Page 118 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

NIGHT

After days of being unable to shift, I rejoiced in getting in touch with my wolf again.

Paws digging into the ground, crunching leaves and twigs, the wind through my fur, each breath a silver fog in the cool pre-dawn morning…

my wolf, naturally, had missed it even more than I did.

It’d been too long since he had been let out.

Getting to let loose after that recovery period was such a relief.

I reached my territory within a few hours.

I shifted and changed into jeans and a T-shirt.

As I tugged my shirt down over my stomach, I sensed some tension, a shift in the air.

I’ve been gone too long. The thought echoed in my mind like a warning.

My pack missed their leader. I had been focusing far too much on the Kings, and my people were suffering because of it.

They needed to know I was there for them and would always protect them.

I was planning on meeting with the council first thing, but Wayne Hudson, the oldest member of the council, told me they wanted to meet in the evening. That worked out perfectly—I’d have time to reconnect with my pack and meet with the council after.

I sent some wolves to gather all available bodies to the training grounds. It was the same place I’d spoken to them before, with Dom at my side, but that was when Troy abducted Bryn and Tavi. It was time to have another meeting.

It took about twenty minutes to get everyone together. Once they were all gathered, I climbed on top of the roof of the elders’ cabin. As I looked over the crowd, the chatter gradually died down.

“Thank you for coming,” I said, my voice resonating over the crowd.

“It’s been too long since I’ve been home.

I was injured and helping my mate settle into her role as alpha, but I should never have left you all for so long.

I apologize for that, but I know apologies aren’t enough, so I’m here to reconnect with all of you and listen to what you need from me. ”

My announcement was met with silent stares until a voice spoke up.

“Is Bryn all right?” Mabel asked. “And Tavi and Violet?” Mabel was an older woman who loved working in the mess hall. She and Bryn had really built a connection when Bryn first arrived in my territory.

Dozens of Wargs nodded. They, too, wanted to make sure Bryn was all right. I smiled. It was a relief to know that my pack cared about my mate’s well-being.

“Yes, they’re all doing great,” I said. “Bryn is settling into her alpha role well. As soon as we’re able, she’ll come round to see everyone.”

“Well, it’s nice to hear someone’s doing their duty for their pack.”

I heard the words even though the speaker had muttered them under their breath. It had to be someone standing near the elders’ cabin.

“Who said that?” I asked. Silence greeted me. “You’re not in trouble. I’m holding this forum because I want to hear how you’ve been feeling. I need you all to be comfortable enough to speak your minds so I know what’s up.”

There were a few seconds of silence, and then someone spoke up.

“I wasn’t the one who said it, but I might as well have been,” Iren said. She liked helping my mother in the gardens when she wasn’t teaching the children. “I heard you have been rebuilding Kings’ land. Is that true?”

“Yes. Troy attacked them. He—”

Before I could finish, Iren spoke again, anger seeping from every word. “We have projects that have been abandoned! Roofs with holes and supplies that need replenishing from Colville. We need more hunters bringing meat for the winters, but you’ve got them searching for Redwolf.”

I frowned. “I wasn’t informed that our stocks were low.”

“Well, we’re fine on food now,” she admitted with some reluctance. “But if our hunters and trackers don’t return soon, we won’t be in time for winter.”

The food stocks not being an immediate concern was a relief, and I was glad Iren had brought it up. If she was worried about such things, others were, too.

“Iren, as your alpha, I’d never let the pack suffer—not even when I’m helping the Kings with their Redwolf problem. Regardless of whether or not we find Troy, I will make sure the pack is fed and our medical supplies stocked.”

“No!" This voice came from somewhere deeper in the crowd. “That’s not enough. You have been getting cozy with the Kings and ignoring us. You’ve only come now because the council wants to speak to you.”

I scanned the crowd for the speaker, but now other wolves were talking, too. It was difficult to pick out individual voices, but I caught enough.

“Kings steal our alpha. What’ll they take from us next?”

“Why should anyone care about those fuckers?”

“Might as well just move to King territory. I’ll see my alpha more.”

I gauged the crowd’s mood. They didn’t speak with one voice, but from their general unhappiness, they might as well have been.

