Page 65 of Fated to the Alpha

Kimberly went stone cold and just as still. “But, why?” The question came out more like a condemning bark, but that was unintentional.

Shane seemed to bristle at her tone. “He committed a crime, Kim. He jeopardized our pack’s security in Tolstone because he could have exposed our secret to the humans. Isn’t it obvious?”

Her gaze went sharp as obsidian. “It’s an extreme punishment. It doesn’t sound like you to do something like that.”

Shane looked as if he wanted to bow up to her accusation, but she could see the restraint. “You should know better than anyone that I can’t just give a slap on the wrist. I can’t be too soft when it comes to keeping my pack in check. See where that got us?” He swung his arm to show off the nearly empty apartment.

“Andy wasn’t planning to take over the pack like Kevin was.”

“How would you know that? What if he got away with stealing a gun and tried to use it on me eventually? What if he, like Kevin, tried to turn the pack against me, believing it was for the good of the pack? That was his whole reason for stealing the guns, to protect the pack. If one shifter steps out of line, if they can’t respect the rules, they don’t belong in my pack.”

What was going on in Shane’s head to make him act this way? This wasn’t him. This was something else. Someone else. Kimberly’s jaw worked, the words she wanted to say just on the tip of her tongue, as toxic as venom in her mouth. She couldn’t let them out.

“Say it,” he ordered with a growl.

“You sound just like your father.”

Shane went quiet, probably knowing all too well that what she said was true. “What’s done is done. Even if I wanted to take it back, I can’t, and I wouldn’t. The pack bond is severed and he’s long gone. Cole will probably put out a warrant for his arrest since he skipped town. He’s Cole’s problem now.”

Kimberly looked away and a heaviness hung in the air around them. There was no way they would agree on this, and they both knew it. She knew the pain of being kicked out of her pack, but she couldn’t understand what brought him to make such a cruel decision.

“I’ve got a spare container for your food if you want to take it home.” He thumbed toward the takeout bag on the counter. “If you don’t want to stay, I won’t make you.”

Kimberly snapped her stare back at him. “You’re kicking me out too?”

Shane quickly backpedaled. “No, no! I’m just making it clear that I’m not going to force you to have dinner with an asshole if you don’t want to.”

She sighed and a bit of the starch leaked out of her. “I still want to have dinner with you, even if you are being an asshole. I missed you today, and last night.”

A corner of Shane’s mouth twitched, tempted to smile. “Me too … In that case, do you want to eat straight out of the carton or use a plate?”

As they did when they were kids, they ate their Chinese out of the little to-go cartons and stood against the counters across from each other in his kitchen, the card table too cluttered with his mess for a proper spread.

Shane told her about his proposal and the logistics he had to work out before pulling the trigger on Oakfield. She listened with keen interest while she shoveled chunks of orange chicken into her mouth with her chopsticks. The topic was a momentary distraction, but their previous conversation continued to burden her thoughts like a scratchy blanket.

“So, Oakfield is it, huh?” she asked.

Shane nodded as he shuffled around his noodles. “I think so. I didn’t really see anything that was a major conflict with anyone’s preferences.”

“Are you going to put it to a vote?”

He snorted. “Yeah, why not? It went so well last time.”

Kimberly tilted her head. “Do I sense some sarcasm?”

“Dripping loud and clear like a leaky faucet in the middle of the night.”

“So, you’re not going to put it to a vote or consult it with your pack first?”

Shane bit down on a mouthful of noodles to make the excess bits drop into his carton, then finished off what was in his mouth before replying to her test. “If I know what my pack needs and the town meets all of the criteria, then I don’t see a problem with going forward without a formal meeting. Might as well drop a pin on a map and tell them to load up.” He paused and pointed his chopsticks at her. “That was sarcasm too. I wouldn’t just throw them in a moving van and haul them off without warning.”

“I hope you wouldn’t, but … something just seems off about you moving forward with a proposal to Dominic before you clear it with them first.”

Again, that seemed too Isaac and not enough Shane. Didn’t he want to run the pack differently? More diplomatically? Everyone’s opinion and thoughts mattered, after all.

Shane set down his lo mein carton to take up the bag of wontons. “I’m alpha. I don’t have to clear my decisions with anyone.”

He said it so coolly, so calmly as if it were an indisputable fact. But they weren’t Shane’s words. The tone, the voice, everything sounded too much like Isaac.