The Alpha and The Fool
Chapter 24

Brent had been kind enough to allow me the use of one of his larger offices. Whatever Marquice had to say, I wanted all of my people to hear it. Dean, once he heard joined us as well. Brent, his mate - Emily were there as well. Marquice tried to suggest to the alpha that this wasn't his matter, but Brent insisted he and his people were going to stay.

"Nic, this is a Golden Plains matter. Your father told me to tell you only," Marquice said, giving the alpha a side glare.

"If it's a Golden Plains matter then why are you talking to me? I'm no longer a member of that pack."

"Nic, you should hear him out," Sade said, worried.

"Oh, I'll hear him out. I never said I wouldn't, but I'm not going to suggest to the alpha who has been so kind to let me stay and make this house my home to leave." "Pettiness doesn't sit well with you, girl," Marquice told me.

"And being a douche doesn't sit well with you either. So are you going to talk or insult the person you've come to ask for help?" Dean said, his voice uncharacteristically hard. Marquice started to speak, but I stopped him. "You know me, and you know how I am. Don't piss me off."

He clenched his jaw and sighed. "Your father wouldn't approve," he said then shook his head when he saw I didn't give a damn. "An alpha without territory of his own challenged Brandon—" "Good, time to put his money where his mouth is," Jon demanded, earning a scathing look of disapproval from Marquice.

"Agreed," I said, leaning back in my seat. "But what does this have to do with me."

"The challenge fight is in four days, and yesterday, Brandon went missing," Marquice explained.

"Missing how? Missing as in he could be in a ditch dead somewhere or as in he's cleaned out his bank account missing?" Wesley asked.

"Does it matter?" Marquice said, but I could tell by the defensiveness in his tone, most likely Brandon had skipped town, just like I warned father he would.

"Okay, so Brandon's challenged and vanished, what does Father want from me? The challenge would fall on Father not me," I said, knowing what he wanted, but I wanted to hear him say it.

"Your father, the acting alpha, wishes you to return home and to your position. He's unable to contest the challenging alpha and win, but you-" Marquice explained.

I couldn't help myself and if I could, I probably wouldn't. "Me? But I'm just a weak, defenseless woman. My job is to give my mate plenty of strong sons. I could never be alpha, and I most certainly couldn't accept an alpha challenge."

"Nic, enough of the pettiness," Marquice said, in a chastising tone. "I get it. You're angry at your father. I don't blame you. Tough love is a hard pill to swallow." Tough Love? Was he serious?

"But now your pack needs you, your father needs you. You're nothing here. It's time to come home and do what you were born to do," Marquice finished.

Dean started to say something, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm. "You don't know anything, Marquice. Not about me, my home, or what I am here. My father requests my help after I good and well told him what Brandon would do. If you're willing to wait, I think about my answer. If not, it was good seeing you."

"I can have a room set up for you tonight," Brent offered. When Marquice begrudgingly agreed, Emily showed him out. "I figured he was going to ask as much. So what are you going to do?" he asked once Marquice was gone.

"Thoughts?" I said, looking to the others, not sure what to think myself. Despite my words, my stomach twisted at the thought of where this would leave the Golden Plains pack, yet this was their doing. "You shouldn't do it," Jon said. "Your father is the one who caused this mess, and the pack allowed it to happen. You don't owe them anything!"

"But this is our home, our pack," Sade said.

"Maybe yours, but not mine. They turned their back on Nic," Jon snapped at her.

"Careful," Wesley warned him. "Look, Nic, I know they shoved you off to the side, but we don't know anything about this alpha. Our friends and family could be in danger here. Nothing wrong with going down there and checking out the situation."

"Everything is wrong with it. How can you not see that?" Jon argued.

Before Wesley or Sade could reply I held up my hands to stop them. I didn't want someone to say something they'd regret later. "Okay, okay. Got it."

"So? What are you going to do?" Sade asked.

I took a breath to answer, but Dean spoke up first. "How about you guys give her time to breathe. This is kind of major he said, then looked to his father. Brent nodded, and Dean took my hand, giving it a tug for me to follow him. "She'll tell you tomorrow what she's going to do. Come on Nic."

Sade gave me a bewildered look while Jon nodded with a grin. Wesley nodded too. "Good idea, think on it."

He led me out of the office and through the maze of halls. We stopped in the game room. "You okay?"

"Uhm, yeah," I said, "Just, I don't know. What do you think I should do?"

"It doesn't matter what I think, Nic. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks. It's all about what you want to do. What feels right to you."

"But what if I don't know what feels right?"

He sat on a barstool and pulled me over to him. "You know, but you just have to sort through all the mess in your head." He tapped my temple. "Are you calling me a mess, Dean?"

"Possibly," he said, obviously

teasing. "Nah, but there is a lot to

consider, and I know how much the others matter to you. You don't want to offend any of them. You also an alpha which means you want to protect those you feel responsible for, and I bet you feel partly responsible for your old pack,

despite they favored your brother."

"Do you have a degree in psychology too?" I asked, teasing him back. "Geesh!"

"No, but I get people, and I'd like to think I get you, especially." Dean pulled me closer and hugged me. "Your dad made this mess all on his own. He fet his pride and bigotry get in the way of doing what was best for his pack. You have no responsibility to fixing it. That's what would make it very noble if you

decide to rescue your pack and

Dad."

"But what kind of person would it make me? They betrayed me and the first time they call, I come running. I don't ever want to be used again," I said, admitted part of what was bothering me. I never again wanted to be a tool for my father to use and throw away.

"It would make you a pretty damn good person," Dean replied. "Not many people would help after something like that happened to them. This doesn't have to mean you're being used, Nic. You can set conditions and rules if you want."

Rules and Conditions? Of course, like a trade, I guess. I grinned and hugged Dean. "Thank you, Dean, again, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I know, I'm awesome. God's gift to mankind," he said with a sigh.

I laughed and poked him in the side. "Easy there, Mister. Your neck might snap if you let it get too big."

"Oh, you think?" He said, putting a mocked expression of fear.

"Yep, like a twig." I sighed and hugged him again. "So what to do, what to do?"