Randal shook his head. "My father and older brother are very close. They are practically the same person in the way they think and act. I always took after my mother." Something that had caused no end of torment for him.
"Where's your mother?"
"She passed away a few years ago." Randal missed her every day since. Life hadn't been easy before she died, but it had been hell afterwards. "I think that's when my father truly flipped his lid."
"How so?" Rob asked.
"My father has never been what you might describe as a loving father, but after my mother passed away, it was like he was angry at the world. Anything could set him off, and what set him off the most was his idea that he deserved to be alpha and Alpha Kersey did not."
Randal couldn't count the number of rantings he'd been forced to listen to over the years. They had been epic. "He truly believes he should have been alpha rather than Alpha Kersey." Randal snorted at his own words. "He would have made a terrible alpha."
Horrible.
"And if he had become alpha, my older brother would have been in line to take over after him, and he's just as bad, if not worse, than my father."
"What about you?" Jeb asked. "Do you think your father should have been alpha?"
Randal's eyebrows snapped together as he turned to look at the enforcer. "Didn't you just hear me?"
He knew his words and tone were disrespectful, but he couldn't help it. These guys didn't seem to understand the threat the clan had been under until Alpha Colton made his father and brother leave.
"Did you want to be alpha?"
"Hell, no! I can't think of a worse job in the world."
Rob chuckled, much to Randal's surprise. "It certainly has its moments."
As he followed the man down the stairs and then out to a truck waiting in front of the hotel, he wondered why Rob would admit that when he was the alpha. In his experience, they didn't admit a weakness. His father certainly never would.
After climbing into the backseat of the cab, Randal glanced at the alpha—who sat in front with Jeb—and then decided to be honest with him. If he was killed for it, then he was. "I want to claim my mate and live with him and not have to worry about someone trying to kill me or him for it. I want to work in my garden and have Luca be able to work in his tattoo studio, spend our evenings together, and live my life without the threat of death or a beating hanging over our heads."
"That does sound pretty nice," Rob agreed as he glanced back at him. "I assume with your father and brother around, you couldn't have that."
"No, sir. My father was very against bears mating anything except other bears, and when we did mate, it was to produce cubs for the clan, not because you had met your true mate, especially if they were of the same sex."
"Oh, one of those."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, just so you know, I am not a speciest nor am I against mating the same sex. It would be pretty hypocritical if I was, considering my mate is a man, and I thought a human when I first mated him."
"Bears weren't allowed to mate humans in our old clan," Jeb said. "I think a lot of clans are that way because they figure it will keep them safe from humans."
"Alpha Kersey didn't seem to care one way or the other as long as you protected the clan." Randal had always appreciated that about the man. "It was one of the reasons my father felt he would be a better alpha."
"Our differences are what make us stronger," Rob said. "If we were all the same, it would be as boring as hell."
Randal actually liked that, and he was beginning to like his new alpha. "I am very sorry for my part in all of this. After kidnapping Erik, I took him back to my father's house. I lied to them and told them that I had knocked Erik out, and as soon as they left, I got him out of there. If they hadn't caught us in the woods..." Randal shuddered to think what would have happened if Erik hadn't run when he told him to. It wouldn't have ended well for either of them.
"Erik told me," Jeb said, and while there was less anger in his tone, there was still some. "He said you told him to run when your father and brother tried to stop you, that you saved his life."
"His life wouldn't have been in danger if I hadn't kidnapped him." And that guilt was something Randal would have to live with for the rest of his life.
"I'm not so sure about that," Rob said. "If your father was insane enough to try and kidnap my mate, then he was a threat to everyone in the clan. If it hadn't been Erik, it would have been someone else, maybe even Casey. One way or another, there was going to be trouble. Through your actions, not only was what they were doing brought to light, but it gave me a reason to banish them."
"I'll be honest here, Alpha Colton, I'm not positive we've seen the last of them."
Rob stiffened and stared at him. "What do you mean?"
