Page 41 of Impregnated By the Alpha

Obviously, they were talking about him, and judging by Evelyn’s tone, she didn’t have much of anything nice to say. Not that he could blame her. He would never fault someone for disliking him based on his last name alone. Half the time, he didn’t like himself for the same reason.

Still, if he was going to stay in Silversand, and his connection with Moira was making that more and more likely, he needed to make an effort to befriend people, especially pack members. He wandered over, bringing a refill for Rami’s teapot.

They were back in conversation, but their voices pitched low, so he could only make out what they were saying when he got closer.

“And he just shows up now? After the hell his father put us through? Like, come on. He thinks he’s going to swoop in and—“

“Oh, hi, Jonah,” Rami said loudly, cutting Evelyn off.

She spun around, glaring at Jonah. “Were your ears burning?”

Jonah set the teapot down. “Call it a sixth sense. I take it I don’t have your vote for alpha then, Evelyn?”

Evelyn snorted. “I think maybe you’re fine as a person, maybe. Moira seems to have come around. But you ditched the pack when things were going downhill. At least Evans never did that.”

“Well, yeah,” Rami piped in, “Evans never had the chance to. He might’ve done the exact same thing, in Jonah’s shoes.”

Shooting him a withering look, Evelyn went on. “You’re a White Winter now. I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I thought you were just passing through for your father’s funeral, but it’s a whole different thing when you’re planning to stay. How can you think you’re fit to lead a pack that you abandoned?”

It hit too close to home. She was voicing all of the doubts he’d been having, and he didn’t have answers for her any more than he had them for himself.

“I’m sorry for abandoning the pack. After my mother died and my father lost himself, I felt… helpless here. I couldn’t watch him self-destruct; maybe if I’d tried harder, I could’ve stopped it from happening. But I didn’t.” Jonah knew it must have felt like a double blow to the pack, losing their alpha’s son.

“So you’re a little self-aware,” Evelyn said, crossing her arms. “But that doesn’t fix things.”

“No,” he agreed. “It doesn’t. But I know the history of the pack, I know its ups and downs, and I think, if I get the chance, I’m the one that knows how to put it back together.”

Rami cleared his throat, and they both turned to look at him. He pushed his glasses up his nose, seemingly uncomfortable with the focused attention. “I think you can do it. Evans has been helpful, and he seems like a nice guy, but he’s new. He doesn’t know this place like we do.”

Jonah kept his thoughts to himself. He didn’t like Evans but knew it had more to do with seeing him dancing with Moira than with anything else. He couldn’t let his jealousy overrule his common sense, even if he’d had his hands on Jonah’s mate. And, he reminded himself with a pang, since his dealings with Moira were just business, she had every right to take an actual lover if she wanted to. He couldn’t claim her like that.

“You’d rather have someone that turned their back on the pack than someone doing their best for it now?” Evelyn said, incredulous. She threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you, Rami. Liking him as a person is totally different from trusting him with the pack. Especially with whatever is going on with the Rosewoods right now.”

Rami’s eyes went wide behind his glasses. “I hope they find whoever it is soon. It’s only a matter of time before things get ugly.”

“What do you mean?” Jonah asked.

“Well,” said Rami, setting his teacup down and lacing his fingers together in front of him, like a professor settling in for a lecture. “You’ve got the Silversands in turmoil and someone targeting the Rosewoods. For some reason, it’s either a Silversand looking for an edge on the Rosewoods or someone in the Rosewoods looking to end the alliance between the two packs.”

“Maybe because the Silverands are already weak,” Evelyn chimed in with a jabbing look at Jonah, “this could be the perfect time to take us out completely. Then the Rosewoods could have the whole stretch of land all the way to the coast.”

“A really suspicious mind, huh?” Jonah eyed her. “What if it’s just some bored kid?”

Evelyn and Rami shook their heads.

“You’re too trusting. No, this is targeted. We just need to figure out why,” Evelyn said. “And that’s on you, big man.”

She stalked out of the coffee shop, pouring herself a cup of dark black roast behind the bar before leaving, even though her shift wasn’t until that evening. Rami sighed once she was out of earshot.

“She’s a lot, I’m sorry,” he said, pushing the chair out with his foot for Jonah to sit. “I have something to tell you.”

Jonah slid into the seat and leaned forward, intrigued by Rami’s conspiratorial tone.

“There was a mark scratched into the door of the bookshop this morning and claw marks all over it, like someone attacked it overnight.” He took his glasses off and polished them on his shirt, peering at the glass. “It was the White Winter mark.”

Jonah sat back in his chair and squeezed his eyes shut, watching his day go from bad to worse. “Did they break anything?”

Rami shook his head. “I think they tried to get in, but it’s a pretty solid door, and you know old Alice lives right next door. She’d be out there with a bat if she heard something late at night, and no one wants to get on her bad side.”

---