Page 18 of Fated to the Alpha

“A beta with a family will put his family first,” Cole replied. “Not always, of course, but if it comes to a choice between his family and protecting the pack, he needs to have his thoughts in the right place.”

Shane’s brows met. “But an alpha can have a family?”

“For the sake of carrying on the bloodline, yes.” Dominic folded his arms on the tabletop. “Which men had families?”

“John and Cody.”

“Do you think either of them would be willing to get up in the middle of the night to leave their wives and children to risk their lives in a pack dispute?”

Shane looked away. He knew the answer to that all too well. John was a family man. Always had been. And Cody had a toddler who kept his wife busy and burned out. Neither of them was likely to put their lives on the line. Already, he was learning from Dominic. He hadn’t considered family to be a factor when choosing a second-in-command.

“That leaves Andy and Paul,” Cole said. “What about them?”

Shane wagged his head with indecisiveness. “Andy is … Well, I’m not sure he can be reliable. He can be dumb as dishwater sometimes and make stupid decisions.”

The rest of the table, including Gage, seemed to agree that Andy was not the right choice. Betas didn’t have to be geniuses, but they had to have common sense. Andy was new to him, even before they left Warrington, and so far, he wasn’t impressed by the guy. He was the sort of person who didn’t think too deep into conspiracy theories before believing them and might have walked into an auto parts store asking for blinker fluid. Shane only knew that he moved to Warrington for work and was estranged from his family on the other side of the state.

“That leaves Paul,” Dominic said.

Paul was the eldest shifter of the bunch, and only a few years younger than Shane’s father had been. Something about having a beta who was not only close in age to his father, but also to Kevin, who betrayed him and his Warrington pack, didn’t settle right with Shane. Paul was capable, and if Shane was right, might have had enough dominance to fill the role. He had been hardened by years of working with cattle and resembled more of a retired bull rider. He had the strength, the dominance, no family, and had stressed his loyalty to Shane enough times that he had at least some confidence that Paul wouldn’t stab him in the back.

He remembered one time overhearing Paul at the old general store grumble about some new pack mandate Isaac had slipped into play. Shane kept that secret to himself, knowing that his father would have tracked Paul down and taught him that he did not have freedom of opinion in his pack. Isaac’s way or the highway. But, knowing that Paul didn’t agree with Isaac on everything gave Shane some faith.

It made sense on paper, but Shane still couldn’t get over the sick feeling in his gut when he thought about settling on a beta.

Quit being such a wuss and make a damn decision. Do what is best for your pack.

Shane swallowed hard and told the group what he thought of Paul. Positive body language all around.

“What do you think?” Dominic asked Cole.

The cop made a face. “My only concern would be his age, but I’m not one to talk. Ronan is my age, but still a good beta. Hank is older than you, Dominic, and still efficient. Experience overrules age sometimes.”

The Prime Alpha then looked to Shane. “How do you feel about Paul being your beta?”

Shane felt the urge to squirm uncomfortably but forced himself to sit perfectly still while under the stare of an alpha more powerful than him. Telling the truth in this scenario would only make him appear weak and uncertain. Shane believed he was neither of those things. Only cautious and perhaps thinking too much.

“I don’t want my pack to suffer again.”

Dominic put a firm hand on his shoulder. “They won’t. I know it can be hard to trust again after what happened. But you have to trust your instincts. If you think Paul can serve you well as your beta, then go for it. The worst that can happen is he turns you down.”

Shane cast his eyes to the tabletop. There were worse things that could happen than a rejection.

“The fact that you care about what happens to your pack makes you a strong alpha,” Cole said in such a low, serious way that Shane had to look up. “You’ll make the right choice for your pack. You don’t have to do it tonight, though. Take some time. Think it over.” Cole circled Paul’s name on the list, as if it had all been settled, then turned to Gage, who had sat silent up to this point. “Now, for you, squirt.”

Gage jerked. “Squirt?”

“Yeah. Are you going to make Declan your beta or what?”

The mechanic sneered. “No, I’m going to make Kimberly my beta.”

The sarcasm made the other alphas chuckle, but not Shane. All at once, he was thrown back to earlier that day when Kimberly shot daggers out of her eyes the moment she saw him in her flower shop. If looks could kill, he’d be six feet under already. He could see her being a beta if it wasn’t for her lack of dominance.

But more than that thought, a hot boil of fury rose up in Shane. Even his wolf took offense at their laughter, a laughter directed at Kimberly.

“Don’t joke about her like that.” Shane didn’t have to even think twice about defending Kimberly in her absence.

Gage’s stare stuck on Shane and a bit of dominance spiked across the table. Shane matched it. Like cold iron clashing, the alpha energy collided. Like two warriors grappling one another, shoving and pulling, they wrestled in the spiritual while staying perfectly motionless in the physical. It almost felt cathartic to finally unleash a bit of that unconscious resentment. Resentment that Shane wasn’t Kimberly’s alpha. Resentment that Gage was the one charged with taking care of her. Resentment that Gage knew her better as a woman than Shane did, purely because he didn’t have the balls as a seventeen-year-old to run after the love of his life.