Page 20 of Chasing Dawn

Franklin shook his head. “No. Some live in town, and some have moved to other cities, but we aren’t like wolves. We don’t need to live in a pack to survive, so a lot of the young males move away and experience the human world, then they’ll either return, because they always have a place here, or they’ll find a mate or a career or, like, I don’t know, a cat they really love, and settle down outside the sleuth. We just want everyone to be happy and safe.” He shrugged. “The females tend to stay, especially the ones who have young cubs. Their need to keep their young safe tends to override the urge to wander, but we’d never try to stop them from leaving.”

He sounded like he was trying to convince me, and quite frankly, it was unnecessary. He didn’t beat the shit out of his den mates for looking at him wrong, food was literally everywhere, and the cubs I’d met were smiling and happy. I knew they were good leaders, because I knew what being beneath the boot of a bad leader felt like.

The doors in this part of the den looked more familiar, and I realized we were nearly at the rooms.

This was confirmed when we turned the corner and saw Vance and Talbot leaning against the cool stone wall. Vance smiled softly at me, like he was overjoyed that I hadn’t just been a dream.

Talbot was frowning and staring down at his phone, but he looked up when we stopped, giving me a quick grin.

I dragged my eyes back to Vance and realized his gaze was slowly cataloging me, his Alpha power almost like phantom fingers I could feel traveling along my body, searching for any injury or weaknesses. It was invigorating and terrifying in equal measure.

His eyes finally returned to my face. “We should talk.”

CHAPTER 13

TALBOT

My mind reeled from Vance’s dropped bomb. They were fated mates. How had he kept it a secret for so long? How had he even survived, knowing that his fated mate was across the country, married to another man, and pregnant with his cubs?

I shook my head. Why didn’t he tell us? That was the question that stung a little. No, not a little. That fucker hurt like a bitch.

He’d known she was his fated mate even when we gushed about her as teens, convinced she was the girl for us. We believed she would marry us and move into our den, and we’d have our happily ever after.

The whole time, he knew she was his goddess ordained happily ever after, and that there was never any hope for us at all.

Vance slid a look at me, and his eyes were filled with apologies, though he’d never say them out loud. That wasn’t the Alpha way.

“Your office?” Franklin asked, still blissfully unaware, though he must have known something was off because he was shooting me worried looks. He probably thought it had something to do with whatever Alexander had said after he’d left.

“Let’s go to the sitting room. It’s more comfortable than the office.”

I wanted to storm off and pout somewhere, but I couldn’t drag myself away from Dawn, so I followed along behind the group as they walked toward the suite situated between Dawn’s new bedroom and Vance’s, connecting the two—the Alpha family rooms that he’d eventually take for his mate and his family.

My steps faltered as the full ramifications hit me like a truck. If Dawn was his fated mate, but she could no longer have kids, then Vance’s bloodline stopped. He wouldn’t have any heirs. We bears didn’t really follow bloodlines anyway, but Vance had been the strongest of us for years, and his uncle before that.

We stepped into the room, and my feet led me to my spot—a recliner in the corner. We usually watched pay-per-view UFC fight nights here, as well as just hung out. This was our space to just be Vance, Franklin, and Talbot, the men, and not the leadership hierarchy of the den.

Dawn looked tiny ensconced in the huge couch. Vance stared down at her, the look in his eyes something reverent that I couldn’t believe I’d missed. “Did you have enough to eat?”

Dawn smiled so brightly, it was almost blinding. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this full. Thank you.”

Franklin flopped down on the couch beside her, making the couch cushions—and Dawn—bounce.

Vance took his recliner across from her, his expression turning serious.

“The convocation member has given us permission to take out your Alpha. Are you okay with that?”

She was unnaturally still for a moment. “Yes,” she whispered. I had to strain to hear even with my shifter hearing. She looked pale, and Vance frowned.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded her head, and I could see the steel climbing up her spinal column. “Yes. What will happen to the rest of the pack?”

Franklin pulled her closer. “Is there anyone acceptable enough to lead? Another Alpha maybe?”

Dawn released a mirthless smile. “Alpha cubs met with tragic accidents, until my Alpha actually started just selling them off. There are a couple of strong betas, but—” She swallowed hard. “I’m not sure they’d be much better. They are products of the toxic environment we were raised in.”

I nodded. It happened far too often. “The convocation will give your pack a choice in that case. If it’s what you want, and what they want, then we can set them here on Black Mountain, or they’ll let them join with another larger pack in the area around Reno. What they seem to prefer, though, is installing an interim Alpha who is paid by the convocation. He’ll stay until your pack produces a stable leader, or another Alpha can be found to lead your pack.”