“Me either.” I let out a shaky laugh. “But now you can see why a council of elders might not be such a bad thing. If nothing else, my dad’s death might not have been such a spectacle if there had been someone to talk sense into Randall.”
“But didn’t you say your pack had a cleric? Isn’t that kind of brutality in opposition to the sanctity of life or whatever? Why didn’t the cleric put a stop to it?”
I snort. “It was the cleric’s idea.”
Forty-Two
Keir
ForallthatJulienis Alpha of a fairly large, successful pack, sometimes he seems pretty naïve when it comes to the darker side of pack politics. Or maybe I’m just cynical as hell. I guess that makes sense growing up in the pack that I did.
“The cleric…?” starts Julien, but his voice trails off and then he just blinks at me like he can’t figure out how to complete the sentence.
“The cleric was kind of my pack’s version of William, except exponentially worse,” I say. “What happened with my dad—the beating and the skinning after losing a challenge—is some kind of outdated ritual outlined in an obscure legal code. I don’t know all the details, but the cleric has an entire library of old books that lay out every pack law going back hundreds of years. As you can imagine, the older the law, the more bloody it is, and the pack goes by whichever laws the cleric decides are ‘appropriate.’”
“That’s… I don’t even know what. Why in the world would people choose to stay there? Why didn’t they leave and go to other packs?” asks Julien.
“There wasn’t a whole lot ofchoicein the matter,” I say. “By design, the laws and customs the pack followed kept the members uneducated, isolated, and indoctrinated. Most of us rarely left the compound and none of us attended human school. I’d never even used a computer before I left. Those first couple weeks on my own were terrifying. I knew nothing about how the world worked. I had no ID, no money, nothing but the clothes on my back.”
I look away from my mate, glancing down at my hands before continuing, “You think they’re stupid for staying, but if I’d had the option of going back at that point? I would have done it without a second thought. That’s how weak I am. If I’d been stronger, I would have left the moment I figured out what I was, but the fear instilled in me for my entire life kept me there until I wasforcedto leave.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply I thought less of anyone for staying.” Julien gently grasps my chin and lifts my face until I meet his gaze. “You’re not weak. You were barely more than a child and everything you’d ever known was ripped away from you. The fact that you kept going and built a life of your own is a testament to your strength.”
“Yeah, some ‘life’ I built,” I say dryly. “Constantly on the run. No attachments. Shitty apartment. Crappy job. No—”
“But all that led you to me,” he says, tugging me closer.
“True.” I give him a soft smile. “That’s definitely a plus.”
Julien chuckles, then sighs. “Now that I know exactly how lucky I am to only have disgruntled elders to deal with, do you think we’ve let William stew long enough?”
I laugh. “Yeah, as much as I’d prefer to leave him out there for the rest of the day, we should probably figure out what’s got him all worked up this time.”
Julien calls Remy and tells him to show William back into the office. I get out of Julien’s lap and position myself next to his chair with one hand resting on my mate’s shoulder. As William enters, his gaze takes in the new tableau—Julien and I side by side—and his expression sours, clearly not fond of the idea of seeing Julien and me as a united front.
His eyes narrow. “Jul—Alpha Matisse, were you aware this boy was kicked out of his former pack?”
Really?That’sthe emergency he barged into Julien’s office for?I hold back a snort.
“You mean am I aware that my mate’s former pack tried to kill him and then abandoned him? If so, yes,” replies Julien in a smooth voice.
“Is that the story he told you?” William wrinkles his nose. “Well—”
“Silence!” yells Julien, slamming his fist on top of the desk to punctuate the word. “If all you’re here to do is disparage my mate, you are free to leave.” His gaze slides to me and we share a look of understanding before he turns his attention back to William. “Keir and I have agreed to discuss surrogacy.”
It’ll never happen, but William doesn’t need to know that.
“That’s not enough to appease the council anymore,” says William. “Not after I tell them what I learned about his past. This wolf brings no benefit to this pack.”
“We already covered this, William,” says my mate, remaining calm. “Keir is my fated mate. He doesn’t have to do anything but be himself and stand by my side.”
“No one will accept—”
There’s a loud knock at the office door and Julien holds up a hand to stop the elder from continuing.
“Come in,” calls Julien.
The door opens and Remy pokes his head in. “Sorry to interrupt.” He waves at his brother, then his gaze scans the room until his eyes find me. “I need to borrow Keir for a minute.”
