Page 45 of In Your Eyes
Korban sighed. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—just because we’ve been told we have to live a certain way in order to be whole doesn’t mean it’s true. Maybe my spirit is more connected to my human half and yours is more connected to your wolf.” He shrugged. “It makes sense, right? Your wolf has always been very strong. Even when you were young.”
For many years, I had prided myself on that strength, but when my shifting issues intensified and I had to fight that part of my nature to keep it contained, I had started resenting it.
“Asking ourselves why is pointless,” Korban said. He held on to the sides of my head and tipped it back until our eyes met. “I know you’re a thinker, Samuel, but there might not be a puzzle here to solve. We’re true mates. We fit together on a fundamental level. Maybe it’s as simple as that.”
Considering that viewpoint, I leaned against the railing. “Have you ever studied Greek mythology?”
He shook his head.
“They created really elaborate stories to explain things they didn’t have the tools to understand. Having reasons for things is comforting because the alternative is being at the mercy of the unknown. You’re saying the same thing.”
“I am?”
“Uh-huh. You said pack lore isn’t fact. It’s a collection of stories our ancestors wrote to explain the unexplainable.”
He arched his eyebrows and chuckled. “I’m pretty sure all I said was I want to be with you and that’s good enough for me, but, okay. Your thing sounds good too.” He nodded. “We can go with that.”
“You’re teasing me.” I bumped my shoulder against his.
“Uh-huh,” he said and then bumped me back. “And you’re letting me.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It feels nice.”
He reached for my hand, tangled our fingers together, and leaned his head against my shoulder. “It sure does.”
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, I said, “You talked with someone about your uncle?”
“Uh-huh. Yoram and his dad.”
“What’d they say?”
“Not much. Basically, Dennis stepped in as Alpha when the interpack council said my father couldn’t take the position back, even if he recovers.”
“How is he?” I asked, not sure what I wanted to hear as the answer. He was my mate’s father, so wishing him death was wrong. But I wanted it anyway.
“I didn’t ask,” Korban said. “I don’t care.”
A better person would have addressed that response and tried to help him heal the rift with his family. I did neither.
“What do you mean your uncle stepped in as Alpha? He can’t just step in.”
“He can’t?” Korban sat up straight and twisted to the side so we were facing each other.
“No. Only a presumptive Alpha rises to the position automatically.”
“But he’s my father’s only relative now.”
As the years passed, people followed the basic rules as they’d seen their parents follow them, but surprisingly, they rarely took the time to actually read the laws that governed our kind.
“That doesn’t matter,” I explained. “As Alpha, your father can identify the shifter who will one day follow him, which is almost always the Alpha’s son. Unless there’s another shifter in the pack who is obviously stronger, that identification is enough and the person is considered the presumptive Alpha. That means the Alpha trains him, teaches him, and prepares him to one day lead the pack.”
“Right.” Korban nodded. “That was me. But I can’t be Alpha. The council removed me from the position. Doesn’t that leave my uncle to take over?”
“No. He wasn’t the presumptive Alpha and he didn’t earn a claim to lead the pack. Being a relative of the Alpha isn’t relevant.”
“Where does that leave the pack?” Korban wrinkled his brow. “They need an Alpha.”
“Technically, they have an Alpha.”
