Page 6 of Wolf's Reckoning
This wasn’t even about me. It was about legacy. Territory. Stability.Duty.
Blueridge Hollow could not crown a female alpha. But if I secured a good match, a wise match, I could give the druid what they wanted.
A leader they could control. And in time, a husband that I could shape.
I would be the bridge—the bargaining chip. Our traditions here in the Hollow would be preserved. The old ways. The ways that held the spirit of the land in as much reverence as the moon.
Our pack wouldn’t need to break tradition. The only thing that would break would be me.
And I still hadn’t accepted that. But I would.
For my father. For our way of life. For the pack.
Dad was sittingup in his bed today. He looked healthier; his eyes were bright, his cheeks had a rosy glow, and his smile was quick to grace his face.
I was the only one feeling sour in the room because they would soon revisit their favorite topic: me.
“I came by your rooms last evening,” the druid said as he watched me. “You did not answer.”
My dad looked up from his bowl of porridge. “Rowen must not have been in,” he said quickly. “She would never be so bad-mannered.” He beamed at me, and I felt a twinge of guilt.
“I saw her go into her rooms,” the druid said with cold certainty.
I shrugged. “And you would have seen that I had been out for a run,” I told him. “I was hot and sweaty,” I continued, “and needed out of my clothes. As you mentioned yesterday, my heat is coming.”
My dad coughed. For shifters, nudity was common. The urge of a female’s heat was well known and viewed with either sympathy or envy, depending on how she chose to spend the time. But for some reason, my dad, who had been an alpha of this pack for years, still flushed wheneverImentioned myheat. No one else. The druid could talk about my heat all day long, and Dad wouldn’t blink. But if I mentioned it? He quickly became uncomfortable.
It was a weapon I didn’t mind employing if it meant getting me out of situations like this.
“I knew Rowen wouldn’t be rude,” Dad said with a smile my way. “She was bathing and probably didn’t hear you at the door.”
“Of course.” The druid fixed me with their hard stare, their mismatched eyes conveying the unspokenbullshitthat they chose not to voice out loud. “I never considered the possibility.”
Because he hadn’t heard the pipes running. I knew it. The druid knew it. But Dad didn’t question my lie and moved on. My father was indeed a wise alpha.
“Do you wish to know why I was at your door?” the druid asked.
“I imagine it would be to remind me of my need to find a husband.” I looked out the window to watch the morning peek through the canopy of trees.
“For the good of the pack.” The druid’s voice was firm. “There is a Pack Council gathering in a few days.”
I turned from the window, heat prickling at the base of my neck. I looked at my dad, who was watching me pensively. “I’ve never attended Pack Council before.” I looked between the two of them. “I stay here while Dad goes. When he goes.”
“I won’t be attending this Pack Council,” my dad said, looking down at his hands. “But I would like for you and my beta Lewis to attend in my place.”
“Lewis?” I looked at the druid, who watched me impassively. “Lewis and I are not the best traveling companions, Dad.” My glance flicked back to the druid. “Why can’t you go?”
The druid sniffed with contempt. “My place is here, with the pack and the land. Pack Council politics are not for me to involve myself with.”
Justthispack’s politics.
“Uh-huh. That’s convenient.”
“As convenient as you entering a shower as soon as you close your bedroom door.”
Well,someone was feeling snarky about being ignored.
“Going to the meeting will let you see the sons who are…free,” my dad spoke, taking the conversation back to the point. “There are alphas who don’t pass the gene to their sons, and there are many packs that have a pack leader, not an alpha, smaller packs…more malleable.”
