Page 23 of Same Thing
“Say it right,” Vic said. “Oren burned it down.”
“We don’t know that,” Tabian said.
“The timing is a little suspicious,” Nate gritted out. “Two weeks after he loses the Pack to Liam, and now Liam’s den is gone? It was Oren and we know it.”
“Police said it was faulty wiring,” Dodger pointed out.
“Yeah, and since when did a werewolf listen to anything a human had to say about it. Oren’s scent was all over that place.”
“All of our scents were,” Dodger said. “We were over at Liam’s place all the time. Remember? Or was last month too long ago for any of you dumbasses to remember.”
“Bridger?” Liam said softly. “What do you think?”
Bridger’s place was always the go-to for Pack meetings. He had the room, but usually, just like now, he sat in silence at the other end of the table. He’d never been happy in this Pack. Most of them hadn’t. Bridger inhaled deeply and stopped ripping up the napkin in front of him. He leaned back and just stared at Liam. “I don’t care enough to think.”
“You’re such a fuckin’ dick,” Dodger barked.
“Want to go outside?” Bridger asked automatically. And there it was, the same stuff, different day.
“Or,” Liam said, “We get through one meeting without a fight. Can you do that for me? I’ve had a rough week—”
“We all have,” Bridger barked out. He stood so fast, his chair fell backward onto the wood floor, and he left, tossing a middle finger up into the air as he did.
“You have to punish that,” Nate said.
“Like Oren used to do?” Liam asked. He leaned forward on his elbows. “I can’t fight you guys every time you get an attitude. I won’t run this Pack like that. Not for the small stuff. I want you to eventually want to make things smoother with me, and I can’t do that if you don’t respect me.”
“Respect comes from bleeding—”
“Respect comes when you build loyalty in your ranks,” Liam said sternly. “The way Oren ran this show didn’t work. How many members did we lose over the years?”
The table went completely silent and still, and the faraway looks as they remembered lost members filled Liam with a hollowness. “How many have we lost to fights? How many of those fights were over some dumb shit that was a waste of life?”
Nate was the one to look up at him first. “We need females to balance the Pack.”
Vic gestured to Delta, sitting silently next to Nate. “You paired with her, and I don’t see any improvements for us.”
“Heeeey,” Liam warned. Delta was submissive, and he didn’t like submissives being picked on. They served a purpose in all werewolf Packs. “Delta is new and that’s a big pressure to put on her. She’s still getting to know Nate, much less the rest of you.”
“I’m just saying,” Vic said louder. “Oren had Ida, and she didn’t fix anything. She aimed him at us. So, the point was a new Alpha taking over the Pack, from the outside who was deep into a pairing with a valuable female, and instead, you Challenged him on a whim and took over our Pack unpaired.” Vic crossed his arms over his chest. “And now you’re fucking up the Arrangements. Tell me how any of this is better than Oren running this Pack?”
“Oren had my throat,” Tabian said low from where he sat at the other end of the table. “If Liam hadn’t been there to Challenge him, I would be dead.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard that part of the story before,” Dodger said. “Only you left out the part where you explain what you did wrong to get a death fight from our Alpha—”
“Oren is not Alpha anymore,” Liam yelled, slamming his fist onto the table. He stood and locked his arms on the table. “You want to know the rest of the story? That you could’ve literally asked about at any point in time, but none of you communicate worth a damn? I was there. Hear the truth in my voice as I tell you word-for-word what Dodger said to get Oren Changed and on his throat, while Dodger was in human form! He said, and-I-quote, “Hey, is it okay if I’m fifteen minutes late to the Pack meeting tomorrow? I have a job interview.”
The table went still, and one by one, the others lowered their gazes to the table.
Liam continued. “So as tempting as it is to go be a replica of our last Alpha, whom all of you have scars from, surely you can understand that one, it was never in my plans to take over thisPack like that. I couldn’t watch Oren kill Dodger for fucking no reason at all, and two, I want to build loyalty and hell, maybe even friendships here so we stop bleeding each other, stop losing members in the night, and so that we can regain some kind of reputation in the werewolf community that we will be invited to the big hunts someday. That our Pack will be seen as valuable, and not a loose knit band of the worst in our society who can’t fuckin’ figure it out. I’m sorry I wasn’t paired before I Challenged Oren. I wasn’t planning to pair up ever, because I was not interested in chasing ranks in a Pack. You guys are all local. I am not. I was in another Pack for a long time, and while you see the system you are in and feel like this is normal, I assure you, it isn’t. We can all do better. We should be doing better. We are the bottom of the barrel, boys, and I promise you, even if things have to get worse before they can get better, if you just let me try, we can be at a better place in a year.”
Bridger had returned and was leaning in the open doorway, arms crossed, glowing eyes downcast.
“The Elders are going to disband us if you don’t pair up,” Dodger said.
“I’m aware. My phone is full of threats.” Honesty was best right now. “Look, we’re all good at fucking women.” Liam shrugged. “That’s what we’ve got. That’s the talent. We have that animal magnetism, the ladies like it, that is just how it is. But I don’t know how to make a female happy, or talk to them, or have any kind of relationship that last more than a couple of weeks. That’s also natural for us. Pairings are rare and for high ranks for a reason. We suck at relationships.”
The guys chuckled, and there was a murmur of agreement that filled the room.