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The alpha’s jaw set hard. Mad it was. “This is the way you run your pack? They’re allowed to do whatever they wish? We may not have come to a final agreement, but it was close, Aydan. I brought my brothers here on good faith.”
“Everyone in my den is allowed to pursue their own happiness in whatever form that may take, yes. As long as they don’t infringe on the rights of others. I don’t rule with an iron fist. I’m not a tyrant.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve seen how that turns out, and it is never good.”
The alpha sat back, seeming to think this over.
“It doesn’t change the fact that I came here with the thought that there’d be a mate provided for me so we may strengthen our alliances between our dens. I brought my omega brothers along so that they may find their own mates here, as well.”
I could see how very much this had to suck for him.
“My Alpha will not be pleased with this. However, if it is fate that has brought your brother and your Beta together, I won’t stand in the way of that. But I can’t allow our omegas to stay if I won’t be staying with them. They’ll be returning home with me.”
All the hard work Aydan had done was unraveling before his eyes. His purpose had been to bring more omegas here to boost our numbers and help his own den find their mates. Now those omegas were leaving.
“We’ll be returning to my den tomorrow. My Alpha will be in touch with you shortly.” His curt tone said he wasn’t going to be happy. And honestly, I couldn’t blame him. But that didn’t change anything. Not for me, anyway.
Aydan nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate your understanding and honesty in this matter.”
The other alpha got up and left, and it was just me with Aydan and his two of his other Betas. He stayed quiet. He didn’t need to say a word. Disappointment exuded from his pores.
My head dropped, my shoulders hunching forward.
“I’m sorry, Alpha. That’s not the way I wished for you to find out.”
He let out a long sigh. “You were to leave my brother alone. He was promised to another.”
“I know that. But I also know that he is my fated mate, and I wasn’t going to deny him. Trust me, I tried.”
Aydan raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“It is,” I said. “You can ask him. It sucked, and we both ached from it. Neither of us wanted to mess up what you’d accomplished.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve got so much to do after being gone for so long. I still need to meet with at least half the den. And I’ll have several pissed-off alphas on my hands since the whole purpose of this endeavor was to secure more omega members of the den.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, and I went to speak, but he shook his head, a silent order.
“I’m not sure that I’ll have a chance to speak with you or my brother until tomorrow. I’ll make a determination on what the repercussions of your actions will be.”
Fuck. I hadn’t been expecting that. He’d defended us to the alpha, and I thought he’d be disappointed, sure, but repercussions? If he asked us to leave, it would break his brother. He’d only just arrived, but the den welcomed him with open arms, and he was at home here.
“Can I see him?” I asked.
Aydan shook his head. “Both of you need to be working right now. Touch base with me later in the afternoon. I’ll make a decision by then.”
I wanted to argue, tell him that Corey had conquered the books like a beast and that he had the time. I did too. Last I knew, all we had was a couple of oil changes left. It was going to be a boring day at the shop.
But I knew better. When Aydan laid down the law, it wasn’t a suggestion.
“He tried to talk to you yesterday, Alpha,” I said. Even though I wasn’t sure I necessarily had permission to speak freely, I was going to anyway. His brother was going to be beside himself over this, and his brother needed all the facts before making any decisions.
If it came between choosing my den and my mate, I was choosing my mate every day.
“Clearly, he didn’t try hard enough. We could’ve saved ourselves a lot of embarrassment if the two of you had come forward sooner.”
Ouch.
“Perhaps he didn’t get room to speak. Did you allow him any?” I asked.
Aydan narrowed his eyes. I knew I was tiptoeing over the line. But it needed to be said.
