Page 12 of You Will Obey

“And did you feel like you needed to, Sire?” Dante asked.

Théoden shrugged. “Just wanted to check in to see how you were doing with your son, Dominic. What you did to bring him to heel. By the way, I was impressed and proud. Very good.”

Dante smirked. “I see. Thank you, Father. Dom was a handful, but he’s doing so much better now. Well, in any case, I will never betray you or withhold vital information.”

Théoden nodded. “I know. Your mental abilities were always on another level, because of your wolf blood. I never could compel you. Even Donovan had a stubbornness to him that forced me to pry harder to get what I wanted from his mind. Noel, though crafty, couldn’t keep a thought hidden if his life depended on it in those early days. Half of the time, I didn’t even have to read his mind to know what he was thinking.” He chuckled at the memory, and Dante did too.

“Was Victor the only wolf who betrayed Deacon?” I asked.

Dante shook his head. “Corey had a friend who knew someone who knew someone who helped us from time to time. But Corey’s dead now.”

“I’d read Corey’s mind, but couldn’t get any information on the name. But then again, the traitor wasn’t in my territory, so I didn’t really care,” Théoden said.

“Are you going to tell Deacon that he has a rat problem?” I asked.

Théoden looked up at me. “Eventually. Or do you want to tell him?” he smirked.

“Fuck Deacon,” I growled.

Dante cackled and looked at me. “What do you have against him?”

Théoden smirked and leaned back in the chair. “I’d like to hear this myself.”

“I’ve never liked him, even from the first time I met him over two hundred years ago. He was this capo wolf who didn’t know his place, speaking out of turn. An arrogant bastard, even then. He killed his female Alpha, took over and managed to not be challenged even though there are wolves older or as old as him in his pack. I guess that’s worthy of an ounce of my admiration. But he’s an opportunistic son of a bitch. One who is far too cunning for his own good. Make no mistake, Théoden, he plays the long game.”

“Meaning?” Théoden asked.

“Akio had his suspicions about Deacon, Selena too, as did I, about how a wolf as young as he was could rise to be an Alpha,” I said.

“You have wolves older than you in this pack,” Dante said. “They don’t challenge you.”

“Because they witnessed me kill their Alpha, Dorefey, fair and square. They saw my skill. And don’t think that I didn’t get challenged, lover. I did and I killed those who dared to take me on. I earned my place,” I said.

Dante nodded and pursed his lips as if he were thinking about what I said.

“What did Akio have to be suspicious of?” Théoden asked.

I looked back at him. “There was contempt between him and his Alpha, we could sense it at our meeting. She was younger than him, but to his credit, he followed her rule until he didn’t. The circumstances that fell into place in order for Deacon to take control are of a curious sort. His best friend, who was the son of the original Alpha, was murdered–poisoned to be exact. Deacon accused his biggest challenger to the throne of his murder. He was also the Alpha’s husband, so that got him out of the way. Now, no one will challenge Deacon as he justly took on their Alpha who he accused of being a villain.” I waved my hand. “Of course, this could all just be speculation and gossip between us Alphas. But I still have my suspicions that my wolf being murdered was Deacon’s play at trying to gain my territory. He’s always wanted it. Maybe now that he has Selena’s territory, he’ll be satisfied. The man sees opportunity in every situation and he plays it smart and close to the vest. Where others are impatient and that is their downfall, Deacon will always err on the side of wait and see.”

Dante bit his bottom lip. “There’s so much history between you two, I find this interesting.”

“I also hate how he mocks my appearance. I’d rip his heart from his chest if it weren’t for our alliance,” I said.

Both Dante and Théoden chuckled at that. “Well, it doesn't escape my notice that he is quite clever and will do whatever it takes to win. But I will take what you’ve told me into consideration when dealing with him,” Théoden said.

I nodded, then motioned for one of my wolves to come over. When he did, I ordered him to prepare a plate of food for me and something to drink. He walked away and I returned my attention to Théoden.

“So, you aren’t going to offer your guest anything to eat?” Théoden asked.

“Sorry, we don’t have any extra humans to give you to eat. How about a cow?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“How about a wolf?” he shot back.

I narrowed my eyes. “How about–”

“Sire, would you like a wolf to feed from?” Dante asked, cutting me off.

I turned and glared at him because I didn’t appreciate the interjection even if he was trying to keep our heads cool. I didn’t like that his Sire felt like he could just feed on my wolves… our wolves.

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