Page 9 of Claimed By the Alpha Wolves

I smirk. “Your mom says you could have been helpful. She thinks you and the geese speak the same language. Something about being loud and whiny, while also being useless?”

“Fuck you,” Cayson says, laughing and taking another long pull from the bottle. His complexion is looking more golden than usual, I guess afternoons by the sea in Italy will do that to you. “You should have come to Europe with us, man. It was amazing. You would not believe the girls over there– they think we’re like fucking royalty.”

I roll my eyes at him and reach for the bottle, and after a moment, he relinquishes it to me. Despite drinking most of it, he’s not even slurring. Seems like Europe also helped him up his alcohol tolerance. Although, I’m not surprised. The group of guys he went with were all rich alphas who hadn’t been given the responsibilities of the pack yet. I’d hung out with them. The only thing they seemed to know how to do was drink and fuck.

“Yeah, my dad would have beensuperpleased with me running off to Europe and leaving him to handle the pack,” I say, after swallowing down another mouthful of warm wine, because, you know, my father wouldn’t have been happy… but also, it’s nicer than saying I didn’t want to go either. “You know how much he loves wasted time and lollygagging.”

“You’re talking about having fun,” he says, casting me a knowing look.

“Same difference.”

Europe could be fun, if you were into that kind of thing, but deep down, I know I would have had a terrible time. Cayson isone of my best friends, but sometimes, being around him is like being a babysitter. If I’d been in Europe with them, I would have been the one cutting the alphas off and making sure they got back to their hotels without losing a limb.

Once, when Cayson actually did convince me to come out with him, I’d had to tackle him out of the street to keep him from getting hit by a car. The next morning, when I was patching up my scrapes and bruises, he’d asked what they were from. And getting blackout drunk was hardly a rarity with him. The guy had demons, and those demons were only silenced with girls and liquor.

“I can’t imagine the geese were the worst of your worries,” Cayson says, reaching into his pocket and producing a cigarette.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t even think about smoking that in here,” I warn. “I am not getting in trouble for your poor behavior.”

Not only that, but who wants their room and clothes to smell like smoke? Sure as hell not me.

“Calm down, man, it’s just something to fiddle with. You know I would never tarnish your good name.” He flashes a smile I don’t at all trust.

I eye him warily, then dump the last drop of the wine onto my tongue, wishing there was more. Something has to settle my nerves. I’m in no way looking forward to my first Selection event, nor all the omegas I’ll be trying so desperately to avoid, while looking like I’m participating. I just need something to calm me down a bit.If not liquor, then what?

“You’re right, the geese were the least of our worries. We’re also working on fixing the river problem,” I say, sighing.

Every year, the houses at the bottom of the village flood, which causes a lot of headaches. It also affects the fields, and when they flood out, we lose a significant amount of our crops.Our store houses are already dwindling. The last thing we need is to sacrifice more food.

Not that Cayson worries about things like that, since he knows how well set up my pack is.

The thing is, Pack Azure is an incredibly powerful pack with a lot of wealth and resources, but we don’t live for today, we plan for tomorrow. Every decision we make has to be correct. Our primary duty is to ensure our people are well-fed, safe, and housed. It’s an around-the-clock job that I haven’t taken a break from since I came of age. I wasn’t about to let geese or floods stop me from doing that job, no matter how back-breaking dealing with pack issues is.

It’s tiring, but it’s also gratifying. Once you’ve held a baby in your hands, knowing that your actions will directly affect the rest of their life, you start to take the job a little more seriously. I, for one, know the names of each member of my pack, have a relationship with them, and, I think, their respect.

Even if, again, all things come with a price.

“It’s been a hellish process,” I continue, rolling the bottle between my hands as Cayson stares at the floor. “We’ve been trying to dig away paths for the water to go when it floods. Many of the seamstresses are putting together bags to fill with sand. We’re basically putting in a lot of effort now in hopes that when the storms come, we won’t have to deal with the same flooding.”

“Sounds like awholelot of fun,” Cayson says, his voice laced with sarcasm, then adds, “You couldn’t catch me dead, digging up river sand like that.”

Although I heard it rumored his people were having issues too.“Did you stop at home, or just come straight here after Europe? Have you seen your father?”

Cayson flicks his eyes at me, and I immediately regret asking the question. Unlike me and my father, Cayson and his father don’t get along well. I tend to use my father and his expectationsas an excuse to Cayson and the others for why I don’t join them on more of their adventures, but the truth is that I’m a man of routine. I would rather be in bed by nine every night than out chasing trouble.

Besides, when someone in the pack needs me, they always know right where to find me and my dad.

The same can’t be said for Cayson and his situation.

“No, and I don’t intend to,” Cayson finally says, tearing me away from my thoughts. “That old asshole has enough control over me as it is. I’m just trying to stay out of his way, and hopefully, he’ll forget about me altogether. He's not really interested in me taking over, anyway.”

There’s a tinge of jealousy there, and I try to ignore it. My father has been adamant and meticulous about training me to take his spot one day, insisting that I need to be ready to take care of the pack. Cayson’s father seems to enjoy his control, and doesn’t relish the idea of anyone taking his spot, no matter the fact that it will happen eventually, with or without his blessing.

A loud shout comes from the hallway, and several guys let out whoops.Some people are definitely more excited about The Selection than others.I feel a ball of dread lodge itself in my chest, just south of my heart. The first event will be starting any second.What the hell am I supposed to do?

“You excited, man?” Cayson asks, leaning forward and grinning at me, as though he’s ready to move on from the depressing talk of his father.

“Excited?” The word comes out as a horrified question.

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