Page 286 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

It warmed me to see him smile. “I don’t know. I have to stay on my toes around you, love.” He let his hand fall to my cheek. “I do have a favor to ask you.”

“Really? What is it?”

“Could you speak to the women from both packs? I want to make sure they and their children feel safe here.”

“Of course. I’m meeting with a group of women today to prepare the garden for winter.”

“This was good timing, then.” He turned his head and kissed me gently. “I look forward to hearing your report, love.” He kissed me again, long and lingering.

Night and I got up and dressed. I had some time before the berry-picking and helping the pack prep for winter, which gave me the chance to review some of the paperwork I hadn’t gottento yesterday. There were Wargs who wanted to move onto Kings’ land, and there were Kings who wanted to move to the more rural Wargs’ territory. These documents had the details of who wanted to move and what kind of accommodations they needed. Facilitating these movements was just one of the many duties I’d taken on as den mother.

A bit later, I set out to meet with the others. My mom, Tavi, and Council Member Jasmine Howler were waiting with them. I’d told Night that I’d be meeting with women, but the truth was that there were a few men who also wanted to help out. Some of them were Warg fathers whose mates held duties as hunters, sentinels, trackers, or fighters. I remember how much that used to confuse the more traditional Kings, but the novelty was wearing off as the Kings realized there was nothing strange about this “non-traditional” role for men.

“Today,” I said, “we’ll be mulching the ground with straw, wrapping our fruit trees with hardware cloth, and prepping the soil for next year’s planting.”

The hundred people gathered before me nodded. I directed them to the dozens of hay bales and rolls of hardware cloth. I’d asked fighters from both packs to help us take these things out of storage and put them in one place for our convenience, and they had just finished.

I had half the group collect woven baskets for the straw. Those who were stronger donned heavy-duty gloves and grabbed the hardware cloth. As I filled my basket with straw, another bale of hay was added to the pile.

I glanced up and met Lance’s eyes. He gave me a casual smile, as if he wasn’t plotting with the Wargs Council to take down mymate. As if the last time I’d been this close to him, he hadn’t told me to watch out for enemies in both packs.

I turned away from him without speaking or smiling, annoyed to find that many of the women standing next to me were ogling him. He was shirtless and sweaty from lifting the hay, which was more than enough to draw their attention.

“Ew.” Tavi’s voice broke into my mind. Our telepathic bond hadn’t faded even though we weren’t the alpha and beta of the Kings anymore. It was always a relief to hear her voice in my mind.

“My thoughts exactly,” I said as I started spreading the straw over the soil. We were mulching the asparagus, garlic, and the root veggies we hadn’t yet harvested.

“Did Night tell you that he’s been meeting with some Warg council members?”

“He told me this morning.”

“Dom mentioned it last night.” He and Tavi had started spending more and more time together. Night and I were sure they were dating, but they hadn’t confirmed it. Yet. “I wish Lance would just come out and tell us what he’s planning.”

“That would make everything a hell of a lot simpler. It’s so frustrating that I can’t tell if he’s just putting on an act.”

Jasmine smirked at me as I walked past her. I was a member of both councils, but I only attended meetings that involved topics within my scope—parents or education or prepping for changing seasons. At the meeting where we discussed preparing for winter, Jasmine hadn’t mentioned helping out.

“Speaking of plans,”I said,“do you know whatshe’sdoing here?”

“I spoke to Jasmine when she arrived. All she said was that she wanted to see how Kings prep for the winter. I don’t buy it.”

Neither did I.

“Bryn, isn’t this exciting?” Mom asked, bumping my shoulder with hers. She had her own basket. “You and I used to do pretty much all the work, but now we have so much help.”

I pushed Lance from my mind so I could give her a genuine smile. “I know. We should have had help. At least things are now finally as they should be.”

“I agree. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much free time.”

Her happiness lifted my spirits. “I’m glad you’re able to take it easy, Mom. After how hard you’ve worked, you’ve more than earned it.”

She beamed at me. “Oh, honey, you’re so sweet.”

I smiled at her in return, then turned my attention to the others around us. I raised my voice. “How have you all been adjusting to the merge? Do you have any concerns, especially regarding the safety of you and your families?”

“I feel pretty safe,” Claire said. “It’s nice that we don’t have to worry about our children being in danger or feeling unsafe.”

Val nodded. She was one of the Kings’ mothers who had been most cautious of me when I returned to the pack as alpha, but she’d since warmed up to me. “Troy and Gregor made me feellike I had to hold onto my son’s hand so tight when we walked around, or else he might run into one of them or their guards.”