Chapter 7
Julian
We’re going with a confident approach. If we act as if it isn’t weird that we were just doing … what we were just doing, then it’s like we hadn’t done anything weird at all.
Exactly, Alex agrees with a mental nod. Nothing even happened.
Nothing even happened, I confirm.
That lasts for about three seconds before I’m mentally banging my head against a wall.
What in all the realms had I just allowed Aiden to do to me?!
I hadn’t even put up a fight! I’d just let it happen, let him touch me like that! And that isn’t even the worst part. The true horror is knowing that if he touched me like that again, even with eyes on us, I wouldn’t try to stop him.
It didn’t happen! Alex sobs, but no amount of wailing can make that true.
While terror reigns within. On the outside, I’m unbothered. I’m as cool as a cucumber, even with Aiden seated right next to me. I’m also, in no shape or form, extremely hyperaware of his knee brushing against mine.
Nope. It’s not even there. I’m barely here.
I stare blankly at the three sitting opposite us while they gawk at Aiden and me as if we’re aliens. They blink at us, over and over like mismatched triplets.
After Aiden and I found the sense to separate from each other, I wasted no time shepherding our wide-eyed friends into the living room, where we now all sit.
“So, what do you want?” Aiden asks, breaking the silence. No one speaks. “Hello?”
“We came to check on Julian, but we got lost in your lands until Emitt found us,” Isabel says, still staring at me like I’m a stranger. “As you can imagine, the pack’s worried about their new alpha disappearing on his first day. We know the coronation was a surprise, but everyone wants to know—”
“What the hell is going on, Julian?” Beckett cuts in, his voice carrying the worry I feel surge through our bond.
“Nobody knows what to do because we don’t even know what’s going on.
You vanished after the ceremony, and your parents are brushing aside our questions.
” He pauses to breathe. “The pack is coming to us for answers, but we don’t have them. ”
“Questions like?” Aiden prompts before I can reply.
“Questions like, are you going to mate or reject each other?” Beckett retorts, glaring at him.
“I think what we walked in on answers that question,” Aiden’s beta cuts in with a snicker that dies the second I look at him.
“Everyone’s just really confused,” Isabel interjects, stepping in as mediator. “They want to know what’s happening, and they deserve answers.”
They do. I should’ve been with my pack first thing this morning, not caught up with Aiden’s version of a wake-up call, effectively abandoning my pack on my first day as alpha.
“First, we’re not rejecting each other,” I glance at Aiden, and when he nods, I continue. “We’re going to merge the packs.”
Muted silence.
“I’m sorry, I thought you said merge,” Beckett says with a nervous laugh.
“Merge?” The beta—his name is something starting with an E—asks. “Like you’re staying together?”
“Like actually seeing this through?” Isabel adds.
“Merge?” Beckett repeats. “You want to merge two packs with over a thousand wolves in each?”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Aiden answers as he cocks an arm over the back of the sofa and rests his fingers against his temple.
I force my eyes away from the ink on those fingers. “We’ll need a meeting with both packs to bring everyone up to speed,” I say as I look at Beckett. “We’ll have it here, in these packlands. I want everyone here at seven on the dot, not a second later.”
Beckett and Isabel lower their eyes and nod without protest, while E—I swear Isabel just said it—turns to Aiden.
“We’re letting them in?” he asks before he looks at me with a nervous smile.
“I mean, I know we were in your lands yesterday and that was great, but is a joint assembly the best idea right now? We’re not even prepped for that. ”
“You wanted answers, right?” Aiden says with a shrug. “We’ll have them, so get the word out. Seven on the dot.”
With no room to argue, they all bow their heads and rise. Aiden and I follow suit, and while Aiden’s beta shuffles over to him, I corner Isabel and Beckett before they can leave.
“Everything is fine,” I promise before they can lather on all the questions. “Yes, we’re actually mates. It’s not a trick or hex. We’ve decided not to break the bond for the good of the packs.”
They nod, though their unspoken questions linger.
“And he’s …?” Isabel glances between Aiden and me, brows waggling. It takes everything not to melt into the floor as I try to stop my skin from heating. I am not going to make a habit of blushing.
“Just focus on organising the meeting for this evening, please.”
“Sure thing.” She loops her arm with Beckett’s, who studies me for a long moment.
