Chapter 5

SAMANTHA

“I, Stephen Redding, pledge my loyalty to you, Alpha Samantha Paulson. I will protect and honor you with my life,” he said.

~What?~

~“Accept his pledge,”~ Ayisha whispered.

~“But what does that even mean?”~ I said back.

~“They are declaring their loyalty to you as the new alpha. It’s the first step in making it official.”~

~“How do you know all this?”~

Ayisha shook her head. ~“It’s part of being a werewolf. You need to accept it.”~

“I accept,” I said, trying to sound more composed than I felt.

Stephen raised his head and stepped aside, making way for William.

One by one, every person in the room pledged their loyalty: William, Serena, Emerick, and after they entered the room, Jonathan and Jackson.

“Wait.” William looked around. “Where’s Mom?”

Stephen unleashed a low growl.

“She’ll come around,” Serena offered gently. “Give her time.”

The last to approach me was my dad. I raised my hand to stop him when he started to speak.

“Don’t.” I turned to the rest of the group. “We need the room.”

The men looked at each other. I supposed interrupting the pledge went against tradition, and they wanted to tell me so, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Serena was the only one we seemed to understand. “Let’s go,” she said cheerfully as she ushered the group out. “They have a lot to catch up on.”

Just before Stephen passed over the threshold, he turned back to me. “Samantha, I believe I speak for the entire pack when I say you becoming our alpha is a delightful surprise.”

I couldn’t help but scoff in disbelief. “You find it ~delightful~ that a woman who, until fifteen minutes ago, didn’t even believe in werewolves is now your alpha?”

Stephen’s smile remained steady. “After losing Sarah and Christian so tragically, we feared having no obvious alpha would cause the pack to descend into chaos…”

His kind eyes met mine. “But to have ~you~ as our next alpha. And that you might be a she-wolf no less. That is a blessing beyond measure. You are a gift from the Moon Goddess herself.”

“I’m not sure Emilia feels the same way,” I pointed out.

He scrunched up his nose slightly at my mention of his wife. “Try not to hold it against her. She’s working out some of her own feelings. She’ll come around when the pack accepts you.”

My eyes followed each of the werewolves as they filed out of the room. Dad kept his gaze on me the whole time, his jaw clenching, his arms crossed over his chest.

“What. The. Hell,” I ground out when the door finally closed behind Jackson. “A little warning about the ‘alpha’ bullshit would have been nice.

“Why am I doing this? You walked away. I can too. I have a life, a business, Luke.

“You didn’t want to make me choose before. Why am I being forced to do this now?”

The way my dad kept frowning and looking down was really starting to make my blood boil.

“No,” I snapped. “You don’t get to be upset. I get to be sad, I get to be angry. ~I’m~ the one who has been living a lie. ~I’m~ the one being told I have to be the alpha of a freaking werewolf pack.”

“Sam, it’s not the same. I was an outsider when I was born. Stephen was mated with Emilia, but he had an affair with your grandmother.

“When I shifted, Stephen was forced to take me in. I was an outcast from the beginning. I tried my best to fit in, but the wolves hated me, and I hated them.

“It’s another reason I didn’t want any of this for you.”

Dad moved to wipe the tear from my cheek, but I slapped his hand away.

“I’m sorry, kiddo. There’s not an easy way out of this.”

My ears perked up. “But there is a way out,” I reasoned slowly. “What is it?”

“Sam, it’s not really as simple as getting out of it,” he said, desperation in his eyes. “You ~could~ reject it.”

He shook his head when I started to speak.

“The call of the alpha passes through the bloodline,” he continued. “The only way it is broken is if an alpha is challenged and defeated by another, or if they reject it.

“William was an only child, and Christian was his only heir. If you refuse the call, it will go to the last person in the Redding line. It will go to—”

“Luke,” I finished for him.

I slumped in my chair. If I chose not to accept the position as alpha, I would be putting the responsibility on my fifteen-year-old son.

Luke was headstrong and stubborn. He never backed down from a challenge. There’s no chance he’d give up his role as alpha if the responsibility fell to him.

Suddenly, the decision seemed a lot easier.

“Well, I guess I’m the alpha now,” I said flatly.

“I’m so sorry, Sam. I never would have kept this from you if I had known this could happen.”

I could see the regret in his misty eyes and the way his shoulders sagged, but I didn’t have it in me to tell him it was okay. My life was spiraling out of control, and I felt helpless to stop it.

After a few moments of tense silence, I beckoned Dad toward the door. “Go and join the others. I’ll be out soon.”

He bit his lip but obeyed. As he touched the door handle, he paused without turning around. “I hope you can forgive me one day.”

When I didn’t respond, he sighed and pushed his way out into the hall. I waited to hear the sound of the door clicking shut behind him before I allowed myself to break down completely.

***

The trees whooshed by the car in a blur of greens and yellows and browns. They were so familiar, yet also so much more…vivid.

The smells too. Even with the car door closed and the window up, I could smell the moss on the roots and the birds nestled among the branches.

