Chapter Nine

Rylan

Pearl slipped past me faster than I could react. She ran to her friend, who had tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes full of relief to see her whole.

“I thought you died,” Arden wailed, wrapping her arms around my mate.

“It’s okay. I’m alright,” Pearl assured her, hugging her back.

I was stepping in front of the two girls before I could blink, my chest rumbling with a warning to these new wolves. Every one of them took a step back, eyes downcast as I stood protectively between them and the two friends.

I knew how important Arden was to Pearl. I wouldn’t get in the way of their reunion, but I would protect them both. My wolf viewed Arden as a pack member, so we would defend her just as fiercely as we would our mate.

“How are you here?” Pearl asked the question I was dying to know as well.

“You know better than anyone that enforcers must keep their identities secret.” Arden wiped tears off her cheeks.

“So… you’re an enforcer?” Pearl’s voice took on a steelier tone.

“I couldn’t tell you before.”

“I know. I know.” Pearl’s reply hurt my heart.

This must have been hard for her, facing the very people that her and her family used to be part of. I knew she felt like she’d been abandoned by the others, but Arden was right, she couldn’t tell anyone. Enforcer secrecy kept them alive. I have no doubt that any alpha that found out who the enforcers were in his pack wouldn’t hesitate to strip them of their duty.

Deacon stepped to my side, looking over the gathered wolves on the front porch. At first glance, there seemed to be about twenty in total, give or take a couple.

“What is the aftermath?” Deacon asked the leader, his eyes narrowed and focused.

My attention turned to the leader too, curious about how the packs reacted to Tamra’s control and the meteor that the Moon Spirit smashed into the archives.

“Chaos.” The wolf ran a hand through his curly reddish hair.

“How so?” I asked, shifting to the side so I could keep Pearl and Arden in my sight along with the gathered wolves.

“That’s something that we need to discuss…” The leader trailed off and glanced around like he expected to be overheard.

“Come inside,” I invited, grabbing Pearl and Arden and pulling them out of the way to allow the wolves to enter.

Deacon withdrew to the kitchen, and I wondered what he was doing when I realized that both Estella’s had disappeared. I frowned, wondering if I should go see if she was all right but also knowing that four was a crowd. She was probably just overwhelmed by the sudden arrival of so many people. I empathized with that and made a mental note to watch out for it in the future.

“My name’s Teo, and I’m from the Sanda Pack,” the red-haired leader introduced himself.

“I’m Rylan, beta for the Daywa pack.” It was an automatic response, but I knew that I wasn’t just a beta anymore. Teo seemed to know it too since he smirked but didn’t say anything.

“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.

“There’s coffee in the kitchen, so help yourself. I’ll be outside ready to accept any challenges,” I said, feeling Pearl’s surprise at my words. “I want to gain your respect and loyalty. This is the best way to do it. Once you are satisfied with me as your alpha you may join my pack.”

“Are you serious?” Pearl hissed, pulling me away from the room full of shifters. “You can’t do this.”

“I am serious. I can and will do this.” I tugged her to me, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight. “It seems to me that you don’t think I can handle challenges.”

She scoffed; her lips pressed together in a thin line across her face. She was worried, I could tell. It made me happy that she was concerned.

“I don’t like this,” she said softly, looking up at me through her eyelashes.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her, trying and failing to hide my teasing smile.

“Why are you smiling? This is serious, Rylan.”

“I know this is serious. I’m the one who offered to accept challenges. In order for them to look at me as their alpha, they have to test me.”

“But what if you get hurt?” Her lip trembled, and I realized she was scared.

“Getting hurt is part of the process, but thankfully, I’m a shifter and I heal fast. You don’t need to watch.”

“I think I have to.” Pearl bit her bottom lip. “You are doing this to prove that you’re a worthy alpha. I need to watch so they see that I support you as your mate.”

“Spoken like a true alpha female,” I praised, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips, enjoying her soft inhale of surprise. “I’d be honored to fight for you.”

“Not just for me. Fight for us.”