Chapter 6: Gavin

Chapter 6: Gavin

“Y

ou’re a power to be reckoned with,” David said to me in the parlor. “You’re a threat to everything in the Gunnison area, and I admire that. But that’s why we need to merge Grandbay and Dalesbloom as soon as possible. Once you share the responsibilities of your pack with me, Gavin, you won’t be pressured to take on your duties alone. You attacked those campers because you had nobody else to set your instincts straight. Don’t you see, Gavin? If you had spent the night with Catrina, or if you’d gone to take care of my shipment, you wouldn’t have turned into a savage monster while you were alone in the woods. Doesn’t it make more sense—for everyone’s safety—to begin integrating your pack with mine?”

I was being scolded like a child. The calm in David’s voice didn’t hide his pompous undertones; he was using my loss of control against me. Resisting the merge would only make me vulnerable to more outbursts in the future, but to agree felt like I was forfeiting my pack. I couldn’t give up on them yet.

Was I just being selfish? Stupid? Was I too proud to do what was best for them? I would never know the right course of action as an Alpha. I wasn’t going to ask David for advice; that would just give him more power over me. And the Alpha of our neighboring town, Eastpeak, didn’t even want anything to do with us. I just wished my parents had taught me something, anything, before they died three years ago. I wish I had cared enough to listen.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I glared at David’s feet. “We’re not ready for it yet.”

“Look up at me,” David said abruptly.

I felt like the Jesper girl, looking away like I was a coward. Gritting my teeth, I met David’s dark blue eyes with a glint of anger.

“You’ll never be more ready than you are now,” he added, folding his arms. “All you have to do is sign the deed to Grandbay’s pack house over to me. I’ll hire the attorney. I’ll arrange properties for your packmates. I’ll even lead the meeting letting them know about their induction into Dalesbloom. I only need your signature, then you won’t have the weight of Grandbay on your shoulders anymore.”

It all sounded so simple, but it meant losing everything my family had built in Grandbay. Uprooting my pack and wedging them into the hierarchy of Dalesbloom would force them to fight among forty-four other wolves for dominance. It might make my life easier, but it would complicate things a dozen times over for my packmates; in the end, I didn’t even know if it would make their lives safer or worse. I perched my elbows on my knees, fidgeting with my hands, glancing at Catrina. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“Let me talk to Oslo,” I said to them. “I can’t make this decision without my Beta.”

“You’re the Alpha. You can make whatever decision necessary,” said David.

“I won’t make this decision without him.”

“Fine,” David replied with a twinge of impatience.

At least this would buy me a little more time. I stood, once more eager to escape the manor.

“Don’t force my hand, Gavin,” David said behind me. Ominous darkness lingered in his words. “Another incident like last night, and I’ll take it upon myself to convince your pack for you.”

His potent threat hung like a cloud over my head by the time I left the house. The sunlight barely warmed me, the back of my neck cold, as though the very shadow of the manor was looming over me. I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Catrina or David watching me out the window. When I saw it empty, my attention was drawn idly to a window on the second floor, recognizing a human shape peering down at me.

Jesper.

I snarled. She was only there for a second, staring, then she turned out of sight; but I’d seen her. No doubt she was nursing the wounds I’d made earlier by rejecting her. It would be difficult having to see her more often once our packs merged. Then it occurred to me how strange it was that she’d been chosen as my fated mate at all. Usually, fated mates were within the same Alpha Line—a lineage of humans transformed by Alphas and to whom new wolves were born, a mechanism forged by the Moon Goddess to strengthen the bonds of a pack. My fated mate should have been someone in Grandbay. Part of me wondered if it would be Aislin, who didn’t have her fated mate either. But little Billie Jesper, a runt outside of the Steele Alpha Line…?

Just proof that my wolf was destined to be uncontrollable, I suppose.

There was no way I could take her as my mate.

At noon, I sat down with Oslo and his wife, Gretel. Oslo was my parents’ Beta and had been in the position as long as I could remember—fifteen years, at least. The Beta before Oslo and his wife had vanished, which wasn’t unusual for shifters. People died. Life carried on. But I’d ended up becoming close with Oslo, Gretel, and their daughter Aislin, and I valued their opinions. So I listened attentively after telling Oslo about David’s threat.

“Unnerving how insistent he is about merging the packs,” said Oslo, sipping from a beer can. “Our three packs have coexisted for two hundred years; allies, yes, but never combining. He wants to tip the equilibrium we’ve established in his favor.”

“What’s he going to get out of it, other than ten more mouths to feed?” asked Aislin.

Oslo set the can on the table, wiping the back of his mouth on his arm. “Taking Grandbay would give him numerous advantages. He’d have the southern hunting grounds all the way to Route 50, and the south-reaching valley provides a narrow access point to Eastpeak’s territory on the mountain. Dalesbloom would effectively control a crescent shaped plot of land closing in around Eastpeak. If David’s hungry for our territory, I guarantee he won’t want to just stop with Grandbay. Especially because controlling Eastpeak would give him access to the Union Pacific rail line. It would be much cheaper for him to run and distribute his imports by rail rather than truck like he is now.”

