Chapter 1 #2
“He’s a natural. He could’ve reached…but he didn’t. I think he didn’t have anyone to challenge him. Anyone to push him.”
“True.”
“Now he does. Austin seems to have a real affinity for coaxing the best out of his people. No ego, no bluster, just expectation and a helping hand when it’s needed. He said you taught him everything he knows.”
Kingsley huffed. “I trained him, that’s true enough. The nuts and bolts of being an alpha wasn’t hard to teach him. His struggle was with his beast. I couldn’t help him there. He had to work through that the hard way. Since he has, the student has far surpassed the teacher.”
“I can tell you believe that, but you’re not giving yourself nearly enough credit.
The foundations of his knowledge are excellent.
His training is rock solid and iron tight.
I don’t recall you being this well trained.
It’s a testament to how you’ve grown as an alpha, surpassing your own teachers.
I commend you. Most generational alphas are stunted by tradition. You’ve continued to grow.”
Kingsley could feel his face heating, a surge of pride infusing him. And now he was being complimented by Yazanth freaking Golden Fang. Seriously, was this real life or had he slipped into a dreamscape?
“Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. I should mention, however, that I followed your career and picked up little hints and tricks along the way.”
“Why reinvent the wheel if someone is already doing it better?”
“True.” Kingsley chuckled.
“I’m still adjusting to the change in dynamics here. I’ve learned that the Ivy House crew is easy to get along with if you exist within the chaos—to trust in the team and give up trying to form any sort of cohesive structure. Also to tune out the various random comments and bickering.”
“They are a different walk of life, yes. I think Jessie is the only one who can properly manage them. I was worried about her seemingly loose hold on the reins, but when she was here, I let her do as she would. I was glad I did.”
“Yes. I can see how the loyalty was created. I, myself, have been sucked into her orbit.” He paused again.
“I’m just going to come out and say it. The gargoyles are doing my head in.
All of them, the females included. Garhettes, I guess.
Their insistence on bumping and jostling, touching—it is fraying my control.
The females don’t mean any harm, and I’m trying to acclimate myself to that, but the males do it to get a rise. That…is not as easy to ignore.”
“I assume you haven’t mentioned this to Austin or Brochan.”
“He goes by Sue now.” The comment seemed offhanded, as though randomly changing names seemed normal to him. “No. I should be able to figure out how to exist in a pack, even if I am on the outskirts of it.”
“You’re in the Ivy House crew—you’re in the middle of things. But I hear what you’re saying.”
It was pride preventing him from asking. It was training. To look lost and confused—to show a lack of control—reduced one’s status in a pack, especially as an alpha. It made you look weak, and weakness invited challenges. Aljoe, above everyone, could never afford to let down his guard.
“I know you know this,” Kingsley said in an even tone, “but I need to constantly remind myself, and so I will remind you. That convocation is not a pack. You’re in something new that is constantly evolving.
Austin and Sue, more than anyone else—except for maybe Aurora—realize this.
If you need a road map, catch them when they are having a beer at the bar, or hanging around Ivy House, and ask them about it. ”
Aljoe grunted in acknowledgment, but Kingsley wasn’t sure his words would be enough to override the decades of survival mechanisms now ingrained.
He’d probably think he should handle it, and so he’d try, and he’d probably blow up and kill someone.
Because yes, those gargoyles could rile up a shifter in the worst ways, and they knew it.
They delighted in the ensuing challenge.
They wouldn’t know the level of raw, lethal power they’d unleash with Yazanth Golden Fang, not until they were bleeding out.
“Or ask one of the Ivy House crew,” Kingsley persisted. “You probably just need to establish yourself as something dangerous. The gargoyles tend to be too hardheaded to notice the hints we give them. They’ll need a show of strength, but check with the Ivy House crew to see…how large of a show.”
“Noted,” Aljoe said, and his tone suggested his gratitude. After a short time—only a month or two—he clearly trusted the Ivy House crew. More, he was willing to be a shifter’s version of vulnerable around them. He’d found a new home.
Kingsley was glad. It couldn’t have been easy, living like he had been. Barely existing.
