Blake

A look from Cade pulled me out of my pity party. As much as I wanted to push my problem away because I didn't want to deal with it, I was the beta of the combined packs and I needed to put that first.

"Fine," I said before I shrugged his hand off my shoulder.

"We need to discuss the terms of Keri's release," Cade said as he walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down.

"You know after everything that's happened we can't trust her," I reminded him tersely.

There was no way we would be able to trust her and take her word that she would follow the terms that we agreed for her release. For all we knew she would agree to everything and once she got back to her pack she could change her mind.

"I know that," he said. "But we don't really have a choice at the moment so we're going to have to trust her."

"So how are we going to ensure she follows the agreement?" I asked. It was hard to talk about her without feeling a slight ache in my chest.

"We'll need someone to watch her until we're sure she won't screw us over," he said.

"Who?"

"It has to be an alpha. I think sending someone less than that into an unstable situation would be a mistake on our part," he advised.

He was right. He was an alpha but there was no way he would leave Scarlett. Scarlett had alpha blood in her but she was in no state to go anywhere. That left me.

"I can't," I replied hastily as I stood up. There was no way I would be able to be around her day in and day out until we were sure she was going to hold up her end of the deal. For all I knew it could take months.

"I wasn't suggesting you," my friend assured me. "After everything that has happened I understand that you wouldn't want to be around her."

The only other person that was an alpha was Kyle.

"Kyle?" I asked.

"Yes. I've spoken to him and as long as we keep an eye on his pack he is prepared to go with Keri back to her pack to keep an eye on her. His beta will be there to run the pack and his uncle Nate will also be able to keep an eye on things."

I felt a slight pang of guilt at the fact that I refused to do the job, but Kyle, who was Scarlett's brother—whose parents were murdered by her father—was prepared to push that aside and do what needed to be done. As much as I didn't want to be around her or even see her, I wasn't sure why I was suddenly feeling anxious about the fact that Kyle would be spending time with her. I pushed the unwanted feeling away, not liking how it made me feel.

"Sounds good," I said, trying to get back into my easy-going persona, but I wasn't fooling anyone.

"I'll sort out the finer details with him," Cade added.

For a moment he studied me. He was my best friend, so there was no point in trying to pretend I was okay. He knew I wasn't.

"I know this whole thing has been tough on you and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, but... I feel I need to warn you."

I could tell by his expression and tone that whatever he was going to tell me wasn't going to be good. I felt a sense of nervous dread in the pit of my stomach.

"Keri is a female alpha," he began and I nodded my head as I listened. "Being unable to shift is going to leave her vulnerable to attacks by other packs and that will leave us at the mercy of another alpha that might not want peace."

I inhaled sharply as the realization of what he was getting at set in.

Fuck!

There was no way I was going to be able to do that. I stood up, already shaking my head, my mind already made up. What he was asking me to do was unbelievable!

"Just listen," Cade said, trying to get me to calm down.

"How could you even think that I would be able to contemplate something like that?" I yelled, feeling my anger smother the dread that I'd felt before.

Logically he was right but I didn't want to accept that. I stood back and fisted my hands against my sides as I tried to rein in my temper.

"Look, I know you've been handed a pretty crappy deal but you have to look at the bigger picture."

He ran an agitated hand through his hair.

"We could all be at risk if Keri is unable to defend her role as the alpha."

I didn't want to hear it but I remained still.

"If another pack's alpha sees her as weak then there will only be a matter of time before someone steps up to challenge her, and she will lose."

Keri was the only blood relative of Victor, which meant that if she were killed by another alpha then they would be able to take her pack and combine it with theirs. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. As much as I hated her at the moment, I felt a physical pain at the thought of something happening to her. I hated how she made me feel even though I didn't want to.

"If another alpha like Victor gets her pack, we will be in serious trouble."

I began to pace up and down. Cade was right. There was no disputing it. I could feel mad, upset, betrayed, but none of that mattered if another alpha took over her pack. Her pack combined with another would be too powerful for us to defend against. I felt the weight of responsibility settle on my shoulders. As much as I hated the idea and didn't want to do it, there was no alternative. Stopping, I turned to face my friend. He watched me closely while I pulled myself together. There was no point in whining about the unfairness of it all. I had no choice.

"Fine," I said firmly. I didn't how I was going to do it but I would to protect the people that I loved irrespective of how I felt about her.

"I'm sorry," Cade said. His tone was filled with sympathy.

"Yeah, it sucks, but there is nothing we can do about it," I replied, knowing that if there was another way he wouldn't be asking me to do this. Sometimes in life we had to do things we didn't want to.

"How sure are you that Keri will go with it?" I asked. It would take both of us to ensure the safety of our packs.

From the time I'd found out she was my mate I hadn't once thought about how everything was affecting her. I'd only thought about my own hurt.

"Honestly, I don't know."

He looked as worried as I felt. There was that chance that she would refuse and there was nothing we would be able to do about it. We couldn't let that happen.

"She has to go along with it," Cade said.

But what if she didn't? There was only one way I could think of to ensure she would mate with me.

"She will only go along with it if she thinks that I've forgiven her and accepted her as my mate," I stated, rubbing my forehead. He didn't look surprised. He'd probably come to the same conclusion.

It was easier said than done. I would have to push my real feelings down and pretend that I cared for her. It wasn't something I was sure I could do. Another thing that occurred to me was I hadn't touched her yet. When mates touched, the connection was formed and I wasn't sure how I would be able to deal with that. And once we mated and she could shift, it would be harder for me to walk away.

"I need time though," I told him. The sooner I did it the sooner everyone would be safe, but I needed a little time, even if it was just a week.

"Sure," he replied.

A few moments of silence settled between us.

"Just don't take too long," he reminded me.

"I won't," I assured him. Just when I didn't think things could get worse, they had.