Mick, one of the Betas, was driving the minibus to Midland Peak. If my memory serves me correctly, he was the one that always took the young wolves to the gathering. At the very least, he was the one driving the bus when Stephen attended.

My father had warned me that my time was coming and that I'd be expected to attend the gathering like every other wolf in the pack. Aside from being tradition, it was supposedly a great way to meet other wolves. I guess that at some point, he changed his mind about the meat market and decided that arranging a pairing with Konrad was a better idea. I disagreed, and it angered me that he kept me in the dark about it.

The idea of the gathering was to mingle with other wolves without the burden of pack life weighing down on us. It was a foolish thought, but I accepted it. There was also a belief that we could create diverse lines if we branched out a little. I'd spent my life believing that I'd be shipped off to another pack so that my father could create a strategic alliance. Which, in a way, he had tried to do with Konrad.

I knew why my father didn't tell me about the agreement. He knew that I'd protest and stomp my way around for weeks. My compliance would have been forced, something that I knew he would have agonized over.

Mick took my bag and stuffed it into the luggage compartment.

"Looks rather full in there."

"You agreed, and there's a seat waiting for you."

"Yeah, I figured as much."

I climbed the stairs and saw every seat was full, aside from the one next to Alec. I looked down at Mick, who was at the door waiting for me to move.

"Did someone get kicked out so I could attend the gathering?"

"No, I picked the transport based on the numbers. I have more than one bus, you know."

Trudging up the aisle, I dumped myself next to Alec. Joey and Noah were on the other side, looking at me with wild grins.

"Look at it this way," Joey said softly as he leaned closer. "A weekend away to party. Let your hair down and screw lots of gorgeous wolves. Forget about the mate part and just have fun."

Well, that was one way of looking at it.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Leaning back, I waited for Mick to turn the bus around and take us to Midland Peak. I looked past Alec out the window, watching as we passed my house.

"I don't like leaving pack land. It's dangerous for a leader to leave."

"No wolf in their right mind would attempt a coup when a leader was not in their territory to defend it. Aside from the fact that it is illegal, it's also considered a faux pas. I've never heard of anyone doing it. Did you actually notice that no one tried to take you down other than Black Ridge? There's a reason for that."

"And what's that?"

"You're a Nolan. You are the daughter of Anders Nolan, a feared leader. Anyone with half a brain would think he taught you exactly as he taught Stephen, another feared wolf."

"But he didn't," I muttered softly.

Mostly because I think that my father never thought that anyone would take him down. It was blind faith in his pack that saw him and Stephen fall to someone that we trusted.

"They don't know that. The key to fooling them is confidence. You've seen your father in action. Just mimic that."

Easier said than done.

"I don't think that Konrad will make a second attempt."

Giving him a little stink eye, Alec smiled and shrugged.

"You spend a lot of hours sitting at my bar, complaining about Konrad and that supposedly horrid statement he made. What was it again?"

"He'd make me love him back one day."

Alec nudged his shoulder against mine.

"Sounds like someone could solve all of your problems."

"So, you're saying that I should ignore what happened with Shelly and the fact that he was essentially cheating on me with her while trying to take my leadership away from me? What else, oh, the threat of losing all the males in my pack, which includes you, just so that we're clear."

"I'm not a threat to their ability to successfully chase women, so I doubt I would have been on their hit list. As for that whole Shelly debacle, I could argue that you weren't exactly in a relationship with Konrad."

He was right, and I hated that. I couldn't be angry that Konrad was screwing Shelly. The deception and lies though, that was more than enough reason.

"Okay, fair call, but remember that he held back a lot of information from me. He lied, she lied."

"Yeah, they screwed you over, but Shelly was always going to do what her father demanded if it meant she got a sexy beast like Konrad permanently in her bed. Konrad though he was just trying to save his pack. Much like someone else, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, yeah. Do I really want to cut him some slack?"

"It wasn't me in that situation, so I can't really answer it for you, but if it was me, I would. I saw the way that he looked when you two were at the pack house. He could not stop staring at you. When you looked at him, he smiled. Looked like he was smitten."

My eyes slowly rolled to the roof of the minibus.

Mick pulled over at the entrance of the bridge out of West River land. He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a sign to put against the window.

"What's that?"

"That would be the only thing that grants us safe passage to the mountain. It says Midland Peak gathering. All of the packs use a sign like that, and it stops anyone from thinking that they're being invaded."

"What's to stop someone from using it falsely?"

"Well, that would be illegal, and it can only be used from the day before a gathering and the day after it. Any other time and it's also seen as illegal. You should know that."

"Yeah, I should know a lot of things, but I don't."

I really needed more time. There was a stack of books to read, and the Betas had even started creating tests I could take. Every time I looked at the pile of books, I saw how much my father failed as a leader. He should have taught leadership to both of his children, not just one.

Mick returned to his seat and pulled into the traffic, beginning the journey across the bridge and into Black Ridge territory. I looked out the window, wondering if I'd see Konrad. I didn't know if I wanted to see him or not.

With any luck, I'd spend the next four days avoidingall thoughts about Konrad. It was probably pointless, but I hoped anyway.