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Remy rolled her eyes and felt her father's body grow tense. Levi had no idea what it was taking to keep their territory, which, unlike the Lithic Mountains, seemed to be the most sought-after territory in the kingdom.
"We've already suffered many attacks on our property and during our travels. Due to this nonsense, we are being attacked left and right. It is happening all over the kingdom and is not strictly our concern. I know Fenry is also having this issue."
Levi scoffed. "Then why isn't Fenry doing the same as you?"
"People think Fenry is weak when he is not. Others want my territory because of its profitability, so we are getting hit the hardest."
Levi leaned back in his chair, his arms still crossed over his chest. "So, how will an alliance help you with that problem? It sounds like you will call upon my pack to help fight them off. That could lead to my people getting killed for your cause. I lose power from these deaths, making it more apparent that you hold more power over me."
"How is it none of you Alphas understand that you also benefit from an alliance?" Remy snapped.
Levi narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't believe you have any power to be involved in this conversation."
Okay, this guy is on my last damn nerve, and I am done remaining silent.
Remy growled. "I am the future Alpha of my pack, so I have more than enough power to be involved in this conversation."
Levi smirked. It looked wrong on his face because of how fixed his muscles were to hold a scowl simultaneously. "Only a man can carry the position of Alpha. You are the future Luna of A pack. From what I understand, the only descendant of the Great Plains who would ascend to Alpha of the Great Plains pack is dead."
Lykos growled. "Watch it, Levi. You are treading too close to a subject you know nothing about."
Levi looked at Lykos. "Your son is dead. The laws state that no female may carry the title of Alpha. Unless the laws have been changed in the last week since the Dragon Queen took over in another kingdom and it has influenced our leaders even to make that decision. I am discussing something I know everything about. It is something every Lycan is taught so they are not killed by our king. The only way Remy here could take over your pack is if her mate would bond with her and then kill you. Considering I smell Chase Monroe, Alpha of the Silver Ridge pack, on her, I can deduce that he is her mate now. He is an Alpha of his own pack. If he wants yours, he must challenge you for the title."
Damn it. I should have just completed the damn bond with Chase. Everyone can smell him anyway because of how strong our bond is.
"Chase would not challenge me for the title. He is quite happy where he is, and with his alliance with our pack, he does not need my title to thrive."
Levi laughed. It was harsh on her ears, making her blood run cold. He was enjoying this. He thought he knew more than they did, that Chase would challenge her father because he wants the title or something. As much as she wished she could say that was false, Remy still didn't know everything about Chase since they had spent very little time together. From their bond, she could feel he wasn't a heartless person. If he were, he wouldn't have rushed to her after feeling her being attacked through their bond.
"If you believe that an ambitious Alpha who took over his pack from the previous Alpha won't challenge you, you are not the Lykos Howell I've grown up hearing about. You are the most feared Alpha outside of our king for a reason. You have power! You have a devoted pack! Your pack knows they should stay with you because of your power and continue your line's ascension to rule over them! Everything any of us would kill for. Many of us have been killed for our positions. Your pack is one of the only ones in our kingdom that has a history of father-to-son ascension to the title, so, if you don't think a young Alpha who has taken over his own pack from the previous Alpha won't do the same to you, you should not be as feared by the rest of us."
Lykos laughed back at him. Remy felt through the pack bonds that her father was enraged by what Levi thought. The thought of him not being able to read people was something many people underestimated about Lykos. They believed he was in his position of Alpha simply because his Lycan was powerful and had fifty under him to give him more of a boost. Lykos was powerful and had a devoted pack because he could read through the pack bonds and knew his people well enough to understand their needs and provide those needs. Levi had no idea how to do this; otherwise, he would not have said what he did. He must have ruled over his pack by commanding the pack to be loyal if he thought this way.
