Greyson speaks up. “Except in the case where someone is just shrugging off their destiny. Like rejecting a mate or trying to be lone when we know it’s not healthy. We will intervene if we all feel it’s a good idea. There’s very specific criteria, including a vote. We all voted to intervene with you, for example.”
My brow notches.
He smiles and shrugs. “We’re trying. And it’s not entirely altruistic because you had your birthright stolen from you, it’s also because we want that completeness that only comes with a full team. And in a pack with a lead alpha in the council, like I said, we all work together, but he’d have veto power. You would have the power to overrule a decision. That said, though, if your pack had a major problem with a decision you make, it could be problematic. We don’t want a dictatorship. In a nutshell a group was formed and outlined the ideal structure for a leadership team. Over time it’s become a birthright in your family, but nobody got the chance to see if you’d be what your father was because you were taken too young. But we believed it should’ve been you by the loss we felt without you, and then when we saw you six years ago, we knew you were our missing piece. We’ve all agreed we feel it in your presence now that we’ve all come in contact. Well, five of us, anyway. Mason, that remains to be seen.”
“He’s right. And we have a great team. We want you to be a part of it but not just for us, for you,” Bailey says. “Everyone does their own thing. A few of our guys work together in construction. One of them has a technology company. Two others are into real estate development. We’ve got a lot of expertise in our community, too. We’re often called upon by other packs to help with problems, to sit on councils and bring objectivity. Our alphas are smart and want challenges, so if that sounds like you, we could bring you plenty of that. We get approached from other packs and a few of our guys are on councils that are offered bounties to help other packs with problems. Some don’t take on those roles, are busy enough with local stuff as well as their own livelihoods.”
“What sorts of problems?” I ask.
“Rogue wolves, mate rejections, other threats to our way of life. Grey has solid diplomacy skills. He’s got witch blood in his family line on his mom’s side, so he’s got pretty strong persuasion powers. He and a few other alphas just worked with a pack in the Northwest Territories. Their alpha refused to step down and let the new voted alpha take over despite dementia setting in. These guys helped negotiate his stepping down without any bloodshed, which was a worry. Mason was off last week with two alphas from another pack and a beta in our pack who were working with a mountain pack doing damage control over rumors flying around their local area after a couple got caught shift-fucking. An out-of-town hunter threatened to expose them.”
“Shift-fucking?” My eyebrows rise.
“Shifting while having sex,” she explains. “They were caught in a whirlwind. It was their mating night and she went into spontaneous heat and they lost control, weren’t careful about their surroundings, they were so caught up in one another. They both shifted repeatedly during copulation and they were seen.”
I can see how this would be a problem. Uncle told me from as young as I have memories that our nature had to be kept secret. At least he did that right.
Grey shuffles uncomfortably and then leans in. “We need you to take your place as alpha as soon as possible so we wanna help you get acclimated. Then Rye can heal and also the rest of us can start getting ready to mate.”
“Explain.”
“He’s told us to hold back with you, to give you time. But you should know that beyond me being here worrying Rye is taking on too much, you should also know that none of us have found our mates. Except Rye, likely because he took the leadership role, but she died, so he’s in pain. He’s taken on too many responsibilities and hasn’t taken the time to grieve properly. We all believe once our team is complete we’ll all begin to sense our mates out there. We’re hoping he gets a second chance.”
“Well fuck. If that wasn’t emotional blackmail, right?” Bailey laughs.
I don’t respond. I’m just taking everything in. As if I care if other wolf shifters find their mate.
Though, if I’m honest with myself, I do. I barely know these people, but the emotion I feel after having found Ivy? I can’t imagine how good it’ll feel when she’s fully settled with me. And if I’m honest, I do feel a strange connection with them so maybe I do care for that reason.