My Betas suggested that it would be a good idea that I marked Konrad as my mate. Not only was he here negotiating a future that would see him become my Beta, but he was also abdicating his rule. I had to do the right thing and show him that his efforts wouldn't be wasted or that I would refuse when he turned up. The initiation would take place after I claimed him but that couldn't happen until he relinquished his role as Alpha of Black Ridge. He couldn't pass over the rule to Ezra unless he had a Beta that was willing to take on the role and it was clear that his brother wasn't accepting anything until his new role had been confirmed.

It was a domino effect that all started with me.

Ezra and my Betas remained downstairs, allowing us privacy in the rooms upstairs.

"You know that she will want to dominate."

"I accept that."

"She will not tolerate any poor behavior from you."

"She won't get any of it."

I moved closer, hoping that Konrad understood what I meant.

"My wolf is not as tolerant as you might think she is. Once she knows what you smell like, she will expect it to remain like that. Come home with the stink of women on you, and she is going to take you down."

"I know that you have issues with Alphas, but I won't be one, will I? I'm not that kind of guy anyway and please don't rehash the Shelly argument. I did as your father asked of me and you might not believe me, you might not agree but that's how it was. She had expectations and when I faltered, she noticed. I almost blew the entire thing wide open when I tried to back out of it one night."

I walked over to the desk, picking up the stack of applications.

"Do you see these?"

Konrad looked at them, and then his gaze lifted to me.

"What am I supposed to be seeing here?"

"They're all lone female wolves. They have been arriving since you won the fight. Why do you think that is?"

"They think that I'm going to become the Alpha."

"Bingo. My trust is limited at best. Don't think that it's your fault. You're just the one that has to suffer. It doesn't help that they're sending the applications here rather than to your pack. To me, it says that they've already figured out that you're going to pass the rule over to Ezra and that you'll be here in my territory."

I flicked through the applications, looking at the names. All but one was returned to the tray. Jackie had applied, and because she spoke to me long before the fight and had already shown an interest in entering this pack, I decided to take a deeper look into her application.

Konrad watched as I fed the other applications into the paper shredder. He then glanced at the one that survived.

"She spoke to me Friday afternoon. I will take the time to consider her application. These others, I will not. My wolf is already antsy. I can't accept a situation that could rile her up even further."

Konrad moved closer, pulling me to his body.

"I accept the destruction of unnecessary applications. It sends a clear message to anyone who thinks they can walk into this territory and tempt the leader with their bodies. This wolf is not to be messed with. She's possessive and not afraid to show it. She will not bow down to a temptress trying to steal her mate. She will destroy anything and anyone that tries to claim what is hers."

His hands moved over my back, sliding over the waistband of my jeans before settling on the curve. With a wild grin, he pushed me closer.

"Her Beta is no better. He believes that his Alpha might just be wrong about who those naughty wolves are willing to chase but accepts that she might be right too. It would be delightful to watch his Alpha and a female trying to buy her way into the pack, but he has decided to show a lot of restraint and bite his tongue. He won't ask to watch any favors she might receive from the female applicants because he fears that his lovely Alpha might just put his favorite appendage into that nasty paper shredder."

I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"It wouldn't fit."

"I'm sure you'd figure it out."

We looked at each other. There was silence in the room, but downstairs, the sound of our Betas talking and drinking was loud.

"I'm serious. You need to know exactly what you face before I mark you. No matter what you think or how smart you believe that you are, you won't escape her attention."

"You sound like you don't believe a word that I say."

"Just making sure that you understand."

"But do you understand that it's not who I am?"

"No," I whispered.

The past was going to haunt me for longer than I wanted.

"Then I will show you. I understand where you're coming from, why your brain ticks the way that it does, and why it thinks that an Alpha can never behave. It's what they're renowned for, right? What if this wolf comes from a family that has extremely strict rules when it comes to things like this? Wait until you meet my mother. Then you'll understand everything. I'm still getting heat about the whole Shelly debacle. Go ask Ezra. I'll stay here. He'll tell you that she still tells me that I was a fool for accepting that part of the deal and that I have probably ruined all my chances with you. She says that I don't deserve a strong woman and that she didn't raise me to be that kind of a man."

Lowering, he kissed me softly.

"I fought to be here at this moment. Do you really think that I'd give it away for a moment with someone else?"

I shook my head. His words made sense, but they didn't change much in my mind. The only thing that was going to solve this problem was time.

Rather than risk our clothes tearing, we stripped naked and let the wolves take over. The black fur bristled as Konrad shook his body. He sat down and waited for my wolf to do something.

My wolf almost matched him for size, which was crazy. Konrad didn't seem fazed by it. He merely watched as she lifted onto her paws and walked towards him.

She began licking the side of the snout and under the ear, making her way to the top of his head. One paw raised onto his back, slowly pushing him down. The licking continued, and in a show of dominance, she stood over his body as he lay on the floor.

It was done. The wolf had taken her mate. She'd marked him as her own, and she'd been given easy dominance.

Konrad's wolf lifted his head, sniffing as he nuzzled deep into the fur between her front legs, moving lower towards her stomach. Dark eyes lifted, meeting the wolf's gaze as she shifted back. Instantly Konrad took over. He smiled, smoothing his hand over her ear.

"Let her come back to me for a moment."

The wolf whined and let me return.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd take the opportunity."

"Megan, you're already pregnant."

"That is not possible. We never let the wolves out."

I picked up my clothes and redressed. Konrad was a little slower due to the pain, but he managed with a little assistance.

"But you kept locking me, and that's a wolf thing. Maybe because you're an Alpha and so determined to hold onto that title, she's taken it to the extreme."

I stopped and looked at Konrad.

"You're serious?"

He nodded, shifting over the floor. His hand pressed to my stomach. When he pressed hard, I felt the skin ripple underneath his palm.

With a huge grin on his face, Konrad slid his hand around to my back and pulled me closer.

"You are never getting rid of me now," he whispered before kissing me.

As I indulged in the embrace, I thought about how the wolf had acted over the weekend. It was not surprising that she protected Konrad so fiercely. She knew that he was the father and she was not prepared to raise the child on her own.

"It's going to be the longest week."

"I know. We're going to have to tell them."

That was the rule of leadership. An Alpha always told their Beta when they were having a child. They were the first to know about the news, regardless of their dynamics. In most cases, the Beta was usually the mate of the Alpha, so the telling of good news was the other way around.

Konrad nodded and then followed me down the stairs. His movements were slow and I wondered how long it would take him to fully repair. The gashes that Brian had put on my back healed fairly quickly but they weren't as deep as the ones that Konrad had. Also, he bled out a lot more than what I did.

Gazes lifted when we entered the room. Smiles soon filled their faces.

"We have a Beta."

"In more ways than one," I interjected. "It would seem that even though we did not change forms, Konrad has managed to get me pregnant."

And with that one statement, I'd completed their tasklist. Claimed a mate and created a Beta to take over my leadership when Iwanted to retire. I'm sure they'll set another task list for me soon after thebirth, insisting that I create a few more children, but for now, I have donewhat they asked of me.