Being Alpha_Olde Town Pack Page 8

  “You’re trying to batter me with your importance; I’m just showing you the other side of the coin.”

  “What the hell does that mean? Batter you?”

  “Okay, maybe that was a poor choice of words. You know what I mean. Every other word out of your mouth is all about you and how great you are, what you own, and who you rule.”

  “That wasn’t my intention. Perhaps, though, maybe tone down the bitch just a little. It’s not an endearing quality.”

  She whipped her head around and glared at him with a look that dared him to insult her again. “What did you just call me?”

  “I didn’t call you anything,” he responded in kind. “I said you’re acting like a bitch.”

  “This was a terrible idea,” she growled. “Just take me back to your mansion.”

  The way she emphasized that last word punctuated the contempt she had for him. Ace pulled the car over to the side of the road. Anger replaced the nervous energy he’d been trying to keep at bay. “No. We’re going to take a walk.”

  Emma’s eyes fixed on Ace with a look of fear.

  She was scared of him. The though struck him hard, like a punch to the gut, diffusing the anger he’d felt only moments before.

  Somehow everything he’d tried to do ended up being misconstrued. All he had wanted was to impress her, and now here she sat, inches away from him, looking as if she expected to show up on a milk carton.

  Ace let out a loud sigh and turned his gaze to the dashboard. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. My intention was never to batter you with anything. I simply wanted to show you around. Maybe even impress you a little bit.”

  He waited, but she did not respond. Tempting as it was, he did not dare shift his eyes and look at her. Seeing the terror on her face had been bad enough; he did not need a second showing. Silence grew between them until finally he decided to speak again.

  “If you’ll relax a little bit, maybe not be so quick to judge, we can go do an activity our kind have always enjoyed.”

  He heard the gulp as she swallowed hard, and this time he dared to see what truth her eyes would reveal.

  The fear had dissipated, but she was still glaring at him as if he were the lowest of the low. “And what exactly did you have in mind?”

  “Let’s take a run through the snow and enjoy being wolves for a bit. I’m sure it will help us to both blow off a little steam.”

  Her gaze softened. “That I can agree to.”

  11

  Emma MacBride

  “Oh, my god!” Emma stormed into Fallon’s room. “Why did I agree to share space with that egotistical pig?”

  “I take it things didn’t go well?” Fallon’s face was hidden behind her laptop screen, but when she looked up, her expression was equal parts confused and worried.

  “That man thinks he’s wicked cool. You know, because he’s the Alpha.” Emma lowered her voice and pantomimed being Ace. “I run this city!”

  “He did not say that!” Fallon set her laptop aside on the bed. “You’re screwing with me, right?”

  “He didn’t say those exact words. But the theme was there. He couldn’t shut up about how much stuff he has and how his family has run this place for centuries. Oh, and he’s got connections everywhere. He’s going to make me come back here when the weather is good so I can ooh and ahh appropriately at the majesty of his kingdom, because he’s the Grand-High-Fucking-Pooh-bah!” Emma growled, as she paced in front of Fallon.

  “Sounds like he was trying to impress you.”

  “Who would be impressed by that shit? He was beating me over the head with his self-importance.”

  “Give the guy a break. You’re a pretty intimidating lady.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Emma snarled. “I’m a people person. Easy to get along with. And...and... friendly!”

  “Says the girl who just stormed into the Alpha’s room and started yelling at her.” Fallon locked eyes with Emma, daring her to continue her tirade.

  “You’re my friend. I can talk to you in confidence and be honest,” Emma said, defiantly maintaining her angry tone.

  “It’s because we are friends that we can be so honest. So I’m going to give it to you straight. You are one scary lady. You have the dominance of an Alpha and the smarts to back up anything you say.”

  Emma smiled proudly as Fallon listed off her best qualities, further confirming what she’d just said about herself.

  “But...” Fallon stressed the word. “You seriously lack people skills.”

