The Mates Bond

Sixteen

-Chapter Sixteen-
Decisions
{ Braxton's }

I stayed with Ryder and his family through out everything.

I personally had to be there to Sign off along with the council stating that I was present when the shift in power was handed to Ryder and his Brother, and that there was no malicious acts in the process, essentially I had to say that he died of his own time and will and no one coerced him into giving the position to one person specifically.

After that all hell broke loose.

"Of course they picked the son over the daughter." Yvonne's Mate put in snarkily. I'm certain that neither Yvonne or Morgan were even considered."

"Yeah...don't drag me into this." Morgan said clearly upset at just having lost her father. Ryder pulled his little sister into a hug.

Yvonne and her mate weren't too thrilled to find out that Trace was now the Alpha, "Even if Trace is the Alpha...why wasn't my mate even considered as the Beta?" Yvonne asked.

"The choice of Alpha and Beta was on your Father." The main council Member interceded.

"... and if any of you were with dad when he was dying you would know that this chain of command is something he wanted, Dad was all about family."

"Yeah well he had a shitty way of showing it." Yvonne commented. "Seems like he favored you and Ryder....everything was always about his boys...we all know you were both his favorites."

Trace laughed, "Everybody knows Morgan was his favorite, and he loved you too Yvonne, we all do...but this is enough with your outbursts."

"Is that an order Alpha?" She growled defensively.

He looked at her, I could see how disappointed he was in his sister, "Don't make me turn it into one."

"Like it or not, this is set amongst the council now, so either obey the new chain of command and treat them with the respect befitting an Alpha and Beta or you are more than welcome to exit the pack." One of the council members in attendance sounded matter of factly.

Neither Yvonne nor her mate spoke of protests anymore.

I stayed long enough to broker out a temporary alliance with Trace, well, update the old one between our fathers really, and since this is temporary it may be withdrawn from both parties at any time. Then before too long Ryder and I were heading back. Since we rode up together of course we had to ride back together.

"Well this is sufficiently awkward." I said with an even more awkward chuckle.

He let out a sigh. "I'll move closer to the end of my school year...if that's alright with you?" He added at the end.

"Yeah, of course man...stay however long you would like."

He gave me a look that I understood as him say 'Yeah right.' "In any matter, I suppose you'll need to find another Beta...I know you've already got a lot of other shit to worry about and I'm just sorta adding to the list...sorry about that."

I shook my head. "Don't apologize for that shit man, you didn't do this, you didn't plan for this...none of us did...plus the council were there so they know what's up." I let out a heavy sigh, I knew he was right though, I would have to find another guy and to top it all off I felt like I was losing my best friend...my brother. "I don't know what i'm going to do without you bro...all this shit...I relied on you for so much."

This time he chuckled, "man you are a good Alpha as is, and Harper will move into the position of Luna easily, you two together will be an unstoppable duo...and out of Beta prospects you've got both Patrick and Vance as top candidates...either one of them would step up to the plate effortlessly bro, it just a matter of choosing who you think would even you and Harper out instead of just agreeing to agree."

I nodded, he was right...both guys were family, both capable of the position, but which one would be better suited for the position?

"So did you talk with Trace about moving to his pack?" I asked trying to take my thoughts away from my pack's future beta if even for the moment.

"Yeah...ideally he would like me to move over immediately...but I've come so far with school, plus I'll be graduating this year, so I told him I'd finish up with school and take my residency over at a hospital up there, but theres no way I'm just dropping all of my shit to go up there immediately."

I nodded.

He sighed, "I know he needs me right now, he didn't ask for this just like I didn't...but...it's just really fucking difficult man."

I heard the crack in his voice and knew he would be tearing up if not crying...so I kept my eyes glued to the road to give him that moment to himself. That shit was hitting me harder than I expected too, "Look man," I said without looking at him, that lump beginning to form in my own throat. "Just because you're your brothers Beta now doesn't mean shit...you're my brother too and I still expect you to come around for like parties and shit...I mean you've got to stand up there with my when Harper and I get married."

He laughed a genuine laugh this time, "Can't just get ride of me that easily."

As I was driving I gave his arm a brotherly pound with my fist and looked over at him, "I'm really gonna miss you man."

And with one of those rare moments he smiled a genuine smile over at me, "I'm going to miss you too man."

__________

When we got back to the pack I was glad to find everything running smoothly thanks to Vance and Patrick both. Seems as if Vance was holding down the fort while Patrick had taken it upon himself to set up the Elite with a patrol schedule to monitor everything from the outside.

"Welcome back." Vance greeted Ryder and I as we walked into the office in the packhouse.

Patrick also entered and I could sense they both had something to tell me.

"Everything good in my absence?" I asked slightly humored. They both nodded their heads 'yes' "so any news?"

They looked at each other and Vance spoke up first.

"My mate tells me that Harper has met with your grandmother and has taken to the Luna lessons quite vigorously."

I was glad to hear it...thankfully that was one less thing I had to worry about.

Then Patrick moved to speak up. "And my mate tells me that...I'm going to be a father." He smiled wide.

I could hardly believe it but I could see his excitement and we all congratulated him. I can't lie that his news sent a small pang of jealousy through me...when I sit back and look at these three they had everything...Ryder with starting his career in less than a few months, Vance married to his mate, Patrick's mate was giving him a baby...

Now don't get me wrong I love my mate and my life as it is...and while I do want to marry Harper and start a family, I just honestly couldn't imagine doing anything like that so soon...call me selfish but I want my mate to myself. I still want to know her and enjoy getting to know new things about her, and as much as it hurt that she moved back into her parents place...

In the end it was actually a somewhat fun idea, because I still feel like i'm just dating her. So when she comes over I'm still putting forward that effort to impress her and I have the time to miss her when she's away...I'm going to miss that once we're married and live together...although I'm sure marriage will have it's own set of advantages.

If only I could tell her that without her feeling like I'm trying to push her away.