in the discussion, considering my mate was the new omega of the pack, but somehow, I couldn’t find it in myself to even think about that.
“We just have to wait until she’s ready to shift back.”
Ethan’s brows rose. “Don’t you think we should try to force the shift?”
“Why force it? She’s on this path for a reason. And now that we can communicate with her, even if it isn’t perfect, we can make sure we start on the things that really matter.”
Austin frowned. “What’s that?”
“Finding the son of a bitch who thought it was okay to transform a woman at a carnival.”
Rage swirled through me at the thought.
“There aren’t any other alphas in the pack.”
“No. Not except for you two.” I scrubbed my chin. “You know the council is going to point fingers at you, don’t you?”
They tensed beside me, and I shot Austin then Ethan a glance. “You know I don’t think you did it, right?”
Ethan frowned. “Why don’t you?”
“Because you’re not that way. Plus, you’re loyal and, as far as I can see, have no inclinations to be the leader of the pack.”
Austin snorted. “Fuck that.”
Ethan simply quirked a brow. “They wouldn’t answer to us anyway.”
There was that.
The pack was incredibly shortsighted where litters were concerned.
They treated Ethan and Austin like they were the second coming of Satan, not a pair of boys who’d been cosseted in the same womb at the same time.
“Appreciate your faith in us though,” Ethan said gruffly.
“Me too,” Austin chimed in. “Brandon wouldn’t have believed us.”
I grunted. “Might be time for a new beta.”
Ethan’s eyes flared wide. “Why would you say that?”
“His prejudices are starting to piss me off.” And that was no goddamn lie. He was also a superstitious motherfucker, which drove me insane.
We had our customs, and I was fine with following them, even if, sometimes, they felt a little crazy to me—case in point, last night, which, fuck me, had worked—but Brandon always wanted to take it to the extreme.
There were some progressive thinkers like me, who didn’t need to go to the totem every time they couldn’t decide whether to go for a shit or to take a leak.
“Been thinking about it for a while,” I told them. Had been thinking, in truth, of making one of them beta, and leaving the other as my enforcer, which wasn’t an official role, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make it one.
For the past two years, I’d tried to follow in my father’s footsteps, wanting the transition to be easy on everyone, my mother included. With her gone, I could do whatever the fuck I wanted without fear of besmirching my father’s memory in her eyes.
I loved him, and he was a great dad, but as an alpha? He’d been fire and brimstone. That wasn’t my style.
“What do you remember of the attack, Sabina?” I asked softly, rupturing my own thoughts, which were painful. Memories and grief swirled together to form a clusterfuck that made me want to go to bed and just sleep for a week.
Instead, I had someone posturing on my territory. But this level of posturing far outweighed a challenge.
It spoke of an alpha who knew he couldn’t best me in a fight. Which made him a Mother-damned coward.
“It was dark. I didn’t see them.” The reception was spotty, and I knew that phrasing was crazy, but it was how it was. I felt like I wanted to turn up the volume in my head.
“It wasn’t a ‘them,’” Sabina,” Ethan pointed out softly. “It was a wolf.”
She shook her head. “No. There were two.”
Austin groaned. “Motherfucker. They’re really going to think it’s us now. We were the first on the scene, and I know Annalyn and Jessalyn knew we were at the carnival because they asked me about it at the diner yesterday when they served me breakfast.”
I pulled a face. “Think they’re trying to frame you?”
Ethan raised his brows. “Could be.”
Austin grumbled, “Wouldn’t put anything past the council.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“You’ll want to smack the shit out of me for this, but I’d prefer this to be a challenge over you than my position.”
Ethan grunted. “Thanks.”
My lips twitched. “The former is easier to handle.”
“Your hold on the pack is absolute,” Austin stated with confidence.
“I thought as much to be honest, that’s why this came as a surprise.”
Ethan dipped his chin. “If they are trying to frame us—”
Before he could say another word, I muttered, “Who have you pissed off lately? More than most, I mean?”