The Alpha and The Fool novel Chapter 20

“Hey, Nic, where you bee — whoa, what happened to you two?” Jon asked as Dean, and I left the gym. He quickly shook his head, help up his hands. “Actually I don’t think I want to know. So we’ve been kind of waiting for you and figure what we’re going to do next.”

“Back to work,” I told Dean and rubbed a kink out of my shoulder. “I need a shower, and then we can discuss the what next. Meet you guys in thirty-forty minutes, okay.”

“Sure thing,” Jon said, giving us an odd stare before turning around and going back where he came from.

“Well, raincheck on the pampering. I’ll get some sleep and catch you later,” Dean said and slung his arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug. “But don’t let them keep you up too long. You need to get some sleep too.”

“Doctor’s orders?”

“Nope, nurses, and everyone knows that’s what counts,” he said, grinning that bright cocky grin of his. “Go do your thing, Boss lady. We’ll catch up later.” With a quick kiss on my cheek, he left, following Jon. I ran a hand over my head and tried not to grin like an idiot as I headed to my room to take a quick shower before meeting with the others.

They were waiting for me in the game room. “What happened? Jon said you and Dean were looking pretty rough earlier,” Wesley asked me as soon as I walked in.

“I told you, I don’t think we want to know the details,” Jon said, smirking.

I held up my fist. “Do you want me to knock that empty head off your shoulders.” My threat only made the smirk grow. “Dean was showing me what he could do.” Sade spat out the soda she was drinking and coughing violently. “Oh God, grow up guys. I’m talking about fighting. We sparred.”

Even Wesley was snickering now. “Ah, how did that go?” he asked rubbing his chin.

I rolled my eyes and sat on a barstool. “He’s good. Get your mind out of the gutter and let’s talk business. Now, don’t get offended, but Dean suggested it, and I think it’s worth a shot, but I would like you guys to verify Sade parents information. Is the pack happy with Brandon?”

“My parents wouldn’t lie,” Sade said, sounding offended like I told her not to be.

“I’m not saying they are, but it doesn’t hurt to check it out anyway. Right?”

“No, I guess not,” she said, still looking a little offended.

“Next, Dean mentioned a possible Plan B, involving some guy named Harry. Know who that is?”

“No clue,” Jon said shrugging.

“I do. Brook, the future luna, her step dad’s name is Harry, but I don’t see how he could have any kind of Plan B. The man use to be Black Mountain’s beta until he defected to this pack when the war started. From what I heard he usually doesn’t involve himself in pack business, and he certainly hasn’t tried to improve his rank among this pack.”

“Okay, well, find out what you guys can. I need to get some sleep,” I told them.

“I bet she does,” Jon whispered to Wesley, elbowing him.

I grabbed the little chalk cube and tossed it at him, hitting him right in the head. “Shut it, now.”

“Ow, that hurt,” Jon complained.

“Go, Nic. We got the fort,” Wesley told me.

“Thanks, Wesley, I can count on you, at least.”

When I was in my room, I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow and I didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon. Wesley had started making a few calls, and all signs were pointing that Sade’s parents were right. Wesley assured me not to give up hope yet, he still had a lot more to make, but we all knew how it was going to go.

So when Wesley finished and the results were for Brandon, I asked Dean about his Plan B. He first gave me a hug and told me my pack was full of idiots and now we were driving to meet this Harry guy, but he wouldn’t give me any details. The house of the driveway Dean pulled into was small, but homey. If I was right, this was on the edge of Alpha Brent’s territory.

We got out of the car, and Dean knocked on the door. A little boy, maybe five or six years old jump on him as soon as the door was open. “Uncle Dean,” he squealed.

Dean caught the boy and swung him around. “Hey, little man.”

An older woman followed the boy. She kissed Dean on the cheek. “Dean, we weren’t expecting you, were we?”

“Nah,” he said, setting the boy down. “Nancy, this is Nic,” he said, slipping an arm around my waist and pulling me over next to him.

I gave her a tight lipped smile, awkwardness fluttering through me.

