Page 20 of The Return
“Well, like Cher said: if I could turn back time…. We can’t. We can only move forward.”
And that’s what pissed me off the most. I had wanted to stay with Corey, but that afternoon my wolf overrode common sense.
And now I would do whatever I had to in order to make it up to him.
COREY
When Jonas walkedme to the huge SUV, I did a double take.
“Okay, I know you’re not compensating,” I teased.
He scowled. “Pack politics is such bullshit. The Alpha needs to be protected at all times. You think this is bad, wait until you find out what you’re going to have to deal with.”
I so did not like the sound of that. “Might as well tell me.”
He grinned. “You’re going to have a driver and a bodyguard.” He held up a hand. “And before you say a word, this is nonnegotiable. Your driver, Matt, will take you anywhere you want to go. Kinsey, your bodyguard, will stay nearby unless I’m there, and then he’ll remain at a respectable distance.”
“Oh, that is such bullshit!”
He grinned. “Like I said, nonnegotiable. You don’t realize how valuable an Alpha and his mate are, but you’ll learn.”
“I’m starting to think it might have been better if you didn’t come back,” I bit out, then regretted it.
The change in Jonas was instantaneous. His eyes scrunched and his fists tightened on the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry!” I cried. “I didn’t mean that.”
“I can go again, if you want. You won’t have to see me anymore.”
Not see him? It nearly ended me before. Now that I had him back in my life, there was no way in Hades I was letting him get away.
“Thank you for proving to me I needed to get over my anger with your father.”
His lip quirked up. “Oh?”
“Yeah, oh. You knew I’d never let you walk away, but you put that image in my head, and my reaction was exactly what you were hoping for. Just like your dad, I reacted without thinking it through. And you get extra points for coming up with a name like Kinsey.”
He reached over and patted my leg. “Oh, Kinsey is real, and you’re gonna love him. Matt? I’m not so sure. He’s your driver, but I kind of think at his age he ought not be driving.”
“But—”
“There is a council of wolves,” he interjected. “Think of us like a corporation. The council is the board of directors, overseeing the company. The members are the customers. The rest of us fall in between those two poles. If enough customers aren’t happy, they’ll contact the board, who will investigate. If they find there is sufficient cause, they will remove the middle manager and replace him or her.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
He shrugged. “It’s a general analogy. Alphas hold more power than that, but we can still be replaced if our pack is unhappy with our leadership. Which brings back something I meant to tell you earlier. When we’re in a pack gathering, you have to call me Alpha.”
“No way! That’s insane!”
“It is what it’s always been. An Alpha has to have the respect of his pack. To that end, they need to maintain order and discipline. And before you open your mouth, I don’t mean in the fun way. No pack member refers to their Alpha as anything other than by his title. Even if we’re not at a pack function, they will always refer to me as Alpha.”
“But Mr. Henderson called you by name. And I’ve heard others do it too.”
“That’s because Dad hasn’t relinquished his role yet. The moment he does, I become Alpha, and the power exchange will have people deferring to me.”
All of this, everything Jonas was saying, went against what I was taught growing up. We were all equal, no one was more important than anyone else. My parents told me the president wasn’t more important than the janitor who cleaned our school. His job might involve more responsibility, but that didn’t put him higher up.
Learning these things now was frustrating. I wish I’d had the guts to talk to Jonas about it when I’d seen Dan Garver change. Maybe if I’d learned Werewolf 101, then I wouldn’t be so freaked out now.
