Page 96 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

NIGHT

Finally, it was the day of the Alpha ceremony, and I was a bundle of nerves.

Bryn left a note that she would be busy, and not being able to see her when I woke up only worsened my worry.

I hadn’t been anywhere near this antsy when I was named Alpha of the Wargs, but because it was my mate’s turn this time, I couldn’t get out of my own head.

The only thing I could do to distract myself was take a walk and see how the repairs were going.

My wolves had arrived that morning. There had been a few light skirmishes that were easily squashed before they became all-out brawls, but other than that, they were settling in smoothly.

The extent of the destruction that Troy had allowed on his own grounds evoked memories of the raid that he and his goons had headed on the Wargs’ compound.

Buildings were burned, earth was scorched, and I’m sure there were more than a few injured occupying beds in the infirmary.

The difference between the Kings’ lands now compared to what they’d looked like when I first infiltrated the compound over a month ago was stark.

I’d always believed that the persistent beauty of the Kings lands was one of the few constants in life, but now all I saw as I looked around were patches of dry, dead grass, shriveled flowers, and torched buildings.

The forest surrounding the grounds was unkempt and riddled with weeds.

It was physically painful to see how far the grounds had fallen in just the few weeks since Troy had taken over for his father.

I observed the people, too, some of whom were limping or sporting casts from whatever torture they’d endured at Troy’s (or his men’s) hands, and others who seemed eager to scurry away from the attention of their peers.

I had spent so much time telling myself that the reason I wanted the Kings pack was because it was my birthright, but as I took in the current state of things, shame once again burned through my gut.

Now, I wanted nothing more than to be the Alpha of both packs so I could make sure these innocent wolves had the chance to live a good life.

I walked a bit farther, following the path that Bryn had showed me earlier, and found a group of six Kings men beginning reconstruction on a cabin.

Each of them had planks of wood, nails, and other tools to get it done.

Sitting to the side were four other Kings who were chatting with each other while the rest worked.

I assumed those not working were on break until one of those who were sitting threw an empty can of beer at a man sawing a plank of wood.

“Cut straighter!” he shouted. “Or is that the best you can do? Maybe your mate would be better suited to this kind of work?”

The man said nothing. He just rubbed the spot on his head where he’d been hit and resumed sawing, this time attempting a straighter cut.

Ah. Now I understood. Those who sat around were higher-ranking members of the Kings.

Given the fact that they were bigger than those working, they were likely among Troy’s elites.

They were probably there with the responsibility of “supervising” the progress, but really, they were just hanging out and heckling those who were actually working.

My upper lip twitched, and I reached out for Dom.

“Hey,” I sent, “you busy?”

He replied immediately. “No. Why? What do you need?”

He’d apologized for what he’d said to me back on our own compound, and we hadn’t had another fight like that one.

But he still wasn’t back to his usual self and he hadn’t told me what was bothering him.

I wondered if it might have something to do with Tavi, but I didn’t think it was time yet for me to try to broach the subject.

“I want you and the others to meet me on the north side of the Kings’ compound where the worst of Troy’s destruction is. We’re going to do some reconstruction.”

“Roger that.”

While Dom gathered the team, I approached the group of workers. They hadn’t seen me from where I stood, at their backs, so all ten men looked up in surprise as I neared.

“Need some assistance?” I asked those who were working.

“What the hell is this?” one of the elites asked. “Night Shepherd offering to help rebuild a cabin? I don’t believe it.”

I glanced at him where he sat in a lawn chair, made a point of assessing him, and then deliberately turned my back to him. You’re not a threat to me. Fuck off. That was the message I was sending.

“Well?” I asked the working men. “Seems like you could use a few extra hands.”

The man who had been hit with the beer can looked from me to the elites and back again. “W-we wouldn’t mind the help—”

“Don’t talk to him!” I heard the creak of a wooden lawn chair followed by footsteps headed toward my back. “We don’t need or want your help, Shepherd.”

“You wouldn’t,” I said, looking at him over my shoulder. “But about half of you aren’t helping. You must be too busy to offer your own assistance.”

His lips pulled away from his teeth. “I don’t need this from you. Some man you are, letting your woman fight your battles for you.”

I turned to face him, meeting his gaze head-on. I noticed the other three men who were sitting and drinking were focused on the two of us. Their eyes ping-ponged between us as we spoke.

“Is that the hill you want to die on?” I asked him. “When you know the circumstances of the challenge your shitty Alpha made to me?”

“D-doesn’t change the fact that you lost that fight,” he shot back.

I narrowed my eyes. I could give him credit for stepping up to an Alpha and challenging me like this, but I knew that most of his bravado came from a desire to look tough in front of the others.

“Maybe you doubt that I can defend myself,” I replied. “Maybe you’d like to see what an Alpha can do at his full strength.”

He inched a step back, but tried to play it off. “You…you’re not worth the effort. Do what you want, Shepherd, see if I care.” He returned to his lawn chair but kept his gaze on me. That was enough of a victory for me. He knew which of us would win.

I crouched next to the man with the saw. “What’s your name?” I asked.

“Steven,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you, Steven. I’ve got some men coming this way. Where can we help the most?”

“I think we mainly need guidance,” he said. “We were apprentices to our pack’s carpenters, but many of them were ki—” He cut himself off, glancing at the group of elites and then back to me. “We lost them before they could finish teaching us, so we feel a little out of our depth here.”

I couldn’t believe how badly Troy had fucked his own pack. Then again, he was so unstable, so hell-bent on ruling through fear, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“I can help with that. Where are the plans for the cabin?”

“Aiden’s got it.”

