Alec laughed, the bastard. “Don’t go reading more into that than there is. He’s the alpha—he handles everything better.”
“Yeah.” Gareth grudgingly accepted that was true and rolled his eyes at himself for acting like a child.
Not wanting to hang up just yet, he said, “I told my unit about the bond.”
“Oh? How’d they take it?”
“Surprisingly well.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, it went better than I’d hoped for, although I suspect it might take a while to sink in.”
Alec snorted. “I imagine certain people will have all sorts of pointers for you.”
Gareth smiled. Alec and Nathan might have buried their animosity towards each other but sometimes they still trod on eggshells where the other was concerned. “If you mean Nathan, then yes, he was the most vocal one at the meeting.”
“Of course he was.”
Talking about his unit made Gareth think of other things that had been on his mind since the beta meeting. Now, perhaps, wasn’t the best time to bring it up, he’d prefer to talk to Alec face to face, but the opportunity was there. “Did you mean what you said at the meeting yesterday?”
“Which part? I said a lot at that meeting.”
“About the conflict of interest.”
Another sigh. “Ahh.” Gareth heard the sound of creaking leather and imagined Alec settling back in his seat while he thought of what to say. “I’m not sure this is the best time to be talking about this.”
“Probably not. But I’ve got time to kill, and you’re not going anywhere anytime soon, so….”
“Fine. I thought it was a valid point that needed raising. As betas, our loyalty lies not only with the alpha, but the whole pack. Just like Cam, our actions as beta should serve the good of the pack. And that also means being able to step in if or when the alpha stops acting in the pack’s best interest. I’m not saying that I believe Cam would ever put us in that position, because I trust him with my life, but it can’t definitely be ruled out either.” He paused, and Gareth knew what was coming next. “In that situation, would you side with Cam or the pack?”
Gareth had had the same thought after the meeting but it somehow sounded worse when Alec said it. More real. “What if Mark did something that went against the pack? What would you do?” The words were out before he realised what he’d said.
“He did, and I did what was best for the pack.”
Fuck.
He breathed heavily down the line. “But we weren’t bonded then, and Mark wasn’t even part of my pack.” Another pause. “Look, all I’m saying is you’re both in positions of authority. Your unit looks to you to have their back—”
“I always have their back!” Gareth bristled at the implication.
“I know you do. Calm down.” He waited until Gareth sighed.
“Go on.”
“All I’m saying is that before, they could come to you and moan about Cam if they needed to or whatever, but now? Will they still have that luxury? Will you be able to separate being their beta and Cam’s mate?”
“Of course.” Gareth said the words on instinct, but he couldn’t ignore the seeds of doubt Alec had sown. Would his unit feel they couldn’t trust him anymore? The thought left a hollow feeling inside him.
“Look, Gareth. I know this is hard to get your head around. You’re a fantastic beta, both to Cam and your unit. You know this.”
“Thanks.”
“I just think you need to carefully consider how you handle this over the next few weeks, that’s all.”
Gareth gently banged his head against the back of the sofa, wondering how things had got so complicated so quickly.
Idiot. They were always going to be complicated when you set your sights on Cam.
“Yeah, I know,” he said eventually.
“Look, I should go. I don’t like the way the guards are looking at my men.”
Gareth sat up a little straighter. “What guards? I thought you were going to wait outside?”
“We’re sat outside the front of the prison. With an armed escort.” His voice betrayed how much that irritated him. “Like we’re going to attack the place any minute. We’re not savages, for fuck’s sake.”
“Did Cam have an armed escort?”
“Yes. Prison protocol, I believe. Or some shit like that.”
Guns made Gareth nervous. Guns trained on his mate made him want to crawl out of his skin. “Fuck. I wish he’d never gone to that fucking place.”
“You and me both. But we also know it would have eaten at him if he hadn’t.”
