Page 66 of Fated to the Alpha

Kimberly shook her head. “But what if there’s something you missed? What if Oakfield is too far from some of their extended family and they don’t feel comfortable with the move? What if—”

“Then they can leave.”

Just like the news that he kicked Andy out of the pack, this new nonchalant attitude toward throwing away pack members made Kimberly balk.

“So, it’s my way or the highway?”

Shane crunched into the wonton, and her words seemed to give him pause, but not enough to change his mind. “Yep. And I’m not going to listen to any bellyachin’ about it either.”

Kimberly stared, hard and unwavering, but he didn’t seem to care.

“You can quit trying to stare a hole through me,” he grumbled. “I’m not budging on this.”

Kimberly let out a frustrated huff. “I don’t remember you ever being this bullheaded when we were younger. You always considered others before yourself and gave people the benefit of the doubt. I can’t remember you ever holding a grudge or being mean-spirited for no good reason like this.”

“Well, life happened and showed me that’s not the best way to get through it.” He took another bite of his wonton, a show that this conversation could not and would not bother him. “The shifters who understand will stay, and those who don’t want to cope will leave. It’s that simple.”

Kimberly might as well have found out that he was a closet serial killer or rapist. This all came as an absolute shock to her system, her nerves scorched by his confession.

“Until you’re left all alone,” Kimberly snapped. “An alpha without a pack.”

“Yeah, like Gage.”

“Gage has a pack,” she growled. “It’s just not big, so you don’t respect him as an alpha.”

The heat in her comeback didn’t faze him. “I can respect that he was given the role, even if he didn’t earn it, but he’s got some big shoes to fill. Doesn’t matter how big the pack is. If an alpha can’t keep his shifters in line, then what good is he?”

Kimberly slammed her carton of orange chicken on the counter, chunks of rice jumping over the rim. “Keeping control over a pack isn’t all an alpha does, Shane. He protects. He comforts. He supports. When someone is in trouble or having a hard time, you don’t kick them out for having a moment of weakness. You work it out and remind them that they belong to something bigger than themselves. Being an alpha means using your dominance to help the pack, not push them around.”

“Tall words coming from someone who can’t shift and has no dominance. You’re barely a shifter at all.”

That was the last straw. Spurred forward by an enraged wolf in her chest, Kimberly charged right up to Shane and slapped him hard across the face. His head jerked from the impact and a plume of red immediately bloomed across his skin.

With those words, he had gone too far.

“Fuck you.” Kimberly hissed the words with such trembling venom.

She hoped that, combined with the slap, was enough to bring him back to reality, to force an apology, to exorcise the demon of his father from his body.

Shane didn’t dare move or seem to breathe. With no sign of hope, Kimberly spun and rushed out of his apartment, slamming it so hard she wondered if the door cracked. Tears burned in her eyes as she took to the stairs.

Just before she reached the floor below, she heard Shane let out a deafening roar, followed by indistinguishable crashing of heavy things against floors and walls. Kimberly paused, fear and pain tempting her to go back and fix it. But there was no fixing this. Shane had made his choice to push her away. Now, he’d live with it. Kimberly quietly declared herself no longer his, not when his father continued to call the shots in his head.

Chapter Fifteen

Shane hadn’t meant it. He didn’t even know where the words came from. What he said about Kimberly wasn’t true, but he spoke them with such conviction as if he believed them, which he didn’t. Not really. Kimberly was just going through a rough time. Her inability to shift and her dominance wasn’t a reflection of her validity as a shifter. He knew that as sure as he knew the color of his own hair, so why did he say the one thing he knew would hurt her like that? The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. He promised he wouldn’t. Another promise broken.

After she left his apartment, Shane heard one last message from his dead father.

If that snowflake won’t own up to her own flaws, she’s not worth your time.

Shane had bellowed and trashed what little he had in his apartment, heedless of the consequences. When his rage was spent, Shane fell to his knees.

He wanted to pound his fists into the tile. Shifter rage wanted to take hold and tear the whole building apart, and he could almost feel the wolf boil under his skin, demanding release. His words had been cruel, and he might have lost Kimberly forever.

The night was spent in utter agony as he paced, tossed and turned on his shitty mattress, and adamantly fought against the last vestiges of his father in his head. Work the next day left him sluggish and unproductive, unable to think about anything else except how he had fucked up on everything that mattered. His pack and Kimberly.

When he got the call in the middle of his workday, Shane’s heart jolted, hopeful that it was Kimberly. Instead, it was Paul, his prospective beta, asking to meet him that evening at Jade Lake for a talk. He could tell by the flat tone and short sentences that it wouldn’t be a good talk.