And Joe, of course. Because he was on my mind more than the others.
The gruff man told us that they’d continue the search, but it seemed halfhearted. They spoke as if Michelle Hughes was going to be long-term, to finally have someone permanent take Thomas’s place as the head Alpha. “We’ll give it time,” he said, sipping black coffee. “But we can’t wait forever.”
He asked to speak to me privately. I glanced at Elizabeth, who nodded before agreeing. She pointed toward Thomas’s old office, and I hesitated only briefly. The others left the house. Tanner, Rico, and Chris were at the shop.
The gruff man waited until he was sure they were out of earshot before closing the door to the office. I sat behind the desk, more intimidated than I expected to be. I tried to push it down, but I think he knew.
Then, “She’s curious about you.”
I didn’t expect that. “Who?”
“Alpha Hughes.”
“Why?”
He snorted. “Because you’re human, and somehow you’ve become an Alpha. Of the Bennett pack, no less.”
“Joe’s the Alpha of the Bennett pack,” I said. I was just temporary. I’d accepted it more than I had before, but it was still a work in progress. One that I hoped would be over very, very soon.
“Joe’s not here.”
“He will be,” and I wondered if the gruff man heard the traitorous thump of my heart.
“How did you do it?” he asked. “She’ll want to know. Not because you’ve done anything wrong or because she’ll want to take anything from you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why go there first?”
He shrugged. “Because you did. And I don’t blame you. Neither does she. This pack has been put through… a lot. Which is an understatement. You don’t hand out trust easily.”
You meaning the pack. He spoke to me as if we were one out of respect. “There aren’t many people to trust.”
“Alpha Hughes—”
“Is someone I’ve never met,” I said sharply. “So I can’t be expected to trust her.”
“That hasn’t stopped her from wondering about you.”
“Keeping tabs.”
“Robbie,” he said.
“Robbie,” I agreed.
“Would you believe me if I told you that his updates have gotten exceedingly vague as time has gone by?”
I would, because they had. I nodded slowly, wondering if I was going to have to fight this gruff man for one of my pack. Because Robbie wasn’t his. He didn’t belong to Alpha Hughes. He belonged to me. Here. With the pack.
“She understands.”
“Does she?” I asked.
“Probably more than you know. I can’t say you don’t have the instincts we do, because I don’t know what you are. But a wolf knows when he fits. When he finds a home. There’s a pull. In his head and chest. It starts off small at first. But it grows, if allowed. And you’ve allowed it.”
“You can’t take him back,” I said bluntly. “I won’t let you.”
He eyed me for a moment. Then, “I wouldn’t ask that of him. Or you.”
“He’s mine now.” And something primal in me took great joy from the thought.
“We know. It’s not exactly ideal, but—”
“Better than Osmond.”
The gruff man flinched at that. “Fair.”
“Fair? I think that might be an understatement.”
“Osmond was… unforeseen.”
“Osmond was a mistake. I think even Thomas knew that. Before it happened.”
“No one could have seen that coming.”
“Maybe you weren’t looking hard enough. Do you even know how it happened? When? Was he turned, or did he always belong to Richard Collins?”
The gruff man rubbed a hand over his face. “Those are questions we hope to ask him if he’s found.”
“When he’s found.”
“For someone who doesn’t trust what I’m saying, you’re putting an awful lot of faith in our teams.”
“I’m not talking about your teams,” I said coolly.
“He’ll work for us, Robbie will,” the gruff man said. “We ask that you keep us informed of any… changes.”
“Changes.”
“To your pack. Normally, when a pack adds members, there’s a vetting process. To avoid any chance of letting someone in who has other interests at heart.”
I blinked. “Was I vetted?”
“Partly. Mostly it was the word of Thomas. People usually didn’t say no to him. Even after he stepped down. He was… persuasive.”
That didn’t sit right. “You want control.”
“We want to be safe,” he countered. “There aren’t as many of us as there used to be. Things change. Attitudes change. If things kept going as they were, there’d be mostly bitten and not born. When a species is dying, everything must be done to preserve those that remain. This isn’t about control. It’s about survival.”
“Richard Collins doesn’t give two shits about that.”
“Richard Collins is a psychopath.”
“Fine,” I said. “Robbie can still report to you. But if you push him for things he shouldn’t be discussing, if you attempt to go behind my back—”
“Threats aren’t necessary,” the gruff man assured me. “Though I would be lying if I said you’re not gonna get shit about this.”
I froze, but it was a small thing.
The gruff man caught it, though. He arched an eyebrow at me.
I cleared my throat. “How?”
“Others aren’t going to take kindly to a human Alpha. There is barely tolerance for bitten Alphas. But you? You’re human. Some will see it as a slap in the face. Others will think you’re lying.”
“Do you?”
He shook his head slowly. “Maybe before I got here. Maybe I’d heard the stories about you before, the human in the wolf pack. And maybe I didn’t necessarily believe everything I’d heard. Thomas always said how revered they should be, even after humans had tried to exterminate us. And yet he hid you from us. Not you specifically, no. We knew about you. But the fact that you were going to be mated to the future Alpha? He kept that from us. No one knew until Osmond came. We were… concerned.”
“Concerned enough to send a traitor and a handful of Betas without knowing who their loyalties were with.”
“We didn’t know he was—”
“No,” I said. “I get that. But it doesn’t seem like any of you know much about anything.”
“Be that as it may,” the gruff man said, “there will be pushback on this. On you. I’m convinced, because I’m here. In your territory. I can feel the way you’ve bonded with it, with your pack. But others won’t see that.”
“That’s not my problem. I’m not looking for tolerance. I just want everyone to leave my pack alone.”
“You should have chosen a different pack, then,” he said dryly. “Being a Bennett almost ensures you won’t be left alone. If this… goes on much longer, you’ll need to register. All Alphas must register with the head Alpha. It helps us keep track of the wolf population. To make sure Alphas aren’t building packs without our guidance.”