“Yeah.” Gareth swallowed back the fear threatening to take hold of him and forced himself to calm down. “Go back to your men, Alec. But do me a favour?”
“What?”
“Ask Cam to text me as soon as he gets back in the car?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
They hung up, and Gareth sat there staring up at the ceiling and tried not to think about Cam and armed guards and an ex-alpha who hated him.
Tried and failed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Because I know what Newell’s been saying to Davies and the others, and you need to know it too before you go and speak to him.”
The words had piqued Cam’s curiosity exactly like Wes knew they would. Cam cursed under his breath as the guards escorted him down the corridor to another room where Newell was waiting. He should have walked out and not given him the satisfaction of listening.
But for whatever reason, Cam’s gut told him that, for once, Wes was telling the truth. Helping him in any fashion left a nasty taste in Cam’s mouth, but he’d swallowed it down and agreed to try and get Wes moved to another cell in a different block.
All for a scrap of information that had set his teeth on edge.
“He told them you killed your own alpha to get control of the pack. That you can't be trusted to look out for anyone but yourself.”
How fucking dare Newell spout such crap to members of Cam’s pack?
“Everything go okay in there?” Fleck pointed behind them to where Wes was being taken back to his cell.
“Yes.” Cam had assumed that Fleck would have watched from whatever room held the monitors, but judging by his open curiosity, that didn’t appear to be true. Cam didn’t offer anything up, and Fleck knew better than to ask. The tight smile he gave Cam in return spoke volumes.
When they came to a stop in front of another door with an identical small hatch on the front, they went through the exact same speech and procedure.
Cam’s wolf stirred, anticipation and anger warring within him. He should have given Newell a piece of his mind well before now, but he’d always taken the higher ground, tried to be the better alpha, keeping calm where others might have lost their control. Cam prided himself on setting a good example for his pack, but there’d be just the two of them in that room, and like Fleck said, no one else would know what went on in there.
He stretched his neck from side to side, bones making a satisfying crack as he waited for them to let him inside.
Fleck put a hand on his arm, eliciting a low growl that Cam didn’t bother to stifle—a little too worked up to give a shit. All four guns raised and pointed in his direction, but Fleck lifted his hand, gesturing them to lower their weapons. “I was just going to ask you one more time, are you sure you want to go in there alone?”
Cam turned to face him, knowing his smile was probably showing more teeth than normal. “Oh, I’m quite sure, yes.”
Fleck nodded and took a noticeable step back from him. “In that case, he’s all yours.”
The door swung open and Cam slowly walked inside.
His gaze instantly fell on the figure sitting at the table.
Stephen Newell—former alpha of the Primrose Hill pack.
He smirked when he saw Cam, sat back in his chair, and looked relaxed and not at all like he had four guards pointing guns at his head. “Alpha Harley.
So nice of you to come visit.” He gestured to the chair opposite him, handcuffs clanking against the table. “Have a seat.”
Cam ignored him, turning to Fleck instead. “I want forty-five minutes instead of the thirty.” Somehow he didn’t think thirty minutes would be enough.
“But our protocols state that—”
“You have cameras watching us, and I can still press the buttons if things get out of hand.”
Fleck looked less than convinced. “Yes, but—”
“It’s an extra fifteen minutes. What can it hurt?”
The need to stick to his rules and regulations warred with Fleck’s eagerness to get this visit over and done with. His expression was almost comical. “Fine. But not a second longer, and the guards will be right outside.”
Cam nodded and sauntered into the room as the guards filed out. The door clanged shut with finality, and Cam leaned against the wall, facing Newell.
The smirk had been replaced by a scowl, hands now clasped on the table in front of him. He inhaled. “You’ve been to see Wes, then.” His lip curled a little as he said the name.
Cam shrugged. “That’s none of your business.”
“Oh, I think it is. You can’t visit with one of my betas and expect me not to—”
“Former betas, I think you mean.” Cam offered a smirk of his own. “As I recall, Wes is no longer a beta and you’re no longer an alpha—you have no pack anymore, or had you forgotten?”
