Page 34 of Sold to the Alpha Wolf

“Oh, good. You’re here. I was about to come find you so we could eat already.”

I shook my head with a grin. I could always trust MacKenzie to break the tension. Walking around to the head of the long, deep brown wood table, I sat down in my usual spot and had Senna sit at my right-hand side. Grayson helped Kaiden bring the tremendous piles of food to the table—bacon, eggs, pancakes, and even sausages this time.

As people gathered at the table, sitting down, others stood up at the back to take their plates to the smaller table behind them. I clocked Leon practically scowling at Senna. Possessiveness flared, and I had to bite back a growl.

“Something wrong, Leon?” my voice bit out across the easy conversations surrounding the table.

His attention switched to me abruptly, and he lowered his head, shaking it. “No, Alpha.”

“Very well.” I kept my stare leveled on him for several long moments, however.

Everyone settled in their positions, each of their plates piled with food. Kaiden took up the position on my left, with Grayson next to him. It looked like they’d decided to let him sit at the beta position since he’d cooked for everyone. Kaiden piled food onto my plate and then sat down.

All of the pack’s eyes came to me, and I looked at each one of them, noting their presence here at our table. Senna’s confused expression sent a pang through my heart, and I took her hand.

“You are a part of the clan now. I acknowledge each of you,” I glanced around the room, “during our meals. I never want you to forget that I’m here, as alpha, to do what’s right for this pack.”

Kaiden chimed in, his relaxed tone further easing the tension. “We also have to wait for Jet here to take a bite so we can all eat.”

The table laughed, and I couldn’t stop myself from doing the same.

“Oh, okay,” Senna nodded.

Tracking each of my brothers and sisters, my family, with a proud gaze once more, I released a full breath. As I picked up a piece of bacon, I poised it at my mouth for a second, almost going for the bite, but not quite.

“You big tease,” Senna mumbled, and while the pack was a little taken aback by her words, I just chuckled before popping the thing in my mouth and chowing down.

That lingering tension evaporated, and everyone around me got straight to devouring the incredible food, taking it down like the true animals they were.

After we’d all finished, I pulled Senna closer to whisper in her ear. “You really were starving. Is this the best breakfast you’ve had?”

She smiles, jostling me with her elbow. “Obviously. And yes, so hungry. Dare I say that we both worked up quite the appetite?”

An appreciative growl eased out of me, and I nipped at her playfully. Still, it was time for the meeting and the beginning of the beta trials.

***

In the larger room at the other end of the house, I stood in front of my pack in the meeting chamber. Likely some type of parlor when the home was first built by the Edwards ancestors, it now acted as a place for me to meet with the entire pack because it was large enough to hold them all.

“Edwards Pack. My pack.” Senna stood down a step from me as I presented from the low platform at the far end. “We must replace our beta. A sacred role among wolves as the second to the alpha, and a protector of the pack as surely as any alpha.”

A wave of sorrow hit through the mate bond, and I looked down at Senna. Her eyes were pinned to the floor, and I could see the tension in her body as she pulled into herself, trying to make her body smaller. I knew she felt guilty for her previous pack’s involvement, but she was not Terrance. This was not her doing.

“Before I announce the first trial that our prospective betas must uphold, I want one thing to be clear.” I pointed down at Senna. “Senna Richards is an Edwards now. She did not have anything to do with Deacon’s death, and you will not treat her differently than anyone else here. Is that understood?”

A chorus of agreement flooded the air, but I was sure to look toward Leon, demanding more of his attention through the alpha claim. He flinched back from it before offering his verbal agreement and submissive bow from his end of the connection.

“Good.” Recognition flowed out of Senna as I turned back to the wolves, and my heart warmed. “Beta tryouts, eldest wolves of the pack who’d like to offer themselves up to be beta, step forward.”

Unsurprisingly, Kaiden was the first to step forward, bowing his head and grinning up at me. Leon actually stepped forward, which was a bit of a surprise, but I knew the stubborn pup enjoyed power. Geo and Orion stepped forward, and I cocked a brow.

“You’re both aware that we can have one beta, correct?” They were practically glued at the hip, and imagining them separately was damn near impossible.

“Yes,” they answered together, and everyone gave a subtle laugh.

Grayson stepped forward, and I nodded at him, but then, of all people, MacKenzie stepped up.

Kaiden glanced over at her, his brows up to his hairline. “What are you doing?”

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