Chapter 185
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“Well, alpha, before your mind goes any further down the gutter, why don’t you finally explain to me what has been going on at West Mountain. I was trying to follow along when you were talking to Dr. Hyder, but
there is a lot I do not understand.”
James kissed me on my forehead. He then began to fill me in on the Movement, as well as everything that he had previously discovered about Sheila, Stephanie, my mother, his mother, and Tyler.
It took James at least an hour to explain everything. A few things I already knew, but almost everything
else I did not.
I was shocked and horrified. At the same time, it both warmed and broke my heart to hear the emotion in his voice as he described all the pain and suffering that had occurred. I could tell that he was embarrassed at how upset he was getting as he gave me some of the uglier details, but his raw emotion actually made me feel even more proud to be his mate. It told me that he was not okay with what had happened, and that he was willing to fight to make sure that it did not continue.
I felt even prouder when he explained why the Movement decided to use his fake wedding with Sheila as
a venue to expose all the wrongdoing.
When Dr. Hyder originally heard about what was going on from Joey and Jessica, they had to beg him not
to go immediately to the werewolf council. Thank Goddess they convinced him, because Dr. Hyder later
learned that the council had been partially compromised as a result of some of my mother’s activities.
That meant that they had to be intentional and calculated about how they brought the issues to the
council’s attention.
It was eventually decided to use James’ fake wedding to Sheila as a forum to publicly disclose all the
evidence that the Movement had and to publicly demand that the council intervene. Doing it in such a public setting would essentially force the council’s hand, whether it was compromised or not. Indeed,
that is
s why Stephanie and Sheila -despite my mother’s influence and meddling-were currently on house
arrest and looking at a significant possibility of punishment from the council.
James also explained to me that in an effort to avoid war and keep both their pack and their homes- members of the Movement planned to demand that the council install James as alpha in place of his father. The Movement had originally hoped that I would be standing alongside James when he made the takeover demand, but James had refused to ask me to get involved.
I did not understand why the Movement would care if I was there or why I would be needed. I asked James if he knew, and he said he knew some of it. Unfortunately, when I asked him to tell me what he knew, he refused. I got really annoyed at that part of the story, but I had gotten so used to getting similar answers from Rose, Dr. Hyder, and Brady, that I decided to let it go.
Once James was done telling me everything, we sat in silence for a while. Then, when James pulled me onto his lap, I began to cry silently into his chest as my heart ached for all of the wolves that had been
hurt over the years.
A part of me felt badly for not being there to help them, and an even bigger part of me suddenly began to realize that I needed to go back. I did not want James or others in the Movement to face this on their own. I may not understand what my role was, but I knew that I wanted to be there.
I
Notably, as I cried, James rubbed comforting circles on my back. However, I soon realized that I was not
the only one crying.
James’ emotions were so strong, and I could feel them so well, that I felt compelled to do something that surprised me. I think I even surprised Rose.
Wiping my tears away with my hands, I adjusted myself on my knees so that I could look James directly In the eye. I then leaned in and kissed him, pouring every ounce of emotion I could into the kiss.
I
That was not the part that surprised Rose. It was what I said when we broke apart for air.
Looking deep into James’ eyes, I whispered, “I love you?”
James looked at me in shock. “What?”
“I love you, James Anderson.”
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