I turned slowly in a circle, looking at every one of them, whether their head was down or not.
“I am your alpha. Youaremy pack, and weareunder threat. Workwithme to secure our territory, and together we can move forward.”
“And what of the ones you sent back?” Cale asked quietly, stepping out from the shadows of the doorway. “They have no alpha looking out for them.”
A few murmurs of agreement moved through the gathered shifters, and I let that settle.
“My focus is here, right now. Because, despite Stonefang being limited in numbers, there has been no attack there. Diesel is there, and every one of us who has had to run drills with Diesel knows how tight a ship he runs.” I looked back at Cale. “You forget already how quickly he put you on your back last time?”
Cale smirked but said nothing further.
“The threat to this territory is now.” I met a few of the looks of the shifters who had raised their heads. “We lost Simon last night, and we lost three others a few weeks before. I will not lose anyone else because my pack is divided, thinking we are not fighting for the same thing.”
“I didn’t come here to fight for these shifters,” a voice spoke from the back, and the small crowd parted like the sea as a gnarly old shifter moved forward. “I came here because my alpha is here.”
Jericho. I hadn’t seen him in the back, and Killian hadn’t warned me his uncle was in the crowd. Not surprisingly, since he didn’t acknowledge that he was his uncle. They had a complicated relationship, one which I had always stayed out of, but that was about to change today.
“You’re not here for me, Jericho,” I said bluntly. “You’re here for a whole other reason.”
You put him inpatrolrotation?I demanded of Killian.
Fucker should earn his keep.
“Doesn’t matter why I’m here, my alpha of my pack is here, and half of my packisn’there.”
“Your pack is where your alpha is,” a Blueridge Hollow shifter spoke up. “Wolfe is our alpha. He’s been your alpha a lot longer. He’s right. We need to stop thinking Blueridge and Stonefang; we need to be Blueridge.”
The cacophony of raised voices in protests made my wolf growl.
“Enough!” Everyone, including me, turned as Rowen walked into the hall. She looked as if she had just woken up. Her hair wasn’t brushed, her boots were unlaced, her pants were creased, and she was wearing one of my shirts.
My shirt looks good on you.
She cast me one sharp glare, and I bit back my grin.
“The Hollow doesn’t give a shit what we call ourselves,” she said as she addressed the pack, with her hands on her hips. “Wolfe is our alpha, and we follow our alpha. He is the chosen alpha oftwopacks andhas unitedthem. Where you live, what you call yourself, it’s not important right now.” She shook her head. “There are rogues out there trying to claim our territory, and we are losing every time one of our packbleeds.” She looked at the pack she grew up with, fixing them with a glint in her eyes that was so like Malric I felt the pang of his loss once more. She then gave that same glare to Stonefang. “We work together or not at all,” she said with deadly intent.
I walked up beside my wife, my mate, and I took her hand, our fingers interlocking. Rowen didn’t resist my hold, and I squeezed her fingers gently.
“Let’s all settle down,” I said. “And then let’s start working on the rogue problem, together.”
I watched them as they retook seats, some making the effort to sit with others not of their original pack, and I watched them all with Rowen at my side.
She turned to look at me, and I gave her a small smile.That was nicely said.
Rowen shrugged.They have a right to be angry. Simon is dead because I changed the patrol switchover. When they question me on that, don’t defend me. I don’t deserve it.
She let go of my hand and walked over to one of the tables to talk to an elder, and just like that, she and I were back to where we’d been last night.
So much for progress.
Chapter 5
Rowen
I’d been drunk.
I had never been drunk since I took the mantle of responsibility for this pack. Blueridge Hollow was mine to look after and eventually lead. They didn’t need to see me drunk in my cups, reckless and irresponsible. They needed a role model, andIhad made myself that role modelforthem.