Aiden, like Steven, was wiry and compact. His body was built for construction work like this. He showed me the diagram for the cabin, but the specs were only half-finished.

“The acting Alpha let us know that we needed to take the construction more seriously. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to complete this,” he said, shame causing his cheeks to burn red. He glanced at the wolves who were sitting as he said, “We were told we needed to start working now.”

“I know about the construction project, but only an idiot would force you all to start work when the blueprint isn’t finished.” I knew those “idiots” could hear me. They’d stopped drinking and were focused on us entirely. “Let’s finish this first. Is this cabin for a family or maybe storage?”

While Aiden explained the cabin’s purpose—it was indeed for a family—I took over the planning. Just as I finished explaining to the group of six which aspects of their blueprint were solid and which needed to be reworked, my team arrived.

I explained the situation to them, and they immediately set about helping the six men with their respective tasks.

Every single one of them had helped build a cabin or two, and they were each knowledgeable about the process.

The four men who were drinking and doing nothing eventually got up and walked away.

We didn’t need them. With the extra hands, we were able to get the skeleton of the cabin built. Steven, Aiden, and the other men had already buried the support posts in the earth at the proper distance from one another.

I noticed that a group of six had approached us—a mother, father, and their four children.

The youngest pup was only a few months old and was still cradled in the arms of the mother.

Now that Steven, Aiden, and the other four had a much better idea of what they were doing, I decided it was alright to walk up to them.

The father stepped forward in front of his family.

It didn’t offend me that he wanted to protect them from me.

Given the fact that there were rumors about the Wargs being borderline feral, and that this man’s most recent encounter with an Alpha had been with the murderous, insane Troy, it made sense that he would be cautious around me as Alpha of the Wargs.

This was an opportunity to show the Kings that their misconceptions about us were just that—misconceptions. Rumors. So, to show that I respected his caution, I stopped a few paces away. I only needed to be close enough for him to hear me without shouting.

“Are you the family who will live in this cabin?” I asked.

“That’s right,” he said. His shoulders relaxed somewhat, but he kept his family behind him. “We came by earlier to see the progress, but they weren’t this far along with the work.”

I nodded.

“Am I to thank you for their quick progress?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t say that. Steven and the others are doing the bulk of the work. My team just got them on the right track.”

His eyebrows raised. “I wouldn’t have expected an Alpha to be humble.”

I hadn’t been expecting the man to say that.

It made me chuckle. “I’m not being humble.

I’m being honest.” I glanced back at the group of Kings and Wargs.

One of them had said something funny enough to make the group chuckle.

It made me think that maybe there was something more here.

At least now maybe some of the Kings could imagine a future where they and the Wargs could live together properly.

“It’s them who deserve your thanks,” I said, returning my attention to the family.

“Well, I still feel thanks is due to you.” He glanced at the working men and back to me. “To everyone.”

“I appreciate it just the same.” The second youngest peered up at me from around her mother’s skirt. “Did Troy give you a reason for destroying your cabin?”

“No. He was after our neighbors for reasons he refused to tell us.” The man frowned, remembering. “The fire spread from their home to ours when the wind turned, and we had to grab what valuables we could to get out of there.”

“I’m sorry.” It angered me that Troy would be so careless. Especially when there was a family with young ones just next door. “I’m glad that we can get you into your new home quickly.”

“Me too.” He smiled. “Like I said, thank you.”

As I returned to the group. Dom walked up to me. I greeted him with a nod.

“What did they want?” he asked, glancing at the family.

“They were checking in on the progress,” I said. “They’re the family that’s moving in.”

“I see. This was a good start,” he said, crossing his arms, “but we’ll need to do more if we want to endear ourselves to the pack.”

I nodded. “I know. But there are going to be a lot of opportunities for that. More construction projects, for one.”

He gave a dramatic sigh at the thought of more manual labor. “On a brighter note, did you get a chance to talk to Bryn about the Alpha situation?”

I nodded. I explained the process of selecting the next Alpha to him and that Bryn would still serve on the Kings’ council as Den Mother. I left out the fight we’d had and my worry about Bryn, because if I was right that Dom was concerned about Tavi, I didn’t want to bring up my love life.

“Bryn is obviously going to nominate me, and a month from now, I’ll have to fight to show that I’m worthy of it.”

“That’s more straightforward than I was expecting,” he said. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re already getting a head start on improving relations between the packs.”

I nodded. That sharpness was one of the many reasons I had wanted Dom to be my beta. “Bryn is trying to win over the women, and I’m trying to focus on these sorts of projects.”

“It feels good to make some progress, huh? Almost feels like victory is closer than it’s ever been.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” I felt good about the progress we’d made today, and I was glad that I’d managed to distract myself from my worries about Bryn and the Alpha ceremony. But something still felt off to me.

Dom sensed my tension. “What’s up, Night?”

“I don’t know. Just a feeling.” I tried to shake it off.

It was possible that what I was feeling was leftover jitters for the Alpha ceremony on Bryn’s behalf.

Or, it could have been the fact that I’d lived through too many disappointments and false starts as an Alpha and as a member of the Wargs pack to trust when things were going too smoothly.

“The sooner we get this Alpha ceremony over with, the better,” I said. “Then Bryn will be confirmed and we’ll be able to have our binding ceremony.”

“Agreed,” he replied. “And we’ll have the official backing from the Kings’ Alpha for these repairs.”

That was true, too. In truth, I knew my worries were probably for nothing, and I knew that as long as I was there, nothing would go wrong.

But I wanted to see Bryn again. When I thought of her, my wolf got excited and anxious.

He wanted to protect her from…well, everything.

Being away from her on such an important day was more than enough stress for us, and the sooner I could set eyes on her, the better.