Fighting the Inevitable (38 page)

Millie stared back at the
woman running her mouth off and felt irritation rise at her
derogatory tone. “If Jared chooses to call a pack meeting to
announce our joining, what is it to you? Are you jealous, Loretta?”
She kept her tone saccharine sweet and was rewarded by a flare of
anger in the other woman’s eyes.

“
Why would I
be jealous? I’ve already had Jared, and I dare say once he tires of
you, I’ll have him again.”

Millie laughed. She
laughed so hard she started to cry and had to wipe at her cheeks to
get rid of the wetness there. “I’m sorry I took so long to accept
you, honey.” She turned to Jared, when she stopped laughing. “If
I’d known you’d had to resort to that, I would have come to you
much sooner.”

Jared’s eyes widened
slightly, and then a big grin crossed his face. He had been
concerned about how Millie would cope with the more aggressive
females in the pack, and she was handling Loretta perfectly by not
letting the stupid bitch get under her skin. He reached to pull her
up against him and gave her a very lusty kiss.

“
Play nice
with the females, baby,” he laughed huskily, letting the whole room
hear his words. “It’s been a long time since they’ve had a proper
Alpha female, so they’re a bit out of practice when it comes to
showing the due respect necessary.” His blue eyes drilled into
Loretta, as he spoke, and she held her peace and lowered her eyes,
clearly still unhappy.

“
I’ve called
this meeting for three reasons,” he addressed the room, keeping
Millie clutched tightly at his side. “The first to introduce Millie
as my mate, which I believe has now been done. The second is to
welcome Rafe back home to us.” He turned to smile at his beta, and
there were loud shouts to Rafe, welcoming him home.

“
As everyone
can see, Rafe is much healed and ready to be one with us again,”
Jared continued. “He has asked to take the pack name, and I have
agreed, so he is now to be known as Rafe Hanlon. We owe a debt of
gratitude to his sister Annie and her partner Caleb Ryder for
helping to bring him back to us. I owe a debt of gratitude to you
all for voting to allow Annie to help heal our brother.”

He paused and let the
pack absorb his words and feel his deep pride in all of them. They
were basically a good bunch of people, if a little volatile at
times. He was proud to lead them, and he hoped fervently they were
proud to have him as their Alpha.

“
You said
three reasons, Jared,” Bill Shepherd called out loudly from the
back of the room. “What’s the third one?”

Jared stiffened at the
question. Bill was one of the ‘No’ voters regarding Annie, and he
knew without a doubt he would be one of the loudest No votes to the
coming proposal. Millie squeezed his waist soothingly, and he gave
her a quick smile before he turned back to the pack.

“
When
explaining to Millie about pack life, she asked me certain
questions,” he said, loudly. “Questions I found difficult to
answer. One of her first questions was why didn’t I trust the
pack.” There was an outraged roar around the room, and he held his
hand up for silence, though it took a minute for the noise to
subside.

“
She meant no
disrespect,” he continued when they settled. “She merely wanted to
know why I trusted an outsider to keep our secret, when I didn’t
appear to trust the pack to do so. My immediate reaction was anger.
I trust each and every one of you with my life and the lives of all
our brothers and sisters. But, the more questions Millie asked, the
more I came to realise how much I had failed you as an
Alpha.”

He held up his hand
again, when there was another roar of anger throughout the room. “I
have failed you,” he said to the suddenly hushed room. “Three
generations ago our pack stood at three hundred strong, now we
stand at only two hundred strong. The reason for this is the sheer
number of unmated among us. Too many of the pack are not having
children, and we are slowly starting to decline because of
it.”

“
There’s
nothing can be done about that, Jared,” Bill called loudly. “I fail
to see how you can view your leadership as being a failure because
of it.”

Jared’s gaze locked on
his. “It is my failure, because I allow it to continue,” he said
simply. “We all know Rafe’s almost pathological need to return to
his human life. My Millie also balks at the idea of leaving her
human life behind to become my mate. She asked me why it was
necessary, and the only answer I could give her was because that
was the way it has always been done.”

“
It’s what
protects the pack,” Bill shouted loudly. He was slowly starting to
see where this meeting was heading, and he didn’t like it one
bit.

“
The pack
protects itself,” Jared argued, talking over him when he went to
talk on. “Who says the pack has to protect itself here in this
compound? Think of it everyone, the chance to find a mate of your
own instead of hoping that one is eventually born into the
pack.”

The room erupted loudly,
people jumping up and shouting angrily at their Alpha, others
sitting shell-shocked, as just what he was proposing sank into
their stunned brains. Jared let them shout, as he slowly surveyed
the room. There were more seated than standing. He didn’t know if
that was a good sign or not. He hoped it was. Millie was trembling
slightly at his side, and Rafe had taken a step closer to her, his
big body coiled and ready for his Alpha’s command.

“
This is
outrageous!” Bill screamed over the others, his lined face red with
fury. “You only suggest this because of your mate’s unwillingness
to become one of us!”

His accusation startled
Millie out of her fear and she looked at the man for a long moment
as the rest of the room suddenly fell silent again. Everyone was
still looking at her, most probably waiting for her to run
screaming from the room. If Jared didn’t have such a tight grip on
her, she would most likely fall to the floor. She drew herself up
straighter, knowing instinctively that she couldn’t be seen to
crumble. If the pack thought her weak for one moment, then Jared’s
leadership would be in jeopardy, and she couldn’t let that
happen.

“
Yes, I don’t
want to give up my human life,” she said truthfully, swallowing
down her fear and surveying the room slowly. “I like it, and I
don’t see why I should be confined here in this compound with the
only explanation for it being that’s the way it’s done. If the pack
chooses to remain as they are, then I will make the change, and I
will come to live here. I will do so, because that’s the only way
Jared can have the heirs he so desperately wants. I will do it for
him, because I love him.”

