Chapter 8 - Caleb
Darkness settles over the grounds as night falls, and despite the usual peace of Briarwood, the air feels charged. It’s the kind of stillness that comes before something big changes everything. Then again, maybe that’s just me, far too aware of what’s coming.
The old lumber mill has started to rot down to its foundation, providing enough shelter with the steel roof and strong enough support beams, but it’s by no means luxurious.
From the outside, it looks like something long forgotten and better left untouched.
From inside, it’s big enough to host our pack meetings without any human eyes around to bear witness.
Light flickers from the lanterns hanging between beams overhead, and shadows shift across the cement floor as bodies fill the space, some shifted and some not, while waiting and murmuring.
It’s a low, constant rumble full of anticipation and maybe even a touch of skepticism.
It’s hard to predict how a meeting might go down.
Lila walks just ahead of me, hesitant with every step, as if bracing herself for whatever scrutiny she expects to receive.
Dominic, Zane, Hunter, and Luke follow as we walk in.
While they’re not part of the pack, they want to participate anyway, more so to get a feel for how we do things here than anything.
While I don’t love the distance she keeps from the rest of us, I don’t say anything. At the very least, she’s here, and that’s enough for now.
Lila slips inside before us and finds somewhere off to the side to linger in an attempt to avoid any attention brought to her, but of course, many pack members sense her anyway.
But once I move in with the guys in tow, their eyes go straight to us, eyes widening slightly in surprise. It seems many of them weren’t anticipating me.
Still, the crowd parts around me as wide grins spread across their faces and a feral kind of excitement gleams in their gazes. They get riled up, calling my name and getting each other wound.
I’m not the Alpha yet, but since I was already named Varic’s successor, they fall in line all the same. They submit to structure, only defying it when they sense weakness. They’re constantly sniffing for it, which is why standing firm in one’s conviction and dominance is integral.
I have their respect, but it can be a fickle thing under pressure.
A touch of pride settles in my system as I walk through them, seeing firsthand that their opinion of me hasn’t changed in those four years. They’re still waiting for my ascent.
Varic stands at the far end of the room, shadows streaking across one side of his matured face as his eyes land on me. He seems almost stronger and wiser than the last time I saw him, or maybe it’s just been long enough for everyone to feel new to me all over again. Familiar, but different enough.
His grin spreads easily at the sight of me, holding his hands out. “Caleb.”
“Varic,” I return, maintaining that stoicism before allowing my own smile to form as I accept his grasp that turns into a brief but amicable embrace.
Despite the visible strength still evident in his form, I can feel the slight difference in his hold, as if time has both been kind to him, yet it’s creeping in around the edges, turning him a bit wearier.
“It’s been too long… but your service has done well for you,” he says, giving a final clasp of my hands before letting go again.
He glances at the guys who stand some distance away, observing respectfully, and he nods his acknowledgment before returning his attention to me.
“I understand you have some things you’d like to address.
Feel free to do so while their attention is focused. ”
I nod once before turning to face the others.
The moment I do, I catch every pair of eyes in the wood mill. Those familiar faces take up nearly every inch of the place, either standing in the crowd, lingering on old pieces of equipment, or on wood crates. Either way, their noise picks up again, encouraging me to speak.
Pulling in a discreet breath, I remind myself of everything that’s at stake, and I step forward.
“I know several years have passed and many things have surely changed, but I have an announcement concerning security and pack continuity.”
At this, the others get rowdier, and despite their respect, a note of challenge settles in the space.
There’s no proper way to say it, and no bulletproof wording that will make it any easier. So I pull my strength in as Varic always taught me, and I come out with it.
“Before I step in as the next Alpha, I need my Luna,” I begin, letting my voice travel through the space, already hearing as the pack begins growing louder in anticipation. “Tomorrow night, I will be initiating a mate bond with Lila Quinn.”
Immediately, they go quiet as my words sink in. So quiet that the scuttle of a mouse would sound more like a gunshot.
Then, those voices rise again, all at once, flooding the mill with confusion, disbelief, and outrage. Some scoff and snarl, others murmur to one another or outright shout their complaints.
“You’re binding yourself to her?” one of them calls, not trying to hide their distaste.
Another cuts in, “An Alpha needs a proper bloodline… a Luna capable of producing the strong heirs needed to protect the pack. She’s—”
The voices start to drown each other out, facing me with direct opposition.
Every instinct in me sharpens, thrumming with the need to defend my choices and to remind the others that I know what I’m doing.
Even while some of them bare their teeth, objecting in every meaningful way they can, Varic doesn’t step in, and I don’t stop them.
I anticipated this, and as aggravating as it is, this is part of the process. The chaos and the outcry are par for the course. And as the Alpha-to-be, this is where I prove myself, where I stand my ground.
From across the mill, I feel as Lila tries not to shrink, breath going shallow with embarrassment and fear. Her heart races loud enough for me to sense from my place.
This is familiar to her, and something she has long avoided for a reason. I see it now, clearer than I ever had.
Before, I stood among these wolves and allowed this to happen. I allowed her to be mocked and ostracized, and in ways, I encouraged it.
But that thought alone is enough to awaken something entirely new in my chest.
