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

ft 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