into his palms. His lip was lifted in a snarl, no doubt revealing his non-human teeth.
“Fane?” Dillon’s voice registered, but it didn’t stop Fane’s wolf from turning his rage on his mate’s father.
Fane felt his wolf’s rage growing inside of him as someone other than his alpha attempted to control him. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and power began to pulse through his body. His eyes lifted and met with the Colorado alpha’s. Fane should have dropped his, but he didn’t feel any submission toward the other alpha. There was no need to turn belly-up because this wolf was not dominant to him. Not anymore. Fane’s power burst outward as he gave up trying to restrain it, and suddenly every wolf in the room, including Dillon, was down, some on one knee, supporting themselves with a hand resting on the ground. Others were on both knees. The only one who wasn’t bowing their head was Dillon, and the strain on his face made it clear he was fighting the need to.
“I don’t answer to you,” Fane’s wolf snarled as a growl rumbled in his chest. “I answer to none other than my mate, and she is not here.”
“Fane.” Decebel’s deep voice rumbled and was filled with agony as if he were in pain. “Your mate wouldn’t want you maiming her father, no matter how worried you are. And you answer to your alpha, your father. You answer to me as your beta.”
Fane didn’t take his eyes off of Dillon as his wolf responded to his father’s beta. “Not anymore. I have deferred to you out of respect for my father, but you and I both know I am not a follower. That is not my future and will not be my legacy.” He paused and slowly let his gaze roam around the room, assessing the kneeling wolves. “They are not the enemy,” he told his wolf. “They are doing nothing to get our mate back,” his wolf snapped in reply. Fane took a deep breath and willed his wolf to let him take control. Whatever power had lain dormant inside of him had awoken. And it wasn’t going back into hiding. But that didn’t mean he was going to be a tyrant. His father and mother had raised him to be better than that. Great power meant great sacrifice because that is what you did for those who were yours to care for. Dillon wasn’t his wolf, but he was his mate’s father and the grandfather of their child. Dillon’s wolves weren’t his, but they were his allies. Decebel was his father’s Beta and also a close friend. As soon as Fane’s wolf was no longer in control, the power seemed to be sucked back inside of him, and there were audible sighs from around the room.
Dillon and Decebel were the first back up on their feet. The others moved more slowly but, one by one, stood up.
“What just happened? What set you off?” Dillon didn’t address the fact that Fane’s wolf had just made him submit. Maybe there was no reason to address it, at least not now. He was Vasile Lupei’s son. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he was more dominant than Dillon or any wolf in the room.
“I was talking to Jacquelyn. While we were talking, she suddenly said someone was coming in and then she shut the bond. I can feel her, or at least what she wants me to feel.” He tried reaching for her again, but the bond was still shut, and unless he pushed really hard, he wouldn’t be getting through.
“They won’t hurt her,” Dillon assured him.
“What makes you think that?” Fane growled. “It couldn’t possibly be because these are reasonable people who don’t like hurting the innocent.”
“I think it because despite Alston’s most recent actions, he’s smart. He knows that you can communicate with your mate, and he knows if he starts hurting them for no reason, he loses our cooperation. He doesn't have all the power, and he’s aware of that,” Dillon explained.
“You mean he’s allowing us to communicate with our mates,” Decebel said. “Alston is powerful enough to lock the mate bond down. Like you said”—he looked at Dillon—“he’s smart. Letting us know that our mates and pups are unharmed is a calculated move, not because he doesn’t have the ability to stop it.”
Fane agreed to some degree. But he didn’t think Alston was smart. He was ambitious. Smart men didn’t take the mate and