Though I wanted to ask about Ness’s thought process, I left her alone. She was clearly distraught, and I didn’t want to accidentally push her further away. I would not be able to live with myself if Ness walked away from me.
Mate, my dragon growled again.
Was this what the witch in Nevada had meant when she said the Black Hound would help me? Had the witch pointed me in this direction so that I would discover my mate? I didn’t know how that would help. If anything, I felt stretched thin.
I couldn’t protect Ness and Lakesedge, especially when I knew that my very presence was welcoming disaster at any moment. Bri had warned that my brother was no longer distracted. He’d set his sights on me once again.
Morgan would not rest until he’d gotten revenge for our father’s death. Of course, my younger brother also wouldn’t listen to reason. He believed that I’d killed our father for fun. I wouldn’t have forgiven such an action, either.
If Morgan would listen, then maybe I could keep him from destroying my new home.
I ran a hand through my hair. There was too much on my plate. I didn’t know what to focus on first. Of course, Alvin was the obvious answer. He needed to be dealt with, but I wouldn’t be able to do that if Morgan arrived in the middle of a fight.
It would be just my luck that everything would go wrong all at once. I watched my mate, her back to me, and realized what was most important. If we couldn’t break this hold Alvin had over her, then nothing else mattered. I knew that I shouldn’t prioritize one person over an entire pack. That wasn’t fair to them, but without Ness, I would be nothing.
Why I didn’t tell her, I wasn’t sure. I watched her retreat further and further away from me. No time seemed right. If I told her, then I couldn’t stay? What then? I wanted to stick around. This pack needed me. My beast had claimed this territory. I would fight tooth and nail for what had become mine, but that didn’t mean I would win.
Fury roiled inside me. Wild winds tore at my thoughts, sending them spiraling. I couldn’t afford to worry right now, so I shoved them all back. I would tell Ness when there were no dangers looming over our heads. Maybe then, things would seem clearer.
Until then, I would wait for her. I would stay near so that she didn’t have to do this alone.
That was probably the best I could offer until I got everything straightened out. Ness deserved better than a man struggling to juggle his new obligations. She deserved the man I could become, in time.
Then, once I’d filled those shoes, then I would tell her.
“I think it’s time I called my first pack meeting,” I said.
Ness’s head lifted, her brows high and hopeful. My heart stuttered happily. I let out a breath that had turned stale in my lungs and sucked in a fresh breath as I took her in.
Ness
I sat back,far away from the pack so that I could watch but not be seen. They gathered in my parents’ backyard because Ryder didn’t have an estate of his own yet. Having a pack meeting in human territory seemed like a stupid move, so my parents had offered their lawn.
Ryder stood by the house, his back to my childhood home. His attention slid past the pack. Our eyes met and an electrical zap raced through me. My heart flipped in my chest. I offered him a small yet genuine smile.
It warmed me to see a good man at the head of this pack, even if he seemed uncertain. My packmates looked up to him with mixed expressions, yet no one spoke. They waited for him to address them. I was proud of my pack for turning to a better leader.
There was always someone who had to speak up, though.
“Why are we letting adragontake charge?”
I scanned the crowd. The voice belonged to Nester Frankland, an older shifter in the pack. His upper lip curled as he looked Ryder up and down. I wanted to leap off my perch and push Nester’s face into the ground. My hound snarled within me. Thankfully only I could hear her fury.
Ryder shrugged, nonchalant in the face of unrest. Nester huffed and rolled his eyes at the gesture.
I clenched my hands in my lap. Ryder deserved better. Maybe he wasn’t a wolf, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t lead. If anything, I thought the pack would feel safer with a stronger shifter at the head. Nester was turning his back on a good opportunity, and I didn’t understand why.
“Ever since you arrived, Lakesedge has been in chaos,” Nester said with venom in his voice. “It’s been one thing after another. I can’t help but think that maybe you’re the culprit behind it all. You got chased out of your own pack and came here to stir trouble. That way, you can usurp the seat of power. I’m not trading one tyrant for another.”
My breath hitched.
Ryder seemed unfazed. He stared Nester down with a blank expression carefully pulled over his features. Nester fidgeted, moving from one foot to the other. The air around us grew thick. Every hair on my body stood on end, reaching for the electricity gathering in the air.
My arcana swallowed up the blooming electricity. I felt it crackle under my skin before fading into magic.
That’s new, I thought.
Over and over, my arcana found new ways to surprise me. Every new challenge woke another facet of my arcana that had been dormant. I wasn’t sure what I would become in the end. I could only hope that I would have the strength to step into my own power.