Page 47 of Scarred Resolve

Heath took a deep breath, staring at Carlos. Carlos was a complicated addition to his Dallas pack when he offered refuge to the werewolf. He was less complicated now because the rest of the world was slowly forgetting about him, and they weren’t in the loop with other werewolf packs. Carlos had been blackmailed, but in the eyes of the supernatural world, that didn’t absolve him of what he had done. For Heath, it hadn’t just been the blackmail. He had been a young werewolf himself, not capable of trusting his own latent abilities, not entirely trusting the pack to help him.

Heath saw it all the moment he met Carlos and decided the traumatized man deserved a chance, even when every other Alpha in the country disagreed with him. It was nearly thirty years ago, and the pain was still evident in Carlos.

“Jenny isn’t wrong, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say she’s right,” Heath said, staring at Carlos, holding the werewolf with his gaze, keeping it between them. “It implies every werewolf here is the same as Fenris. That’s faulty thinking. I would bet a lot of money on the fact that Fenris was a highly unique situation with the odds of it happening similar to winning the lottery.”

“We should buy a ticket,” Landon said, huffing.

“We don’t need the money,” Heath retorted calmly. “But, do you understand, Carlos? Jenny?”

They both nodded, relaxing before him.

“Good. Is anyone here scared Jacky will hurt them?” he asked plainly, looking around. A lot of confusion was returned to him except for Landon and Dirk. Dirk squeezed Landon’s hand as his son stared straight ahead.

Heath had his suspicions about that. Landon had been worried about that. Landon would always worry about that because he was often feared by the werewolves around him for only doing his job as second in the pack. Landon was different and, in a pack, that made him more like Jacky than like Heath,werewolf or not. Different set people on edge, even if that difference wasn’t dangerous.

To his relief, Heath had no reason to worry about that. Everyone in the pack was truly confused by him even suggesting it. Arlo even started to chuckle.

“Really? Jacky? She’s tough, Alpha, but she’s Jacky.” Arlo snickered louder until Teagan put a hand on his head. Teagan only smiled, tilting his head to Arlo, indicating he agreed with the young werewolf.

“We’re not scared of her,” Piper promised, and that was another voice Heath needed to hear. Piper was a less dominant werewolf, one of the lowest-ranking pack members outside of the literal children and Teagan, who would always be on the bottom. “She fights for something, and everything she’s shown us is that she fights for us or people like us. People who need help. She’s not one to commit violence for violence’s sake. She’s stood against her own kind for us. Why fear such an obvious friend?”

“Thank you for those kind words,” Heath said with a gentle smile to the soft-spoken werewolf before looking over the room again. “With those points settled, just give Jacky time, everyone. She’s taken the loss of Fenris and how it happened very hard. There’s nothing else to it.”

“Is there anything we could do to help?” Benjamin asked softly, peeking up before looking away again.

“Let me think on that,” Heath said quickly, knowing if he gave any sort of advice, it would be taken. Some of the werewolves would take it to the extreme by accident. He had to be careful about it. “Does anyone else have anything to talk about?”

Landon was suspiciously still and quiet, but Heath didn’t push his son. Something was clearly on his mind, but Heathtried never to put his son on the spot in front of the pack for anything potentially personal.

With several no’s in response, Heath stood from the stool, which gave the pack permission to start moving. Ranger and Shamus immediately started whispering, Kody’s and Stacy’s heads going lower with each second.

Heath ignored that. They were probably discussing what the fight was about, and he wasn’t going to get more involved in that unless he was asked directly. Landon and Dirk stood awkwardly in the living room as Piper and Roselyn approached, asking what they would like brought for pack meetings.

Heath paid very close attention to that, only faintly registering that Teagan was leaving with the boys. Jenny and Carlos left quickly as well.

Nothing odd happened, but Landon was so stiff, it was out of character even for his son.

Once everyone was gone, Heath was still standing where he had been the entire meeting.

“Is something wrong with you and the ladies?” Heath asked softly, causing Landon to snap his head to stare at him.

“No, why?” Landon asked, a frown beginning to form.

“Don’t lie to me. You know better,” Heath said with a soft growl. It was a very soft lie, just a hint of it entering the air, but it was distinctly Landon’s.

“It’s not her,” Landon said, grumbling, his entire demeanor changing to something far more normal, making Heath relax in turn. “The lower-ranking werewolves have been touching me more. Leaning. That stuff. Jacky told me that I’m allowed to say something, I’m not required to bear it, but I know it’s easier for them if I do.”

“Ah…” Heath nodded, trying not to laugh at how Jacky had already said the exact right thing for him. Heath was a fairly normal werewolf. It was only because he was an Alpha that heeven registered that those sorts of behaviors happened. Landon was more sensitive to them. He’d been denied the comfort of more dominant wolves outside of Heath and Richard when he was younger, and he was uncomfortable with it now.

“So, yeah, I’m just…” Landon huffed. “Trying my best, you know?”

“Don’t,” Heath said softly. “Don’t try your best. Just be comfortable, and if you’re not, tell them. They won’t be hurt by it. There’s a higher number of stronger werewolves in this small pack than weaker ones. They can find someone else and respect the space you need.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue. Next meeting, have something prepared to say to the pack about it. They might be missing that you’re uncomfortable and probably don’t want to do that to you.” Heath knew this with certainty, but everyone could be dense when it came to themselves. Landon was being dense when he already knew the right course of action.

“All right, Pa, fine,” Landon said, and while he sounded annoyed, he was smiling. It left quickly, as though something must have crossed Landon’s mind. “When do you leave?”

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