Newell smiled instead of getting pissed off like Cam expected. “He’ll always be my beta, and he knows it.” His expression had a hard edge to it, and the cruel look in his eyes was all too familiar. Maybe Wes had been telling the truth.
Cam didn’t bother to comment. He doubted there was any reasoning with him. Instead he asked, “Why did you request to see me?”
Newell rolled his eyes. “Obviously I wanted you to put in a good word and get me out of here early.” He laughed at whatever look was on Cam’s face—Cam was going for unimpressed. “Fine, I was bored.” He let his claws slide out a little and tapped them on the table top.
“Really?” Cam raised an eyebrow. “You were bored?”
“There’s not exactly a great deal to do in here, and you’ve always been fun to rile up.”
Cam bit back the urge to growl and prove Newell right. “You’ve been meeting with members of my pack. Why?”
“You mean Wes didn’t tell you? I thought for sure they’d be the first words out of his mouth, he’s such a whiny bastard these days.” Pausing, Newell then added, “And they came to see me of their own accord. I never asked them to.”
He was obviously angling to piss Cam off, but Cam knew all that already, and he kept his rage firmly under wraps.
For now.
“Wes told me a lot of things.”
Newell grinned. “I just bet he did. He seems to be quite the squealer these days.”
Cam didn’t miss the double meaning behind his words, and despite his best efforts, a little sympathy for Wes began to creep in.
“And did you believe him?”
“That’s none of your concern.” Cam pushed off the wall and finally took the chair opposite Newell.
Newell breathed in deep, his eyes lighting up like someone had told him he was free to go. Cam had known this was coming, but Newell’s loud laughter still grated on every nerve. For some reason Wes hadn’t even mentioned his obvious bond—maybe too concerned with his own welfare—and for a second, Cam had forgotten how Newell would react.
“My, my, you have been busy. And with one of your betas no less! I must say I would probably have gone for Daryl instead, but each to their own.” Newell’s gaze dipped to the mark on Cam’s neck and it took a conscious effort for Cam not to cover it with his hands. “I thought you were a stickler for pack rules. Who knew?”
Cam felt the meeting getting away from him. The last thing he needed was Newell getting the upper hand. Ignoring the way Newell’s gaze made his skin crawl, Cam relaxed in his seat, affecting as nonchalant a pose as he could manage. “What happens out there in the real world with me and my pack is none of your concern.”
Lurching forward, Newell slammed his fists down on the table, claws out and fangs bared. “That’s my fucking pack. You stole it from me, you thieving bastard.” His words slurred as he struggled to get them out around his teeth, but the venom in his tone stood out clear as day.
Cam had figured his refusal to rise to the bait would irritate Newell, but fucking hell. “I didn’t steal anything,” he replied, voice like steel. “You threw away your right to be alpha when you decided to put your own greed for power above the welfare of your pack.”
“Liar! You’ve wanted this from the very start. You and the fucking council.” Newell tried to reach for him, but the handcuffs yanked hard against his wrists.
“What?” Cam frowned. He was making no sense now.
“Look at the territory you got compared to mine. They gave you exactly what you asked for and tossed me the few scraps that were left.”
“There was a pack vote, for fuck’s sake. The pack members chose who they wanted as their alpha, not the fucking council.”
Newell was having none of it—as though his version of events had been altered to suit his needs. “But they awarded you all of Regent’s Park!”
“Because I had the bigger pack!”
“It should’ve all been mine! I’d been a beta far longer than you—”
“And you weren’t especially good at that. I should have spoken up then, told the council you were unfit to rule a pack of your own.” He’d been too relieved that the pack wars were finally over, that they had peace. And despite all Newell’s shortcomings as a beta, he’d assumed the responsibility of a pack to look after would force him to sharpen up his act.