"You are so young. So naive. There are many ways to have a devoted pack to you, and it is quite clear that you don't know any of them. Do you really think that my pack is loyal to me only because of my power? That's not at all why my pack is devoted to me. If you spent any amount of time within my pack and home, you would know that. Being an Alpha is not about power. It is about having people under your protection, and you are to provide them with everything and anything they need to thrive under your care. Any person in a leadership position should understand that logic before entering it. Do you think the rulers of the other kingdoms do not know this? There is a new ruler in the Dragon Kingdom because the previous one did not care for his people in the best way. If he did, there wouldn't have been a person who would have been able to dethrone him or even would have wanted to dethrone him. The young woman who took his position noticed he was not the best fit for that kingdom and did something about it. Chase Monroe killed his Alpha to take over the pack because that Alpha did not care for his people! That is why I am not in any way, shape, or form worried about Chase wanting to take over my pack. He knows that I care for my people. He now cares for his people, and that pack is thriving under his rule. How you don't know why the new Alphas have taken over their packs is beyond me."
Remy wasn't aware of that, though she had an excuse. Chase took over the pack while she was on the island. The Alpha before him wasn't the most pleasant man, so it made sense why he did what he did. She just didn't know that was why Chase did what he did. He took over the pack after seeing that Alpha was no longer fit to rule it. Lykos was right. Levi didn't understand those things.
Levi's face twisted into the unnerving smile Remy was afraid of earlier. It was less a look of amusement and more of a snarl to show teeth. The corners of his mouth were upturned, and his face expressed joy, but one could call bloodlust joy as well. "Ha, you think that you provide. You don't. Your efforts of 'progress' and 'equality' for lesser members of your pack add filth to the pack bonds. Calling it anything else only prolongs your reign's inevitable ruin. Women cannot be Alphas. The weak cannot have a say over the strong, and the strong shouldn't lend an ear, heart, or mind to those who don't have the strength to seize it for themselves. You claim that you are advancing and moving your pack into the future—a lie like the purity of your can't-be-alpha Remy. There is only one way forward: through tradition. Strength is the only way to keep the pack bonds healthy. And there is only one way that guarantees a future for the Lycans: through the Old Ways."
Remy snarled at his response, "You're dumber than I thought. The Old Ways does nothing but create chaos. Have you seen what is happening out there? Our kingdom is falling into shambles because people believe killing one another to get what they want is the best way to handle things! We are not what Lycans once were! We are not the beasts that live inside us who cannot control themselves and only thrive by living on our instincts. If you believe that we cannot evolve into something more than what we are right now, then you are not worthy of being an Alpha."
"Like you deserve the title? You couldn't even keep your mate by your side and were sent to that island to die," Levi spat.
Remy threw her head back and laughed. Lykos snarled and began to jump to his feet before Remy caught his hand. He looked down at her, but she shook her head and smiled at him. Levi said the perfect line for her to make her move. She didn't need to hide what he had done anymore. Lykos already knew, but Levi didn't know that.
"Wow, and I was hoping you'd be smarter than this. You should have never allowed us to be face-to-face ever again. The spell would have stayed intact if you had. I know you are the dumbass who rejected me."
Levi smiled, and Remy's stomach twisted to see it. "No, no, no," he said as he placed his hands on the desk and slowly got to his feet. "You are the dumbass for coming here."
The sounds of approaching feet and paws caught her attention. Levi had called on his pack.
And we are trapped in this house with them.
Chapter twenty
Remy
With claws clicking against the hardwood floors approaching, Remy's heartbeat thrummed inside her ears. A pull on the pack bonds was directed toward her father so he could shift as fast as possible. Brian began to shift as well while Levi was cackling behind them. Remy stripped off her leather jacket and the pink studded shirt before shifting into wolf form. Tears of clothing and growls filled the room as the enemy approached. Once her four paws hit the floor, Remy launched herself toward the door. With her father and Bryan still shifting, she was their best chance to slow down those approaching them. There was a gruntled whisper of words of "don't go" as Remy ran toward the door from her father, but she ignored him. She was their best chance, and she couldn't blow it.
