Page 8 of In Your Eyes
“Father.” It was Korban. His voice was deeper than the last time I’d heard it, but it was still familiar. And his scent… I’d know it anywhere. “I didn’t realize you’d be here.”
“It’s my pack, Korban.” He bristled. “You’re not yet of age to take over.”
In my entire life, my father had never reacted to me that way. It was as if Dirk Keller didn’t want his son to step into his shoes. I furrowed my brow in confusion and shuffled to the side, looking back and forth between Korban and his father.
“That’s true.” Korban moved forward, shouldering his way past me and standing directly between me and his father. Because he was a couple of inches taller than me, he effectively cut off my view, which was rude. No surprise. “But I’m closer in age to the shifters here, so it was decided the visitors would be more comfortable with my presence.”
“It was decided?” Dirk spat.
Korban nodded. “I believe I mentioned it to you.”
“You did,” Dirk admitted. “And so did several others.” His jaw ticked. “But it’smypack, so I felt it was important to make an appearance.”
“Yes, sir.” Korban’s words were respectful but his tone was not. That was no way to speak to your Alpha or your father. The man had neither manners nor honor. “Thank you for stopping by. I’ll give you a full report tomorrow.”
With a grunt, Dirk stalked off. Korban glared at his retreating form and, without my conscious realization, I stared at Korban.
“Samuel,” he said, finally turning his gaze to me once his father was gone. “I’m so pleased to see you again. It’s been too long.” He reached forward slowly and squeezed my shoulder. “I heard you’ve been doing well. Graduated at the top of your class.” He grinned. “Very impressive.”
How did he know that? Who was reporting information about me? And why did he need the information? Before I could ask those questions, he dragged his gaze up and down my body, distracting me.
“You look great.” His voice was husky, and when he returned his focus to my face, I noticed his pupils were dilated. What was going on? Was he going to shift? “Listen.” He licked his lips and swallowed hard. “I know you’re here for the gathering and—”
“Yes.” The reminder snapped me back into the present. “It’s important for me to support the Yafenack pack and to meet the members of the other packs in our region. I’m going to be Alpha.” I paused, realizing in light of the conversation he’d just had with his own father that I may have sounded silly given my younger age. It’d be a decade yet before I’d take over for my father. “Eventually.”
“I know.” Korban still had his hand on my shoulder, and he squeezed it again. “And you’ll make a terrific Alpha.” His expression was sincere, which made no sense. “Do you think maybe you have a few minutes to spend with me before you join your pack?”
“Why?” Why did he want to spend time with me? And why did I want to say yes? “Is it so we can network?”
“Network?” He sounded confused by the concept, but then he smiled one of his huge smiles, the one that lit up his face and forced me to remind myself that he was fake, and I hated him. “Sure. We can network.”
It would have been rude and insulting to say no, so I agreed.
Chapter 3
“ISTILLdon’t understand how he can blame you for it,” I said to my father. “They come to our pack on their own volition. If he doesn’t like losing members, Dirk Keller should ask them why they leave Miancarem instead of getting angry at the Alphas of the packs they join.”
“Dirk doesn’t ask because he already knows the answer, or at least he thinks he does. And he blames me because it’s easier to claim the problem is someone leading his members astray or having better land or resources than to take responsibility for the way he’s managing his pack.” My father snorted. “Hell, it’s easier than taking responsibility for the way the last few Alphas have led that pack. Some of the stories I heard from my father….” He shook his head.
“Miancarem’s pack lands are great,” I argued. “They’re not as secluded as ours, but they have a large area and a nice gap before the human town starts.”
I’d noticed that two years prior, when I’d attended the young adults gathering and ended up shifting into my wolf form with Korban Keller. We’d only been talking for a few minutes when I suddenly started feeling heated. I’d been short of breath too. And my skin seemed too tight.
Thankfully, Korban had suggested shifting and going for a run. I had readily agreed, needing to do something, anything, to prevent the future Alpha from seeing me in a less than healthy condition. We’d run through the woods in the Miancarem pack lands and all the way up to the human town.
Even though I wasn’t alone, which was my preference during runs—and any other time—I’d enjoyed myself. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so exhilarated during a run. Well, maybe I could, but that had been different. That was back when I was an eight-year-old kid proving myself to…. I shook my head and focused on my father.
“Yes, the Miancarem pack lands are great. But that’s not good enough for Dirk.” My father looked at me meaningfully. “Some people are like that, Samuel. Nothing is enough for them; everyone has something better in their mind and they resent not having it too.” He sighed. “Doesn’t matter. We need to focus on you right now, not on the Miancarem pack. I want you to shift so I can see what’s happening. But first, explain to me one more time what’s going on inside yourself when you shift back to human.”
Though I hadn’t told him, my father had noticed I was having trouble with my shift from wolf to human. It had been building slowly, so slowly I hadn’t noticed it at first. Eventually it became too obvious to miss. So much so that I’d started making sure to shift back on my own, hiding behind the house or trees so nobody would witness how long it took me to relinquish my wolf form and force myself back into my human skin. My father was observant, though, so he caught on.
I wasn’t surprised, but I wished I could have kept it hidden a bit longer, sure that with a little more time and a little more research, I could have resolved whatever was causing my problem and he wouldn’t have had to know about it. Changing the topic seemed to be my only chance at a distraction.
“What do you mean leading his members astray? What does Dirk Keller think you’re doing?”
Turning toward the trees, my father crossed his arms over his chest and looked out into the woods. “It’s impossible to know what he actually thinks, but from what I’ve heard, it’s mostly based on our interaction with humans. He believes that by working with them and acknowledging their power over certain things—like their roads—we’re disregarding our culture and heritage, tossing away our traditions, and degrading ourselves.”
I tilted my head and furrowed my brow. “There’s nothing in the writings about our traditions and culture that says we can’t work with humans.” I was sure of it. I’d pored over every writing I could find as part of my Alpha studies and read them so much I had them memorized practically word for word. When my time came to be Alpha, I’d be prepared both in body and in mind. I’d know about our past so I could lead us to a stronger future.
