TOUGH DECISIONS

Dean stood there in the damaged cottage that belonged to Kiera. He held the phone out to Oli, completely distracted by his thoughts after he’d heard James make his demands. The land or Kiera, it should be a straightforward decision but his mind rebelled.

           There was no way he would give up the land. That would give James the last thing he needed to drive Dean and his pack from his territory. No one could live without water.

           So, the other possibility was Kiera. Find her and hand her over to James. His mind hated this idea. In a protective and possibly territorial way. Why? He thought his attraction to her died the day that they returned her to them changed. How could he feel the hollowness in his soul now, after all this time?

           There was no way he could explain it. No way he could give into this either. The backlash of mating with a monster was impossible to contemplate with several pack members opposed to her living within pack territory.

           “Oli, what do you think? What is James up to? What use is Tara to him?”

           “I haven’t got a clue. But if he’s admitted he had Trisha and demanded the delivery of Kiera, it didn’t bode well for recovering his sister because Kiera was still missing. So, who kidnapped Kiera?”

           “But it feels wrong to search for her, only to pawn her off onto James and his pack.”

           “It doesn’t feel right abandoning your sister either because you have what? The hots for a Lycan? That is what the problem is, right?”

           “What? No. She was part of the pack, and we all grew up together. James always made her life harder by getting her involved in our issues with each other.”

          “Dean, you messed with her as well to foil James’ plans. Yet, you’ve always had a soft spot for her. I’m not sure why you didn’t pursue her. At least, date her for a while.”

          “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I would never have dated her, and I’ve never shown her any special interest. She was a means to an end back then.”

           Oli snorted while he put away his phone in his back pocket. “If I’m so wrong then, why are you bulking at giving her to James? How would that play out with the pack if they found out about your obsession with a Lycan? You’re their alpha and you’re the example of everything they are supposed to strive for. Mating other species isn’t on the list of acceptable practices.”

           Dean glowered at the four walls in contemplation. The frustration and he wouldn’t admit this to Oli, the anguish over this, kept his thoughts to himself. “Maybe it’s time for their baseline expectations of the perfect example of being a wolf shifter change? It could be time to change the bar on what’s acceptable and what’s not.”

“Dean, Alpha, you’re my friend and my leader, I would fail you as both if I didn’t point out to you that what you’re saying is insane and would have severe ramifications like losing your position as their alpha and possibly your life as well. Dean, you need to see things in an illuminating light. She’s not your fated mate, and you’re talking out of guilt when you weren’t involved in what happened to her. She’s no longer your concern, and if you insist on not minding your position, then it could come back to haunt you.”

“Really Oli? What am I hearing from you right now? Are you threatening me? Are you telling me that if I don’t find her and give her up like some sacrificial lamb, you’ll come after my place as the alpha of this pack?” Dean glared at Oli, and he couldn’t believe how angry it made him to think his friend and Beta would say and mean that. It felt like such a betrayal to him it jarred him out of his musings.

“I never said that, and I most definitely didn’t mean that. Dean, you must believe me. That was never my intention. I have only given you the worst-case scenario and sadly, that’s also the most likely scenario out there. The Ruling Council has never failed to remove an alpha whose pack can’t accept their choices. They’ll send candidates to remove you from the position.” What Oli meant was the Ruling Council would send potential candidates for the position of his pack to challenge him to a duel to the death for the position of alpha of the pack. There wasn’t a lack of alpha male wolf shifters, what there was a lack of was territory and packs. It wasn’t all magic and politics that created a pack. There was the land and the wolves as well.

Dean still didn’t like it. Over the last month or so, Oli’s words were suspiciously negative toward Kiera and his choices about her. He’d all but celebrated her leaving the territory.

“I’m not saying that we don’t search for her. Someone needs to find her, but she doesn’t belong here with our pack. There are several within the pack who aren’t comfortable with her around, and it’s not fair to them to force her upon them.”

“Good grief, Oli, can you hear yourself and your entitlement? Kiera is alone. There’s nowhere else for her to go. Those pack members have an entire pack to fall back on. Their fears have no basis in anything other than rumours, speculation, and stories about other people. The attacks from the Lycan were all from one or two individuals. No one knows them. For all we know, they had the same anger issues before they were tortured and experimented on.” Dean threw his hands up in the air and stomped toward the door.

He turned back and waved a finger toward Oli. “For all we know, those attacks may never have happened. The pack members you’re speaking of should have come to me and I would have set them straight long before this. But no, they lied to me and told me what would keep them from being embarrassed or punished. This is serious how hypocritical they are. This happened to our ancestors, and they are acting no better than the humans that hunted our ancestors and killed them for being violent monsters. I think it’s time I addressed this with them. Arrange for someone to come out here and clean this up. Make the necessary repairs as well.” Dean turned back to the door and left the room. “I’m going to figure out how we’re going to search for Kiera.”