Chapter 41
Silas' POV
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Really, I hadn’t meant to make the trip out here. Not yet. I knew it was still under construction. I was still incredibly impressed by the amount of work already completed. The framing was up and the roof was on, too. The doors and windows weren’t on though, giving a look into every inside as well. Not to mention everyone working.
My eyes settled on Nate. He was leaning against his cane, but he was holding a corner of the plans while speaking with a few of the other guys. Originally, Nate pulled in multiple people from other packs. Apparently, he had such a rapport with certain packs they happily had their contractors and workers come to help, not just the building but the cleanup.
I’d yelled at him a little while ago for being a hypocrite when asking me for permission to bring humans in order to help build. He’d been such a hard ass on letting humans into the pack. I expected a fight back, but he didn’t. Since the day in Tim’s office, Nate had stopped fighting.
He hadn’t given up. There wasn’t that look in his eyes. No, he just stuffed everything down and refused to acknowledge me. I didn’t know what was worse. The fight or the fact that he completely ignored me now.
His eyes caught mine, and I froze. The anger roared up in me and I curled my hands up. He was weak. Already, I had been looking into replacements for him. Except that…despite his weakness, Nate was exceptional. No one came close. Not even Betas from other packs. When I reached out to a few other Alphas, they complained about their own Betas; wishing that they were more like Nate.
The thought that if I let Nate go, and he would go to another pack, made everything worse. They would accept him with open arms. I had no doubt after all the phone calls I had. He was mine. Nate was mine. He wasn’t allowed to go anywhere.
Closing my eyes, I turned my head. No. There was too much in my head right now. I need to focus. This would do nothing. I’d already made my bed. When Hank Stevenson came into the pack, I thought I knew what I was getting into.
A few of my allies, Alpha Alex, Alpha Raymond and Alpha Jeff, all recommended him. He was a human, but he worked with packs to know what things they would need to get ready to have humans on their territory. I realized after his departure that our position was one most didn’t have unless they permitted humans in the territory.
Hank was supposed to be the best, but I received a warning that his attitude came off more like a sleaze-ball. What I didn’t realize was that he thought wolves were beneath him. That he thought humans were the superior race. I guess that was what made him good at his job, to prepare for humans to be in places they normally weren’t. Except for our pack.
After complaining about Nate throwing his weight around as Beta when he clearly was supposed to cater to this human, Hank picked apart not just Nate, but me as Alpha. Who was I to let someone like that be Beta? Apparently, in all the packs he had been in, they would have thrown him out or killed him out of mercy.
I could only listen to him for so long. Finally, I lost my cool. Considering that Nate was easy to take Hank down, a few levels must mean that humans were far weaker than I originally thought. Or so I yelled at him. He left soon after, angrily complaining that he’d never been treated so terribly on a territory.
It still made me smile. As he left, I called out that we apparently were already for humans, since we were treating him as every other city would. I felt proud of myself for that dig. However, I wasn’t far from the truth. Our pack was actually much more set than I think most packs were.
Part of that, I think, was because we were so close to Jackson. As we grew older, we frequently went into town to get whatever we wanted. My father and myself, we didn’t limit the movement through the territory unless something was going on. So even as kids, we were going to Jackson for the movies or getting things at the store that weren’t available up here.
Plus, Nate and I went to a human school for high school. We didn’t stay in the pack and we also went to the college on the south edge of Jackson as well. We partied with humans, went to school with them, made friends with them, and had no issues. That might have influenced how we ran the pack and what we kept on the territory more than we thought. Everything that Hank suggested we already had. We even went a step further most times.
Opening my eyes, I felt my shoulders fall. Nate had already moved on and was out of sight. I don’t know he still affected me so much. Part of me felt like it was getting worse. At the same time, it wasn’t my feelings for him. I still felt like he needed to be more if he wanted to stand by me. He would never be my Luna. Scoffing at the thought, I turned and headed back to my truck.
“Alpha Silas!”
I stopped, turning back to the house. One guy was coming towards me. My mind was struggling to connect with his name. He was one of the higher ups; I thought. Reaching out, I shook his hand that was outstretched towards me.