“The reason I called,” Aljoe said, “concerns Aurora. I’ve spoken to Austin and Jessie about this as convocation leaders, and now I’d like to speak with you as her father.”
Kingsley frowned in confusion. “What about her?”
“As you know, I’ve been granted a special unit within Jessie’s team.
I’ll be leading a team of rogues, some likely to be wild and volatile.
Some incredibly powerful. Some reckless enough that they may not work out, or that I will have to continually subdue to ensure they mind their manners.
I have experience in handling these sorts of shifters, as you likely know.
I’m a generational alpha, but I’ve had to carve my own way using new rules, some based solely on survival. ”
“Yes, I am aware.”
“I met Aurora with the rest of them. She offered to be my crutch when learning this team, and still always checks in. She’s as respectful as she is tough, a good combo. It’s a credit to your parenting.”
Warmth filled Kingsley. “Thank you.”
“She also has her fair share of Austin’s wildness in her, yes?”
“Yes. She has better control of it, and she doesn’t lose herself nearly as easily to it, but her grandfather has given her a healthy dose of his power and…wildness, as you said.”
“Ruthlessness. She has the exemplary training I see in Austin—which is how I knew Austin’s base level of knowledge must’ve come from you.”
“She was much easier to teach.”
Aljoe laughed. “As women so often are, right? Not as hardheaded as we are. She reminds me of my sisters.” He paused.
“And because she reminds me of my sisters, and because she has so graciously helped me without judgment…and mostly because I see raw talent and great drive in her, I want to help her. Right now, she is stuck in the middle of a large pack. Until now, she has been working her way up, tier by tier, as is usual. Given how the pack is growing and evolving, however, the usual method of elevation is changing. Now people are being assessed for different roles—brains or brawn or both—and challenging into those levels. Austin is handling his own level of chaos.”
Austin didn’t have time for the traditional approaches, and they wouldn’t work anyway. He couldn’t do things by the book, not with danger looming.
“Aurora will get to the higher levels, I have no doubt,” Yazanth went on.
“Even at the higher levels, however, her forward momentum will stall. She has the training, but she doesn’t have the experience.
Some of the shifters challenging in have seen a lot of action.
They’re here because they know trouble is brewing—they’ve seen it—and they want to do something about it.
They want to fight, and Austin is promising them a front-row seat.
Usually, in a generational pack she’d start handling some of the duties.
She’d get her feet wet and start working on that experience.
She’d command under your umbrella. That just isn’t possible here, for many reasons. ”
“I told her that. I explained in detail and I tried to force the issue. She won’t budge.’”
“I know. She has fire. She wants the fight, just like those experienced shifters. She saw what was at stake, and she wants to be part of it. I respect that. It’s why I’m here, after all.
And so, here is what I would like to offer her, but I want your approval to do so.
I would like to stand in as her pseudo-father.
Or her pseudo-brother if that is more preferable.
Her grandpappy, whatever. I’d like to resume the training.
She would be in all the strategic meetings with me, have greater access to the experienced shifters, the betas, and she would get guidance and explanations.
She could start to gain experience under my umbrella.
She’d also get coached by my sisters and have them as an outlet when trying to deal with me, if she needs it.
I can be tough. I’m sure you’ve heard. I don’t think it is anything she can’t handle, though. Not by a long shot.”
Kingsley froze with his beer halfway to the end table. His stomach erupted in butterflies, and he could do nothing but blink stupidly. He never could’ve guessed in a million years that this was why Yazanth Golden Fang was calling him.
No wonder Austin hadn’t warned him. Kingsley was surprised his brother hadn’t set up a camera to catch his reaction.
“I realize the danger of my setup will be significant,” Aljoe went on, “but while Aurora lacks battle experience, she excels one-on-one. I’ll teach her greater access and control over her beast, which will expand her power, as well as a few tricks to increase her power that I learned along the way.
I have zero concern about her safety. No more concern than where she is now. ”
This was an incredible offer for many reasons, not least of all because Yazanth was an incredible alpha. His sisters, individually, were amazing, and together they were incredible. Yazanth clearly knew how to train, and Aljoe, his new persona, wanted to keep up the mantle.