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“Nice to meet you.” His eyes flicked to Pearl, who stood by my side.
“I’m Pearl.” My mate offered her hand. My wolf huffed, annoyed by the invitation, but I ignored it. Pearl could shake hands with whomever she wished, but if the touch wasn’t so innocent, I would have an issue. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”
Teo nodded then turned to the living space, where the other wolves had settled on the sofa, the armchairs, or on the floor. I could feel eyes on me, and it made my skin twitch. They were curious—I could smell that in the air—but there was also uncertainty along with irritation.
“Please explain,” I said, focused on Teo, who still wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“You did something that freed us from Tamra’s control,” Arden began, strolling to stand by Teo’s side and staring at me.
“It wasn’t my intention, but yes, I did,” I confirmed, thankful that Pearl was beside me holding my hand.
“Well, it didn’t just free us from her control but from our alpha’s as well.”
“Excuse me?” I barked, ignoring the other wolf’s flinch at my tone. I wanted to glance at Deacon and demand he explain how the hell his theory was completely accurate.
“You freed everyone.” Teo glanced down at his booted feet.
“From Tamra’s control and from the alpha pack bond?” Pearl asked, as if double checking that what he’d said was correct.
“That’s right.” Arden nodded as she watched her words sink into the both of us. “The meteor hit after that, so it’s been chaotic ever since. Nice touch with that by the way. Would never have expected that.”
“Every alpha is re-bonding with their pack while others have viewed this as freedom and joined Tamra.” Teo interrupted, solemnly.
I wondered if I should voice Deacon’s theory since it was the most plausible one we had.
“We’ve noticed changes too,” Deacon supplied stepping back into the room, having heard my hesitation and following my lead.
“Are the wolves feeling an effect from the lack of a pack bond?” I wondered. Seeing as we hadn’t felt anything thus far, maybe I’d spared others from it too.
“Yes, some more than others.” Arden glanced at Teo before turning her gaze back to me. “We’re all feeling the effects, but instead of rejoining our packs, we decided to come here. To the true alpha.”
I was stunned but appreciated her honesty. How should I handle this? My wolf and I felt the urge to accept these wolves and add them to our pack, but was it really that easy? I didn’t know them. How could I trust them? How could they trust me?
Pearl shifted her weight, drawing my attention. I was hyper aware of her in this room with unknown shifters. It made my skin itch. The different scents and emotions in the air were overwhelming. My wolf helped me filter everything, but it was still irritating.
How do you gain trust and respect from pack less wolves? I could think of only one way, but Deacon was correct. We needed to regroup and add to our numbers. If these enforcers joined my pack, it meant I could protect them from my aunt and hopefully figure out a way to free all the others.
This was the start of something big. I knew in my heart that this was the right direction, and with Pearl here with me, I was confident I could handle whatever was thrown at me.
‘Are we strong enough?’ my wolf asked gently.
‘We’ll have to be,’ I countered, not looking forward to what I had to do next.
‘What about Pearl?’
‘Deacon will keep her safe.’
‘That’s not what I meant.’
I knew what he meant. The mate bond with Pearl was a distraction that we couldn’t afford to have. The best thing to do would be to complete the mating then have access to all our power, but that didn’t seem like the best solution. I didn’t want our mating to happen just because I wanted all of my alpha abilities. It was selfish, but I couldn’t deny it was intriguing. When fully mated, what would I be capable of?
“I appreciate you all coming here. I’d be happy for you to join my pack, but these are desperate times. I won’t allow a wolf to join unless he or she has my respect and trust. I’m sure you feel the same way.” I addressed the room, my wolf speaking the words alongside me. We were a team. “I can’t promise that I can protect you from my aunt’s ability, but I will do everything in my power to prevent it from happening again.”
Pearl slipped her fingers through mine, silently giving me her support, which made my heart lighten.
“There’s still so much we don’t know about this new enemy. If you have information that might help us, please come talk to me,” Deacon announced, stepping into the role he was born to play.
I couldn’t help the negative thoughts filtering through my mind, but I would do my best to ignore them. This task was given to me by the Moon Spirit, and I was committed to seeing it through.
