind inspired the stone carvings on gothic structures,” I said, leaning against the counter.

“That’s because you haven’t seen his other form.”

“His other form…” I let the words drift away. It was impossible to think Mr. Tom was cool enough to don another form, let alone one as awesome as a gothic-looking gargoyle.

Before I could ask more about it, the tasting room worker bustled up to us, grabbing a couple of wine glasses as he did so. His eyes widened when his gaze landed on Austin. Immediately, his spine bowed.

“Hello, welcome,” the man said, in his fifties with a comb over and a previously pleasant disposition. “Are you here to taste?”

Austin looked at me, waiting for me to take the lead again.

“Yes. Do we just go down the list or…do we pick and choose?” I tapped the paper.

The man wet his lips, his eyes flicking to Austin. “Of course, yes, down the list. Right away. Actually…” He held up a finger, his gaze flicking to Austin again. “Let me go ahead and open some different bottles. We have better bottles than… Just hang on, if you would.”

He hustled into the back without a word to anyone else.

“Should we be worried that he’s acting strangely?” I whispered, watching the pourer disappear. “I’m all for the preferential treatment, but that seemed…suspicious.”

“Jesus. Don’t look behind you,” Austin mumbled.

But of course I couldn’t help it.

Mr. Tom stood at the edge of the front window, the collar of his trench coat popped to cover half of his face. His wire-rimmed glasses had been swapped for dark shades.

“Are we in danger?” I asked, tensing.

“Because of Earl?” He shook his head, now clearly incredulous. “No. That’s part of his nature. Gargoyles are extremely protective of those in their charge. He has clearly decided you are in his charge, and even though I’m all the protection you need, he’s providing fairly odd and obvious backup. I think being fired from that butler job addled his brain. I really do. I don’t think age can take all the blame for this one. He’s gone fruit loops.”

“No, not that—” I had to pause as laughter bubbled up through me. “What’s the deal with that guy suddenly acting all sketchy and taking off when he’s got people to wait on? Is he…a Dick? Is that why Mr. Tom thinks I need backup? Because it seems like you set that guy off.”

“Oh that.” Austin rested an elbow on the counter, angling toward me. “I make him nervous. He’s a Dick, yes, but he feels the alpha in me. He realizes I’m the more dominant male, and it makes him uncomfortable because he’s supposed to be the one with authority here and I’m pulling rank.”

“But how’d you pull rank?”

“By showing up.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “No wonder you’re so strong—you have to carry around that enormous ego.”

His lips quirked into a grin and he shrugged. “I’m just telling it like it is.”

“If you’re so alpha, then why don’t you assume the title?”

His smile dripped away. The tasting room attendant hurried in carrying four bottles. He set them all down as Austin straightened up. The rest of the patrons were glancing over impatiently, their glasses empty.

“Why don’t you just pour us a glass for now and see to the others,” Austin said.

There wasn’t a hint of command in his voice. His body was relaxed, his tone easy. Even still, the man nodded as though he’d been barked at. He grabbed a bottle marked reserved and poured us each a glass to sip.

“I’ll be right back.” He hurried away to attend to the others.

“You need a pack to be the alpha of,” he said quietly, and I could hear emotion riding his words.

“How do you get a pack?”

“Take one over by force or find a mate and assemble one.”

“Going by everything I’ve seen and heard, you could do all of the above, including find a mate. You’re still hot and guys can produce children until they’re seventy—you’re all set. So what’s the real reason?”

Silence met my question for a good few beats, and I wondered if he would answer this time. Finally, he straightened up and turned to me, his expression uncomfortable. His raw intensity beat a drum inside my chest.

“I don’t usually talk about this,” he said with resolution, “but given this is a unique situation, and if you invite people into this town I’ll have to combat…”

“I mean, it’s not like I’m going to send out save the dates or anything. None of this is my idea.”

He sighed and moved a little closer, lowering his voice to a deep hum. “I had a mate picked out. A long time ago. She wanted an alpha. She wanted power and strength—a man who threw his weight around and made everyone quail in his presence. She wanted the prestige of being with the man every woman wanted and every man—shifter male, I mean—wanted to be. I was young and stupid and she was older. Not much older, but enough to know my potential. Enough to…steer me in the direction she wanted.” He shook his head and took a big sip of his wine. “I was a fool. A dangerous fool. I put a man in the hospital for flirting with her—”

“For flirting with her?”

“She knew how to bring out the qualities of an alpha that are less than savory. When she worked her way through a party, touching men intimately, laughing suggestively…” He gritted his teeth and fire sparked in his eyes. Even after all this time, the memories clearly still got to him. “It set me on edge. My natural possessiveness turned to rage-filled jealousy. I tore men off of her and beat them senseless. I threw them across rooms. I upended tables. Destiny liked to see me fight over her. Defend her honor. And I did. Every time. And every time, I won. Even at twenty, I did not lose, just like my dead-beat father, who’d left us when I was young, may the devil keep his soul.”

He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, struggling with his emotions.

“Just checking in, miss,” Mr. Tom said, popping his head through the door, his hat, trench coat, and glasses removed. His expression was wary. He must’ve seen the change in Austin. “Everything okay? Day going well, I trust? How’s the wine? Good enough to attract all these infernal tourists?”

“I’m good, Mr. Tom, thank you.”

“Call me Tom, please. I’ll be around, should you need me.”

“You can head home, Mr.—Tom. I’m fine.”

“Yes, miss. And oh, Niamh mentioned that she is anxious to have a drink with you later. She’ll be sitting on her usual bar stool like some derelict lush who has nothing left to live for.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

He nodded, closed the door, reapplied his coat and accessories in full sight of everyone, and resumed his post in the window.

“What would he even do if I did need help?” I asked as I ran my hand down my face. “Niamh at least throws rocks.”

“In his prime, he would’ve transformed into a winged, muscled, foul-mouthed powerhouse capable of mowing down any enemy that dared to threaten you. Age has not been kind to him. When you hang up your gloves to be a butler, or watch an old house, you’re in the twilight of your life.”

I turned slowly to stare at the old, withered man in the window, his face drawn and his back bowed with age. I could not imagine him doing any of those things. Then again, Donna—fun, lovely Donna—turned into a big rat. What did I know?

“So what happened?” I asked Austin. “Why did you leave your home town?”

“With Destiny on my arm, I became a nightmare. Guys like me—like I was—would normally be subdued by the alpha of the pack. The alpha would force the young shifter to see reason. Force him to submit. But my older brother, the alpha, had inherited my mom’s smaller, weaker animal form. He’d also inherited her soft way, her balanced nature. Those were the very things that made him an exceptional alpha. Someone who helped the pack thrive. It was his job to subdue me, and he tried. He did try.

“But at that point, I was ready to take the alpha role for myself. Rise and take what’s yours—that’s what Destiny always told me. She’d sex me up really good, or tease me, then whisper those words in my ear, over and over. Rise and take what’s yours, Austin. It’s your natural given right—take it.

“My brother—ten years older—had tried to get me to see reason many times, but he’d always done it as family. This time—the last time—he came at me as my alpha, which was his right…” Austin blew out a shaking breath. “I would’ve killed him. I nearly did kill him. I was”—he put his thumb and finger close together—“this close to ending his life. To creating a widow and taking a daddy away from two adorable children.”

“What pulled you back?”

“My niece. She wasn’t supposed to be in the room when my brother challenged me, but she burst in at the last minute. She was wondering why no one would help her daddy fight off her crazy uncle Auzzie. As I was coming down with the killing strike, she managed to evade all the adults and lay herself over her father, protecting him with her body.”