All it Takes is Love
Chapter 12

“Is it Alpha Raymond?”

“I don’t know,” Byron answered before going silent, his body stiff. “A handful of wolves came from the east. It looks like there is an Alpha, no, two Alphas, and a few warriors. One of the Alphas shifted and is demanding to see the Alpha of the Moonscape Pack.”

“So, it’s Alpha Raymond and probably Chester plus a few of their most trusted. Why do they want to see your dad, though?”

Byron was silent for a moment, then said, “Dad thinks it probably is him. He also thinks he doesn’t know who your mate is, or he would be asking for me.”

“But that was Chester last night. He came here, so he knows who my mate is,” Lynn said, confused.

“Yes, but for whatever reason, he must not have told Raymond what he knows,” Byron told her. “Dad said he’s going to take Landon with him when they meet.”

“What about us? Does he want us there?”

Byron shook his head as he growled. “No, he doesn’t. He wants to feel Raymond out first. I want to be there, though. You are my mate, and it is my right to defend you.”

“I know. But… maybe, for now, it’s best if we let your dad talk to him, see what he’s about,” Lynn suggested.

Byron shook his head again. His eyes were the gold of his wolf as he snarled, “No, I’m going. This is about me, and I will not have him think me a coward!”

Lynn took a deep breath as she took his hands in hers. “Okay but listen to me first.”

Wolf Byron cocked his head.

“You are my mate first and foremost, which means that without you, I am nothing. So, I will be going with you. Second, you are my Alpha, so I will do as you ask me when we get there. If you want me to stay back, I will, but if you want me to stand and fight with you, I will do that also.”

Byron’s eyes once more turned blue. Suddenly his anger was gone, and he just looked confused. “But…I’m not an Alpha!”

Lynn smiled as she raised on tiptoe to kiss him gently. “Today you are. You are the Alpha who is going to defeat that black-hearted scoundrel and his son. You are the Alpha who will free the Simmion Pack from their tyranny, bringing them peace. You are and always will be in my heart and in the heart of my wolf, our Alpha. We love you, Byron, you, and your wolf. You are ours, and we are yours.”

Byron pulled her to him and hugged her tightly as he breathed deeply. “Oh, sugar. I know my parents love me, and so does my Pack. However, you have given me unconditional love and support. They never understood, not really, how much I felt like a freak. Yet you do, don’t you? You understand just how badly I want to be Alpha like my dad. Yet I never will be, will I?”

“No, Byron, you won’t be, but only because you aren’t your dad.” Lynn cupped her hands around his cheeks. “Baby, you are you. You must be Byron when you fight him, not someone you aren’t. You remember how you told me to always listen to my wolf?”

Byron nodded.

“Well, in this case, only your wolf knows exactly who he is. He knows when he needs to be an Alpha and when he needs to be a delta. So, you’re going to have to let go of all your doubts and trust him to know what to do,” Lynn cautioned him. “Can you do that?”

Byron slowly nodded. “Yes. I’m not fighting for me, Lynn. I’m fighting for you.”

“Okay then, let’s go.”

When Lynn and Byron arrived at the meeting place close to the pack border, there was a lot of shouting going on.

Dad was there along with Landon and the Pack’s beta, George. They had brought five warriors.

A big man, who Byron assumed was Alpha Raymond, was there with a man standing next to him who looked a lot like him. They had the same evil look on their faces. Byron saw no sign of a beta, so he figured Lynn’s father had yet to be replaced, but they had also brought five warriors.

“Is that Alpha Raymond?” Byron asked Lynn quietly.

Lynn nodded, her face pale but blank, her shoulders straight. He was proud of her for being so brave.

“Come on, sugar, let’s get this over with.”

The two of them stepped out of the shadows. Then they headed toward the men standing in the field.

“You will turn the girl over to me! She is part of my Pack, and I never gave her permission to leave, much less join your Pack,” Raymond shouted, his face red.

“She has found her mate here, which trumps your permission any day,” Byron’s dad growled back at him.

“I promised that girl to my son—” Alpha Raymond began only to stop suddenly.

It was as if everyone suddenly realized he and Lynn were there. Everyone turned to look their way.

“There she is. She belongs to my Pack and is to be my son’s mate,” Alpha Raymond yelled as if Byron’s father hadn’t just got through telling him Lynn had found her mate.

Byron snarled, his wolf pushing to the forefront. “Raymond, I presume?”

He snarled back. “That’s Alpha Raymond to you!”

Byron shook his head. “No, the title of Alpha is given to one deserving of it. From all I have heard of you and seen today with my own eyes, you deserve no respect.”

“I don’t know who you think you are, pup, but you have no idea who you are dealing with,” Raymond informed Byron as he straightened up to make himself appear taller.

Byron tilted his head as he allowed his wolf to come forward and snarl at him. His canines lengthened, and he knew his eyes were now glowing a deep gold in anger. It took a lot to make his wolf angry because he was all about peace, but this man had brought out every bit of anger, and it rolled off of him in waves.

“I know exactly who I am dealing with. I’m dealing with a dead man because you will not leave here today breathing,” Byron answered in the deep and gravelly voice of his wolf.

Dad turned to gaze at me, a shocked look on his face that he quickly made blank. He didn’t say a word.

Raymond threw his head back and laughed maniacally. “You really think you have it in you to kill me, pup?”

“I don’t think anything because I know I do. You see, you came here today to take what is mine, my mate,” Byron said.

Lynn stepped up next to him. When she did this, Byron reached up and moved her hair away from her neck. Lynn tilted her head then to show off her mark proudly.

Young Chester snarled and would have lunged if his father hadn’t put out a hand to stop him. “No, son. I’ll end this whelp. Then you can do what you like with the woman.”

“She was mine, Father,” Chester whined. “If he’s marked her, then he’s probably bedded her too.”

Byron gave a dark chuckle as Lynn spoke up to say, “Oh, he did. After all, it is his right as my mate.”

“Lynn, go stand next to my father,” Byron softly commanded when she finished speaking.

When she was safely there, Byron pulled off his t-shirt to proudly show the mark Lynn had given him. Then, he calmly asked, “Now, which one of you wishes to die first?”

With a snarl, Raymond shifted and lunged Byron’s way!