Chapter 9

The grand hall of the Nexus Pack was alive with a buzz it probably hadn"t seen in years. Tables were laden with an abundance of food, shifters already milling about and filling their plates. The entire pack had gone on a run after the fight, and I think it was safe to say we had worked up an appetite. There were a few fights that had broken out between the two groups of shifters, but Wolfe and Taran had been able to quickly shut them down until they had come to a begrudging truce.

The air was thick with the mouthwatering smell of roasted meats, fresh fruits, and rich spices, and it filled my heart to see a table on one side populated with shifters that were clearly from the slums. They watched the room cautiously, on high alert, but the privileged shifters pretended like they weren"t even there. If it wasn"t for the set of their shoulders, the way they wouldn"t quite turn their back completely to them, I might have believed them.

The hall buzzed with conversations and laughter, the entire pack seeming to take a relieved sigh at the death of their Alpha. Even Wolfe"s mom looked lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulder, her eyes crinkling in the corners as she talked with her son. I realized now what I had interpreted as haughtiness from her had actually been fear. Fear of being mated to a man that she couldn"t escape.

Wolfe was the belle of the ball, and we hadn"t been able to get a word in with him. Warmth bloomed in me as I watched him. He was in his element, a natural leader, and it was obvious that he was ready to take on this role. He truly cared what happened to these people, now his people. But what did that mean for the Clover Pack? They were now without an alpha.

In a far corner of the hall, Lily sat by herself, Nia having been caught in a conversation by a particularly curious shifter on all the ins and outs of the fae. Excusing myself from the table I shared with Callan, I meandered over to my friend. Concern pinched my brow as I got closer, unmistakable tear streaks on her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" I said, sliding into the seat beside her, my hand coming to rest on hers. Tear-filled eyes looked back at me. "My parents refused to come tonight. They were there in the arena, I must not have seen them. And they—" a shuddered breath heaved from her as she tried to finish her sentence. "—they won"t come. They saw me with Nia."

I squeezed her hand, aching for my friend and her happiness. I knew a thing or two about shitty parents. "It"s not your fault, you know."

"I know," she cut me off quickly, freeing the hand I held trapped so she could swipe the tears off her face. "It"s just... they"re my parents. I love them. And I"d hoped they would understand." Her eyes softened as she looked at Nia, who was looking utterly uncomfortable as she continued to be trapped. Her affection for Nia ran deep, and whether they"d come to that realization or not, I wasn"t sure. But it was obvious, all the same.

"Nothing worth fighting for is easy," I said finally. I was a fixer, a problem solver, but this was a problem I couldn"t fix. Comfort and hope were the only things I had left to offer her. I was lucky, Callan and I would never have to face scrutiny in the way that they would. "And if they can"t accept you, then they aren"t worth your time. You don"t need them. What you have with Nia is special."

"I love her, but I love them too," Lily said quietly, and I grinned widely as her cheeks tinged with pink. "I know," I said smugly as she finally cracked a small smile. I squinted down at her chest, a faint golden shimmer emanating from her. "What is that?" I asked her.

"What is what?" She looked down at her clothes, eyes scanning frantically. "Did I spill some food or something?" I frowned, the golden glow staying put, shimmering under the soft lighting of the hall. A smile broke across my face as a thought struck me. Could that be the beginning of a true mate bond? Mine had blossomed all of a sudden, but he also had the added layer of the fake bond with Lexi. I decided to keep my suspicions to myself.

"Nothing," I said. "Just happy to see you happy. All things considered," I added with an afterthought. Nia finally broke away from her conversation, making her way over to us with an exasperated sigh as she launched herself into the nearest chair. "I"m ready to go home now. There is too much talking here," she said with an airy wave of her hand. More serious, she sat up, pinning Lily with her intense stare. "You should come with me when I go back to the fae realm. You can think of it like a vacation, away from horrible parents and all responsibilities."

"There is no way in hell I can live off of only fruit."

