Her Pack by Tamara White

Chapter Forty-Nine

Things have beenrough since the funeral.

There's been a lot of tension within the packs over the past month. Which is why the coronation is being held tomorrow. Pretty much everyone has decided it's time for the packs to unite under my rule.

Vivienne, Tim, Laura and the council members have been pressuring me for a couple of weeks now, but my mates wouldn't budge.

Over the past few days though they've come to the agreed decision that maybe it's time for me to take the throne. The only person who hasn't quite been on board is Monique and well she's not doing too well at the moment. Everything that happened with Walter, it's taken a heavy toll on her.

"Dani? Are you listening to me? Or did you zone out again?"

Cam is lying in bed next to me, his blue eyes watching me.

I blink a few times, and focus on him, trying to get out of my head. I can see by his eyes that he's annoyed, even if only slightly. They must suspect that there is something going on, but no one has pushed for answers. I guess with all that's occurred in the past month, they know that there could be a hell of a lot that is on my mind.

"Sorry, I promise I was listening at the start. I just got lost in my thoughts."

He runs his fingers tips over my mating mark, knowing the way it causes me to react. I hold back my moan, trying not to let myself get lost in temptation again. I have to get up for the day and figure out my next steps before tomorrow comes.

The envelopes are already written, ready to be handed out to those I love so they know what is to be done next after my death.

I've been trying to think of every possible hiccup and prepare for it, but the last thing on my list of things to do, is find someone I can trust to pass my wishes along, without stopping me from going through with my plan.

Sadly that group of people also happens to be the people who will fight tooth and nail to keep me alive. Which would defeat the purpose of my sacrifice.

"You ever going to fill me in on these thoughts that give you that faraway look in your eyes? We know something is bothering you and we've tried to give you your space, but you can talk to us, Dani. We just want to help you any way we can."

I sigh, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I know," I murmur softly. "But there is nothing you can do right now. It's just all anxiety about handling the changes from just being me to being Queen," I lie, trying to give him at least part of the truth.

"Alright, well if you ever do feel like getting some of it off your chest, you can talk to me anytime you wish." He offers me a tight smile, like he's not quite happy that I didn't relent and just tell him everything, but still, he doesn't push. Instead, he changes the subject. "So, as I was saying. Adam and Blake seem to be getting along somewhat."

"Oh, really? I'm honestly surprised every day I don't get a call that one of them has killed the other," I chuckle softly thinking of when they were first given a home together here on Eli's pack land.

When they were first put in the house together, it was one big fight. Neither one wanted to live with the other, because they both blamed the other for the things that happened with their pack, and with the way their father manipulated each of them. Eventually Cam had to step in and stay a few nights with them to get them to calm down and find a middle ground.

"It's been great actually. They both now agree that Dad was a major dick. Adam is still being an ass about you being Queen, but he'll come around eventually. We’ve actually come to a sort of agreement about what is left of our pack. After the coronation is over, we'll be organizing a group of us to go and help them. Maybe we will find our other siblings in the care of another pack member, and we can take on that role. Teach them some good while we still have a chance."

"Of course, that sounds like a great idea. If there is anything you need, tell me. Or, I could go with you?" I suggest, wondering if he would even want me to. It sounds more like a family thing. But he may need some help in talking to his pack.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think this is gonna be a family thing."

I nod, but don't say anything else because I realized I slipped up and almost made a plan when I won't be around to fulfil it. I've been trying to avoid doing that so no one is left getting their hopes up when I don't survive the coronation.

"Speaking of getting along, I saw Aiden and Lia yesterday. They seem to be getting cosier." Cam’s voice is filled with amusement.

I roll my eyes, trying not to groan at how much it worries me that my sister has fallen for a wolf hunter. I never could have believed that those two would hit it off.

Lia and I talked about it about a week ago when we had coffee, because I needed to make some things clear so she would understand what kind of future they would have.

I questioned whether he was her mate, or if it was just a connection they shared. She told me that he doesn't feel like her mate, but there is an undeniable connection she feels to him.

The positive is that at least she has found happiness in all the crap that she's been dealt. Hopefully I will be able to give her more positive news in my letter by giving her the gift of the freedom to visit her mother when and if she pleases. It'll be a dying request so the council can't even deny it.

