22. Raul

22

RAUL

F reedom.

This simple concept dominated my beast's thoughts. He didn't think much. The wolf's actions were dictated by instinct. Standing over Brad's lifeless form though, he was ecstatic. Striding through the trees, free of the burden of his former Alpha, he felt like a nine-year-old running about in a massive front yard. He didn't have to answer to anyone anymore. Nobody would dare insult him unless they had a death wish. No one else would make decisions for him. He would make the rules.

All four cabins were dark when I got back home. No surprises there. My siblings had been away. Sam and Ray were in Shandaken, while Nora was on a flight back from Miami. Shedding the wolf's cloak, I put on my brightest smile and walked up the stairs. I was in charge now. Neither Monica nor I would have to look over our shoulders. We wouldn't have to worry about rules, who made them or why.

Yet, time went by, and the road down below remained empty. Sam and Ray did not show up. Over an hour later, I was still looking out my window, worriedly hoping to see them or their cars, but to no avail. I hated waiting and concern moderated my joy.

I stalked down the stairs and yanked the front door open. I didn't have a plan, only a vague notion of doing something. Going to look for them or something. Anything would be better than sitting here and feeling helpless. Had something happened to them?

As soon as I stepped through the door, I saw them standing there on the porch. Sam's expression was grim, but Ray was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, baby!" Ray cheered, taking a big step towards me. The next thing I knew, his arms were around my back. "I knew you'd do it."

"Congratulations," Sam said, but his voice and manner were both subdued.

"What, Sam?" I asked.

He shrugged, looking off to one side as he shook his head.

"Look, what you did didn't go down well with some of the pack members," he said. "I stopped at Joe's to get a feel for how this was going down. Most of them are happy with Brad's demise, but not all of them. You're going to have to convince the ones who are not."

I nodded understanding but couldn't keep my disappointment from mounting. Brad was a fucking tool. I'd thought every member of the pack would be thankful his reign was over. That wasn't the case but if I'm going to be taking over as Alpha then it's on me to fix it.

"I'll get my coat," I said.

I hadn't expected Sammy to be cheerful, but I was sure he'd understand even if he wasn't happy with it. Sam was more of a "don't rock the boat" kind of guy, but I'd gone along for as long as I could. Monica had changed everything for me. Taking out Brad was the least of the things I would do for my chance to be with her.

Unfortunately, though, this wasn't only about my brother. It was easy to assume that there were a handful of idiots who liked things the way they had been. Perhaps they enjoyed having a tyrant as their leader. Or maybe they had worked out their own special deals with him, deals that ensured they were left alone. Whatever it was it didn't matter because now it was all my problem. That's the weight that came with being the Alpha. I had to think about the good of all the pack. Something that Brad never bothered to do.

I followed Sam to his truck, muttering curses under my breath. Those people didn't make sense to me anyway. I knew I didn't have Brad's experience as a leader, but I also lacked something he'd had in even greater quantity. A big, fat egotistical streak that was as wide as the mountains were long. And, unlike him, I was prepared to listen to them and to help them out for a change.

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot of Joe's I understood what Sam had meant. More often than not, there were around ten to twelve cars at the bar. My fight against Brad had changed this. There were fifty or so cars and pickup trucks filling the lot to almost full.

Sam drove to one of the last spots left and parked. We got out and strode to the bar. The smell of so many bodies packed inside filled my nose. Anticipation tried to rise, but the wolf devoured that. I was Alpha. No one could question me, no matter if I was willing to listen or not.

As I walked into the bar it only took one glance to see that my people were divided. It disappointed me to see this, but the situation was what it was. At the far side of the bar a group of ten shifters were cornered by a much larger group.

Staying true to their nature, the smaller group was shouting and gesturing, not intimidated by the fact that they were outnumbered. I couldn't stand to watch it and rushed forward, ignoring my brother's calls. Fuck that. I hadn't confronted Brad just to see them turn on one another.

"Hey!" I cried out, pushing through the crowd to stand between the two groups. "What the fuck is this? What the hell's your problem?"

" You are, Raul," Tim Collins claimed, stepping around a table in front of him as every single person in that bar turned to face me. "You had the guts to face Brad in battle. No one can deny that."

I met his glare, narrowing my eyes as I let a low growl slip.

"But?" I ask, knowing there was one coming by the attitude of everyone in the bar if nothing else.

"It's your timing!" he yells, throwing his hands into the air. "That's gotten everybody so upset."

"Yeah!" Jim Stones agreed, stepping up behind him. "You should have waited, man. Why now? We've got bloodsuckers to deal with, you didn't think we could have used Brad in the battle against them?"

The wolf grumbled at the inherent challenge to its decisions and action, but I pushed that primal instinct down. I promised myself I would never be like Brad that I would listen to the pack, I would hear them out and lead in a better way. It may have meant swallowing my pride, but that's what the situation called for and it was what I was going to do.

"I see," I nodded in understanding. "Forget timing for a minute. Does anybody have a problem with what I did?"

I looked around the room, trying to meet the eyes of each one of them individually despite how many of them were packed into the bar.

"I don't think so," Sam interjected, as my people glanced at each other.

They were speechless since not one of them voiced an objection.

"Good," I praised, finishing the circle I had turned in to see them all. "So, Tim doesn't like my timing," I said strolling through the large room. "And Jimmy here thinks we could have used Brad against the vampire clan that's been targeting humans. But let me ask you this. When are we going to fight them, boys? And that's assuming we will fight them at all. And how long will that battle last?"

"I don't know," Collins shrugged, his face twisting into an expression of confusion. "It could be in a week or in a month. I've never been in a battle against bloodsuckers, so, I don't have a clue."

"Exactly!" I said with an emphatic nod. "We don't know jack about their intentions. They might head over here. They might disperse. Vampires are not like us, boys. We stick together. They don't. For vampires it's every man for himself."

" None of us has faced them in battle, Crawford," Jim pointed out, his tone louder. "We've all heard stories about their strength from our folks, but we haven't even seen one, let alone fought one."

"That's my point," I remarked. "Our folks kept those pricks out of Dawson when the time came. They bested them in battle. Let's say I hadn't challenged Brad, and we did the same. What do you people think would have happened afterwards? Would he have been nicer to you? Would he have stopped treating you like garbage?"

"No," Jimmy replied, averting his gaze from me. "He'd gloat about leading us to victory against them. Knowing Brad, I believe he'd say the same thing like fifty times a day, every day. It's safe to assume he'd treat us even worse than he did before."

"Right," I flashed him a glance of appreciation. "That's very perceptive. I'm telling you now that we can cope without him. More than that, we can live better without a tyrant in our midst. You don't have to ask how because you already know. We're a pack, we stick together, and we stay true to each other." I turned the circle once more and put my attention on each one of them again in turn. "Now, who's with me?"

I lifted my arm over my head. A warm sensation spread into my gut. Their eyes sparkled with hope. Locking their gazes with mine, one by one, my people walked up to me. A forest of arms flooded my view, their palms crashing into my hand. Even Kenny, who had yet to speak up, approached at a steady pace. He stopped three feet from me and nodded in agreement then his arm joined the others.

"Let them come!" I shouted. "Come face us and we'll send them straight down to hell where they belong. For Dawson!"

"For Dawson!" their cry roared across the bar.

The passion in their eyes, not leaving any room for doubt, whatever skepticism that had been lingering in their minds was gone. The desire to thwart our ancient enemy triumphing over it.

Now they had their own survival to worry about and no one was going to bother with the death of an Alpha they had only been tolerating for years. The pack, united, would defend our lands, without concerning ourselves with the aftermath of a war against vampires. United, we would win.