Awakening the Alpha (8 page)

“After you meet my family, will you tell me why you ran away? I think it is more than about how Wolf Valley changed.”

“It’s all wrapped up in the same parcel.” Turning to him, she smiled softly. “Later. Now, tell me about your family.”

“Not much to tell. My sister married Hugo—he kind of caught her, long story.” He laughed. “She sure is happy. I couldn’t see exactly why before, but now I can. Having your mate in your life is the best feeling in the world.”

“I think I agree with you there.” Surprised at how natural it was being around him, she just hoped when they knew everything about each other they would feel the same way.

They drove through the foothills, heading towards the south side of the mountain. She watched all the houses pass by, surprised, since she hadn’t been out this way for years, that she still recognised old landmarks and could name the people who lived in the houses. Or at least those who used to live in them. Many of them were falling down, the people moved on.

“Here we go,” he said, turning off the road and heading up an overgrown track.

“Wait. Did you say this was where your parents lived?”

“Yes. My mom and dad lived here. We all did when I was very young. But then the alpha of Wolf Valley exiled my dad and we left town.”

Her heart raced and her face drained of blood as she went into shock. “You are Lionel Merric’s child?”

He turned to look at her, his face growing concerned at her accusation. “Yes. You knew him?”

“My dad did. I grew up hearing his name.”

“Because of what happened. I know. I can’t believe he was exiled; it made things unbearable for my mom.”

They had reached the house now. He was right, it was in a bad state of repair, but she could see where they had begun to replace the roof. The porch had been patched up too. Natalie had seen it when it was still in one piece; a few years after the Merrics had left, she couldn’t have been more than five or six, her dad had driven out here. They had sat for a while, her dad just staring at the house, his hands gripped around the steering wheel.

He had looked so old that day, but then he had been old. He hadn’t met her mom until they were both past their prime. It was why they had only had one child, Natalie. If they had been younger, they would have tried for a boy, an heir to Wolf Valley. But when it became obvious they were never going to have another child, her father had no choice but to agree to his power, and the honour of becoming the next alpha, to pass to his beta. It had all been arranged; it should all have been so simple. Until Lionel had betrayed the pack and his mate, by having an affair.

“Why didn’t you say before?” she asked.

“Would it have made a difference?” Riley asked, looking confused.

“I’m just surprised, under the circumstances, you kept it to yourself.”

“I don’t follow. The past is in the past.”

“I know.” She searched inside to see why she felt so upset. “I feel bad that you knew all this, knew our connection, and never told me.”

“What connection?”

“That you are Lionel’s son. You said Kira told you who I was.” It hurt her that he had kept it to himself. “Riley, my dad was the one who exiled your father.”

“Wait. Your dad was the alpha of Wolf Valley?”

How could he not have known? If Kira knew exactly who Natalie was and her connection to the town, why keep it to herself? Fara had done the same thing, kept this secret from him, but why?

“I had no idea.” Could she believe him, or was he a liar and a cheat, just like his father?

Her father was the man who was responsible for the Merric family leaving Wolf Valley, the man he had blamed all his life for their mom’s death. From what Natalie said, she took her dad’s side and thought that the alpha had done the right thing in exiling his dad. But that was hard to reconcile when all his life he believed his dad had been treated unfairly.

“But you said Kira told you. When you asked for my address.” Her voice held an accusation now. She thought he had been playing games.

“Why would I keep it to myself?” he asked

“That’s what I don’t understand. Maybe you thought it would be easier to break the news once we had slept together.” Tears welled in her eyes; she thought he had betrayed her, just as his dad had betrayed his mom all those years ago.

“No. Natalie.” He took her hand, thankful that she didn’t pull it away from him. “I never knew. Although, come to think of it, I did think Kira was keeping something to herself.” He shook his head. “Why didn’t she say?”

“I don’t know. I can’t believe she would do it to be hurtful. I mean, I know I wasn’t there for her when her father died. By then I had left and broken all ties with Wolf Valley. I didn’t find out until months later and then it seemed too late.”

