Mated To The Alpha: A Standalone Wolf Shifter Romance, стр. 27

Emma tried to get to Kate, to talk to her friend about all that had gone on over the past few weeks, but Kate was busy, tending to Ziva in her grief.

Later, when Emma had Elam to herself for a bit, she asked him some of the questions that were bugging her, starting with what Ziva had meant by saying she 'couldn't have it.'

"Don't mind Ziva, she is grieving. No one is quite themselves when grieving their mate."

"I get that. But why was she saying I couldn't have her cabin? Why would I want her cabin?"

"It is tradition that the Alpha, and his mate, live in the biggest cabin. Once Thomas passed, technically her cabin became my cabin. And she obviously sees what I see, that you are destined to be my mate, and therefore the cabin would be yours, as well. Eventually. When you decide to stop fighting this and be mine."

He tried to tease her with those last words, pulling a small smile from her lips against her will, even as she nudged him in the side with her elbow, quite convinced that this was neither the time nor the place for that discussion.

"Are you really going to force her from her home? The home she knew with Thomas?"

"At some point, but I'm not in any rush."

"But why do it at all? Can't she just stay there? Who'd care if she stayed there? Why make her move?"

"After a while, it would be a sign of weakness if I did not claim the best living quarters. I'm in no hurry, like I said. I don't mind giving her some time, of course. But after a while, I would lose face. It would confuse the, how do you say... the pecking order. At first everyone would understand, but then, after a while, it would undermine my position to not take it over. It is my right. To not assert my right on something so small would lead some to believe that I can't, or won't, assert my right on larger matters. It's complicated. Ziva is an elder now, an old Alpha's mate, and as such she deserves respect. But she also needs to acknowledge the change in leadership. She is no longer the Alpha's mate, as Thomas is no longer Alpha. That position is mine, whether I wanted it or no.

If Galen had taken Alpha, she would be beside herself to acknowledge that. After the normal, allowed period, she would hand over the cabin to Galen, proudly. So to not do the same for me would be a huge statement on our tradition, the tradition she had no problem accepting when Reine moved out of that cabin, and she moved in."

Emma wanted to ask him why she would gladly hand the reins to Galen, but not to him, since she was the mother to them both, and to zero in on why Ziva would refer to him as a half-breed shape shifter's bastard son, but his statement about her own mother eclipsed all of that.

"That was Reine's cabin?"

"While she was Alpha, yes."

"What happened during my mother's challenge? I've heard that your challenge was different than any other, that no one ever claimed multiple animal forms before. I know Ziva keeps saying that it all started with my mother, but why? How?"

"I wasn't here, then. But I have heard."

"Tell me, please. I'd like to understand more. To understand her more."

"Reine and her brother, Thomas..."

"Stop right there. Thomas was my mother's brother?"

"You didn't know? Emma, come on."

"Dad never told me anything, remember? Anything."

Elam just looked at her, sadness and confusion warring with anger that she had been told nothing about her history.

With a sigh, he settled in.

"Yes, Thomas and Reine were brother and sister."

"Thomas was my uncle, and I didn't even know it. And now it's too late. Wait, that means Galen is my cousin? And you, too, I suppose. Although not by blood."

Emma's words held heartbreak, and her own sadness and confusion of why she'd been kept in the dark for so long.

After a minute she apologized, saying "Go ahead, continue. I'm sorry, I just didn't realize."

"It's OK. I just don't understand what keeping you in the dark was supposed to accomplish. So, Thomas and Reine were the only children of Alpha Aiden, your grandfather, I suppose."

Emma just nodded, registering the name of another relative she didn't know she'd had.

"Aiden was killed by humans. He'd gotten shot in the heart, while he was out hunting. He was after an elk, but had veered too close to the human's homesteads. They were roused by the dogs barking. The humans saw a wolf and took Aiden out, even though he'd meant them no harm. It happens pretty often, unfortunately.

Anyway, once Aiden passed, it fell to his children to challenge for Alpha, like you saw a few weeks back. There were a few differences, though.

Our challenge was different, because Thomas was still alive. He called the challenge because he wanted to know who would follow in his footsteps, whereas most challenges either happen after the Alpha's death, like with Reine and Thomas, or because someone challenges the Alpha himself, which hasn't happened here in many generations, although it is still common in some packs.

Reine had already taken a mate, Henry, your father. Thomas had already taken Ziva to mate, both of which are stories for another time.

Thomas was favored to win. Our pack had never had a female Alpha, although no one was really against it. It just hadn't happened yet. Thomas had been groomed for Alpha, but Reine was expected to challenge."

"Like with you and Galen."

"Exactly."

"Did mom want it?"

"I don't know. I wasn't around, remember? I just know the story of how everything went down, not the story behind it."

"So, just the facts, ma'am?"

Emma tried to tease, and Elam smiled at her, knowing she was trying to make things easier on both of them.

"Yep, just the facts. And the