Page 5 of The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate

It was going to be mighty hard to convince people that the only way forward was to do something different. People liked to stick to what was familiar.

Sterling dismissed the meeting and came to talk to me. “Do you think they’re going to follow?”

“Yeah, they’re going to follow. I’ve told you before that most of your people will follow you to the ends of the earth, Sterling. You’re a good leader and they know it.”

“You said most. Do I have to worry about that?”

I shrugged. “Can you ever really be sure about anything?”

“Don’t play with me, Dutch, I want to know the truth. Do you think they will follow?”

I nodded.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Yeah, it’s a good idea. You might just save us all yet.”

He grinned, and that was why I would always follow him. At the end of the day, he just wanted things to be better for his people, and there was something so innocent about that. If I got past all of his moodiness, at the end of the day, he was a good man who wanted to do for his people. A lot of people couldn’t see that, but I’d known Sterling long enough to know the truth.

“I wish you would tell everyone else that,” Sterling said.

“If I thought they would actually listen, I would. People are fickle and will just think that I am speaking for you.”

“You’re always right, Dutch,” Sterling said before being called away to take care of some urgent business.

“Do you really think that it is a good idea?” Snow asked, startling me into remembering that she was standing right next to me. She’d been so quiet, and Snow was never quiet.

I agreed and she wanted to know

“Why?” It wasn’t just an offhanded question, Snow really wanted to know and understand.

“We need revenue that we can’t bring in with just horses and cattle.”

“Even after selling Diamond, the ranch is still short?” Snow looked horrified. “I didn’t know the ranch was in that much trouble. It looks like there is enough business. Is there something else going on?”

I didn’t answer, and she must have taken it to mean I didn’t trust her. That wasn’t the case at all. A lot of the revenue from the ranch went to the pack, and there had been some issues lately. She wasn’t part of the Night Riders, but I trusted her. I’d worked with Snow long enough to know that she was not someone we needed to worry about. Actually, I was going to need Snow now more than ever.

“Do you think you could teach me about riding?”

She looked at me funny, like she wasn’t sure if I was joking or not. “You know how to ride; I’ve seen you ride many times. What do you need to learn?”

“I don’t know how to teach someone else how to ride.” The ranch really didn’t have enough money to hire somebody, especially after Sterling hired Onyx out of the blue and was giving him a really decent salary. I was hoping Snow would take some of that patience she had with the other hands and the animals and use it to teach me how to be that way. I couldn’t lose her expertise with the animals, so I was going to have to be the one to give the lessons. She was too valuable as a trainer on Pullers Ranch.

“Why are you so worried about it?”

“I’m not, I just want to do a good job.”

She shook her head. “You know you’re not a very good liar, right?”

I thought I was okay at it, but with her, I didn’t want to lie because I didn’t want to disappoint her. She was capable, beautiful, and she never backed down from a challenge. It made me want to be a better man.

“It just needs to workout. Our pack needs this, and I need you to help me. Can I count on you?”

Snow agreed, and I was ready to put all of my faith in her. I had already put my love in her delicate hands. I wished things were different, and she wasn’t so vulnerable. Her memory loss made it hard to move forward. I didn’t want to take advantage of her, so I had to wait.

4

TYLER

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