After breakfast and another round of sex, John found himself cuddled up to Carter on the sofa in the living room, feeling worn out, overwhelmed and incredibly happy.
There were still questions that needed to be asked—like where was their relationship going now that they’d both confessed their feelings for each other—but for the moment John was happy to just bask in the glory of knowing that Carter loved him.
Carter’s phone rang, and John closed his eyes and hoped that Carter would ignore it. No such luck. Carter grimaced and pushed himself up from the couch, jogging into the kitchen to get his phone and leaving John without the wonderful warmth of his body.
A minute later Carter was walking back into the room, talking on the phone with a grimace on his face.
“No, that’s okay. You can bring him here before you head back. I have aguest room.” There was a silence as the other person on the line talked before Carter spoke again. “Yes, that’s okay. I’ll text you the address. Bye.”
Carter hung up the phone and dropped back down on the couch, pulling John back underneath his arm.
“Who was that?” John asked.
“Luke, actually,” Carter said, like it had just occurred to him that Luke and John were friends. “It’s a long story…”
John listened as Carter told him about his alpha—from how he’d sabotaged a peace deal with the werewolves from Texas to how he abused his son—and he was horrified.
“And so that’s why Spencer Tiller—Alpha Tiller’s little brother—is coming to take over. Until then Elijah is hiding out here, but apparently he isn’t doing to well being away from the pack. Luke has to go back to Forest Hill tonight, so he was wondering if Elijah could come here. I hope you don’t mind that I said yes.”
“No, of course not,” John said. “I can’t believe what a dick your alpha is. No wonder you wanted to challenge him.”
A rueful look crossed Carter’s face and he shook his head. “That’s not why I wanted to challenge him. I just wanted to be the alpha. I would have wanted to challenge him even if he was the best alpha the pack had ever had. That’s just how I’m built.”
“Oh,” John didn’t know what to say to that. “Do you think this Spencer guy will be a good alpha?”
“Probably,” Carter said, not looking too concerned. “He seems like a decent guy from what I’ve seen of him.”
“And there’s no one else in your pack that could have been alpha?” John was a little curious. He remembered how horrified Luke had been when a reporter asked him if he was going to challenge Grayson for his position. It was like just the idea of it had sent Luke into a panic.
“No. We have plenty of good fighters, but they’re all follower types. Standing up to an alpha is almost impossible for them.”
“But Elijah does it all the time, isn’t that what you said? Is he alpha material then?”
Carter looked startled by the question, and then thoughtful. “I don’t think so. I think he’s just forced himself to be disobedient against his nature. His wolf might be submissive, but he’s a strong person. It’s a shame his father is who he is.”
“What about his mom?” John asked.
“She challenged Grayson a year after Elijah was born and lost.”
“Like he killed her?” John was shocked.
“It wasn’t a surprise, really. They’d planned to lead the pack together, but Grayson took over and shut her out almost from the start. She was almost strong enough to beat him, too.”
“Then why were they together?” John didn’t understand.
“I don’t think they were mates. They couldn’t have been. Their relationship was pretty fucked up. It started as an alliance to take power from the old alpha—neither of them was strong enough to take her on alone—and then it derailed when Elijah’s mother got pregnant.” Carter frowned, scratching his chin. “It’s not something the pack likes to talk about, and I was just a kid at the time so I might be remembering some things wrong.”
John couldn’t understand wanting to be in power so much that you’d kill for it, and it made him appreciate the magnitude of what Carter was sacrificing to be with him even more.
He just hoped that Carter didn’t come to resent him for missing out on his chance to become alpha.
“What if you change your mind?” John asked, the question spewing from his mind before he could stop it.
“About what?” Carter looked down at him.
“About wanting me more than you want to be alpha. How do you know you’re not making a mistake?”
Carter swallowed, suddenly looking nervous.
