Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,76
think. You’re right. You do need to know what possibly set this off.” I sat down and he picked the seat across from me. “I’ve been planning on retiring,” he started, clasping his hands in front of him, resting them on the table. “It’s for my daughter and myself. I’ve been an Alpha consistently for the last hundred years, and a Council Alpha for fifty.”
“Okay…”
“When Carey was born and I got custody over her, I knew there would come a moment when she needed a father. I started planning for passing on the reins to another wolf once the time was right. He’s my third, Tywin. Good wolf, and a very old friend of mine. My second is Landon, and he’s never had any aspirations for leading his own pack. Tywin, however, once was an Alpha to a smaller pack that I absorbed. He’s well-suited for the role. He wouldn’t become the Council Alpha without the other Alphas in the region agreeing, but he would take this pack from me.”
“Where’s Tywin?” I asked.
“No one’s seen him since this started,” Heath said softly. “I’m worried for him. We’ve been planning for my retirement to be next year. Word was beginning to spread so the transition could start now.”
“And?”
“And some weren’t happy it was going to be him, but it wasn’t their call. They weren’t happy I skipped other options, probably. Some wanted Fenris, but Fenris…no, he’ll never be an Alpha. He can’t. Some wanted it for themselves, and to them, I said they should challenge Tywin when he’s Alpha, but since they couldn’t beat me, they would have to wait to make their point known.”
“Oh…” I leaned back, rubbing my face. “This is so the next guy doesn’t take the throne. Dispose of you before you hand over the reins, because they don’t think you have the pack’s interest at heart. Isn’t it?”
“That’s my best suspicion,” he confirmed. “With Tywin missing, and possibly dead, it’s the best idea I have.”
“Who else wanted power?”
“I could give you ten names and not know which ones are actually the problem,” Heath answered. The other wolves stayed silent, probably letting their Alpha take the reins on this because they might have been ones to preach for other possible options. In the end, they fell in line behind the Alpha they trusted and respected, even if they didn’t like his successor.
“Any close to you?” I asked, curious.
“Some preached for Dean, who refused. Emma being a half-witch removes her from the equation. She’s not allowed to hold real power in the pack, living somewhat outside of it. She and Dean would share my fifth spot of my inner circle if it was allowed.”
“Meaning you treat her like one of the inner circle without making it obvious enough to cause trouble.” I pursed my lips, daring him to say any different.
“For a young, reclusive cat, you know a lot.”
“I had a good education. Plus you make it obvious in the way you talk about her. You respect the hell out of her. You want her to be able to hold some power, half-witch or not. Maybe not Alpha, but something.”
“Good ear,” he complimented.
I shrugged. “So some wanted Dean, and in turn, his half-witch wife that he would probably share power with. Some wanted this Fenris, a very old, somewhat crazy wolf.”
“There’s also…” Heath frowned. “Teagan, people talk to you. Tell Jacky here.”
Teagan jumped in there, rattling off names of people who were suggested to the Alpha and those who presented themselves as options. Most were middle of the pack males who had all the balls but none of the strength. A couple were females, recommended by their mates or lovers as potentially kind leaders who could help the pack look better to humans. They would also give their male mates power in turn, helping them get boosted through the ranks.
“You have to understand. This is pretty normal when an Alpha decides to step down to a peer instead of dying in action,” Teagan said. “It’s not the most common way for an Alpha to go and it leaves all sorts of openings and ideas of democracy and the like. The ‘maybe we can just vote on our next Alpha’ sort of things. The thing is, wolves? We don’t work that way. Until Heath leaves, he’s still in charge, and he’ll train who he sees fit. His successor can deal with the rest when he’s in power.”
“So everything was ‘normal’ until a sniper tried to kill you,” I said