An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 11

Ryan chewed on his bacon whilst his sister bustled around the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone.

The elders had already been and left, slightly shamed faced as they reported their night's findings. Ryan now knew how the enemy wolves had got passed his security features. It had nothing to do with their skills and everything to do with the prejudice within his pack.

Apparently some of the elders hadn't wanted the council enforcers to see how much the pack relied on human technologies to protect themselves. According to them it was too shameful. So they'd taken it upon themselves to turn off the security system after the enforcers had arrived into their territory.

Both Ryan and his father had gritted their teeth throughout their explanation. His father hadn't been overly pleased by the cameras himself but you couldn't doubt their effectiveness and so he'd grudgingly helped put them in place. He was outraged they'd chosen to do something so idiotic.

It wasn't the fact they'd turned the cameras off, that Ryan found the most worrying, but that they had acted against his instruction. Believing instead that they knew best what to do for the pack.

Ryan may not have wanted the title of Alpha five years ago but it was a job he'd been groomed for since before he could walk. He was Alpha for a reason and when his orders weren't followed it could result in disaster. His wolf was still bristling from their stupidity but Ryan was managing to rein in its anger.

Still, he worried about what other orders the elders had decided to alter.

Their punishment had been swift. Pack law was all about dominance, so they'd shifted to wolves and Ryan roughly bit into their necks. The effect caused only mild bruising but it was a sign to the rest of the pack that they'd disrespected the Alpha. None of the men fought against it but he didn't feel the type of submission that he should command. His wolf had been plicated but not overly pleased.

Sometimes he felt that if only his father supported him more in front of the pack those elders would find it harder to cause trouble. But his father was not that type of person. He wanted Ryan to learn on his own and that meant fighting for his right to be Alpha without his help.

He needed to find a way to put the elders back in their place and rally the rest of his pack to his side but right now there just didn't seem enough time.

The atmosphere in the pack had reached a new low after yesterday's events and although everyone had survived, it had been a close call for some.

Elaina's miracle healing mixture had been distributed to the injured but many had refused to use it. They distrusted both her and Lenah after rumors spread about what Lenah had managed to do to the enemy wolves.

It didn't matter that what she'd done saved Connor's life. They had taken one look at her markings and sworn her off as dangerous. How he was going to introduce her to the pack as his mate was beyond him. He was sure the elders would have something to say about it and he gritted his teeth in frustration.

He could hear his parents whispered conversation at the end of the table and tried to drown them out. They'd already tried to talk to him once this morning but he wasn't ready to speak with them. Their words from last night were still running through his head, making his already tenuous hold on his anger even weaker.

He had wanted to go and check on Lenah as soon as he'd woken up but hadn't wanted to disturb the two sleeping women. His wolf had wanted to barge through the locked door but Ryan knew his mate needed time to heal.

He'd managed to calm his wolf by convincing him this was what Lenah needed. His wolf had grudgingly accepted so instead he'd met with Luke to run through what had happened during the night.