She looked back and forth between us, her mask slipping just a bit further. “Can’t you see that I’m just trying to help you? You don’t have to be alone in this.”
“We’re not alone,” Joe said. “We have each other. Our packs.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t both be Alphas and lead the same pack. It doesn’t work that way.”
“You don’t know how we work,” I said.
“And you’ll listen to him?” she asked Joe, ignoring me. “The human? After everything they’ve done. After everything they could do?”
“Speciesist,” Joe said. “Unfortunate. I never thought you of all people would think that way. Osmond did. And so did Richard.”
Her eyes flared red. “I am nothing like them.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter. Not now. Not with what could happen.”
“Which is all the more reason to let us help you—”
“Three years,” I said. “And this is the first time I’ve heard from you. Why is that?”
She hesitated.
“You knew Joe was gone. You knew some of us remained. And yet you never contacted us. Not me. Not Mark. Not even Elizabeth. Why is that?”
“There was no need,” she said stiffly. “You were grieving. Robbie was there telling me what I needed to know.”
“And yet,” Joe said, picking up on the thread, “I’ve been back two weeks and here you are.”
“I figured it was time—”
“No,” Joe said. “You didn’t.”
“Because you didn’t want us,” I said. “You want Joe.”
“He is the Bennett Alpha,” Michelle snapped. “He’s supposed to be—”
“My father told me that in order to be a good Alpha, I always need to put the good of the pack first,” Joe said. “Above anything else. Because an Alpha cannot lead if he doesn’t have a pack who will follow him.”
“What good will it be when your pack is gone?” she asked. “Because that’s the risk you run. Joe, I am asking—no, I am begging you. Let us help you.”
Joe looked over at me. I made sure my gaze didn’t waver, that he could see every single part of me that I’d built up for him. We still had a long way to go. Those hurts and burns that had scarred my skin over the last three years would take a long time to heal. But I’d given my heart away years ago to a blue-eyed boy who loved and trusted me enough to keep his family safe.
He made a little choking sound, like he hurt deep back in his throat. There was a burst of warmth in my head and chest, and it was there, however small, however young, this thread, the tiniest thread and it said pack and love and mate mate mate.
Michelle was right. Joe was the Bennett Alpha.
But she didn’t expect me. She didn’t know about me. Whether or not she believed what I was or not, she still thought me weak.
Yes, Joe was the Alpha.
But so was I.
And I would do anything for him. For our pack.
I turned back to Michelle. “You aren’t welcome here. Not now. Not until this is over. Not until we can be sure we can trust you. I’m human. But I am an Alpha, and I will do anything for our pack.”
“Even die?” she asked quietly.
Joe froze.