Dean
~~~
“What are you doing, Dad?” I said when I found him with Mom, watching some movie.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he replied, tilting his head towards the screen.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No, I’m serious here. Why are you keeping Alpha Joseph in a cell?”
Mom and Dad shared a glance before he sighed, paused the movie, and sat up straighter. “I’m giving you time to figure out what you’re going to do.”
“Yeah, because making Nic hate our family and causing a war is going to give me so many options.”
“Told you it wasn’t a good
Dean’s confession about his father’s games only made my anger with my father’s defeated attitude grow. How could he be so ready to give up when all that happened was he lost to Dean while throwing a fit? At this moment, I was believing Dean would be better for the pack than Father, seeing as he was taking me to let Father out, or so he claimed. Not that I doubted him. Dean so far hadn’t given me any reason to doubt his intentions, but with the games his father was playing, I didn’t want to get my hopes up.My stomach roiled with nerves as the question of ‘what next’ pressed against my mind. If all went according to plan, Father would be free, and we’d leave. But what would happen to Dean? I chewed on my lip as we walked. I had to be honest, Dean made the whole mate thing seem not so bad. We’d have to get to know each other more, but it didn’t seem
I couldn’t believe they were there. Wesley, Sadie, and Jon. “Dean came and told us what happened,” Wesley said. “I couldn’t believe it, so I talked to Joseph myself. You are the only alpha I’d accept after Joseph.” Fury made his green eyes lighten to jade, but a small quirk of a smile appeared. “Well, perhaps him too…” he jutted his chin to Dean. “But only if you’re with him.”“I agree,” Sadie said, her expression pinched. “That your father would do this to you…”“Or to us. None of us will stay with the pack if you’re not there,” Jon agreed.Gratitude filled me as I looked at them and I stood. There was hope yet. They still supported me. They were with me. “We’ll figure somethin
Alpha Brent sat in his chair, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the top and fingers steepled as he listened to me. “I understand, Nicole, but the laws are very clear. Challenges are made from alpha to alpha, meaning alpha males only. It’s an outdated thing going back to the days where our women died so often in childbirth before passive silvering rose the survivability rate.”I wanted to growl and slam my fist against the desk. Dean laid his hand on my knee and gave it a quick squeeze. I let out a breath and forced myself to focus on finding a solution. “There has to be something. We have women leading packs fine or is it until some guy decides he wants to be alpha and since women don’t count for crap, they have to step down?” Hell, his niece by mateship was leading her pack alone for a whole year before she mated Mike Howe.
Dean~~~“I feel like I’m a broken record, but I’ll ask again,” Dad said, leaning back in his chair, watching me with an intense glare. “What is the plan, Dean?”Man, not this again! “What makes you think I have a plan?”“Dean,” Dad said, looking exasperated.“Why should I have a plan for every little thing?”Dad pinched the bridge of his nose and said nothing for a long moment. “Dean, listen to me, you need to be ready for the fallout.”I looked at him, confused. “What fallout?”He
After my training and shower, I sat on the front porch of Alpha Brent’s pack house, despite the chill, letting my mind process everything that had happened when Dean found me. “Hey,” I said, running my hand over my head, vowing to cut my hair. It was getting too long for my tastes. “What did your dad want?”“The usual. What about you? Anything new?”“No luck with the laws so far, but Sadie has an idea. What is the usual? Does he want you to convince me to be a good girl and stop making waves?”Dean gave me a half-smile. “The usual is him complaining I’m not like my brother. He isn’t against you leading, Nic. He believes it’s going to be impossible.”“So does everyone else, it seems.
“Sorry, Nic,” Jon said with a shrug of his shoulders. He, Wesley, Sadie, and I sat in the game room. Dean helped Wesley get the records we needed, but had to leave to cover someone’s shift at the hospital.I forced a smile onto my lips. “No worries. If pack law states no women challengers, then we’ll find something else. What did you guys find out about Brandon?”Wesley didn’t seem any happier than Jon did when he cleared his throat. “Brandon came along with the alpha of Orlando. It seems a year or so after he left us, the alpha there took him in and they’re now best of friends, apparently.”“Ah,” I said. My chest tightening and my breathing was becoming harder. “Is there anything in the law books preventing a champion of sorts? Could Dean
Dean pulled me over to the couch. He sat next to me, his arm laid around my shoulders, and tucked me right against him. Again, I found myself struck by how nice this was. “Nic, we have to talk about this,” Dean said, sounding serious. I didn’t like him so serious.“Dean, there is nothing to talk about. I don’t even understand why you’re insisting. This should be good news to you,” I said, letting frustration enter my voice.“Is that what you really think?”I shrugged, not sure why he seemed so upset.“Okay, come with me,” Dean said, standing.I stared up at him, confused. “What?”“Come with m
“Hey, Nic, where you bee — whoa, what happened to you two?” Jon asked as Dean and I left the gym. He shook his head, held up his hands. “Actually, I don’t think I want to know. So we’ve been waiting for you and to figure out what we’re going to do next.”“Back to work,” I told Dean and rubbed a kink out of my shoulder. “I need a shower, and then we can discuss the what next. Meet you guys in thirty-forty minutes, okay.”“Sure thing,” Jon said, giving us an odd stare before turning around and going back to where he came from.“Well, rain check on the pampering. I’ll get some sleep and catch you later,” Dean said, and slung his arm around my shoulders and hugged me. “But don’t let them keep you up too long