Chapter 9

Brody didn’t find anything in the fridge that appealed to him, so he went into the living room where he found Austin lounging on the couch, watching daytime soaps. Brody snatched the remote off the coffee table and flicked the TV off.

Austin started out of his stupor. “Hey! I was watching that.”

Brody tossed the remote into the corner. The back panel popped off, and the batteries tumbled out onto the carpet. “Don’t you have anything better to do with your sorry life than watch that stupid crap? It’s one o’clock in the afternoon and you haven’t moved all day. Where’s your motivation to actually do something?”

Austin tugged down his shirt collar to expose the gashes and bruises around his throat. “This is my motivation, you traitor. If I didn’t have to lie here recovering from my own brother almost ripping my throat out, I could be out there working while you sit around wasting your life. Where’s your knitting, Grandma? Did you finish your doily yet?”

Brody slid to the edge of his chair. “If you don’t watch your mouth, I’ll finish the job right now. Wha’d’ya think about that, Jack? Do you want to try your luck again?”

Mattox suddenly burst into the room. “Knock it off, both of you,” he yelled.

Then he looked at Austin, saying firmly, “You got exactly what you deserved, Austin, for taking him on in a fair fight. Maybe next time you’ll think twice about it”.

Brody thought this would be a good time to leave, but Maddox raised his voice again, saying, “Sit down, Brody.” Brody still continued to rise from the chair. “I said sit down. You’re not going anywhere any time soon, after the way you betrayed your whole tribe for some Cunningham piece of tail,” Maddox commanded with contempt.

Brody narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Don’t you dare talk about Star like that or I’ll put you on your back or worse. If anyone says one word against Star, I swear to God they’ll pay for it.”

“Settle down, boy. You’ll blow a gasket,” Maddox said in a more neutral voice.

Brody threw himself back in the chair. “Star is my mate. The rest of you Farrell morons will just have to get that through your thick heads. You can keep me locked up here for the rest of my life, but I’ll never stop working to get back to her. I’ll never mate with anyone else as long as I live.”

“She’s not your mate when you’re here and she’s on the other side of the mountain. You better put her out of your mind once and for all.”

“Never!” Brody promised.

At that moment, Duke came into the room. “Come in here, Brody. I want to talk to you.”

Brody stood up and followed his father out of the room. Austin propped himself up on his elbow and called after him, “Hey, give me back the remote!” but the door slammed in his face.

Brody sat down on his parents’ bed next to his father. He couldn’t look at his father’s face without seeing dark circles under the old man’s eyes. He noticed for the first time how weary and old his father looked. “Are you okay, Dad?”

Duke lowered his voice to a soft, sing-song murmur. “No, I’m not okay, Brody. I’m sick and tired of all this fighting with the Cunninghams. I’m too old to keep it up. I don’t have the strength to lead this family anymore.”

Brody’s head shot up, but his father wouldn’t look him in the eye. “I guess you’ve got a few more years left in you,” Brody said, though his throat ached and his stomach twisted.

“I brought you in here to tell you something no one else knows,” his father continued as if Brody had said nothing.

“What’s that?”

“I won’t be Alpha of this tribe for much longer. You’re the strongest of my sons. By rights, you should take over for me when I can’t lead anymore.”

“What about Mattox? He’s older and bigger,” Brody asked, somewhat confused.

“He’s bigger as a man, but he’s not as big as a Bruin. You showed your strength at the Meadow last week. Not a single man in either our tribe or the Cunningham tribe would stand up to you, and you schooled Austin without a hair put sideways. You’re the new Alpha. You’ll take my place when I’m gone,” Duke intoned with assurance.

“Mattox won’t like it,” Brody thought out loud.

“Mattox already knows. We talked about it on the way over to the Kerrs the other day.”

“You said no one knows.”

“Mattox doesn’t know you’ll take over for me, but he knows you’re bigger and stronger than he is. When I step down and you step up, Mattox will know better than to challenge you.” Duke explained to his son.

“I don’t want to take over as Alpha. I’ve got better things to do,” Brody stated.

“Like what?”

“Look, if I take over as Alpha, I will make peace with the Cunninghams and end this feud. That will be the first thing I do as Alpha.” Brody stated firmly.

