Page 16 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

After a while, we manage to all gather in one of the corners of the room, and Ransom throws up a quick and discreet shield to stop us from being overheard while everyone else is fully enthralled in a conversation with Sully. Sully catches my gaze and winks at me.

I smile. Sully is distracting them so that we can talk.

“Okay, we can talk now,” Ransom says.

“That was as big of a deal as I thought it was, right?” Neith asks, looking at all of us.

Reed nods, “Yes.”

“I shouldn’t have been able to get the alpha of all the shifters in this territory to submit. I have met him several times before, and I have never felt the need to make him submit. In fact, I never even questioned that he was a stronger alpha than me,” River explains. He continues for Neith’s benefit since it isn’t common knowledge with the humans, “He isn’t just a really strong shifter, and therefore an alpha, there is a special ceremony, and he pretty much holds a portion of power from all the shifters that live in his territory. It’s how they have always made sure that rogues can be dealt with and that no massive issues arise between the packs because even though the individual packs have their own alphas they are all ruled by the true alpha which is Ahren.”

Neith’s eyes widen as she realizes just what a big idea this really is.

“Wow. As soon as you growled, I could sense it. If I’m being honest, it really shocked me. I have obviously felt your powerwhen you’ve gone all alpha,” Neith starts seriously and then adds, completely throwing everyone off, “which was super hot, by the way.” She then continues seriously again while the rest of us have to try and get over the whiplash her words are giving us, “But, even then I wouldn’t have said that you were stronger. Close, but not stronger than Ahren, just then you were definitely stronger by quite a lot.”

“He didn’t concede because he wanted to keep the peace, did he?” Doc asks.

River shakes his head, “No, he didn’t. Shifters don’t do that. Well, shifters aren’t supposed to do that. I have repressed my power and done it before, but I shouldn’t be able to do that.”

“This is going to cause issues, isn’t it?” Raiden asks, worry clouding his features as he looks at River.

River scrubs a hand through his hair and shrugs, “Normally, I would say yes. I basically just challenged the true alpha and won. Technically, I can now take over the packs. I don’t want to, I honestly can’t think of anything worse, and I think Ahren knows that, but his wolf may have a problem with me being stronger and not submitting to him.”

“Shit,” Reed curses. He eyes River, “Can you submit to him even though you are the stronger alpha?”

A growl bubbles in River’s chest, and I become increasingly glad that Ransom has sound blocked and no one else can hear us.

River shakes my head, “I have done that before. This time though, it feels so incredibly wrong, and I can’t make myself do it. Thinking about submitting makes my hackles rise.”

I take a deep breath, “Okay. What will happen if Ahren’s wolf has a problem?”

“He would challenge me. I would win,” River says bluntly.

“A challenge between shifters is to the death, isn’t it?” Neith asks with a deep frown pulling her eyebrows down.

River nods, “Yes.”

“Okay, so what happens after that?” Griff asks.

“I would take over as the true alpha of the packs,” River explains. “I don’t want that. Not only do I have no desire at all to take on that much responsibility, but I like what I do. I am not suited to something like that, and I want to be able to see you guys as much as I do now, which I won’t be able to do if I become the true alpha of the packs because of the duties that come with being alpha.”

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Doc replies.

“I think we have probably exhausted how long I can keep this up before the others notice and tensions rise again,” Ransom mutters.

“Alright, we can talk about this more when we get home,” I say, and everyone nods in agreement.

Ransom takes down the ward, and we all move back to where the others are, sitting down and rejoining the conversation. I really don’t want there to be an issue, so I am grateful when Ahren makes an effort to talk to River and that any remaining tension seems to dissolve. I just hope that it stays that way.

For River, but also because Neith is obviously very close to these people. If River has to fight Ahren, then it will destroy him to do so knowing that it’s going to upset Neith, who he is obviously extremely protective of.

I want to go home, but I know that leaving so soon after that event probably isn’t a good idea and might raise tensions again.

So, we stay, and we hang out. Eventually, any lingering tension is completely gone, and everyone is just enjoying each other’s company and laughing at Sully and Ernie’s antics.

Neith

Everyone is finally getting along as I hoped they would, although I don’t blame River or anything ridiculous like that for what happened at the beginning of the evening. He genuinely couldn’t help it. His reaction toward Ahren was purely instinctual, and there was nothing that anyone could have done to prevent it from happening. At some point in the evening, Ahren would have messed about with me like he always does, and River would have had a problem with it. It was just a matter of when not if.

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