AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brynn snorted then headed to the kitchen. She pulled out a couple beers and handed him one. “Really? Privacy? Hello, big brother, you were on the fucking porch having your conversation with Iona. It’s not like you were in your secret room whispering. No, you were outside where the whole world could hear you lay down the law.” She held up her hand to quiet him. “I’m not saying what you did was wrong because, come on, she’s not your mate. If it’s not working for either one of you, then it’s stupid to keep screwing. You might have done it a little less harshly, but we both know Iona, and sweet and kind doesn’t work with her. Other than writing in a big marker on her forehead that you’re through with her, I’m not sure how else you could have gone about it.”
Gideon laughed, despite himself. “A marker?”
Brynn shrugged, her eyes sparkling. “I don’t like her since she’s always been a bitch to me. She doesn’t like that I’m more dominant than she is and that I have better boobs. She always tries to pick fights with me but loses when I actually let her nip at my heels. You have poor taste in bed partners, but whatever. It’s not my bed.”
Gideon just shook his head then went back to his room to pull on another shirt. It looked as though he wouldn’t be finishing his workout until after the elder meeting. That sucked considering he probably could have gotten rid of the extra aggression in his systembeforehe met with some of the elders. Sure, a few were nice and not as batshit crazy as others, but there was at least one—Shannon—who hated him.
She’d been an elder during his father’s reign and had loved the brutal way Joseph had ruled his Pack. She liked the whippings, beheadings, and other cruel punishments and had even helped sentence some of the wolves who had risen against Joseph’s rule. Gideon and his brothers, cousins, and Brynn had done their best to save those they could, but there was only so much they could do in a flawed system.
The power might have been in the Alpha’s hands, but it was the role of a good Alpha to ensure that power didn’t become corrupt. Joseph had succumbed to the temptation of absolute power and cruelty, and the Pack had suffered for it.
Shannon was a symbol of a past that Gideon wasstillfighting to overcome. As much as he wanted to banish her from the Pack, so she wouldn’t interfere with his rule, he couldn’t. The elders were there for a reason. They didn’t interfere with the Alpha, but theywerethere to see that the laws of their people were being followed. When the Alpha and the elders worked together—like Gideon did with another elder named Xavier—things worked smoothly. When one was trying to oust the other, then things got complicated fast.
Gideon didn’t know the underlying reason for this meeting today. He knew only that the elders had requested his presence. Request, though, was putting it lightly. As long as he didn’t have a war or more pressing matters like trying to survive, he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Refusing to see them would be an act of disrespect, and if he showed such disrespect to the elders, then it was setting a bad precedent for the entire Pack. It was a tricky path to walk, and he hated it. However, as the Alpha, he didn’t have a choice.
Maybe if he had a mate, things would have been and would be easier. He could rely on her for things like this and find a balance. But he didn’t have a mate. The only one fate had given him was so ill-suited for him that it wasn’t even a choice. His wolf pushed at him with the thought of her, and he held back a growl. He couldn’t let her fill is mind and soul, not when so much rode on his control. Like he’d done before, he pushed Brie from his mind and tried to focus on the matters at hand.
There were only a few short hours of relaxation remaining before he had to assume the role of political Alpha, using his voice instead of claws to make his point. As with human politicians, he wasn’t his own person—not that he’d ever been.
“So, what movie are we watching?” Brynn asked from the living room. She’d already popped popcorn and was munching down.
He had to grin at her. Brynn had seen her share of pain and heartache and, as a result, wasn’t the softest person to get to know, but when things counted, she was one of the sweetest. He wasn’t sure why the goddess hadn’t blessed her with any of the powers that came from the Pack since she was blood, but there had to be a reason. She was destined for great things. It just didn’t happen to be as a Beta, Omega, or Healer. Hell, she’d make a fucking good Alpha—but he’d never tell her that.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?” She scrunched her eyes, and he snorted.
“Just thinking. Ignore me. As for the movie, something with fighting that we can make fun of works. I like watching to see if they actually have the moves down or if it’s too Hollywood.”
She smiled then hit play on the remote. “Good. Because I already picked it out.”
He rolled his eyes then sat down next to her, and stole the bowl of popcorn. He should have known she’d pick the movie. He might be Alpha of the Pack, and this might be his house, but Brynn owned the remote. It was just the way things worked.
They watched the movie and compared notes, yelling when the bad guy did something completely stupid so the hero could win. It never worked that way in real life. The villain didn’t make a mistake, and the hero didn’t magically find a way to use that mistake to win. The only way for the hero to win was to find a way to break the villain down, to find that weakness. In the process, the hero’s weakness might prove too much, and the villain could win. It took more than a promise and luck to win. It took sacrifice and the idea that maybe the hero wasn’t so heroic, but maybe just a little less dark than the bad guy.
Gideon let out a breath then turned off the TV once the credits started to roll.
This was a difficult time for the Pack. Instead of being able to fully move forward and find a way to protect his Pack from what could be coming, Gideon still had to straddle the line between his past and his present. He didn’t like thinking about his father and how he’d succeeded his father as Alpha. He knew he had to think of the future and plan accordingly—hence the tunnels between dens and the meetings with the Redwoods—he couldn’t engage to the full extent of his power. The past wouldn’t go away, no matter what he did, and now the elders wanted to speak to him, which reinforced the fact that he could never leave that past behind.
There had to be a resolution of the past, present and future before he and his Pack could move forward.
He was exhausted merely thinking about it.
“You ready to head out?” Brynn asked.
He stood and stretched. “Yeah. We meeting Mitchell and Ryder there?” The elders had asked his Heir and Beta to join them. Brynn would be going as the most dominant female of the Pack. Usually, in these cases, the Alpha would bring his mate, but seeing how he didn’t have one, Brynn had to fill that role.
Just another reason Brie wouldn’t work for him. He wouldn’t want to force her into that kind of position.
Hell, he needed to stop thinking of her. It wasn’t helping anyone, and it was only making him angrier at the cards he’d been dealt.
“That’s what they said,” Brynn answered as she led them out of his home. “You know what this meeting is about?”
“No clue. I hate when they do this. For all I know, they just want to see how the meeting with the Redwoods went, but if they really cared, they could have sent Xavier to come with me. I don’t mind if he comes to those kind of meetings.”
“Yeah, and Shannon knows that. She’d rather have you come and lay prostrate at her feet than actually use common sense and have one of them act like they’re part of the Pack, rather than on the periphery.”
“Don’t start, Brynn. I’m not in the mood to deal with your logic.” His wolf rumbled, pacing. Neither of them wanted to deal with what they had to do and he knew for a fact his wolf would rather be with a certain green-eyed wolf, but that wasn’t about to happen.
Ever.
