But no. There was no one better than Alarick—and no one better for me.
“I don’t want anyone else,” I said, linking my arms around his neck. “Trust me, you’re more than enough man for this girl.”
“Thank fuck you said that,” he said, relaxing against me. “I was afraid I was going to have to fight someone for you, and I really don’t want to have to kill your true mate to get you to choose me.”
“So, that’s pretty fucked up.”
“What?” he asked, an edge of defensiveness in his voice. “If I just outright attacked him, their pack would kill us all. The only option would be a duel for the right to be your mate.”
“A duel?” I asked, laughing. “Like with guns?”
“No,” he said scowling. “A werewolf duel is a one-to-one fight for either a position in the pack, usually alpha, or for a mate.”
“Are you making this up?” I asked, giving him a suspicious look. “I’ve never heard anything like that, and you’ve only been in a pack of six, where obviously none of that happened. And you said you didn’t know much about werewolf culture.”
“I’m not making it up,” he insisted. “Mr. Wolf told us when he brought us to Ravenwood to meet Jose and Vance that it might happen. And I had to put him in his place.”
“Put him in his place?”
“I’m more dominant than him,” Alarick said. “He was used to being alpha, and he didn’t like that I was stronger. That’s why he didn’t run with our pack. I won a dominance duel with him about a year after we started Ravenwood, but he refused to be my subordinate. He chose to not align himself with our pack anymore, becoming a lone, dominant wolf. The others had to follow me, as their new alpha.”
“But Vance didn’t.”
“Until that last fight,” Alarick said. “Then he chose to turn on us. It’s not like they’re my puppets. If they want to follow a different alpha, or leave the pack, then can.”
“Now he’s alpha of his own pack of two,” I said.
“It’s not ideal,” Alarick agreed. “But it’s better than being a lone wolf.”
“What do you think will happen to them?”
“I’ll let him know we found more wolves,” Alarick said. “He’s not that dominant. He chose to follow my father, and then I expelled him from my pack. He’s no alpha. He’ll want to join a pack, especially so his pups can find mates.”
“And you and me will be our own pack.”
Alarick swallowed, his eyes moving to the wolves behind us. “I don’t know,” he said, a troubled frown creasing his brow. “If everyone finds a mate, I guess we might.”
Just then, Jose stepped out of the crowd and spotted us. “You won’t believe this,” he said breathlessly.
“You found your mate?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “I didn’t find her. All these wolves, and she’s not here.” He sounded so utterly dismayed I would have laughed in a different situation. But there was nothing funny about this.
“But you could still be compatible with someone,” I said. “Enough to have pups. And look, we don’t even have to create wolves to do it. There are tons of them right here.”
“I never cared about genetic compatibility,” Jose said. “I want my mate. I always wanted my mate. I just went along with the rest because I was hoping that the person who was compatible was my mate. That’s why I left Vance. I already know he’ll carry on the species. It is saved. But I want that for myself, too—a mate, pups, a big family.”
“Oh,” I said. “I’m so sorry, Jose. Maybe there are more wolves out there who are protected by magic like this pack, undetectable to outsiders.”
“Are there?” he asked eagerly. “Can you see?”
“I’ll try,” I promised. “I’ll see what I can find in my dreams tonight.”
I’d started trying to direct my dreams the year before when I’d been dreaming about Delilah all the time, so this wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. I just hoped I wouldn’t let him down.
People who had gone home to get food began to trickle back to the pavilion where they were setting up a potluck-style dinner, barrels of cider, and a few hanging lanterns. The bonfire was blazing in the cold December night, and the stars twinkled overhead. I looked around for my pack, finding Brooklyn still so absorbed with Fernando that she hadn’t even introduced him. I was glad she’d found a mate and proven everyone wrong. This seemed like a warm, welcoming little community where she could be happy at last—something she definitely deserved after all she’d been through.
A clamor started up at the entrance to the clearing, and I turned to see a group of about twenty more people arriving, all of them carrying dishes of food and laughing amongst themselves.
“Shifters,” Alarick said, tensing. “Harmon said that’s why the wolves are all scarred up.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Stella said they’re friendly now. Look, they’re bringing food.”
He relaxed a bit but continued warily watching their approach. A girl with auburn hair flowing almost to the ground came skipping in front of them, holding a five-dollar bottle of knock-off champagne in each hand. She looked about my age but was skipping like a child on her bare feet, above which she wore a filmy purple dress.
