Page 25 of Pack to the Wall

Bronn seemed older, perhaps because of his serious and brooding demeanor, while Colt seemed like a young buck, but perhaps he was older than he looked?

“Bronn’s thirty. Colt’s twenty-eight.”

Lord Almighty, that was young indeed. Colt was closer to Izzy’s age than mine! I couldn’t possibly be with them… and I shouldn’t. I already had a fated mate… whatever that was. And one was enough, right?

That didn’t stop my mind from fantasizing though. My dirty, betraying, lustful mind conjured images of Bronn and Colt together, naked, pressed against me. Bronn’s hard body crushed against my chest, with Colt hard and ready at my back. Their hands and lips roamed and kissed. Their rigid erections dug into my?—

I quickly pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on what was important: my kids.

“So, your siblings will look after my kids. Thank you, Tyson.”

“I still have to talk to them about it and see if they agree, but I think it’ll work.”

“And you’re both good with this?” I asked my kids.

Milo nodded enthusiastically.

Izzy sighed and grumbled, far from thrilled. “Any idea how long this would be for?”

I had no clue, but luckily Tyson answered. “Once we’re past a week, we’ll know more. If there isn’t anyone left in the pack you need to be afraid of, then you won’t need protection.”

Izzy groaned “oh great,” and seemed to shrink in on herself again.

She wasn’t happy, but she’d be safe and that was all I cared about for now. Happiness could come later… once I’d defeated Brick.

IfI defeated Brick.

TYSON

The restof the plan for the next couple days was sketched out. Tomorrow the kids would go back to school as usual, if only to get them out of the house for a while. Their protectors would stay here, of course. The kids weren’t in any danger at school, well, not from the pack anyway. Then I’d turn Jane and she’d rest while Bronn, Colt, and I started talking to the pack.

I’d said I’d try to convince them to come to Jane’s side, but Jane had had a much better idea. She wanted to know what the pack members actually wanted. That was an idea that had never even occurred to me.

Choice and thefreedom to choosewas a completely foreign concept to me, and probably for the pack as well. We’d always had an alpha telling us what to do.

But Jane was different. She didn’t want to control us. She wanted everyone to have a choice. They could follow her or do as they wished. There would be no repercussions for “abandoning” the pack. That said, pack was pack and I didn’t think anyone would want to leave.

Still though, that power to choose was significant. I honestly didn’t know how well it would go over, but I’d said I’d find outwhat people truly wanted and bring that information back to her. Once we knew that, we could plan further.

That meant I’d also have to figure out whatIwanted. It was startling to realize I’d never really thought about that. I’d always been told how things would be. I’d assumed I’d be a different sort of alpha than Harley when I took over, but since I’d never thought abouthowexactlyI’d be different, perhaps I wouldn’t have been. It gave me lots to think about.

And, while I asked around tomorrow, Bronn and Colt would run interference with the old betas, making sure they weren’t affecting people’s decisions. We’d also try to free Petra if we could. If time permitted, I’d go over a bit more of what it meant to be a wolf with Jane as well.

That decided, the kids stayed with Jane for a bit while I went to talk to my brother and sister. I didn’t know where Brutus was, but I was fairly certain Rita was in the basement.

When I turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs into the large rec room, I could already see they had done some redecorating. The chairs had all been moved to the sides of the room and our blankets and sleeping kits had been laid out in an orderly fashion on the carpeted floor. There was one long couch, on which Ginny lounged. That had probably been a concession to the mate of the now-dead alpha to keep her from making too much of a stink.

“Rita!” I called out, to get my sister’s attention.

She turned and headed toward me. My mom caught my gaze and nodded. The other three females in the room all instantly deferred to me, bowing a little, even Dana Juarez. I highly suspected she was a dominant type, but she’d learned not to question an alpha or beta. This is what Jane didn’t understand, the ingrained hierarchy which had been crushed into our beings all our lives. I honestly didn’t know what these folks would think of being given a choice of what to do.

“Brother,” Rita’s tone was clipped and cold, which wasn’t uncommon for her. Brick had raised us all to be hard. Even our mom had reinforced that we’d need to be strong and tough. She’d tried to give us any comfort she could, but the message was always clear: comfort is for those rare moments when you’re not fighting for your life.

And Rita was one hard woman. She kept her dark hair short, hacked back haphazardly with a knife. Her eyes were a few shades of blue lighter than mine, in a face of hard planes and old scars. Like my mom, she was built firm, square, strong.

“How would you feel about staying with our new alpha’s daughter, Izzy? She’ll need a protector and someone to show her the ropes of our pack, but she’s not a wolf and will need a bit of a softer touch.”

Rita raised a single brow, clearly skeptical.

---