He looked up as two trucks pulled onto the track, heading towards the house. “Here they are. I think it’s time to ask her in person.”

Sure enough, Kira was first out of the truck, although she hesitated before coming forward. Riley got out and came round to open the door for Natalie, helping her down, sensing her nerves at seeing her old friend. Kira looked from one to the other, smiling uneasily.

“You know?” she asked Riley.

“Yes.” He frowned at her, trying to read her expression; he always took Kira for being a good person. It was why the town had made her sheriff, after all. “Why didn’t you say?”

She shrugged. Cole came to stand beside her, and she looked at him a little sheepishly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Cole,” Kira said, her breath shaky. “This is Natalie. She is the daughter of the old alpha.”

“Wait. Riley’s mate is the daughter of the man who exiled us?” he asked, his fists clenching at his sides.

Kira placed her hand on his arm. “Calm down, honey. It wasn’t Natalie’s fault, just the same as it wasn’t your fault. The past is the past.”

“But our mom died because of it.”

Natalie looked horrified. “I never knew. My dad never said. I am sorry.”

“Kira’s right. It’s not your fault.” Riley stepped forward, placing his hand on Cole’s chest, looking him square in the eye. “It ends here, Cole. The past is the past. We are not responsible; we all have our own opinions on what happened. But we weren’t there.”

“And we need to work together,” Hugo said coming up behind them with Bliss and Sol, who looked very interested in Natalie.

“Are you our new friend?” Sol asked.

“I hope so.” Natalie held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Sol.”

Sol giggled as he took her hand and shook it. “Cole said you make cakes. Do you have some for me?”

“Oh. I never thought to bring any. I’ll help you make some, though.” She looked at Riley. “You do have something we can bake with, right?”

“I’m sure we can find something.” But first he turned to Hugo. “Tell us first what you meant, about needing to work together.”

Kira spoke, her hand resting on her gun. “It appears the old sheriff isn’t ready to give in without a fight. He’s got some of the old biker gang together; they’ve been raiding farms on the other side of the valley. We have a bit of a storm brewing.”

“Now would be a good time to tell us you have discovered the power of the alpha.” Cole looked hopefully at Riley.

Riley shook his head. “I don’t feel any different.”

“What do you mean?” Natalie asked. “You thought you would be the next alpha? Why? Because you are the mate of the old alpha’s daughter, or because you are the son of the old beta?”

“Neither. Both. We don’t know,” Riley floundered.

“It was something Colin said.” Hugo stepped in to save Riley.

“What did he say?” Natalie asked.

“That the new alpha would be named soon.” Bliss stepped forward, her baby not yet showing but she glowed with happiness. Riley wanted to protect her, protect them all; he had hoped that the gift of being alpha would have been the key to ending all friction in Wolf Valley.

“And you thought it was you, Riley?” Natalie asked again.

“Only because Bliss and Cole have their mates and have nothing in the way of power. Which we guess the alpha would have.”

“It’s more subtle than that. My dad couldn’t just order people what to do. It was more of a way of asking people in the right way, of allowing them to see their true selves and how they hurt other people with their actions. He made them do the right thing, because they wanted to.”

“It doesn’t matter now. None of us have it.” Cole said sadly. “Now we need a plan B instead.”

“First, I’d like to say how sorry I am, Kira, about what happened with the sheriff … Frasier, and your dad.” She went to her old friend and hesitated. “I know it’s all too late, but I am sorry I never came to see you.”

Kira hugged her. “It’s OK. I think when I lost my dad, I realised how tough it must have been for you. Your dad held everything together, and then my dad tried to do the same thing. When he died, it left me powerless. In a way, I ran too. Only not so far.” She reached for Cole’s hand. “Thank goodness the Merrics showed up.”

“That’s one thing we can all agree on,” Natalie said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Let’s go inside. I need coffee, and I think some homemade cookies would be a good place to start. Nothing like a sugar rush for putting things in perspective,” said Bliss, taking Sol’s hand, who looked lost surrounded by his brothers and sister and their mates. “I’ll help, if that’s OK. I would like to get to know you, Natalie.”