  “Ouch.” That took some of the wind out of her sails.

  “You would rather bulldoze people than let them have an opinion. And when you get that snarly voice, you come off just as self-important as you claimed Ace was being.”

  “So I’m a bitch, then?” Emma paced the room angrily.

  “You said the word, not me.”

  “Just reiterating the rumors I’ve heard,” Emma struggled to hold on to her anger as it began to morph into sadness.

  “Don’t pout. You wanted honesty; you got it. You have a lot of good qualities, Em. But you have some bad ones, too. Ace clearly sees some good in you, or he wouldn’t have wanted to take you out today.”

  “And all he did was talk about himself,” Emma countered.

  “Doesn’t surprise me.” Fallon let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes. “You’re not any ordinary girl. It takes someone with a lot to bring to the table to catch your eye, so of course he’s going to try to show you his worth.”

  The truth of Fallon’s words stopped Emma dead. She hadn’t thought of that. What she’d taken for bragging might well have been his resume. If that were the case, then she deserved to be called nasty names for how she’d reacted. Either way, the whole situation proved one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: she was not ready to date. She might not ever be ready to date again.

  “Whatever.” Emma shrugged, refusing to admit out loud that her Alpha was right. “I went on the date. It sucked. You guys can’t give me crap anymore.”

  She might not have said it out loud, but the look on Fallon’s face screamed, You know I’m right.

  “On to business at hand.” Anything to change the subject from her love life, even if it involved seeing Ace again at their official meeting. “Am I to play the bitch tonight, or should I save my steamrolling for a better time?”

  “You are way too old to throw a temper tantrum, Em.” Fallon’s Alpha came out in her voice.

  She’d gone too far. Fallon’s words had hurt her pride, and acting out was like a reflex. “Sorry.” Emma hung her head shamefully.

  “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you have such a domineering personality,” Fallon chuckled. “And I don’t have to date you, so that’s a double bonus.”

  “Damn. That was mean!” Emma snorted. “Nicely played, Alpha wolf!”

  “Learned from the best.”

  Emma smiled genuinely this time, glad that despite her obvious shortcomings, she could count on Fallon to be a true friend.

  “And to answer your question, no. I need the extremely professional Doctor MacBride tonight.” Fallon retrieved her laptop and tapped a few keys. “I am relying on your expertise to discredit Leif as a qualified Alpha. We can’t let him back into his territory. I’ll need you to print out at least five copies of the medical workup you did on him.”

  Emma came to sit on the bed and glanced over Fallon’s shoulder to see what she was looking at on the small screen. “I have his physical workup. That’s easy to reprint. But we didn’t get a psych eval on him. Is that going to be a problem?”

  “That might be a problem. And I’m not sure if the Long Teeth have a shrink. We can’t let anything slip through the cracks in our prosecution.”

  “Proving he’s crazy should be easy.” Emma shivered involuntarily, remembering the way his eyes had locked on to her body as if trying to undress her during the examination of him back home. He had given off such a powerful creeper vibe that even now, kn
owing he was deep underground in the detainment center, she could feel his presence. “Just one look at the guy and you can see he’s lost it.”

  “Don’t get cocky,” Fallon warned. “Leif’s a crafty wolf. Aiden and Ace have been working together on this, but the other territories might need convincing to be brought to our sides. I’ve invited Yanira and Regina to join us for an evening out to help engender good faith.”

  Emma lifted an eyebrow curiously. “Where are we going?”

  “Just a little place Vivian suggested for drinks and a show,” Fallon said, with a cocky waggle of her eyebrows.

  No further explanation needed. Ladies’ Night Out with drinks almost always ended with naked men. Fallon knew how to party, and surprisingly Aiden never put up a fight, no matter how rowdy the partying got.

  “After the meeting, while the guys are arguing politics over cards and drinks, we’ll take the women of power out and show them a good time.”

  “Does Aiden know how devious you are?” Emma snickered.

