Page 64 of Fighting For The Pack

“I know about the construction project, but only an idiot would force you all to start work when the blueprint isn’t finished.” I knew those “idiots” could hear me. They’d stopped drinking and were focused on us entirely. “Let’s finish this first. Is this cabin for a family or maybe storage?”

While Aiden explained the cabin’s purpose—it was indeed for a family—I took over the planning. Just as I finished explaining to the group of six which aspects of their blueprint were solid and which needed to be reworked, my team arrived.

I explained the situation to them, and they immediately set about helping the six men with their respective tasks. Every single one of them had helped build a cabin or two, and they were each knowledgeable about the process. The four men who were drinking and doing nothing eventually got up and walked away.

We didn’t need them. With the extra hands, we were able to get the skeleton of the cabin built. Steven, Aiden, and the other men had already buried the support posts in the earth at the proper distance from one another.

I noticed that a group of six had approached us—a mother, father, and their four children. The youngest pup was only a few months old and was still cradled in the arms of the mother. Now that Steven, Aiden, and the other four had a much better idea of what they were doing, I decided it was alright to walk up to them.

The father stepped forward in front of his family. It didn’t offend me that he wanted to protect them from me. Given the fact that there were rumors about the Wargs being borderline feral, and that this man’s most recent encounter with an Alpha had been with the murderous, insane Troy, it made sense that he would be cautious around me as Alpha of the Wargs.

This was an opportunity to show the Kings that their misconceptions about us were just that—misconceptions. Rumors. So, to show that I respected his caution, I stopped a few paces away. I only needed to be close enough for him to hear me without shouting.

“Are you the family who will live in this cabin?” I asked.

“That’s right,” he said. His shoulders relaxed somewhat, but he kept his family behind him. “We came by earlier to see the progress, but they weren’t this far along with the work.”

I nodded.

“Am I to thank you for their quick progress?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t say that. Steven and the others are doing the bulk of the work. My team just got them on the right track.”

His eyebrows raised. “I wouldn’t have expected an Alpha to be humble.”

I hadn’t been expecting the man to say that. It made me chuckle. “I’m not being humble. I’m being honest.” I glanced back at the group of Kings and Wargs. One of them had said something funny enough to make the group chuckle. It made me think that maybe there was something more here. At least now maybe some of the Kings could imagine a future where they and the Wargs could live together properly.

“It’s them who deserve your thanks,” I said, returning my attention to the family.

“Well, I still feel thanks is due to you.” He glanced at the working men and back to me. “To everyone.”

“I appreciate it just the same.” The second youngest peered up at me from around her mother’s skirt. “Did Troy give you a reason for destroying your cabin?”

“No. He was after our neighbors for reasons he refused to tell us.” The man frowned, remembering. “The fire spread from their home to ours when the wind turned, and we had to grab what valuables we could to get out of there.”

“I’m sorry.” It angered me that Troy would be so careless. Especially when there was a family with young ones just next door. “I’m glad that we can get you into your new home quickly.”

“Me too.” He smiled. “Like I said, thank you.”

As I returned to the group. Dom walked up to me. I greeted him with a nod.

“What did they want?” he asked, glancing at the family.

“They were checking in on the progress,” I said. “They’re the family that’s moving in.”

“I see. This was a good start,” he said, crossing his arms, “but we’ll need to do more if we want to endear ourselves to the pack.”

I nodded. “I know. But there are going to be a lot of opportunities for that. More construction projects, for one.”

He gave a dramatic sigh at the thought of more manual labor. “On a brighter note, did you get a chance to talk to Bryn about the Alpha situation?”

I nodded. I explained the process of selecting the next Alpha to him and that Bryn would still serve on the Kings’ council as Den Mother. I left out the fight we’d had and my worry about Bryn, because if I was right that Dom was concerned about Tavi, I didn’t want to bring up my love life.

“Bryn is obviously going to nominate me, and a month from now, I’ll have to fight to show that I’m worthy of it.”

“That’s more straightforward than I was expecting,” he said. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re already getting a head start on improving relations between the packs.”

I nodded. That sharpness was one of the many reasons I had wanted Dom to be my beta. “Bryn is trying to win over the women, and I’m trying to focus on these sorts of projects.”

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