"Yes. I said that and I was wrong. Once I have told the rest of my brothers, I'm going to tell the entire pack. They deserve to hear it. Because I'm going to be spending at least part of my time in Juneau."
He wasn't ready to tell them he had a child. They still needed to accept that he had a mate first.
"Okay, man," Derek said. "It's just a hard pill to swallow since you spent the last decade telling us we can only be with wolves." He picked the stick back up and snapped it in half. "You’re a hypocrite."
"Yes. I am a hypocrite. And I was an asshole to say those things to all of you, and to her as well. I broke up with her because she's a bear shifter. That's the only reason, and we spent five years apart."
"You're sure she's really your mate?"
"Absolutely."
"Are you leaving? Are you stepping down as Alpha?"
He should have known Derek would jump right to the point. "I haven’t worked that out yet. If I move there full-time, then obviously I will be. But please keep that to yourself. I need to speak to her first. I’m going to ask her to formally be my mate. But I wanted my brothers to hear that I was in love with a bear shifter beforehand. I didn’t want it to come as a shock."
"I appreciate that," Derek said.
He spent the next hour telling the rest of his brothers. He had to call a few of them. All of them were more or less accepting. Derek had been the toughest one. And even he wasn’t hostile.
The last one to tell was Sutton.
He would tell him in person, and then he’d go find his mate.
His wolf howled.
No. Sutton would have to deal with a phone call. He was ready to get back to Everleigh.
When Sutton answered the phone, Roman didn’t beat around the bush. "Your sister is my mate. I’m not going to deny it any longer."
"What?" Sutton yelled.
"I went to Juneau. Not to spy on her, but to see her."
"What about the child? You’re going to raise a bastard?"
Roman growled. "The pup is mine. Never speak of my daughter that way again, or I’ll rip your head right off your body."
Sutton growled back. "You got my sister pregnant and then you left her?"
"I didn't know she was pregnant, you idiot. I never would've abandoned her or my child if I'd known."
"But you hadno problem dumping my sister."
"You're the one who wanted us to break up. Don't you remember that? You were furious."
"Why didn't you know she was pregnant?"
"I don’t know, okay? It's my fault. I take responsibility. She's my mate, and I love her." Roman took a breath. "I never should've let someone else influence me. I bought into all that bullshit about preserving our packs. I thought she would go back home to you all, but instead she moved five hundred miles away to raise her child alone. That's how much damage the both of us have done. And if we don't change, that's going to be our legacy."
"Don't tell me how to run my pack," Sutton hissed.
"I'll tell you whatever the fuck I want to!" Roman shouted. "I lost five years with my daughter because I was an idiot and I lost five years with my mate because I was a close-minded asshole because I listened to you. You're going to end up the same way if you don't change your attitude. You have a sister and a niece who don't want to be anywhere near you because of the way your attitude sucks so much. So just think about that for a second. We can't force our members to stay with us. I learned that the hard way when I lost members because I refused to move. I refused to change and see that shifters had changed too. Some of them want to be a part of the larger world, and I kept my head up my ass and refused to listen. Luckily most of my pack forgave me and just kept pushing. But if I hadn't adapted, I'd be alone right now."
"But now you're going to abandon your pack."
"I’m leaving. For my mate and my child."
"You never should have been talking to my sister to begin with."
"Sutton, I am not going to debate this with you. I don't owe you an explanation. I called you out of courtesy because you are my brother. I care about you, and you are also now going to be my family. I'm going to be related to you through my daughter, and you were already my brother. But that doesn't mean I have to put up with your bullshit. If you're going to be an asshole, then I'm better off without you, my daughter's better off without you, and Everleigh sure as hell is better off without you," By the time Roman finished, he was nearly out of breath. "You need to think about your role in your family and in your clan."
All he could hear was a grumbling growl and then Roman hung up.
He loved Sutton. Sutton was his brother, but he wasn't going to take anymore shit from him, ever. He had to focus on his mate and his daughter.