Chapter Fifteen
Henrietta
The meeting room at pack headquarters is stone and timber, with a long wooden table in the center and windows looking out over the pack lands.
I'm sitting at one end of the table. Andrew is at the other end.
His brothers Jesse and Cole are on one side, his mother Marion on the other.
Dax sits near the door, arms crossed, looking like he's already bored.
A few council members fill the remaining seats.
"The Frostbanes are going to see this as a direct challenge," Dax says. "Roderick won't let this go."
"Darius Frost is the Alpha," Jesse says. "He’s already looking for trouble. And he’s not going to be able to control Roderick. Roderick's his nephew and he's already stirred up half the pack about this."
One of the council members—an older woman with silver-streaked hair—leans forward. "If we don't handle this carefully, we're looking at pack war."
My stomach drops. Pack war. Because of me. Because Roderick decided he wanted to claim me and Andrew stepped in.
Andrew nods. "I understand. The Romero family can’t stay here.”
A sickness swirls in my stomach, and hot tears prick my eyes. I know he’s right, but he’s just rejected me and my family – after saying that he’d claimed me. Where will we go? And will Roderick and his goons chase us, wanting revenge for their humiliation? Almost certainly.
My wolf sinks down inside me and lets out a low mournful howl that echoes in my skull. Mate…our mate is rejecting us…
The pack members visibly relax. “I’m glad you can see reason,” council member Jeremiah says, nodding approvingly.
“When they go, their family will need an Alpha," Andrew says. "I will be that Alpha."
My heart stutters in my chest. The room goes silent. And my wolf perks up again, hope blooming inside me.
Jesse stares at his older brother. "Wait, what?"
Cole sits up straighter. "You're stepping down?"
The council member who just mentioned pack war looks genuinely alarmed. "You can't just—"
Andrew’s voice is calm, steady. “Henrietta's family—Silas, Dorcas, Coral, Danny, the others—they're vulnerable without an Alpha. Henrietta is my fatedmate, so her family is my family. I'm claiming them. Starting a new pack."
I stare at him.
He's giving up being Alpha of the Moonstone Pack. For me. For my family.
The hope and love that blooms inside me grows big and bright like a star, shining from within.
Jesse looks at Cole. Cole shakes his head immediately. "Don't look at me. I hate pack politics and you know it. I’d suck hard at being Alpha."
Jesse takes a breath. "Yeah, you would. I mean, what don’t you suck at?’
“Kicking your ass,” Cole says promptly.
“You mean, hallucinating? That sounds about right,” Jesse snorts.
“The council will have to vote on it, but Jesse is the most logical choice for Alpha,” Marion says calmly.
She’s accepting it. She’s making plans. And she’s even smiling at me, her eyes shining with warmth, even though I’m tearing her family apart.
“So you believe in this fated mate stuff?” Jesse growls at Marion.
“I do. I know you don’t believe in it, but your father and I were fated mates.”
“If you say so.” He arches a skeptical eyebrow. “You’re okay with Andrew just…leaving like this? No Alpha mating ceremony?”
When Alphas chose a mate, it’s generally a whole big thing. A huge feast, all the local packs are invited, the Alpha and his mate have a week-long honeymoon…we won’t have that.
But we’ll have each other.
“Children grow up and sometimes they leave the nest.” Marion sighs heavily.
"I love him and I will miss him terribly if he isn't living with us here.
" Her voice is steady. "But when I met your father and the fated mate bond hit, nothing would have separated us. I would have withered away and died without him. Andrew has no choice but to do what he’s doing.”
“Can’t the Romero family just join our pack?” Cole protests.
Marion shakes her head. "The other shifter packs will never accept the Romero pack, and Andrew would be getting in challenge-fights left and right, every time he heard someone whisper an insult. We’d end up in a pack war with the Shadowpines, too, and they’re valuable allies to us.
The Romero family needs to find a new territory, a safe distance from here. ”
“Thank you.” My voice is husky with emotion. “And I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
Marion's expression shifts, and she smiles, although it’s laced with sadness. "Just know that I'll call him and pester him relentlessly and give him very good advice from his mother which he will follow to the letter, and I will visit frequently.”
The room settles into an uncomfortable silence. People are processing. Jesse is staring at the table. Cole is watching Andrew with an expression I can't read. Dax, as usual, is showing all the emotion of a stone statue.
I look across the table at Andrew. He smiles at me, his gaze warm and fierce with with love and claiming.
Mine. He mouths the word at me.
I nod. Yours.