~This is crazy. I am crazy.~

It reminded me of how it had felt to run through the woods as Ayisha. I’d never felt so free, so alive.

And yet, even knowing so little about werewolves and what an alpha was expected to do, I’d never felt so trapped.

“This isn’t going to be easy,” I said with a sigh.

Emerick shook his head from behind the wheel next to me. “No, Sam. I don’t imagine it will be.”

“My entire life is going to change. Luke’s entire life is going to change,” I said, my voice heavy with sadness.

“Yes, it is,” he agreed.

I appreciated his honesty. It was almost refreshing.

I sighed. “At least Stephen agreed to let me have one more night. One more night to live the life we have. One more night to just be a normal mom and son.”

I bit my lip. “I’ll have to tell him in the morning.”

He frowned. “I did not agree to the ‘one more night’ plan, actually.”

I scowled at him. “I’m giving up my entire life. I don’t think asking for one more night is outrageous.”

Emerick’s frown deepened. “It’s not about whether or not it’s outrageous. It’s about how vulnerable you are away from the pack house right now.”

“Is that the ski resort-looking building where we just were?” I asked.

“The pack house? Yeah, I guess it does kind of look like a ski resort.”

“Do you guys, like, all live there then?” I tried not to sound judgmental, though I doubted my success.

“No,” he answered, sounding amused. “A lot of the pack members live close by, but not in the pack house.

“It’s more of a kind of community center and town hall rolled into one. Lots of weddings and events are held in the banquet hall and on the grounds.

“Plus, there are some apartments in the building for visiting dignitaries or times of crisis when advisers need to spend the night. Actually, you’re a realtor, right?”

“Kind of. I’m a broker,” I clarified.

“Have you heard of White Fang Trails or Ponderosa Pines?”

“Of course. Super exclusive neighborhoods, top-notch schools. My brokerage has been trying to get listings in them for years.”

He flashed a smile. “All werewolves.”

My jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“Yep. There are pockets of werewolf communities all over, but those are the closest to the pack house.”

“Hmm… How many werewolves are there exactly?” I asked.

~There can’t be too many, right? How could they stay hidden?~

“I don’t know how many worldwide. In our pack, about three thousand,” he said casually.

~Wow.~

I had pictured a few hundred. The thought of leading so many was a little overwhelming.

“So, there are other packs then?” ~Perhaps if I keep the conversation going and learn as much as I can, I won’t give myself time to dwell.~

“Right. Six in North America. More on other continents. Most reside in rural, forested areas. We tend to get anxious in crowded cities, and it can be harder to hide our wolves.”

“Is that why you’re worried about me being off the pack’s land tonight? Now that Ayisha and I are one, I might lose control?”

Emerick shrugged. “More or less. Female alphas are incredibly rare. They are said to be touched by the Moon Goddess herself.”

He adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “They also present other alphas with the rare opportunity to try to expand their packs and power.

“If they can mate with you, they can lay claim to everything you have.”

“It’s likely you will be pursued relentlessly by any wolf seeking a powerful mate, and hunted by any who sense weakness.”

I swallowed hard, taking in his words. ~Great. Be used for some power I’m not even sure I have, or stay alone and risk being killed. Neither option sounds good.~

~Nope, this isn’t making me feel better.~

“Are we related?” I blurted out.

It didn’t seem like a silly question. After all, I now had more relatives than I had when I’d awoken that morning.

I found myself slightly disappointed at the thought of being a blood relative of Emerick—which was shocking considering I hadn’t been on so much as a coffee date since Travis passed away.

~It must be the weirdness of the day getting to me.~

“What?” he asked.

“Sorry.” I blushed. “I’m just wondering why you were in the meeting. There was the council, and my dad being there makes sense. Jonathan and Jackson are clearly some sort of security detail, but I can’t figure out where you fit in.”

“I was Christian’s beta.” He gave me a tight smile. “Kinda like his right hand.”

And best friend, I figured from the sadness in his voice. Emerick had lost him just a few days ago.

“I am so sorry for your loss,” I said, reaching to touch his hand where it rested on the center console.

I was surprised when he grabbed mine and gave it a small squeeze. My cheeks heated.

“And I’m sorry for yours,” he said, meeting my eyes for a moment.

When Emerick turned into my driveway and I gently pulled my hand away, I could’ve sworn I saw a flicker of disappointment cross his face.

He quickly got out and came around to open my door, then walked me to the front of the house.

I felt my own twinge of sadness that our time together was coming to an end. On a whim, I decided to make a somewhat rash decision.

“Emerick, Luke won’t be done with practice for a couple more hours. After that, he’s going for burgers with friends.”

He looked at me curiously as I fiddled with my hands.

“Do you, umm, want to come in?”

His eyes met mine, silent and searching. I was afraid he might say no.

“Absolutely.” His face broke into a wide grin.

“Just so I can continue learning as much as I can before tomorrow,” I added quickly, mirroring his smile.

“Sam, whatever the reason,” he said, holding my door open for me, “I would always love to spend more time with you.”

~Shit. And I thought turning into a werewolf was going to be the most exciting thing to happen to me today.~