Black as the Forest (All the Hounds of Hell #1)
vel
a pool, in my bikini, and taking in the sun. And the most
rgarita, doing my best impression of ba
steps before
rection when he came into view, but I didn'
utiful day, miss D
" I answer
ompletely erased from his eyes. He was one of those men who aged well-like wine-wi
ng at me, elbows resting on his knees. Not many men can pull out a white suit, but h
m relationships, but more the type who walks into a club with a gorgeous woman on each arm-a bit of a pla
abit or amiability than with any ulterior motive-though, I'm
w I look nice-all the money I give
those who do either back off when they learn of my family, or are interested only
imes when t
upid or ill-informed to attempt anything nefarious t
or how others behave. Besides, he's the o
ng us tomorrow?" Alp
a last-minute su
about a little last-
I answered with the same mis
een asked to come, but it would be nice to ha
g a Devon as your plus one in a political shindi
" he shamele
call home. See how it goes, " I
actually, so I didn't
rd to keep up with him. He's always going somewhere-to help an ally, or offer backu
a troublesome coven, I think.
ing from one place to another, keeping
g to this shindig-he told me he had to meet with one or two in person, and it wou
ons at the same time, while meeting up with him to leave tog
when I really
arr
hold was
quite impossible. So I did what I do best
king up the slack, or just sortin
ehow, everything strangely worked out. You ask yourself along the way, 'why the hell did you get yourself involved in all this?', but when all is said
tch or three, and indulge in smaller meet ups. But hosting the Northwest Summit, or any such summit for
r, my fa
t Alphas tend to give up their position before they get old enough-or worst, weak enough-to be challenged. That being said, giving the power to someone unprepared or too young is very ris
. Back before human anthropologists even decided to call leader
nd not to survive, so only the alpha pair tend to breed, but werewolves are different. Part of us is human, and weak or strong, as long as you
ciety, political marriages have been a thing. So now, an Alpha bloodline nearly alw
jungle. For us, it gets a l
n line from the get go. The Alpha can train his heir and prepare him properly. So the son becomes
it rarely even happens. Even then, generations of selective breeding has
d, could still be potentially more powerful th
take power. Most find it simpler to name the oldest has heir, and not put any ideas in any other son's head, but other families
the oldest, is the one
fe preparing and training
e's gonna
eat, but I respect him. He's a good gu
fice, crouching numbers a
fear he might go bald
with that
at me. "Please, for all tha
took a look
much left to do, " I said as
id while dropping on the sma
nt a
to find it. It would have been a little faster if he'd tell me it wasn't balancing right to begin with, but
of my typing and occasional shifting
?" He still had an arm over his fac
ly need my help, " I
e you're just
top
e of exactly?" Anger
ave an ulterior motive,
t any help you could have just said so. I just spent an hour doing your job to get accused of scheming whatever.
t accusing you of a
that's not what this
xcuse to hide from Mom and Dad, I wasn't impl
before letting
asked, then resumed my work. I sa
ll?" he fina
ccused me o
hrug
r a full ten minutes w
done, " I fi
promptly. "Yeah?"
ea
s qu
more these last few nights, you'd
ybe, " he
stressing
fingers through his hair all the way to the back, letti
else stress
I don'
ng things out. I mean, everyone is helping, even Max got this head out of his ass, which is quite an achievement." That got a smile on Michael's face. "And in a few days, it's all gonna be back to normal, we'll all return to annoying eac
y make it
You havin
ere are some preparations that a
it dawned on me. "Like a
power someone who can't
me medieva
actly Dad'
e gives you a hard time
e type to say it out loud, just
ttles early. You still
don't hav
an make that bond with anyone. You can even find a nice daughter of Alpha somew
rima
?" I
fine and everything, but in my situation, it puts me in a wea
eone just to please your own father. You're gonna be Alpha, so make sure your backbone is in place because he's never gonna respect you otherwise, and if he doesn't respect you, then it's gonna be hard for the pack to respect you. And thirdly, you don
his as validation
alidation for a challenge
ghed a
about this? None of u
raised always on their toes to step in if anything goes to shit. So, they're always
eft the words hang as if that was
is, and he constantly wonders where he's at. And Ana is a tornado and he can barely hang on for dear life. Max, w
snorted
Not for my career, or position in the pack, or a significant other, not even
a Joe average type face. Though, he had airs of assurances around him, his own brand of charisma I guess
nna find your place
said sarc