Chapter Three
Ryker had never had an issue focusing on clan business. He was Alpha. He was born to lead this clan, and it was something he took extremely seriously. But for the first time, sitting as he was at the head of his dining room table, meeting with the other members of his clan, any who could attend the impromptu debrief on the battle that had taken place out on the highway, his mind was on something else.
Well, if truth be told, it was on someoneelse. His mate was here in his house. As soon as they’d arrived back, they’d placed her in the master bedroom, and waited for Lucas Sullivan, the clan’s doctor, to arrive. Ryker had wanted to go through her belongings, looking for her wallet or some identification so that he had her name, but Bastian had argued it was an invasion of her privacy or some such shit. His brother was rarely wrong when it came to the emotions of their clan, and what they needed, so he’d stepped back.
Bastian was upstairs with her now, while Lucas set her arm in a cast. She was still unconscious, and there was a great possibility that she did indeed have a concussion, and the mere thought of that had his bear pacing within him, thirsting for blood.
“Alpha,” Lucas’s younger brother Tomas said in a dry tone. “Do you think you could dial back on the dominance a little? The rest of us are getting a little uncomfortable.”
Ryker frowned looking around the table and grimaced. “Shit. Sorry.”
“Language, Ryker.” He looked over at his Aunt Lauren, mate to Lucas and Tomas as well as his fathers’ sister, and scowled. “And don’t look at me like that. When your mother and your dads get back you won’t hear that from me. For now, with her away, I feel like someone has to carry the mantle. Just because you are our Alpha, it doesn’t mean you can be apotty-mouthed one.”
Ryker had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, ma’am.” He looked up as the back door opened and Henry Granger walked in, pocketing his cell phone. “What did the council have to say?”
Henry sat down heavily on one of the chairs. “Nothing good I’m afraid, Alpha. Apparently, it is true, when an elder on the council passes their treaties are considered null and void unless the rest of the council swear them into law.”
Ryker frowned. “And they didn’t with Chubbuck’s?” That seemed strange.
Henry nodded. “They swore every one of them into law, except for this one. According to Gerrard, every single council member said yes except for one.”
“Let me guess, it would have been the wolf representative.”
“And you would be correct,” Henry said, the anger in his voice clear in the tone. “And before you ask, no, the wolf rep is not of the Ashford clan, but he’s just as fucking dodgy.”
Ryker said back in his chair, a continuous rumbling growl coming from deep within him. “That goddamn wolf is a pain in my a-a-armpit.” The snicker that followed helped to take the edge of his anger a little. Not a lot, but enough for him to take a deepbreathand pull himself more under control. “And I noticed you didn’t reprimand Henry for his bad language, Aunt Lauren.” The woman did nothing but grin at him. “Okay, so I guess we are officially at war with the Ashford pack.”
A wave of unease filled the room. These people, his people, would fight until their dying breath for their clan, and each other. There was no questioning that. But they weren’t in their fighting prime, and hell, most of them had been nurturers and helpers within the clan, not enforcers. Every single one of their strongest were currently walking the lands, looking for their mates. All that were left were the twelve of them, and a small group of humans that called Blackwater Falls their home and fell beneath the protection of the clan. Most were aware of them as shifters, but some were oblivious to a world they had no knowledge of.
“We’ll coordinate with the Sheriff and the rest of the town,” Tomas said. “You and Bastian are going to need to protect your mate. You’re vulnerable now that you have found her.”
Ryker saw his aunt turn her head slowly to stare at her mate, and, having seen his mother turn that same expression on his fathers, he sat back in his chair to watch the fireworks.
“You think that having a mate, finding the one woman the fates have destined you worthy of, makes you weak?” Lauren’s tone was slow and measured, and Ryker saw all the men at the table wince at her tone.
Tomas frowned, as if he could sense the trap looming before him but had no idea how to avoid falling face first into it. “No, love, that’s not what I said.”
Lauren growled low. “No, you used the word ‘vulnerable’. Which to me means the same damn thing. A mate does notweakena man, Tomas, and you of all people should know that. Before the bond snapped into place for the three of us, I always felt untethered, as if there was nothing in this town, nothing in this place that could hold me here. I was on the verge of leaving to find my own path to happiness, completely unaware that you and Lucas were already heading here to find me. As soon as that bond connected us, that all disappeared, and for the first time I felt like I was home. I was connected. I wasstronger.”Lauren stood up, Tomas staring up at her in awe. “But apparently you didn’t feel the same way.”
Lauran stormed out of the kitchen, pushing past her other mate as Lucas stepped back into the room. Lucas took one look at his mate’s face, then turned a glare on his brother.
“What the hell did you do now, moron?”
Tomas sighed as he stood up from the table. “Pissed off our mate, and put my foot in my mouth at the same time.”
Lucas shook his head. “Well, that has always been one of your greatest skills, now hasn’t it? Come on, we’d better go find her, and you can start with the groveling.”
Tomas turned to look at Ryker. “I didn’t mean that your mate made you weak, Ryker. My mate is right. Finding the woman who completes you, who brings with her the missing part of your heart and soul, definitely gives you strength. Having something so damn precious to lose does that. But you and Bastian have a weakness now, one you never had before, and one you will do anything for.” A grin broke across Tomas’s face. “And if you’re a lucky son of a bitch like me, your woman will be as feisty and passionate as mine.”
Tomas walked out, and Lucas turned to follow him, but hesitated, looking back at Ryker over his shoulder. “Your mate is resting comfortably, but is showing signs of waking, so you might want to wrap this meeting up fast and get upstairs so you can be there when she wakes up.”
Ryker’s heartbeat accelerated at the thought of his mate waking, and he stood up, quickly saying goodbye to his clan as they all gave him knowing looks, but he didn’t really give a shit. He wanted to get to his mate, and he didn’t care who knew.
