Chapter 18

Saturday afternoon, Thyme and Remy headed to Copper Creek, the first vehicle in a long line containing the heads of the pride families. Conspicuously absent from the group were not only Brilla and Leif, but her father Jacob, and two more heads of families that were on Leif’s side.

“I can’t stop thinking about Brentiss,” Thyme said.

“I know, it’s bugging the hell out of me too,” Remy said.

They’d gotten up that morning and after a romp in the shower, they’d dressed and headed to the healers’ home to talk to Brentiss and find out who told him to try to take out Thyme. They both knew Leif was behind it, along with Brilla and Jacob, but they didn’t know why. It didn’t make sense why they would try to take out Thyme just for the position of alpha. There was more going on in Marin with the pride than they could figure out right now.

When they’d arrived at the healers’ home, Brentiss wasn’t in the room and the females didn’t know what had happened to him. They’d both agreed he was too injured to shift and heal himself, so he wouldn’t have been able to walk out of the house on his own. Which meant someone had taken him out overnight and no one had seen anything.

“I kind of think he’s dead,” Thyme said.

Remy hummed in surprise. “You do?”

“Yeah. I mean, he’s a loose end. If he stayed in the house, he would eventually have to talk to us and Leif might have assumed he wouldn’t hold up to any questioning. And if we had proof, an eyewitness that Leif had tried to kill me outside of an official challenge, then we’d be able to take action lawfully against him.”

“That makes sense,” Remy said.

“Leif really has no standing anymore,” she pointed out. “I’m over twenty-one and mated. Even if he mated a female on his twenty-first birthday, you and I have pride laws on our side to claim the alpha position on the full moon. And at this point, if he tried to issue a fight challenge, he’d have to fight one of us. Not just me, as it would have been before you and I mated, but either of us. He might be able to take me out, but he wouldn’t be able to beat you.”

He knew that he could beat Leif in a fight, and he was certain that Leif knew that too. Remy was bigger and stronger than him, and while Remy had grown up being trained to be alpha in every possible way, Leif had lived what seemed like a pretty leisurely life, letting others fight his battles for him.

It was shitty that he’d rather fight his half-sister than another male, but that seemed to be his M.O.

“It seems like Leif and his friends know that there’s no way they’ll be allowed to stay with the pride, that exile is in their future, and they’re doing whatever underhanded things they can to put a stop to it.”

She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder with a yawn.

“I wish things could be different,” she said softly. “When my mom died and my dad mated Brilla, I thought she was my friend. But I figured out really fast, even at such a young age, that she wasn’t interested in me and saw me as a burden. Once she had Leif, I wasn’t really part of the family anymore. Thankfully my dad still trained me to take over, but Leif never wanted to be part of the training, never wanted to learn.” She paused and then said, “I didn’t know that they were conspiring behind my back. I thought Jacob, as an elder, was on the side of the pride laws and doing what was best for everyone. But he’s been behind Leif the whole time. He would rather have that useless psycho as alpha than me, especially now that I have a powerful alpha male as my mate. It’s nuts.”

“It is,” he agreed, “which is why I think there’s something more going on than simply the alpha position.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Why do people do illegal shit?”

“Money?”

“Maybe. Power is a driving force for a lot of people, too. We may never know, but once we’re alphas and we get the pride moved and settled into Copper Creek, those left behind can form their own pride and do whatever the hell they want in Marin.”

She made a humming noise of agreement, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head.

He was crazy about her, falling headfirst in a way that was surprisingly fast but also felt very right. He remembered his mom telling him that she fell in love with his dad right away, because that was how it was supposed to be with truemates.

He sure knew what that felt like.

Remy and Thyme introduced the heads of the families to Mayor Applebaum, who graciously gave everyone a tour of Main Street and then held a meeting in the town hall, where she unrolled a huge map of the town with the abandoned homes and businesses marked with bright yellow flags.

“The homes and businesses belong to the town,” Mayor Applebaum said. “All that needs to happen is for the homes to be assigned to the families coming to town, the utilities turned on, and the businesses started up again. The town has funds to provide assistance to anyone that needs it.”

Marty asked, “Why are you guys so happy to have a shifter group come into town?”

“Well,” she said, “first of all, the town is going to die off without new families joining the community. And second, is that my husband had an adopted sister who was a wolf shifter, and he had always hoped that a shifter group would come into town to live, because the woods are full of wildlife, and the deer wreak havoc on the gardens, too.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Dana said.

