Page 34 of Ascendant King

“Not in the house.” I pulled off my shoes, tucking them under the bed. I pulled at my socks and was getting ready with my pants when Declan spoke again, still staring out the window.

“I’m not dead, you know. At least not quite yet. And if you had half a brain, you would be more careful of your enemies, if this is what they do to their friends.”

I snapped my head around, but Declan was gone, the room empty.

Chapter

Eleven

Morning came too early. When I woke up, my body let me know in great detail that it would have preferred to be asleep.

Still, I pushed myself up to sitting, rubbed at my gritty eyes, and stretched my spine until it released a series of pops. Then I got dressed.

Declan had worn suits, the formal clothing giving him an air of authority he might not have had otherwise. Even Cade had reverted to formal magewear, the high-necked shirts and long sleeves marking him as a mage before anyone even saw his magic.

I had gone more subtle. Dark shirts, jeans, and boots made up a uniform I could wear all day. Combined with a leather jacket featuring the patch for the Los Santos Pack, it gave me the presence I needed.

It was up to me to prove that I should be alpha. As Declan had said, I was king, and I needed to make that clear from my behavior, from the way I carried myself.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I tried to see a crown on my head. Not the golden thing that Leon wore, not the silver that would have fit Cade better. A wooden crown? No.

The Emperor Wolf would wear a crown made of curving antlers, their tips sharp instead of covered in gems.

I wasn’t there yet. But after my conversation with the council of alphas, I had a feeling it was getting closer. More people were accepting the possibility of an Emperor Wolf. Ofmeas emperor.

Logistically, that should have frightened me. Instead, I felt relaxed.

This was what I wanted, even if the small dark echo inside of me informed me I didn’t deserve it. Not after what I had done, not after who I had become in order to survive.

Opening my door, I saw Gabe was back on the other side, having replaced Evelyn at some point last night. He looked up from his phone, nodding at me.

“I want to talk to Nia, the other betas as well. And make sure Kieran is there too.” I headed for the stairs as Gabe typed into his phone.

Kieran, a manager of one of the clubs that Declan had burned down to cover up what he and Leon were doing, had proven more useful than I would have thought. He knew how to run the clubs and bars and was able to do it with minimal direction.

I had put a couple of my other people underneath him, and no one had seen anything suspicious. He was, by appearances and actions, a loyal soldier, happy to do the work without wanting anything more than a paycheck.

Downstairs, someone had made breakfast, and a few of the higher-ranked members of the pack were sitting around the dining room table, eating. They stood when they saw me, and I nodded at them. The part of me that was still embarrassed wanted to wave them away, wanted to let them know I didn’t stand on formality.

But some things needed to be formal. Wolves needed to respect their alpha. I might not grind them under my heel, but they needed to feel my strength to trust I could protect our pack.

When I sat down at the head of the table, someone rushed to bring me a plate from the kitchen.

“Thanks.” I picked up a fork, stabbing one of the sausages and putting it in my mouth.

After a long beat, everyone else went back to eating, and I listened in on the conversations. Down the table, someone was having boyfriend troubles. The boyfriend was a human and didn’t understand packs. One of the other kids was considering going back to school, something he had already spoken to me about and I had encouraged, but now was worried about explaining where he had been all these years and what he had been doing after high school.

Gabe made up his own plate and leaned over to discuss a new graffiti artist in town. I tilted my head to listen.

“I miss all the good stuff!” Gabe complained.

“Didn’t you get to go to a pack council? I hear all the alphas get naked. It couldn’t have beenthatbad.” One of the other wolves grinned before shooting me an alarmed look. I waved my fork, letting it go.

“No. It’s fair. If I had to choose between staring at a lot of middle-aged, naked wolves in the woods and watching graffiti dry, I would definitely choose the latter,” I said, grinning. There was a huff of laughter that trailed around the table.

“Well, he did three or four buildings in the financial district. And that statue in the middle of the Plaza Central.” The wolf took out her phone, turning it to show a series of photos to Gabe, then self-consciously tilted the phone so I could see them.

I could see it was the same style as the graffiti from last night but on a much smaller scale. Thematically similar, waves covered every inch of the background, giving the sense that the figures inside were under the water. It was hard to tell who was inside the frame. The small dots might have been flies or fairies, or people drowning in that immense ocean.