Chapter 14: Do I Have a Choice?

ALPHA JORDAN

“Do you think I am making a mistake?”

Danny raises a brow and takes a few steps toward me. “You are clear about your plans for the pack’s future. I hate the lady as much as the next guy, but you need an heir. Now you’re yelling at your future luna? What’s going on?”

I can hear the curiosity in his voice. I am not sure I have an answer that will satisfy it.

“I don’t know. I mean, fuck. Do I really have a choice? Of course I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

He chuckles at my currently frantic tone. “You know that none of us would fault you for choosing not to take her as your luna. None of us would willingly make that sacrifice.” He laughs even louder, bringing a smile to my face even though I know he is wrong.

Everyone in my pack would make the same sacrifice or worse if it meant the safety of their people. My people need an alpha who has a luna and an heir. They deserve that. And my father needs me to be the alpha. He would have gone with whoever the council wanted for me. I just wish he’d chosen someone kind. But she comes from a powerful family, and we don’t want to go against them by rejecting her.

I let out a defeated sigh and lean back against my dresser. “You would all buck up and put the needs of the pack first if you were in my position. But it may be out of my hands. If Laurent can’t do what Cora asks of her, then this may not work anyway. If she doesn’t go into heat, she can’t produce an heir. And I’ll lose my spot as alpha.”

The smile on his face grows wide.

“Cora? What happened to ‘little witch’? You’re getting friendly with her.”

I roll my eyes, realizing he is much too observant for his own good. “She’s not like the others. She is…I don’t know.” I drop my head back and stare at the ceiling as if it holds the words that might describe my change of heart.

“She’s amazing. She’s pure. She’s badass.” He offers his words freely, not realizing that she is all those things and more.

“She left the council because they ordered her to slaughter innocent men, women, and children. She refused them. She tried to get away, to warn these people, but she was too late. She killed the man who slaughtered them, and she’s being chased by his brother. She is not a bad person. She just made the right choice for the wrong people. I want you to do me a favor. I want all the records on the coven’s attack on our pack.”

He nods. I can see his curiosity growing.

“What are you thinking?” His voice is soft, and he shuffles his feet as he awaits my answer.

I’m thinking about something the little witch said about how I should learn more about my own kind before judging hers so harshly. “I think there’s more going on than we know.”

He nods and rushes off to do as I asked. Almost five hours later, we are both neck-deep in journals, documents, and photographs from the attack on our pack. After scanning through half the information Danny found, we both have reached the same conclusion: we’ve been believing a lie about why the witches attacked us all those years ago.

“They targeted the interrogation chamber. If it was an attack on our people like we were told growing up, why didn’t they go for the pack house? Why go for the one place where there would be the fewest casualties?”

We’re thinking the same thing. Why would witches attack us? What haven’t we been told about what happened that started the enmity between our peoples?

We both sift through the journals, finding the prison logs near the bottom of the stack. I flip through the entries for the weeks before the attacks. All of this happened when my father was the alpha. I grew up believing the witches attacked us.

I find that a single page has been removed.

“If there was any information on someone who had been placed in our prison, they made sure to cover it up.” I slide the book to him.

He grimaces when he sees the tattered remnants of the torn page.

“If the attack was unprovoked, why tear this page out?”

I sigh, feeling bad. All signs point to my father having covered up whatever really happened. Why would witches attack our prison unless we already had one of their own held captive?

“The only reason to cover it up is to allow you to rewrite the events. It looks like it’s time to talk to someone who was actually there when it all went down.” I get up from the table, feeling determined to find out the history of my own people.

Cora seems to know what happened, but it’s not fair to make her tell me. If I’m going to lead my people well, I need to be able to hear the truth from my own father.

When I reach my father’s study, I enter without knocking, earning his immediate attention. It’s time to find out what really happened between our people and the witches.

***

ALPHA JORDAN

“Jordan, what’s wrong?”

I take a seat in front of his desk and take a few deep breaths.

“What happened when that coven attacked our pack?”

His concerned expression morphs into a mixture of confusion and anger.

“Why are you asking? We have told the story to all of you many times over the years.”

He is right, they have, but they have told me their version. Today, I need the truth.

“You haven’t told us everything. I want the truth. I searched the archives. Dad, they only targeted the prison, primarily focusing on the interrogation chamber. If they were trying to take down our pack, they would have maximized our casualties, but the pack house was untouched.”

He sits back in his chair with his hands clasped lazily in his lap.

“You’re right. They were attempting to rescue one of their own. Your grandfather had found her in the forest, on our pack lands. He discovered she was his fated mate, but he refused her. Such a pairing would have been a stain on our tree. Our lineage would have been tainted. He took her, held her, tortured her for information. He was so angry. He thought that there was no way their fated-mate situation was natural. He found out where her coven was located and planned to eliminate them all.”

