“You think I’m not considering the pack?” Aiden snarled and banged his fist on the heavy oak reception desk. “I’m bending over backwards for them. Do you think Connor would have kowtowed as much as I have to the whims of this new council?”
“Father would never have needed to,” Brady said cautiously.
“Exactly. He ruled with an iron paw. His word was law, and so is mine. Fallon is my mate, and that is final.”
“Fallon can be your mate. But she is not pack.” Micah spoke carefully as if determined to drive his point home painfully slow. “And may never be.”
Aiden’s upper lip curled, and I swear I saw his teeth grow into fangs.
This situation was getting dangerous. I needed to defuse it, if possible. “I’ve already said I would turn. I’m willing to do whatever necessary to be part of this pack.”
“That’s not good enough.” Micah said.
Aiden grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him into the floor. “Not good enough for who? Give me one good reason not to tear out your throat right here and now.”
My heart sped so fast I felt lightheaded. These wolves were on the brink of bloodshed, and somewhere, deep down, I wanted to see it. The excitement of it, the justified retribution, the power. I wanted to witness my Aiden ripping Micah’s throat out and taking his place as rightful Alpha. These wolves were having a serious effect on me. I looked again to Diana. Eyes wide and a glossy smile plastered across her face, she too seemed excited to witness a battle.
Brady intervened just as the nails on Aiden’s hands began to grow into claws. “Calm down, brother. Hear him out.”
“I’ll hear none of his treason. I’m the Alpha and it is my right to put him down for his insubordination. You’re all here as witness.”
“He’s not being insubordinate. He’s making a valid complaint. It may not be what you want to hear, but you as the leader must listen; you know this.”
Aiden growled but released his grip on Micah. “Speak quickly.”
“You say you have the pack in mind, but your selected mate is attached to the vampire clan. They are a danger to us and our way of life.”
“They are no more a danger than you are,” Aiden warned.
“They are our allies.” I added.
“Allies who bring the Acta Sanctorum to our doorstep. Allies who cause the destruction of our pack. Allies who are directly responsible for the death of our previous Alpha,” Micah said. “Your father! They are the reason he’s dead.”
“You’re twisting things around,” I said, remembering the previous battle we’d had to fight with the Acta Sanctorum. The Saints were hunters, plain and simple. They didn’t differentiate between kinds of supernatural beings, they hated them all equally and made it their mission to destroy them all. To blame the vampires for the Acta Sanctorum’s attack would be like cursing the sun for rising every morning. “The vampires were not the cause of any of the wolves’ problems, and you know it. The Saints were already in your back yard when Alyssa came to Connor for support.”
“No, Alyssa did not come to Connor.” Micah narrowed his eye sat me. “She came to Aiden for support. She used your relationship to gain the wolves’ assistance, and the end result was half the pack, and our former Alpha, being slaughtered.”
My blood boiled in my veins. “Livid” was not a strong enough word to describe how mad I was. How dare he twist the situation around like that! “Alyssa and the rest of the vampire clan had already been made honorary members of this pack. All pack members are eligible for pack protection, and she was exercising her rights. She just happened to run into Aiden first when asking for help.”
“And I have no doubt that once you are named Alpha Female, she’ll feel free to exercise that right any time she sees fit. How many more pack members will have to put their lives on the line for a vampire?”
I saw right through his little game. He really wanted to push my buttons, and for a moment he’d done an excellent job of it. But I knew Alyssa wasn’t his real problem. She was a means to an end. I wanted him to admit his real intentions.
“Is she really your problem? I seriously doubt that. What if I give up my friend for the pack? What then? When that’s not enough, will you find something else to use as a reason I shouldn’t be the Alpha Female of this pack? Admit it. All you care about is taking the job yourself.”
Micah looked me in the eye. Even in his prone position, with Aiden looming over him, he still looked intimidating. “You’re right. I don’t want to see you as the Alpha Female. You’re nothing but a whore who hides in the bedroom waiting like a bitch in heat for her man.”
I didn’t see Aiden’s hand fly, but I heard the smack as it collided with Micah’s face. “Never talk to my mate like that again. You hear me?”
Oh, how I wished I could have been the one to knock that son of a bitch down. But I was glad enough that Aiden had. Part of me wished he’d done more.