“Until we’re ready to fulfil m’nuni, foame are granted the freedom to choose whether to wait for our mate or experiment. I won’t take that from you,” Keon promised, regardless of what they expected. “As long as everyone involved gives non-coerced consent, I will not intervene. If anyone is forced, treated unfairly, or feels their personal choices are not respected, come to me and I’ll deal with it.”
Silence followed, the shocked faces giving no sign of whether this was welcome news or another rebellion in the making.
“Good.” Keon moved on to problem two. “Let’s talk about discrimination.Thispack is a family and a community. We support in times of need and prosperity. No one is inferior, because we’re equals. This is the pack I intend us to be and the pack we’ll build.” Some would rebel, but he didn’t give a shit. He’d seen what ‘legacy’ Simeon had left behind, and was determined to clean the mess to help them prosper.
“To be perfectly clear,” he added, noticing confused looks in the crowd, “mind your business and let people be who they are. If you’re not hurting anyone, including yourself, no one gives a shit what you do behind closed doors. It’s none of their business, and it’s only mine if someone is being hurt or placed in danger.
“Does anyone have an objection?”
He wouldn’t think twice about ripping them a new one verbally, if it meant quashing deeply rooted prejudice. When no one spoke, Keon frowned at the frosty response. Letting the silence linger, he waited for more than blank faces.
He wanted bigotry, homophobia, and the hatred eradicated, with not one person being discriminated against within his pack. It would take time, people testing boundaries, his patience, being brave enough to own who they were. He was willing to wait.
When nothing further happened?no snickering, no whispers, confused glances passing uncomfortably between people trying to avoid eye contact?Keon breathed easy. Some were already thinking of the possibilities. Who they were standing next to. Who might misinterpret a lingering glance. Let them panic.
“Excellent. This is the perfect time to inform you I’m gay,” he said, heart hammering erratically as he tossed the words out like they were inconsequential.
Eliseo’s posture straightened and his eyes widened with sudden clarity. Vega emerged at the edge of the crowd, smirking. Probably hoping the pack would revolt and Keon would be forced to announce his mate.
Keon raised a hand, as the murmurs grew. “Before you get your knickers in a twist, Weston can show you the official documentation. When I first sensed my true mate, another man, and told my father, he reported the mating to Alpha Grier,” he said, making it clear this was historical news, not a recent discovery. The ‘Alpha’ was instinctual. The man was dead, and no longer required the title, but he would always be Keon’s Alpha, and he would prefer the pack remembered Grier as their last Alpha. Simeon had never deserved the title, or the respect it offered.
A ripple of unease swept through the crowd, and talk of the Fates choosing a male mate spread. How it had never happened, why the Fates had made an exception for Keon, and whether they hadmadehim gay or chosen a male mateafterhe’d ‘become’ gay. Keon knew it was panic. More lies to keep the unwanted hidden.
“Despite my father’s infinite wisdom and hope for my happiness,” Keon continued, refusing to let them delude themselves, “Grier was aware of the traditions and demands of our people. Afraid I would be shunned, despite the Fates choosing my mate, he asked me to say nothing until I was of age.”
Ignoring the discomfort of the guilty parties in the crowd, he ploughed on, “I have a duty to the pack, and will never accept my true mate. They’re not the best Consort to help me lead this pack, or the best mate for me, as a man. Iwillchoose a mate by my birthday, and itwillbe a man. You better get used to the idea.”
Warning given, he took another step toward their future. “If anyone has sensed a same-sex mate and been afraid to admit it, come to me and I’ll mate you without hesitation. In this pack, hatred will not be tolerated. We are born equal and nothing in this world changes that. Certainly not the gender of the true mate the Fates chose for us,” he said, hoping for a reaction, glances between mates to give an indication his theory was right.
Nothing.
Silence followed, and it was clear he couldn’t expect more from them today. Giving them time to get their thoughts in order, to confer and consider his words, Keon drew the meeting to a close.
“Weston and I will continue to wade through the mess Simeon left behind. Laws to abolish, and new laws to be made. If you need me, you’re welcome to come by the house to speak to me.” Keon gave them time to process that, and stopped the outsiders from slipping away. “Before you go, Weston has made a list of pack members banished to Dnara. Rumour has it banishment was my brother’s favourite punishment.” Which wasn’t a surprise. “I need to stay to deal with Thatcher, but I’m asking for volunteers to travel to Dnara. I’ll supply protection on the other side of the doorway, a list of people and their descriptions. I’m asking you to find them, offer a safe return to our pack, and safeguard their future, if they decline. Who will accept this immense responsibility?”
The news people had been banished had shocked Keon to his core, but to hear their petty crimes had been devastating. Stealing, caught in a compromising position with the wrong person, refusing Simeon’s advances. The list was endless and horrifying. Recovering the exiles remained at the top of Keon’s to-do list, and he needed volunteers who wouldn’t desert the mission if anything went awry. Reliable men and women, who would be trusted to tell the exiles everything.
As he waited in the silence, a tentative hand rose from the crowd. Eliseo nibbled at a nail, glancing nervously at his neighbours.
“Thank you,” Keon said, grateful for his bravery. “You’ll be accompanied by a scout who will get you to a safe location. Your trip has no time limit, but urgency is recommended. Please form a team of four to hasten your journey.”
Dropping his arm, Eliseo mounted a recruitment, speaking in hushed tones to individuals he picked with care.
Relieved by his decision to be careful with his choices, Keon glanced at Weston. His Beta gave an affirmative nod, proving they’d tackled the issues he considered a priority. “Good. Everyone can return to their day,” he announced, a subtle thanks to the crowd for coming. “I have an Alpha to deal with.”
Though he didn’t relish the thought, some matters took precedence. The sooner he got Thatcher off his land, the safer they would be.
*
Milo
THATCHER’S AUDACITY NEVERfailed to stun Milo.
“I’m sorry. You said what?” Milo would never normally question his father?from an ironically paralysing fear?but he couldn’t have possibly heard correctly.
“The Meskli has been sent for.” Thatcher’s gaze narrowed, and he flicked a careless hand in Usher’s direction. “He’ll tell you every insolent word that pretender uttered in my presence. Find a loophole, an angle, anything we can use against the bastard. I want to know his every dirty secret before the Meskli arrives.” Thatcher left the tent, and a stunned silence took hold.
When his father caught wind of the rumour Simeon’s younger brother had returned to Vihaan to take his place as Alpha, Milo dismissed it as inconsequential. He’d always known Thatcher had spies everywhere. But he’d been naïve enough to think moving his entire pack onto Alpha Keon’s land would be the final insult. A reminder of their proximity, the debt owed them by Simeon’s actions, and a show of force.