“He planned to eliminate her whole coven?”

“Let me speak. He never got the chance because they attacked first. When they came for her, they had used nonlethal methods. Then your grandfather had cornered one of their witches and tore her throat out. They banded together and their leader, a very powerful woman, began raining hellfire down on our people. She killed dozens of our men in a matter of minutes, but your grandfather was able to take her down. With her death, the others fell.”

I can’t help but think of Cora’s white beast killing those rogues that first day she was here. She was so fast.

“We won the fight, but the were council thought it would be best if the reason for the battle was amended. Your grandfather went against the goddess by hurting his mate.”

“His fated mate was a witch?”

“Their pairing was the Goddess’s choosing.” My father holds my gaze. “I was too young to stop him. All I could do was help him hide the truth. We needed everyone to believe the witches attacked. We hid the truth to keep the peace here.”

I can hear how much he hopes I will agree with him. He wants me to know that the leaders of our pack must make sacrifices.

All I feel is betrayal.

“So, you have lied to our people for more than a century to save face? You have forced our people to feel hatred for an entire race just so they would continue to follow you?”

He leans forward, his eyes scanning me. “Why are you suddenly interested in something that happened so long ago? Is it that damn witch? You need to grow up and take responsibility for producing an heir.”

I slam my fist down on his desk. The thick wood groans in protest.

“Her name is Cora, and I am asking because I don’t understand why our people hate each other, but now I see why. Our people hate witches because of the lies you and my grandfather told. She’s nothing like the monsters from your damn bedtime stories, and I’m willing to bet most of them aren’t, either.”

I can see how angry he is. For a moment, I think he’s going to stand and square up to fight me. But he takes a deep breath and sits back in his chair.

“Does this have anything to do with you and Lady Laurent?”

I chuckle—not from amusement, but from a mixture of anger and irritation.

“No, but I am fairly certain the ritual won’t work. She has been refusing Cora’s help. Without magic, I don’t think we will be able to form a strong enough bond. Don’t get me wrong; not being mated to her would be a blessing. But I need a luna and an heir. And if she has any respect for our pack, then the least she could do is attempt to seem even remotely willing.”

He smirks. He dislikes the Laurents as much as I do.

“If we had another option, I would gladly accept it, son. The council wanted her for you. They are determined to enforce their laws. Without Laurent, we have no way to produce an heir. Our lineage will lose our spot, and our pack will be without a leader.”

I sigh, knowing he is right.

“This witch, Cora, do you think she can pull this off?”

I run a hand over my face and slouch down in the chair.

“If anyone can, it would be Cora. Dad, what do you know about hybrids? I was trying to find information in the archives, but there is little to nothing there.”

His eyes grow wide and his body stiffens. “What made you curious about such a thing?”

I know from his body language that he knows something. But I don’t think he knows that Cora is a hybrid.

“There have been no reported hybrids in more than three hundred years. From what I’ve read, they were hunted down and exterminated. They were too dangerous to exist among the rest of us. That’s one of the few things that witches, wolves, and vampires all agree on.”

“Too dangerous?”

“This is why your grandfather was so against accepting the witch as his mate. He believed their children would be abominations. You have to understand. He was the alpha. You have to follow your alpha. This is part of why I promoted you to the position of alpha when you were young. I wanted you to get used to the responsibility. You’ll have to make hard choices.”

I can see him getting lost in his memories.

“What if hybrids still exist?”

He smiles sadly. “Then they would have to be hidden away from the world that would seek to eliminate them. Son, if you do not wish to mate with Laurent, I will understand. You can step down. I will resume my role as alpha.” He gives me a knowing look. I have a feeling he knows more than I do about my situation.

Him taking over is not what I want. But I can’t help the mixed feeling of relief and confusion at his offer.

“I can’t let you do that,” I say. “I owe it to the council to see this match through.” I have a feeling it won’t work, anyway.

“If it fails because she does not uphold her end, then the arrangement is forfeit. Her father had agreed she would assure the mating by whatever means possible.”

I smile, catching on to what he is suggesting.

“So, I should allow her to continue to be defiant.”

My father nods, his smile never faltering.

“You keep pushing forward, son. I will support you regardless. Our pack will endure.”

I get up from the chair, nodding my understanding before leaving his study. I feel lighter knowing that my father supports me. If I fail to produce an heir, at least my father could resume his role as alpha. It won’t be what the pack wants, and I’ll have to leave. But what the pack needs is more important than what I want.