Page 132 of Home: Posy 5

I ignored their petty squabble to review what King Julian had told us this morning. Alpha Kendall Briggs' two sons had appealed for help, reporting that their father was abusing them and other pack members and refusing to yield the alphaship to his oldest son without just cause.

As the king's primary emissaries outside of the Royal Pack, my brothers and I were often sent to investigate things like this, which is how we found ourselves on the way to Green River at the crack of dawn in mid-June.

"What do we know about this guy, anyway?" Ash asked.

In the seat in front of me, he stretched his arms out and whacked Wyatt in the side of the head, and Wyatt retaliated with a punch to Ash's ribs.

"Owie! Dude! It was an accident!"

"So was that. My fist slipped out of my control."

With a sigh, I looked out my window.

Maybe they’ll knock some sense into each other.

"We don't have an alliance with Green River, do we?" Jay asked. "I’m pretty sure not."

"No. No one does," I muttered, watching the trees and fields flash by.

"Yeah," Cole picked up when I fell silent. "A couple of bordering packs have non-aggression treaties with Alpha Kendall Briggs, but he wants to stand alone, so he does."

"A rather foolish thing, if you ask me," Jay snorted. "Why?"

I grunted and shrugged. That was about as close to talking as I ever felt like getting any more.

My brothers continued jabbering, but I tuned out to listen to my wolf.

If what his sons told the king is true, Garnet rumbled,this alpha needs to be put down like the rabid dog he is.

And I am happy to do that.

It never bothered me to end a wolf that needed to be ended, but I was concerned about what we would find at Green River. Once an alpha went off the rails, it was the pack that suffered.

Maybe our mate will be there?Garnet said hopefully.

Maybe, I sighed.

Now that Wyatt hadfinallyturned 18, we had a better chance of finding our mate. Over the years, it became pretty obvious that it had to be all five of us of legal age.

Ever since the Moon Goddess visited us in a dream, I'd been wondering what this 'perfect' mate would be like. Unlike Ash, who dreamed about how round her butt might be, and Wyatt, who fantasized on her cup size, or Jay, who worried she'd overlook him because he was boring - his word, not mine - Cole and I hoped her personality would fit with us.

The poor girl, whoever she was and whatever she looked like, was going to have to be very patient.

And kind.

And forgiving.

We're going to screw up a lot, I thought to myself dejectedly.Goddess, please don't let her give up on us.

You're worrying about that when we haven't even found her yet?Garnet rolled his eyes. Focus on the mission at hand for now, and worry about how you're going to keep our mate after you find her.

"Mase?" I came out of my thoughts to see Cole staring back at me from the front passenger seat. "I asked how do you want to do this when we get there?"

That was happening more and more often, one of the boys reminding me I was supposed to communicate.

Supposed to be part of the group.

Supposed to be okay.

---