Beta

Chapter 3

My Betas suggested that it would be a good idea that I marked Konrad as my mate. Not only was he here negotiating a future that would see him become my Beta, but he was also abdicating his rule. I had to do the right thing and show him that his efforts wouldn't be wasted or that I would refuse when he turned up. The initiation would take place after I claimed him but that couldn't happen until he relinquished his role as Alpha of Black Ridge. He couldn't pass over the rule to Ezra unless he had a Beta that was willing to take on the role and it was clear that his brother wasn't accepting anything until his new role had been confirmed.

It was a domino effect that all started with me.

Ezra and my Betas remained downstairs, allowing us privacy in the rooms upstairs.

"You know that she will want to dominate."

"I accept that."

"She will not tolerate any poor behavior from you."

"She won't get any of it."

I moved closer, hoping that Konrad understood what I meant.

"My wolf is not as tolerant as you might think she is. Once she knows what you smell like, she will expect it to remain like that. Come home with the stink of women on you, and she is going to take you down."

"I know that you have issues with Alphas, but I won't be one, will I? I'm not that kind of guy anyway and please don't rehash the Shelly argument. I did as your father asked of me and you might not believe me, you might not agree but that's how it was. She had expectations and when I faltered, she noticed. I almost blew the entire thing wide open when I tried to back out of it one night."

I walked over to the desk, picking up the stack of applications.

"Do you see these?"

Konrad looked at them, and then his gaze lifted to me.

"What am I supposed to be seeing here?"

"They're all lone female wolves. They have been arriving since you won the fight. Why do you think that is?"

"They think that I'm going to become the Alpha."

"Bingo. My trust is limited at best. Don't think that it's your fault. You're just the one that has to suffer. It doesn't help that they're sending the applications here rather than to your pack. To me, it says that they've already figured out that you're going to pass the rule over to Ezra and that you'll be here in my territory."

I flicked through the applications, looking at the names. All but one was returned to the tray. Jackie had applied, and because she spoke to me long before the fight and had already shown an interest in entering this pack, I decided to take a deeper look into her application.

Konrad watched as I fed the other applications into the paper shredder. He then glanced at the one that survived.

"She spoke to me Friday afternoon. I will take the time to consider her application. These others, I will not. My wolf is already antsy. I can't accept a situation that could rile her up even further."

Konrad moved closer, pulling me to his body.

"I accept the destruction of unnecessary applications. It sends a clear message to anyone who thinks they can walk into this territory and tempt the leader with their bodies. This wolf is not to be messed with. She's possessive and not afraid to show it. She will not bow down to a temptress trying to steal her mate. She will destroy anything and anyone that tries to claim what is hers."

His hands moved over my back, sliding over the waistband of my jeans before settling on the curve. With a wild grin, he pushed me closer.

"Her Beta is no better. He believes that his Alpha might just be wrong about who those naughty wolves are willing to chase but accepts that she might be right too. It would be delightful to watch his Alpha and a female trying to buy her way into the pack, but he has decided to show a lot of restraint and bite his tongue. He won't ask to watch any favors she might receive from the female applicants because he fears that his lovely Alpha might just put his favorite appendage into that nasty paper shredder."