How could I love my mate and treat him as my equal and yet give the den advance knowledge of his presence? Someone was going to get hurt. Me definitely because I would either lose Weston—not that Ihadhim yet—or allow the den to be destroyed. I was a loser in all of this.
That’s a selfish way of looking at it.
Oh yeah, what’s your suggestion?
You know what you have to do.
“How do I do both? Protect my mate and my kin?” They were on opposing sides.
Zach moved back to the chair. “Your mate isn’t aware of what he’s set in motion, and you’re looking at this all wrong.”
Zach wasn’t getting emotional like me. He hadn’t raised his voice and he wasn’t gripping the armchair like a life raft.
“You have to trust your mate. There is no greater bond than the one between mates. It surpasses loyalty to your current pack and to the den. I suspect your bear understands that.”
I do, but you’ve been looking at this through a human’s eyes.
“But you also have a duty to the den,” Zach continued. "Whether they know you're alive or not. They're still your blood, and it’s your responsibility as the Alpha's firstborn.”
Everyone today had told me what I had to do, but no one had provided a roadmap.
“You need to find a way to have both your mate and the den in your life.”
How had we gotten to this point? Being part of the den wasn’t in my plan. I was going to warn them and help them, not join them and lead them to battle.
“Do I want both?” If Weston accepted me, I was going to return to the pack, the same pack that allowed me to be curious while providing love and safety.
“You’re not a helpless six-year-old anymore. You survived things that should have killed you, and you forced a shift years before you should have been able to.”
My beast was loyal and very strong, but neither of us had confronted the early shift and what it meant for our future.
“Your bear is powerful. Use that and find a way.”
I stared at the now-cold coffee. In theory, what Zach said made sense. But the reality of standing between Weston and the den and trying to bridge two worlds that had no reason to trust each other felt impossible.
“Tell me about the den.” I had a six-year-old’s understanding of the inner workings that were very different to reality. “What do I need to know?”
Zach pursed his lips, and I braced myself for what he was about to say.
“How much do you remember about your father and how life was before he mated your stepfather?”
“Not much. I was only six. Why?”
“Firstly, Kipp was pregnant when you disappeared.”
Now the pieces fell into place. It wasn’t just that I was the son of the former Alpha Omega, but Kipp wanted his offspring to be Father’s successor.
“A son or daughter?”
“A son, and from what I’ve observed, though from a distance, he's nothing like his omega father. Things have changed since you left, and the den isn't what it was." He stood again and moved to the window. “Your father is still Alpha, but he's weaker, maybe. Kipp has a lot of influence.”
So he got rid of me, not just for his child, but to wrest power from Father.
“Some of the den think he should be the next Alpha when your father steps down.”
The blood in my veins turned to ice. What if Kipp was planning on getting rid of Father as he had me?
The answer to my next question had the power to break me.
