“There’s just one thing that you’re missing there,” Callin said when Lucian finished explaining his plan to him.
“What’s that?” Lucian frowned.
“I don’t want to be the pack alpha,” Callin said. He hurried on before Lucian could tell him again what an honor it was, how it was his father’s legacy for him, how he should be proud to lead the pack. He knew all of that, but it didn’t change how he felt. “I love my life, Lucian. I like being carefree and the thought of the whole pack’s fate resting on my shoulders is too much.”
“That’s only because you’ve never done it,” Lucian said.
“It’s not. It’s because I’ve watched from afar for long enough to know it’s not for me. The whole pack hates Valerie. They do as she says because they fear her, but none of them like her and she has to fight them at every step of the way. That’s no life,” Callin said.
“They don’t hate her personally. They hate what she’s done. How she’s taken advantage of a position she was given temporarily. And how she’s taken away the rights of the true heir. It would be different for you, Callin. The pack would follow you willingly,” Lucian said. “Remember the way it used to be? No one resisted Valerie and made her life difficult until after you turned twenty-one and should have been given the alpha role.”
“Maybe they would follow me willingly, and maybe they wouldn’t. We can’t know for sure either way,” Callin shrugged. “But even if it all goes as smoothly as you seem to think it will, it’s still a lot of responsibility that I just don’t want. Valerie relishes the role, and whether you like her or not, you have to admit she’s done a good job of keeping our identities under wraps, of having us fit in seamlessly here, and of keeping the pack safe from hunters. I don’t want to have to do that—I’m afraid I wouldn’t be any good at it, and if one of the pack was killed on my watch, I could never forgive myself.”
“I’m not denying she’s done a good job. But it was only ever meant to be temporary and the time for you to take your rightful place has long passed. That’s all I’m saying,” Lucian said.
“And all I’m saying is I don’t want my rightful place. Why take someone who is good at the job away from it, someone who wants to do it, and replace them with someone who has no idea what he’s doing, and doesn’t want it?” Callin objected.
“Let me ask you something, Callin, and I want an honest answer,” Lucian said.
Callin nodded for him to go on.
“Do you really think Valerie is the right person to lead this pack?” Lucian asked.
Callin nodded.
“Yes. I really do. I know it sounds selfish that I don’t want to step up, but it’s not about me. It’s about the pack. If I believed I could genuinely do a better job as pack alpha than Valerie could, I would step up, no problem. But I don’t think that. I think she’s perfect for the role,” Callin said.
Lucian took a long drink and then he smiled warmly at Callin over the top of his bottle.
“What?” Callin asked.
The smile made him suspicious. He had expected Lucian to fight him on the point.
“What you’ve just said gives me hope, Callin. Because you might not be ready to take over as alpha right now, and I will respect that. But the fact that you are making the decision to let Valerie lead while you stand back because you believe she’s the right person for the job, well, that tells me you are a true alpha. You are putting the pack’s needs before your own, and that’s what a good alpha does,” Lucian said.
Callin wasn’t at all sure that was true, but he smiled and accepted Lucian’s words. If it got him off his back and stopped him from trying to convince Callin to marry Valerie, then it was good enough for him. He knew they would have another variation of this conversation again at some point in the future, but for now at least, it was over.
2
Brianne Ellison knew she should say no when her best friend, Mandy, lifted the wine bottle and raised a questioning eyebrow. Instead, Brianne nodded her head and let Mandy refill both of their glasses. She picked up the glass and sipped the wine, enjoying the cool, refreshing liquid on her tongue. She swallowed and made an ah sound.
“I really shouldn’t be drinking this,” Brianne said with a chastising smile at Mandy and then she took another sip of the wine.
“Oh, shut up,” Mandy laughed. “You’ll be fine. It’s only your second glass. It’s not like we’re out clubbing and doing tequila shots, is it?”
“True,” Brianne smiled. She twisted her face out of the smile and grimaced. “God the thought of working with Valerie all day is bad enough, but working with her all day with a hangover is more than I could face.”
“She can’t be that bad,” Mandy said with a soft laugh.
“Oh, trust me, she can be that bad,” Brianne said. “On the last movie she was in, she only had a tiny part, but she swanned around that set like some sort of star, bitching and moaning and berating me. You should have heard the commotion she caused because she decided her latte was made with skim milk one day. It wasn’t, but of course she had to be
