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She smiled. “I miss them. I hope I can get to see them again soon.”
“Me too.” I touched her hand. “They were especially excited to hear about our binding ceremony. A lot of them want to come.”
Her answering grin was so large, I had to kiss her just to taste her happiness. The number of people who wanted to attend ended up being well over half of the pack. I was just happy that so many of them seemed willing to cross enemy lines just to see Bryn and me. Now, how many of those hopefuls would actually attend the ceremony, I wasn’t sure. It would surely end up being a smaller number as nerves grew and the joy of the announcement faded to the background. Whatever the numbers turned out to be, I just hoped Bryn was happy.
“Have you had the chance to talk to your Elders about the Alpha thing?”
She nodded. “Apparently, each member of the council will nominate a candidate, and those candidates will have to fight in the arena until one is left standing. The ceremony will take place in a month’s time.”
“And I imagine that you’ll be one of those who can nominate a fighter?” I asked. “Because if not, I guess we’ll have to find someone to bribe.”
She giggled. “Yes, I’m on the council, too. Actually, even after I relinquish the Alpha title, I’ll be able to serve on the council as Den Mother.”
“No kidding?” My chest swelled with pride. I’d worried that the Kings’ Elders wouldn’t respect Bryn’s win over Troy, but it seemed they were doing their utmost to do right by her.
“I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know that I’m nominating you, Night,” she said. “But I want to make sure that you know that I’m not choosing you just because you’re my mate; it’s because I know you’re the best wolf for the job.”
I kissed the side of her head. “I understand, Bryn.”
“Well, good.” I enjoyed the sight of her cheeks taking on that soft pink color when she was embarrassed. “I don’t know who else will be nominated, but I don’t think there’s anyone else who is as determined to end the rivalry between the packs.”
“I agree.” I would do everything I could to make sure I won the challenge, but it wouldn’t be easy. There were other wolves who were more experienced than the ones I’d fought when I was younger, but I wasn’t afraid of the challenge. In fact, my wolf began to pace back and forth at the thought of getting a chance to fight again.
Speaking of challenges…I took a long sip of my beer before turning my body to Bryn. “We need to talk about something else.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Troy.”
She frowned, her head cocking slightly to the side. “Why? He’s in the cells; there’s no way he’s going to see the light of day again.”
I took her hand between mine. “I know that you were hurt and feeling a lot of different emotions at the time of the challenge ceremony, but you weren’t thinking clearly when you made the decision to lock him up. Now, time has passed, and you need to put in the order to have Troy killed.”
She pulled her hand away, bristling. “I was thinking perfectly clearly at the time. And I’m thinking clearly now. I won’t have Troy killed just because I’m afraid of him.”
Shit. Have I already fucked this up? “Bryn, Troy can still be a threat to the pack if he’s left alive. He can send messages through the pack that would turn your people against you. Or, more personally, he could become the reason that you have to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. Killing him will send everyone a message that you won’t tolerate any disrespect or anyone planning to stage a coup.”
She pushed away from the table, her chair squeaking over the floor. That was how I knew that I’d fucked this up even worse.
When she turned toward me again, her eyes blazed like blue fire. “Or doing something like that will sour what little good will I’ve fostered in the last few days. I’m not going to be a fucking dictator, Night. I won’t kill everyone who scares me or makes me uncomfortable. I’ve never been a killer, and I refuse to be now. I can’t do this like you would.”
Hurt pumped with anger through my veins as I pushed away from the table and got to my feet. “Is that what you see me as, Bryn? A mindless, killing tyrant like Troy?”
“Of course not! I never said that about you, Night.”
“How the hell else am I supposed to take what you said?”
“I meant—” She cut herself off mid-tirade to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. When she looked at me again, she was calmer, but still quite serious. “I meant that I wouldn’t run the Kings the same way you would. Troy is in jail for now, and if he becomes a problem, I can deal with that then. Killing him now would do nothing but make people believe that I’m doing it for petty reasons, and I’m on thin enough ice as it is.”
I was still pissed off, but I was starting to understand what she was saying. She agreed that killing Troy would send a message, but that message would interfere with the kind of Alpha she was trying to be. I got that, but sometimes an Alpha had to make tough decisions, even if that meant putting people on his (or her) bad side.
“I think,” she continued, “that killing should be the last option, not the only option.”
I shook my head. “The world doesn’t work that way, Bryn. Hesitating to kill could cost you your own life. Sometimes, if you want to protect your pack, you have to decide to kill someone instead of leaving them alive, because letting them live can do more damage in the long run.”
She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “That’s your opinion, Night, but I’m the Alpha for now, and I’m not going to start my short reign as a killer.”
“Most every Alpha starts out as a killer, Bryn,” I countered. “The only way to become Alpha is through violence.” I let my eyes slip away from her and lowered my gaze to the ground. “I would know. I had to kill from the time I was sixteen.”
