Page 87 of Assisting the Alpha
Ayo’s scent sours. “I just can’t wrap my head around how Nyoka’s been lying to me all these years.”
I scent his neck then rub his back gently. I wish there was some way I could make him feel better. To take away the betrayal he’s feeling.
Ayo’s voice thickens. “The whole time you were ordering everyone around last night while Zaiden sat with me, I couldn’t stop thinking about Nyoka having part of my mum’s core in one of his rings.”
My stomach clenches. “What he did was sick.”
“Murdering his own people after stealing their magic is beyond twisted. And I’m probably being paranoid, but I can’t help wondering if he’s been using that ring to sabotage me somehow.”
I frown down at the top of his head. “In what way?”
“This might sound crazy…”
“Ayo.”
“Right. So, I trained really hard for my enforcer tests. I’m more powerful than anyone else, and yes, I know I came on leaps and bounds when Cal started training me, but I wasn’t completely useless before that. Yet during both tests, all my spells went awry. It’s the sort of thing that happened so many times over the years. I’d train on my own or with Zaiden and be confident in my magic, but whenever I tried to show Nyoka, something would go wrong. Even small things.”
“It only happened around him?” I ask.
Ayo huffs. “Yeah. I didn’t make the connection until last night because it wouldn’t have been possible with a mage’s level of magic. But ever since I started working for you, the only time I’ve had my magic fail is when I was confronting the Nagual and when a cat shifter punched through my shield.”
Fuck, that absolute bastard. “He could have loaned the cat shifter the ring. Would it work if a shifter wore it?”
“A normal mage-ring wouldn’t, but a self-contained magical core in a ring? Yeah, in theory anyone could use it.”
As I mull over his theory, the answer becomes obvious. “Sounds like he didn’t want you becoming too confident as you grew up.”
Ayo moves back enough that he can look at me, pain in his chocolate eyes. “But why?”
“So you didn’t take his position as coven leader. It’s standard that the strongest leads, right?” It certainly was in my father’s coven, which he left in order to marry my mother because his older brother was more powerful.
Ayo’s eyes fill with tears. “But I didn’t even want it! Goddess, Ethan, I’m not even twenty-one for three more days. I’ve never wanted to be in charge. Not until I’m a lot older, anyway. The long hours, the responsibility? Yeesh.”
I have no doubt Ayo would make an excellent coven leader if that’s what he wanted. But just because he’d excel at it doesn’tmean he has to do it. “No one’s going to force you now, you know?”
Ayo swipes angrily at his eyes. “I know. I have a pack now. Your pack.”
I don’t blame Ayo for being too preoccupied to tiptoe around my feelings this time. Fortunately, there’s no need to. “I’m going to file the official pack paperwork in the next few days.”
Ayo stops drying his tears and stares at me. “Really?”
I nod. “It’s time I stopped being selfish. It’s the last thing we need to do before the mayor can officially award us the contract, and the team deserve the legal and health benefits that come from being part of a registered pack.”
It’s not something I’d really thought through in too much detail until I was confronted with the reality of what would change for the others beyond becoming the new task force. Registered packs, covens, clans, prowls, or any other group are entitled to guaranteed supe-specific healthcare and education, and are subject to more favourable laws that allow the group to partially govern themselves. It also changes the taxes paid and makes it easier to get planning permission for changes to housing intended to facilitate the group living together. Not relevant in the SAS, but it could change their quality of life now.
Ayo tugs me until we’re lying face-to-face. “Are you absolutely sure? Forget me using the word ‘pack,’ or how the others feel, or external benefits, okay? Because I get it now. How you must have felt when your dad betrayed you and you were forced to leave.”
I hate the pain and anger in his scent. I rub my hand over his arm, unable to stop touching him, soothing him. “I’m sure.”
Ayo manages a smile, although it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Then I look forward to being an official member of the Lupo Pack.”
I wish there was some way I could take away his anguish. The only solution is time, and he’ll likely never fully heal inside, but perhaps I can alleviate it a little.
“Be my alpha-mate?”
Ayo blinks, then sits up, his scent taking on a hint of hope. “Really?”
I prop myself up against the headboard and take his hand, pleased this is proving a temporary distraction. “Of course. The others adore you as much as I do, and you don’t have to do any of the leadership stuff. The traditional job of an alpha-mate is to look after the pack’s emotional well-being, but you can make the role anything you want.”