“Do you have any suggestions for splitting up the homes?” Thyme asked.

The mayor pointed to a few homes that bordered the large wooded area. “I’d recommend these houses as good for the alphas because they have large yards for gatherings and are also right at the woods.” She spoke about the other streets with empty homes, sharing a printed list of homes and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in each.

“This is awesome, thank you,” Thyme said.

“I’ll leave you all to it,” Mayor Applebaum said. “If you have any questions, I’ll be at my house since it’s the weekend and I host a craft group with a few ladies in town every Saturday.”

Remy said, “We were thinking about bringing the pride here for a hunt next weekend if that works for you? We’d like to get everyone here and give them a chance to really explore the woods.”

“That sounds perfect, keep me posted.”

When the mayor was gone, Remy and Thyme spoke to the pride members who were gathered.

“You can take as much time as you need to look at the homes. The biggest homes should be for the families with the most members. If there are any issues with who should have a particular home, Remy and I will be the deciding vote,” Thyme said.

A male lifted his hand and Thyme said, “Yes, Mike?”

“It’s pretty obvious that there are a few families not in attendance today. What’s going to happen to them if they choose not to move to Copper Creek?”

Thyme looked at Remy with a nod and he said, “They’ll be exiled from the pride, and at that point they can start their own pride and stay in Marin if they wish.”

“Any family or individual can leave the pride at any time between now and the full moon. But for those families who are choosing to throw their support to my half-brother, when he is not eligible for leadership at this point in time, and neither has he officially challenged Remy or me, then they will not be welcome to join us here. We will forcibly remove them from our pride and leave them behind.”

Mike nodded. “Good.”

The pride members started to clap and Remy smiled at Thyme. He could see the relief in her eyes and was glad that the majority of the pride was on their side.

“Liam, we’ll need to elect a new elder to replace Jacob once we move to Copper Creek,” Thyme said.

“I’ll give you a list by the end of the day and you and Remy can choose,” he said.

Copies of the home details were handed out and the people dispersed to go look at the houses. Remy and Thyme walked with Liam and his mate Arlene to the homes by the woods. They toured the three homes that were about a hundred feet apart from each other, each with a big backyard that bordered the woods.

She and Remy both loved the home in the center. The two-story home had four bedrooms and a big kitchen. The main bedroom was on the first floor, which she really loved, and the back patio had an awning for shade in the summer.

He stood on the patio with Thyme and stared into the woods.

“I can picture the pride gathering here on the full moons,” he said. “We could treat it like the pack does and have a cookout and get-together before we head out to shift.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” she said. “We’ve always just immediately gathered at the clearing and then gone to hunt.”

“We’ll have to clear a space for the bonfire and for our people to gather.”

“I can’t wait,” she said. She hugged him tightly, her cat purring in contentment.

For a brief moment it was perfect and he wanted to hold onto that feeling of Thyme in his arms, the woods sprawled around them, and their new home behind them. They’d start a family once they were settled in Copper Creek and the threat to their safety was put down for good. One way or another he was going to ensure that Thyme was safe from those who wanted to hurt her.

He was an alpha wolf, after all.

And no one fucked with an alpha wolf’s mate.

“Ready to check in with the pride?” he asked, tilting her face to his for a kiss.

“You bet,” she said. “I want to get back to Marin and start packing.”

They caught up with Liam and Arlene, who had decided on the home to the left of the one they’d picked, leaving the other for the future elder and his family. Making their way around town, they met with the rest of the pride, and they were both happy that there appeared to be no issues between any families in picking the homes. Everyone had found something that was perfect for them, and the businesses on the main street would be cleaned up and opened as soon as possible.

“We could come back tomorrow and get some cleaning done,” Thyme said.

“Sounds good to me,” Remy said. “Anything to get us here as soon as possible so we can start the next chapter of our lives together.”

“The full moon is in eighteen days. We just have to keep each other safe, pack up my house and get your things from Allen, and clean and unpack in the new house. Easy as pie.”

“I love your optimism,” he said with a laugh.

When they were on the way back to Marin with the pride members, Remy felt like some of the weight was off his shoulders. The pride was in support of the new town and most of them backed him and Thyme taking over. They were aware that Leif and the others were up to no good, and were definitely not good for the pride.

But like Thyme had said, there were just eighteen days to go until they could exile the troublemakers and start fresh in Copper Creek.

The time would fly, he was sure.

He just had to keep his sweet mate safe.