There was a murmur of
approval and she held up her hand to halt it. “But, I will weep,
when I do so. I will not weep, because I no longer have my human
life. I will weep, because I will be mated to this wonderful Alpha
and bearing his children, while three quarters of my new family are
doomed to never know the joy I know. There is a finite time for
some traditions. It is not wrong to examine those traditions and
amend them, if necessary.”

The room remained silent
when she stopped talking, and she felt Jared’s gaze on her, but she
was too scared to look away from the faces in the room. She wanted
to meet every eye to try to gauge what they were
thinking.

“
I still say
this is outrageous,” Bill yelled loudly, when the silence wore
on.

“
Oh, put a
sock in it, Bill,” Loretta complained from the front row, causing
Millie to start in surprise. “It’s all right for you. You’re
already mated and have had your children. What about the rest of
us, the ones who aren’t betas and will never get the chance to
mate? Our Alpha talks sense.”

“
She’s not
Alpha, until she mates properly,” Bill shot back, furiously. “She
has no right to even be speaking here on this subject!”

“
She’s Alpha
Bitch, if I bloody well say she is,” Loretta snapped back, standing
up and glaring at him. “I’ve been leading the females for over
three centuries, and if I submit to her, then she is the Alpha and
you can just keep your big nose out of female affairs!”

Loretta’s unexpected
championship stunned Millie. She stared at her, until she turned
around and sat down again. The wiry woman nodded in her direction
and folded her arms.

“
Thank you,
Loretta,” Millie said quietly, knowing that something momentous had
just happened. “All we ask is the pack consider the possibility of
leaving the compound to search for their mates or live among
humans, if that’s what you really want to do. No one will be forced
to do so. The option will just be there, if you do want to. New
mates will not have to give up their human lives, if they don’t
want to. It’s time to bring the pack into the twenty first
century.” She tacked her brightest smile onto the end of her words.
“And, can we lay off with the Bitch stuff, too?” she asked with a
little laugh.

Jared’s heart swelled
with pride when his woman literally charmed the pack with her keen
intelligence and quick wit. Ripples of laughter were going around
the room at her last comment, and she was quite literally glowing,
as she turned to look up at him to see if she had done okay. She
had seen a side to them he hadn’t been prepared to show her yet and
she had stood strong by his side.

“
You are
amazing, my Millie,” he said softly, cupping her cheek and stroking
it lightly. “You would really join with me, if the pack votes
no?”

“
My life is
with you now, Jared. How could I ever deny you the chance to have a
complete family? If the pack vote no, I will mate with you properly
and give you the children you so dearly want. I will do the same if
they vote yes, too,” she laughed, softly.

“
I love you
so much,” he whispered, his handsome face full of joy, as he bent
his head and caught her lips in a tender kiss.

“
I love you
too, Jared,” she whispered against his mouth, as Rafe coughed
discreetly at their side.

“
I think the
pack is ready to vote, boss,” he said, with a little
laugh.

Jared and Millie turned
to face the pack again and were startled to see so many smiling
faces looking at them. Millie blushed scarlet, and Jared chuckled
loudly. “So embarrassed over a little kiss, Millie? Just wait until
you find out what’s involved in an Alpha mating.” Her eyes widened
slowly, and she opened her mouth to ask, but decided maybe she
didn’t want to know right now.

“
I call the
vote,” Jared called. “Please stand if you agree with the change in
pack law with regards to its segregation from human life.” There
was a shuffle of feet as people stood.

“
Please stand
if you are opposed,” Jared called and there was another shuffle of
feet.

“
I declare
the vote is in favour of amending pack law,” Jared smiled broadly.
“There will be a lot of work involved, as we work out the logistics
of how we are going to fit in with the humans around us. If anyone
has what they feel would be helpful skills to work towards that end
then please see the betas. I declare this meeting over.”

Rafe smiled, as Jared and
Millie mingled with the pack for a little while, and then
disappeared back to the Alpha’s house. Bill and some of the older
ones were still grumbling about the meeting, but the pack had
voted, and they would eventually calm down and accept the changes.
If they were that set against the idea then they would leave and
join another pack.

His brown eyes surveyed
the room slowly, and he finally found Loretta staring at him with a
speculative look on her face. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she
wandered over, as he perused her with open appreciation. She looked
like she might be fun to tussle with.

“
So, you’re a
Hanlon now,” she said with a smirk on her face. “Guess that makes
you Jared’s adopted brother.”

Rafe frowned. “How do you
work that out, Loretta?”

She gave him a
disbelieving look. “You think the Alpha lets just anyone take the
pack name?” she asked, incredulously. “He’s never allowed anyone to
do so before, Rafe. Jared Hanlon was letting the pack know tonight,
in no uncertain terms, that you are now officially his
brother.”

He stared at her in
stunned surprised, and then he started to laugh. “I need to learn a
hell of a lot more about pack life.” He had the distinct feeling he
had just let himself in for more than he’d bargained for by
becoming Jared’s adopted brother.

“
I could help
you out with that,” she said slightly huskily, threading her arm
through his.

Rafe looked down at her
and smiled. What the hell, she was a good-looking woman, and he was
still available for now. He leaned down and fisted his hand in her
short, dark hair, bringing his mouth down hard on hers and growling
when she met his aggressive kiss with an equal ardour.

“
Why don’t
you teach me, then?” he breathed against her lips, and laughed when
she growled her pleasure and pulled him from the room.

~~~~~

“
Jared, what
did you mean about the mating with an Alpha comment?” Millie asked,
unable to keep her concern from her voice, as they slipped into his
house. Her blue eyes sought out his and saw the laughter in them,
which made her frown.