“And where did that land us with Ulrich?” Henry asked. “It’s time for a change.”
“You just don’t want to go back,” Nola said. She folded her arms over her chest, but Henry thought maybe some of her anger had waned.
He shrugged. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean you’re less qualified because of it. You know all the people, you know what they need now. Why wait for me to figure all that out when you can fix it now?”
She shook her head. “You know how they are, Henry. It won’t work if I go back and announce I’m going to be the one in charge. No one will listen.”
“You make them listen,” Evershaw said. “That’s what alphas do. You enforce your will on others when it’s to the benefit of the pack.”
Deirdre snorted but tried to look innocent when her mate scowled, and the witch only kept her attention on Nola. “Perhaps there’s a compromise to be made, then.”
“A compromise?” Henry frowned as he studied her, wondering what was going on behind the witch’s serene expression. “Why did I just get a bad feeling?”
She smiled. “Come on, Henry. You’re a good guy. You don’t want to see your family suffer, not when there’s something you can do to help. But we don’t want you to martyr yourself for this pack. I fully expect you to come back to us expeditiously.”
“Come back?” Henry glanced at Evershaw, then back at Deirdre. “Fill me in. What kind of plan are you cooking up?”
“Perhaps you can go back with Nola for a brief visit, to help assess the status of the pack and identify the next alpha,” Deirdre said. “Whether that alpha will be your sister or someone else is up to negotiation of course, but if you’re there to settle down the males, it will smooth the road for everyone.”
Henry started to shake his head in an immediate rejection of the idea, but gradually some of the tension in his chest eased. He dared a look at Nola, who stared at him with something like hope in her eyes. Henry scrubbed at his face. “I don’t know if that would be fair to the pack. They might expect me to stay or try to trap me into lingering there, regardless of what I plan.”
Deirdre patted her mate’s hand when Evershaw looked about to share his thoughts, and the witch went on without pausing. “Perhaps, but if you’re very clear with everyone”—and she glanced at Nola as she said it—“then there won’t be any surprises or hurt feelings when you leave. Right?”
Henry groaned and leaned back in his chair. Just when he’d gotten his feet under him with SilverLine and established a life he really enjoyed in the city, he was going to get ripped away from it for God only knew how long. His attention drifted and he glanced up and over his shoulder in the direction of his room. And there was Ophelia, of course. He didn’t know what was between them or if it would survive for very long, but he wanted to find out. And he definitely wouldn’t find out if he went chasing off to Montana.
And he certainly didn’t expect her to go with him.
Deirdre smiled so faintly he almost missed it entirely. “I’m sure your mate would look forward to the opportunity to meet your family and help you on this adventure.”
He tried not to glare at her. If Ophelia didn’t go to Montana, then no doubt Nola would spend the entire trip trying to set him up with female wolves. “I’m sure she’d love Montana.”
Nola leaned forward, her gaze intense. “So you’ll come back? At least for a while?”
Henry sighed. His conscience tugged at him. Regardless of what his stepfather had done, Henry still cared about the pack he’d been born into. He loved his family and wanted them to be happy and safe. If he had the chance to really help them, then he wasn’t much of a wolf or a leader if he turned his back on them. “I’ll go back to help identify and train a new alpha for three months. Just three. Okay?”
Nola choked and lurched out of her chair, throwing her arms around his neck. “Thank you!”
He tentatively hugged her back and hoped he hadn’t just ruined all the plans he’d been making.
