Page 55 of Remy & the Wildcat

“So it was really all about power, I guess.”

“I’d say so,” he said. “Jacob wanted to keep the pride in Marin because he owned the factory that was polluting it.”

“I had no idea. I wonder if my dad knew.”

She sniffled and let out a shaky breath as she wiped her eyes. Hearing that Brilla had killed her mom so she could become alpha female had been what made her cry hardest and it had broken his heart.

“I don’t think your dad knew,” Remy said. “It seems like most of the pride was in the dark about Jacob owning the factory. I believe that he was worried if the town was abandoned, then someone could come in to take over like we’re doing in Copper Creek and they might report the factory to the environmental agencies and he’d lose everything.”

“It’s pretty shitty,” she said. “They put money over everything and it cost them their lives.”

“Yep. They took out your mom so Brilla could be alpha female and her child could become alpha. If you and I hadn’t met when we did, I think you would have been facing him in a challenge sooner rather than later, and he would not have wanted any loose ends.”

He parked in front of the house and turned off the engine. Turning to face her, he said, “I’m sorry about everything. I’m sorry that Jacob, Brilla, Leif, and the others made your life hell, and I’m sorry that they took your parents from you. We can’t fault your dad for falling for Brilla, because he was grieving and you were young and needed a mom. He couldn’t have known at the time that she had bad intentions.”

“I wish they were alive so I could get every detail about what they did, but I have enough closure to know that they took out my family for money and power, and that didn’t get them anything but an early grave.”

She leaned into him and they hugged each other tightly. He kissed her neck and inhaled her sweet scent. “Let’s get some rest and then maybe we can take the bed over to the new house so we can stay there tonight.”

“I’d love that,” she said.

They walked into the house together, where they headed right for the bedroom. It was tempting to see if they could stay awake long enough to drive each other wild, but in the end they both yawned too much to do anything more than snuggle up together and fall asleep.

The ascension ceremony reminded Remy of the joining ceremony for the pack that was presided over by the alpha. It was a simple ceremony, presided over by Liam and newly-appointed elder Marty, who’d more than proved himself loyal to the pride and the new alphas.

The pride had come together earlier that evening for a cookout at Remy and Thyme’s house, and his friend Micah from Allen had dropped off several pans of barbecue ribs along with his mate’s famous seven-layer chocolate cake, and Remy’s mom’s huge cinnamon rolls.

Then they’d gathered with the pride and elders and vowed to be the best alphas they could be, to always be mindful of the safety and well-being of the pride and its members, from the smallest babies to the oldest males and females, and to be protective of the pride’s interests and borders, keeping them safe under any and all circumstances.

As they’d vowed themselves as alphas to the pride, they’d also vowed themselves to each other, to cherish and honor each other and the position as leaders, and to bring the next generation up in the ways of their people, ready to take over when the time was right.

The pride hung out in the yard, chatting and eating. Remy and Thyme sat at a picnic table with the elders and their mates.

“Let’s meet tomorrow,” Thyme said as she pulled the meat off a rib bone. “We can go through the laws and bring them up to date.”

“Are you thinking about any laws in particular?” Marty asked.

She looked at Remy and he smiled encouragingly. “We’d like to get rid of the rule that the next generation takes over after age twenty-one, and also the mating stipulation. I don’t think picking an arbitrary age like twenty-one and also forcing the male or female to be mated before they take over works well for our people. The current alphas should lead as long as they’re mentally and physically capable of it, and when they’re ready to step down, the next generation takes over, whether it’s a mated couple or an unmated male or female.”

“We should definitely keep the alpha line in your family,” Liam said. “Your ancestors started the pride.”

“I’d like that too,” she said. She ate the rib meat and then wiped her fingers on a wet nap. “If we’re going to set up rank fights and use a ranking system, I’m leaning on Remy to make those rules and laws. Just the males are going to be ranked, though. The females will be under the general authority of the alphas and the high-ranked males, rank numbers two through six.”

“Two?” Mila asked. “Who’s number one if there are two of you?”

Remy grinned. “Thyme and I are tied for rank number one.”

Mila chuckled. “That sounds like a great idea.”

They talked and ate, and then he and Thyme went around to speak to every pride member. He was doing his best to learn names and family groups, and was glad that Thyme knew everyone.

“What’s first on the agenda for tomorrow?” Thyme asked as they headed into the house after the evening was finished and everyone had gone home.

“Meeting with Liam and Marty and going through the laws, plus I need to spend time at the garage and help the guys clean.”

“I’ll be working on getting the kitchen cleaned tomorrow too,” she said. “After the meeting.”

She stared at him as he stripped and got ready for bed. They’d brought the bed from her house over earlier that day, since the main suite was one of the areas they’d worked on getting cleaned and ready first.

---