“Then end it. Do the world a big favor and end it. Mattox doesn’t have the strength in his body or his mind to lead this tribe. He would need someone like Austin to help him make decisions.”

Brody spat. “God forbid.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Mattox can’t be Alpha and neither can Austin. It has to be you.”

“Listen, Dad, I’ve made up my mind. I’m mating with Star Cunningham and that’s final,” Brody again stood his ground, his voice a no-nonsense firm tone.

“I’m sorry, son. That’s what I brought you in here to tell you. If you mate with Star, the whole tribe will turn against you. Ending the feud after you become Alpha is one thing, but you’ll have to marry someone else before that happens. The tribe would tear you to pieces if you tried to take over with a Cunningham by your side.”

“Then I won’t be Alpha. Star and I will leave.”

“Where will you go?”

“I don’t know. The MacAllisters or the Mackenzies will take us in. They don’t give a flying leap about your foolish little feud, and neither do I. All I care about is Star.”

Duke shook his head. “When you’re Alpha, you’ll understand that an Alpha has to put his own feelings aside for the good of the tribe. You can’t mate with Star.”

“I already have,” Brody stated evenly.

Duke’s tired eyes snapped to his son’s face. “What?”

“I already mated with her. Where do you think I’ve been the last three days? We were together in the forest, and we weren’t holding hands the whole time. She’s my mate, Dad. You can’t change that now. If you want me around, you’ll have to accept it.” Brody looked into his father’s eyes with strength and no shame.

“I can’t accept it. You always were stubborn, and now you’ll destroy our tribe. If you won’t come to your senses, I’ll just have to keep you under lock-down until you break.” Duke shook his head, but knew what action he needed to take.

“I will never break. You’ll have to kill me first.”

“Don’t you think the Cunninghams are telling Star the same thing? You said they plan to marry her off to Hyatt Kerr. If they don’t succeed at that, they’ll marry her off to someone else. You’ll never see Star again.”

“You can keep my body locked up, but you can’t lock up my heart and my soul. Star belongs to me and I belong to her. You understand that better than anybody. Bruins mate for life. I’ll never give up until I get Star back.”

Duke hoisted himself to his feet with a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry you feel that way, son. I’ll tell Mattox to keep you under constant supervision. We’ll talk again another time; see if we can’t come to some understanding.”

“We already did, Dad. We talked; you know where I stand. You said you want me to be Alpha after you step down. Do you really think an Alpha of our tribe would change his mind about something like this?”

“You nearly got all of us killed the other day at Lachlan’s Meadow, and now you want to stick your toe in the sand over a girl? You’ll destroy the last shred of peace on this mountain.”

“I won’t destroy it. I’ll make sure nothing can ever break it again.”

Duke stared down at his son. Brody returned his gaze without flinching until Duke looked away with a shake of his head. “Go back out to the living room, son.”

Brody went back to the living room, and Duke closed himself into the bedroom behind him. Austin and Mattox bickered on the couch because Mattox wouldn’t get the remote back for Austin, who claimed he was too sick and injured to get it for himself.

Mattox looked up when Brody entered the room, and Brody recognized that questioning uncertainty in his eyes. Mattox didn’t know where he stood with Brody. Their father was right. Mattox knew the truth. He wasn’t big enough or strong enough or smart enough to beat Brody in an all-out fight. If they came down to battling for the Alpha position, Brody would win.

Brody went over to the living room window and gazed out at Farrell Homestead. Barns, sheds, cabins, and fields surrounded the main house for acres in all directions. If he became Alpha, he would inherit all of this. He never considered that possibility before.

How could he ever look his older brother in the face if he deposed him from the position to which he was rightfully entitled? Then again, if Brody beat him in an Alpha challenge, Mattox wasn’t entitled to any of it. Already Brody sensed a change inside him. His chest swelled. Strength and power infused his muscles. He beat Austin in front of everybody, and no one else dared confront him. He was, in essence, Alpha already.

The notion changed his whole outlook. He could walk out of the door anytime he wanted. He could go get Star right now and offer Kaiser and Walker his hand in friendship. He could negotiate the boundary between their territories, and not even his own father could stop him.