  12

  Aeson Silverman

  “Please tell me no one died while I was away,” Ace joked, as he entered his study and found his brother sitting at his desk, reading a stack of papers.

  “Not yet, but the day is still young,” Jay replied, without looking up.

  “I’m concerned about Tito’s group. He wasn’t very happy about this meeting to begin with.” Ace strolled over and gazed down at the documents littering his desk.

  Whether instinctively or because he had finished, Jay set down his reading, stood, and offered the chair to Ace. “Kept it warm for you. How was the date?”

  “She’s the kind of girl that makes you work for it,” Ace chuckled to himself. Emma was in a class all her own when it came to ball-busting ladies. But admitting defeat to his brother was never going to happen. He took his seat and glanced at the documents Jay had just finished with: correspondence from Leif’s pack. “Their emissary plans to be fashionably late, I take it.”

  “They appear to be happy he’s out of power, and his mate Nikita wants to take on the leadership herself. They don’t have any living heirs.” Jay walked around the desk and took the chair opposite Ace. “You want my opinion?”

  “Always, brother.”

  “Work for it. You won’t find another Emma anytime soon. And before you know it, she’ll be back on the road across the country.”

  “I meant about the Canadian wolves.” Ace glared at his brother.

  “I’m not even qualified to advise on that. That’s why it’s so awesome that you’re the Alpha here and not me.” Jay stretched out in the chair, kicking up his feet on the corner of the desk. “But don’t stress it too much. You have a whole council of Alphas here to determine what the right course of action is.”

  “You’re just as qualified as I am.” He swatted at Jay’s feet. “And if something were to happen to me, guess who takes the lead, brother?”

  “Never. Going. To. Happen!”

  Ace glared at his brother’s feet still resting on the desk. “If Dad ever saw you doing that, he’d have you cleaning the bathrooms with your tongue.”

  Jay’s face reddened he quickly sat right in the chair. “Never want to do that again.”

  “See? And Dad was originally a Second Son... like you.” Ace waggled an eyebrow to emphasize the point. “Speaking of... Let’s bring in Orion and Mom. We should at least be unified on the point before we go before the council.”

  “What point?” Jay squinted, as if straining to focus his mind. “You think they’ll have a problem with you dating Emma?”

  “We’re not talking about Emma.” Ace ground his teeth in an effort to hold back his frustrated tone.

  “Too much wolf for you?”

  “We have more important issues to discuss. Why are you so hung up on her? You think you have a chance with her?”

  “Oh, she did get under your skin. Poor Ace. Is that a bruised ego? Need Mommy to kiss it better?”

  “Look – you want your twenty? Take it. You won the bet. I’m not playing this stupid game when we have real shit to deal with.”

  “Relax, bro. I’m just messing with you. I didn’t realize it was a sore subject.”

  “Emma is the least of my worries at the moment.” Ace pushed the intercom button on his desk phone. “Find Mom, Orion, and Richard and send them into the office.”

  Jay snickered under his breath and tried to cover it with a fake cough.

  “What?” Ace demanded.

  “Dude, you can’t call her ‘Mom ‘in public. She is Vivian Silverman to everyone but us. Nothing says ‘baby boy’ like calling her Mom in a council meeting.”

  “Fuck off,” Ace grumbled.

  “You know I’m right. And how would Emma see it, you calling on your mommy for help?”

  “What the hell, man? I thought you were on my side.” His brother’s taunting had nearly sent him over the edge.

  “Just playing with you. Damn. Lighten up a little.”

  “Normally, your assholery wouldn’t bother me, but seeing as how this is my first official act as Alpha, shit’s got to go well. Stress is at eleven right now. I don’t have–”

  “Seriously. Chill. I’m sorry.” Jay’s expression softened, and he held his hands out in surrender. “I thought a little good natured ribbing would be cool.”

  His brother’s sense of timing was terrible. “Until this is over, just pretend to be an adult, okay?”