“That would be awesome.” They started to walk in. For the first time, they were all going to be under the same roof, a roof that should have been their family home. Riley only hoped that he could persuade Natalie to come here to live. A task that might be harder now she knew who he really was.

Natalie was glad they were going to spend some time alone. Sol had managed to persuade his brother to go and meet the puppies, now he was waving happily from Cole’s truck as they drove off.

“I hope they liked me,” she asked, standing next to Riley and waving back at Sol. It hadn’t seemed too important before she met them, but they all got on so well that she would hate to be the outsider.

“Of course they did.” But he looked worried, although when he turned to her, his expression softened. “I’m glad we’re alone.”

She put her arms around him, pulling his head down so their lips met. “You are biased.”

“Of course I am.” He kissed her back, harder, fiercer. “I want to take you to bed. My bed.”

“Is that right? Well, I suppose I could make time for you, although there are dishes to do.” She smiled as his hand tightened around her and he pulled her in close.

“They’ll still be there later.” He pulled back. “Let’s go to bed, forget about the world and everyone in it for a couple of hours.”

“You mean forget about Frasier? I can’t believe he was so bad, and now he wants to take over again.”

“We need everyone to stand with us. It’s the only way we are going to beat him.”

“The bikers, will they be a problem?” she asked.

“I don’t know them, but from what Kira said, they have been put in their place since she took over as sheriff. They forget she has had first-hand experience of what has been going on here while Frasier was in charge. She knows exactly who has been causing trouble and how to deal with them.”

“And Frasier has welcomed them to his cause with open arms.”

“Yes. Kira said they weren’t too bad until their old president left. She shacked up with a biker from Bear Creek. She was holding them together, keeping them from making any real trouble. Small-time stuff, you know. But now…”

“I can’t understand why people behave like that. Why hurt others?”

He stopped in front of her, turning around to face her, holding one of her hands in each of his. “Listen, I haven’t been completely honest about myself.”

Her heart jolted to a stop. There was more? She had come to terms with him being the son of her father’s old beta. But if he had been keeping more from her, would she ever trust him? “Please just tell me.”

He shook his head. “You have to remember that my brothers and Bliss were brought up by my dad. He lived in this bitter and twisted drink-fuelled world where he had been wronged by your father. I mean, really wronged. And that the town had conspired against him.”

“They didn’t. I know my father regretted sending your family away. He used to sit and look at this house. It saddened him, but he did what he thought was right. It broke his heart.”

“That is good to hear. I want to lay the ghosts of the past to rest. But I can’t until I’ve told you everything.”

She reached up and stroked his cheek, then stood on tiptoe to kiss him softly. “I’m listening.”

“When he died, he was so consumed with rage, and anger. It was hard for us not to be caught up in it. Especially when we all blamed their exile on my mom’s death. Sol was a reminder of that every day. She died giving birth to him; my dad said she died because of the exile. That it broke her heart to leave everything and everyone she loved. And we believed him.”

“I’m so sorry, Riley.”

He looked at her, his eyes filled with love, but he was also unsure. “I know now that my dad was the one who broke her heart. But when he died, we had no idea. So when he asked us to seek revenge, we agreed. All of us made a blood oath to come to Wolf Valley and avenge him.”

This was more shocking than anything else she had heard today. “A blood oath?” Was he still caught up in that? Did he intend to hurt her, now they were alone in the middle of nowhere? There was no one to hear her cry out. But they were mated; he couldn’t hurt her. Or was the blood oath stronger than the mating bond?

He saw her fear and put an end to it. “No. I could never hurt you. And anyway, Bliss found a way to break it.” He hesitated. “But not before we did some bad things. We stole and damaged property. We hurt people, Natalie. I am not proud of it, and we are trying to make amends, but the past cannot be changed.”

“But it can be forgotten. And it will not shape our future.” She kissed him, taking his hand and saying, “Take me to bed, Riley. For now, it’s just us alone here. That’s all that matters.”