Hours later,the hall had quieted, most of the guests having gone to bed. Nia and Lily had engaged Finn in a drinking contest that had put all three of them down for the count. Oliver knew how to hold his alcohol, but he"d slipped out much earlier with a pretty coyote shifter from the Nexus pack, Clarissa. I wasn"t sure he still had it in him, but my worries must have been misplaced. Only Callan, Wolfe, and I remained, letting the events of the day marinate as we weren"t quite ready to say goodnight yet.

"We need to talk about the Clover pack," he said finally, breaking our companionable silence with reality. Callan shifted uncomfortably, already knowing where this conversation was heading.

"Callan, you know where I stand on this. The pack was yours to begin with, it"s time to take it back. I wouldn"t want to pass my title on to anyone but you."

"You should let one of the others do it," Callan said tersely, not meeting my eyes. He held on to his past like a grudge, unable to let it go, unable to move forward. "It"s too much. Too soon. Besides, there"s barely any pack left to lead." He wasn"t wrong. With only a few shifters in the pack left, it was more like the Clover club instead of the Clover pack.

"No, it"s not," Wolfe argued, irritation in his tone. "Everyone knows that wasn"t your fault. This is your chance to start anew, start fresh. Recruit, build the pack back up. You were a fantastic Alpha," he added. "I can"t leave the Nexus pack, not anytime soon. There"s so much work that has to be done here. Not to mention what might be happening in the rest of the country."

Callan just stared at him. For the first time, I sent out feelers through our bond, trying to get a read on him. His attention flicked to me, a wall slamming shut between our bond with finality. Oh, so now he wants to use a block?

"I think you should do it," I told him out loud. "You were a wonderful Alpha, and the pack has come to trust you again now that your name is cleared. Lexi is gone, she can"t hurt anyone anymore. Don"t you want a chance to fix things?"

He studied me, lingering on the shape of my lips and the tilt of my head as he pondered my words. Indecision warred inside of him. He"d enjoyed being an Alpha, I know he had. There was no place in the world he could hide, pretend to be a submissive shifter. Dominance was as ingrained in him as breathing, something he couldn"t help but do. And our fates were tied now. I didn"t want to live on the outskirts, and I don"t know that Callan could bow to someone other than Wolfe. It was because of their friendship that they"d been able to keep a semblance of peace, even with Callan living so close to the pack.

A home was something I"d always longed for, and I"d built it in the Clover Pack. My gaze met Wolfe"s, and I widened my eyes pointedly in a wordless hint.

"They need you," he said quickly, leaning forward to capture Callan"s full attention. "You"ve always been the Alpha, even when you weren"t with them. Take the pack, and let Rowan be your beta. We know she"s dominant enough. You can start as soon as you get back."

Beta? I hadn"t thought about it, but I didn"t hate the idea. Leadership wasn"t something that I sought after, and I didn"t want to be in charge of an entire pack by myself. But if I was doing it with Callan by my side, then maybe it wouldn"t be so bad.

But what would happen when we killed the Queen? A part of me just hoped she"d never show up again, that maybe she"d given up and was licking her wounds in her realm and would stay put. But deep down, I knew that wasn"t the case. This fight would come to an end at some point, and she shot to kill. I didn"t think Cas would hesitate either. No, this was a war that would have to end at some point. And if I won, there was a vacant throne that I was next in line for.

"Do you want that?" Callan turned to me, pulling me from my thoughts.

"I"ll do it," I interrupted, my mind made up. My place was in the shifter realm, and I wanted to do whatever I could to help. The pack was a place I felt accepted, and I wouldn"t give that up for the world.

Callan searched my face, the wall he"d thrown up crumbling as he tugged on it, getting a read on my emotions. Finally, he said, "Let me think about it."

A grin split Wolfe"s face as he clapped his hands gleefully, the intensity that had been building dissipating in an instant. In his mind, Callan had basically already said yes.

"Perfect."