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He glanced at me before focusing back on her. “Oh, you know, the best way to deal with this meeting and the Queen. Liam is understandably concerned.”
Mina’s eyes narrowed slightly as she faced me. “Darling, I’m glad you’re finally reaching out to your father for advice but remember he’s not the Alpha. You made the choice to keep the position and you need to stand on your own two feet.”
I stared at her for a long, heavy moment before my patience finally snapped.
“Why is everything that comes out of your mouth manipulative bullshit? Everywhere I turn, every time I speak, you’re there. Spouting shit and undermining me.”
She stared silently at me, holding my eye and refusing to back down. I growled, taking an instinctive step forward, my wolf determined to make her submit even if I couldn’t force the answers out of her.
“Stop!” Dad barked, stepping between us and forcing me to back up. “That is enough!”
He pointed a finger at my chest, his other fist clenched tight as he shielded Mina. “How dare you speak to your mother in that way? You may be Alpha, but I will not allow you to threaten my mate.”
“Alpha?” I asked, my voice dropping low. “When did I stop just being your son?”
He shook his head, his posture falling defeatedly. “You didn’t. But you can’t act this way towards her. You have a mate. You understand.”
My chest ached at his words, both for the woman I was missing like a lost limb and for the fact that my father was making a clear and obvious choice here. He knew something wasn’t right, he could see the manipulation, but he was siding with her anyway.
“I hear you,” I said simply, arranging my face into a calm mask as I watched guilt shine in my father’s eyes. “We need to get going.”
I spun, walking back to the group without looking at either of them again. I needed to figure out what the fuck my mother was up to. At best, she really was trying to help. At worst, she was trying to force me out of the Alpha role and return it to Dad. Whatever it was, she had an end game, and I was afraid of how far she’d go to achieve it.
“Let’s get moving,” I snapped as I walked back through the group.
Zeke narrowed his eyes at me as he assessed my mood, his gaze sliding back to where our parents were re-joining the others.
“What’s going on?” he asked gruffly, but I just glared at him in answer and stalked back to lead the way.
I had tried to get Zeke to stay behind in the village. With Noah out of action and completely vulnerable, I’d wanted to leave a strong shifter behind to guard him and those who remained at home.
He’d refused.
Mina had demanded that all pack members with any rank or strength must attend the meeting to show their commitment to peace. She’d claimed that the pack was safe from attack during the peace talks, and Zeke had agreed. My reminder that Dad had agreed previous peace terms alone fell on deaf ears, and here we were - every able pack protector and fighter gathered and walking willingly into the Queen’s territory.
I wasn’t particularly worried about the village. Saffy was there, having subtly played down her strength so that she could stay behind and watch over her brother, and Wind had stayed behind when River had decided she wasn’t strong enough to travel. They were safe enough for now, especially as I was fully expecting the strength of the Queen’s guard to be standing in front of us.
“Liam,” Zeke said, catching my attention as he strode up the line to walk beside me.
“What?” I grunted.
“What happened back there?”
I rolled my eyes at him, narrowing them as his mouth twitched into a smile.
“Shit, you looked just like C…”
I shoved him to the side before he could say her name. “Don’t you fucking dare talk about her. Shut your damn mouth.”
He growled at me as he caught his footing. “For fuck’s sake Liam, you’re not the only one who lost her.”
I clenched my teeth as my vision flashed red, but a sudden realisation had me drag in a deep breath. He had no idea she was back. He didn’t share a bond with her like we did, so he had no clue how close she was. I’d been alone when I’d felt her return, he hadn’t seen my reaction. No one had.
Darting a look back at Mina, I guessed that was probably a good thing. As much as he denied it, I’d be an idiot not to realise that her words had affected Zeke’s decisions. I wouldn’t put it past him to run and tell her, and our mother hadn’t exactly made her dislike of Cordelia a secret.
“You need to lay off of Mom,” Zeke bit out, reclaiming my attention.
“Fuck off, Zeke. I have nothing to say to you,” I snapped back. “It’s quite clear where your priorities lie now, so get back to being the mommy’s boy, yeh?”
