His bluntness took me, so by surprise I wasn’t sure what to say. He expected me to reject him? Something in me softened at that. “Is that what you want?”
Michael laughed again, shaking his head. “Is that what I want? No one has given a damn what I wanted in my entire life, Peaches. Why start now?” His tone was bitter through his laughter.
“Peaches?” I repeated. Where had that come from? He shrugged as a reply. I sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor. “I should reject you. It’s what everyone expects and might even insist. Your father’s cruel hand has hurt people even here.”
“My father was a thorough man, if nothing else,” Michael replied, his voice dull and flat.
“He was also strong and
“Yes, Luna,” Koreyon said with a quick nod.The third elder, Brandon, scoffed, then sniffed in his obvious disapproval. I ignored him. Charles pinned me again with his stare. “You want to continue this absurd course of action, fine, but what is your plan? Just wait and see what happens?”“Of course not,” I replied. “I have selected a few men who will go undercover as rogues to find out who is recruiting them. From there, follow up the chain until I find out who is responsible for this, then deal with them accordingly. Our patrols will increase in number and frequency, acting harshly on any activity that seems suspicious.”Again, Brandon scoffed with a sniff of disapproval. Edward scratched his wiry chin. “And what of that Michael Howe?”
“He came into my territory…” I started.“Is Mike causing trouble?” she asked. The shortening of his name in such a familiarity threw me a little and a hint of possessiveness stabbed at me.“No, not exactly,” I said, trying to regain my footing. “He got caught up in a rogue attack on my territory, but that’s not the reason for my call.” I took a deep breath, then continued. “Michael is my mate. I need to know more about him before I decide to reject or accept him. I figured who better to ask than you.”She looked at me like I was crazy. “Me? You are aware of our history, right?”“Of course. You’ve seen him at his worst and you gave him a second chance. There has to be a reason
With a plan in mind, I picked up my phone and set things in motion. When I finished, I called Mario. “Ready the car. I want to return to the detention center.”“Yes, Luna,” he replied, and I end the call.This was the right decision, I told myself as I left the office and the pack house. Mario just pulled out of the garage. He got out to open the back passenger door for me. “So you’ve made your decision?”“I have,” I replied, getting in. As we drove, I explained, “The pack needs stability and I think we all agree that having my mate by my side will give us that stability.” Through the mirror, I could read Mario’s thoughts about Michael. “I won’t deny he has his issues, but many people, many alphas, are afraid of him. We could use tha
I looked over my shoulder and beamed a bright smile at Michael before I walked into the house. Despite that, it was late Monday morning there were still several people in and about the house. I waved and smiled at those who crossed our path. Those who dared look at Michael longer than a few seconds got a growl from him. Some of the bolder wolves even got a few colorful insults. “That’s not doing you any favors, you know,” I told him in a sweet tone.“I don’t want any favors! I want the hell out of here!”Ignoring him, I stopped before the door of his new room. I turned the knob and opened it, revealing the small but tasteful room. Decorated minimally in whites and soft grays, so a man or a woman would find the room comfortable to be in. “This will be your room for now,” I told him and walked inside.
I sighed as I watched him leave. That didn’t go how I wanted it at all. While Flinn was wrong, I wouldn’t let Michael break me. I didn’t want us to end like this. I would have to talk to him later when everything calmed down. For now, I had work to do.I got everything done, taking a working lunch, to be free in time for dinner. At seven, I knocked on Michael’s door. He opened it and by the scowl on his face; it seemed his mood hadn’t improved. “Time for dinner. I would like it if you joined me.”“Is this a request or an order?”“I would rather it be a request, but it will be an order if it has to be,” I replied.“Uh-huh, I thought so,” Michael said, leaving the room and closing the door behind
I frowned, not liking the sudden change in the elder. He seemed enthralled with Michael. It wasn’t fair, but all I could do was watch as Michael achieved what I had worked so hard to do just by showing up.“My father or his pack were hardly models to follow, elder,” Michael replied, sounding as if he was half bored.“Well, that is true,” the elder said, rubbing his bare chin. “Perhaps… perhaps with you here, she won’t ruin the pack after all. It was a pleasure to meet with you Alpha Michael,” the elder said and turned to scurry down the hall. No doubt to tell everyone the news.When he turn his back to me I flipped him off and muttered a few colorful insults earning a laugh from Michael. “That doesn’t seem very proper luna behavior,” he replied
I practically skipped through the pack house to Doctor’s Evan’s office. With a knock on the door, I walked in. “Hey Doc, can you set up another appointment for Michael?”He sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning them. “Alice, this won’t work if he won’t agree.”“We talked, and he agreed to come to talk to you. I swear it. I’ve learned my lesson. No more ambushing.”“That must have been some talk,” Doctor Evan said, looking at me curiously. “Alright, if he can confirm I can see him tomorrow evening.”Irritation and worry twisted my stomach. Was it going to be like this now? Anything I do would have to go through Michael? I was so not going to let that fly! “Why does he nee
Mike~~~I watched as a couple of people put the security guy on a stretcher, then carry him out of the room. Guilt sent bitter bile up my throat and put a sour taste in my mouth. I scowled at the useless emotion. I had nothing to be guilty about. It’s his damn problem. He can’t put his money where his mouth is. Yeah, I thought. My scowl changed to a smirk. It’s not my fault I kicked his ass as if he was a newborn pup.I would’ve laughed if it wasn’t for Alice glaring at me. What the hell did she want from me? She knew who I was, who my father was. What the hell did she expect? “Well, this is just great,” she said, crossing her arms. It reminded me of how my sister used to get when Dad wouldn’t buy her something stupid that she claimed she needed.
