Page 40 of Bad Attitude
She looked at him to see what he’sgoing to say.There’s nothing because she knows she’s right.Politics often protects those that do harm to others.If you havepower, you can get away with anything, as long as you have thestrength to hold your position.Everyone knew the story of Hemple.More than a lifetime of corrupt rule of his pack and evil deeds somany they couldn’t be numbered before and when he fell, it wasn’tto the council or the wardens.It was to a mate seeking retributionfor an evil deed he finally had to pay for.
The white wolf’s oldest son had riskedhis life and Hemple had cheated by having another wolf jump in totry to aid him, but the white wolf had the goddess on his side, andhe had come out on top.This story had quickly become a legend.Butit hadn’t stopped the old evil alphas from continuing.Bindi didthink it might help a new alpha stay on the right path.
“Things are changing.Rulesare in place to protect pack members.”
“It was never consideredalright to abuse your pack, but it still happened.When I was justsixteen, I was thrown out with just the clothes I had on.Arieltells me that is not allowed, has never been allowed.But ithappened.They would say it made me stronger, but only because itdidn’t kill me.Easily I could have died.”
“You’re right.”Duroc saidwith a heavy sigh afterward.
“Life as a wolf can be hardbut it’s not as bad with a good pack to back you up.That’s the wayof life for a wolf, but what if your alpha is greedy anduncaring?”
“I’m not sure.The call tolove your pack and every member should be strong in an alpha butsometimes, it seems things go wrong.There are good alphas, badalphas, but most are somewhere in the middle.They do their best,but the mantle weighs heavily on them and they have a hard timekeeping up with what is required of them.In their haste to give analpha every chance in case they make mistakes in their struggle todo their best, many bad ones slip through unpunished.”
“You sound as if you’vetrained to be the alpha.”Bindi observed suspiciously.
“A smart alpha trains allhis sons.Not so much in case the oldest perishes, but so he andhis heir has someone to rely on when needed.Some even train theirdaughters.”
“Few I wouldguess.”
“There was a time whendoing it or even admitting that it was smart would have your packrebel.”Duroc pointed out.“It’s not just the alphas that can bebad.Sometimes the members of the pack are so heavily indoctrinatedwith the way their alpha thought things should be, they resistchange.”
“I’ve heard that was trueon a portion of Hemple’s pack.They gave Danny a hard time after hedefeated Hemple.”Bindi observed.
“You’ve brought attentionto your old pack that the alpha isn’t totoo happy about.I believehe will be dealt with soon.Once he’s gone, we’ll find out aboutyour mother and maybe some member of your father’s family is good,and you’ll know about them too.”
“It’s true I’d like to knowabout my mother and her family.Not knowing about her and herfamily and not having a relationship with him or his family hasmade me feel alone in the world.”
“You are not alone, notanymore.You have me and you have many friends that care aboutyou.”
“I know and things arebetter.Maybe even better than they ever would have been there.ButI still feel a sense of loss for all those years I hadnothing.”
“That’s normal.”Durocoffered.
“Will it ever goaway?”
“Maybe not completely, butsomeday when our life is settled and you are happy, it won’t seemto matter as much.”
Bindi shot him a smile.“You’re justguessing and trying to make me feel better.”
“Is it working?”
“Maybe a little.”Bindiadmitted.
“I needed to tell you myfather wants to meet you.He’d like us to visit as soon as all thissettles a bit.”
“What’s helike?”
“He’s a good alpha.I’m hissecond son of five.No daughters and our mom doesn’t think they’llhave any more but it’s possible.It’s rare to have so many pupsamong wolves.Some of the old families that mate outside the usualcircles manage it.”
“Why mate outside of theusual circles?”
“Some lines suffer frominbreeding.Hemple’s parents were cousins.He had some seriousproblems.”
“Is that why the councilhas finally gotten involved?Because these sick alphas suffer fromheavy inbreeding, and it can make them crazy?”Bindiasked.
“I don’t know.My hopewould be that they finally were forced to see the problem it trulyis and are taking action.”
They stopped talking to finish theirmeal, then sat sipping their drinks.“I’ll clean up.”Bindioffered.
