Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Tristan had the utmost faith that Austin did. When Austin was the one being challenged, anyway. He wondered how Austin would handle it when an alpha challenged Jessie, something that might happen very soon. He couldn’t imagine the big man would take it lightly.
Then again, in the world of shifters, he also didn’t have much choice. And if she wanted to lead, neither did she.
17
Austin
He knew of every single alpha at this meeting. He’d sought out Drex specifically because he had the ear of these shifters. They were tough, they were vicious, and they clawed their way toward prosperity. They were the muscle—the packs that could pivot on a dime and were used to hard times. None of these men and women had been handed anything. They’d all started with nothing, unlike Austin himself. Unlike Jess.
They also wanted Austin to prove himself, and they’d be hard judges.
Fine. He’d show them the side of him that he tried to keep buttoned up when in the presence of generational alphas with their trust funds and their sprawling, largely peaceful packs. He’d show them what had earned him the bad reputation while also showing them how he would overcome it. He wouldn’t have guessed this just two days ago, but going into this meeting and expecting violence, he was in his element. He didn’t have to hide who he was, the wildness that lurked within. He could display the way he came to have a pack and how he’d keep it moving forward without hesitation. He’d show them how he could protect them all.
By the time Austin arrived, orderly lines of hard-eyed shifters waited outside of Drex’s house, and at the head of each waited an alpha, he or she facing the inlet of the street. As before, Drex stood on his porch, his upper tiered enforcers spread out on either side. Just like at the meetup with Kingsley, these packs wanted to see Austin’s arsenal.
Austin parked the Jeep at the curb. His people followed suit. He got out first and crossed in front of the vehicle, stopping at Jess’s door. He opened it and waited for her to get out before taking her hand. He showered her with his full attention and kissed the inside of her wrist, a show of devotion for his mate and co-leader.
It was also a warning.
These alphas should know the rules of a meeting like this, but that didn’t mean they always followed them. If they broke code and endangered her in any way, he’d kill them without hesitation or remorse. Now they knew.
Her wariness crept through the bonds. She read his mood and sensed the danger.
“Treat this as you have past meetups,” he said as he walked her to the center of the street. “As you did Kingsley’s. If anything kicks off, react however you need to, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll handle whatever comes.”
“Okay.”
“I love you.”
She squeezed his hand. “I love you, too.”
His people separated into their lines, gargoyles on one side and shifters on the other. Shadows curled around Tristan’s large frame, and Brochan walked with his shoulders rolled forward, as though headed toward a brawl. Their lines created a V, in the middle of which flocked Jess’s crew. Surprisingly, however, they didn’t form a loose hoard like at the last meetup. This time, they walked in a mostly straight line until everyone as a group stopped, and then they jostled into a few uneven rows. Indigo didn’t even trip.
“Alpha Steele.” Drex inclined his head in greeting. To Jessie, he allowed a tiny smile before putting out his hands. “No muumuu? I wore mine.”
She returned his smile, albeit nervously. “I confess, I didn’t know it was an option. While we’re talking about dress code, I don’t think flip-flops would go amiss.”
Drex glanced at her feet. “Then how would we pretend we’re so tough by walking on the rocky ground?” He looked around at the other alphas. “Let me make introductions.”
He gave the alpha’s names, the age of their packs, and their various locations. He also mentioned what they’d started with—very little—and what their townships were like now. For each one, Jess showed how impressed she was with the growth and nodded with each point.
“And this is Jessie Ironheart and Austin Steele, original alphas of the Dusky Ridge Convocation. The convocation is nearly a year old, incredibly new, but already the size of three towns and growing. They reside in the Sierra foothills, where I will look into moving my pack. I must confess, however, I don’t have the details of what they started with.”
Except he did, knowing that Austin had inherited a fortune from his generational family. He was allowing Austin to define his wealth. Or maybe wondering if Austin would make light of it to better fit in.
He had nothing to hide, and he’d never fit in. He’d made peace with that after visiting Kingsley’s territory following the long time away.