Bane marches up to the desk, slamming his hands down on the polished wood surface. “We need answers.”
Elias’s eyes narrow dangerously, the pale gold there flaring with color for a moment. “You will show respect in my office.”
Bane only glances back toward me, surprised to find me still by the door. He inclines his head, telling me to get in here. Getting closer to two hostile wolves who are double my size doesn’t sound like a good plan, but I also want answers.
Instead of sitting down in one of the chairs before the desk, I find myself standing behind Bane and using him as a shield. Guess I’m counting on him to protect me.
“Do you want to go outside and try this entrance again?” Elias asks almost neutrally. Not so much a question as it is the only acceptable next move in his eyes.
“Nope,” Bane replies swiftly.
“You’re being rude. Go outside and return when you remember your manners.”
Bane doubles down instead. He sinks into one of the leather chairs in front of the desk and gets comfortable.
All the air gets sucked out of the room as we face an incensed Alpha. Elias rests his arms on the desk, making his muscles bulge as he slowly rises. His eyes blaze with fury. I suddenly don’t feel so silly for using Bane as a barrier between me and his father.
“When you come here acting like that, being my son won’t get you any special treatment. Being an insubordinate brat isnotthe way to appear before your Alpha.”
“We know,” Bane says simply.
Maybe I’m imagining it, but there’s a second where Elias hesitates, a barely perceptible pause in his intimidation routine. It doesn’t take long before he carries on like the stern man he is. “Yes, I hope you’d know proper decorum. I have been instilling our rules in you since—”
“Josh didn’t reject me when we were teenagers,” Bane interrupts. “He didn’t even know we were mates. How did that happen, Dad?”
“...Oh,” Elias replies.
Watching an Alpha go from territorial and incensed to caught off guard is almost comical. Elias is still and stuck in place for several moments, as if his body just can’t process what to do. His instincts are sending him aggressive signals while his brain is registering something entirely different—that he’s not the wronged one here—he’sguilty.
Elias finally inclines his head stiffly and gestures to me, inviting me to sit down. He adjusts his suit and composes himself while I sit. He lowers himself into his fancy office chair, seemingly at a loss. “I wondered if there would be a moment like this in the beginning, but it became so unlikely. Even when you two tracked down Dante, I thought you wouldn’t… I’m not even sure where to begin anymore.”
“Just start talking,” Bane demands.
“Alright.” He considers for a moment and makes a decision. “Then I suppose I know what must come first. My brother’s strength has never matched my own, so fighting to take my mother’s place and become Alpha was a mere formality for me. When I earned successorship rights, I decided that all my children would be formidable opponents, strong enough to challenge each other, to push each other and produce the best possible replacement.”
He doesn’t smile but the pride in his tone is clear as he views Bane, talking to him more than me.
“All of you are eager and worthy now. Your brothers both needed much more encouragement, lacking the natural instincts required to be the best kind of Alpha—commanding, ruthless, and unyielding, but you and Adelaide showed promise from the beginning. I trained all of you to fight for your pack and gave you the tools you needed.”
His eyes grow brighter with conviction before the light dims and he sighs, tilting back in his chair. “In your case, it wasn’t about giving you anything so much asremovingwhat you didn’t need.”
Both their eyes fall on me. Fantastic.
“When you told me you found your mate and that he was a rival wolf, I held out hope.” Elias steeples his fingers, gaze distant as he thinks back. “There are a few wolves in the Clover Pack who actually take themselves seriously and know how touse their claws and fists. But then I looked into Josh Fielding and saw—”
Oh god, no idea what he’s going to say, but I’m not among the toughest in my pack and it’s not going to be ‘You were the best son-in-law an Alpha could ask for.’
“Dad,” Bane growls in a warning.
“You weren’t at the same level as my son,” Elias settles on diplomatically. “It’s not your fault, not really. Your pack runs wild without discipline. It breeds weakness.” Oh gee, that makes me feel so much better. Not.
Fate may disagree, but the Alpha decided I wasn’t good enough for his son. Is that what this all boils down to?
“Bane, I couldn’t take the risk,” he insists. “I never should have let you spend so much time with my brother’s family. They’ve always been too soft. I fear some of theirsentimentalityhas rubbed off on you.”
“Dad,”Bane growls again.
“I couldn’t take the chance your heart would eventually overrule your head,” Elias huffs, cutting his rant about Wynn’s family short.“Our packis supposed to be better than that.”
