“inevitable” took longer than just a few hours. “No blood spilled?”
“Nope,” Mercy said cheerfully—and very quickly. Which made Henry suspect there was a lot more to the confrontation than any of them wanted to admit. The other wolf smiled with all her teeth and hopped to her feet, gesturing for Fran to go with her. “Let’s make some coffee and get some snacks before dinner, shall we?”
Fran followed meekly, not even looking at him, and Henry fought down anger that Nola could ever have planned to force the poor girl to mate with Henry. How could she have suggested such a thing? He kept a handle on his irritation though, when he considered all the challenges Ophelia faced on a daily basis. The least he could do was have a civilized conversation with his sister.
Once the two younger women had disappeared into the house, Deirdre looked at Nola and raised her eyebrows. “You’re welcome to stay for a few days, as we said, so long as Henry doesn’t object. But you’ll have to settle down a bit and give up this plan of dragging him away against his will. It’s not going to happen.”
Nola’s expression darkened. “He has an obligation to his family.”
“His family had an obligation to him,” Evershaw said, tone sharp and carrying more growl than normal. “And his family failed him. He owes you nothing.”
“Who else is in line for alpha, Nola?” Henry asked. He felt tired all the way to his bones, and regretted leaving his room. He should have slept beside Ophelia and just called it a night, left all of this nonsense for the morning.
She blinked and folded her arms over her chest. “No one, because you’re—”
“You can’t tell me that no one challenged Ulrich in the years since I left. There have to be other males in the pack who want to take over.”
Nola’s gaze slid away from his. “There are a few, but none who are meant to lead.”
“Sean or Hendrick, maybe?” He searched his memory for any of the males who might have grown strong enough to lead a group of half-wild gray wolves in the middle of nowhere. “Cappy was a good dude. Why wouldn’t he—”
“They all left,” she said. Nola swallowed hard and for a moment, real fear lurked in her gaze before it was replaced with determination. “Ulrich drove most of them away or they died.”
Evershaw grunted, some of his irritation fading. “I’ve seen it before. Better just to disband the pack, let everyone go their own way until they find a new place to belong. Get rid of the bad memories and just move on.”
Nola’s cold gaze moved to the alpha. “There are too many women and children to try and break up the pack now. We don’t have enough money to split everyone up and make sure they get somewhere safe. The best option—the only option—is for Henry to come back and take his place as alpha. He can fix things. He can get the pack strong and healthy again.”
Henry’s heart sank. He’d always feared something like that would happen when Ulrich got too abusive and violent. Those who had the strength and resources to leave would leave, and those left behind... would be stuck. His chest ached to think of the weaker members of the pack left with no one to protect them. “It can’t be the only option, Nola. You can be alpha. You’d be a great leader.”
She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “You can’t be serious.”
“You’re bitchy enough to be a leader,” Evershaw said under his breath, ignoring the dark look Deirdre sent his way.
Henry raised an eyebrow at his sister. “My father was your father. There’s no reason it can’t be you.”
“We’ve always had male alphas,” she said. “That’s just how it is.”
“And where did that land us with Ulrich?” Henry asked. “It’s time for a change.”
“You just don’t want to go back,” Nola said. She folded her arms over her chest, but Henry thought maybe some of her anger had waned.
He shrugged. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean you’re less qualified because of it. You know all the people, you know what they need now. Why wait for me to figure all that out when you can fix it now?”
She shook her head. “You know how they are, Henry. It won’t work if I go back and announce I’m going to be the one in charge. No one will listen.”
“You make them listen,” Evershaw said. “That’s what alphas