Page 17 of Ascendant King

“Okay.” I stood, pulling him up, my hand tight enough to be just barely less than a threat. “We need to talk.”

I gestured back toward the diner. “Morris, looks like things are about to get busy. I’ll see whoever wants to talk inside.”

Chapter

Six

Harrison was a font of information. I didn’t even have to press hard before he was spilling his guts, telling me everything I wanted to know and more about Ghost Pack and its alpha.

Normally, if a pack controlled as much territory as Ghost Pack did, they had a pack council that met regularly so an alpha like me would never be able to come in and take over so easily.

Ghost Pack didn’t have that council. There was no one other than the alpha and the alpha’s mate for Harrison to contact. When they had gone silent, he had had to run the entire town by himself. On this point, he was fairly bitter, frustrated that he wasn’t getting the support he needed.

Reading between the lines, I could tell that he had been about to start his own pack, about to declare himself king of his little hill, and force all the members of Ghost Pack in the territory under his thumb.

But Harrison wasn’t a natural alpha. As soon as I pressed a little, he gave in, needing the security more than he wanted the independence. It didn’t take much to have him rolling over and letting me own the town.

After he had told me everything he knew, I passed him off to another member of the Los Santos Pack and began seeing members of my mother’s old pack.

Emilio was first, waiting at the countertop with his wife. As soon as Harrison left the booth, he approached, nodding his head low, waiting for permission to take a seat. Beside me, Cade shifted, and I glanced at him, but his expression was blank, showing nothing of his feelings.

I gestured to the seat across from me. “I’m glad to see you survived.”

Emilio shook his head. “I should have died. I should have died rather than join the people who killed your family.”

Next to him, his wife tightened her grip on his elbow but said nothing. She knew how packs worked. They had been married when the Castillo Pack had controlled the territory.

“What happened is not on you,” I said firmly. “Choosing to survive is something we all did. It’s somethingIdid. That doesn’t mean that it has to define you for the rest of your life.”

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.” Emilio’s arms tensed, and his body jittered, his leg bouncing under the table.

“Maybe not.” I didn’t look at Cade; I couldn’t look at him, where he sat stiffly beside me, surrounded by wolves, unable to trust any of us. “But you have it anyway. We all did things in the past eleven years that we aren’t proud of, but we can’t let that define us. My mother wouldn’t want that.”

Emilio nodded, finally meeting my eyes. “I’ll do whatever I need to to earn your trust.”

“You already have it. My mother trusted you; that’s enough for me.” Strangely, I meant every word. I was positive that if on the night all my siblings had been killed, I had managed to get to him, he would have protected me with his life. The fact that he hadn’t had to was just chance. Foolishness on my part that I’d run rather than go to him for safety.

Emilio’s face crumpled, and he pressed his palms against his cheekbones, his fingers digging into his eyes.

“I’m going back to the farm. Do you want to come?” I raised both eyebrows, making it an invitation instead of an order. Then, I glanced at his wife. Any invitation from me would have Emilio jumping through hoops to accomplish it. “I don’t want to tell you what to do, but there’s a chance Ghost Pack comes back. They might take what happened today out on you.”

“I’ll—” Emilio hesitated, his wife’s fingers still digging into his elbow. Her face was tight, and I wished I could remember her name.

“I would suggest you get everything you want to bring if you’re planning to come with us. That way, you can join us in the city sooner rather than later.”

“That’s a good idea,” his wife said quickly. “If you want that, Emilio.”

Emilio’s head dipped, his eyes moving over his wife’s face. They would have a lot to discuss.

“Okay.” I nodded, and Emilio and his wife got up, bowing their heads again. At the door, Emilio took off his jacket with the Ghost Pack patch on it. He gave it to a member of the Los Santos Pack, collecting them from members of Ghost Pack who remained.

After that, I saw a slew of people. Some of them I recognized, some I didn’t, but all were very willing to declare loyalty to me. I gave them the same offer I did Emilio, a place with me in the city. Including Emilio, only five took it, younger members of the pack who hadn’t grown roots to attach them to Flores.

I needed to decide what to do in Flores. I couldn’t leave Harrison in charge. He was too weak, and I trusted his loyalty like I trusted a house built on sand. I needed to leave someone else, but I didn’t want to sacrifice one of my own betas to the cause.

When the diner was almost empty and I had been through two plates of food, I stood.

Around me, my pack was silent, waiting for my orders but not quite willing to ask for them yet.