Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

#Chapter 163 - Knocking Some Sense into the Alpha

Ella "Dominic, what are you talking about?” I ask, shocked beyond belief by his last statement. Any tiredness I'd been feeling after my long, emotionally draining, day dissipated the moment Sinclair claimed responsibility for the war. Just in case, I push myself up into a sitting position so that I can't be lulled unwillingly to sleep by my crafty mate.

Sinclair takes a deep breath, not quite meeting my gaze. ”lf I hadn't called that press conference, if I hadn't publicly accused him of treason, none of this would have ever happened."

For a moment I ponder this, testing it for validity. I don't want to invalidate Sinclair's feelings, so I'll consider his statement and give him my honest assessment. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't take long for me to come to the opposite conclusion. "That's ridiculous." I object, apparently forgetting my intention not to invalidate him. "Dominic, if you hadn't called the conference then the press was going to firebomb your campaign in the morning. We would have lost and he would have come to power anyway. You did everything in your power to prevent that from happening."

"Yes, but if we'd just let them run the story and accepted the consequences of our lies, he wouldn't have needed to stage a violent coup, he simply would have won the election. The King, the Alpha council and the Elders would all still be alive if I hadn't tried to beat him at his own game.” Sinclair reasons miserably, shifting my body off of his so that he can sit up as well. To my immense hurt, he turns his back to me, though I know he's only acting out of his own guilt and shame.

"We couldn’t have known what would happen, my love." I state gently, crawling up behind him and massaging his broad shoulders.

"No, I should have known!" Sinclair exclaims. "I knew what Damon was - I knew what he was capable of. I let my anger and hatred get the better of me and lashed out instead of using my head."

"And tell me. What would using your head have looked like?" I demand, hoping that working through the logic will show him that we did the best we could with the information we had. "We were between a rock and a hard place, you were trying to protect your family and your people. What were we supposed to do in that situation?"

be here. It didn’t have to be me.”

I realize why he's been shielding so many of his feelings from me since we arrived. I thought he was protecting me from his stress, and then his guilt for my own plight, but it was so much more. He wasn't just blaming himself for bringing me into his world... he was blaming himself for the entire war. My wolf begins to howl in my head, and I have to fight back tears. I can't make this about me. If he thinks I'm upset by his pain, he'll shut it away again and focus on comforting me, and

best you could with the information you had." I begin, proud of my steady tone. "None of us could ask for

the bed and abruptly ending my massage. "I could have done more. I could have worked harder, been better, smarter! It didn't have to be this

temper is straining now, because not only is this twisted logic harming my mate, but it simply isn't fair. "Maybe you're right." I snap suddenly, surprising us both. "Maybe you do have an ego problem, because if you think that you're so powerful and all-knowing that you could have stopped all this on your own, then you're clearly delusional." I climb out of bed, following my brooding Alpha. "Stop giving yourself so much credit, Dominic. You weren't alone in this. Where was the Alpha council, the elders when Damon was campaigning?

glaring at me with barely contained ire. "If I had gone

could tell that man was an unhinged lunatic." I scoff. "You saw how easy it was for the reporters at the conference to believe our claims, to turn on him. Everyone knew what he was capable of all along, but no one wanted to upend

out!" He clenches his jaw as if trying to hold back, then adds. "And the worst part of all is that I left my people! I abandoned them as soon as things turned for the worse. I could have stayed and

that aren't his fault! My wolf snarls, her volume so

ever tried to help, care for and protect the united packs. You gave up having your own ambitions

his hands clenching and unclenching as if he wants to reach out and grab me. "The only person who is responsible for this war is Damon, and if you'd killed him and let someone else take the throne, then there's no telling what other unforeseen consequences might have happened." I shake my head, setting my jaw. "And if we hadn't

mean you, I was always going to get you