Page 34 of Unexpected Alpha's Claim

“Hey!” I cried out, pushing through the crowd to stand between the two groups. “What thefuckis this? What the hell’s your problem?”

“Youare, Raul,” Tim Collins claimed, stepping around a table in front of him as every single person in that bar turned to face me. “You had the guts to face Brad in battle. No one can deny that.”

I met his glare, narrowing my eyes as I let a low growl slip.

“But?” I ask, knowing there was one coming by the attitude of everyone in the bar if nothing else.

“It’s your timing!” he yells, throwing his hands into the air. “That’s gotten everybody so upset.”

“Yeah!” Jim Stones agreed, stepping up behind him. “You should have waited, man. Why now? We’ve got bloodsuckers to deal with, you didn’t think we could have used Brad in the battle against them?”

The wolf grumbled at the inherent challenge to its decisions and action, but I pushed that primal instinct down. I promisedmyself I would never be like Brad that I would listen to the pack, I would hear them out and lead in a better way. It may have meant swallowing my pride, but that’s what the situation called for and it was what I was going to do.

“I see,” I nodded in understanding. “Forget timing for a minute. Does anybody have a problem with what I did?”

I looked around the room, trying to meet the eyes of each one of them individually despite how many of them were packed into the bar.

“I don’t think so,” Sam interjected, as my people glanced at each other.

They were speechless since not one of them voiced an objection.

“Good,” I praised, finishing the circle I had turned in to see them all. “So, Tim doesn’t like my timing,” I said strolling through the large room. “And Jimmy here thinks we could have used Brad against the vampire clan that’s been targeting humans. But let me ask you this. When are we going to fight them, boys? And that’s assuming wewillfight them at all. And how long will that battle last?”

“I don’t know,” Collins shrugged, his face twisting into an expression of confusion. “It could be in a week or in a month. I’ve never been in a battle against bloodsuckers, so, I don’t have a clue.”

“Exactly!”I said with an emphatic nod. “We don’t knowjackabout their intentions. They might head over here. They might disperse. Vampires are not like us, boys. We stick together. They don’t. For vampires it’s every man for himself.”

“Noneof us has faced them in battle, Crawford,” Jim pointed out, his tone louder. “We’ve all heard stories about their strength from our folks, but we haven’t evenseenone, let alonefoughtone.”

“That’s my point,” I remarked. “Our folks kept those pricks out of Dawson when the time came. They bested them in battle. Let’s say I hadn’t challenged Brad, and we did the same. What do you people think would have happened afterwards? Would he have been nicer to you? Would he have stopped treating you like garbage?”

“No,” Jimmy replied, averting his gaze from me. “He’d gloat about leading us to victory against them. Knowing Brad, I believe he’d say the same thing like fifty times a day,everyday. It’s safe to assume he’d treat us even worse than he did before.”

“Right,” I flashed him a glance of appreciation. “That’s very perceptive. I’m telling you now that we can cope without him. More than that, we can live better without a tyrant in our midst. You don’t have to ask how because you already know. We’re a pack, we stick together, and we stay true to each other.” I turned the circle once more and put my attention on each one of them again in turn. “Now, who’s with me?”

I lifted my arm over my head. A warm sensation spread into my gut. Their eyes sparkled with hope. Locking their gazes with mine, one by one, my people walked up to me. A forest of arms flooded my view, their palms crashing into my hand. Even Kenny, who had yet to speak up, approached at a steady pace. He stopped three feet from me and nodded in agreement then his arm joined the others.

“Let them come!” I shouted. “Come face us and we’ll send them straight down to hell where they belong. For Dawson!”

“For Dawson!” their cry roared across the bar.

The passion in their eyes, not leaving any room for doubt, whatever skepticism that had been lingering in their minds was gone. The desire to thwart our ancient enemy triumphing over it.

Now they had their own survival to worry about and no one was going to bother with the death of an Alpha they had only been tolerating for years. The pack, united, would defend our lands, without concerning ourselves with the aftermath of a war against vampires. United, we would win.

23

MONICA

“You’re free to go home.” Helena’s cheerful tone, along with her statement, puzzled me. To add to my confusion, her reason wasn’t really an explanation. She’d just winked and added, “Ask Raul.”

It was amazing how a woman who loved to share stories of her past with me, had decided to seal her lips about something so important. She had no problem narrating tales of her old flames, but it was more than clear that she had no intention of giving me details about this, an apparently good, development.

I had been enjoying myself at the old compound. I may not have had daylight and some other things that people take for granted, like the freedom to come and go as I pleased. Still, it was full of charming, fascinating memories. It was like a warehouse full of relics, an open door to the past. Taking me to a time I had only heard tales of recently but bringing those stories to life.

Edward and Doreen’s lives were lying in there. Raul’s grandparents, who’d once shared a passionate love. His letters and gifts to her depicted a man who wasn’t afraid to showhis love to his woman. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, dozens of beautiful trinkets and gifts.

However, Doreen didn’t appear to be the talkative type. Her own letters were brief and quite concise. I think she let her eyes do all the talking. I had to admit she had done a very good job at it. Even an outsider like me could see her love for her husband in her eyes in their pictures together.

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