The Reluctant Alpha (West Coast Wolves #1) - Susi Hawke Page 0,46

dismissively. "Oh, honey. We were so done with that pack. Tony called as soon as he could and told me to meet him here. In fact, Tony only went today because he planned to ask the territory chief about transferring. Everything we own was already packed and loaded. My parents, too. As much as I wanted to stick around and try to keep an eye on your brothers, I couldn't risk staying much longer. My sons were never going to become miners, especially with some illegal scheme like Alpha Monty had going on. We had to be careful and wait for the perfect time to escape."

"Looks like you found it." I hesitated before asking the important question. "My brothers… are they okay?"

Her face softened into a loving smile. "Don't worry—they've been fine. The pack has been keeping a close watch on both of them in your absence. I'm so sorry you went through everything you did, even if it worked out in the end. Nobody should be traded like chattel in the first place. The Supreme Council needs to do better by you omegas. They're able to keep your poor treatment swept under the rug because of the steps every pack has to hide pregnant omegas from any watching humans. Their judgment shouldn't matter. Maybe one day, we’ll get the right leadership, and they'll do away with it."

"You're preaching to the choir, Christina. But omegas will remain second-class citizens in our society until we get Supreme Council members who have a true mate or omega child. Things won't change until the people in power have a personal reason to make it happen. We make up such a small segment of our society, so most wolves easily pretend our mistreatment and abuse isn't happening." I took a deep breath, blowing my frustrations away as I expelled it. "Enough about the Supreme Council. I have too much on my plate to worry about things I can't change today. It's a good thing you have all your things with you because we're headed to town after this to assign housing."

Christina grimaced, reeking of embarrassment. "Can I be frank?"

Wrinkling my nose, I shrugged one shoulder. "I mean, you could try? But I like you as Christina. Frank is a grouchy old thing with serious halitosis issues." He really was too. Mostly because he preferred to go hunting in wolf form and eat his prey fresh. To each his own, but would it kill the man to brush his teeth when he got back home? Especially before mingling with pack members.

"If I were still your teacher, I would make you write sentences for such an awful joke." She rolled her eyes, then returned to her point. "I wasn't too impressed by what we saw when we came through town. Are all the houses quite so… dilapidated?"

"Unfortunately, yes. The worst of them have been tagged for repairs before anyone can move in. But we have a good number of empty homes to offer nevertheless.” I explained the plan for handling the houses. “And even better? The Gamma Council has already approved pack monies for the most necessary repairs required to make the houses habitable. You’ll have to pay for fresh paint and new carpets, but the important things will be purchased by the pack."

As she nodded thoughtfully, her eyes glittered with interest. "How very democratic of you guys. I like that. Now it's merely a question of whether or not Tony and I can tackle the harder things when we start fixing our place up because I'm sure there will be a lot, after what I saw."

Jared walked up in time to hear her thoughts. After introducing himself, he grinned from ear to ear, delivering news I hadn't known yet. "Thanks to a few of the Newberry Springs deltas who apparently used to work for the power company, I can at least promise electricity. Something I couldn't have offered an hour ago. Our town has been without it for longer than I care to admit."

My eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? They were able to fix it so easily?"

"Seriously. I drove down the hill to see it for myself. Store lights are on all up and down Main Street, and I saw more than one porch light left on when the power blew. It's amazing what can be done when people around you know how to handle those kinds of things."

Jared and I shared a relieved smile. The power situation had been stressing us both out. Asking our