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“From what we’ve seen so far, not one of them is worth trusting,” said Aubrey. “Whether they’re actively aiding Samuel or not.”
“Your sons are both alphas—a trait that’s in low supply and high demand these days. Moreover, they have a human motherandMorrow blood,” said Clint. “No one will say it out loud, of course, but any pack obsessed with shifter superiority will stand by Father’s side in removing the boys from human influence. They’ll only look to placate us, or even hinder—never help.”
“They’re useless, then.” Big surprise. “Keep on them, anyway. If they won’t give us anything, we’ll take it from them. I need your betas knocking on every door.”
“And if those doors don’t open?” Clint asked.
“Start knocking them down instead.”
Malik cleared his throat. “About that.”
I gestured for him to speak.
“We are short-staffed, my friend,” Malik informed me. “We do not have many betas to spare.”
“It’s true.” Clint’s expression was pained. “You know we want to find the boys just as much as you do, but we’re ultimately a peacetime pack. We lost half the muscle we had when Father fled. Most of the other half…”
“This is peak tourism season,” Aubrey explained. “The money Portersmith makes during these months sustains the town for the rest of the year. Without it, there’d be no Portersmith.”
“I don’t trust hiring outside help for this. We can easily outbid any beta who can be bought. Right now, we can spare Malik, the betas he’s retained on his team…and the two of us.” Clint took Aubrey’s hand. “It’s not enough to intimidate every pack that might be harboring Father. It’s barely enough to surveil them all.”
I clenched my jaw, wrestling with that. Clint’s people had jobs. Lives. Felicity and I had those things, too, once.
Why should the shifters of Portersmith carry on like the world was still turning when it had clearly stopped the second our sons were taken from us?
“I understand.” I finally forced the words out, then looked to Dylan. “The Evergreen pack, then. Send the order. What Portersmith can’t cover, our betas will account for.”
Dylan solemnly shook his head. “No, man.”
My heart sank. “What do you mean?”
Dylan cast a furtive glance around the table. “Maybe we should talk about this somewhere more private. It’s why I drove up here.”
“Why bother now?” He’d already blurted out his insubordination. What was another twist of the knife? “Whatever you have to say, might as well say it here.”
“It’s just…” He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes cast down to the table. “You’ve been gone for a while.”
The accusation seared my chest. But it wasn’t just an accusation, was it?
It was the truth.
“I haven’t had a choice,” I growled. “We came here to secure a future for one of our sons. We stayed to prevent a fucking war—”
“I know that,” Dylan insisted. “The pack, though…”
“Takes orders from their alpha.” I arched a brow as a bitter taste filled my mouth. “Or is that not the case anymore?”
“Look, don’t get all defensive on me.” Dylan held up his hands, palms toward me. “The pack’s behind you—that’s not the problem—but if you want to give them orders like an alpha, you need tobetheir alpha. I’ve been stringing things along as best I can, but I’m just a sigma, Xander. I don’t have… whatever it is that makes it so you can do what you do. We’re falling apart without you.” A rare, pleading look crept into his eyes. For a moment, he looked about six years old again, asking if he could sleep in my room because there were monsters in his. “I can’t do it alone anymore.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, then let out a breath.
“No. Of course you can’t.” I covered my face with my hands and tried to rub the tension from my brow, but the muscles there felt calcified, immovable. Hard and heavy as iron. “Thank you. All of you.”
“You don’t need to thank us, Xander,” Clinton said, shaking his head. “I know that none of this is what you want to hear right now.”
Dylan hung his head. “We’ve let you down.”
“No.” I placed my palms on the table and rose. “You’ve been honest with me. That’s all that I can ask.” I looked to Yasmeen. “You had something to say about Kingston?”