It’s been five months since Antoine took over the pack back while Harry agreed to let me be the alpha of his better packs project. After a few days of arguing, we settled on the name Genesis pack. It’s not a large pack. We only have thirty members. I, Dean, Harry, Jon, Andy, and a woman named Ambria serve as the ruling council. As Alpha, I deal with the physical threats to the pack from the outside. Harry manages our finances, Jon, and Andy work on our security. Kara deals with intelligence with Ambria, who does public relations.Dean serves as the voice of the pack. If anyone is unhappy with what we’re doing, they can contact him about it, all the while remaining anonymous to the council. This way, they will never have to fear retribution from us. He also helps resolve internal conflicts between members and I’m not being biased when I say he does it well. He’s very good with
“Thanks, Dean,” I said as we left the infirmary.He grinned. “You need to stop thanking me for doing normal, decent stuff, Beautiful.”I rolled my eyes and hugged him as a red-faced Marquice marched up to us. “Where have you been? Do you realize what’s going on?”I stiffened, narrowing my eyes at him. “Yes, my father was attacked. I was with him now.”“I’m not talking about that,” he said. “That… that pretender. He’s been taking over, acting like he’s alpha. Do you know he’s been organizing the enforcers to search and track Brandon?”“And? Marquice, did you forget he is the alpha now?”
“Come with me,” Wesley said, eyeing Antoine and Beth with obvious distrust. He tried to herd me away from them.I stepped away from him. We didn’t have time for these stupid games. We should be over that by now. “Tell me whose blood that is now!”Giving me a look that told me he didn’t approve of my reaction, Wes blew out a breath. “Your father’s.”“What happened?” I demanded, and waved for Antoine and Beth to follow. Wes licked his lips, glancing at the others. “Stop being an idiot, Wes. These are the new alphas. They may hear whatever you say.”“I was heading back when I saw it,” he began, grief washing over his face. “I didn’t realize what was happening at first. Your
The next two days, I spent training hard, preparing myself for what was going to be an awesome fight. What wasn’t so awesome was the amount of ‘helpful’ tips everyone thought they were entitled to give. I appreciated most of them, especially those given to me by Wes, Jon, and above all, Dean, but the ones from my old pack members or my father were, honestly, unwelcome. I finished listening to anything my father had to say, just about anything. If it wasn’t for Dean running interference, I’m not sure what might have happened.I couldn’t be more thankful to Dean. He had been just what I needed since I came. Thanks to him, I knew no matter what happened in the challenge fight, Father and my old pack were safe. My instincts told me his intentions were honest. He only wanted to protect his growing family. I don’t think he’d do any kind of ‘cleansing’ w
Dean~~~“Antoine Bell is our challenger,” the man, Marquice, said as we sat around a large oval table. The name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it. “He’s been in the country for ten years, and we’re not sure what exactly brought him to this country. He’s been living down in Louisiana—”Louisiana. It hit me. I knew who Antoine Bell was, and that he was challenging Nic’s father couldn’t be an accident. “Did he come with someone?”Everyone turned to look at me, confused. “What does that matter?” Marquice demanded.“Answer the question,” Nic said, though I could tell she was as co
“This is crazy,” Marquice demanded, and to ensure it was very clear, he gave me the look of bewildered horror. “Your father will never agree to this.”“Then that’s his choice, but if he wants my help, he is going to agree to those terms. I will not save his ass, just to have it all fall apart at the next turn. What happened to Father’s dignity?”He scowled at me, but took out his cell and tapped the screen. “Alpha,” Marquice said with a much softer voice when the call connected. “She’s agreed to help, but with conditions. Yes, Sir, I told her the pack was at risk. Yes, she still insisted.” Marquice glared at me for good measure, and I replied with a grin. “The first condition is Brandon may never become alpha, no matter what happens in the future, and second—”
Brent allowed me the use of one of his larger offices. Whatever Marquice had to say, I wanted all of my people to hear it. Dean joined us as well. Brent and his mate — Emily, were there as well.“I appreciate your help, Alpha Brent. However, this is a Golden Plains matter to be discussed,” Marquice told him.Before I said it, Brent did. “None of the people here present are members of the Golden Plains pack per your new alpha’s orders.” I appreciated the icy edge to his voice as he spoke.Marquice looked from the alpha to me. “Nic, this is a pack matter, and I’m under orders to tell you what I have to say, and only you.”“As the alpha said, I’m not pack. I am a guest here and in no position to ask the alpha
“So,” Dean said as we sat down on one of the couches in the small room. “What is it you want to talk about?” He sounded almost nervous.I chuckled to myself. He was nervous? Dean had nothing to be nervous about. “Well, I told you I appreciate what you’ve been doing for me since I arrived and well, I wanted to let you know that I, uh, am ready to accept you as my mate,” I told him then added, “And, I understand if you aren’t. We know little about each other, so it’s okay if you’re not sure or if you’re not ready.”When he said nothing for a moment, my nerves ratcheted up, and I ran a hand through my hair. Perhaps I was doing this wrong? Perhaps I misread things. When he asked, “You’re kidding right?” I stared back at him, not sure what he meant. He scooted over closer
“Relax,” Sadie said as I paced the room.Relax? How could I relax when I was waiting for Dean to come here to ask him on a date? An actual date. Me and him. On a date. “This was a bad idea. What was I even thinking?”“It’s a fine idea. You only have to relax,” she insisted.Easy for her to say. She wasn’t going on a date. My stomach tightened, and I was pretty sure I was going to get sick soon. The knock on the door nearly made me jump right out of my skin. Sadie chuckled as she opened the door.“Hey, Sadie, right? I heard Nic was looking for me,” Dean said.“She’s right here,” Sadie replied, opening the door as I contemplated jumping out the window