I looked down to see Kiara sitting still and saw a bride I didn’t want beaming across the table like she’d just been crowned queen. If I went through with the contract she would be Luna and from the little I’d just met her? That would be a disaster.
Yes. He told me he wouldn’t name me until the marriage was settled.
It wasn’t entirely a lie. He’d told me to make the right choice and at this moment no choices had been made. Not even one.
My father was tough and I think somewhere in that thick skull of his was love for me. I was never truly sure. Right now though? He looked tired. Not in the way he held his glass high in the air, or the way he gave a toast, or even the way he sat in the chair as he drained his glass. But in his eyes. Could the bastard actually have grown tired of the politics?
The tables were alive with chatter and for good reason. Everyone had expected this, but not tonight.
Or maybe it was just me.
“Oh, Devon, how wonderful? Now, I’m not mating just the heir, but the actual alpha.”
I turned to look at the stupid female on my last nerve.
“You will not be doing anything with me or this pack. Your alpha and I have to have a serious conversation.”
I think the attempted look on her face was a pout? It didn’t do anything for me. The shift of Kiara at my side made me reach for her without looking. I refused to break eye contact with the enemy and at the moment? That’s exactly how they felt, not that I’d ever thought of them as friends.
The world was changing if I had a say in it.I’d never had a reason to take them down, not a personal reason.
“Now, come-come son. Is this anyway to treat you future mate?” asked Byron.
My wolf howled to get out, and I was tempted to let him win this one. Instead, I did my best to control him. For now.
“There have been some allegations brought to my attention about your pack’s involvement in the trades. Tonight is not the time, but tomorrow we will have all the time in the world to discuss the matter.”
Byron laughed being the pompous alpha that he was.
“Is that all that’s holding us back? Come now. You do what you need to do as do we.”
My father wasn’t paying much attention, but he stood up and headed to the middle of the party. My wolf flexed inside me. We needed to finish the simple ritual and be free to celebrate my new asset in power. I hated the way Byron eyed Kiara though.
“Come, my alpha,” my father said, holding up the sacred dagger. “Come finish this business in front of the pack.”
I turned away from Byron and his stupid daughter and looked down at Kiara.
Protect her.I commanded Colton, although I couldn’t be certain he didn’t have his eyes on her for something else.
But really, why wouldn’t he. I had not made my claim and in fact I was still betrothed to the bitch across the table.
As I got up and followed my father into the center, I struggled to leave her with anyone, but at least it was him. He would protect her.
I met my father in the center of the clearing, and he smiled and held up his forearm.
“Son, roll your sleeve up.”
I did as requested, unsurprised. I’d seen one other alpha ceremony long ago.
“With this dagger I allow the alpha bloodline to continue control of the Black Creek Pack. The Moon Goddess has blessed me with a strong heir. I submit to you, my son.”
My father handed the knife to me. I watched the veins along his forearm pop out as he clenched his fist. The knife was cold in my hand as I brought it down over his skin and dragged it, letting some of his blood run.
Then it was my turn.
“I bleed for the pack as the alpha’s before me have. I combine my blood with the land of the Black Creek Pack. May I lead you well?”
I cut a line across my own forearm and let the blood run down my arm to the grass. Everyone in my pack cheered. Most stood to congratulate me.