“If you have something to say about my future mate, then say it to me. Not to her,” I say, tone dangerously calm despite the onslaught of backlash.
My challenge hangs heavily in the air, and many of them are tense.
With a bristle of authority, I raise my chin, voice snapping through the wood mill, “If anyone objects, say it now!”
At that, several other males grit their teeth, flashing them as if prepared to take me up on that offer. This is one of the only times the others are allowed to step out of line for the sake of the pack, to be as unruly as they want to allow me to prove my point. To solidify my decision.
“This is a mistake,” one of them says, moving closer as he puts a hand on my shoulder, nails digging into my skin. “She’s barely a wolf. There are stronger females, better choices—”
“She is my choice,” I snap back, slapping his hand away as I step forward through the crowd, slow and deliberate.
“She’s easy!” someone else calls while the others flock to me, reaching and grabbing while I move through the gauntlet. “She can’t guide us. She can barely shift.”
Even as their claws scratch at me, eyes wild and instincts flaring, I push forward, snarling when some get too brave, showing my own teeth in return. Many flinch back, some scrambling to get out of the way, while others move in to take their place.
“The outcast has a child from someone else. She has no integrity—”
My eyes flash as I pinpoint the male who said it, hand shooting forward to grip his neck, not to cause pain, but to serve as a warning. I lean in, letting a low growl resonate in my chest.
“Finish that sentence… I dare you.”
Fear emanates from him at once, and he swallows hard, immediately wavering.
Smart.
Releasing him with a snarl, I shove him back into the crowd before continuing on my path, enduring the scrutiny. Enduring the initial refusal to accept my decision for both of us.
“You want a strong Luna? You want someone resilient, someone to provide stability and protection?” I ask, feeling the surge of adrenaline and conviction coursing through me.
I look around, taking in their faces, which are beginning to shift into more uncertainty than outright objection.
“I assure you, no one is stronger than my mate. My chosen!”
At my show of determination, the others begin to splinter, shaking the preconceived notions they’ve been holding. Perhaps not through a rational lens just yet, but with the help of my energy cutting through theirs.
“She has endured. She has faced hardships greater than most of you, and yet, here she stands. Brave, unmovable, and with more instincts to protect than she has ever received credit for,” I continue, looking over at her from across the room, the distance between us shrinking as I slowly approach.
“This is not a whim, not a last-minute decision. Even I am not bigger than fate.”
The outrage begins to wane as I move closer, and the claws pull back, less willing to mark my skin while I pass them by. I don’t even feel the stinging from those scratches as I gaze at her.
“Lila belongs under my protection, and by extension, yours,” I say, allowing every wolf in the place to hear me clearly as the shock starts to dissolve into quiet calculation.
“Any wolf here who touches her, threatens her, or challenges her place will deal with me directly. And I promise this… You will not survive it.”
At that, nobody speaks. Nobody even breathes too loudly.
The remaining wolves standing between us part, moving like a single organism to get out of the way. At last, I see her staring at me in complete disbelief, eyes revealing so many emotions at once that I can’t even begin to decipher them.
“I’ve made my decision, and it won’t change.”
The air shifts, and the pack’s resistance buckles under the force of my conviction. It doesn’t come from a love for Lila, but an instinct to recognize the very fact that has been ingrained in their minds for some time now:
I’m becoming the Alpha, and I will not be questioned. If they challenge me, then I will fight without hesitation.
With that same deafening quiet from before, I take up the rest of that space, looking down at Lila like she’s the only one in the room. In the moment, it feels that way.
Her eyes, full of uncertainty and disbelief, search mine as I bring a hand up, slowly nudging her chin with the side of my finger. Her pulse stammers, but she doesn’t pull away.
Then, a beat from somewhere in the mill punctuates the quiet, like a fist banging against one of the crates. Little by little, the others join in, creating an almost eerie pounding of encouragement.
Their approval, regardless of how precarious. Regardless of its source.
The tide of opinion changes, and without hesitation, the others grow louder, celebrating the act and declaration, at the very least.
“Why are you doing this?” Lila asks, voice soft through the noise around us, meant only for me.
“Because I meant every word,” I murmur, taking in her features and barely letting my thumb ghost along her jaw. “You need protection, and if I can achieve that by claiming you, then who am I to deny it?”
Her brows furrow. “I don’t need to be claimed. And you don’t have to humiliate the pack as a result.”
“They humiliated you for years.”
Despite the otherwise unruly elation happening around us, Lila’s mood only sours, lips pulling into a frown. “And you helped.”
That fact burns, but she isn’t wrong.
“Just because I’m standing here doesn’t mean I accept any of this,” she mutters, words lashing at me despite how softly they’re spoken. “I’m letting you have your moment, and that’s it.”
Something in me, perhaps from the high of gaining the pack’s blessing, wants to call her bluff and lean into our connection. To remind her of her confession all those years ago, but I don’t.
This… thing I’m trying to forge between us is delicate, and her bruised feelings are even more so. I’m man enough to admit it’s because of me, and knowing that, I have to be mindful.
Because as hard as I tried to cut the thread between us, it’s alive and fierce with a mind of its own. It’s a truth even I can’t outrun.
It was always her, and it always will be her.\