“Nice to meet you, Nic,” She said, smiling and sounding as if she meant it.

“We came to talk to Harry. I think Nic could help him with his project.”

Nancy’s expression of curiosity matched my own. “Oh, I see, well come in of course. Adam, go get your father.” The little living room was cozy. “Take a seat anywhere. Would you like something to eat or drink.”

I shook my head, but Dean said, “A coke and some of those cookies of yours, please.” He all but bat his eyes at her.

Nancy grinned with a giggle. “Sure thing, Dean.”

I took a seat on the couch and tried not to feel horribly out of place. Dean sat next to me and patted my knee and again, I gave him a tight lipped smile. The little boy came back and climbed up on his lap, all the while giving me a strange look.

“What happened to your hair?” he asked me finally. “Are you like sick or something? Mom says that sometimes happens to sick people.”

I ducked my head, embarrassed. “No, I’m not sick. I just like it this way.”

He wrinkled his nose. “But you’re a girl.”

“So,” I said, perhaps a little too defensively because he shied away from me and into Dean.

“Even girls can have short, short hair,” Dean told him. “Just like Uncle Andy is a boy and has long hair and ponytails.”

I blew out a breath and rested my arms on my thighs. This domestic stuff so wasn’t me. Something that felt a lot like shame twisted at my stomach. Thankfully a man walked into the room, taking a seat in a char to Dean’s right. “So Dean, what is it you wanted to see me about?”

“Harry this is Nic, she’s just what you’ve been looking for.”

“And why would that be?” He asked, looking at me with obvious suspicion and doubt.

Dean set the boy, Adam, down as Nancy brought him the soda and cookies. “Nic was the future alpha of her pack until her douchey brother came back and kicked her out,” he told him then turned to me. “Harry’s been working on an idea making a new kind of pack. The idea is for it to be a place for werewolves to live without all the dominance games or being under an alpha who rules his wolves as he pleases and no one can do anything about it. His only problem is he hasn’t an alpha who can stand up to challenges from other alphas.”

Wow. Yeah, he’d need alpha because that was going to cause a lot of friction and the idea of this type of pack intrigued me, of course.

“And you think this girl,” he said then met my gaze, “No offense, is who I’m looking for?”

“Yep,” Dean said without hesitation. “She gets what being alpha is all about, what it’s really about.”

I tried not to flush at the compliment while Harry looked at me as if he wasn’t sure. “Nic was it? What are your thoughts on my plan?”

“As someone who has lost her friends and home because only a man can lead, I’m interested, but this is going to piss off all those old sons of bi—” I started then remembered the kid was in the room. “Biscuits who don’t want change. What’s your plan for that? Or is the alpha suppose to take care of all that himself or in my case herself?”

“Nice save,” Dean whispered with a snicker.

“Their own rules state that alphas can rule their pack how they deem as long as there is no extreme cruelty and more importantly, they do nothing to expose us to humans. As we wouldn’t be doing either, the alphas have no say and my intent to remind them of this,” Harry replied.

I nodded, admittedly impressed. “Okay, but where are you going to have your territory?”

“Right here,” he replied.

“This is Alpha Brent’s territory.”

“He’s agreed to give me the south west piece of his territory for my own,” Harry answered.

I scoffed in disbelief. “Brent gave you part of his territory? Yeah, right.” Not without some pretty big strings.

“No, Dad really did. He’s been working with Harry in secret to set it all up,” Dean told me.

“Yeah? Why isn’t he doing it himself if he’s so behind it?”

“If Brent did it, there would be more opposition than if a relatively unknown alpha would start it. They would see us as nothing while Brent would be a threat that almost all the alphas would rise against and challenge.”

“Got it,” I said then nodded. “It does sound a good Plan B, I’m willing to try this.”

Harry scoffed silently and gave me a skeptical look. “We’ll see. I’m not risking having it all ruined my some ambitious, rogue alpha.”

I stiffened at first offended then let it out with a breath. “Fine by me, not like I have anywhere to be anytime soon.” I stood, dusting off my jeans though there was nothing on them. “I’m going to head back. Thank you for talking with me.”