You Have Always Been Mine

Chapter 5 ~ Target part 2

He stares at her in silence. She’s fidgeting with her phone, but the screen appears to be locked. After a little while, she looks up and meets his eyes, offering him a shy smile, but her eyes look anxious, as if expecting to be rejected.

He gives her a small smile back and whispers. “That’s good to know.”

She gasps and then blushes again, muttering something like she’s late for luna lessons before scrambling out of the car and rushing to get inside the house. Max chuckles and drives away to put the car in the garage.

That evening, as dinner is being served at the packhouse, Alpha Timothy invites Max to sit at their table in order to discuss something with him. The invitation lands with more friction than it should.

For a brief moment, the long tables where the other pack members sit freeze and turn silent. As if on cue, bowls hover, hands pause mid-reach, and then just as suddenly as it had happened, the murmur of conversation resumes. Quickly and loudly, as if the pack needs to pretend that what just happened didn’t really happen.

Max freezes as well where he stands, holding his tray, still half-turned toward the lower tables, where he always eats. The place where one sits is usually dictated by birth and rank. The alpha’s table is nowhere near his usual table.

“Come now, we don’t have all night,” Alpha Timothy says mildly, already sitting.

Max takes a deep breath and walks to the main table.

The Alpha motions for him to sit next to him, in the chair that his son usually occupies. Tonight the future alpha is not present, as he is out on a date. Max tries to look around to find a different seat, hoping to avoid ruffling too many feathers around, but no other seat is available and the Alpha is starting to look impatient. He’s not going to command him again.

Several heads lift, watching his next moves very closely. A ripple of unease travels down the hall, subtle but unmistakable. Max now understands how it feels like to be walking in a minefield.

Ginny clears her throat and then stands up, only to take her brother’s seat, patting her previous chair to signal Max to sit there instead. She then turns to her father and starts to tell him about something that happened in her class.

Max takes the seat, murmuring his quiet thanks. He can still feel eyes silently judging, but at least it’s not as venomous as before. Ginny is, after all, still an alpha offspring, albeit the younger child.

With his back straight and shoulders stiff, Max keeps his gaze low, respectful. Careful. He knows better than to look comfortable here. Around them, pack members exchange glances over their bowls. One of the beta-line wolves pauses mid-chew, jaw tightening. At the far end of the table, someone snorts softly into their drink.

“The audacity,” a voice murmurs—not quite quiet enough.

Which is unfair, really, because it’s not like he wanted to sit in the alpha table. The Alpha himself ordered him to be there and it’s not like he could refuse. But apparently that matters very little in the eyes of those who actually want to be there and those who envy the favor bestowed upon him by their leader.

Alpha Timothy continues eating, unhurried and unbothered. He asks Max to confirm that he has cleared his schedule in order to accompany Ginny on her school trip. They talk about adjusting schedules so that Ginny will have a little bit more freedom and independence. Things that could, easily, have been discussed elsewhere.

Max answers evenly. Briefly. It feels like every word he speaks at the Alpha’s table is being considered an overstep the pack cannot swallow, and while he cannot do otherwise, the least he can do is control the damage. By the time the main course is finished, their resentment has settled into something heavier than anger.

It has taken shape. That of a bull’s eye.

Max grits his teeth. The Alpha has—inadvertently or not—just put a target on his back.

“Sorry you had to go through that,” Ginny tells him the next morning on the way to school. “Dad can be quite unfeeling sometimes, but he means well.”

Ah, so it was done on purpose. He wonders why.

“He’s testing you. And the pack too. I heard him tell Mom last night that he just wants to see how you’re going to react to certain circumstances and how others treat you. I think he’s sort of preparing you for a promotion or something. And he’s also interested to see what the pack will do.”

Max is not quite sure he’s happy about that. Such a thing would tie him even more to the pack, and while loyalty dictates he should be content, he actually has plans for the future. Ones that might even take him away temporarily from the pack and its territory, for greener pastures and more equal footings, instead of just remaining as he currently is: of low rank, no status he can be proud of, and with no means to provide for a family except for the charity the alpha’s family gives him and his mother.

Not that he’s ungrateful, of course. He just wants more.

Now, more than ever, he’s determined to have more to offer, so Ginny will never regret being with him when the day comes. And when they have children of their own, he wants to make sure they, too, will be proud of him.

“...don’t you think?”

Max blinks. He’s been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t quite follow what Ginny is talking about.

“Sorry, I was… woolgathering. What were you saying?”

Ginny pouts and then sighs before turning to look outside her window. “Never mind.”

Now he feels guilty. He should have been more attentive, but he got distracted by his daydreams.

“I’m really sorry,” he tells her quietly. “I was…thinking of the future.”

Ginny looks back at him, frowning. “The future? What do you mean?”

He chuckles. “What else can it mean? My plans for the future of course. What I’ll do after graduating so I can earn and save up…”

Her frown deepens. “You don’t have to worry about finding a job. Dad will always make sure you have a place at the packhouse. I bet if we ask him nicely, he’ll even let you train for a warrior position.”

Max sighs. To admit that he’s not quite content with his place in the pack might sound rather ungrateful, especially to a fifteen-year-old whose family he serves. He has to be more careful.

“I know that. I’m just…considering the possibilities of…more.” He takes a deep breath and glances at her. “Don’t you ever wonder what is out there? Beyond the borders of our territories? I mean… where humans and shifters coexist?”

“No,” she shakes her head vigorously, as if horrified at the idea. “I like it here, thank you very much.”

He snorts. “Of course you do. You live a life of royalty here. You’re the beloved princess in a golden tower. It’s a wonderful world from where you’re standing.”

She seems to consider that. “Do you mean you are being mistreated?”

“No, of course not. But you saw it yourself last night.” He pauses, choosing the right words. “It’s… different… for me.”

“Are you saying you want to leave the pack!?”

Max now regrets even broaching the subject. She’s too young to understand, maybe a little too pampered to be sympathetic, although last night she did show grace and maturity in helping him deal with a difficult situation.

“I’m just considering my options, Momogin,” he tells her, hoping the use of his nickname for her will lighten the mood. “Don’t think too much of it.”

Like a dog with a bone, she’s not letting it go. “But our family provides for the well-being of all members of the pack,” she insists. “You lack nothing here.”

“I lack the means to provide for my mate in the manner that she is accustomed to,” he points out baldly, almost feeling satisfied when he hears her gasp. “Is that not enough reason to take my chances?”

“Your mate?” Ginny stares at him, wide-eyed and anxious. “You… you’ve found her already? I thought you’re only supposed to know once you’ve reached maturity?”

Maturity? Max has known all his life that he loves Ginny. There’s no one else he wants to love other than her and he doesn’t need to be eighteen to be sure of it. Alpha Timothy has always said that Max is an old soul, too smart and ahead of his peers. Perhaps that’s how he knows Ginny belongs with him.

“I’ve always known who my mate is,” he murmurs as he parks the car in their usual spot at the Ginny’s school’s parking lot. He turns off the engine and turns to stare at her. “I chose her a long time ago.”