“His access to the rail line would be unmonitored too. He wouldn’t have to clear it with Everett when he retrieves a shipment,” I contributed. “That’s the main reason why he isn’t using rail right now.”

“What’s he bringing in that he doesn’t want monitored?” asked Gretel.

“Guns,” I said. “Maybe more.”

“He’s running guns now?” Oslo’s eyes widened. “Who the fuck is he running guns for?”

“He said it’s for the pack.”

“I don’t want to serve an Alpha that’s arming everyone with guns. We don’t need fucking guns,” said Oslo.

“I agree. I don’t like the direction this could go if we give Grandbay over to David,” said Gretel. “He could end up with a monopoly over the entire Gunnison area, dragging us into arms trafficking and whatever other illegal business he’s up to.”

“I can’t just tell him no,” I grunted. “I’m too heavily involved with Catrina.”

“So break up with her. She’s a bitch anyway.” Aislin rolled her eyes.

My stomach turned uncomfortably. “I’m not breaking up with her,” I said. “Look. I’m open to merging our packs, I just don’t want David to take advantage of it.”

“He will if Dalesbloom takes over Grandbay. You’d have no power, Gavin. None of us would,” said Gretel, always the voice of reason.

I only felt worse, my doubts rising as my packmates dissuaded me from giving in to David’s pressures. The answer seemed obvious to them, but it frustrated me that they didn’t know the real reason why forfeiting to David seemed so appealing. “What if he turns out to be better for us?”

“How could the Hexens be better for us?” challenged Aislin. “How could anything about what they’re getting into be better?”

“What if he’s smarter when it comes to threats? Better prepared? He has over forty healthy wolves, and we keep losing numbers. We keep leaving or dying. What if I let something happen to us?”

“It’s not just you at the head of this pack,” said Oslo. “You have us.”

Familiar anger came to life inside me as I stood up from the table. “What if that’s not enough?”

“Gavin,” Aislin tried to placate me, raising her hands.

My anger only swelled. “What if something happens and you’re not there?” They couldn’t have my back all the time, that much was obvious from last night. “What if I fuck up again?”

The three Mundy’s fell silent, exchanging looks of recognition; after I left to Hexen Manor, they’d heard about the attack on the campers. They knew it was me. “Last night was an accident,” Gretel said calmly. “It was only the result of your empty stomach after hunting—,”

“You don’t know that,” I snapped. Nobody knew if it would happen again except for me, and I feared beyond the shadow of a doubt that it would. I had to leave before my anger got away from me. It was getting worse and I didn’t want to subject my packmates to that.

Aislin’s chair scraped the floor as she got up after me. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to speak with the park rangers and clear up what happened last night,” I said between my teeth. I had to take responsibility for it. It was just one more item on my ever-growing list of tasks, but I thought it would ease my conscience, if only a little, to confront what I’d done. Maybe it would soothe my anger, too. I had to find an alternative rather than just letting my wrath run its course.

“And what are you going to tell David?” Aislin pressed.

I paused at the door, gripping the frame and digging my nails into the wood. “I haven’t decided yet,” I growled. “For all I know, we’ll be packing our bags soon.”

“Don’t be reckless about this, Gavin,” warned Oslo.

You aren’t the one feeling like a ticking time bomb, I thought bitterly. Any second I could explode, and I was afraid of how many people would get hurt in the blast. I did nothing but snort and leave out the door. It was becoming a habit of mine to storm off.

I was glad none of them went after me. News still hadn’t reached them about my Moondream and I didn’t plan on revealing that on top of the demands from David. There was so much on my mind, it was hard for me to focus when I arrived at the park rangers’ office and pulled the two Dalesbloom wolves working there aside to tell them about last night. They’d already known it was me, too. No humans had gotten hurt, so they said it was fine. “Put up an active wolf warning anyway,” I told them. “I don’t want any campers in the area for the next week.”

If I couldn’t trust myself not to harm anyone in my path, then at least I could prevent people from crossing my path in the first place.

As evening fell, my mood stayed sour. I hunted and delivered a white-tailed doe to the pack butcher. I patrolled my territory, toiling over what I would tell David about the meeting with my Betas. Finally, knowing it was counterintuitive to distance myself from Dalesbloom, I shot Catrina a text: ‘Come to my place for 10.’

A minute later, she replied, ‘Should I bring wine?’

‘No. Don’t tell David either.’

‘OK Pookie. :)’

She probably would. I didn’t care at that point.

The pack house was empty when Catrina arrived. I opened the door, allowing dim light to pour around me into the dull evening darkness as I waited for her. Bridging the distance, she pushed her hands into my chest and leaned forward, smiling. “So, are we going to talk about what to do with Billie?”

“I don’t give a fuck about her,” I said, clutching her wrists. Jesper was the last person I wanted to think about. I pulled Catrina into the house, towering over her, asserting myself over her seductive body giddy with affection. “There’s too much on my mind, Cat. I don’t want to think about anything.”

Catrina hummed, brushing her nose against mine. “I can help with that.”

That was exactly why I called her over. Sliding my hand down her side and then under her shirt, I maneuvered Catrina down the hallway and toward my bedroom. She went as easily as she always did.