Thankfully, he nodded and continued with the conversation, unaware of my inner turmoil.
“I wonder if there’s anyone in one of our old packs who’s got a pup coming soon?” Leigh asked, the hand running over her own belly moving erratically, almost nervously. Her eyes flicked between Olivia and Brielle.
“Probably, but even if they make it through, that’s no guarantee. Birth is high risk, but it’s not guaranteed to go badly.”
I have to get out of this conversation.
I cleared my throat, though no amount of clearing could make the grief leave it. “I’m sure you’ll all work out a way to test this, but I have pack matters to attend to this morning, if you don’t need me?” I aimed the question at Lucien, who nodded quickly then turned with me toward the door.
“You’re going to see to Jerica?”
I nodded, barely holding back a grimace. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Good man. I’ll come find you as soon as we’re done here. Shouldn’t be much longer.”
One more nod and I was free of the suffocating room and the memories it threatened to drag back to the surface.
Granted, I wasn’t in for a cakewalk today. I strode down the main cobblestone path of our little pack town, homes and small businesses intermingled without rhyme or reason. The sight of poorly patched roofs and crooked shutters, overgrown trees, and just an endless list of incomplete maintenance made me angry, as it always did.
But today, I got to do something about it. Lucien was a good Alpha, and his first order of business had been to ask what the pack needed.
I’d told him. Repairs and security. There had been a severe lack of both under Varga leadership. So, we were tackling both. I had a few personal issues to deal with first, but as soon as they were dealt with, I’d be spending the rest of the afternoon with a tool belt, starting repairs on the houses with pups and the elderly who couldn’t do their own.
The Humboldts’ roof was first on my list.
But first, I had to deal with Jerica. She was Petró’s mistress, and I was the last person she’d want to see. But when duty called, I didn’t shirk it.
Her little cottage was much nicer than most, tucked at the shady end of town, not too far for her to come running at her late lover’s every beck and call.
Granted, she’d mostly resided in his wing of the mansion in the months since his father had died, but now that he was gone, she’d been demoted back to a cottage like the rest of the pack.
I stopped on the stoop of the lovely little home, steeling myself for the storm of hate that was Jerica. I’d barely raised myfist to knock before she ripped the door open, teeth bared and flashing sharp canines. “Traitor!”
She raised her hand to slap me, but I caught it with alpha speed she couldn’t match as a gamma. “We’ve been over this, Jerica. Alpha Vasilescu defeated Petró in a clean challenge. There is no traitor to this pack, only a new direction. It’s time you accepted that.”
A theatrical tear trickled down her bronzed cheek, and her blond curls began to quiver as the single tear turned to a deluge. She might have been considered beautiful if she weren’t so damn spiteful.
I sighed, dropping her hand and gesturing toward her round kitchen table, visible from the front door.
“It’s just not right, to be expected to bend the knee to the man who killed the one I”—her voice hitched, but I didn’t miss the sly glance she shot my way—“loved.” I trailed her inside, where she sank delicately into the nearest chair, conveniently also the only one large enough for a male of my size to sit in comfortably.
“Yes, we’re all very cut up over the fact that you were screwing my sister’s fiancé. He wassucha good man.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my tone as I settled back in the too-small wooden chair she’d left for me.
Should I have had more sympathy? Maybe. She had cared about him, in her own way. But from where I was sitting, sympathy was hard to muster when my sister had been betrothed to the bastard.
They werebothbetter off without him, if you asked me. Somehow, neither of them agreed. I hoped that Vee would come around eventually, once she got over the disgrace of the whole ordeal. Jerica? She knew she’d missed the boat. The new Alpha was happily mated and wouldn’t even glance in her direction. It was a major step down in social standing, and for a she-wolf like Jerica, that was as good as death.
She was going to hold a grudge, and the whole pack knew it. Mostly because she was doing her best to stir up dissent and drama every chance she got. This little visit was based on the latest antics she’d gotten into yesterday.
“You know why I’m here?” I asked, getting right down to it. I’d rather be sweating on a roof in the dead heat of the day than have to spend an extra second dealing with useless drama. Sometimes, I thought I was a bad choice for a pack second.
“No.” The petulant jut of her chin and the way she crossed her arms over her chest as if she were accusingmeof being the troublemaker told me I wouldn’t get to that roof any time soon.
“You were posting fliers all down the main path yesterday saying that our new Alpha is a usurper and… a goat fucker?” I pulled the folded piece of baseless slander out of my pocket, flattening the flier on the table between us.
She rolled her eyes. “Is that what you’re here about? You can’t prove that was me. Lucien is unpopular with over half the pack, and that weak little mate of his is practically useless. It could have been anyone.”
“It could have been, yes. But it was you. Stu put up a new camera over his shop’s entrance, and you were caught in the act.”
