Page 38 of Entering a New World

“You’re the Alpha. Shouldn’t you say the pack comes first?”

Rolling his eyes, Gray fixated on me with a serious glare. “No. I don’t expect and don’t want people to put the pack first no matter what. Because guess what? That’s how you get dissatisfied pack members. And unhappy pack members make for a dysfunctional pack. You know that.”

Of course I did.

In theory.

My mind just wasn’t working right now; all my strength and attention was needed to keep my wolf at bay.

We’ll see him soon, I tried reassuring him, but he didn’t want to listen. He was urging me, begging me to let us finally see our mate.

“I know. Sorry, Gray,” I mumbled.

“No problem. Send that text.” He nudged my foot.

Sure. I can come over whenever. Just tell me when and where.

Was it too much? Too overeager? Too overbearing? I could have probably worded it better, but then again, I’d been waiting for a message for almost two weeks. For fated mates, that was like going without your mate for an eternity.

“Also,” Gray said, bringing his coffee mug to his lips. “I’m not too worried about the barrier.”

Furrowing my brows, I gave him a confused look. “You’re not?”

Because I definitely was.

“Nope,” he said. “If the barrier was suddenly getting weaker, it’d be a whole different story, but the barrier getting stronger on its own? In my book, that’s a good thing.”

“But it’s not supposed to happen. It’s supposed to be impossible.”

Gray nodded grimly. “According to legends, yes.”

“According to our ancestors.”

Another slow nod. “Our ancestors weren’t perfect. A lot of information was lost over the centuries. It’s entirely possible the barrier can, in fact, recharge on its own, without our ancestors knowing about it.”

Pondering over this, I closed my eyes. “But they were there. Solomon was alive the last time the barrier was recharged. He’d talked to the witch.”

Sipping his coffee, Gray took his time to answer. “Yeah. And the witch coven said only they could recharge the barrier.”

“Yes. Just like the covens you talked to two years ago.”

Recharging or the upkeep of a magical barrier almost appeared to be a lost art form. Gray had contacted more than two dozen covens and only three answered with quotes of how much it’d cost to take care of it.

“Yeah…” Gray sighed. “Listen, it’s all speculation, and I’m not saying I don’t trust witches because they’re witches, but… do you remember how much money they wanted for recharging the barrier? They’re making a lot off of that service. So, let’s just think about this for a moment. If they had a perfect and easy way to make a lot of money by making shifters believe the only way to keep their packs safe was by having covens regularly recharge the barriers surrounding the packlands… wouldn’t they use that to their advantage?”

My first instinct was to tell him he was way off base with his speculations, but I couldn’t deny it sounded logical in a twisted, unethical way.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and any thoughts about barriers and witches overcharging us for their services went right out the window.

Did you have breakfast yet? Mave is making pancakes; if you want to come over, I can order an extra batch for you.

One second, I was sitting on one of the dining hall chairs, the next second, the chair cluttered loudly as it fell to the wooden floorboards, and I was standing upright, already one step away from the table.

Fuck.

Stop it, I chastised my wolf, though I wasn’t entirely sure it’d actually been him who’d taken control. I might’ve just lost my senses for a moment.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves and my frantically beating heart, before turning back around to Gray. I gave him an apologetic smile and bent down to pick up the chair.

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