‘Freddy. He’s out general contractor and has been the head of all our building projects.’
For a moment I thought it was Eros reminding me until I realized it was Nate’s mind-link. Smiling, I shook his hand tightly.
“Freddy, what can I do for you?”
“I was just wondering if you know anything about this project by chance.”
My eyebrow rose. “That pack house? Or the rebuilding project as a whole?”
Freddy glanced back at the house before he nodded to my truck. We walked further away from the house and I leaned against the door as the wolf in front of me crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced nervously at the house before dropping his voice low.
“Specifically the pack house project.”
Shaking my head, I frowned. “I don’t. My Beta is the one handing everything. Is something wrong?”
All I had heard about Nate lately was praise. For how much he was doing. How he stepped up. How he was managing everything. He was coordinating nearly thirty-two different homes with different families. Plus the pack house. Not to mention getting the power and water back up in a timeline I thought was impossible. This would be the first time that I heard someone complain.
“No, no. It’s just…” Freddy glanced nervously back to the house. “It’s Beta. He’s been overworking himself. I’m afraid if he keeps going like this, he is going to drop before the project is done.”
My eyebrow rose. “What?”
“Look, I have a handle on most of the things. He is technically what I would consider the homeowner. However, he’s also an incredibly accomplished architect.”
“He…is.” I did my best to not show surprise or make it sound like a question.
Eros snorted in my head. ‘You don’t even remember what he specialized in during college, do you?’
Kicking him back, I rubbed my chin. “And that’s bad?”
“He helps me more with placement and code than even I know. I usually section out of the house and then research as I am going. Beta…he knows everything. He’s been here every step of the way and every step of the process for every project. We only continued like we have because of his support and direction.”
I waited for him to continue. He looked genuinely worried. Letting out an enormous sigh, he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“He’s up at six in the morning, ready to get started with the rest of us. I know he’s been helping in town as well, with a few of the minor details after we finish at six in the evening. Some of the guys said they caught him working with the kids to get a few of the parks cleaned up that were uprooted by the storm.”
My eyes widened. “I hadn’t even thought of the parks around. We had some damage to the forest, but nothing too terrible.”
“I know. Then when he gets in the next day, he has added something to the plans. Adjusted for things we talked about the day before. I just…don’t when he is sleeping. I’m not saying his work is suffering, because it’s not. However, you can see it in his face how it’s effecting him. I just thought…if you knew something about the project…then you could take over for a little for him to rest.”
Sighing, I rubbed my face. “I don’t. I’m sorry. This is Nate’s baby. Honestly, I think ever since we were little, Nate has wanted to rebuild the pack house. He and my sister used to dream about a house three or four times the size of this. They used to sketch out the plans in a notebook. Honestly, I’m just glad he didn’t go that route.”
Freddy laughed. “So am I if it’s as big as you are saying. He’s definitely adjusting for the needs of your leadership, as well as expanding the room for others. I think he said he expected needing extra rooms if something happened while humans were in the territory.”
My lips pursed. “He’s been making sure we are ready for that change…”
It was true. As much as he normally fought me on the subject, never once did he stop working on making sure we were covered on all fronts. His change of the evacuation plans would allow for humans to use as well. Not only that, but we had a first-hand account of how well it worked.
Sadly, that specific storm took the lives of fifteen people. However, our entire pack was fine. Besides me, only Mer, Nate, and Charles needed hospital care for their injuries. All because we weren’t at the evacuation sites. Everything he did, despite not being happy about, he built to help the pack.
‘How a Beta and a leadership should act, Silas. Maybe you should take some notes.’ Eros grumbled from the back.
“I’ll see what I can do about his activities after work, though. That is something I could probably help with.”
Freddy smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Alpha. I appreciate it.”
Nodding, I watched him leave to go back into the house. I felt someone watching me and, lifting my head, I caught Nate looking at me from a second-story window. Shaking my head, I pointed to him and then to me.
‘What Silas?’
‘We need to talk.’
Nate rolled his eyes and walked away from the window. ‘I’d rather not.’