rights flared up. Still, the pack mattered. The Alpha kept them safe, prosperous, and kept industry in their midst.
Brett had dreams of greatness.
Others used to tell Dougal he, himself, should be Alpha. It had been like a gag. He’d try to picture himself in the part. What young Werewolf didn’t want to lead? They were born to be strong, bred to be tough.
Alpha? He’d never personally sought the role. Other than the occasional thought he let pass to his family, he wasn’t still considering his pack.
What about Brett...?
The times for games were over. Besides, he wasn’t really good at them when it came to it. Leave the double talk to the politicians.
“Still playing Alpha, Brett?”
“What?” His friends smile fell a bit. “I think I must be really loaded. I didn’t follow.”
“Oh, sure you did, brother. ” He leaned in close. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way you tell me what I ask. What we both know I already suspect. The hard way, we see which one of us would have ended Alpha. You remember how the challenge went, right? Two Werewolves fight to the death. Or one of them yells truce. Only if you yell truce, I won’t stop.”
“You never could beat me.” Brett growled.
“Which one of us has been out fighting while the other has been getting lazy behind a desk?” At Brett’s sharpest, Dougal could have taken him. Now was not the time for posturing. It was time to take a visit to answerville.
Brett fell backwards off the log where they sat. His clumsiness seemed to dawn on him and the other man turned two shades paler.
“Yes, you’re drunk. I’m sober. So tell me. Before I make this really hard. What deal did you cut with the dragons?” He thought he knew the answer only there was no room for questions. Dougal wanted to know explicitly what had been done.
“In exchange for helping them move all their product, they left our pack alone.”
Dougal squatted next to Brett. He almost felt sorry for him. “You know they didn’t, right? It’s not like our hometown is somehow paradise with the rest of the world falling apart. They may not have sprayed the area with fire, yet it will die all the same.”
“Yeah? Well at least I’m trying. I’m giving us something capable of being rebuilt when we get back.”
“Gods, Brett.” Dougal could almost not believe the other man had spoken the words he had. “To what? A drug addicted, worthless world where the war veterans are too drugged to function and the Females are beaten from trying to keep their society together.”
“No one makes them take them.”
This was a worthless conversation. “And I was collateral damage I guess? Leaving me on the island.”
“No.” Brett fisted his hands. Funny he should look more affronted about leaving Dougal to die than the millions of people who were losing their battle to the shit Brett distributed every day. “I knew you’d make it a little while. I had no doubt you could do it.”
“And my mate? Were you so certain of her fate?” How far into this rabbit hole did his friend go?
“Do I want the woman who works for a lab trying to destroy dragon drugs to live? No. If her plan works, she’ll burn all the eggs. They’ll be no more drugs, no more reasons to keep our part of the world safe. Yes, I hoped she would die out there. I thought for sure the dragons would get there. They seemed to want to, for whatever reason. Did you notice the day how they came for her?”
Dougal chewed on this new information. It didn’t seem Brett knew about why the dragons wanted her. He could take a deep breath. His main objective had to be to keep her safe. Of course, if he could make it a little less easy to get ahold of the drugs, well then, so much the better.
Gods, he never wanted to be a hero. Other Werewolves were made for acts of noble justice. All Dougal wanted at this point was to get home and start tracking Caitlyn.
If only he could get the military to decide to let him
Brett had dreams of greatness.
Others used to tell Dougal he, himself, should be Alpha. It had been like a gag. He’d try to picture himself in the part. What young Werewolf didn’t want to lead? They were born to be strong, bred to be tough.
Alpha? He’d never personally sought the role. Other than the occasional thought he let pass to his family, he wasn’t still considering his pack.
What about Brett...?
The times for games were over. Besides, he wasn’t really good at them when it came to it. Leave the double talk to the politicians.
“Still playing Alpha, Brett?”
“What?” His friends smile fell a bit. “I think I must be really loaded. I didn’t follow.”
“Oh, sure you did, brother. ” He leaned in close. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way you tell me what I ask. What we both know I already suspect. The hard way, we see which one of us would have ended Alpha. You remember how the challenge went, right? Two Werewolves fight to the death. Or one of them yells truce. Only if you yell truce, I won’t stop.”
“You never could beat me.” Brett growled.
“Which one of us has been out fighting while the other has been getting lazy behind a desk?” At Brett’s sharpest, Dougal could have taken him. Now was not the time for posturing. It was time to take a visit to answerville.
Brett fell backwards off the log where they sat. His clumsiness seemed to dawn on him and the other man turned two shades paler.
“Yes, you’re drunk. I’m sober. So tell me. Before I make this really hard. What deal did you cut with the dragons?” He thought he knew the answer only there was no room for questions. Dougal wanted to know explicitly what had been done.
“In exchange for helping them move all their product, they left our pack alone.”
Dougal squatted next to Brett. He almost felt sorry for him. “You know they didn’t, right? It’s not like our hometown is somehow paradise with the rest of the world falling apart. They may not have sprayed the area with fire, yet it will die all the same.”
“Yeah? Well at least I’m trying. I’m giving us something capable of being rebuilt when we get back.”
“Gods, Brett.” Dougal could almost not believe the other man had spoken the words he had. “To what? A drug addicted, worthless world where the war veterans are too drugged to function and the Females are beaten from trying to keep their society together.”
“No one makes them take them.”
This was a worthless conversation. “And I was collateral damage I guess? Leaving me on the island.”
“No.” Brett fisted his hands. Funny he should look more affronted about leaving Dougal to die than the millions of people who were losing their battle to the shit Brett distributed every day. “I knew you’d make it a little while. I had no doubt you could do it.”
“And my mate? Were you so certain of her fate?” How far into this rabbit hole did his friend go?
“Do I want the woman who works for a lab trying to destroy dragon drugs to live? No. If her plan works, she’ll burn all the eggs. They’ll be no more drugs, no more reasons to keep our part of the world safe. Yes, I hoped she would die out there. I thought for sure the dragons would get there. They seemed to want to, for whatever reason. Did you notice the day how they came for her?”
Dougal chewed on this new information. It didn’t seem Brett knew about why the dragons wanted her. He could take a deep breath. His main objective had to be to keep her safe. Of course, if he could make it a little less easy to get ahold of the drugs, well then, so much the better.
Gods, he never wanted to be a hero. Other Werewolves were made for acts of noble justice. All Dougal wanted at this point was to get home and start tracking Caitlyn.
If only he could get the military to decide to let him
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