Page 3 of Alpha's Bullied Mate
Conall went quiet for a moment. “Our Luna was captured last year, and we were almost too late to save her. Nobody can afford to be lax anymore in any capacity. We all sat drinking champagne while she was taken, and nobody noticed. Fenrys’s absence last year during the Games really had the pack dynamics loosening. I’ve been trying to tighten it. I want him to come back to a stronger pack.
“That includes the newest member,” he finished. “I want him to see how much you’ve been doing for us.”
I nodded curtly, not entirely pacified, but it made sense. “Right. Let's help set the party up. Fenrys and Thalia will only be out for so long.”
“Actually, I’m not. It’s you, Theo, and Lyna. I’m headed over to meet Fen now.”
I bit back a noise of irritation. It wasn’t that Conall was arrogant or shirking any duties, but he was clearly enjoying having his moments of authority. He shrugged and backed away.
“How about I strike you a deal, Dakota?” he asked.
“What sort of deal?”
“Run perimeter searches tonight before coming to the party, and I’ll stop landing you with the shitty tasks.”
“I don’t want them tostop,” I stressed. “Of course, I want to prove myself, but, like, you could be less—you—about it.”
“Oh, you’re coming at me now?”
I grinned at him. I knew we could get on as friends if he stopped being so tough on me sometimes. Every pack had alow-rank wolf, but I was just starting to feel like I’d never prove myself to him. Like nothing would be good enough to make him happy with me. I knew it wasn’t personal; it was a pack thing, but it made me a little miserable. Like I couldn’t get close enough to the pack as friends because I was too focused on what task would come next that nobody else wanted to do.
“Do you want to know the first thing Fenrys had me do as his second?” Conall asked. Something told me I didn’t, that he was trying to get me to relate to him in a way that I would stop complaining. But I shrugged and gestured for him to go on.
“The day after he formed his pack, we celebratedhard. Threw a party, drank till sunrise, passed out around the house. Mix that with the grief Fen was still dealing with, and the result was a mess that we woke up to. The house was trashed. Hungover to hell, I asked Fen if we could get, like, a cleaning service. He handed me a mop, cleaning supplies, and said Iwasthe cleaning service. Puke, probably piss somewhere—we were dumb and still in college—and beer spills were everywhere. He was a mess, so we let ourselves be messy back then. It took me hours. When I was finished, he came back, and I told him I’d cleaned up everything, and he threw another party to forget what was going on. He’d lost his dad, rejected Thalia, and become an alpha. I let him be messy when he needed to be.”
“Did you have to clean up again?”
He nodded. “But I’d have done it for him every day if he told me.” Conall’s mouth tugged into a smile. “Even if I had to bolt for the bathroom every time I moved too fast.”
“Right,” I muttered. “So you’re basically saying I should be grateful? That for my pack, I should be willing to do anything?”
“Yes, to a degree, but ultimately, you won’t be doing this forever, just like I didn’t clean up disgusting college parties forever. It’s trust and foundations that you’re building on. Packs have a dynamic, and I need to know you’d have our backs so we can have yours in return.” His eyes narrowed at me, back to the tough overseer. “If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the sun, Dakota.”
Was that a threat? Surely not.
I straightened up. “I can handle it.”
“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. Perimeter runs tonight?”
“Yes,” I conceded. “But can you at least save me a slice of cake?”
“I can’t promise Lyna won’t eat it, but I’ll try.”
“Thanks, Conall.”
He gave me a curt nod before we went our separate ways.
***
In my wolf form, I walked along the perimeter of Fenrys’s territory. Ever since Kato’s attack last year, we’d expanded the border patrols and had more people completing them in shorter shifts so we could spread out our resources. Reika’s first birthday was a potential opportunity to attack the alpha and Luna. Some of the pack would defend from inside, closer to the family, and some of us were patrolling.
The night was dark, nearing nine in the evening. The autumn chill snaked through the woods, and I crunched through leaves and sniffed the air. There were no changes to anything, so I kept my eye on my patrol line and roamed on. Fenrys hadtaken Reika out not too long ago to visit his mom, but Thalia had stayed to help prepare the house for the gathering that was planned for after Reika was put to bed. Conall went with Fenrys, and I could only assume Lyna and Sasha were already with Thalia. Having the new cub had only seemed to bring me and Thalia closer since the Games last year. Despite my own closeness with the cub, I didn’t mind not being at the party because I was doing my part for her out here.
I did hope someone would save me cake, though.
I wondered when I’d get to go back when a twig snapped in the trees ahead of me. I froze, halted, and scanned the distance. Nothing there. It was likely just a fox. I shook off any worry, suddenly doubting everything I’d proved over the last year about protecting myself.
Walking on, I ignored the snap—until another noise came. A whisper, a rustle.
