Page 195 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
The angry curl of my lips relaxed into a flat line. I didn’t even pretend to look happy about hearing them out. “Fine. Say what you want to say.”
Tara and Tanya looked up at me, hopefully now. “We’re not hanging out with Trish anymore,” Tara blurted. “The truth is after the ferals attacked the compound, Tanya and I realized we regretted how we were living our lives. We were terrible to you, Bryn, and we were awful to so many women who had pups because they couldn’t compete with us for Troy’s attention. And then we said those awful things about you after you were alpha…” she trailed off, shame coloring her cheeks.
Tanya added, “During that attack when people were wounded and crying and panicking, we felt like our world was crashing down. But you took control, and because of your leadership and the Wargs you brought with you, you saved a lot of people. We saw how much you cared about this pack, even though it’s full of people who had mistreated you all your life. There was so much blood and chaos, but it didn’t stop you, Bryn. And seeing you in that light…it changed everything.”
I stared at them again, but this time because I was stunned by their words.
Taking my silence as encouragement, Tanya said, “Trish tried to go back to being a bitch after things started to calm down, but we didn’t feel right about that. We stopped going along with her games, and she stopped hanging out with us.”
“We don’t miss her,” Tara said, anger flashing in her dark brown eyes. “We don’t want to be the people we were before.”
Tanya nodded in agreement.
Some of the rigidity left my posture as their words bounced around in my head. Were they being genuine? Or were they trying to ease their guilt?
“Are you asking for forgiveness?” I asked, my voice little more than a whisper.
“We can’t ask you for forgiveness after how we treated you,” Tana said. “We just wanted to tell you that we aren’t the same people anymore, and we support you as our alpha.”
That was another surprise. “You do?”
“More and more people support you every day, Bryn,” Claire said. “A lot of us see how hard you’re working, and we really admire the fact that you haven’t given up on us.”
I gathered myself and focused on the three of them. “I need some time to think about all of this.”
Tara nodded. “Right. Of course you do.”
“Still, I…I appreciate your apology,” I looked from Tanya to Tara. “I’ll let you know how I feel when I’m in a better headspace.”
“There’s no rush, of course.”
“Right.” I felt awkward leaving them like that, but I couldn’t think of a more diplomatic way to peel away from the conversation. So I nodded at them again, turned on my heel, and hurried away.
77
NIGHT
Ireturned to the King compound after being away for three days. I arrived long after the sun had set, fully expecting to find Bryn fast asleep. I entered the cabin quietly, hoping not to wake her. I had spent most of my time in Warg territory dispatching the hunting party and handling my pack’s complaints and concerns. I was exhausted, and I couldn’t wait to crawl into bed with my mate.
I crept up the steps and pushed open the door, but I didn’t find Bryn asleep under the covers. Instead, I found her sitting on the bed with reams of paper around her. She looked up as I closed the door behind me. Her smile was so warm and soft, my chest ached. I had been so busy handling alpha business at my pack’s compound that I didn’t realize how desperately I’d missed her.
“I heard you come in,” she said. “What took you so long to get up here?”
I chuckled. “I was trying to be quiet.”
“Oh, really?” She laughed.
“Yes, really. If I’d known you were awake, I’d have raced up here instead.”
“Mmm. How sweet of you.” She lowered the paperwork and started to gather the papers into piles. “Sorry about all of this.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know I’d be back tonight. What are you working on?”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes as she placed the papers on the floor beside the bed. “The Redwolfs didnotkeep things organized. Tavi and I have spent the last three days trying to get things into some semblance of order, and it’s only now that I could start really looking into the accounts.”
“Sounds like you haven’t had an easy time.” Now that the bed was clear, I crawled in. Bryn’s sweet floral scent surrounded me, making my wolf and I feel at ease, even as another part of me started to get excited.
“No, I haven’t.” She kissed me, and she tasted like peppermint tea, the remnants of which were cooling on her nightstand.
