Page 323 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

“Great!” Bryn beamed at her. “You’re more than welcome to come with us.”

When we reached Wargs’ territory, we were welcomed with a feast. Bryn received a ton of gifts from the Wargs who missed her, and there were plenty of wolves who were cautiously optimistic about the merger with the Kings.

It was nice to see at first, but my excitement didn’t last. I think I put on a good face, but doubt warred within me. I’d never questioned the way my pack felt before, but the Wargs Council had a lot of sway. For all I knew, my own people were lying to me.

It didn’t help when I spoke to the five council members about the feral attack on the Camas Pack.

“War is approaching,” Jasmine declared. “The need for strong leadership is needed now more than ever.”

Great. They didn’t need to say it directly because I got the message loud and clear: they were still looking into finding a replacement for me. At least they hadn’t found anyone yet.

Days passed, and my worries continued to torture me. I knew my suspicions weren’t real, that they were brought on by my insecurities and the pressure put on me by the council, but that didn’t make them go away. The only thing I could think to do was keep it to myself and hope I would snap out of it.

I popped in every once in a while just to set eyes on things, make sure things were running well, and put some distance between me and the psychological warfare the council was waging on me. I had Samara escorted to Kings territory, figuring the less hostile mood would be a better environment for her.

Of course, every time I visited the Kings, I found that things were going fine—my beta and sister were amazing at what they were trained to do. That was a relief in most ways, but sometimes I wondered whether I was needed there at all.

On the day that marked two weeks since we returned to Wargs’ territory, Lance and I were walking around, checking out the progress of the construction and discussing pack safety. The attack on the Camas had made us all hyper-aware of security, and fortunately, Lance was an expert. He was close to Theodore, whose son I’d saved during Troy’s attack. Because of what Lance had learned from one of the Kings’ strongest warriors, he hadplenty of ideas for how we could bulk up security while Troy was still at large.

“Seeing the siren pole the Camas use made me think,” he was saying as we walked. “What if we added a few here and on Kings territory?”

“When there’s an emergency, my men light flares,” I said. “They get Dom or me, but one of us is always close and ready.”

He nodded, not missing a beat. “Obviously, your borders are well-defended, and you have a quick reaction time, but when you get to be as old as Oakley, you’ll be less alert. And for the alphas who will replace you, they might prefer having sirens in addition to the flares, you know? And even before that, when the packs expand, it’ll be even more important to have a way to alert as many wolves as possible, won’t it?”

I nodded. Lance had a great mind for strategy. “It’s a good idea, Lance. Do you want to take point on this? All you have to do is speak to the security teams to implement sirens. Let them know I approve.”

“Sweet.” He grinned, eager to take on the responsibility. “Now, about the shifting of the guards…I think there’s a blind spot you haven’t considered.”

I listened to him, nodding and understanding his advice, and as we walked and talked, I wondered whether I was as good an alpha as I thought. Yeah, I’d built up this land and helped construct most of these buildings with my own hands, but there were things I hadn’t considered. Blind spots, like Lance had said.

Logically, I knew that no alpha was perfect, but when I reached Oakley’s age or when I died, how would I be remembered? Would the people think of me as an alpha who gave everythinghe could for his people? Or as a man who bit off more than he could chew and fumbled it? Was it short-sighted of me to be considering the future when the man who threatened every pack in the Idaho panhandle was still at large? Troy was just another failure of mine, another loose end.

My thoughts spiraled down a path of self-doubt until a small voice pulled me out of it.

“Alpha Night!” Pax called, launching himself at my legs.

“Whoa,” I said as the little boy latched onto my leg. “Easy, kid, you could’ve knocked me over.” A lie, but Pax’s huge believing grin made it worth it.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger, huh?” He beamed. “I wanted to tell you and Bryn about my new friends! They’re from the Kings Pack, but they’re actually really fun, and…” he trailed off when he spotted Lance. The boy grew uncharacteristically shy.

“What’s this?” I asked. “You’re usually such a ham, but now you clam up?”

“I thought he was Dom.” He held onto my pants and peered at Lance from around my leg.

I looked at Lance, who had grown quiet. The expression on his face was thoughtful.

“This is Bryn’s older brother,” I told Pax. “His name is Lance.”

“Really?” Pax’s grip on my jeans loosened. “You’re her big brother?”

“Yeah, it’s true,” Lance said. “I’m four years older than her.”

“Oh.” He beamed. “Well, she’s my best friend, and she reads stories to me.”

“I’m sure she does. I know she loves to read.”

“Yeah…does she do that for you?”