Page 68 of Holiday Surprise

Uncle Sid’s face dropped, and he sadly shook his head. “I’m afraid not, brother. The insurance company isn’t paying out enough to rebuild here. Luke and Cruz have been looking for land for us to buy and relocate the pack.”

“What?” dad asked in shock. “He’s gonna take my baby away too? That son-of-a-bitch! Over my dead body! You hear that Larken?”

My heart fell.Not now,I thought.

Luke, of course, heard him loud and clear. Everyone did.

“May I have everyone’s attention please,” he said loud enough to silence the room. “If you all could, please take a seat. I was going to wait until tomorrow to do this, but I guess now is as good a time as any.”

My dad was still trying to put up a fight. I moved over to him and whispered. “This is a Larken Pack meeting, Dad. You can stay as long as you can control your temper. Otherwise, I’m going to have you leave,” I said sternly letting just a little of my Pack Mother mojo loose for him to feel it pressing down on him. Like it or not, I outranked my father now. His face turned a deep red and I knew he wasn’t happy, but he did obey.

“It’s no secret I’ve had a team working diligently this week to find us a new home. The obstacles we’re facing are the available properties that would best suit our needs in our price range are not in lucrative areas and would not easily provide jobs for everyone. We all know that is Cruz’s biggest concern, as it probably is for many of you. The areas with the best job opportunities, we really cannot afford at this time.”

He let the murmurs rise as fears were voiced amongst each other before calling them back to order.

“A new option has been offered to me and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I am seriously considering it. See, despite what many of you thought when I first stepped up, I never wanted to be an Alpha. I only ever wanted better for us, the whole pack. The other options weren’t going to offer that, so then I stepped up. And I hope I’ve strengthened the Pack because of it.”

“You have.”

“Best Alpha in the world.”

“You’re doing a damn fine job.”

People started calling out his praises and heads nodded throughout the room.

“Thanks, I really appreciate that, which makes what I’m about to suggest next even harder. I truly feel our best option for each of you to thrive is to remain here. No, nothing has changed with our old home. I literally mean here. Thomas and I have a plan to merge the packs back, but it comes at a price and I won’t do it without a unanimous agreement from each of you.”

“What’s the price?” Cruz asked cutting to the chase.

Luke looked at me and I stepped up to answer. “No Pack can have two Alphas. We all know this. Luke would voluntarily step down as Alpha.” They didn’t let me finish before protests began.

Luke raised his hand and silenced them. “Let her finish.” As the room settled again, he nodded for me to continue.

“Instead, he would assume the role of Beta, second in command of all of Collier.”

“That’s a hell of a lot to give up, Luke,” Cruz said as all eyes turned to him to him.

“It is, but like I said, I never wanted to be Alpha and Thomas Collier is a damn good one. He’s a fair man and he’s offering us a lot to stay. Second in command of a pack this size is sort of a promotion for me too. So, while I wouldn’t be your Alpha, I would maintain a big leadership role. I’m not abandoning you. Plus, we’ve worked out a transition period where for the next two years we would essentially remain a pack, right here in Collier as we smoothly reintegrate. It will be a slow transition with me maintaining a lot of Alpha authority for now, but ultimately Thomas Collier would be your Alpha and allegiance to him will be necessary.”

“Do you trust him?” Fred asked.

“I do. More importantly, I trust him with you guys, and that is not something I take lightly,” he said.

He reached for my hand and squeezed then I continued. “It’s a solid plan to give each person in this room the chance at a better life. You can keep your jobs, every family will have their own home, we’ll have land to run on anytime you want, and we’ll be reuniting families and mending the destruction Jedidiah had caused when he formed the Larken Pack to begin with.”

“She’s right about that,” Uncle Sid added. “I haven’t been quiet about my regrets for following Jed back then, nor about pledging my honor to follow Luke. If you truly feel this is the best for us, then you have my agreement. Jessica and I will stay.”

I smiled and mouthed, “Thank you.”

Nettie spoke next. “What do you mean we’ll each have our own home?”

I grinned and was so glad she asked. “As you all know, or have probably assumed by now, this is my home. I moved into it at the start of the project, the first house in a new expansion project, only it didn’t take off and wasn’t needed. You may have noticed the other houses in this neighborhood were dark when you arrived. That’s because literally no one lives here but me. At mine, and Lily’s suggestion, Thomas has agreed that it would be best to fill them with all of you.”

Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “You mean it? We’d each get a home as nice as this one?”

I nodded. “You can even pick out which one you’d like.”

“That’s part of the transition plan I was talking about,” Luke added. “This way we’re not just thrown into a new pack. We’ll live together right here in this neighborhood. Yes, it divides us a little from the rest of Collier, it will still be a bit like we’re on the outside looking in, but after two years you’d be free to move to any available home in Collier territory, with the Alpha’s approval of course. And with the new dairy expansion, there would be plenty of jobs for everyone, and lucrative ones at that.”

---