Page 2 of Shadowed Bond

No, I’m only chosen because Thickhead Theo ain’t here. If he was, he would have been chosen; I’m just the spare.

“Ares,” Uncle Damon says as he catches up to me at the edge of the clearing. I turn to look at him, only to find Royce’s sister watching me over his shoulder.

Charlotte Arden has one eyebrow raised, but it’s fucking pointless when her hair is sitting about three inches higher than what’s considered natural and is clearly winning whatever competition her face is trying to start.

“What are you looking at, Arden?” I ask.

The eyebrow rises a further quarter of a centimetre. “You,” she says. I narrow my eyes, but Uncle Damon cuts between us. “Walk with me; just hear me out,” he says softly.

I don’t like this.

Not one fucking bit.

Still, I follow him away from the crowd, because if I don’t, he’ll probably say whatever he wants to say right here, and I hate people in my fucking business, especially those pretending they’re life-sized dolls with too much free access to hairspray that it should be illegal.

We stop near the edge of the garden, beneath one of the trees wrapped in fairy lights, and I feel a sensation around me, knowing Sienna has probably cast a spell. One smile and nod from Uncle Damon confirms it.

Who else was in on this fucking shit?

“Look, I know it’s sudden, but-”

“Yeah, it is. I don’t need a charity pack,” I cut in.

“It’s my life’s work…” Uncle Damon says, looking mildly offended. “Not a charity. It’s an incredible pack, Ares, one who deserves a strong Alpha in their stead.”

I fold my arms, looking away. The Blue Moon Pack has always been tied to the Blood Moon Pack, always close enough that the lines between them blurred, but it is still its own pack. Its own people. Its own history. A pack that followed Uncle Damon because Dad gave him that place, because he earned it, because he stood there and carried what came with it. I wanted to be Alpha at one point, by competing for it, not because I was simply given it.

“Yeah, and if Theo were here, you’d have picked him,” I growl.

His faint smile vanishes. “No. I debated between you and your brothers, but I didn’t even consider Theo.”

“Because the dickhead ain’t here.”

Uncle Damon sighs. “I was thinking this would be easier if I just announced it publicly… This isn’t charity, Ares.”

“It is. If you think I’m becoming Alpha of a pack I didn’t ask for, then you’re in for another surprise.”

“No one asks for titles like this,” he replies, calm in a way that only irritates me more. “But such responsibility is placed on the shoulders of those who can carry it. The final battle is destined to be held here, on these grounds, and when it does, the Blue Moon Pack will need to be at its strongest, to protect its brother pack with an alpha strong enough to lead at its head, and there is no one in either pack more worthy of that title than you.”

“There’s Renji or Carter.” Although I don’t like that bastard right now.

“Making hard decisions requires a special skill, and you are the best fit for the job, Ares. Nothing changes that. So I need- We need you to accept it. Because you are not just an alpha spare; you were born an alpha in your own right. One day, I believe all five of you will have your own packs, and I am simply handing you yours a little earlier.”

“Not convinced,” I say, glancing across at some of the Blue Moon members. I used to beat up the Blue Moon kids at training, and picking on them was one of my favourite pastimes. They definitely wouldn’t want me as their Alpha.

“But I am. Your dad is, too.”

“I’m not Dad.”

“I know that, and I don’t need you to be anyone other than you.”

“If I accept, I’m not listening to you or Dad try to puppeteer the show from the shadows. If I accept, Uncle Damon, I will make every decision, and I will answer to no one.” I look him in the eye, and his smile is gone, replaced by something determined.

“That is what I want.”

Does he, though?

“I’m asking you to become Alpha Ares of the Blue Moon Pack, not the face of the pack,” he continues.