He’s concerned—very concerned—but our bond is too strong for him not to feel how calm I am. It reassures him in the ways I can’t right now, and he wordlessly relaxes with a nod. They leave and, thankfully, Aiden’s beta is not far behind.
Aiden and I don’t move a muscle until the door clicks shut. But the moment it does, I let out a sigh, and he sinks back into the couch with a groan.
“You know it’s going to be like that all the time now, right?” he says. “The staring, the questions, the doubts. They’re all going to think we’re crazy for going through with this. Fuck—we are crazy for going through with this.”
He keeps rambling, oblivious to the fact that I’m not facing him, which is a good thing really. I don’t need him realising that my mind is still stuck on what happened before our friends stumbled in. His mouth on my neck. His hands dragging sounds out of me I didn’t know I could make.
“Say please.”
My skin heats, and I make a beeline for the office I’d found last night. “We only have a few hours to plan what we’re going to say.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to write a speech,” Aiden groans as he slides off the couch and follows after me. “Can’t we just go with the flow?”
“No, Aiden,” I retort. “No, we can’t.”
How he’s made it this far in life, I will never understand, Alex sneers.
In the office, I head straight for the large desk, pulling drawers open in search of a pen and paper.
“I’m not writing a speech,” Aiden says from the other side, arms folded over his chest.
I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to. I will.”
“Why? The pack needs to hear our plan and see that we’re in agreement, not hear the fucking pledge of allegiance.”
“What are you even talking about?” I stop my search to look at him. “Why are you complaining about nothing? You’re like a pup screaming for attention.”
Aiden’s face hardens, fists tightening at his sides, but instead of reading for a fight, my eyes linger on his clenched fingers. Had they looked like that when they were wrapped around my wrists?
I take a deep breath, but instantly regret it when his scent hits me. Goddess.
“We’ll make talking points,” I say tightly. “That’s a compromise, right? No pre-planned speech.” I’m preparing one regardless, but the overgrown baby didn’t need to know that.
“Fine,” Aiden agrees begrudgingly. He circles the table to pluck a drawer open from the desk, and hands me a notebook and pen.
I take them from him with a whispered, “Thank you.”
He grunts before he slumps into one of the chairs and gestures for me to do the same. Sliding into the seat opposite him, I jot down: Merging.
“We already agreed to claim the empty land between our packs, but we’ll need the Council’s approval first. We’ll also need to extend the barriers to protect it.”
“I can handle that,” he dismisses with a waved hand. “We’ve been expanding more in the last few years. My pack will know what to do with the wards.”
I note that before continuing. “We’ll need to help our packs form bonds as quickly as possible. Building a few larger packhouses and a new market space would be a good way to start.”
“I’m fine with that. Packhouses will help with the population too. I swear these people fuck like rabbits.”
The corner of my lip twitches. “That’s a little dramatic.”
“There’s a new pup every Wednesday, Julian,” he deadpans, and I have to bite back my smile. “We’re also gonna need to decide new pack ranks. What happens to our betas, deltas, elders?”
My pen stills. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
“You can’t help your idiocy,” he soothes with a smirk.
“We’ll have to double up,” I answer, and that smirk immediately morphs into a frown. “Would you rather they fight for the position?”
“Um … yes.”
I sigh and close my eyes. I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Okay, let’s say we do it your way,” I say, entertaining him for a brief moment. “Let’s say we have them fight for the position of beta? What if-” I pause, struggling.
“Emitt,” he supplies, dryly.
“Right. What if Emitt lost? Wouldn’t you be upset? Wouldn’t your pack be furious too? Regardless of whether it was a fair fight? I know mine would, which would cause a world of problems before we even merge.”
I watch him work the problem out in silence like a big boy. “You’re right,” he mutters reluctantly.
“I know.” He scowls, and this time, I grin.
“So that’ll be two of everything and a shitload of elders? Isn’t that breaking the laws of nature or something?”
“Aren’t we already doing that?” I shrug. “We’re two alphas. That shouldn’t work, but we’re trying to make it work, so they can too.”
Aiden … smiles. It’s just a small one—I don’t think he even realises, but it still makes my insides twist.
“What about traditions? Our packs are opposites in almost every aspect. From fighting to training. I mean, we take a more holistic approach, and from what I’ve heard, you guys like to hunt rogues.”
The smile dies the moment I utter the word “rogues.” And it’s not just that. His entire demeanour changes so drastically that alarms automatically sounds in my head.