Chapter Four #2
Gage, who was supposed to benefit from the conversation as well, seemed more content watching the crowd.
Only occasionally did he turn and give Shane a look that spoke volumes.
He had to know about Shane’s history with Kimberly.
Their brief exchange at the alpha meeting the night before and all the weird, slightly scathing looks tonight confirmed it.
If Cole wasn’t there, Shane would have called him out for it so they could settle whatever beef Gage had with him.
They waited for Dominic, who was running a few minutes behind.
In the meantime, Cole told a few stories of his attempts to find a good beta before settling on his long-time friend, Ronan.
Shane should have been listening, but like Gage, he was too distracted.
Not by the bar scene, but by what had happened earlier that day with Kimberly.
Hydrangeas. Fucking hydrangeas. Shane had never been so offended by the existence of a flower in his life.
Flowers couldn’t do anything to him, or so he thought.
Kimberly used it as a weapon to mess with his head.
Devotion and heartlessness … Heartlessness and devotion.
How could a stupid flower hold two diametrically opposite meanings?
“What does a hydrangea even look like?” Shane mumbled aloud.
He whipped out his phone.
“What?” Gage and Cole asked in unison.
Shane searched for the flower and his brows rose. He’d seen them before. Not bad looking. He could understand the devotion part. But why would they mean something so cruel as heartlessness too?
He flipped his phone down and shook his head. “Nothing.”
Cole let it go, but Gage gave him a look like a few marbles just rolled out of his head.
You’re pathetic. Getting worked up over a woman. Alphas don’t get distracted by worthless females.
Shane let out a slow breath. For once, he might have agreed with what his dad had told him long ago.
When he and Kimberly first started dating, his dad, directly or indirectly, continually niggled him about being in a relationship that, according to Isaac, could go nowhere.
Kimberly had no dominance and shouldn’t have been considered a candidate for his future mate.
At the time, Shane ignored his dad, just like he ignored all the other critical comments about what an alpha was or was not.
Shane would be the judge of what was appropriate alpha behavior, and he would choose his own mate, regardless of who she was or how much dominance she had.
Back then, his pick had always been Kimberly.
After she left, he couldn’t stomach the thought of mating with anyone else.
Alphas didn’t need to mate to have a pack anyway.
But this went beyond being alpha or not.
This was about common sense. Kimberly wasn’t interested.
She wanted nothing to do with him. Banging on a locked door wasn’t going to get him anywhere.
He had to put Kimberly out of his head and focus on building up his pack.
They had to be a strong unit before they left Tolstone, and he needed to pick a beta, however daunting that seemed.
The Prime Alpha entered the bar and made a beeline for their table toward the back of the room. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he sat down next to Shane. “What did I miss?”
“I was telling them how I came to offer Ronan the role of beta for my pack.”
“So, I missed nothing.” Dominic smiled at the off-duty cop. “I think I’ve heard that one at least a dozen times.”
Gage swung his beer bottle between his fingers. “I’ve heard it at least three.”
Cole gave the younger alpha next to him a teasing shove, then reached into his back pocket. “Now that we’re all here, let’s get down to business.” He pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. “I have a list of your pack, Shane.”
Shane was about to take a sip of his beer, then set the glass back down. “A list?”
“It’s standard procedure,” Dominic assured. “But it’s not a public list, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Shane watched Cole unfold the paper and glimpse the short list of names. Something about knowing that other shifters knew details about his pack gave him a pinch of alarm, but only for a second.
Cole reiterated what he already knew. “A beta holds an important position. He protects the pack alongside the alpha and serves as his second-in-command when he’s out of pocket.
He gives advice to the alpha when asked and dispenses punishments when the alpha can’t.
He should be strong, but not stronger than the alpha.
He needs dominance to do what’s necessary but shouldn’t be too arrogant or ambitious to even think about misusing that dominance. ”
Shane inwardly grimaced. He knew that all too well too.
“Is there anyone you know that might fit that description?” Dominic asked.
