Page 18 of Becoming the Alpha

“Excuse me?” I asked, turning to look at Jason. He looked lethal, but I wasn’t scared of it. I knew he would never hurt me. The tough guy act didn’t work with me anymore. I knew how tender he could be when it came to me. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response. Dean looked smug and Amara rolled her eyes again, looking annoyed.

“What I meant was-”

“What you meant was that you appreciated how much Dean cares about our safety, but we are grown women who have been serving in this castle and are capable of making our own decisions. Isn’t that right?” I asked, crossing my own arms and giving Jason a pointed look. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up to the ceiling. He groaned.

Dean’s smug look dropped as he frowned between the three of us. “You’re not actually considering this, are you?”

“What’s there to consider? We’re all going to this meeting and speaking with the rebels directly,” I responded, turning on Dean. He looked just as frustrated as Jason did and while I felt for them both - I knew they cared about our safety more than anything - they weren’t going to stop us from being involved in the future of the kingdom and pack.

“Lily…”

I whirled on Jason, narrowing my eyes. I felt my wolf push forward, her anger molding with mine. “Don’t you ‘Lily’ me, Jason Huntington. Wearegoing to this meeting. If you want me to be your mate and help run this Kingdom and pack, then we need to make decisions together.”

“You’re not running this pack. Jason is the Alpha and King. He makes the decisions,” Dean’s voice sounded gruff and I knew his wolf was riding him hard, but all sympathy I had for him left with that statement. I turned slowly to look at him, my eyes glowing with the strength of my wolf’s emotions. We stared him down until he dropped his gaze.

“I realize that’s how Jason’s father has run this pack, but thingswillbe changing. For starters, a female and male are equal and make decisionstogether. They are a team, whether one is more dominant or not. That being said, Jason may be the Alpha and King of this pack, but I am the Queen. I will be making just as many decisions as he does. We are not dealing with this ‘males rule everything’ bullshit anymore. Do I make myself clear?” I said, putting some power behind my words. I could see Dean’s wolf fighting him, but it only took a minute for him to straighten up and give me a bow.

“My apologies, My Queen. You make yourself perfectly clear and I am eager to see this new reign of yours take effect,” Dean responded, his voice oddly formal. I backed off, slightly intimidated by his reaction, but I didn’t get much time to second guess myself. Jason wrapped his arms around my waist again.

“Have I ever told you how much I don’t deserve someone as badass and amazing as you?” He whispered in my ear.

I shivered with pleasure, but rolled my eyes and smiled. I turned in his arms, eyeing him. “You have anything to add about what I just said?”

“No,” Jason shook his head, looking deadly serious. My heart dropped and I was getting ready to be pissed off at his reaction when he put a finger over my lips. “I agree with what you decreed. You’re my Queen. You have just as much right to issue a decree as I do.”

My cheeks heated and I smiled up at him, the anger that had been building completely dissipating. He leaned down to give me a heated kiss and I pressed firmly into him. My core heated up as he pressed his hard length into me.

A throat behind us cleared and I blinked up at Jason as he pulled away from me. My mind had gone completely blank for a minute and I needed to remind myself that we had an audience. My cheeks heated again, this time with embarrassment. I turned around, a sheepish look on my face. Dean had the decency to not react in any way. Amara was wagging her eyebrows at me and I scowled at her. She burst out laughing.

“Alright, so, where and when is this meeting taking place?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. Amara’s face grew grave again, but she turned to Dean, waiting on his answer. To his credit, he only hesitated for a fraction of a second before he responded. “Tonight at seven, in the clearing near the edge of our lands.”

I felt Jason instantly still, his muscles straining. “You meanonour lands.”

Dean nodded, looking as pissed as Jason. “What’s wrong with that? That gives us the home court advantage, plus we literally have an entire army behind us, should they try anything stupid.”

“That is true, however, we also have an entire army that’s at my father’s command. He won’t exactly be pleased if he learns we’ve invited the rebels onto our lands. He definitely won’t hesitate to kill them all - brutally, including us,” Jason grimaced. I nodded slowly, thinking over what he said.

“If he finds out the rebels are on our lands, he doesn’t necessarily know we’re part of them. We can just say we were walking through the forest and found them attempting to sneak through our lands. If something goes wrong, we can point out how his approach is best and stroke his ego. Goddess knows it’s big enough. Plus, him shredding them apart after they attack us isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We just need to make sure that he doesn’t find out they’re here unless they try something,” I shrugged. I glanced at Dean and Amara, both of whom returned my shrug. Jason nodded, still not looking completely convinced.

“Well, either way, we need to get some sleep and refuel before the big meeting,” Jason said, gesturing to the doorway. I glanced back at him, frowning. “Isn’t it only like eight in the morning?”

Amara let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh. I frowned at her. “What?”

“Oh, sweetie, it’s like one in the afternoon. You two slept all day,” She shook her head. I blinked in surprise. “Oh.”

“They probably needed the rest after all that work they did last night, huh?” Dean suggested, wagging his eyebrows and elbowing Jason lightly. Jason responded by punching him in the shoulder and my face lit up like it wanted to be part of the Electric Light Parade. Amara giggled and looped her arm in mine, pulling me after the guys who had exited the room.

“Don’t worry, Lily. It’s completely natural. We don’t have a lot of female wolves around here, so you haven’t been able to see much of how a heat works. You have nothing to be ashamed about,” She assured me. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel much better, but I sighed, putting it behind me. It was, after all, the least of our worries. We had a lot of other things to deal with at the moment.

21

Jason

Dean and I got in front of the girls and we walked down to the kitchen, joking and laughing as we went. My wolf felt content for the first time in a while and I was having fun with my mate and friends. Of course, having things feel so good meant that something was going to go really wrong shortly. It didn’t take long before I figured out what it was - my father standing in the middle of the hallway, his arms folded and a lethal look on his face. I threw my arm out in front of Dean, feeling Lily and Amara bump into us before stopping.

I heard Amara gasp and Lily’s warning growl. I took a deep breath, leaned toward Dean, and hissed at him. I knew my father would be able to hear me but I didn’t want to broadcast it for the whole castle to hear. “Take the girls back to my room and lock the door. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Oh, don’t send them away on my account,” My father hissed. Dean turned on his heel and ushered the girls down the hallway. I heard Lily try to refuse to go with him, but Dean threw her over his shoulder and continued walking. I listened to her arguments and pleas fade down the hall, all while keeping a close eye on my father. He looked pleased that we were alone.

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