“I know. But you’re adaptable and think on the fly. That’s one of the reasons you’re the best.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
She took a deep breath. “Beck. When Mom and Dad… When they died.” She didn’t know how to phrase it. “How was he?”
Peyton sighed. “When you were born, Dad pulledallof us aside, not just me and Trent and Badger and Beck. All of the Enforcers. Pack Alpha Edict—protect you. Dad had always planned to split the continent into two equal co-packs when our populations were strong enough. He was grooming Beck and Trent to become Head Enforcers.”
“What about you?”
“He knew I didn’t want to be Pack Alpha yet. I wanted to travel and run operations at different places for a few years, at least. I still had a semester of college left. Maybe one day take a turn as an Enforcer. Dad was still young, in shifter years. I told him maybe one day, in the far future, yeah. But that I hoped he wasn’t looking for an early retirement.”
Another sigh. “Look, Badger told me what Beck said. He looked up to Dad. We all did. He wasDad. Charlie Bleacke was anointed by Duncan Lister. Everyone loved Da already, but Dad had made a name for himself in the pack before that, before he ever met and mated with Mom. Honestly? People told me later they really believed Dad would go start his own pack before he met Mom and Da ceded Pack Alpha to him after Grandmother Louisa died.
“Mom and Dad weren’t important just because they were the Pack Alpha and his mate. They were beloved by our pack. Not only were they the leaders, they helped out. They pitched in. Mom took point on social issues for the pack. Dad actually talked to people and listened to their ideas and complaints. He had a knack for mediating disagreements that could leave both parties smiling and laughing and satisfied on the back side of the conflict. When I became Pack Alpha, I was receiving calls and letters from all over the world about him. I heard stories from everyone. Even Ray fucking Dorland, that douchebag, called me and said nice things about Dad and Mom.
“So, yeah, it gutted people. Especially the extra indignity of someone coming onto pack land and the way they were killed. And you…”
He made a noise Dewi realized was him choking up. “And we almost lost you. We never had time to properly grieve. Because we were in survival mode in the early days. I mean, think about it—I was younger than you are now when I became Pack Alpha. Da was, what, almost 300 years old when they came over from Scotland and started the pack? Badger was over 100. Hell, Dad was in his forties when they crossed, I think. Mom hadn’t even been born yet. And Beck’s only a year older than me, right? It was just…alotfor us all and we did the best we could at the time. Our priorities were you and the pack. And it drove home to all of us of a certain younger age range how fragile life was despite the potential for us to live really long lives. Beck and Trent and I never had to fight for survival the way Da and Dad and Badger did in Scotland. There was always food in the pantry. We could close our eyes and sleep without needing a guard all the time. We didn’t have to fight for survival.
“It was a shock to us on multiple levels when…thathappened.”
“Thathappened,” she said. “Endquist happened.”
“Exactly. Maybe it was wrong for us to work so hard to try to shield our thoughts and memories from you about what happened. And I know I could throw my hands up in the air about Faegan Lewis and just say, oh well, we tried, and walk away and let life go on. But I’ve seen what happens when we do that. That doesn’t work. Just like Manuel Segura didn’t give up, and he came back and almost cost us packmates. Everyone lost sight of what you and Ken and Tamsin are now all painfully aware of—it’s not enough to weaken someone who wants either your total obedience or your total destruction. Youhaveto rip the threat out at the roots and then burn it all to the ground, or you’ll always be looking over your shoulder.”
After saying good-bye and ending the call, she returned the phone to Ken.
He seemed to be studying her. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
She nodded. “Yeah,” she quietly said. “But I need to make things right with Beck. I do owe him an apology. Because I didn’t really understand where he was coming from.”
She snuggled in with Ken to go to sleep and he quickly dropped off.
Which left her lying there staring at the far bedroom wall and pondering Peyton’s words.
She had lived a charmed life, in many ways. Despite the tragedy that kicked it off, she’d never never had to—normally—fight for everyday survival. Life was easy.
Maybe too easy. She was used to achieving anything she set her mind to.
And now a darker thought had set in—she was a Prime Alpha.
Beck…was not.
Fuck.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Beck
Beck spenta rough night tossing and turning even after Nami had distracted him upon their return home by giving him a blowjob, and then he’d buried his face between her thighs and made her come until she finally tapped his head and breathlessly begged him to stop.
On the one hand, the logical side of Beck understood everyone was right. Dewi was a Prime Alpha.
On the other hand, he could still remember the sound of Charlie Bleacke’s voice that night when they all stood around the fire in the backyard following Dewi’s birth, enjoying celebratory drinks and swearing to him that they’d protect his miracle baby girl.
Because after almost losing Chelsea in childbirth during Peyton’s birth over twenty years ago, she now had the little girl she’d always longed for, and making Chelsea Bleacke happy was Charlie Bleacke’s reason for living.
