Had they loved Newell like he did Cam?
Daryl found that thought hard to swallow, but if that was the case, it might explain how they found it so difficult to accept the truth. He shook his head. No. If Cam behaved the way Newell had, if the evidence was so overwhelming in proving his guilt, Daryl wouldn’t defend him. An alpha was the ultimate protector of the pack. Once that role had been tarnished so thoroughly, the trust shattered, there was no going back.
He watched Nathan with narrowed eyes, claws sunk into the dirt, waiting to see how he’d respond.
Sighing heavily, Nathan ran a hand through his hair. “Yes. I made a huge error in judgement.
Biting Jared was an accident, but I did break the law. And I should’ve gone to Cam straight away and told him what had happened. I put Cam in a terrible position, and I accept the responsibility for that.
But the rogue pack attacked both our packs.” He met Rob’s gaze. “That was the reason we joined forces in the first place. It had nothing to do with me.”
“Harley made the deal without disclosing what you’d done.” Rob sneered. “Your precious fucking alpha lied.”
“And I almost paid for it with my life,” Nathan shot back. “Or have you forgotten how he chose me specifically to be bait for the rogue pack?”
Rob looked uncomfortable for a moment before schooling his features.
“Our packs fought side by side against the rogue shifters,” Nathan carried on. “People died, but we worked together and won. Newell could’ve walked away and left it at that, but he set his sights on Cam’s pack, Cam’s territory, and revenge against me. That’s not how an alpha looks out for his pack.
When he sent those shifters after Seb, he wasn’t thinking about the good of the pack. It was all about him.” Nathan sighed, his voice losing its edge. “Jenn is your beta. Her focus is your wellbeing. How do you think it must feel to know that your unit still supports a man that kidnapped her?”
Daryl watched the play of emotions as they crossed Rob’s face. He looked conflicted, caught between accepting what Nathan was saying and clinging to what he’d believed was the truth.
“Cam isn’t the bad guy here.”
Rob stared at him, drawing his bottom lip between his teeth, and Daryl held his breath. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
Taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly, Rob rubbed the back of his neck. “I know Newell did some bad things in the end. He—” He glanced up at the sky as though searching for the words, then let out a heavy sigh. “I can accept that he got what he deserved.” It looked as though it physically hurt to admit it. Daryl was grudgingly impressed. With both of them. “But you broke the law and were never punished. I guess I’m struggling with the thought that if you’d never done it or if you’d been handed over to the police, then maybe Newell wouldn’t have been so hell-bent on revenge. And that’s what makes me so angry sometimes,” he said, hands curling into fists with the last sentence.
Nathan seemed to consider this.
Daryl knew what he’d do in the same circumstances. Would Nathan do the same?
“We need to get past this,” Nathan replied eventually. “If we want to make this pack whole, we need to find a way to move past it and learn to trust each other.”
“Isn’t that what this whole pack bonding is supposed to do?” Rob glanced around, startling a little as though he’d forgotten the rest of them were there.
Nathan nodded. “It is. But we can’t just avoid each other to keep the peace. We need to get it out of our systems and move on. We have to be able to trust each other. Like pack.”
“Can you do that?” Rob fixed Nathan with the most honest and open look Daryl had seen on him.
“I’m not gonna lie. It’s going to be hard for me. I still want to punch you in the face.”
Daryl grinned despite the gravity of the situation.
To his surprise, Nathan’s lips twitched. “I kind of want to punch you too.”
“So what do you suggest?” Rob rolled his shoulders, neck cracking, as though he knew what Nathan was about to say.
“Maybe we should do that, then? In true shifter fashion.”
“Fight?” Rob clarified.
“Yeah. Not to inflict serious injury,” Nathan added quickly. “I don’t want to incur the council’s wrath.” He flexed his hands, letting his claws slide out, and smiled with sharper than normal teeth.
“But I think we can sort this without resorting to that.”
