“Does it?”
He answered without hesitation. “No, it doesn’t. You’re in the position you earned.”
“Morgan doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Morgan is a bit—” He caught himself and stopped. To call a female werewolf a bitch was a huge deal within the pack. Me calling myself one earlier to Lucas wouldn’t be such a big deal because he knew I had a warped sense of humor and a filthy sailor’s mout
h. If, on the other hand, Morgan had called me a bitch, it would be a much graver scenario.
“Don’t hold back on my account.”
“She’s loyal and smart,” he parroted Lucas’s earlier words.
“She’s ambitious and cold,” I added.
“And she wants your job,” he finished.
“Yeah, I figured. Is it a common thread among the pack?”
He shook his head. “No, Morgan is defying the advice of a lot of other pack members whenever she butts heads with you. For the most part the pack respects you. You did a really brave thing when you killed Marcus Sullivan, and we haven’t forgotten about it.”
“Doesn’t it bother them that I’m never around for the full moon ceremonies?”
“Sure, but…we can’t really explain the reasons to them.”
No, that was for damned sure. A pack of werewolves wasn’t going to love knowing their leader’s mate was half-undead. Surprise!
“I’m worried I’m not ever going to belong in the pack,” I confessed. “I worry Lucas is pinning all of his hopes on me, and I’m going to screw everything up so badly it can’t be fixed.”
When he didn’t reply, I cast a sideways glance at him. We were stopped at a red light, and he had turned fully in his seat to look at me. “Did you tell him what you just told me?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Desmond?”
“No, I’ve never said that to anyone before.”
Dominick stared at the red light for a moment before he shifted his attention back to me.
“I get it, you know? The not-belonging thing.”
I snorted. “Right. You come from one of the oldest, most well-respected werewolf families in New York. You were raised in this culture, and you’re inside the king’s inner circle.”
“That last one applies to you too,” he reminded me. “Does it make you feel any better?”
“No, not really.”
“The only reason I do belong is because of my family legacy. Part of what it means to be a good pack member is to help carry on the gene pool. Marry another werewolf, make lots of babies, and then hope those babies decide to be Awakened and continue the cycle.”
Make babies. My vision blurred, and I swallowed a lump.
Dominick continued, unaware of my new discomfort. “Do you know what happens when you can’t oblige the pack in carrying on the lines?”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know where this was going, but I hoped he got to the point soon so we could change the topic.
“You’re shunned. Not anything as serious as an exile, that’s saved for those who actively seek to do harm to the pack. No, being shunned means you’re still a member of the pack, but no longer a part of it.”
That sounded all too familiar to me.