Page 71 of Sold to the Alpha Wolf

We all laughed, and Cade walked over to me. He met my stare again, holding it intensely as he squeezed my shoulder.

“I mean it. We’re with you.” He nodded, and I returned the gesture. “But I will not go anywhere near those kids.”

Laughter rang out through the room, and the tension that had filled it to the brim eased off. We were all tired, the alphas from their journey and me from endlessly scrambling after pups. It was so damn good to have them here.

“Thank you. It’s good to know that each of you will work with me, with each other, to change things. It’s the only way forward. We need things to get better soon, too, and not just because I’m worried about my pups. Things are shifting with our magic, with our abilities, with our damn numbers. Division isn’t going to solve any of that shit.”

“We’ve got the issue of hunters to think of during all this mess, too. They’ve been getting nosier around my territory, and I don’t like it. I’m not going to be able to keep sending them away after a good scare. If one of them sees something they shouldn’t…well, let’s just say the pack will have dinner that night.”

Rowan’s words sent a shiver down my spine. We didn’t eat humans, but we weren’t incapable of it either. And I knew the gorgeous fucker was as ruthless as he was charming.

“I know, old friend. We’ll see about redefining the territory lines, using some human tricks to deter them.”

Stretching, Brooks broke our little huddle. “All right, all right. We’ve got all week for this shit. I’m hungry. Let’s get the fuck out of this stuffy old room.”

Brooks sauntered over to Cade, throwing his arm over his shoulder and dragging the guy out of the room, even as Cade growled at him.

“I am not your mate. Get off,” Cade snapped, but Brooks just smirked.

“Aside from good old Jet here, none of us have mates. Or dates that I’m aware of. Though I definitely have something cooking with this wolf back home. Oof ass for days, son!”

The others laughed, Rowan following Brooks and Cade out of the room. But I walked up behind Kaiden and tugged on his arm to halt him.

“Hey, Jet. What is it?”

Putting a hand on each of his shoulders, I smirked at him. “How is alpha life, son?”

“Jet,” he smiled, putting a hand on top of my left arm, “it’s going fine. I’m not going to lie and say I’m perfect at it. But things are as good as they can be. We’ve got some stuff going on with that drug thing I was telling you about, but I’m sure it’ll resolve itself.”

I nodded, pulling him along after the other alphas. “You know it can be a lot easier if you have someone there alongside you. I can’t be there to help anymore, and your sister is a bit busy with endless medical needs. And dating Grayson.”

Kaiden blanched, his eyebrows meeting his hairline. “She’s doing what now? Well, there’s something that just slipped her mind, I guess. Little shit.”

Laughing, I nodded. “Oh yeah, I’m sure Kenzie was chomping at the bit to tell her brother that she’s seeing one of his oldest friends. Besides, maybe it’s your own dating life that you should be thinking about.”

I didn’t think it was possible for Kaiden’s brows to get higher, and yet…

“Are you kidding me? With all the alpha stuff? I don’t have time for that.”

“Whatever happened to that girl you used to bully? Kim, Chloe—”

“Kit.”

“Yes, that’s it. You were so hung up on her. I mean, you taunted her endlessly, but I always assumed it was because you liked her and didn’t know how to interact with her any other way.”

“I was a dumb teenager, Jet. You hadn’t driven home the point of how to be compassionate and respectful yet. I have my regrets, but that shit is so in the past. Besides, I think I heard that she’s staying with the Williams pack now. And in case I need to remind you, Eli is not an alpha I want to be dealing with.”

Kaiden shook his head, breaking free of my gentle hold and walking off down the hall. It was a clear end to the conversation. Still, I knew the seed had been planted, and I also knew that Senna could get off my back about helping him to find some “happiness” now.

Leave it to my little omega to be all into matchmaking.

“Speaking of…”

I let the others go to the kitchen for snacks ahead of me. I had a date with a patch of grass, and I wasn’t going to miss it.

***

The sun shone down on the new grass in the backyard, and the warmth of it on my skin felt so damn good after such a long winter. It was still only early spring, the temperature maybe around seventy-two degrees, but I was still thrilled for any chance to be outside with the pack.

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