The last time I’d held a public forum, I’d been sick because I hadn’t claimed Bryn.

It had been tough to accept the brunt of the emotions they had leveled my way. This time, I was stronger.

I didn’t want to use my alpha voice to silence them—that would only be controlling them. Words could only go so far, and obviously, my pack wanted action from me.

Instead of raising my voice or asking for silence, I dropped down from the roof.

That was enough to catch the attention of those closest to me.

I nodded to the crowd to follow me and started walking toward the tool shed for some nails and roofing material.

Part of the mess hall’s roof near the conference room where I met with my closest men had a leaky room.

The summer had been dry, and fall was looking to be the same, so we hadn’t fixed it even when other holes had formed.

My pack trudged behind me, some still talking, and watched me climb onto the roof. I inched over to one of the larger holes and started working on it. The sound of my hammer sent a hush over the crowd.

“I’m here now, and I will always be here for you. I would never abandon the Wargs like Gregor Redwolf.” With the hole covered, I stood and looked over my people. “Let’s fix what we can while I’m here. We’ll figure out what supplies we need before I head back to King territory.”

Many of my pack seemed doubtful, but as I returned to the repair work, a few joined me.

As they started working, I moved to the edge of the roof and spotted Iren standing near a group of wolves who seemed hesitant to join in.

On the walk over, we’d passed her cabin, and I realized that her mate, Anthony, was one of the men I’d sent after Troy.

Of course, she wanted him home. Other families would also be feeling the absence of their mates.

“Iren,” I said.

She winced but held her chin high. “Yeah?”

“If you’ve got the time, could you see what supplies need to be replaced? Once you have a list, head into Colville with a group of your choosing to replenish them.”

She blinked. “Me? Why?”

“Because I know things have been hard for you and your pups, and I want to make sure that families like yours are taken care of.” I smiled at her. “Don’t worry about how much you can spend. I trust your judgment.”

She hesitated for another second or so, then nodded. Even the arms crossed over her chest relaxed. “Sure. I can do that.”

I directed another group to grab some spare wood and supplies so we could get all hands on deck. Beer and food were served, and time passed in friendly productivity. Before I knew it, it was time to speak to the council.

I reached out to them telepathically.

“We’ve been expecting you, Alpha,” Wayne replied. “Meet us at my cabin, please. The five of us have already gathered.”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get the meeting over with.

Wayne’s cabin was farther inside the compound, a few yards from the library, where I was repairing one of the reading benches. In Wayne’s sixty years of life, he’d had six pups. Because of that, he lived in one of the larger cabins that were impossible to miss.

I walked up to the door and knocked before stepping inside. They were expecting me, so there was no need to wait for an invitation.

I found the council members sitting at the varnished wood table in Wayne’s living room.

They stood as I entered. Jasmine Howler, the second-oldest in her early fifties, had her lips pressed into a slight, thin smile.

Her chocolate-brown hair was threaded with gray, and she kept it shorn to her chin.

Her chin had a scar from her old battles with the Kings.

She was among the first women to sign up to be more than just a mother and caretaker of the pack.

Wayne grinned at me with his arms crossed.

He had a full salt-and-pepper beard, silver hair, and a round stomach.

But his grandfatherly looks didn’t match the sharp look in his eyes.

Not unlike Dom, who could smile in the face of his enemy, Wayne could switch his friendly grin to a glare when someone said something he didn’t like or spoke out of turn.

The rest of those on the council were in their mid-to-late forties.

Ida Kells kept her blond hair in two braids down her back, and her arms were covered in tattoos.

Most of the rest of her body was also inked.

Besides serving on the council, she passed down the art of stick-and-poke tattooing in the pack.

Graham Hanks was bald, and his limbs were corded with muscle.

He had been Gregor’s beta before Gregor abandoned the Wargs for the Kings.

Graham had almost become alpha in Gregor’s absence, but because he was so ashamed of not preventing Gregor’s betrayal, he’d refused to take up the mantle.

Instead, he had served as a fighter until a couple of years ago when his bad knees forced him to retire.

Even with shot knees, he was one of the strongest members of the pack.