"Yeah, they're going steady from what Lia tells me. I think she's just a little hesitant to get too involved because of the fact that he's human. Though she said despite that, the connection they share is so hard to ignore that she can't just walk away from him either. I think it's simply his wolf hunter status that is the biggest cause of the issue. Everyone in the pack knows that he leaves the pack each weekend to hunt down the wolves that are still out in the world and killing humans. It wouldn't exactly be warming him up to the other pack members to know he has no qualms about hunting down their kind."

"Hmmm, I was going to ask you whether or not you planned to let him continue doing such a thing. We don't want people to talk and get upset if you continue to allow him to kill our kind. They might think you'll allow him to police them too."

I understand what he's saying but I really don't see what the big deal is. The only issue would be if they decided to kill humans. Then Aiden would be forced to act.

"For now, I think he'll be fine, but if it gets to the point too many people are complaining, then it can be addressed at a later date."

I sigh and roll over, wishing I could stay in bed a little longer. But I need to get up and do what I can before it’s too late.

At least laying here and talking to Cam has given me an idea of where I need to start. Which is better than when I had when I woke up.

"What are the rest of you planning for the day?" I ask, digging through the clothes in my laundry basket and pulling out a clean pair of sweats and a hoodie. The weather has just started to change, a cold snap moving through.

Cam groans and also gets out of bed, pulling sweats on over his boxers. "Well, Pete is spending the day with Lily and Leon. Mitch is going to visit his mom again with Tim. Nate is supposed to be hanging out with his mom and trying to get her to ease up on all the baby shopping, but I doubt that’s really how that will go. Jason is going to visit his mom over at Vivienne’s place with your grandmother. She seems to finally be coming back to normal. She’s no longer ranting about Luke being King. She’s a little strung out, and confused but she’s making progress,” he says with a frown.

I feel so sorry for her. It’s taken weeks to partly recover from whatever Luke and his followers did to her. But I guess at least she’s getting better.

“Eli and I are going into his restaurant to start sorting out food and orders. Eli is going to start inviting all the pack members to visit if they need help. He wants to offer free food and drinks for those who are lost after all this chaos. The people who just need to get away from the pack and take a night to just relax."

I nod along, glad they are all finding things to do rather than follow me around all the time. The past week has been great having the freedom to go where I want without the lot of them trying to follow me. We also had to relent and offer Luke’s followers freedom, at least the ones who promised to simply leave and do no harm.

I made sure they were telling the truth before I let them go. But it wasn’t just them.

I think everything with Luke's and Walter's death, it shook the packs up a bit. Lance had mentioned the last time we spoke that he had received word that people from various packs were up and leaving once they had gotten word I wasn’t holding it against them. So long as they didn’t intend to harm a human, they were free to leave.

No one knows whether they had gone rogue or had just had enough of all the fighting. It was one of the many reasons why I accepted bringing the coronation forward. Maybe if I was their Queen, and they actually had a ruler to give them direction, it would soothe the packs.

People needed a reason to unite. Maybe my death will be just the nudge they need.

"What about you? What are your plans today?" Cam asks, his hands tucked into his pockets while he watches me pull my hair up into a ponytail.

I fix my hair to the top of my head, noticing that I’ll need a to get a haircut soon. My split ends are getting bad. I give my hair a quick flick, satisfied it'll do for the day. "Ah, I'm not up to much. I think I'm going to go find Jake and see if he wants to hang out for a while. Maybe go for a run or something."

Cam doesn’t look convinced, mainly because Jake and I have both been complaining about keeping up training. Last weekend we spent the four days from Monday to Friday just eating donuts and mocking the others while they trained.

"Alright, well, give us a call if you two need anything. I’ll save you some donuts for breakfast,” he teases, moving to press a kiss to my cheek. He leaves the room, giving me the perfect chance to grab the packet of letters I’ve written and stuff them up under my hoodie so no one will see them.

I straighten my hoodie and try to appear all mature. I need to go and see whether this half-cocked plan of mine will work.

If it doesn't, then there may not even be a coronation.