“I'm not running,” Drew says, pulling my hand up to press a kiss against my knuckles.
“And you?” Dad glances at Parker in the mirror. “Where do you land with all this? Eugenia told me it's a done deal, but I want to hear from you.”
“What's there to say?” Parker shrugs. “I go where they go. I'm Cross's Second. She's going to be my Luna. They're mine to watch over.”
My dad's eyes flick between the mirror and the road for a long moment. “What about the rest? What happens between you and Drew?”
“Dad!” I hiss.
Parker takes my other hand, shaking his head. “It's alright, Genie. I'd ask, too.” He looks at my dad's reflection. “Nothing will change between Cross and me. Nothing will come between Genie and Cross, including me. Genie chose us the way we are and I will honor her choice and her trust. What she wants and needs is what I will make sure she gets. I'm his Second, but she's our priority.”
My dad's gaze moves to mine. I nod solemnly. He takes a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling. “Good enough.”
Chapter Forty-one
Cross
Genie's pack isn't as different from mine as I thought it would be. They take care of each other the same way we do. Each family inside the pack is important and visible, and they all help to make the pack run better. Being here doesn't feel all that different than being home.
Except the majority of these people hate my guts.
Oh, they hate Parker's guts, too, but he isn't getting even a portion of the glares and secret, disgusted snarls that I'mgetting. I get it. I do. I don't blame them. I was selfish. I was stupid. They have every reason in the world to think the worst of me. I'll prove myself to them, though. No matter how long it takes. I will prove to Genie and her pack that I'm worthy of her.
I don't have to. It's a done deal at this point. I've claimed Genie. She wears my bite. She's mine and I'm hers. It's done. I don't have to prove anything other than I will be their ruling alpha once our packs merge, whether they like it or not. One of them would have to challenge me for the title and I don't think any of them hate me enough to do that. They'll give me a chance. It might take a while, but they will. I can feel it. They want peace and stability as much as I do. It's going to be alright. Besides, they can't ignore the fact that Genie has so thoroughly accepted me. That goes farther than anything else.
I wish we had time to ease into it, but her father got word this morning that two other packs are joining together to challenge both my position and Genies. We aren't even the ruling pair yet and we're being forced to prove ourselves.
Unsurprisingly, it's Pack Reeves and Pack Steele who are coming for us. Bella still wants Genie's place and she's using Jonathan and his pack to give strength to the inevitable attack. They know we're on Barrett land and they're making their way here at a steady pace. I'd rather they rush into it. Genie is going to go into heat in what feels like any second. I will be at my most dangerous when she's in heat, it's true, but I won't be thinking about defending the entire pack if I'm lost in rut. They know that. That's their entire plan.
If I could rush her heat, or delay it... No. No, I wouldn't. I want this heat with her. I've spent the past several years trying to get to her when she was in heat and I won't give it up now, not when it's so close I can literally smell it. I want it. I want this heat. I need it. And so does she. I can feel her reaching for me along our bond, I can feel her. She wants this heat as badly as I do.
“How long do you think we have until they get here?” Parker asks Danner, Genie's dad's Second.
We're all standing around Alpha Barrett's huge desk, pouring over territory maps and old hunting trails that we're supposed to forget exist. Danner plants a thick finger on the foothills of the closest mountain range. “They will come from here. There's no other way for them. The falls are here, the lake here, and cliffs here. They have to come from that pass. And then they will move through the forests until they get to ours. It's not a straight shot, but it's the way they'll go so they can hide their presence.”
I shake my head. “Why would they care about hiding? They know we're expecting them. They'd do better to run straight at us before we have time to make a plan.”
“They won't,” Alpha Barrett says. “If they come straight at us, they risk being stopped by other packs out in the open before they get to this territory. They won't want to come out into the open without having control of this pack and yours. They aren't strong enough, not yet.”
I look up from the maps and meet his steely eyes. “That won't happen.”
“You know,” Parker hums, staring at the map, “I think I'm going to enjoy watching Genie embarrass Bella again.”
“What do you mean?” Alpha Barrett asks.
Parker looks up. “She didn't tell you?” His eyes flick to mine for a beat before settling back on the map.
“She said she fought with another female while she was there, but she said it wasn't a big deal.”
Parker shrugs. “It wasn't. Bella Reeves never should have challenged Genie. When I say it was embarrassing, it was embarrassing.” He glances at me again, pride evident in his expression. “Bella never stood a chance.”
“Do you know why she challenged her?”
“Bella wants Cross,” Parker answers flatly.
Alpha Barrett closes his eyes to let out a heavy breath. When he opens them again, he gives me a hard look, but continues to address Parker. “It seems Drew is a hot commodity. What do you think about Bella's challenge?”
Parker barks a laugh. “Hot commodity. Sure. Bella doesn't want Cross because of Cross. She wants power and that's it. If she bags Cross now that our packs are officially merging, she gets to run her own pack plus this combined one since she would take Genie's place as Luna. It's hilarious that she thinks she has a chance in the first place, but to come here to have her ass handed to her again in front of even more people? Hilarious.”