He’d been spectacularly wrong on that count.
“I’ll take some of the blame for how things turned out.”
Newell sneered. “How big of you.” His gaze kept flicking back to Cam’s bite mark, each lingering look raising Cam’s hackles that little bit more. “You think you’ve got it all now, don’t you?” He’d retracted his fangs, but his claws tips scratched against the metal table as he spoke. “Nice big pack, more territory, new mate to boss around… while I sit in this fucking hellhole to rot!” He pointed a finger at Cam. “Do you know what they made us do on the full moon? We had to run in fucking designated fenced-off areas, like animals.”
Cam stared at him. The ache at missing Gareth, the anger at what Wes had told him, and the sheer arrogance of Newell to be indignant at his treatment…. It all welled up inside him, swirling together until Cam couldn’t hold back any longer.
He didn’t want to.
“You did this!” he roared, his wolf rising to the surface as he let it all flood out. “When you wanted to use Nathan as bait. When you chose to come after members of my pack.” He stood, hands on the table, looming over Newell as he spoke. “When you allied with members of a rogue pack who’d already tried to fucking kill us all, just so you could try and steal my pack.” The last part he hissed out, voice low and menacing. “When you kidnapped members of your own pack and used them to blackmail others into lying to the alpha council and fighting against their potential mate.”
He still remembered the look on Alec’s face when Newell volunteered Mark to fight against him. Fury burned bright inside him, and Cam let it build. “You were a mediocre beta and a piss-poor alpha. You betrayed the very people you were supposed to protect and lied to the council.” He gave him a scathing once over. “You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.”
Newell shot to his feet, fists clenched. “I wish they fucking had!”
Blood dripped on to the table where his claws dug into his skin, and as Cam watched, it dawned on him why Alpha Wallace had decided to sentence Newell to prison instead of putting him to death, because fuck knew he deserved to die for the crimes he’d committed. For someone like Newell, being stripped of his power and authority and forced to
obey humans on a day to day basis—people who he classed as beneath him—this was a far worse punishment than death.
Some of Cam’s ire faded. “You have fifteen years to examine your actions. You should use that time wisely.”
Newell’s lips curved up at the edges, some of his bravado returning. “Like meeting with young impressionable members of your pack?”
Cam bristled.
“Telling them how they need to be so careful with you as their alpha, because you have favourites who can do no wrong.”
He knew very well Newell meant Nathan. He never would let that go.
“Reminding them that you kept all four of your own betas and only two from my pack, and how unfair that is. How are they supposed to feel part of your pack when you can’t even be bothered to give them their own beta.”
Newell’s eyes had a wild look to them, and for the first time, he thought Wes might be right. Newell was insane. But he also had a point with that last comment—and that pissed Cam off no end. He should have sorted out a beta for Davies and the others way before now. He’d handled that situation all wrong and let this whole thing escalate.
Like a shark sensing blood in the water, Newell seemed to gain a little confidence, knowing he’d hit home. “You thought I’d be telling them how innocent I was, how it was all a mistake, didn’t you?” He laughed when Cam kept quiet. “But no, I found it far more effective to warn them about you and how hard they’re going to find it in their new pack. They’ve seen first-hand how little they matter in this new pack structure, so fanning their flames of mistrust was easier than I ever expected. I gently urged them to take any complaints they had straight to the council and encourage others to do the same. After all, that’s what the council is there for.”
Fuck, the very last thing Cam wanted was to be investigated by the alpha council again. Did Davies have any grounds for complaint? Merging two packs was always going to be a tricky business, mistakes bound to be made. Were any of them worthy of reprimand?
“And now you’ve handed it to me on a platter.” He gestured to Cam’s neck. “Bonding with your own beta—who just happens to be Nathan’s unit leader. Not a scent I’m ever going to forget.” Newell grinned at him. “They’ll never believe you’re an unbiased alpha now.”
Bitten By the Alpha Page 20