Shane blew out a breath and pulled up what he had been stewing on for a while. “There’s John, Cody, Andy, Trent, and Paul.”
Cole leaned and took out a pen from his other pocket. “Trent is barely a man. Nineteen. Not beta material.” With the pen, he struck out Trent’s name on the list. That felt like an obvious elimination.
“You have two families with you, right?” Dominic asked. Shane nodded. “Strike off their names too,” he told Cole. “A beta with no familial ties makes them more effective.”
Shane narrowed his gaze. “How so?”
“A beta with a family will put his family first,” Cole replied. “Not always, of course, but if it comes to a choice between his family and protecting the pack, he needs to have his thoughts in the right place.”
Shane’s brows met. “But an alpha can have a family?”
“For the sake of carrying on the bloodline, yes.” Dominic folded his arms on the tabletop. “Which men had families?”
“John and Cody.”
“Do you think either of them would be willing to get up in the middle of the night to leave their wives and children to risk their lives in a pack dispute?”
Shane looked away. He knew the answer to that all too well.
John was a family man. Always had been. And Cody had a toddler who kept his wife busy and burned out.
Neither of them was likely to put their lives on the line.
Already, he was learning from Dominic. He hadn’t considered family to be a factor when choosing a second-in-command.
“That leaves Andy and Paul,” Cole said. “What about them?”
Shane wagged his head with indecisiveness. “Andy is … Well, I’m not sure he can be reliable. He can be dumb as dishwater sometimes and make stupid decisions.”
The rest of the table, including Gage, seemed to agree that Andy was not the right choice.
Betas didn’t have to be geniuses, but they had to have common sense.
Andy was new to him, even before they left Warrington, and so far, he wasn’t impressed by the guy.
He was the sort of person who didn’t think too deep into conspiracy theories before believing them and might have walked into an auto parts store asking for blinker fluid.
Shane only knew that he moved to Warrington for work and was estranged from his family on the other side of the state.
“That leaves Paul,” Dominic said.
Paul was the eldest shifter of the bunch, and only a few years younger than Shane’s father had been.
Something about having a beta who was not only close in age to his father, but also to Kevin, who betrayed him and his Warrington pack, didn’t settle right with Shane.
Paul was capable, and if Shane was right, might have had enough dominance to fill the role.
He had been hardened by years of working with cattle and resembled more of a retired bull rider.
He had the strength, the dominance, no family, and had stressed his loyalty to Shane enough times that he had at least some confidence that Paul wouldn’t stab him in the back.
He remembered one time overhearing Paul at the old general store grumble about some new pack mandate Isaac had slipped into play.
Shane kept that secret to himself, knowing that his father would have tracked Paul down and taught him that he did not have freedom of opinion in his pack.
Isaac’s way or the highway. But, knowing that Paul didn’t agree with Isaac on everything gave Shane some faith.
It made sense on paper, but Shane still couldn’t get over the sick feeling in his gut when he thought about settling on a beta.
Quit being such a wuss and make a damn decision. Do what is best for your pack.
Shane swallowed hard and told the group what he thought of Paul. Positive body language all around.
“What do you think?” Dominic asked Cole.
The cop made a face. “My only concern would be his age, but I’m not one to talk. Ronan is my age, but still a good beta. Hank is older than you, Dominic, and still efficient. Experience overrules age sometimes.”
The Prime Alpha then looked to Shane. “How do you feel about Paul being your beta?”
Shane felt the urge to squirm uncomfortably but forced himself to sit perfectly still while under the stare of an alpha more powerful than him.
Telling the truth in this scenario would only make him appear weak and uncertain.
Shane believed he was neither of those things.
Only cautious and perhaps thinking too much.
“I don’t want my pack to suffer again.”
Dominic put a firm hand on his shoulder. “They won’t. I know it can be hard to trust again after what happened. But you have to trust your instincts. If you think Paul can serve you well as your beta, then go for it. The worst that can happen is he turns you down.”
Shane cast his eyes to the tabletop. There were worse things that could happen than a rejection.