Page 51 of Alpha Awakening

“I feel as if I wasted everyone’s time–everyone who helped us rebuild this house and especially Christa who had so much love and patience to teach me.”

“No one will think of it like that.”

“I hope not.”

She rested against him, his touch seeming to calm her. After a few more moments, she sighed and shifted her weight.

“Shall we eat and then talk to your father? I think it’s best if we let them know right away. Time isn’t on our side these days.”

“Do you mind if we have Seth with us too?”

“Not at all.”

He followed her to the kitchen where they had a quick breakfast before getting ready and leaving the house. Niev held his hand, the bond less mysterious now.

“It’ll be hard to get used to the off-grid life. I mean it’s already off the grid here but in the mountains it’s even worse.”

“I’m sure we can arrange for you to have driving lessons.”

“I’m not sure if I feel safe enough to drive. Did you see how narrow that road was in some parts or even the tunnel leading to the village?”

“I think we might have to up the insurance on the cars,” he laughed.

She stopped in her tracks. “We have to drive all our stuff over that road.”

“We’ll let the professionals drive for us.”

“I hope Kareem can take enough time off work.”

When they arrived at the main house, Blake could hear Seth and his father in the office. Niev gently knocked and waited a moment before pushing her head through and looking inside.

“May we come in?”

“Of course,” his father answered in a deep, rough voice.

Blake stepped in behind Niev to find Seth and Bill sitting before the desk.

Seth stood up. “Perfect timing, I definitely need a break from this stuff.” He pulled Niev into a hug. “Will you two come by later and tell us all about your trip?”

“We were hoping to talk to all three of you about it right now,” Blake said before Seth could move to leave.

Bill stopped in his tracks too. His eyes curiously, but cautiously moved between him and Niev. Seth stiffened and his father’s face hardened. Pulling the chair out a little, Seth gestured for Niev to sit and moved to the side of the desk so Blake could stand behind her.

Blake rested his hands on Niev’s shoulders and got straight to the point. “Alpha Raymond has offered for me and Niev to join his pack. He would like me to assume the alpha title since he never had a natural born heir.”

Blake could feel the air thicken around him as everyone took in the news. Seth’s face was hard, clearly not liking what he was hearing but Blake wasn’t sure why. Maybe Blake was still so used to them being apart from each other that he’d expected Seth to be joyful that his rival would be gone.

His father was the first to speak. He took a deepbreath and leaned back, his hands folded in his lap. “I assume you are telling us this because you two have accepted his offer.”

“Not quite,” Niev explained. “We would like to but haven’t agreed to anything. We wanted to talk to you first.”

His father’s eyes glowed showing how proud he was of how Niev and Blake had handled this. “You would like my blessing.”

Though it wasn’t a question, Blake answered. “Yes.”

Seth’s eyes rested on Blake, firm and relentless. “Have you thought this through? Just think of Niev’s condition.”

Niev stiffened, and Blake gently caressed her with his thumbs.

---