Austin nodded at him to go on.
“Alpha, about Jessie,” Brochan started, and worry gnawed at Austin’s gut. “She’s not getting it.”
Austin had glanced down the bar periodically, watching the lesson in progress. Jess’s growing frustration had made her more expressive instead of less.
“She’smuchbetter at reading body language,” Brochan continued. “There’s hope for her there. But hiding it? No.” He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the bar. “The thing is, she’s always one hundred percent genuine. If she can’t do something, she’s honest about that. When she’s uncomfortable, it’s usually for a good reason. Anoblereason. And sir…she’s not a shifter. She’snotone of us.” His shoulders tightened, and his head tilted forward before he twitched it to the side.With respect, we’re wasting our time.
Austin took a sip of his beer, containing his disappointment. He’d feared this would be the case. It would amount to one more problem when meeting the alphas who wanted nothing to do with him. His past seemed to be a hard thing to eradicate in the alpha community. His present would offer them red flags—as far as they were concerned, anyway.
“If I may,” said Brochan, “I think it’d be better that she continues as she is. Push her to keep learning body language, but don’t ask that she change hers. She’s always proven herself to shifters. Even the naysayers in Alpha Kingsley’s pack stopped talking once she showed her might. She’s different—she should act differently. Show how comfortable she is in her differences. She’s honest and caring and wants the best for people, and she’ll apply extreme force to keep them safe. Let the other packs see that she can’t lie—that shedoesn’tlie—so that when it comes to her anger or power, they’ll know she isn’t bluffing.”
“I agree.” Tristan nodded. “Like the meeting with that pack in L.A. She had them worried by being worried herself. They’ll have heard what she can do. Let them disbelieve her. Let them push her. She gets volatile when she’s pushed.”
Austin drank again. Deep down, he’d always known it would turn out this way. He’d known Jess’s differences would make things harder for them, just like he’d known his reputation would drive a wedge between him and anyone willing to work with him. There would be no miracle fix for either of them.
“Well, hell, that’s terrible news,” he said with a release of breath.
Tristan laughed, and Brochan might as well have.
“We’re ready,” Brochan said. “To meet those other packs, I mean. I’m a strong alpha with trust issues, and I would walk into the fire for you and Jessie. You’ve earned that loyalty, both of you. No one has left this pack. Notone,” he stressed. “It’s hard work, long days, and barely controlled chaos, but even still, people trust that you and Jessie will keep them safe. That’s unheard of. Trust me, you’ll see the diamond you’ve created here when you visit those other packs. Even the strong ones.”
“I don’t know about the shifters…” Tristan threw back his cognac and put his glass up for another. “But I know our guardians are preening like none I’ve ever seen. They think they’re in the best, most powerful cairn—not one of the best,thebest. They follow a shifter leader because they respect you, a man who leads by example. Who’s powerful enough to best them while urging them to rise to the challenge. You’re an example. And Jessie…” His smile was soft. “Jessie is the pillar of our people. The best gargoyles have to offer. She brings us all together and promises us victory. Once we get into those cairns, our guardians will talk us up. They’ll spread the word, not with stories, but with their bravado. We’ll win them over, Alpha. It might take a second, but wewillwin them over. I know we will.”
“This convocation will work.” Brochan nodded. “We just have to have faith.”
“Did my posture screamhe needs a pep talkor something?” Austin asked, mystified.
“Yep,” Brochan said with an uncustomary grin. Tristan outright laughed.
“That just leaves the mages.” Austin asked for one more beer before he wrapped this up and headed home to his mate. “For that, it seems our fate is in the hands of a hacker who looked about as shell-shocked as a person could.”
“She’s odd as fuck,” Tristan murmured. “I mean, even for that house, she’s odd. I didn’t think the Dick and Jane world could produce that kind of weird.”
Austin chuckled. “She is, at that. I think that’s a blessing. She’ll be able to hang with that house. There aren’t many who could. Not even me—for any length of time, I mean.”
“Me neither,” Tristan said.
“Truth,” Brochan agreed. “Fred—” He huffed, then bowed. The grin was back. Normal men would guffaw. “She makes the absurd seem justified, somehow, while also highlighting how absurd it really is. It took her agreeing that I should be called Sue for me to realize it. For Jessie to realize it as well. It’s strangely… This is going to sound crazy, but it’s strangely comforting.”
“Gargoyles have never understood the shifter culture of being assigned a name.” Tristan sipped his fresh drink. “When you head up a new cairn, you don’t get assigned a new name. Youhavea name. People call you that name.” He paused expectantly. “Because it’syour name.” He grinned. “Her choosing Fred…” He shrugged. “Might as well choose one you like rather than other people choosing one you don’t. I didn’t bat an eye at that. Or Mr. Tom. Or Steele or Ironheart. Whatever. The fox roadkill, though…”
Brochan looked at Tristan for a long beat, the humor draining away from him. “I was Spencer in my old life. In my old pack.”
Tristan jerked in surprise. Austin had known that, having heard the rumor from someone else, but Brochan had never mentioned it.
“Spencer Whitman. I wasn’t technically a generational alpha, but my birth father had been revered in his day, and since I challenged into his old pack, I allowed the people to pass his name to me. Whitman. It seemed the best for morale. Fred would think that name was very dull, I imagine.”
“As dull as the man,” Tristan joked.
“Hmm,” Brochan said noncommittally. “It wasn’t until…after…” After the attack. After he’d lost everything. “I kept my position long enough to reestablish the survivors in a safe location. To help them pick up the pieces and start over. During that time, they dubbed me Brochan. No last name, no remembrance of the name before it, real or assigned. Just Brochan. It’s how we all felt. It fit.”
“And Sue?” Tristan asked, his tone light but his eyes solemn.
“Sue was an accident. Thebestaccident. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a lifeline. It makes me just as odd as that Ivy House crew.”
“It’s your membership card,” Tristan surmised.
“Must be. One I will always hold on to with a tight grip. Names for alphas result from circumstance, half the time. I don’t have much in common with Spencer Whitman anymore. I’m no longer that man. I’m not Brochan anymore, either. That was a name for a different alpha. A directionless, hopeless, futureless alpha. I have plenty in common with Fred, though, as odd as she is. With Jessie Ironheart and Alpha Steele, starting over, come what challenges may. Trying to pick up the pieces and make something of themselves. With Mr. Tom, trying to look after his people. Like that vampire—” He shook his head. “Nah. Step too far.”
