Kingdom of Wolves - Page 68

“I can understand that, and to be honest, I’d not be here ifnot that the Beta is my father.”

We both exit the vehicle and I grab my duffle from the backseat. Stepping into the packhouse and looking around the main hall. I hate thisplace and until this minute I hadn’t realized how much. Coming back, althoughI’ve not been gone that long has highlighted all the bad.

Hearing my name called, I turn my head and see my fatherrushing towards me. Grasping my shoulders in each of his hands, he gives asqueeze and, to my surprise, pulls me to him and hugs me tightly, somethingwe’ve not done in a lot of years.

“It’s good to get you back, Gabe.”

“Well, I’m not sure it’s good to be back, but we’ll see,won’t we?” I grumble slightly.

“Go get settled in your old room, then come to the office.”

Giving a nod, I quickly climb the staircase and go to myroom on the upper floor. Opening the door, it smells a little stale, so I walkover to the window and open it a little, allowing the breeze to enter.

Placing my duffle on the foot of the bed, I walk into theensuite and freshen up. Not looking forward to whatever is going to be said inthe office, I can’t delay, or it’ll be seen as insubordination, and I’m notgiving any of the assholes here the chance to give me a punishment.

A few minutes later, I knock on the office door and wait forthe call to enter or the door to open. When I hear ‘come in’, I open the doorand walk inside. The first thing I notice is my father standing next to thedesk and Connell sitting behind it.

Bellamy is lounging on the couch near the fireplace withArmon and Weldon in the armchairs. I keep my thoughts off my face, but inwardlyI’m sick to see useless pack members wasting time like this.

“Welcome back to the pack Gabriel.” Connell states and Igive him a very slight tip of the head, showing my respect, although he is notmy official Alpha until the ceremony. “Since you’ve been gone, there have beensome developments which I’m sure you are aware of. Tomorrow the ceremony willmake me officially the Alpha of the pack. I want to make a difference, turn thepack around and build something good.”

Standing like a soldier with my hands behind my back, feetapart, and shoulders back. I hate to be seen as slovenly and unprofessional. Myfather or sire, depending on how you want to view him, taught me to valuemyself foremost, and that way others would see my value for themselves. I waitpatiently for Connell to continue.

“I’ve spent quite some time speaking with Beta Goldman, whohas agreed to continue being my Beta after the ceremony tomorrow. We havespoken of many things regarding the pack, but what concerns you is the factthat I’m making you the pack trainer, predominantly for the warriors. But Iwant you to choose a trainer to teach the she-wolves because they’ve everyright to learn to fight if that is their wish, and a second trainer to whip themale wolves into shape. You will, however, be the Chief and will ultimatelyanswer to me.” Connell steeples his fingers and awaits my response.

My eyes flick to my father and seeing he’s calmly awaitingmy response too, I have no option but to respond. “I can do that, but on theunderstanding that I have control of whom to place in those positions and I maydo what is needed to, as you say, whip them into shape.”

Bellamy snorts and I ignore him because as far as I see it,he and his hang-arounds are a waste of my time and effort. Ignoring him doesn’tsit well and hearing him growl, I turn, letting Phoenix rise into my eyes.

“You have something to say, Bellamy?” I ask, keeping myvoice calm.

“Not sure you’re up to the job, and if you think you canteach me anything you need to think again.” Bellamy snaps.

Before I can respond, Connell snarls. “Shut the fuck up andget out of here. Find yourself something worthwhile to do. You’ll be the firstup on the training schedule, and Bellamy, I’ll be coming to watch, and ifyou’re not up to scratch, you’ll be going back to the beginning of training.Friend or not, you’ll not be given favors when the pack’s safety is involved.”

Bellamy grumbles under his breath and hauls ass out of theoffice, with Weldon and Armon behind him. I do notice, however, that neither ofthem looks happy with Bellamy and his attitude.

“Take a seat, Gabriel,” Connell ask and sighs, giving me hisattention as I take a seat and place it in front of his desk and not one of theeasy chairs near the fireplace.

“After tomorrow, I’ll be forming my inner circle, and I wantyou to be a part of that, Gabriel. I know we’ve never been friends, but I’vealways admired that you are honest and loyal.” Rubbing his hands over his face,I can see the stress written on his face. “I also know it’s been a shitshow foryears with my father as Alpha, and whether or not you consider it weak, I justcouldn’t bring myself to kill him. Now he’s no longer here souring the pack. Iwant to bring something good to the pack, but it will mean upsetting somebefore we can get the improvement I’m looking for. My goal is that we all wantto be here in the pack, want to work together and strive to make a better placefor the pups to grow up in. But we may go down before we come back up, and Ineed to know if you are in with me or not?”

“I will consider your request, but I need a couple of daysif that is okay. I can train and make sure the warriors are trained to thehighest standard, and I can make sure trainers are in place for the pack andshe-wolves to train.”

“Yes, you can have a couple of days to consider, but I hopeyou can see I want to improve the pack and rid it of the stench my fathercreated.”

“We can all do this, but we need to pull together to achieveit. The pack was a popular one when the Winterstorms were Alpha and I hope wecan bring that back to the pack given time.” My father comments, and I lookback at Connell when he speaks again.

“You will address your father as Beta from this point,Gabriel, as I need us all to be seen in the positions we hold. You will beaddressed as Chief Gabriel or Chief Goldman. You will accept nothing less.”Connell states and looks at me closely.

“Agreed,” I respond, because if that’s what he wants, thenit’s okay with me.

The door flies open and Evangeline walks in, in a shortskirt, cropped top, and looking like she’s put makeup on with a shovel. I liftan eyebrow at Connell and wait to see what he does about her bursting in here.

“What do you want?” Connell asks and I maintain a blankexpression even though this is exactly what I don’t want to get involved with.

“Oh honey, I came to walk to the dining hall with you. It’stime to eat.”

If it wasn’t classed as impolite, I’d laugh at herplayacting like she’s sweet and innocent. I flick my eyes to the Beta andseeing his stoic look, I’m sure he’s along the same lines as me.