Beta

Chapter 2

Charlie wasn't as concerned as I thought he'd be. There was a higher level of anxiety, but he stepped back into the room. It became clear when Konrad appeared.

Ezra looked unimpressed as he helped his brother into the room.

"Morning, all."

Charlie quickly grabbed a chair and helped Konrad to sit down.

"You should be resting," I chided.

"I said that to him," Ezra said tersely. "But he was determined to show everyone in this room that he is a wolf that stands by his commitments."

"And I said that I was prepared to become the subservient Beta. So, I'm here to discuss that with your current Betas to see what they'd like to demand of me."

"Sure. I'll give you guys a couple of minutes. Ezra, could I ask you some questions while I get you a drink?"

He shrugged, following me out of the room.

Ezra was a lot different to Konrad. He seemed less uptight, a lot more laidback.

"If everything goes to plan and you're made Alpha of Black Ridge, would you consider an open border policy for our two packs?"

"I guess so. I mean, my brother will be your Beta, and I can only assume that our mother and sister will want to visit when you have children."

"And as a bonus, our pack members can visit each other. I know that a few friendships were created over the weekend, so it will benefit everyone."

He nodded, taking the offered drink.

"I'm not your standard wolf, Megan. I don't believe in these imaginary lines that hold us back or pack leaders that insist travel stops at their border. There is no freedom in that, no ability to travel."

"Unless you're a lone wolf."

"Yeah, and that's the reason that the lone wolf rate is so high. They don't want to be tied down to one land or risk death by entering another territory. Protecting pack land is understandable but that's only if another leader is trying to take down the leadership. Killing innocent wolves just because they strayed too far over an invisible line is madness."

I nodded, agreeing completely.

"I have an issue that I'd like your opinion on."

"The council's offer of the Blood Moon land?"

"Yeah," I hummed softly.

Ezra upended the scotch before putting the empty glass on the counter. There wasn't much in the glass, but I would have thought that sipping it would be less harsh on the throat.

"It's a tough one. The land is reasonable, and the pack is fairly solid. Your issue is access. You can't amalgamate the land when you've got two packs standing in between. You could place a Beta as a pack manager but that has its risks. Pack managers are great if they have support that is close but you wouldn't be anywhere near them and you wouldn't be able to get to them either. If they're attacked, you could lose the Beta and anyone else that you send there. There are options available and you should probably discuss them with your Betas."

I poured more scotch into the glass, hoping that Ezra would offer a little more. He was certainly full of information.

"You could try and swap with Dark Claw or Grey Hollow, then extend your land into theirs, but that's unlikely to work. Alpha's tend to hold their land close to their heart."

Ezra smirked like he was teasing me. There weren't many similarities between the brothers, but when Ezra smiled like that, I saw Konrad.

"Have you considered selling the pack and land rights?"

"No," I murmured, pouring more into the glass that was being held out at me.

Someone clearly liked the scotch.

"It's permissible in the council's eyes, but you'd need to check that you've got the right forms. They do the research on the territory, the rights and the pack members, then request a valuation. You can then take that valuation to the surrounding packs and offer to sell it all to them."

Ezra lifted the glass. Before he took a sip, he smiled at me.

"You could even split the territory between more than one pack."

That was certainly an interesting thought.

Blood Moon was at the zone border, so going beyond that invisible line was a firm no. However, I could approach Iron Fang and Silver Tails with an offer to buy. Would they take it? I had no idea.

"The Iron Fang pack is dangerous. Do I really want to add Blood Moon wolves to their pack?"

"Probably not, but there are not a lot of choices for someone as geographically challenged as what you are."

Mick appeared at the doorway and gave us a flick of his head. Screwing the cap back onto the bottle, I put it back on the shelf and wandered into the meeting room.

"We will start with the basics. Konrad has agreed to a permanent Alpha and Beta subservience contract where he agrees that as the mate of the Alpha, he will always be below her in pack rank. He has agreed to be the Beta until the eldest child born to the two of you reaches the age of eighteen. He insisted that we state that it will be the eldest child, not the first-born male."

Konrad smirked at me like he knew that any child born would be strong enough to lead, and refusing any female born first would be a mistake.

I shook my head, smiling because he was an idiot. An adorable idiot.

"I'm pretty sure that my Betas know that a female Nolan is capable of anything."

"That we are. Moving along," Gus said as he flicked the page over. "As a temporary measure, Konrad has agreed to a secondary subservience to the current Betas. The term will last for one year, then move into a lesser phase of continuous monitoring to ensure that he doesn't get delusions of grandeur. Do you as our Alpha have anything to say or add to that?"

"No. If everyone is happy, then you can continue."

"The Beta initiation will take place after you have officially named him as your mate and finalized the claim over him."

Which I hadn't done yet.

"Konrad will return to his pack land and prepare for his imminent departure. He will name his brother, Ezra Marlowe as his replacement and then leave Black Ridge land."

"We actually talked about land," I began.

Gus lowered his notebook and looked at me. There were a lot of curious looks facing me.

"We've agreed to an open border policy between the two pack lands. Ezra agrees that our pack members would like to travel and visit friends, especially the ones who were at the meet-up. He also mentioned that their mother and sister would like to visit when we have children."

Gus nodded with a touch of surprise on his face.

"That is reasonable. We will add that to the forms that we submit and suggest that you do the same for when you submit the abdication and replacement paperwork."

"Of course. I'd be in trouble if our mother could not visit. She'd twist my ear until I completed everything and submitted it."

"Then you'd spend the week waiting for confirmation, completely in trouble," Konrad added. "And if Megan goes into labor during that time, you'd better run."

"Well, it won't be necessary, will it? One simple form, and it's done. Maybe you two can keep the wolves subdued until then."

After the weekend that I'd just endured, I wasn'tletting her out any time soon. She took control, and convincing her to let goso that Konrad could be repaired was difficult. I didn't want to face asituation like that again.