  Jay laughed.

  A moment later, the door to the study opened and Peter poked his head in. “Shall I let them in?”

  Ace waved a hand in response to his butler’s question and waited for the council to filter into the room.

  “Orion, Richard.” Ace nodded to each one of them as they took their seats. He paused for a moment as his mother sat down. For some reason, calling his mother by her own name was harder than it should be. He cleared his throat and continued. “Vivian. Thank you for joining me on such short notice.”

  Jay’s eyes lit with laughter for a fraction of a second, but Ace countered with a stare that would have rivaled even their own father’s in its warning.

  Ace jumped straight in as soon as the butler shut the office door. “Tonight’s meeting is bound to be an eye opener for us all.” He held up the correspondence his brother had given him. “As of now, Leif’s mate, the current Alpha Female for the Canadian territories, is on her way to meet with us. She will not be here for tonight’s meeting. It is her request that we execute the sentencing of her mate without her, and transfer power to her once she arrives.”

  “And I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice,” Jay snickered.

  “I’m not a huge fan of letting them keep their territory with the same leadership,” Richard said with a sigh. “But I have to say, the stabilizing effect it could have might be a better alternative to the disruption going on across all borders right now.”

  “Assuming that they don’t intend to continue with Leif’s plan,” Orion added.

  “We don’t know that nor can we find that out without a full investigation, and that takes time,” Vivian said.

  “If we sentence Leif to death, then we must also install new leadership,” Richard replied, before anyone else could answer. “We can’t have another situation like we do in the Midwest, where the territory is fighting among themselves for control.”

  “The alternative is to give Nikita what she wants.” Orion shook his head. “I don’t like being forced into an option because we’re short on time.”

  Ace found himself a spectator in the debate, watching the more experienced members of his council work through the problem with just as much argument as he would have had if he had been able to get a word in.

  “She’s been at her husband’s side for a few years. She has a good rapport with the people,” Vivian agreed.

  “But that also means she was privy to what her husband was doing,” Orion countered.

  “Men don’t always clue their wives in to wha
t is happening. Especially those who follow the old ways. Alpha female is more a ceremonial role than an official one,” Vivian responded bitterly.

  “I don’t want us to debate male and female roles. I want to know what you both think of my support to this claim,” Ace said.

  “So you have decided this?” Orion asked, but the look he gave begged Ace say no.

  Ace pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the weight of his words more heavily than he had moments before. With his council was divided, any decision he made would be looked at as wrong by some of them, but after going through the ordeal he’d had to gain the position as Alpha, it was clear that an immediate transfer of power was the more peaceful option. “I believe for the time being, it is a safe choice. We can always send in ambassadors to their territory later.”

  “You mean spies?” Vivian sounded shocked.

  Orion, however, smirked with approval. “Interesting plan.”

  “We have two territories in upheaval at the moment. Three is too many.” Ace hoped the confidence in his voice was believable. “If we appease one while we deal with the others, we can postpone a larger fight.”

  Jay nodded. “I’m with you. And when the time comes, send me over, and I’ll be happy to nose around.”

  “Always rushing into battles,” Vivian snipped at her younger son.

  “There’s no rush, Mother,” Jay responded. “There’s a job to do. I’m acknowledging this and offering support.”

  “Your duty is here in in our territory, not off in some other country.” Vivian’s expression soured.

  “Unfortunately, Vivian, that is not your decision to make. Aeson here is the one who must dole out responsibilities.” Orion agreed with the young Alpha. “And please add me to the volunteers when needed.”

  Ace appreciated his uncle’s support. Having the backing of a former Alpha meant a lot, but he also knew Orion was tethered to his daughter, Giselle. What happened to one affected the other. A magical bond had been created when she’d woken him from his coma. He could no more risk Orion’s life than he could his cousin’s. Sending him to a potential war zone was therefore out of the question, but rather than say the words aloud, Ace smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Orion.”