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“That’s right,” he continued. “She has always been my mate. Every wolf here knows the pain and suffering one endures from staying away from a mate. I have been going through that all this while because Juniper left Moonwood.
“You’re the reason she left this town in the first place. Your sensitivities. However, I can’t think of one solid reason why any of you would dislike Juniper, other than the fact that she’s different. That ends today, though. Juniper is pregnant with my child.”
There were more gasps and whispers in the crowd. Rowan opened his mindlink and could hear wolves throwing questions at one another, having a debate about this new piece of information.
Rowan imposed his will on the crowd using his mindlink. His wolf howled loudly and bared his teeth, a terrible force to behold. He enforced his will through the mindlink, forcing understanding on everyone present, dictating his will.
“None of you are ever going to touch my mate, the future mother of my child. That ends today. She will never again be treated like an outsider, nor bullied by this pack. She’s one of us now. She has always been, and now we are going to start to act like it.”
He could feel resistance through the mindlink but he forced through adamantly. He was not going to back off until every wolf present was in agreement.
Juniper had never felt at home here. He had taken responsibility for his part in making her feel so unwelcomed. And now, the rest of the pack was going to do the same.
“I am not budging on this,” Rowan insisted. “This will be the last time that any one of you would dare undermine my or Juniper’s instruction again. The last time you did, we almost lost one of our young.
“You saw her stand here, and you saw her put up a shield to protect you. We warned you that there was something dangerous out there. What did you do? You spoke behind our backs and accused Juniper of sounding a false alarm.
“A young wolf heard your talk, and escaped the barrier on his own. We found him dying, alone in the woods. Juniper saved his life at her own expense. She didn’t need to do that. And I won’t let her. I won’t be putting up with that anymore.
“So I give out this warning to you not just as a member of your family, but as the alpha of this pack. You WILLaccept Juniper into this pack, and you WILLgive her the respect she has earned. Is that understood?”
Rowan rarely invoked his powers as an alpha. When he did, though, he demanded complete obedience. He watched quietly, his wolf growling, as the crowd dipped their heads in submission, one after the other.
He nodded, satisfied, then headed back home.
There now, he fed into the mindlink as the crowd parted for him.Was that so hard?
***
Setting up an emergency meeting with the other alphas was always a hassle, and they tried to avoid such meetings as often as was possible. They all lived within close proximity, but far enough to make an unplanned meeting an inconvenience.
Rowan had no hesitation to reach out to his friends, however. So much was going on, and these were the only people in the world that he trusted freely and unconditionally.
In addition, he had put them on high alert after their last meeting. So when he set up the meeting, every member of the group agreed to be present.
He got to their meeting spot and was pleased to find that he was the only one who had arrived, much to his pleasure. The bar was not as busy as it should have been at this hour. He picked their usual table by a window and settled in to wait for his friends.
Articus was the first to arrive, and Rowan gave him a brief summary of everything that was going on while they waited for the others.
They trickled in one after the other, and the gang was completely seated an hour after Rowan had arrived. Asher Grey arrived last, his town the furthest in the group. Drinks were ordered, and they engaged in some small talk over the next few minutes.
Xander rapped his knuckles on the tabletop, ending the conversation. “Well, Rowan? What’s with your summons? Any news on your security problem?”
Fannar nodded in agreement and Xander tilted the neck of his bottle toward him in acknowledgement.
“Actually, this is more personal to me.” Rowan locked his fingers together and looked from man to man as they watched him coolly, waiting for whatever news he had to share. “I called you all here because I just found out that I’m going to become a father.”
There was a confused silence for a few seconds, which was immediately replaced with a loud cheer. Articus, who had already found out earlier, grinned and patted Rowan on the shoulder.
Callahan banged his bottle softly on the table and even Asher cracked a smile. All the men present understood the importance of an heir to an alpha. To any wolf. Blake ordered another round of drinks in celebration, beaming as he congratulated Rowan.
“Man, that’s huge,” Articus pointed out with a deep sigh. “Think you’re ready?”
Rowan gave it a thought for a second. “I think so. I mean, I know it’s going to be hard, but I think I can figure it out. My only concern right now is convincing Juniper to stay.”
“What do you mean?” Articus asked, raising a brow. “Why won’t she stay? Are things still strained between you two?”
Rowan leaned back in his chair and exhaled loudly. “You don’t know the half of it. She’s kinda still mad at me. Somehow, it got worse after we found out she was pregnant. She has made it clear that she wants absolutely nothing to do with me.”
