After Six Years The Alpha Begs For My Return Chapter 36
Reese’s father had died young. Reese ran the pack’s affairs now, but the one the elders of Gray Harbor still truly feared was this old man, who had held the eastern shore for twenty years.
The old warning passed down among Gray Harbor’s older generation—*don’t challenge the Beaumonts at the docks*—was about the territorial rules he had laid down, not some empty prestige built on family wealth.
From a distance, I watched Reese stand before him, his head slightly lowered as he listened.
Now and then, the old man struck the ground with his cane. I couldn’t hear the words, but judging by Reese’s expression, it wasn’t a light conversation.
About ten minutes later, Reese turned and came back, opening the passenger door.
“My grandfather wants to see you.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
I followed him over to the old man.
His gaze was not kind, but neither was it hostile. It was the scrutiny of someone assessing a person about to be entered into the formal pack records.
“A girl of the Calloway bloodline?” he said at last, his voice aged but powerful.
“Yes.” I inclined my head slightly. I did not use the subordinate salute of White Ash River. This was not his council chamber, and I was not a member of his pack.
“You have more nerve than your grandfather,” he said. Then he turned to Reese. “Your application for cross-territory medical assistance is approved. Tidewatch physicians will coordinate with the hospital tomorrow. The files on the three donors will remain under the independent review panel. No one is to interfere.”
“Thank you, Grandfather.”
“The medical assistance comes with no conditions.” He paused. “That said, I have one personal request. Before the end of the year, bring her to the east shore main house for dinner.”
He turned, leaning on his cane, and headed for his car. At the door, he looked back once more.
“And stop trying to pass her off as ‘just a friend.’”
Reese stood there, and for once, he actually looked stunned.
I watched the old man’s car drive away before turning to Reese.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that your business is my business, and that no help offered to you can come with forced pair-bond conditions.” He slipped his hands into his pockets, sounding a little awkward. “I think he read more into it than that.”